Chapter 7

Seven

Idon’t get a second to fully explain what the nest is to Laz and Elias after they come back from the fae a few hours later. They didn’t get anything useful out of the fae and I get the feeling they didn’t torture him because of me—because I am fae too. I ended up falling asleep on the sofa in Laz’ arms last night, listening to Elias and Laz go over their plans to protect me, the packs and send word to all of the other packs. Apparently, several have been wiped off the map by the fae already, and others abandoned their pack lands to hide their people. I remember meeting some of the other alphas in Elias’ pack, and I hope the nice ones got away quick enough. I stretch my limbs as I touch the soft white blanket covering me, smelling like Laz as I glance at the window. Bright rays of yellow sunshine hover across the floor as the sun rises, making the snow tipped trees glitter. Elias is lying on a chair nearby, and Laz is nowhere to be seen but I know he is close.

For a second, an intense wave of pain slams into me and I grow wet—soaked—in seconds. What the fuck was that?

Except I know now, thanks to the omega. I’m going into heat, and my body seems to be charging towards that plan faster than I can get my head around it all. Gods above, I must be going to heat soon. I hoped I could push it back until the war is over, until I am safe, but I don’t think that is happening. I need to talk to my mates. They might not want a child-they might want to run in the other direction when they find it all out. I glance over at Elias for a second, watching him sleep. In my heart, I know he wouldn’t ever run from me. Even if my mind tries to push my insecurities to the brink of my thoughts. My kind alpha chose a small, cramped chair, his head resting on his stretched out arm, his light hair falling into his forehead. He chose the chair so he could fall asleep looking at me.

I love him.

I think I always will. He blinks a few times as he wakes, looking at me, staring at him, and smiling so brightly, so widely. I can’t help but smile back at him, grinning in the morning light. He is handsome first thing in the morning when his hair is wild, when his eyes are sleepy and the weight of being the alpha hasn’t settled into his shoulders yet. “Hello.”

He laughs softly. “Good morning, pretty omega.” He sits up. “Do I smell bacon?”

I chuckle, but I smell it too. Laz must be cooking us breakfast. My stomach comes to life, making enough noise to put a dying goat to shame as I stand up. “I remember where the kitchen is.”

“Good, you do. I’m lost,” Elias laughs, coming to kiss me on the cheek. We quickly head into the bathroom first and freshen up. There are fresh clothes laid out of me by the shower and I happily slide into the fresh, lavender smelling black clothes before pulling my boots on. Elias is changed into thick green chequered shirt and denim trousers when I come out. His hair is brushed to the side, and I have every urge to push him into my nest. To do many, many dirty things in it too.

Things that don’t involve our clothes. Star gods, I don’t need food... I just need— “Verena?”

I shake my head, snapping out of my thoughts. My cheeks burn as I take Elias’ outstretched hand. Whatever I just slipped into was alluring and almost like I wasn’t in control of my body. My pants are already wet. I can feel myself slick with need as I walk to Elias. I wonder if he can smell me too, because he seems tense all of a sudden. He looks down at me a few times on the way to the kitchen, opening and shutting his mouth. His jaw ticking.

I really, really need to talk to them both because this is just going to get worse.

My mouth parts when we enter the kitchen, where Laz is shirtless in a low pair of grey trousers that show off everything when he moves around. Oh, my star gods. He is cooking up what looks like an absolute feast. The whole middle table is just full of plates of bacon, sausages, pastries, toast, so much fruit and salad, too. I gulp as I stare at the food, and the very sexy mate of mine is cooking it all.

I should drag him back to the nest and- “There you are, mate. Did you sleep well?”

Laz snaps me out of it, and he turns, looking me over and sniffing the air. His eyes somehow darken. I have to look away from them both. “I slept well, thank you. So..you like plants and you like to cook?”

“Looking after you makes my wolf feel good. Makes me feel good,” he explains. “And I do like to cook.”

Elias sighs. “You look like a god, and you cook? Thankfully, she loves me, or I might feel jealous.”

It’s crazy how much I love them both in a short time. I know we are mates and that speeds up everything, but I haven’t once felt unsafe when I’m with them. I feel completely relaxed, and until meeting Elias and Laz, I hadn’t ever felt that way. They do everything for me, and they spend so much time just trying to make me feel happy. Who couldn’t love them?

Laz grins at Elias. “Eat, the pair of you. We have a busy day.”

It warms my heart that they have become family through me and accepted that so easily. In this short time, they just completely and utterly accepted each other. It makes me wonder if they were both lonely, looking to the gods for someone, and they are happy to accept the bonds between us all now. We eat in pretty much silence and the reason I don’t say a word is because I’m suddenly starving and feel like I need to eat enough to run a matron.

Or go into heat.

When we are done, Laz begins boxing the food up, and I help with Elias until it’s all piled up. Elias drops the final box on the side. “What’s this all for?”

“There are a few orphanages around the city. I like to cook for them and take them there, especially on the weekends like today. They get donations from the pack, but a cooked meal doesn’t hurt. They are sweet kids, most orphaned outside our pack, and we found them. Others just have bad luck,” he softly explains.

“So, you have a good heart too.” I arch an eyebrow. “I knew you were a teddy bear on the inside.”

Laz laughs, coming closer and wrapping his arms around me. “Only for you. And the kids. And maybe old people too.”

“So, everyone?” Elias drawls. I can’t help but laugh as Laz flashes him with his middle finger. “Ready for a tour of my pack while we make deliveries?”

“I’d love that,” I admit. I want to see as much of this pack as possible.

Elias stretches. “I’m very interested in a tour around the city.”

Laz puts me down and heads to the door, only pausing to look back. “I’m going to get changed before we go, but I forgot to ask—what did you do to my room? My bed? I’ve left the strange circle of blankets alone as my wolf all but bit my head off when I went near.”

I clear my throat. “We need to talk, all three of us... alone. I’ll explain it. The Omega told me some things, and it involves you as my mates.”

Elias and Laz look interested. Laz nods. “Alright, let’s get the food to the orphanages and I’ll show you a bit around the pack. Then we can come back and talk. Maybe while we go for a swim in the pool?”

“I’d like that.” I whisper. For the next hour, he takes me around the bulk of the city. It’s too far and wide to manage everything on foot in the morning, but I’m still amazed by what I do see. But he shows me the orphanages and the very grateful sisters who run them. He shows me the museums full of old things I don’t have names for, the towers and housing, the structures set up for his army, the schools and finally the amount of farming the city produces, which is nothing short of a miracle. They won’t starve here any time soon.

I love seeing the children of the city in particular, how it’s clear they have never had a bad day in their lives. No hunger, no pain or loss for most of them. They lead a simple life. Elias is absolutely fascinated too as he walks around. Elias’s pack may be huge, maybe one of the biggest packs, but Laz’ is definitely more developed. It feels like Laz’s ancestors built on the pre-existing parts of the city and also adapted the lifestyle of whoever used to live here before. They seem like they’re years ahead of most of the packs I’ve known. When we come back to Laz’s building, Laz leads us up to the second floor, straight out into a very humid room. The grass all around is fogged from the heat as it overlooks the space right above the trees. In the centre is a huge rectangular pool with fish drawings stencilled into mosaic tiles all around the edges, hidden below the sparkling depths of blue water. “It’s so warm here.”

My mouth pops open as both Elias and Laz literally just start taking their clothes off. Laz looks up, stark naked. “Yes, it’s heated. We worked out how to open up the old heating systems that were throughout the pack. This is how we keep all the buildings heated throughout the winters here. There are pipes throughout all the buildings. It’s complicated, but I can explain it all in detail later if you want. For now, let’s enjoy our swim and you can tell us what the Omega said. I’m curious. Something is different about you, and it’s driving my wolf insane.”

Elias growls low. “Mine too.”

“Alright.” I chuckle at the sheer possessive confusion in their voices. Just before I’m about to get in the water, I look outside the fog glass. For a second, I see nothing but black wings. My heart lurches in my chest. I close my eyes, open them again, and it’s gone. He’s gone. Rune. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I’m sure I just saw him fly past. He couldn’t have, it wouldn’t have done that. I know that every alarm in the park would be going off if they saw a fae flying straight across the city. Maybe I wanted to see him. Maybe I’m going mad.

“Verena?” Elias questions, his voice slightly worried.

“I thought I saw—“I shake my head. “Nevermind.” I peel off my black leggings and top, leaving myself just in my black underwear. I feel their eyes on me as I quickly dive into the water. I swim right down in the lovely, heated pool before coming back up. Lazuri is in front of me in a second, his arms wrapped around my waist. “Explain to us. Everything.”

I wrap my arms around him as Elias floats near, listening to my every word. “I’ll be going into heat soon. Omegas and heat are a joint gift.”

“I’ve heard of it, but there are so many stories.” Laz murmurs, looking at Elias. “What about you?”

He is looking at me. “Again, too many stories to know what’s true and what’s not. You tell us, Verena.”

“She claimed that omegas are actually not that rare, but that our lives are held on a balance. When we go into heat, if we don’t have our mates with us, joining in to help ease the symptoms, omegas can die.” I see the horror, the worry in their eyes. “They do die and that’s why they’re so rare. She thinks I’m going into heat soon. I think I am too. Building the nest, it was like a drive from my body. My wolf made me do it. My wolf now wants me to drag you both there.” Rune too.

“You don’t need to drag me to your nest,” Laz murmurs in my ear, pulling me closer. Close enough to feel his hard cock press into my thigh. I gasp. “I will beg to be in your nest, to be inside you. On my knees, with my tongue and then my cock. I want your pleasure.”

Elias swims up behind me, stroking his fingers down my spine and sending goosebumps across my skin. “I am yours, Verena. I have dreamt every night of being inside your sweet heat, devouring you, and fuck,” He kisses the top of my skin. “I could burst thinking of you spread out in bed for me. For my seed.”

I gulp, feeling completely out of control. There is a buzzing in my ear, in my body, and I can barely hold it back. I have to tell them about Rune, about the possible pregnancy first. “There’s another thing. It’s got to be all my mates when I’m heat and...”

Laz kisses the side of my lips. “We will be with you through it all. The skies could open and pour hell down on us, burning this world to a crisp, and I would not leave your side.”

Something snaps inside me. A howl echoes out of my throat, followed by a whine. I don’t get a moment to reply as my body rapidly burns to life. As I go into heat. Both Laz and Elias go still, and they both sniff the air, sensing their mate going into heat.

I grasp my stomach as a wave of pain hits me like a rock and I go slick almost immediately, needing them. Desperate for them. A buzzing idea of my whole body comes to life, burning with the need to have them, and it cannot be ignored. “I need?— “

“We know,” Laz looks at me. “We should take you upstairs to your nest,” He growls under his breath, “Before I take you in this pool. I need you, Verena, and you need us.”

I put my hand onto the side of the pool so that I don’t fall in. “Wait, Going into heat is the omega wolf in me making sure that I fall pregnant. If you don’t want that, then you need to get away from me. Damn the consequences, because I won’t make you?— “

Elias lifts me up and puts me on the side of the pool. He is rippling with tension, like he can barely hold himself back. He kisses my leg, a soft kiss, but it’s like being set alight. “I don’t know how else to say this but getting you pregnant sounds like absolutely everything I want in the world. What about you, Laz?”

Laz is climbing out of the pool, giving me a full view of his long, hard as rock, cock. “I want to fill you up, Verena. I have since we met. Fuck, I love the thought of you carrying my baby.”

“I love the idea too,” Elias agrees with a grow.

Laz picks me up and throws me over his shoulder before he all but runs out of the room, making me laugh through the waves of pain and cramps. Elias fast on our heels, completely ignoring the fact that they are very naked and very hard too. Laz barrels through the doors and the second we are in his bedroom; my legs are soaked with the clear evidence of how much I need them. I need to touch myself or have them touch me. I can’t wait. Laz doesn’t make me wait as he lies me down on the bed, on my nest, and widens my legs. He rips off my underwear, baring me to him and licking straight up my slit in one long stroke. I moan as spikes of pleasure burst through my body at the same time Elias climbs on the bed, grabbing my chin and kissing me. He swallows my moan as Laz’s tongue slips in and out of me, then up to my swollen clit, swirling and sucking until I’m bucking with how close I am. He makes my orgasm smash through me as I cry out, into Elias’ mouth and he groans as he enjoys my pleasure too.

Laz tugs me down, lining his cock with me. He looks down at me, at us. “I can’t wait.”

“Please,” I moan, needing him. He seats himself inside me in one long thrust and growls loud enough for the gods to hear. /He fucks me like a man who has lost all and any control, and I take every hard inch of him. He is so big that each thrust borders on pain, but the pleasure is overwhelming. It doesn’t stop as I tighten around him. Elias kisses me the entire time, his hands ripping off my bra so he can play with my hard nipples, only adding to my intense pleasure.

Sex has never been like this.

It’s amazing, and I never want it to stop. I lose track of how many times I orgasm around Laz’s cock and how many times he comes inside me, again and again until I’m dripping with his seed, like he can’t stop either. Laz roars as he comes inside me, filling me with his seed one more time before he pulls out and falls to my side, breathless. Elias flips me over on top of Laz, so my head rests on his stomach and he grabs my hips as I push up on my knees.

His hands dig into my hips as he thrusts into me, inch by inch. “Fucking star gods, you feel...” He groans. “Fuck, I’m nearly coming already.” I push back on him, needing more, my body still burning like I have a fever and it’s not stated.

It won’t be until my mates have all given me their seed. Elias thrusts hard and fast, coming nearly straight away, but he doesn”t stop. He is still hard as he comes again and again, mixing with Laz and sending me crashing into three more orgasms as I tighten around him. On the fifth time, he pulls out and lies back, frowning at me as I sit up, shaking my head. My skin is on fire, and I can’t breathe as I lie back on the bed. “Rune.”

“The fae?” Laz questions, touching my cheek. “Verena, you’re burning up.”

Elias swears. “What’s wrong? She?—”

“Rune might be her mate too,” Laz interrupts. “And she needs him as much as she needs us.”

“It”s a good thing I’m here then, Mercy.” Rune’s cool voice, aching with need, fills the room. My wolf feels like it’s in control as I lift my hand for him, needing him too. Rune looks at the alphas, though. “I love her and can’t see her die like this. Kill me when it’s over if you want. Give me mercy this once and I will never betray the wolves.”

Elias growls at him. “You’re her mate?” He nods. Elias kisses me softly, and moves up to the bed, but he holds my gaze. “Do you love him?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “He isn’t a monster. He pretends to be, but he isn’t. He is my mate... Please.”

Laz lifts my hand and kisses my knuckles. “We beg you, not the other way around. If you welcome him to your nest, then we welcome him too.”

I can tell he is struggling with that decision after Rune kidnapped me, but I can’t think about it right now, not when my body is burning with need. When I’m slick and wet, and Rune has taken his clothes off. He climbs over me, kneeling between my parted legs. “My mate.” He pushes his cock right into me and I gasp, finally feeling complete. Finally, feeling the heat begin to slow down, now it has what it wants. Rune moans into my ear as he fucks me, deep and fast, and I sink my nails into his shoulders. He kisses me, his tongue thrusting into my mouth at the same pace as his cock, until I tighten around him, crying out as he pauses, his seed filling me alongside Elias and Laz.

The heat stops, like the lights come back on in a dark room. Rune blinks as he pulls out of me and we all sit in my nest, very aware that this wasn’t part of the plan. Laz moves closer and punches Rune straight across the face. Elias tugs me up on the bed as Laz punches him again, and again. “Don’t you dare take her again. She is our mate, and she stays at our side. the only reason you’re not dead is because I know you were trying to protect her from your father. Now, you better be here to pledge allegiance to the wolves.”

“I plead my life to Mercy—Verena and the wolves. To you both as alphas,” Rune agrees, softly looking at me. “I’m sorry for it all. I wanted you safe, and I didn’t know they were your mates and good males to begin with. I have watched them for a while now, and learnt they are good. If you’ll have me, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don”t go,” I whisper. “I want all three of you at my side...not just because I could be pregnant now, but because I’m in love with you all.”

They look at each other, and I wait. I know this moment is important, even as I lie in their scent, filled with them too. They each nod and I breathe again, my heart lurching. Three loud bangs hit the front door and I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Whoever is knocking at your door best have a fantastic fucking excuse,” Elias growls, stroking my arm. “I want to continue this. Our mate needs more.”

I clench at the idea of more, even when I feel sore, and my legs are like jelly. We are all still lying in bed panting and breathless, but still completely utterly relieved that the pain has gone, and I can think straight now. The fact my mates are in some sort of truce now is a sign miracles happen. Rune has a broken nose, and he clicks it back into place as I wince, blood pouring down his lips, but Elias offers him a cloth to stop the blood getting on my nest.

Laz drops his eyes to me, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Verena, there’s someone at the gates of the pack claiming to be your father.”