Chapter Thirty-Three

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Now Playing: Weightless (ATL’s version)- All Time Low

Nebula may have been the most obvious about his distress when Omen was nearly kidnapped yesterday, but we all felt it. Losing sight of her in the crowd storming the stage and then having the bodyguards tell us they’d also lost her was terrifying. Seeing her being carried away by her sister-in-law and her accomplices was enraging.

These assholes need to leave her alone, our girl has been through enough.

Rapping my knuckles against the doorway, I peer inside the library where my firefly is curled up in a chair reading one of the books Nexus had on the shelf. She smiles when she sees me, setting the book aside.

“Feel up for a ride?”

Her teeth sink into her lip nervously as she glances outside. I know she’s considering the threat to her safety, which is something I also took into account before I asked. “We’re only going around the lake, and two of the security staff will follow behind us in a car.”

The firm Donovan recommended works fast. Nebula called them first thing this morning and they had a team here and working by noon. They’d even done a check of our security system and made a couple of tweaks to optimize our setup.

“In that case, I’d love to go.”

She meets me in the garage a few minutes later, already wrapped in the leather jacket I’d ordered for her. I brush her hair aside and snap her helmet in place, my fingers lingering by Nebula and Nexus’ bond marks a little longer than necessary.

Jealousy isn’t a new emotion for me. I felt it all the time growing up seeing other kids with loving, attentive families. Feeling so envious of my bonded mate is new though.

Not that my desire to bond Omen matters. I won’t push her to make a decision she isn’t ready for.

Swinging my leg over the seat, I offer her a hand to steady her as she climbs on behind me. Once she’s pressed against my back, arms secure around my waist, I start up the bike and drive us out of the garage.

Making sure traffic is clear, I turn left and head up the winding road around the lake. With the leaves now a solid blend of orange, yellow, and red it’s a charming ride. Omen purrs contentedly, the soft rattle easing any lingering stress from my body as we fly through the trees.

Water glitters to our left where the lake sits below the hill we are on. I spy a small lookout ahead and quickly signal we are stopping. We both slip our helmets off, enjoying the view of the sinking sun across the fall landscape.

“It’s beautiful up here,” Omen murmurs.

“Yeah, it is.”

We sit silently, enjoying the peace and the fresh air. It’s getting chilly quickly, so I help her snap her helmet back in place and drive us back to the house.

I startle when I turn around from hanging up our helmets and find Omen standing behind me. She stretches onto her tiptoes and brushes her lips against the corner of my mouth. “Thank you, Alpha. I needed an escape from my own thoughts and going for a drive with you was the perfect solution.”

“We can go out any time you’d like,” I promise, carefully tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear.

“Callisto wanted to watch the new episode of First Glance Pack tonight, you could join us. If you want.” Pink colors her cheeks and she averts her gaze, glancing down to where her fingers are playing with the zipper of her jacket.

“I’d love to join you, firefly. Are we watching in the living room or in the nest?”

Her eyes fly to mine, relief swimming in the sea green orbs. A furrow creases her brows and her head tilts slightly to the left. She’s so fucking adorable. “We could watch it in the nest?”

Oh, duh. We’ve only been in the nest to sleep or to fuck, so we haven’t shown her the drop screen and projector we had set up for her to watch movies with.

“Yeah, there’s a projector built into the ceiling with a screen on the opposite side.”

“The nest then!” She beams at me before turning to head into the house. She hesitates for a minute before stretching her hand out toward me. My large palm engulfs her smaller one and I let her lead me inside.

The smell of chili and cornbread fills the entire house, making both Omen’s and my stomach growl loudly. She laughs, moving faster toward the stairs.

It’s not as noticeable unless you’ve been watching her, but our girl is getting stronger every day. Since she accepted the bond from Nexus the worst of the side effects from the chemical rejection have started to fade. She’s sleeping better, and her appetite has returned full force. I don’t feel like she’s going to collapse if she’s on her feet for too long now. It hasn’t even been a week yet, and she’s already getting back to her old self.

I know these are only the physical effects. The mental trauma we caused will be much more difficult to overcome, but we are here to support her in any way we can.

One day all of this will be in the past and we’ll find the happy ending Fate had in store for us.

Crowding into the kitchen, we eat at the large island instead of dragging everything into the dining room. My packmates can sense the lightness in our omega after the ride. Their bonds pulse with happiness and hope, feelings that settle in me too.

“So, Nex, what do you want for your birthday?” Nebula asks as he refills both his and Omen’s bowls. Her eyes widen dramatically as her head whips toward the end of the island where Nexus is perched on the counter.

“My birthday is September 22nd, which is Friday,” he tells her. “And books is my answer.”

We all groan in unison, except for Omen who glances between us with one eyebrow raised. “That seems exaggerated for an easy request?”

“He always wants books. We always feel bad only getting him books when we know he doesn’t have time to actually read all of them.” Callisto explains.

“I’ll read them eventually!” Nex protests.

“I’m with Nexus on this one. Even if they sit untouched on the shelf for twenty years, at least he will have something to enjoy when he’s old.” She shrugs before digging back into her dinner.

“Exactly! I knew you were perfect for us, gorgeous, from the day we met you!” Nexus swings his legs, humming happily and beaming at our girl.

She smiles back at him, but it’s fragile in comparison to the one on her face moments ago. The reminder of how things were between us prior to us learning she was born Sarah Montgomery kills her joyful moods.

“When is your birthday?” I ask to distract her from the spiral I can see building behind her eyes.

“Not until January. Bea’s birthday is soon though, on the 9th. I was going to invite her here to hang out since we can’t risk going out for the night with everything going on.”

“That’s a great idea, babygirl. You should ask Foster to come too. Have an omega-only night in. I can make snacks for the three of you to share,” Nebula offers.

“I’ll ask them. Bea is most likely a yes unless she has work, but Foster has been busy with work and DAU projects. He’s also sticking to Hannah’s side more than ever now with her due date getting closer.”

Omen’s lips twist thinking of her sister and friends. We aren’t sure what is happening between the three of them, but based on Foster and Shepherd’s attentiveness to Hannah when they were here last there is something building there. The Wilsons are clearly smitten with the beta woman.

We keep the rest of our conversation to simple chatter while we finish eating. Omen offers to help clean up the mess, but Callisto convinces her to shower and change into fluffy pajamas instead.

As I’m wiping down the counters, an idea starts to form in my mind. I may have another way we can show Omen exactly how determined we are to keep her with us forever. I’ll have to do a bit of research before I share it with the others, in case it’s out of the realm of possibility for us to accomplish.

Before I trek upstairs, Nebula loads my arms up with a huge bowl of popcorn and a basket full of other snacks to share. Water is still running in the shower, so I slip into the nest and sit everything to the side.

Opening the hidden panel for the projector takes a minute since I have to track down the remote. The panel opens and the projector angles down. Pressing another button, a large white screen slowly expands against the wall of framed pictures.

“That’s so cool!” Omen exclaims from behind me. She’s cute as hell in her oversized fleece pajama top and matching pants. The tan color makes her look like a sexy teddy bear, which is a weird as fuck thought to have.

Hormones, they do weird things to alpha brains sometimes.

“We thought it might be too bright to have exposed during your heat, so we had them get all tech wizard on the setup,” I explain. It only takes a few seconds to navigate to the app Callisto uses to watch the new episodes of their show. I leave it paused while we wait for our beta mate to join us.

Omen flops onto the bed, wiggling around for a minute as she rearranges all of the pillows and blankets to optimize her nest for a movie night. When she’s comfortably settled against a stack of pillows I hand her the bowl of popcorn.

“What do you think I should get Nexus for his birthday?” Omen asks as I settle in beside her. “Besides books, because I already have a few of those in mind.”

“As long as you’re here, he’s guaranteed to have the best birthday ever. You’ve already given him the gift he wanted most,” I tell her, running my finger over his bond mark again.

Her lips purse as she studies me. “If you think so. I still want to find him something special though.”

“Ready to see another week's worth of chaos?” Callisto asks as he walks in. Talk of Nexus’ birthday is quickly forgotten as we watch the pack on the screen try to find balance in their new relationship.

Omen giggles when the omega on the show tries to make one of her new alphas pancakes for breakfast, except she puts way too much baking soda into the batter. “That would be me if I ever tried to cook.”

Callisto grabs a small container of nail polish and lets her dig through it to pick which one she wants. They commentate the entire show while he paints her nails for her. It’s wonderful witnessing the steady friendship they’ve built over the past several weeks. He’s becoming someone she trusts and relies on, which is a great sign for our entire pack. If she can forgive him, she could forgive all of us too.

Omen’s curled between me and Cal, and her eyes are shut by the time the show is over. I look at him over her shoulder and nod toward the door. We’re careful as we shift away from her, trying not to wake her. Gathering the empty bowls and cups is easier since they’re piled on the floor by the bed. Cal takes everything from my hands and heads out first. I linger behind, watching my firefly as she sleeps peacefully in the middle of her nest.

For the longest time, I never imagined this would happen. We’d gone through so many omega agencies trying to find our mate, but they were never a match. They were never her. Things haven’t gone the way we hoped. We all made a lot of mistakes, but having her here in our house makes all of the chaos worth it.

The door opens again when Nexus walks in. He looks as sleepy as our omega, but he’s carrying a book in his hand. He’ll probably fall asleep reading it and have to search the blanket piles in the morning.

“Good night,” I whisper.

A hand snatches mine when I move to walk away. Light green eyes peek up at me hesitantly. “Stay?” My heart soars with her question. Like I would ever say no to the chance to sleep by her side. I slip my shirt over my head and curl against her back. Nexus is grinning from his spot on her other side.

“Ready to sleep, gorgeous? Or do you want to start the next book in our duet?”

“Book,” she mumbles. We both chuckle, sharing a look that says we know she’ll be out before he can finish the chapter, but he finds the first page and starts to read anyway. His words blur through my mind, the sound of his voice lulling me to sleep as quickly as our girl.

My chest rises and falls, the sweet scent of sunflowers and honeysuckle filling my lungs. Hair tickles my cheek with each breath out. Cracking my eyes open, a smile stretches across my lips when I see Omen sprawled on top of me. I gently push the hair away from her mouth, biting back a bigger smile when I see her parted lips and sleep-slackened face. She’s adorable.

A glance to the left reveals Nexus is still starfished across the bed beside us. His soft snores are muffled by the blankets piled near his head. I could get used to waking up like this. With my girl in my arms, and my mates around me.

Technically Callisto and Nebula are in the other room, but I doubt this arrangement will last for much longer. Our omega is starting to accept us as her pack, I can feel it.

“Good morning,” Omen murmurs against my chest.

“Mornin’ darlin’.”

She shifts, propping her head on her hands so she can look up at me. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Mhmm, I did. Don’t think I’d ever be able to have a bad night of sleep with you in my arms.” Lifting my hands, I run them up and down her sides, caressing her hips and waist. She feels so small in my arms, so fragile. But I know she’s the strongest of us all. Everything she’s endured in her short life she’s walked away from. My firefly is a survivor.

Pulling the blanket up over our legs, her thigh brushes against my morning wood and she freezes. Tentatively she does it again, teeth digging into her bottom lip as she watches me jerk beneath my sleep shorts.

“Omega,” I grunt. Her green eyes snap to mine at the same moment her perfume bursts into the air around us. “Fuck.” I hiss out a breath, my grip on her waist tightening as I try to wrangle my instincts.

“Titan.” My name breathed from her lips, the sound so sultry and full of need, is all it takes for my restraint to snap. I bury a hand in her long hair and grip the strands tight, angling her head so I can slam my lips to hers. The kiss is ferocious. All teeth and tongue and pent-up desire.

She whimpers against my lips, sucking on my tongue and grinding her soaked little cunt against my thigh. I use my grip on her hair to pull her back, meeting her half-lidded eyes. “Tell me what you want me to do, Omega.”

“I want–” Her eyes flutter closed, a breath held in her lungs. I lay tense beneath her, giving her time to check in with her true desires instead of giving in to our impulses. Sea green shimmers determinedly when she looks at me again. “I want you to bond me.”

My brain stalls, an error code popping up as her words force a restart. “Are you sure?”

It’s too soon. We haven’t done enough to make up for the way we’ve treated her. There is still so much we need to reassure her about.

“Yes. I want this, Titan.” Her voice is steady enough for me to believe her. I stare into her eyes for several long seconds, waiting for her to change her mind, but she doesn’t.

Trusting her to make her own decisions, I have her on her back beneath me in a single breath. Giggles slip between her parted lips at the sudden change in roles. The sound quickly turns to a moan when I rip the fuzzy sleep pants from her legs, taking her sopping wet panties with them. Her perfume floods the room and I can’t hold myself back any longer.

She asked me to bond her, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.

Burying my face between her legs, I inhale her rich scent straight from the source. My dick is pulsing against my thigh, knot already starting to swell from this small hit. When my tongue runs up her center, I know it’s over. I’ve found heaven and no one will ever be able to pull me away from her again. I’ll live and die happily between her thighs.

“Tee.” She moans my name so prettily. Her hands tangle in my long hair, twisting the strands around her fist to guide me up to her throbbing clit. I oblige, sucking the small nub between my teeth.

One thick finger presses into her core and I nearly come in my shorts. She’s so fucking tight. No wonder she was nervous when she saw me stroking myself the other night.

I take my time stretching her, scissoring my fingers, and working her toward an orgasm with my tongue. When her walls start to pulse around me, I add a third finger and fuck her harder with them. Strangled sobs rip from her chest when I push her through her first release and directly into another.

When her legs fall to the sides, trembling from the strength of her orgasm, I slowly push to my knees. Omen watches with wide eyes as I shove my shorts to the floor. Her tongue runs across her lip when I fist my cock, running my fingers over the tip and smearing pre-cum down the side.

“On your knees, Omega,” I demand. She flips over, nearly collapsing on top of Nexus where he is still passed out beside us. A smirk pulls at my lips knowing how salty he will be when he realizes I fucked our girl on top of him and he wasn’t even awake to enjoy it.

Settling on the bed behind her, I run a palm down her spine before gripping her ass and spreading her wide. I want to watch her greedy cunt swallow every inch of me. Lining myself up, I slowly push inside of her.

“So big,” she whines, her hips shifting like she’s trying to pull away.

“Don’t move,” I scold her, hands moving to grip her hips to keep her still. “This tight little cunt is going to take all of me, so I can fuck you senseless on top of your sleeping Alpha.”

Feeling the gush of slick my words cause, I pull out to the tip and slam back inside, not stopping this time until her entrance is brushing against my knot. Her breath oofs out of her, arms scrambling against the blankets to find a better purchase.

“Fuck, you’re pretty when you’re impaled on my cock. You gonna be a good Omega and take my knot too? Let me stretch this tight little pussy to its limit?”

She whines in response, pushing her hips back against every punishing thrust. I tighten my grip, pounding into her faster. A small shift in the angle has her walls convulsing around me, gripping my dick so tight it’s a struggle to pull back out.

“That’s it, come for your Alpha. Make my knot nice and slick.”

Pressing against her, I grind the edge of my knot inside her entrance, slowly working my way inside of her. When it slips into place and swells to lock us together, I nearly crush her with my weight. I’ve never felt anything like this. It’s as painful as it is pleasurable and I never want it to stop. My hips grind in tiny circles against her as I start to come.

Brushing her hair and mine aside, I sink my teeth into the top of her shoulder, opposite Nexus’ bond mark. Cool silver threads reach for my deep purple strands, slowly twining together. When Omen grabs my arm and sinks her teeth into my wrist, they snap together. I can feel everything. Her pleasure and joy, the lingering fear of rejection–all of it.

My arms tuck beneath her chest, rolling us to the side so I can hold her against me without smothering her. “Thank you, firefly, for giving me the chance to love you.”