Chapter Thirty-Six

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Now Playing: I Wanna Dance With Somebody- Sleep Token

We left Omen asleep in her nest this morning to start preparing for her heat. She needs all the rest she can get before it fully hits. The door to the studio stands open in case she wakes up and comes searching for us.

Thankfully, Nebula seems to be prepared for the chaos a heat brings. He produces a neatly written to-do list and quickly hands out tasks. I’m in charge of setting up a delivery of easy-heat meals and groceries to stock the mini fridge in the nest, while he calls the label to request time off and schedules a cleaning company to come a few days after.

Turning to Titan, he asks him to check in with our security team. Tee also gets to order a heat gift for Omen, which we’ve been discussing off and on since she told us she was in pre-heat last night.

Nexus, as the most charismatic of us, gets to call or text all of our family and friends–the ones who check in regularly at least–so they aren’t beating down our door during the heat. That includes calling Foster to let Hannah know her sister will be going silent for a bit. The timing is unfortunate because we know she is due soon.

Hopefully, the baby holds off long enough for us to get through the heat. Omen will be beside herself if she has to miss another birth.

Nebula is on the phone with Brady, explaining the changes in our schedule, when all three alphas snap upright in their chairs. Their eyes go unfocused for several seconds and I realize they are getting alerts from their bond with Omen.

I’m on my feet and rushing up the stairs seconds before I hear their feet pounding along the floor behind me. My mind races from thought to thought, my worry growing with each step closer we get to her nest. Is she hurt? Did she fall in the shower? Or is it something else? Has there been some unforeseen complication with the chemical rejection’s toll on her body?

Skidding to a stop outside of the door to her nest, I’m nearly bowled over by the overwhelming power of her distressed scent. The door bounces off the wall, nearly knocking back into me. My footsteps falter when my eyes land on the shocking, messy state the nest is in.

Yesterday, Omen had carefully constructed her nest on the bed, with worn items from all our wardrobes spread through the pillows and blankets to saturate the area in a blend of our scents. Now the bed is barren, the previous contents tossed around the floor. And at the center, curled in a ball and releasing the most heartbreaking sobs, is our omega.

Nexus and Titan brushing past me spur me back into action. I crawl onto the bed at the same time they do. We all crowd around Omen, whispering her name, but she can’t hear us.

Lying down in front of her, I pry her hands from her face and wrap them in mine. It’s second nature for me to start singing softly, using the same technique to calm her now as I’ve done in the bath over the past month.

Puffy, red-rimmed green eyes blink open, filling with new tears when she sees me. “Callisto? You’re here?”

I can see Nebula’s brows furrow behind her, but that one simple question tells me all I need to know. Our girl woke alone in pre-heat and thought we had abandoned her. Again.

Fates, we’re a bunch of assholes.

“Yeah, starlight, I’m here. We all are. We promised we wouldn’t leave you, and we meant it.” I brush the tears from her cheeks, pressing my forehead to hers. “You’ll never be alone again.”

“But you weren’t here. It hurt so much and I t-tried to find you, b-but you were gone,” she cries. Her nails dig into my arms as she clings to me.

The others finally realize what happened and start to settle around her, their hands on her in some way to help soothe her. “It was a bad dream, babygirl,” Nebula explains.

“We were downstairs getting everything sorted for your heat, that’s all,” Titan adds.

Nexus crawls behind me, leaning over my shoulder and running his fingers through her bedhead. “You own my soul, gorgeous. The only way I would leave you now is through death. Even then the Grim Reaper would have to fight me first.”

“We aren’t ever going to leave you again.”

She cries quietly against me. These tears are cathartic, a way for her body to release the rest of the stress built up from her nightmare.

When she’s sniffling and relaxed, she finally speaks again. “I won’t survive if any of you change your minds about me. I-I can’t–I can’t go through another rejection. I just can’t.”

“And you won’t have to,” I swear.

“We’re all in, darlin’.”

Nebula crawls closer, leaning over Omen’s legs and pressing a finger to her chest, right above her heart. “Any time those doubts start to sink in, look here. If you can’t trust our words, trust our bonds. Emotions don’t lie, babygirl. You’ll be lucky if we let you have more than an hour of alone time. We can be real needy assholes.”

A watery chuckle escapes Omen’s lips as she studies each of our expressions.

We lay on the bed cuddling her for a while longer. None of us try to move or fix the destroyed nest, we simply offer her comfort as best we can. Reassuring her we aren’t going anywhere. Only when her stomach growls loudly do we finally start to pull apart.

“How about we get a nice, hot bath while Nebula makes lunch?” I suggest. It’s a slightly selfish request because I want to spend more time with her, but I also know it will do her good to relax for a bit longer. We can deal with the nest and heat preparations afterward.

Lifting Omen into his arms, Titan carries her into the bathroom while I start the water in the tub. He presses a kiss to her forehead, whispering words of affirmation in her ear before leaving. She shivers in her tiny sleep shorts and thin shirt, so I wrap a fluffy robe around her shoulders.

Checking the temperature of the water, I add in a mildly scented strawberry creme bath bomb and a dash of vanilla bubble bath. “Okay, starlight, let’s get you warmed up.”

I help push the robe off her shoulders, hanging it back up while she peels the rest of her clothes off. She puts a hand on my shoulder to steady herself as she climbs in, then I slip in behind her, guiding her back against my chest.

The tension bleeds out of both our bodies as we float in the steaming hot water.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

I nearly choke hearing the words. “You’re apologizing? Omen us walking away nearly killed you! You have absolutely nothing to apologize for!”

She glances back at me, shocked eyes wide from my vehement outburst.

“Listen to me, Omega.” I grip her chin between my fingers to make sure she cannot look away. “What happened back there? Your nightmares, the emotional and physical meltdown, the doubt? We deserve every second of it, and so much more . If you need to lash out, we’ll take every blistering whip of your anger. You need to break down? Our arms will hold you together while you do. Anything you throw at us, we will gladly let you take it all out on us. We will suffer along beside you because we fucking love you.”

“Y-you love me?” The words are barely a breath on her tongue, her mouth hangs open. Have we never told her how we feel about her?

“Yes, starlight,” I tell her, my eyes softening. “I love you so damn much this world feels desolate any time we’re apart. Being with you is like returning to Eden. Transported to a paradise this world thought unattainable.”

Water nearly sloshes over the edge of the tub as she whips around to face me, her knees falling on either side of my thighs. Soft lips press urgently to mine. I part them, letting her tongue sweep into my mouth as she devours me. The heat of her sweet core presses against my aching length, and I can’t fight back a groan at the sweet pressure.

When her hands tangle in my hair, angling my head where she wants me, I let myself go lax beneath her. She’s the captain and I am merely a vessel at her disposal.

“I want to feel you,” she says in a desperate rasp.

“I’m yours, starlight. Have me as you please.” My fingers trail lightly up her sides, over the curve of her hips and the swell of her breasts, before meeting at the hollow of her throat and descending between her beautiful breasts.

“Here.” Her palm presses above my heart, pink tingeing her cheeks and uncertainty flickering in her eyes. “I want to feel you here.”

“Omen,” I speak her name with a strained voice. There is nothing I would like more than to be bonded to her, but bonding me wasn’t my intention in bringing her here. “I will gladly accept your bite whenever you are ready, but are you sure? My words weren’t a plea for a bond, they are merely a summoning of the love in my heart.”

She lifts herself in the water, settling her entrance right above the head of my cock. “I want to bond you, Callisto, but I want you to fuck me first.” With a gasp, she takes me inside of her in one quick drop of her hips. She’s strangling me, her walls wrapped so tight around my length I have to wonder how she ever managed to take Titan or Nebula.

My hands fly to her hips as she lifts herself and sinks back down over me again and again. “Sweet Fates, starlight, you feel incredible.” When she fists my hair, pushing my head toward her chest, I nearly come on the spot. I barely manage to fight off my orgasm as I swipe my tongue across her supple skin.

“Cal,” she moans. “More.”

Swiping across her nipple, I take the bud between my teeth and gently bite down. She writhes against me, her hips lifting faster. I tighten my grip on her hips, helping her grind against me each time she bottoms out. “That’s it, starlight. Use me. Shatter me into pieces and use your wet heat to cement me back together again.”

The closer she gets, the more unyielding her grip on me gets. My hips jerk in unsteady thrusts as I chase my release alongside her. “Yes, Cal. Fuck me. My good boy, making me feel so damned good.”

Hearing Omen call me her good boy tips me over the edge. I rut into her almost violently as I come, pushing my release back into her with each punishing thrust. I don’t stop when I’m spent, refusing to give up until she’s satisfied. Two, three, four hard thrusts and she’s clenching me so tight more of my seed spills into her.

Her teeth sink into my throat, above Nexus’ bond and I’m lost in a sea of jubilation. The silvery threads of her bond wrap around the lilac strings of mine, twining protectively around this connection now eternally forged between us. I feel whole despite never having realized such a vital piece of myself was missing.

“I love you too, Cal,” she murmurs with a pleased hum.

We soak in the water for a few minutes longer, but when the water starts to lose its temperature I help her climb out. Our bodies are dried and we’re starting to put on new clothes when Nexus saunters into the closet. His flirty smirk turns heated when he sees the new bite on my neck.

“Sweet girl, you are the most magnificent, freshly fucked omega I’ve ever laid on.” He grabs her waist and twirls her around until she’s pressed between the two of us. “And I can’t wait to have you writhing between us, feeding off of our pleasure as we make you come over and over again.” His teeth nip her ear and he winks at me. Perfume floods the air around us, and I can feel Omen shifting her thighs together as she reacts to his words.

“Come on, my two wild lovers, let’s go eat lunch before our grumpy Alpha decides to hunt us down.” Omen’s lips push into a pout, but he just presses a kiss to them. Laughter flows behind him as he dances out of the room.

“Someone’s asking for a punishment,” Omen grumbles.

“Of course, he is, starlight, he lives to be punished,” I laugh, “Come on, let’s get you fed. We can create a plan to torture him together later.”