Chapter 6 - Jet

Thiswas the omega Terrance wanted to sacrifice. My stomach knotted into coils as I fought the urge to stoop to the ground and tend to her. He couldn't see. That other alpha couldn't see what Senna was to me. He'd have leverage I didn't want him to have.

This was my opportunity. This was my chance to pull her into my pack.

My mate.

I could see the tremendous pain Senna was in, and it took everything not to immediately soothe the ache any way I could.

Get him out. You need to get him out.

"It's done, Collins. Take your few packmates and leave. We will not start a war this day. Your sacrifice is accepted."

The man barely restrained the petulant fucking snarl that curled just his top lip, and I leveled him with a glare.

"Another moment of dallying, and you'll be considered trespassing again. Don't press my kindness, Collins. I'll not be so lenient again."

Gesturing for his wolves to surround him, Terrance left through the front door. Icy wind stabbed through the air as the door opened, and Grayson quickly shut it behind them, locking things up.

"You are all dismissed. I will be seeing to our…sacrifice myself."

My pack began to argue, but I shoved a stern wave of command through our bond, and they immediately backed off. I didn't do it often; I hated it, really, and that alone told them I was serious.

Still, I couldn't leave it like that. I wasn't Terrance. I was not a monster.

"We have a breeding-ready omega in our midst. I want to be sure of her status. Understood?"

My mate's eyes flared at me despite the obvious pain she was in, both of us joined in the secret knowledge that Terrance had hoped I didn't know. Senna didn't have a wolf.

I swallowed hard to keep myself from scooping her up into my arms and taking her away from all this, but my pack didn't know, either. I had a solid feeling that they wouldn't be too pleased that I'd accepted a wolfless omega to breed. They'd demand I kill her, at least quite a few of them.

"Of course, Alpha." Kaiden's voice was even and calm, but I could scent the curious apprehension tinging his usual fragrance with something bitter, like char.

A quiet grumbling leaked from Leon's chest, and I snapped a sidelong gaze at him.

"Did I say stand around, Leon? Get going, pup."

He was young, still impulsive and rash. When he nearly began growling, anger filling him, I menaced in his direction, and he immediately backed off. Kaiden and Kenzie yanked him away down the hall, and the rest of the pack followed.

I was alone in the entryway with Senna. At last.

Stooping down to her slowly, I raised my hands up when she instinctively snapped at me, a pained snarl reverberating through her chest.

"I'm not going to harm you. I wouldn't. I swear to you."

Senna lowered her head, looking up at me from under her brows as a tear seeped down her reddened cheek.

"Don't you mean again, Alpha? You won't hurt me again?" she glared with an icy fire that made my nerves howl with regret and guilt. "I don't believe you for a second."

I dropped my eyes to the ground between us, sighing as I squeezed my hands into fists. Senna had no reason to trust me. I had harmed her. I'd harmed my mate by letting our connection fray, the thread between us torn and abused.

But it hadn't snapped, and I wouldn't let it.

There was only so much I could do to get Senna to trust me for any length of time, though. I amplified the wave of alpha energy coming off me, directing the calming power of our bond over my mate's skin.

She shuddered against it, renewed tears falling as her breathing slowed and her clenched hands relaxed. The burnt smell of her natural scent faded. Senna was feeling at least a little better, and with it, that intoxicating scent of roses and almonds came back.

"What…what are you doing? Why does that feel…"

I inched closer, shuffling across the floor on my hands and knees. She was going to collapse. I could see it in the way Senna's arms wobbled.

"It's the mate bond. It's amplifying the comfort of an alpha. I suppose you didn't know it could be so…strong."

She shook her head. I wasn't trying to sedate her or anything with it. Still, I imagined that the stress she'd been under was making the likelihood of passing out a lot greater.

"I didn't know about it at all. I…" Senna tried to shake the feeling from her head. "Stop it. I don't…I've never felt an alpha be calming. Are you drugging me?"

My mouth fell open. "What? Terrance never…well, no. I suppose he wouldn't. Fucking bastard."

Flicking her beautiful, night-sky blue eyes in my direction, my mate chuckled through the exhaustion claiming her.

"He really is." At once, Senna scrubbed a hand over her face, shaking her head again. "Stop this. If you're going to kill me, just get it over with, and let me be myself when it happens."

The wood floor bit into my kneecaps as I closed the distance between us. I was right at her side now, and she didn't have the strength to push me away. I'd give it back, but not until the hard part was over.

"I'm not going to kill you. Come on. I'll make the pain stop."

Sliding my hands beneath Senna's legs and chest, I hauled her up off the floor. I struggled up the stairs with her before I gave in and just picked her all the way up.

Carrying Senna like a pup, I brought my mate to my bedroom. The space was cool and dark. I'd yet to pull open the curtains since I'd been in the study, and right now, I was glad for the dark. It would make it easier on her.

I closed the door with my foot and carried Senna to the bed. Laying her down, I sensed the flare of pain return, the broken alpha bond assaulting her once more. She was right here. My mate was in my bed and against my skin. I wanted to rut into her, claim her once and for all, but I couldn't do that to her like this.

There were also several complications still remaining. Terrance had offered me a chance to possess a breeding omega or kill her for his crimes. He hadn't agreed to pair me up with my mate, and even though I had cause to challenge his sacrifice for not disclosing that Senna had no wolf, the fact was I didn't want to.

An alpha united with their partner was a mighty foe—one that no pack wanted to face. Terrance would be furious with me if he learned that I'd hidden the truth just as much as he had. And he'd try to take Senna away.

I don't give a fuck about him right now, though.

"Just get it over with! Just kill me for your beta. I'm not worth breeding. You know that well enough." Disgust filled Senna's voice, and my chest pinched.

My mate's words sawed my soul in two. I wouldn't let her suffer like this. Kneeling next to her on the bed, I released more calming energy toward her. Senna swayed where she sat, collapsing to the bed. I didn't do nearly as much as before. I just wanted to dull the pain.

"I, Jet Edwards, Alpha of the Edwards Pack, take you into my family. You belong to the Edwards, and I am your alpha now."

Eyes wide and awestruck in Senna's face, the claiming smoothed out around her, but it wouldn't be complete without the blood binding. My mate stared up at me, her lips parted as she heaved in new breaths.

"Why are you doing this? Why claim me as a member of your pack?" She shook her head, but the pain of excommunication was leaving her, returning a bit of that fire to her eyes.

I pulled back the calming aura, and Senna shot up into a sitting position again. Her rose and almond scent was scorched with char as she glared at me.

"You are a part of my pack."

The alpha presence worked better on her now. I could feel her spirit's need to obey her alpha's command, but I wasn't about to create a scion and not a genuine pack member.

"I don't—you agreed to take me. To kill me as Terrance's sacrifice."

"I agreed to take you in. I never actually said what I was going to do with you. Wrist."

Senna was a skittish thing, jumping back as I reached out for her, and I met her narrowed eyes.

"Please."

She must have realized that I could have just forced her to do it, because Senna's lips parted again, her eyes wide once more. I hated to think about the treatment she'd been subjected to under Terrance's alpha claim, especially as an omega without a wolf.

"Why?" She sunk into herself, staring at me.

"So that I can finish the pack claiming. I'm not leaving you as a scion."

Senna blinked, her eyes flickering between me and the bed. I could see the apprehension in her expression as much as I could feel it through our bond. But after a moment, she turned her wrist face up toward me and held it out.

The moment struck, and I realized that alpha claims were actually quite similar to mate bonds. I didn't think Senna was about to let me get away with that one, however.

Taking her arm, I lifted the fair skin of her wrist up to my mouth, baring my teeth. Fangs extended as I called on them, and a faint tremble shook Senna's fingers.

"You are of Pack Edwards."

I struck hard and quick, biting down and sucking the fresh blood into my mouth before quickly swiping my tongue across the wound to aid her natural healing.

She yanked back after a moment, holding her palm to the bite and pressing down hard.

"Thank you. Here." I reached out with my own arm, giving Senna access to the inside of my forearm.

"What?" She furrowed her brow at me.

"Complete the claiming, Omega. Take your bite."

Senna shook her head. "I never…Terrance didn't do this part."

My stomach fell into my feet, and my eyebrows shot up to my hairline. "He left you half-claimed? What the—how could he do that? Is everyone in the Collins pack half-claimed?"

That tinge of rage touched Senna's scent again, burning it.

"Yes. As far as I know."

I tilted her chin up as Senna looked down at the already healing injury, silently glad that fate hadn't taken that from her as well.

"We do not do that here. Take your bite, Omega."

Offering my arm again, I waited as Senna just stared at me. It took several minutes before she finally took hold of my wrist and brought it near her mouth, meeting my eyes.

"I, Senna Richards, join the Edwards Pack." She looked down, then sighed before rolling her eyes up to me. "I don't have fangs. I'm not going to be able to—"

I pulled my arm back for a moment, scoring my skin with a quick nip through my flesh. Extending the slice toward her again, I watched as Senna gingerly took my hand and lowered her lips to the bleeding bite.

"Go on."

She sealed her mouth around it for just a moment, enough to get the blood into her mouth and swallow it down. She sat back up, blinking her eyes and gasping as the power hit her. She'd never been entirely pack claimed. It was a wonder not everyone in with Terrance didn't shrivel up and die. Wolves are pack creatures, and alphas are meant to be a part of that pack, not just leading it.

Taking my wrist back, I licked over the wound to smooth away the blood, and my skin began to knit itself back together. After a few moments, it was only a few pink dots on my wrist.

"That feels…different."

Senna shook herself, pulling back farther away from me as the last dregs of the excommunication left her. I could smell just the faintest bit of my natural scent, something I'd been told was akin to leather and pine, mingled with hers.

My wolf roared inside me, demanding I take her now. It wanted so much to finally solidify that mate bond, and hells, she smelled so damn good with a bit of my blood in her.

"You're fully claimed by a pack. I should think so." My voice was harsh, raspy. "I…I can't believe it's you. That you're here. My m—"

"Don't. Don't you dare." Senna stared daggers at me before getting up off the bed and putting as much distance between us as possible. "Not after leaving me there like I was nothing."

"That's not…I didn't mean…"

She scoffed at me. "Oh? Where's that alpha command now? You can't just steal me into your pack and expect everything to be forgiven. I'll gladly go through all that again if I have to. I won't let you just use me. Breed me."

Pounding on the door stole my attention, and I knew that Kaiden was just outside with Kenzie. Dammit, they're going to have…questions.

Flicking my attention back to Senna, I narrowed my eyes at her, breathing that growing rose and almond scent of hers.

"Get comfortable, Senna. I'll be back." I turned my back, knowing she wouldn't dare attack me just yet, not so soon after the excommunication symptoms. "You won't be going anywhere anytime soon."