79. Chapter Seventy-Nine

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Gio

A rrow's moving toward me from the direction of the pantry when I step into the kitchen, and I find myself blinking as I take in a breath. His scent is so strong that I can barely stop myself from gasping. Enzo and I both made the decision not to mention it when it was fading, because we didn't want to make our Omega feel self-conscious, but now that I'm catching the full-potency version on the air again … I can't keep my jaw from dropping.

Every breath I take in is like a full-body head-rush.

Arrow's eyes are wide when I focus on him.

"Gio!" he exclaims as he reaches for my hand. "Thank God! I need you to come with me."

"Come with you?" I ask, as I try to clear the cloud of lust that's descended over me thanks to Arrow's full-potency natural scent.

Clearly, something's going on. I need to know what that something is.

"No time to explain," he says, tugging on my hand.

"Give me a second," I insist, trying to clear my head.

It would be a lot easier to focus if I wasn't having persistent thoughts about holding my Omega down and licking every drop of sweat from his body.

Wait. Why is he sweating?

The answer dawns on me slower than it should.

He has all the typical symptoms: a thin sheen of sweat on his skin, a sense of urgency in his voice, and he's perfuming like crazy.

"You're in heat," I tell him, as if he doesn't know.

The symptoms don't usually get this prominent before we take care of his needs.

We must have missed the signs this time because we've been so preoccupied.

This is the worst time for us to be wrapped up in courting a new mate.

Arrow needs us. He's about to become very demanding of our time.

"It's under control." He tugs at my hand again.

Why is he telling me it's under control?

That doesn't make any sense. Maybe he's delirious.

An untended heat can do a lot of strange things to an Omega.

I let him lead me by the hand, ready to take care of his needs.

I'm sure he'll feel a lot better once he's been knotted a few times.

He leads me to the pantry. "Wait. Why here?"

He shakes his head. "You really need to see for yourself."

His strange expression makes me wonder if he saw some kind of rodent, or something.

Whatever he saw, or thinks he saw, he can't seem to articulate it.

If he needs me to come in here, for whatever reason, I can do that.

"Okay."

He drops my hand and opens the door.

The light's already on in the room when he steps inside.

I follow him in a second later, and it's suddenly very obvious what has him so rattled.

A stranger is standing in our pantry, leaning against the wall with his shirt off.

He gives me a wry smile, and I realize instinctively that he's an Alpha.

What the hell is he doing here?

"Who are you?" I ask, stepping forward to put myself between him and Arrow.

The instinct to protect my Omega comes on strong, and I have to tamp down on the urge to get physically violent before I know what's going on.

He points to a thick black tattoo on his chest instead of giving me a verbal response.

It takes a second to make sense of the markings, but the second I see that they're letters, four of them, making up the name of our new true mate, I know exactly who I'm looking at.

This is Beth's ex-boyfriend. The one who made her want to quit dating.

The asshole who started a fight with Jack.

I'm instantly enraged. "It's you! What the hell do you think you're doing here? You're not welcome around my pack, and you're certainly not welcome around Beth."

He straightens himself up and puts his shirt on, looking over my shoulder at Arrow as he tugs the shirt down to cover his stomach. He looks back at me, this time with a sombre expression.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper with your Beta. My judgement was skewed on that one. I thought he was being a creep." He clears his throat. "I had no idea any of you were fated for Beth."

"That has nothing to do with you! Cazzo de stronzo! Get out of here, before I make you regret setting foot inside!"

I'm ready for a fight. I'm just not sure I'm ready for the consequences.

Beth felt something for this idiot at one time.

She may have mixed feelings if I "accidentally" beat him to death.

He raises an eyebrow at Arrow. "What did he just call me?"

"He called you a fucking asshole," Arrow translates quietly at my side.

"Fair. I probably deserve that, but I'm not going anywhere …"

I move toward him and grab him by the throat, cutting him off and keeping my grasp firm as I stare him down.

"You will get the fuck out, and stay out, and you will not interfere in Beth's life ever again. If you can't stick to that rule, I'm going to kill you."

"I've tried," he says, his voice strained. "I've tried to let her go. I didn't intend to come here to beg for her forgiveness, believe me."

I scowl at him. "Stronzata."

"Bullshit," Arrow echoes.

"Hit me, if it'll make you feel better."

I stare at him. I don't know what's going on here.

It doesn't feel like he's lying, but maybe he's just that good at it.

"I'll hit him," Arrow growls. "I owe him one."

I frown at my Omega. I've literally never heard him growl before in my life.

What the hell?

I release the asshole's throat and nod at Arrow.

"Be warned, if you try to attack my mate, I'll make sure you suffer a slow, painful death."

He holds up his hands. "I'm not here for a fight."

He looks at Arrow, and something passes between them that I don't fully grasp.

"I deserve it," he murmurs, when Arrow appears to hesitate. "Make it hurt."

Arrow swings his arm and slaps him hard enough to make a cracking sound.

The handprint left behind is bright red.

Arrow rubs his hand, and stares at our intruder. "You should have told me."

That asshole stretches his jaw and rubs at his cheek before he focuses on Arrow again.

He doesn't curse him out like I expect.

The bastard looks regretful. "I'm sorry about that, truly and deeply. In my defence, I've never spent any time around Omegas before, and our connection took me by surprise."

"That's no excuse," Arrow tells him, while I try to take in what they're telling me through their conversation. "You knew I'd be upset. That's why you didn't tell me who you were."

Arrow's in heat, but he isn't begging me to take him to bed.

And this guy is talking like he's got a bond with my Omega.

Fucking hell. Arrow spoke about a fifth mate.

"Please tell me this isn't your fifth mate?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

It's staring me right in the face. The guy was half naked in here, and this room smells even more strongly of Arrow's perfume than the kitchen did when he was running toward me.

"I wish I could," Arrow admits. "We're not off to a great start here."

"Like your Alpha said, I'm an asshole."

I stare at him. "You hurt Beth. She doesn't want anything to do with you."

He sighs. "I know."

"You can't just walk in here and claim our Omega as yours. We're a pack."

"I know that, too."

"Then how the hell do you expect this to work?" I ask.

He doesn't know how to answer that, I can see it in his eyes.

There's guilt there, too, but he still snuck into our lives.

He didn't try to find the right way to deal with this.

He looks at Arrow and then back at me.

"Considering I'm fated to two of your mates, I expect something will happen to make it work." He shrugs. "I'll leave if you want me to, but you'll only be hurting Arrow and Beth if you force me to stay away for good."

"Leave," I tell him, opening the pantry door and getting ready to kick him out into the alley.

"Wait," Arrow says, as he takes a step toward the door.

I take in a deep breath as I wait for my Omega to explain why he isn't letting this guy leave.

"We need to know what happened with Beth."

"I broke up with her. I had my reasons, and they're better left buried."

Arrow looks disappointed. "You must have known you were true mates."

"I knew. From the moment I saw her, I knew."

"And yet you hurt her anyway," I snap. "We don't need you in our lives."

What's the point of a fated mate bond if one of the partners is incapable of honoring that bond the way it's meant to be honored?

There's no sense in it. I won't let anyone hurt my mates.

I just wish I'd been aware of what was happening back here before he could start claiming my Omega as his mate.

Arrow is quiet as I lead the intruder out of our place.

The guy doesn't say another word.

He walks away when I let go of his arm in the alley.

I really hope that's the last we'll see of him, but, somehow, I doubt it will be.