36. Rian

Troy thrusts behind me, and I lose myself in momentary bliss, forgetting the world outside the safe bubble of my nest.

But then her ocean-blue eyes flash up before me, and I jerk awake. "Belle!"

I flip my head around the nest, noticing Jeremy is still missing.

But I shout her name yet again. "Belle!"

Leo jumps to attention, and his eyes never leave me as he waits with bated breath.

He"s waiting for me to give him the word. My permission.

I meet his wide brown eyes. "Find her…"

The Alpha doesn"t need to be told twice. He"s on his feet, scrambling out of the nest as he yanks up a pair of pants that don"t belong to him.

Troy, however, is still lost in a rut, and nothing will be stopping him anytime soon.

My thoughts slowly bleed back into awareness, and when I finally see the state of the nest, I grimace.

Fuck. It"s a mess.

It"s been several days, and in that whole time, we forgot about Belle.

The poor thing. She must have been so confused and worried.

She"s new to this world. She barely even understands her own body, and yet here I am getting knotted every which way.

I"m such a selfish prick.

If she is hurt, then I will never forgive myself.

I sensed it—her fear. And I managed to snap out of it long enough to warn Jeremey and send him off to find her.

If only I could go to her myself, but Troy is still knotted inside me.

As good as it feels, I need to set free and find her.

Belle needs me, and I can"t let Leo and Jeremy be the only ones to comfort her in her time of need.

That Omega is mine.

So what if I"m not an Alpha? I will still protect her with my life.

I am still a trained soldier. I could do it.

A knight protecting his princess…

Troy is loosening up inside me, yet he still doesn"t let me go.

He knows I will run straight to Belle and forget all about him the moment he does.

But I won"t forget him.

No one could ever replace him. He is my Alpha.

But Belle is my Omega…

"Troy… it"s time…"

The Alpha wraps his arms around me as if to keep me safe from the wolves of this cruel world. "Not just yet. Let"s just stay this way a little while longer. Just you and me…"

He purrs, and I close my eyes, savoring his sweet coffee scent.

Nothing will happen to me. He has to understand that.

Belle is no danger to us.

She may just be one of the best things to happen to our pack.

He just needs to let go of his fear and open his heart to her.

I know he has one.

"It will be okay, Troy. Besides, I"m still in the last wave. We can return to my needs later. I just need to see her. Please…"

He opens his eyes, and there"s nothing but pain inside that electric blue. He grips my face, running his finger over my bottom lip.

"Fine. I just love you so much, Rian. If anything ever happened to you, I don"t know what I"d do."

I laugh, rubbing my nose against his. "Nothing"s gonna happen. Now, it"s time to let go."

Troy"s eyes burn that little bit brighter. Then he pulls himself free, and I climb to my feet, searching for my pants.

I think I"m the only one who wears his own pants as I stumble down the stairs, ignoring the cramps as best as I can as I search for her.

The sound of purring catches my attention next, and I pause on the steps, listening.

My Alphas sound much sweeter than they do when they"re with me.

It may be because she is smaller, and so it ignites a deeper, primal part of their brains, but the thought soon leaves me the moment I pick up on the scent of her distress.

I stumble the rest of the way down the stairs, aware of Troy at my back as I rush to the living room.

I brace myself for the worst.

All I feel is guilt when I spy her curled up in Jeremy"s arms, face taut as she tries so hard to relax and close her eyes, but something is preventing her.

Belle doesn"t feel as if she belongs here.

And the shame twists in my gut, much worse than the cramps.

No knot in the world could ever remove this pain.

Jeremy runs his hand through her long, black hair.

She"s covered in blood, and anger simmers inside my veins as I drop beside Jeremy, staring at her pale face.

"It"s okay, kitty cat. You are safe now…" Leo whispers.

Belle is barely present, going into a place deep inside herself where no one can hurt her.

I swallow. "What… what happened?"

Jeremey barely looks at me as he continues to cradle the tiny Omega. "You want the bad news or the good news first?"

I reach my finger toward her face, not feeling worthy in the slightest about touching her.

Belle deserves better than the four of us.

We abandoned her.

Some heroes we are…

"The bad news," I finally say.

Jeremy steals a quick glance at Leo.

But Leo is too lost in the sight of the Omega. I"m surprised he hasn"t snatched her away from Jeremy at this point, but it seems they just want to let her rest.

"I found her in the woods, hunched over a dead Alpha…"

Ice-cold dread trickles through my body, settling inside my stomach.

I breathe through my nostrils. "Where is that dead piece of shit now?"

"Lying in the woods. One of us needs to dispose of him. If someone found him…"

Leo snarls, rising to his feet. "I"ll do it."

A part of me wishes that I could be the one to burn his body, but I don"t want to leave Belle.

I will not leave her again after this.

"Both of you go," I announce.

They nod in unison, and now the three of us continue to soothe the Omega.

Her face looks less taut, and less stressed the more time she spends with us.

Belle"s beautiful skin is covered in that filth"s blood, and I need to rectify that right away.

I rise, tucking my hands beneath her as I lift her away from Jeremy.

Neither Alpha protests.

They just watch me curiously.

One Omega taking care of another Omega…

It"s almost the thing of folktales.

"You two go now. Burn him, chop him up into pieces, I don"t fucking care. Just make sure no one tracks down his body."

They leave the house, determination hardening the lines of their bodies. They"re wearing each other"s pants, but I don"t bother telling them that.

The only thing that matters to me now is taking care of Belle and getting her cleaned.

As I carry her away in my arms, body shaking and covered in sweat, I find Troy watching me in the shadows.

Our eyes lock.

He barely even looks at Belle.

All he sees is me.

His eyes land on her briefly, and I spy something like horror on his face.

Horror at seeing such a delicate creature covered in blood.

I also detect something else, and it almost resembles desire…

But then it vanishes instantly, and his eyes harden with hatred once again as he looks straight at me.

I open up the bond, letting him speak to me.

"I hope you know what you"re doing, Rian."

Oh, I do. I have never been so sure of anything in my life.

I"m still in heat, yet my cramps subside as I cradle Belle close to my chest, melting when she nuzzles her nose against my shoulder.

Her taut expression finally vanishes, and now I turn my back on my Alpha and carry her to my bedroom upstairs.

I will bathe her in my very own shower to rid the nasty scent of that hideous Alpha from her beautiful skin.

And then I will bury her deep beneath my blankets and pillows until she smells of nothing but me.

Belle is mine.

And I will scream it from the rooftops.