12. Silver

twelve

Silver

Three years ago. During the Omega Meet

I flirt and throw myself at the packs while I watch Pack Vore out of the corner of my eyes. My desperation bleeds into the air around us. I snap at the alphas; I lash out at those who are kind. My eyes are set impossibly high because if he's that scary, he can keep me safe, right? He can stop them. He's Treyfield. If anyone can save me, he can.

Present Day

West grabs my hands and drags me into a room that has four couches, seven bookcases, and a huge coffee table. It is one of my favourite places in the whole house.

Quint holds up a huge assortment of board games. I take in the huge packets of chips and popcorn around the table. There's a block of chocolate, a jug of what looks like lemonade, and a six-pack of something stronger.

"Come play with us," Quint says cheerfully.

I'm not given the option of refusing. Before I know it, I'm sitting on a couch, perched beside West. He rifles through the games and taps two of them. I've played in here with West, but never with the whole pack.

"These are the most fun because Ross and Quint lose."

I peek a glance at Quint. He smirks and waggles his eyebrows.

I'm not sure how he manages to get his lanky frame to look so relaxed. The twins are never more huge than when they're sitting beside me. And still, after all these years, I want nothing more than to crawl into their laps and bury my nose in the crook of their necks.

I clear my throat, feeling a burn up my chest and into my cheeks. "I don't mind, whatever you want."

They choose one, and I barely manage to pay attention to the instructions before it starts.

It takes about ten minutes before I realise rules are merely guidelines, and whatever the hell they are playing isn't what we're actually playing.

I muddle through it with West helping me. He chortles and elbows me, getting closer until we're pressed thigh-to-thigh, shoulder-to-shoulder.

It's insane because all four of them are crazy competitive but in a happy way. Quint and West don't team up with each other, either. It's every alpha for himself.

Ross keeps handing me morsels of food to eat and topping up my drink, and it's only on my third top up that I realise my cheeks are aching from laughing and my stomach hurts.

I haven't had this much fun in forever.

Quint suddenly lunges at Ross, pining him to the couch. He licks the side of his face. I'm laughing right up until they start kissing.

Heat rips through me in a way I haven't experienced in a long time. I burn, and I find myself frozen, my hand outstretched.

My heart clenches painfully, and I force myself to look away. I don't dare look at Ian right now. I'm sure he'd see right through me.

Ian grips my wrist and drags me off my couch and onto the one beside him. I perch on the edge, still keeping my eyes averted.

"Look at me," he hisses.

I force my eyes until we're staring at each other. He searches for something, I don't know what, but the answer steals a gusty sigh out of him.

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Yes!" I say before he even finishes the sentence.

He stands up and holds out his hand. I glance at Ross and Quint, who are peeling clothes off each other, and put my hand in his.

West follows us, silent as a shadow. His fingertips brush over my hips every now and then. When we get outside, Ian disappears, and I'm stuck with the fire set inside me and West's fingers teasing me with innocent brushes. The image of Ross and Quint plays in my mind, and not even the cool night air can touch the heat in my skin. I remain perfectly still while West moves around me like a circling shark. All of my attention is focused on him. His scent, his movements, his touch.

I barely notice the crescent moon high in the sky or the twinkling stars.

"Do you have a problem with my brother and Ross?"

I jerk my head in his direction. "Not at all."

West hums. "My brother and I like to share our lovers."

I gulp and edge back from him. Where is Ian? "And you share Ross?"

"And Ian. Though he doesn't share too well, he's too pushy. Control freak."

"Ah-ha. That sounds fun." I glance away from him, searching the shadows. Where is Ian? My control is tenuous.

"We've been really looking forward to sharing you."

My mouth goes instantly dry as heat lights up my insides. My attention focuses almost entirely on the alpha tracking me across the patio.

"Would you like that?" West murmurs.

I watch his tongue dip out and moisten his lower lip. Oh, help me. I feel strange in my body, awkward, heavy. But so alive. Like I've been sleeping all this time.

"Silver?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I'd like it." It's a bare whisper of sound. Said to the alpha in front of me in the empty darkness of the front of his house. Glass windows are the only witness to my sin.

West moves closer. He's hunting me. The steady, slow prowl as he inches towards me. The focus, the sound of his voice. Trying to get my guards lowered so I don't run.

I don't think I could move if someone screamed for me to run. I'm tired and exhilarated. I just…need.

As soon as I think the word, the heat that I've been controlling, the heat I've been suppressing blazes into life. A whine, low and needy, fills the air around us, and West pauses, his head cocked to the side.

"Silver?"

I ignore the question in his voice and stumble towards him. It hurts, it hurts so badly. I don't think I can take this.

"What is it?"

Ian catches me as my legs buckle. He casually lifts me into his arms, staring down at me. But I don't care, I can smell him. Far stronger than I normally do? The drugs I couldn't afford anymore have stopped working.

Where did he come from? Has he been here in the shadows all along?

I can see Ian adding it up, too. His lips press together in anger, and he lets out a growl of such displeasure that my pussy starts weeping. Weeping! It's so humiliating.

"Quint! Ross!" West shouts into the house.

"Prepare to lock down the house for a heat," Ian says evenly.

I look up with a moment of crystal clarity. "But you hate me."

Ian shakes his head. He looks so disappointed. "I don't hate you, Silver. I hate what you did. And that is in the past. But none of us are going to leave an omega to suffer a heat alone. We will help you."

"You can't." My protest is weak.

"Did you have someone else lined up?" Ian asks softly.

I shake my head, cringing as a cramp ripples through my lower abdomen. His expression softens.

"Let us see you through this heat. Let us make you feel good," Ian says softly.

"Yeah, we can do that for you. It's no hardship, Silver."

I whip my head towards Ross who pulls a robe onto his body and ties it hastily. He could tell me the sky's a picture of red carnations falling, and with that tone, I would believe him.

"You won't hate me tomorrow?"

Ross leans forward, pressing his lips to my cheek. "I won't hate you any day, Silver."

Ian carries me through the house as the other three scatter. The heat is causing my head to ache and my mouth to go bone dry. But at the same time, I have this restless energy.

"I haven't had a heat in a long time."

"We'll take care of you."

I exhale as he opens a door. It's free of scents, completely clean. But when he carefully puts me down, I turn to see the most beautiful room I've ever seen in my life. At one end is a huge, round, stained glass window. It's got a compass with four points, beautiful flowers, birds flying, and a scene of a countryside with a stunning sunset.

"That's beautiful."

"Yes, West made it."

I gulp. For his omega. Who isn't me.

But I could be.

She didn't want him.

The bed is lower to the ground than I'm used to, with no frame. It appears just to be a mattress on the floor, but no mattress on the floor has ever looked so luxurious. There are blankets and pillows everywhere. There's a TV. A huge fridge. A music system. Low lights that can turn on from the floor or the ceiling. A fan, air conditioning, a heater.

It is the perfect nest.

"But…what if-"

"Do you see this bite on your wrist, Silver?" Ian asks and runs a thumb over it. I shudder, feeling him inside me in a blast that surprises me.

"Yes."

"You are the omega we want to share this space with."

I shiver as he walks to the wall and presses a panel. It opens, revealing a massive bathroom.

"If you want to have a shower or calm down, I need to make a phone call to the office."

"Office?"

It seems so stupid to ask that now. After everything.

Ian smiles. "I design computer games. Remember, I took you there last week," he teases and winks at me.

My jaw drops open as he turns and walks out of the nest, leaving me with a myriad of feelings, all of which are too confusing to even try to figure out.

I look at the shower. Perhaps a cold shower will help put this burning out.

I glance back at the bedroom door, a strange mix of excitement, anticipation, and fear coursing through me.

I am the omega they want to share this space with. I take a deep breath and let it out.