Not being able to lie both made me nervous, and was oddly refreshing. Shan, Cas, and I had built our initial relationship on lies. From what I could tell, everything was out in the open now, but being able to feel if they lied once we were bonded made me way more confident in my choice to form more bonds. I could have lived with only Emmett’s mark on me, the claim insignificant unless we worked hard to form a deeper emotional connection.
I wanted more, though.
All of them were going to be mine. These five men who would have fallen apart without me, because I would be in an equally chaotic state without them.
With Emmett’s wound bare, I pressed my hands to his skin and he trembled. Arousal swirled in my lower belly, Shan and Caspian still making noise in the living room, Cas’ desire stroking me through our weak Omega bond. I ignored it and closed my eyes, reciting a spell. Em grunted. I opened my eyes when the tingling electricity of magic left the air, and his wound was healed, skin marred by a faint scar.
“Thank you,” he said as I settled back down beside him.
“I wasn’t going to let you walk around with an injury, and you were getting too gods damned antsy, so this was my only option.”
“The injury was healed enough that walking really wouldn’t have been a problem.”
“And yet, I still wasn’t going to let you do it,” I said. “It’s a good thing you said yes to the healing magic, because I would have tied your ass down to the bed.”
He chuckled, purring again. I rested my cheek on his chest, needing to feel the rumble. We sat against the headboard together, occasionally having quiet conversations but mostly in companionable silence. When I felt a wash of emotions through the bond from Oswald, reaching his release with Nolan, I squirmed. He held me tighter, taking deep breaths of my scent. Shortly after, Shan and Cas entered the room and we all curled up together in the bed, falling asleep again.
EIGHT
Oswald
We barely made it to the elevator before I had my hand in Nolan’s soft hair, pressing his lips to mine.
Freya’s suggestion had stuck itself in my head.
She’d be paying attention.
“Oswald!” Nolan gasped, pushing back from me.
It was so fucking hot, knowing both my mates were in my head, tied to my very soul. Before I’d been cursed, I’d never imagined I’d end up in a ragtag pack with an Omega and a Beta for mates. I planned to claim Freya at my earliest opportunity. Her bite on my neck throbbed whenever I saw her, begging for me to return the bond, and now she was out of heat I would do it. Not that I thought she had less agency while in heat. She was the most level-headed Omega I’d ever heard of, but it was better to be careful.
I let him go with a crinkled eyebrow, watching as he pressed the button for the top floor. “Am I not allowed to kiss my mate? I thought you weren’t mad about the bond? If you’d rather not strengthen it…”
I’d feel genuine physical pain if he didn’t want to, but I would get over it.
“No, I want to.”
“Why push me away?”
“Well, we’re in an elevator for one thing.”
“And I sucked you off in one already. Next objection.”
He fidgeted, his fingers playing with a reddened thread on his pants. We were both covered in blood, but for vampires it was far from a turnoff. I did want to wash the red from his skin, though, so I could inhale his scent without it being tainted.
“Why is Freya so OK with this?” he asked.
The elevator door opened onto the penthouse level and I grabbed his hand, pulling him from the elevator. He took the lead until we got to his suite, then I brought him into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
“Why do you think it’s odd for her to be OK with it?” I asked.
“Omegas are possessive. There’s not supposed to be a random Beta fooling around with an Omega’s mates.”
He had a point, but he was neglecting a huge chunk of the equation. “You’re not a random Beta, love. This isn’t the equivalent of an affair outside the pack.”
“I’m not part of the pack.”
“Only because you refuse to see yourself as one of us. She wants you. I have you. You’re part of us. Our pack isn’t like the ones in old times where friends bound themselves together, making a conscious choice to connect before finding an Omega. We’re creating ours as we go along, revolving around her and who she wants. If I fucked Clement, she would kill both of us. With you? She’s encouraging it because the closer you get to me, the closer you get to her.”
