Ours Later

A Forbidden Dark Omegaverse

Forbiddenverse

Jenn Bullard

Ours Later

Copyright © 2025 by Jenn Bullard

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover Art by Temptation Creation

Editing & Formatting by Quirky Pixie Publishing LLC

Published by Jenn Bullard 2025

Formatted with Vellum

Being mean to an author may turn you into the most hated character in history. 

Foreword

Ours Later is a Forbidden Omegaverse and the first book in the Forbiddenverse. It is part of the Unhingedverse, but all of the books in the Forbiddenverse will have forbidden relationships. In Ours Later, Cooper is Nina’s stepfather and Ethan is her step brother. 

This is is a why choose story with MM, and will develop as the pack does. No, Cooper and Ethan aren’t in a relationship. This isn’t that type of story. 

Nina’s mother is neglectful and abusive, and my betas said the abuse was reminiscent of the movie Mommy Dearest. Unfortunately, I also pulled parts of my own childhood for this story. My mother has mellowed out over the years is all I can say. I used to mutter “yes, mommy dearest” under my breath as a kid. 

This is a dark omegaverse, with a lot of abuse outside of the harem, and a harem member that does what he has to in order to save Nina. Riley is Ethan’s best friend and a medical student. He is pivotal in keeping Nina alive in this story, even though he has to do things that will make you want to hug him. 

Ours Later is a story about setting your love free so she can survive, grow into the person she’s meant to be, in the face of unspeakable cruelty. 

Weeping Willow Institute is the mental hospital where Cerenity’s mother is during Fight. It’s no secret that the rich bury their secrets as well as unruly family members, and this is where they do it. 

Independence, freedom, and the ability to love who you want runs fierce in this story. There will be themes that are difficult to read, especially as mental health is weaponized in this book. 

This story is completely fiction, in an alternate universe. Many things will be familiar, but others will not. You will see the words alpha, beta, and omega used often. If you recognize these terms, then you’ll be good. If not, let’s get you caught up! Omegaverse is based on a world of hierarchy, with alphas at the top. However, my characters do not shift. They are bigger, more dominant, and have an extra feature called a knot. Omegas go through a heat when they awaken, where they are only fertile during this time, and they crave a knot.

Please be advised that these alphas are not sweet. They are dark, depraved, and crazy.

Content Warning

Please understand that your mental health is very important to me, and I never want anyone to be triggered. For a complete list of triggers, please email Jenn at admin@authorjennbullard.com.

Tropes: Teacher-student, stepbrother, stepfather, forced proximity 

Triggers: kidnapping, forced medical treatment, medical abuse, head shaving, arranged marriage/courtship, forced psychiatric stay, torture through sensory deprivation.

Kinks: Sexsomnia, DVP, breeding kink, vaginal plugging with fingers in public, primal chase, use of sex toys while in public, mild daddy kink, teacher-student, praise kink 

Prologue

“Nina, get down from there!” Mom yells shrilly, her blue eyes wide with fear, a scowl firmly in place as she gazes up at me.

I’m not the little girl she always wanted, and this just reminds me of that. I’m not pretty enough, too much of a tomboy, and despise parties.

Sitting on a tree branch with my arms folded over my chest, I shake my head stubbornly. I could fall from the height I’m at right now, and it would probably kill me.

At nine years old, this option is better than facing my mother. Morbid and dramatic, but none-the-less true.

“Go away, Mommy. I don't want to wear that dress, or have you braid my hair. I’m fine right here,” I huff.

Dropping my hands to the tree branch, I swallow hard. I am really high. I climbed and climbed the huge tree in the backyard, when Mom and her friends came to find me, to get dressed for the party.

I didn’t pay attention to the hustle and bustle of what was happening around me, and now I take a moment to breathe it all in, shifting to lean my back on the trunk of the tree.

There’s tables all over the backyard with pretty white tablecloths, and people scurrying to set everything up for this party. It feels like a fairytale I’m not sure I want to be a part of.

Glancing back down to glare at my mom, I watch as her friends come out of the house in a huff, looking up at me in disapproval.

I hate them so much, and it has nothing to do with this stupid party. They pull my hair when they talk to me, Toni smells like mint and cigarettes, and Carlie mutters to herself about how I could be prettier if I was a bit thinner. They’re sucking up to her because my mom is marrying a rich alpha.

I don’t understand what she expects from a nine year old who is already four and a half feet tall. Then there’s how mean they are when they speak to each other.

I don’t know how my mom can be friends with these people. It’s like black worms crawling all over my skin. Maybe bad energy? It makes my stomach roll and I always feel nauseous when I’m around them.

No thanks.

“Nina, please don’t screw this up for me,” Mom pleads. “This is my engagement party, and I need you to look perfect. Please.”

Her pretty baby blue eyes bat at me as she smoothes down her perfect platinum-blonde hair. Mom is trying too hard right now, and it makes me shake my head harder.

I’m wearing jeans and a long-sleeved sky blue T-shirt that says You are the Change. It’s woo-woo noxious positivity, but I wish it were true.

There’s so much I wish I could change about my life, starting with my father not having had a heart attack three years ago.

Wishes don’t make the world go round, money does. This horse and pony show my mother is insisting on is so she can get a piece of Cooper Thornefield’s wealth. I don’t believe she’s actually interested in him. He’s so different from what Daddy was like.

Daddy had a stocky build, got lost in his thoughts the way I do, and always read me a bedtime story no matter how busy he was. I’m too old for stories now Mom tells me, so I read to myself.

Wrinkling my nose as I see Cooper slowly walk through the gate into the backyard, I wonder what he’ll say.

The man is so tall, he dwarfs my mother, but it makes him a little bit scary too. He’s never been mean to me, but I don’t trust his jovial demeanor.

Cooper, or Coop as he insists I call him, has a son a few years older than me as well. I haven’t been around him much outside of an uncomfortable dinner or two, but teenage boys don’t have much in common with kids, so I haven’t tried very hard to find a reason to seek him out.

“How are my favorite girls?” Cooper asks with a grin, his arm snaking around my mom’s waist to pull her close. Mom giggles as she looks up at him. Watching her like this, I can almost admit that she may want him for more than his money.

“I’m a little frazzled,” Mom admits with a shrug. At Cooper’s raised brow, she glances up at her wayward daughter. Yep, that’s what I am at best.

I’m a little too smart for my own good, because my nose is always in a book, if I’m not hiding in the woods in muddy jeans and boots, and I’m not pretty enough for the tea parties Mom’s friends have with their daughters.

Blinking rapidly, I meet Cooper’s gaze when he follows Mom’s eyes up to mine for only a moment before I look away. I will not feel sorry for myself right now. It’s just a stupid party, I don’t need to get emotional about it. I don’t care if Cooper feels the same way as my mom does about me.

“Hey there, Nina,” my soon-to-be step-father calls up to me.

“Yeah?” I ask, staring out at the trees that surround my house. When Mom and Cooper get married, where will we live? Am I going to have to move on top of everything else?

“Why don’t you come down for a bit? I’m not quite as comfortable with heights as you are, and I’m a little worried,” Cooper says. Moving my head to look at him shifts my weight, making me gasp.

My eyes widen in panic, but I manage to hold my position for a little longer. My fingernails are digging into the bark behind me, and I know I’ll be yelled at about ruining them. Oh well. I know I joked about dying, but I don’t think I’m ready to go yet.

“Will you catch me if I fall?” I ask lightly before my fingernails slide off the bark. Screaming as I do just that, I close my eyes as I listen to everyone gasp and cry out.

Strong arms catch me close to their chest, and I can hear the panicked thunder of a heartbeat.

“Look at me,” Cooper growls. Tears run down my face as I do as he says, and his gaze softens. “I will always be here to catch you when you fall, is that understood?”

Nodding as I cry, I briefly feel his lips brush my forehead. “She can wear whatever she wants, if that was what sent her up the tree, Vivi,” Cooper tells Mom, turning to face her. Tears stain her face as she nods, running over to check my body.

“Are you okay?” Mom whispers. “God, you’re going to make me gray before my time, Nina.”

“I’m fine,” I sob. “I moved too fast and fell.”

“My heart is about to beat out of my chest,” she confesses. “Wear whatever you want, Coop is right. It’s not worth all of this fuss. God, you always have been dramatic.”

Mom takes the sting out of her words by brushing my wild, blonde curls out of my face. It’s naturally almost platinum because of how much time I spend outside, and my skin is a touch too tan to be acceptable to her.

“I’m going to bring her inside,” Cooper grunts. Striding past his son, I watch him stare curiously at us both. There’s a bit of jealousy there too, and I wonder why. My future step-dad seems to be a decent father figure to Ethan. I’m not here to steal him away.

“I’m sorry,” I rasp, my body still shaking from terror. “I didn’t mean to ruin anything. I just hate all of this.”

“Parties? Engagements? You’ll need to be a little more specific, Nina,” he murmurs as he walks into the house.

“Parties, Mom’s friends, and all of the preparations to make me someone I’m not,” I confess.

Cooper slowly sets me down before leaning, so he’s not towering over me. He’s over six-feet-tall, so he has to come a long way down.

“You should never change yourself for anything,” he murmurs. “I’m happy to stick around for a long while, and I’ll always remind you of that. Now go have a second to take a breath. I won’t tell anyone you might spoil your supper if you grab something sweet from the kitchen too. Nina, you were really fucking high up and scared the shit out of me.”

Cooper winces at his curse, but I just giggle. No one ever thinks twice about using those words around me, I just make sure I don’t repeat them.

Walking away, I grab a brownie on the way upstairs, and only the reminder that my future step-father will be at the party keeps me from hiding away for the entire thing. Everyone else may suck, but I can get through it if he’s there watching out for me.

One

Cooper

Nine years later

I’m grading papers in my office, and my neck is stiff. Rocking it from side to side, I try to release some of the tension that’s currently riding me from being in the same position for hours. Groaning, I toss my glasses on the desk as I lean back to stretch out my neck.

“Long day?” Brooke asks. She’s one of my assistants for my undergraduate history classes, but the fact that the beta sucks cock like a Hoover is the real reason she’s still around. She is typically late to the classes she helps me teach, and half the time she doesn’t appropriately answer emails.

I’m not proud of it, but she’s discreet and has a magical cunt. It’s always wet and ready. I don’t have time to fuck around with omegas. My life is complicated enough.

“Beyond long,” I sigh. “Midterms are going to kill me. Close the door and lock it. I have some tension I need to work out by fucking your throat.”

Brooke gives me a slow, sultry smile as she pushes the door shut behind her. The snick of the lock makes my cock jump, it knows how this will go down, already thick and ready.

“My throat is always at your service, Master,” she murmurs as she pulls off her dress and bra. Sinking to her knees between my thighs, I hold onto the armrest as she quickly undoes my belt and pants to pull out my dick.

I’ll never get tired at how her eyes light up and her mouth salivates as she stares at it.

Brooke’s small hands wrap around my cock as she pumps it twice before her tongue swirls around the tip.

“Get it nice and wet, little slut,” I growl as her pretty brown eyes roll. I have no problems with abusing my seat of power when it comes to certain people. Brooke offered to be my slave when she entered the masters program. She wanted to be able to focus on her studies so she wouldn’t have to date, even though she’s a terrible teacher’s aide. Most guys her age can’t give her what I can.

Sucking hard on the crown of my cock, she lets her spit run down it as she starts to work it down her throat. Brooke isn’t a quitter, and I grunt as I feel myself slide down the warm, tight space.

“This is going to be hard and fast,” I warn. “Don't come, no touching, arms behind your back. I’m having a shit day and don’t have it in me to have patience.”

Gratefully, she does as I say. The truth is, I never have much patience or softness for anyone anymore.

I got divorced four years ago, and my life changed in so many ways. I moved away from Georgia to the colder weather of Minneapolis to teach and forget the haunting eyes of a girl I had to leave behind.

Now, I rarely laugh, I’m stern but fair, and I know my students have a love-hate relationship with me. The fact that I star in most of my female students and some of the males erotic dreams is probably why I can get away with how far I push them.

I teach Eastern European History in a way that’s engaging and interesting, but I expect my students to read the assigned chapters as well.

Lifting my curled fingers from the armrests, I can feel my inner demons beginning to stretch and wake. Brooke likes it when I make her cry, force her to choke down my cock, and refuse to have any mercy, until I’m exploding down her throat.

My ex-wife couldn’t help me with my sexual tastes or my needs, but I thought I loved her enough to set it all aside for her.

Turns out, my money eventually wasn’t enough for her, and she served me divorce papers. Vivian is now happily married to a man much older than me, probably forcing her daughter into the very dresses she hated.

Tangling my fingers in her dark brown hair, I pull it to the point that she whines in pain, her throat swallowing hard. My cock twitches as I thrust deeper down her hole, grunting as I watch the tears sparkle in her eyes before they begin to fall.

Fuck, this is what I live for: the high of controlling someone’s breathing, the knowledge that her pussy has got to be dripping with arousal, and that she won’t be allowed to ease the pain unless I give her permission.

My hips jerk up as I pull my good little cum sucker down on my cock until her nose is pushed tightly against me.

“Fuck, you’re such a good little cum slave,” I growl, making her whimper. She's struggling not to fight back, but the truth is I like it when they fight sometimes.

Tonight, I’m tired, my eyes hurt from reading so many research papers, and my balls are already starting to draw tighter to my body.

Drawing back a little to give her a split second to inhale, I fuck her throat until my head drops back as I come hard. Staying quiet is a struggle, but there could still be people in the hallways. Possibly getting caught is half the fun.

I’m not quite done with her as I rip her off of my dick. Her mouth is full of my cum as I glare hard at her. Brooke presents her hard won prize to me, making me smirk at her as I pat her head.

“Tilt your head back and keep your mouth open for me like the good little cock slave that you are,” I growl. Her chest is heaving, her heavy breasts swaying a little, nipples so tight they could cut glass. My cock is still hard, but that’s not a surprise. I get off on commanding people to do things without a second thought.

Brooke does exactly as I ask, her mouth opened wide, cum threatening to escape its current home. Working the saliva in my mouth as I bite my tongue hard, I spit the mixture into her mouth.

“Swallow it all down and then show me your tongue,” I command.

I can see her pupils are blown even as shame crawls over her skin and she swallows. Brooke craves this, even when she hates herself afterwards for it.

“Present the evidence,” I tell her as she lifts her head to gaze at me. Brooke sticks her tongue out, showing me how clean it is. “Damn, look what a good little slave you are. Do you need to come, little slut?”

A whimper escapes before she’s able to bite it back as she nods. I know she wants to beg, but I didn’t ask for her words and she knows better than to give them to me.

“Not today,” I murmur regretfully, glancing at the time. I need to meet my son for dinner, and I’m close to running behind. I despise being late, even for little Brooke. “Stand and lean over the desk, show me that pretty, wet pussy.”

Eagerly, she scrambles to her feet, her arms still at the base of her back as she moves to follow my command. Once she’s in place, she only breaks from formation to pull her panties down before moving back.

Spreading her ass cheeks wide, my mouth salivates as I see how shiny and wet her pussy is. Goddamn.

“Master,” she says so softly it’s almost a prayer. I pretend not to hear her, because I don’t have the time to punish her. Brooke serves me well, and I glance over at my desk drawer where I keep a vibrator handy for times like this.

“Such a beautiful, needy pussy,” I sigh, dragging my fingers through her arousal before I torture and pinch her clit. Struggling to keep her strangled screams to herself, she writhes on the desk. Fuck, I wish Ethan wasn’t waiting for me. She would keep me entertained for hours.

Opening my desk drawer, I pull out the toy, careful not to let her see. “I’m a merciful master, aren’t I, Brooke?”

I never use her name like this, and she flinches. “Yes,” she breathes. “Please…”

“Shhh, little cum slave. You’re going to get everything you want,” I promise, turning on the toy and rubbing it against her clit.

I’ll apologize to Ethan for being late by buying dinner. I doubt he’ll care. All that matters right now are the sweet whimpers and gasps as I make my little slave come for me amid the sea of papers.

My hand wraps around my cock as I make her explode over and over again, until she’s begging me to stop. I only concede when I come all over my hand with a grunt, her pussy swollen and sated.

I’m not a good man, and I doubt I ever will be again. The last time I had any goodness or happiness was when gorgeous green eyes with blue flecks in them shone with mirrored happiness, because I was there to keep her safe.

I haven't seen Nina in years though, and I doubt I will again.

Nina

“Shit, I can’t get towed,” I gasp breathlessly as my long legs tear across the campus back to my car in my sneakers.

The University of Lyons is expensive, but I got a very generous scholarship that pays for tuition, books, and a small stipend for food. I have to pay for housing myself, and since my mother is living her best life in Europe with Harold, who is husband number three, she also cut me off when I turned eighteen.

Completely.

I was not prepared to pull together all of my savings to move to Minneapolis. I’m completely alone in the world, so I’m hustling to get a good education, so I’ll never be in this position again.

I’ve joined every networking club that looks like it’ll be a good fit in the last month and a half, while also pulling as many shifts as possible.

I’m working at a bar downtown at night, going to school full time, and living out of my car. I showered in the gym facilities that come with my tuition, funny enough, got dressed for work, and now I’m running to my car before I get towed for parking without a parking tag. My temporary tag expired fifteen minutes ago.

I will never understand what was going through the minds of the financial aid committee when they handed out scholarships, but I’m determined to be grateful for what I’ve been given.

Flying across the sidewalks, I gasp apologies as I jump around people. Thank God it’s October, or I would be a sweaty mess by the time I get to my car.

“I’m so sorry,” I cry out as I run around a girl saying goodbye to someone who is probably her boyfriend.

It must be nice to have that kind of time, I’ve never had a boyfriend before or a first kiss. I was always too busy doing exactly what my mother wanted, until she decided I was too much work.

I’m lost in my head as I cross into the parking lot, a blaring horn scaring the bejeezus out of me as a guy slams on his brakes in front of me.

Pushing my blonde and pink hair out of my face, I look over at the wild and concerned look of someone who probably goes here and has a lot less problems than I do.

“I’m sorry,” I mouth, putting my hand over my heart so he knows I’m not bullshitting him before I keep moving toward my car.

Please let it be here. I’ll take the ticket if they give me one, just please leave the car.

“Hey!” The guy yells, the window of his Mercedes SUV opening. I can’t complain about how nice his car is, because my vehicle was one of the only things Mom let me leave with, along with my clothes and a laptop. I had to buy a prepaid phone when I got here. “Are you okay?”

“Yes! I’m so sorry, I’m just going to be late to work,” I explain as I keep walking. “Thanks for not running me over!”

The dirty-blonde haired guy smirks, relaxing from the worry he wore seconds earlier, and then I’m leaving him behind as I weave through the cars until I find mine.

“Thank fuck,” I whisper as I see there’s not a ticket or boot on it.

“You need a permit, Miss,” someone says, making me turn with wide eyes. I’ve been meaning to get one, and honestly, the tips at the bar should allow me to get a semester long permit tomorrow.

“I know,” I tell the man who has a ticket book. “I’m so sorry, but things are really tight and I plan to get a permit tomorrow after work with my tips. I’m literally on my way to work right now.”

Taking in my crop top and jeans, he sighs. “Tomorrow,” he warns. “I really hate ticketing anyone who doesn’t have a stick up their ass.”

A surprised giggle escapes me, and the university employee shrugs. “Please get this taken care of tomorrow, okay?”

“I promise, yes,” I tell him, nodding wildly. I probably look like a psychopath, but I’m so damn grateful that he’s not giving me a ticket.

“Now off with you before you’re late,” he chuckles, getting in his golf cart to head to the next car.

Jumping into my SUV, I beg the tipping Gods for a really good night. It’s a Wednesday downtown, and while there’s rarely a bad night, the issue is that I don’t get enough shifts.

I need five shifts to be comfortable, and I’m usually only lucky enough to get three a week. It’s expensive to live here even with my scholarship, and I’ve been getting daily passes for parking. There’s the added worry of safety after finishing work as an omega, but I’m determined to take it one day at a time.

I didn’t expect there to be such a line for a shower at the gym today. I know most people have their own bathroom facilities at the dorms, why did they insist on using the gym’s today of all days?

I’m grumpy as I ease my car out onto the road. Blaring Brad Paisley on the radio as I pick up speed in accordance with the speed limits, I’m careful of my typically heavy foot on the speedometer. Speeding tickets are no joke here, so I suffer as I drive through traffic toward the bar.

Zipping into a parking spot for employees in the back of the bar, I change out of my jeans to shimmy into a tiny pair of ripped jean shorts and exchange my trusty sneakers for boots.

Jumping out of the car, I’m again grateful for the warm weather of October we have happening right now.

I know my luck isn’t going to last forever, so I’m going to need to buy more blankets toward the end of the month. The need to burrow underneath them for warmth is so strong, I’m disappointed I can’t go shopping for blankets right now.

Smiling at the bouncer, I wave hello to Terri as I run inside, bypassing the rest of the bar to find my boss.

“Good, you’re early,” Patrick sighs, taking me in. He’s my manager, and one of the better ones. He’s more laid back even as an alpha as well. “We’re starting to get busy, so get ready to be slammed behind the bar. Let’s have a good night.”

“You got it.” I grin, losing myself to the routine of my job. It’s seven thirty, and the regulars and people just looking to have a good time are starting to flood the place. Smile permanently on my face, boobs on display in my low cut crop top, I work the crowd.

“Can I get a Jack and coke and your number, baby?” A man I don’t know at all smirks as he leans over the bar. I can’t smell a damn thing right now with my scent blocking gel underneath my nose, but I can tell he’s an alpha. I don’t make it a habit to overly flirt with my clients, because I don’t want to have to worry about someone following me out to my car, insisting that I promised more.

“Let’s start with the drink first, sugar,” I say instead, serving him his drink as his friends chatter around him.

The night continues on in a blur, until we close. Then after we nicely kick out the stragglers, we clean up the place together.

“Damn, it was busy today,” Hailey chuckles, out of breath. We both never stopped behind the bar as we made drinks.

Brian is a little slower because he likes to shoot the shit with customers, but they also tip him well for it. It’s a hard line to walk. Personally, I don’t want my customers pissed off at me for moving too slowly.

“Thanks for a great night,” Patrick says as he puts up the last chair. Brian is actually mopping, which makes me feel badly for a moment. It’s not that he’s lazy, he just sees his job differently than Hailey and I.

I made three-hundred dollars tonight in tips, which will allow me to pay the two-hundred dollar permit tomorrow. The rest of the money will be gas and maybe a coffee if I decide to splurge a little.

My next shift isn’t until Saturday, so I should really just squirrel the remaining hundred dollars away. Being an adult sucks. I grab my bag to go to the bathroom, glancing at Hailey to let her know I need a break. Nodding, she continues to do her thing as she dances as she cleans.

There’s no one else like her. If there’s music, her hips are moving. It makes working with her fun.

Walking to the bathroom, I do my nightly routine quickly. There aren’t any restrooms that are open this late, so I make sure to use the facilities, breathing a sigh of relief as I pee. There’s rarely any downtime, so I just end up holding it for most of the night.

Washing my hands, I dry them before working through the rest of my routine.

I wash my face with cleanser, toner, and moisturizer, and then quickly add a little eye serum under my eyes. I’ve never learned what order this is supposed to go, but as long as I do it every night, it should be fine.

My mother had an insane face care routine, she just never bothered to teach me.

Lastly, I brush my teeth and then throw all of my things in my purse. Thank God for bags that will fit all of the necessities of my life.

God, I wish so many things in my life were different. No little girl grows up and asks to be homeless.

I spent many hours in the tall tree in my backyard, dreaming about what my life would be like, even after I fell out of it when I was nine.

It always bothered my step-father, but he knew it was the only way that I could get away from my mother. I’m grateful I was able to grow up in the same house I was brought home to as a baby. Cooper wanted to make sure my life didn’t change too quickly, and I thought he’d always be around to help with all of my mom’s demands.

Sometimes he could help, but other things were out of his hands. None of my ruminations imagined me here in a bar bathroom, getting ready to find a parking spot to spend the night.

Sighing, I know I can’t change my fate, and I need to go back out to finish my job.

Finally done closing up a half an hour later, Patrick walks us out. It’s one in the morning, and I can practically feel my jaw crack as I yawn. I appreciate that my boss ensures our safety at the end of the night.

He’s been doing this since he started working here, refusing to let anything happen to the people he works with. I’ve heard the rumors of omegas going missing in Minneapolis, and it scares me, especially with my current living situation.

So many things could go wrong.

There’s a chill in the air, making me shiver in my tiny work shorts. I’ll have to spring for a small heater for my car at some point so I don’t turn into a popsicle, but that’s a problem for another day. I have class at eight in the morning, which wasn’t my first choice, but freshmen don’t really get to be picky.

“Night,” I say sleepily as I get into my car and search for a safe place to sleep. There are more cops out on the roads than normal and while I would usually find a grocery store to park at, there appears to be too much activity to do so.

Sighing, I drive into a residential area and pray for the best, parking on the street. I don’t see any signs saying that I can’t park here overnight, so I shrug and decide to stay here.

Putting up my privacy screens on all of my windows and locking the doors now that the vehicle is turned off, I change into sleep shorts and a tank top.

Soon, it’ll be a lot colder, and I’m not looking forward to that. Crawling into the back seat, I drop it flat before setting up my comfy floor mattress that will easily roll up in the morning.

I need a podcast to sleep to, so I scroll through Omega Link until I see something having to do with omegas. I know so little about my designation, maybe I can learn more through osmosis while I’m staring at the backs of my eyelids. I know that’s not how it works, but it’s too quiet on the street, and I need a little background noise so I can drop off to sleep.

The podcast I end up pulling up is by someone called Emilia Richardson, and she insists that she knows what’s best for omegas. She honestly sounds like someone my mother would be friends with.

Setting my alarm for six, so that I’m gone before everyone else wakes up for the day, I pull my thin blanket over my head to sleep.

To sweet dreams, peace, and not getting mugged.

My cash is rolled up and hidden underneath the now reclined seats so there’s no way anyone can get to it.

“An omega shouldn’t be a bartender, club dancer, or any profession that will have her working late at night. It’s indecent…”

On second thought, I decide as I shut off the podcast, maybe I’m tired enough to sleep without it.

My eyelids get heavier and heavier until I drift off.

Two

Ethan

It’s five in the morning and I’m headed out for my morning run. It’s my preferred time to do this because the rest of the world is sleeping.

Strapping my phone to my bicep to listen to music, I grab my water bottle as well before I walk out of the house. We’re living in a nice neighborhood by the school, though it’s still a townhouse.

Dad and I don’t need a lot of room, so we didn’t see a reason to buy something bigger. Locking the front door behind me, I wrap the stretchy key ring up my tattooed arm. It ensures I won’t lose it, and that’s good enough for me.

There’s an SUV on the street that I don’t recognize, making me frown. Did a neighbor have someone spend the night? I’m struggling not to blow this out of proportion, but there are privacy window clings on all of the windows. It seems like a bit of overkill. What the hell could someone be hiding in their car?

Turning my running music on, I allow Eminem to flow through my AirPods. If the vehicle is still here when I get back from my run, then I’ll look into it. This is a really nice area, and I don’t want to have to worry about the wrong kind of people moving in.

Lip curling at the thought, I jog down the steps, shaking my head at the car that doesn’t belong, before I start my run.

I warmed up inside of the house, so I am pacing well as I time myself. I recently graduated and used to run track, so now I only compete against myself.

The hour flies by, and I find myself back in front of my house. The SUV is gone now. My Mercedes is in the spot in front of where this person parked, and now I’m fixated on finding out who she or he is.

Blowing out a breath, I walk up the stairs slowly, stretching the muscles in each leg carefully with a grunt. Unlocking the front door, I turn off my music as I walk in.

“How was your run, Ethan?” Dad calls out from the kitchen. He told me he finished up his grading, so he was going to sleep in this morning. Midterms are riding him hard, and I know he had to proctor a few exams this week.

“It was good,” I respond, pulling out my AirPods as I close and lock the front door. The sweat slowly dries on my skin as I walk through the house to find him. “I think the neighbors had someone over though. There was a car I didn't know on the street.”

All of our neighbors are elderly and don’t often have late night guests. “That’s odd,” Dad murmurs as he makes toast and eggs for us. “I wonder who it was. It’s possible someone has guests, but there wasn’t anyone parked there when we both got home after grabbing pizza.”

My lips twitch as I remember how late he was meeting me and why. My father’s proclivities just make me laugh and feel better that I’m just as bad.

He hasn’t been the same since his ex-wife divorced him for someone with more money than him, so I no longer bat an eye at anything that he does. He’s very discreet, and even if he wasn’t, he doesn’t need this damn job.

Dad works for the University of Lyons because he loves it.

“Thanks for making breakfast,” I tell him, grabbing plates from the cabinet. “I have class at eight so I’m probably going to eat, shower, and go straight there.”

I went right into a masters program in communications after I graduated, so I guess I’m sort of a professional student right now.

I also tutor at the library as well because I enjoy helping students make the connections necessary to succeed. Sometimes, it just means explaining it in a different way than it’s taught in class.

“Such a scoundrel,” Dad teases as he scoops food onto the plates with the toast.

“We can’t all be perfect,” I snort, unable to say it without breaking into a laugh. Sitting at the island with him, I start to scarf down my food.

Dad always makes sure we eat before we leave for the day, because our schedules won’t always allow us to eat for hours after.

“I can’t wait to get through midterms,” Dad sighs. “The students are always so whiny in their emails during this time.”

Smirking, I finish my food. “You signed up for this, Dad,” I remind him. “I’m sure you’ll work out your frustrations in healthy ways.”

Dad barks out a laugh because we don’t hide things from each other and I know all about why he was late to dinner yesterday.

Although, I didn’t mention how I almost ran over a student because she was rushing. He’s very particular about safety and it would just piss him off. Putting my plate in the sink, I run upstairs to shower and get dressed for the day. I wonder if I’ll bump into that girl again, though hopefully not with my car.

Lifting my backpack to my shoulder, I glance around the room to see if I missed anything. There’s an old photo of my step-mom and step-sister, and I wonder how she is. Nina was kind of a princess, so I doubt she’s any worse for wear.

My step-mother spoiled her, and Nina would whine about how she didn’t want to get dragged to the stuffy events her mom would ask her to go to. Ugh, I can’t stand rich girls, which is why I tend to go to a bar downtown if I want to get my dick wet.

There’s no strings, just sex in a bathroom or in an alley. Dad just shrugs and says things may change when I meet the right girl or my scent match, but I saw how ruined he was after Vivian left him. While she wasn’t his scent match, I know he loved the rich bitch. I don’t want to give anyone that kind of power.

I can hear my dad in the living room as I leave, muttering to himself as he answers emails. No matter how much he tries to delegate, he can’t help himself and will still end up responding to his students. As much as he denies it, he’s a good man and an incredible teacher. The university is lucky to have him.

The streets are quiet as I drive through them, and I know that there will be snow on the ground before I know it. Didn’t the news say there would be a cold front coming in soon?

Nina

One month later

I survived my midterms, but this weather may kill me. There’s the beginning of snow on my windshield and I’m shivering as I take off my window coverings.

“It's not even Thanksgiving yet!” I yell, thumping on the steering wheel in anger. I kept shivering last night no matter how many blankets I covered myself with, and this explains why. “Fuck.”

I’m supposed to work tonight, but don’t know if the owner will open up in this weather. Though, it’s a Friday night so he may. People will want to party, and alcohol is supposed to keep you warm.

I’m parked in a grocery parking lot and pull on jeans, two long-sleeve shirts, a hoodie and combat boots to go to school. This southern girl is not prepared for snow. “I’m so fucked,” I sigh as I pull my blonde and pink hair into a messy bun.

The problem with being alone so much is that I talk to myself a lot. I try not to mutter to myself while I’m on campus, but I have no friends even after months of living here, so I guess it doesn’t matter if people think I’m insane.

How do I tell someone that I can’t have them over to my dorm room to hang out because I don’t have one? All of the little things other people take for granted here are made more difficult for me since I live out of my vehicle.

Turning on the car and blasting the heater, I blow on my hands to attempt to get warm. I worked two shifts this week and my car needed an oil change, leaving me without enough money to get a little heating pad to sleep on.

I found out that a space heater might kill me if I leave it on inside of my car, so I decided against it.

At this point, everything might kill me. Taking a deep breath to keep from spiraling as tears prick my eyes in frustration, I check my phone to see if I have any texts from my boss, breathing a sigh of relief when I see one from Mikey.

Mikey:

Snow just means people drink more! Bottoms up, Nina. See you tonight.

Me:

I’ll be there.

Praying for an easy drive today to school, I’m grateful that my tires are for all terrain. I’ve never driven in the snow before, and I’m deathly afraid of sliding into a ditch.

Mom didn’t spare any expense when she bought this car, and I’m pretty sure she’s forgotten to stop paying for my car insurance.

My entire life is tenuous at best, because Minneapolis is fucking expensive as a student. I’m considering looking for a second job, so that I can finally move into an apartment before this snow gets worse.

I’ve heard whispers of a center that accepts omegas who are going through a rough patch, but I haven’t allowed myself to look into it. While I presented at seventeen, I haven’t had my first heat yet. I’m hoping it stays away for as long as possible.

Two jobs, full time student, and no sleep. Sounds like an absolute dream.

Struggling to pull myself out of the dark cloud I woke up in, I park in the school parking lot by my first class.

Now that I have an official permit, there are more school lots I can park in. I’ve considered staying here overnight, but I’m scared a security guard will get curious and knock on my car window.

I don’t want to have a conversation with the school administration about how I’m homeless attending this prestigious school.

Lips pressed together, I turn off the car and attempt to settle myself as I grab my backpack. I’m definitely going to hang out in the common area in the Student Center because more of this awful white stuff is falling from the sky.

Throwing open the door to my car, I jump out, looking up as snowflakes fall onto my face.

“At least it’s pretty,” I mutter, slamming the door closed as I pull on my backpack and lock the car.

Walking carefully through the cars, I cross to the sidewalk, my long legs bringing me closer to my nine-thirty class. My history teacher, Dr. Adams took a leave of absence starting last week, so I have no idea who is filling in for him.

His wife is having a hard pregnancy, and he wanted to help her in the upcoming months.

God, I didn't know a man like that existed. Lucky bitch. I steer clear of men because they’re simply too much trouble for my current cycle of life. I like to call this the Hot Mess Express.

I’m in a rhythm of eating up the distance between spaces, and completely unprepared when I slam into a hard chest.

“Oof,” I gasp. My boot hits a slick spot on the sidewalk, making me yelp as my foot slips, sending them flying in the air as I become acquainted with the ground. “Ow.”

Hitting my back as hard as I do drives the breath out of my body, so I look like a fish out of water as I gasp.

“Shit.”

Looking up at the guy who is staring at me a bit guiltily, I realize I’ve seen him before. He’s the guy that almost hit me. I get this weird sense of deja-vu but I push it aside. There’s no way I’d know anyone in Minneapolis.

Reaching out, he leans down with a frown and helps me up. “Are you okay? We have to stop meeting like this,” he teases me.

Standing helps as I blink the tears away. Damn, that hurt. Why is the ground so hard?

“I’m so sorry,” I gasp, blushing. I don’t usually react like this, but his intense green eyes draw me in. Thankfully, my airways open quickly, allowing me to take a deeper breath, but I still sound breathy and out of it. I can tell that he’s an alpha, but I’ve gotten used to using my alpha blocker gel outside of work over the last two weeks, so I can’t really tell anything else about him. “It feels as if I’m always rushing lately, and I was unprepared for it to snow today.”

Smirking, he shrugs as his eyes move over me critically. “You may need a bit more clothes, Rainbow Brite. It’s only going to get colder. At the very least, spring for a coat. You’re looking a bit out of your element,” he says.

Glancing at his watch, his lips twist in annoyance. “I have to be at the library in a few minutes for a study group. Maybe if we run into each other again, we’ll exchange names?”

The hot stranger is already striding away, leaving my mouth hanging open. His shoulders shift underneath his heavy black jacket, and his glutes tighten and release with each step.

Damn, just damn. I can’t even say that he’s rude, just purposeful. There’s an air of barely restrained chaotic energy as he moves, even though he only looked concerned when he saw me on my ass. I imagine what it would be like to have his attention on me for longer and shiver.

It makes me want to go out right away to buy a coat and clothes because he told me to, that’s how intense he was.

Okay, I’m officially the creeper because he’s long gone now. Shaking my head, I hurry carefully to my class, hoping for a decent teacher for the rest of the semester. I already am acing the class, I don’t want to mess that up for myself, because I need to keep a high grade point average in my classes to keep my scholarship.

Blowing out a breath as I see the building my class is in, I pull open the door and walk to my classroom. Thankfully, I’m not late, quietly easing into the room as I see a large, imposing man standing at the front of the class talking to a girl with dark brown hair.

Scurrying quietly, I walk up the stairs of the auditorium style classroom to find a seat. It’s one of the smaller spaces, and it’s already filled with students.

Pulling out my notebook, I ignore everyone around me with their laptops. I hooked up to the city wifi last night to get my homework and did it until the damn thing died.

It’s another reason I’ll need to go to the student union: to charge my laptop and phone. My lips purse as I ask myself how hard it would be to get a second job bartending or serving. I can’t let my grades slide or I won’t have a reason to even be here.

“Good morning, class!” the teacher booms from the front of the room. I know that voice.

My fingers clench around my pen as I look up at the teacher. Dark brown eyes flick over me for a second without recognition before moving on. Relaxing, I don't know whether I should be relieved or not that my step-father doesn’t recognize me.

“Dr. Adams, as you all know, is taking a leave of absence, so I will be taking over this class. The History department decided to each take a class, and you all have pulled the short straw,” he continues, making my lips twitch. I wouldn’t have pegged him as being a hardass as a professor, since he was always so kind to me.

It just shows how little I knew about my step-father.

“I grade based on a mixture of lecture and the texts, so be prepared to know all of it for the final. There will also be an added research paper due in a month, so add that to your syllabus,” he says.

Writing his name on the white board behind him, I huff slightly at the continued evidence that I’m stuck with my step-father teaching me history.

Dr. Cooper Thornefield is written in bold letters in erasable marker on the board. Just fucking great. As long as I’m able to stay out of his way and he doesn’t recognize me, I won’t have to answer any uncomfortable questions.

“I usually do this at the beginning of the semester, but we’re all going to have to be flexible because of the changes we’re facing,” Cooper says as his eyes take us in.

He’s wearing a black sweater with a pair of jeans, and I can see his coat is hanging neatly on the chair behind his desk. He prowls the front of the classroom as if there’s all of this uncontained energy inside of him.

“I need you all to make at least one appearance at my office hours over the next fourteen days, starting next week. I like to have a chance to put a name to a face, and it helps us work together through any challenges you may be facing in this class.”

It sounds like something that he would do. Unfortunately, this throws a wrench in my plans to lay low and fly under the radar. On the other hand, he has the full roster and knows my name. It won’t take long for him to hunt me down if he wants to.

Shit. I force myself to pay attention even as panic claws at me. Anonymity is something I’ve been holding onto hard, despite the regular check-ins with my academic counselor. Martha Carmichael tends not to scratch too far beneath the surface and it’s served me well.

“Alright, to schedule an appointment this week, please email my assistant, Brooke, and she’ll get you a slot in my office hours. I’ll extend them so they work for everyone,” Cooper finishes.

The rest of the class is a cacophony of words that I can’t seem to process as I take notes.

I know I won’t be able to remember anything that’s said, so I simply write everything possible down.

In a haze, I pack up my things, asking myself how I managed to piss off the Gods of Fate so badly. Things were going to damn well.

Well, other than the snow. As I step outside of the building, I sigh as I see more of the white stuff coming down. Tears of frustration slide down my face, seeming to freeze immediately and pissing me off more. Pulling my hood over my hair, I head to the student union to treat myself to some coffee, a pastry, and to make some sense of my notes, while my computer charges before I head in to work. Something has to give, because today is not going well.

Three

Cooper

Iglance at my sheet without seeing it fully on Tuesday morning, making a face at the lunacy of meeting all one-hundred students in my class in such a small span of time.

It honestly helps me get to know them, figure out who is going to become a problem in my class, and who will probably fail it completely.

This is going to take up entirely too much time, and it’s making me grouchy.

“Do you need me to make sure you don’t eat your next student?” Brooke teases me gently. She looks a little worried about the fate of whoever is about to come in, and it makes me realize I need to shift my mood. I do these check-ins to gain rapport with my students, not make them run away screaming.

These are also mostly freshmen since it’s American History I, so I don’t want to terrify them completely. Taking a breath, I struggle to soften my face.

“No, I should be fine,” I tell her gently. “I may need you after my last student today.”

It’s a warning that my amenable appearance may be tattered and strained by the time I see my last student. It’s my first day doing this, and I’m already worried about my patience.

“Of course, Sir,” Brooke says easily with a nod, opening the door to accept the first student before she leaves to do whatever it is she does during the day.

I’m not particularly close with her outside of how tight her pussy is and how long I can deny her an orgasm.

The hours crawl by as I meet students until there’s no one waiting in the hallway. Surprised, I glance at the time on my computer to see that it’s only two in the afternoon.

Grabbing my sheet, I check to see who is missing their time slot. The day was completely packed without any openings.

Chewing the inside of my lip as I move down the list, I stare uncomprehendingly at the sheet for a moment. This can’t be right.

Nina Sterling.

Growling at my step-daughter’s name on my roster, I don’t know whether I should be happy she’s at the same university as I am or angry. Her mother shattered me, but Nina has always been very different from Vivian.

Grabbing my phone, I dial the number she has on the roster, surprised it’s a Minneapolis area code. It rings several times before a breathless voice picks up.

“Hello?”

“Do you have a penchant for standing up your teachers, Nina?” I ask her. There’s a feral note in my voice, making me wince. It’s not like I’ve never had a student miss their one on one meeting with me, but I’m irrationally angry and disappointed now that I know who the student is.

“No, no, Sir, I don’t,” she says rapidly. She has to know who I am, though my cock inappropriately twitches as she says the word ‘Sir’.

“Did you forget that you had an appointment with me then?” I ask her.

“No,” she says so softly I can barely hear her. “I’m running late, and I’m on my way if you can wait? I got… held up.”

I wonder what could be keeping her from this meeting, and I scowl at the phone. I don’t completely believe that she is running late. I think she was planning to stand me up.

“You have fifteen minutes,” I growl, hanging up. Shaking my head at the reality that I’m going to see my step-daughter for the first time in years, I look out the window as the snow falls.

Ethan complained that someone was parked out on the street again this morning, and I hope whoever it is is there tomorrow so that I can lay into them.

I need a good way to use all of this annoyed energy I have pent up in some way other than Brooke’s wet hole. I’m definitely going to be fucking her roughly before I leave the office tonight. I may even choke her until she passes out before I come. Fuck yeah.

A soft knock on the door pulls me out of my erotic thoughts, making me turn with a raised brow. A girl with pink and nearly white-blonde hair stands before me with eyes that still haunt me. I saw her in class and never recognized her. Damn, she looks all grown up.

Nina is wearing a thick hooded sweatshirt, jeans with holes in them with tights underneath, and her hair is pulled up into a messy bun. She also smells like honeysuckle. I have really vivid memories of eating the flower’s trumpet as a kid, and now all I can think of is eating her cunt.

Fuck, why does she smell so good? If I can smell her from the door, this is going to be a very uncomfortable experience for me. My pants are tight, and everything is telling me that she’s mine.

What is wrong with me? I’m a grown man. I need to remember that.

“This is how you come to a meeting?” I ask in shock. Her hair appears clean at least, but there’s shadows of sleeplessness under her eyes.

“It’s really cold out and I haven’t gotten used to it,” she says softly, staring at my desk. I don’t like that she won’t look at me. It was always harder for Nina to lie to me when I could see her blue-green eyes.

“It’s snowing a bit earlier than usual,” I confirm. “You’re not in Georgia anymore.”

I meant to tease her, but her body stiffens as she nods. Leaning forward, I frown, wondering what I’m missing.

“Come in then and close the door. We’re already behind schedule. You can tell me why you’re late to start with.”

Closing the door behind her, she walks to the chair, but remains standing.

“I just felt like it would be a little awkward to see you, Cooper,” Nina says softly. “Things weren’t the best the last time I saw you.”

I may have called her mother a gold digging whore. Wincing as I remember that day, I tap the desk.

“Sit down please,” I tell her instead.

Continuing to stand, she chews on her lip.

“Can’t we, I don’t know, skip this? I’m passing this class with flying colors, we can just pretend not to know each other.” Nina shrugs.

Guilt floods my body as I stare at her. I left and didn’t look back after Vivian served me with divorce papers, and now I really want to change that.

“No, we can’t skip this,” I say softly. “Come on, Nina. It’s just a few minutes. Can’t you give me that?”

Her hands fist for a moment before she releases them, and she moves to sit down.

“You can have whatever you want,” she says dismissively. Damn, I guess I deserve that.

Nina sounds so much like her mother at that moment, it’s hard for me to see anything else. Pulling in a breath, I try to think of something to ask, instead of the dark vitriol that sits on the end of my tongue. She doesn’t deserve any of that.

“What made you decide to come here for school?” I ask her, pretending to take notes. I need to try to seem less judgmental or imposing. Nina is tall and now that she’s sitting, I can see that she has curves. I shouldn’t be staring at her from underneath my lashes, but I’m curious to see how she’s changed. I never would have picked her out off the street.

I’m also no longer her step-father, so what does it matter?

“The University of Lyons will open doors for me, it’ll give me a great education, and it’s far away from Mom,” she says.

I think the last part surprised her as much as it did me, because she flinches. I know there were a lot of things she wasn’t fond of doing with her mother, and they were fighting more often by the time we divorced, but I didn’t think she would run from Vivian.

“What’s your major?” I ask inanely. Dumb, so dumb. I’m going to press her for harder questions, so I may as well ask the easy ones first.

“I’m a business major with a teaching minor to fall back on in case I can’t find a job right away,” Nina explains confidently. My brow furrows as she says this, because I don’t really see why she’d need to worry about finding a job right away.

“I’m sure Vivian will be more than happy to help with anything you need once you get out of college,” I say pointedly. Nina flushes with embarrassment and a bit of anger, and it annoys me.

What am I missing here?

“So it appears you’re doing well in my class, you have perfect attendance and Dr. Adams noted here that you’re a joy to be around,” I continue.

He said nothing of the sort, but Nina seems like one of those students that would be. “What extracurriculars are you in currently?”

Forehead pinching as I keep her off balance, Nina rattles off some of the networking clubs that she’s in. Most of them are in the fields she wants to work in, and one is a club that caters toward volunteering in the community. It seems like a lot.

“It sounds like you’re keeping yourself busy,” I murmur. “What are you doing during your downtime?”

“Sleeping,” she laughs, almost exasperatedly. I don’t tend to frustrate women, so this is new territory. On the other hand, it intrigues me. Most college students are partying, especially the freshmen.

“Did I say something funny?” I ask, pretending to be confused. I watch as her fingers twitch, and she very much looks like she can’t wait to get out of here. Nina also refuses to look at me. “My eyes are up here, Nina. It’s rude not to meet the eyes of the person who is speaking to you.”

Taking a breath, she slowly looks up at me, and I can see she’s upset. These questions shouldn’t be this hard, yet she appears to be seconds away from crying.

“Now tell me what’s wrong?” I attempt to coax her. “You never had any problems telling me what was on your mind before.”

“A lot has changed since then, and I’m not that girl anymore,” she sighs. “I was late earlier because I had to take a work call about a shift change. I was arguing with my boss.”

“Why are you working along with this schedule?” I ask her.

“I don’t know, so I can live?” Nina scoffs. “If we’re quite done, I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to be asking me so many personal questions. Either change to something within your purview, or I’m leaving.”

Her tone is biting, her blue-green eyes struggling to become the same glacial color that her mother’s would turn when she’s done with a conversation, but it doesn’t quite feel the same.

“Very cute,” I mutter. “Apparently your mother is turning you into her clone. Look, it’s none of my business, but do you really want to be like her?”

“Like the woman who abandoned me for her latest rich husband?” Nina smirks cruelly. “I can say with absolute certainty that I do not want to be anything like her. Now, your time is over. See you around, Mr. Thornefield.”

Standing as my lips part in surprise, she grabs her backpack. It looks like she has all of her books for the day, and she sags for a moment under the weight of it.

Unable to keep my mouth shut, I remark on it. “You know, most people go back to their dorm room in between classes, right, Miss Sterling?”

“Isn’t it nice to have a dorm room? I don’t have one of those,” she bites back, throwing open the door and walking out of the room.

Growling, I am up out of my seat without a thought and soon striding after her. Most of the teachers in this section of the building are gone for the day or teaching, so there’s no one to witness this.

“What the fuck does that mean?” I yell after her. As tall as she is, my legs still effortlessly eat up the space between us. Nina breaks into a run, and while I feel badly for a moment that I’m being an asshole, I don’t care enough to stop.

A part of me enjoys the chase, and I need to know why she smells the way she does. I’ve never had a single inappropriate thought about her until now. I want to pin her to the wall and mark her.

Fuck, I’m in so much trouble. This has to be a fluke. There would be some sort of sign from her if she felt the way I did, right? Scent matching is supposed to happen for both people. So why is she running away from me?

Grabbing her arm, I turn her to face me.

“It means exactly what I said it does,” she tells me, her voice a hair below a yell. “I’m not staying on campus, it’s too expensive. My mother no longer holds my purse strings. Any other questions?”

“Dozens,” I growl. “How did this even happen?”

“This goes under more personal information that you’re not allowed to ask,” Nina scoffs. “You’re not my step-father anymore. In fact, I don’t even know who you are. The man I knew would never chase a woman down a hallway.”

Wincing as I realize I’m still holding onto her arm, I let go and force myself to step away. I’m breathing heavier than I should from ‘chasing’ her as she is accusing me of doing.

“We should make an effort to change that,” I murmur. I’m forcing myself to calm down, because I think I’m scaring her. She's right, I’ve never acted like this before. “Have dinner with me and your step-brother. He’s at the university as a student too.”

“Hard pass,” she says contritely. “I mean, no thank you.”

Manners are still ingrained in her and it makes my lips twitch in amusement. “I’ll make a full home cooked meal,” I tempt her. If she’s not living on campus, maybe she’s not eating well enough. The idea of that makes me angry. There’s food on campus, it’s why freshmen are supposed to live here.

“How did you get the administration office to allow you to live off campus?” I ask her. Nina’s eyes go wide and I see very real fear in them. Her feet are moving already, and she shakes her head as she swallows hard.

“Special permission,” she lies to my face. “Goodbye.”

Nina pretty much runs away from me, making me sigh in disappointment. Vivian shouldn’t be responsible for raising a child, especially this one.

Gah, can I even call her a child right now? Her hips and the jiggle of her ass as she flees taunts me, telling me that she’s very much an adult. Stalking back to my office, I start putting in calls to find out everything I can about my step-daughter.

I may not be married to her mother anymore, but a part of this girl still belongs to me. In fact, judging by the way she smells, all of her does.

She just doesn’t know it yet for some reason.

Nina

I didn’t mean to say as much as I did to Cooper. I was planning to stand him up when Mikey called me to tell me that he’s not opening the bar today because he can’t get any of his managers in.

I was going to find a server job at a diner, somewhere that wouldn’t care if it snowed, instead of going to see Cooper today. When he called, I couldn’t say no though. My nerves are fried, and that’s what I’m blaming my outburst on.

I’m so tired of not being able to get ahead.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I shiver as I walk to the student union. I need to get an unhealthy amount of work done for my classes today so that the one bright spot in my week is being on top of my coursework.

I hope Cooper won’t dig too deeply into my life here at school. Worse yet, I pray he won’t call my mother. While I’m not talking to her right now after she cut me off for not following her wishes, Mom has never changed her phone number. Ever. The odds are pretty high that he would be able to reach her.

The student union center is toasty warm when I walk in, which only makes my body shiver harder as it struggles to acclimate to the change.

Fuck. I was going to buy a coat with my tips tonight, and now I won’t be able to. I’ll be lucky if I don’t freeze tonight as well because it’s supposed to get even colder. When am I supposed to hit my breaking point, when I’m a popsicle?

Teeth chattering, I find a quiet table and get to work on my studies. I spend the day here before my next class, methodically doing the reading and paperwork for each course.

No one spares me a second glance, and while lonely, it’s what’s necessary. I don’t have the time to chat or get to know anyone new. I don’t want to date or attend the parties, and certainly don’t have the luxury of late night conversations while staying up too late.

All of the things other people are taking for granted as a freshman in college I don’t get to do because I’m just trying to keep my head above water.

I know Cooper was joking about my books, but I carry them with me because I have no other option. I need them to work on each class or I’ll get behind.

When it’s time for my math class, I want to cry because it means I’ll have to go out in the snow. Biting back the tears because they’ll freeze, I pack up my things and trudge outside to my next class. Students who are wearing way more than I am, brave the outdoors for their education, and it’s hard to hold my jealousy in check. This is my choice though, no one is forcing me to go to school here, so I just have to suck it up.

Devouring every word my teacher says in class, I write detailed notes so I can go over them afterward to determine if I need to meet with the teacher's aide for extra help. While I love math, I’m not too proud to seek out extra instruction if needed.

“Thanks for a great class, guys,” Dr. Justice says with a smile. I can tell numbers are his passion because he lights up while teaching. “If anything isn’t clear, please come see Teagan or I during our office hours.”

Biting my lip, I make sure that I have their hours written down. My hands shake slightly as I do, and I realize I need to head to the cafeteria after this to eat. I've been so distracted, I haven’t eaten at all today.

Fuck, between my boss and Cooper, they’ve thrown off my entire schedule.

Packing up my things, I leave the warmth of the building for the frigid weather of Minnesota. When I was researching this area, I swear I read that snow would hold off for at least another month, but the cold front is laughing at me right now.

Trudging across campus, I breathe a sigh of relief as I walk into the cafeteria and scan my student identification card. Loading up on food, I check my bank account to figure out if I should buy a winter coat or not. I never thought this is what I would be agonizing over, but this is my life now.

Eating my grilled chicken salad as I check my bank, I frown at the two-hundred dollars currently in it. I won’t work again until the weekend, though that’s if my boss decides to open the bar. Is it really worth the comfort a winter coat will bring?

Checking the weather app next, I sigh as I see that it’s going to be twenty degrees tonight. Freezing to death is not on my bingo card for this year, so I’m going to buy the damn jacket. I’ll just have to hope I don’t have any emergencies pop up.

You’d think less of those would happen, but I’ve seen a few people get into accidents driving to school because of the snow. One person in particular exploded her tire because it hit a hidden curb gutter.

Shit happens.

Sullenly determined, I polish off my salad and then treat myself to a huge piece of chocolate cake. My mother can’t complain about my diet anymore. I also walk a million miles on this damn campus every day. I need every one of these calories.

Happy in my decision to mentally tell my mother to fuck off, I check the time. The sun is already going down, and the day is gone. I have just enough time to buy a coat, spend as long as I possibly can at the library until I have to leave, and then find a safe place to spend the night in my car.

Eighteen isn’t half as fun as I thought it would be.

Four

Ethan

Ican't get the girl with the odd colored eyes out of my head. The outer rim of her eyes were blue while it lightened to green toward the middle. I was too distracted to notice much else outside of her multicolored hair. Seeing her again threw me off balance. There’s only one other person that I’ve ever met with eyes like that and I doubt I’ll ever see her again.

My step-sister always seemed to live inside of her head, and spent a lot of time outside when her mother wasn’t hunting her down.

“Proper young ladies don’t climb trees, Nina.”

I can hear Vivian’s voice now, and the answering snarl at my thoughts as I walk across campus to my car makes several undergraduate students look away and give me a wide berth.

Dad is going to yell at me for scaring people again if he sees me like this. Stretching my neck to release some of the tension, I think about how unprepared for this weather that girl was. Everyone around me is bundled up in coats and warm clothes, while she was in ripped jeans and a hooded sweatshirt.

It’s none of my business, but many of the students here have money, so it’s unusual for me to see someone like that. I want to ask Dad about her, because if she’s a scholarship student, I want to ask him what the school’s programs are like.

I don’t want to add another project to my plate, but maybe I can talk to Dad about donating a stipend scholarship for the school.

Frowning as I think, I walk to the parking lot. I typically only do things lately because it’ll either be good for my career or I’m bored, and I’m not sure where this fits in. I see a girl who is clearly struggling and then decide to create an entire new scholarship so this won’t happen again?

Fuck, that’s not like me at all.

Checking my phone, I see that Dad texted me.

Dad:

I’m stuck at the office. I have one more student and then need to do some research on something. I’ll see you at home later.

Hmm. Smirking, as I look down at the phone, I wonder how red his poor assistant’s ass will be after this “research.”

Me:

Is this code for destroying your poor assistant’s pussy?

Text bubbles start and stop several times, making me snort in laughter. Maybe I should tease my father more about his sex life. It’s doing wonders for my mood today. I hardly ever get to tease him.

Sure we talk, but we’re both busy, and I walk around with a dark cloud over my head ninety percent of the time.

I think one of the only times I’ve felt anything other than annoyance is when I’m tutoring, because I actually want the people I’m helping to succeed. Otherwise, I’m so focused on what I’m doing, I walk around terrifying the people around me with my resting bitch face.

Dad:

Not today, son. I’m frustrated enough to fuck her face for hours though.

Turning on the car, I wonder which of his students managed to piss him off. Dad is usually pretty good with them, though his colleague leaving in the middle of the semester is rough for the department.

Leaving him to his research, I decide to take advantage of my good mood. I have a few people I’m friendly with, and I haven’t been great company lately.

Picking up the phone, I call Riley as I shift the car into drive.

“Am I hallucinating right now?” Riley asks.

Rolling my eyes, I shake my head as I start driving to his place.

“No, you’re not. I’ve been in a shit mood and I’m finally shaking it. I figured I’d bless you with my presence,” I chuckle.

“Consider me blessed,” he snarks. “Are you coming over? It’s Wednesday night so we aren’t partying, but I can throw together some dinner and a poker game?”

I can definitely get behind that. This weather sucks tonight. “Yeah, I’m in, thanks. I’ll see you in a bit,” I tell him.

“It’s good to have you back. I’ll tell the guys, we were just talking about you,” he chuckles.

I need to make sure I spend less time lost to the haze because I’ve kind of missed them too. I wasn’t always such a moody fucker, but the last few years everything seems to piss me off.

I hang up without saying goodbye. I know he’ll give me hell for that too, and I don’t even mind it. Turning on the radio, I let myself even sing to whatever is playing, ignoring the fact that I keep wondering what a certain blonde is doing with her night.

Riley

Medical school should be harder than it is. I wanted a challenge when I enrolled, and yes, I also wanted to see the puzzle pieces of an injury or infection to see if I could put them together.

I could do anything, but the human body and mind fascinates me. Its ability to heal itself is unprecedented, but when things go wrong, they spiral hard. I enjoy figuring out how to get the body to do what it's supposed to do and find myself caring too much when it won’t.

I’m in my third year of medical school and started clinicals this year. I’m glad for the colder months beginning to roll in because it means it’s an excuse for more chill evenings. Nights of gaming, drinking with friends, and expelling some pent up sexual tension is exactly how I want to spend my down time.

As someone knocks on the door, I glance at the food on warming trays on the long dining table ready for people to grab and go. My mother taught me everything I needed to know about entertaining people, I simply choose to do it on a much smaller scale.

My long sleeved shirt hides my tattoos typically, but I have the sleeves pushed up tonight. I wanted to be able to maintain a completely professional demeanor when I got the ink, and so they’re all in places that clothing will cover them.

Walking over to the door, I pull it open. I live alone in an apartment near the school so I can get to both classes and the hospital easily. It suits my need for quiet when I need it, but also forces me to reach out when I’m feeling stifled and need company.

“Hey, Ethan,” I say, stepping back to let him in. Right on his tail are several more of my friends, and they greet me as they head in for food and a night of gaming.

My mother would say it’s uncouth, but we all come from money and know how to conduct ourselves. It’s nice to not need to behave in a certain way.

“It’s been a while,” I tease Ethan as I make myself a plate of food and grab a beer.

Everyone else is already immersed in a game as I sit down with him as he rolls his eyes.

“It feels as if every second of my day is scheduled,” he groans, taking a bite of his burger. Despite it snowing, I was craving burgers and fries. “This is the best fucking thing I’ve put in my mouth in a while, Riley.”

Snorting because if I have my way, he’ll have my cock in his mouth at some point tonight, I shrug.

“Sounds like you need to be more careful about what you put in your mouth,” I murmur, beginning to eat. Groaning, I nod, because I really do make a mean fucking burger.

There are rounds of nods and raised plates from the guys in tribute to the chef as they eat, making me smirk.

“I swear, you guys only come over here so you can eat decently,” I murmur, popping a French fry into my mouth.

“It’s also for the sparkling personalities,” Hugh says in the corner with a chuckle as he plays. “Ah, fuck. Don’t shove me in that corner!”

“You put yourself there,” Cal grunts, killing him in the game. That’s a feud that will age interestingly tonight.

“So what’s new?” I ask Ethan. He seems a lot more relaxed than he usually is. He’s typically a prickly bastard, which makes fucking with him so much fun.

“I almost ran a girl over with my car,” he blurts out, appearing surprised that he told me that.

By now, no one is paying attention to us, so I don’t bother to hide my amusement.

“Finally got so sucked into your own head that you stopped paying attention and became a worse driver than you already are?” I ask him. “How did you almost hit her?”

“I was in a hurry,” he grumbles. “She came out of nowhere with her pink streaked blonde hair and her ratty fucking jeans.”

“She sounds cool,” I admit, shrugging. “Not exactly the kind of girl we get at our school usually though, unless she’s a scholarship student. The school has been making an effort to give out more scholarships I’ve noticed.”

“She’s not,” Ethan agrees. “I don’t know her name but I’m calling her Rainbow Brite in my head. Ah, and to her face apparently too. She ran into me on campus too and landed on her ass. I can’t get her out of my head.”

“So why don’t you shoot your shot?” I ask noncommittally. I’m not really the settling down type. I don’t believe that there’s an omega out there for every alpha. It feels like the unicorn scenario that only lucky sons of bitches get.

I know a lot of people who aren’t that lucky, or those who settle for the wrong mate. I would rather be alone forever than choose badly.

“For the same reason that I’d rather prowl the bars or come over here when that’s not something I want,” Ethan sighs.

We met when he was a sophomore in college and have fucked around a bit over the years. It’s been very casual, but he once said that if he did ever settle down, that person would need to be able to handle what we have.

It’s the only time he’s admitted that we’re more than fuck buddies. His father’s ex-wife really fucked over more than one person in that divorce. Ethan never wants to feel as betrayed as his dad was.

“Okay, well ratty jeans don't say rich bitch to me, Ethan,” I remind him. “Though, I should probably also call her Rainbow Brite so I don’t start calling her Ratty Jeans.”

Chortling, he shakes his head.

“You’re impossible,” he mutters.

Maybe, but he’s back to being in a good mood, and that means I may get laid tonight. I’ll take it.

Ethan

I’m glad I hung out with Riley and the guys tonight. I have to remember to do this more often. My edges are so jagged now, normal nights like this help to soften them.

We also had a hot moment in the closet of his apartment where he fucked my face while I fucked my fist. I loved every second of it. He allows me to release my sexual tension in whatever way I need. It was exactly what I needed to reset the roaring hormones I’ve been feeling since I saw Rainbow Brite.

The problem is I don’t want anyone to have to deal with me when I’m a raging asshole, so I hide away in the slog of my schedule.

Pulling into my parking spot, I frown as I see the same SUV I noticed before. Turning off the car, I climb out to see my dad also just getting home.

Taking a breath, I decide to let him help me figure out what to do about this car because I can already feel myself starting to get irritated.

These spots are permit only for a reason, but the city hasn’t marked them as such, nor do they check them.

Watching as he gets out of the car, I wave at him silently and point out the vehicle. It’s a little after midnight, and I’m surprised he’s just getting home.

However, this isn’t the first time he’s gotten carried away with his assistant after hours. Just because he told me he had other plans doesn’t mean that he didn’t change his mind. My dad is notorious for doing this.

Dad’s eyes are on the car I’m pointing at, brow furrowed. Quietly closing the door, I start moving toward it with my dad approaching the other side. There are window coverings over each window and the windshield so I can’t see inside.

“Who covers their windows like this?” Dad mutters, staring at the car.

“Could someone be inside?” I ask softly. The snow has stopped falling, but it’s still too cold to be sleeping in a car. It’s something that I’ve been wondering about because this area is a mix of older people and students who live together.

Most of them wouldn’t have people over, or they would park in the correct parking spot instead of right in front of our house.

I’m beyond angry now and simply concerned someone might be in dire enough straits to have to resort to this.

Instead of responding, Dad swallows hard and nods. Lifting his fist, he cuts straight to the chase and knocks hard on the window.

“Hey, open up!” he calls out forcefully. “Is anyone in there?”

I hear a strangled scream from inside and know I was right. Fuck.

“Open the door!” I yell.

My heart is pounding now as I start to realize that there’s a girl inside. Rustling sounds occur before a window covering is pulled off and I can see the outline of a girl.

“We’re concerned it’s so cold. You can’t stay here,” Dad says.

There’s silence before the girl nods. She’s so bundled up in a coat that I can’t see anything else except the dark fabric. “Okay, I’ll go,” she says softly, moving to crawl into the front seat. I can’t see her anymore, and I’m moving to knock obnoxiously on the driver side window.

Something tells me she’ll move the car to a possibly less safe place.

“No, open the door,” I bark as she pulls off the coverings so she can drive.

“I’m going, get away from the car,” she says. There is a note of terror in her voice, making me close my eyes in frustration. Fuck, we’re scaring her.

“Come on, sweetheart, we just want to talk. I’m a professor at the university⁠—”

“Cooper?” she asks softly and the locks open. Dad looks defeated and sad as he stares at the door for a second.

“Why…” he seems to have lost his words as he pulls the door open. I can see blonde and pink hair and my stomach clenches. At least she has a winter coat now.

I put my hand on the car as I feel dizzy for a moment, only to find ice on the windows. She's been here a few hours at least.

“Can we get her inside?” I ask Dad. I still don’t know who this girl is, and I don’t know why she knows who my father is. Something tugs at my memories, but I don’t think I’m ready for whatever that is right now.

“Please come inside, Nina. It’s too damn cold. Are you seriously living inside of your car?” Dad asks rapid fire questions as I shake my head. This entire time that I’ve been obsessing about this girl, she’s really my step-sister? Ex-step-sister?

Fuck me. The world feels fuzzy and uncomfortable, and I’m not really sure how I should be feeling, but Dad is right. We need to get this girl inside because it’s too damn cold. It’s all I can smell, the crisp, clean scent of the world.

While in the comfort of a warm home, I can enjoy the beauty, but to this girl, it’s a death trap.

As I gaze at her, I can see from how slight she is that she’s an omega. Why do I feel so protective over her?

“Mom cut me loose over the summer and left me,” Nina says, her teeth starting to chatter. “I have a scholarship, but housing isn’t included, and this is my only chance to get an education. I’m not your responsibility, Cooper. I’m fine. Let me just get the car de-icer and I’ll move to somewhere else.”

“Nina,” I say, her name feeling foreign in my mouth. Her eyes finally glance over at me and I see shame in her eyes, her cheeks rising with color. “I did tell you I’d give you my name the next time we met.”

“Ethan?” she whispers. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.”

“You guys met? Listen, it really is cold. Please, come inside? Even if you decide not to stay, at least you can get warm,” Dad insists.

Biting her lip, she nods, turning to reach into the back seat. “I got a battery operated heated blanket so I’m warm enough,” she explains as she turns it off.

“Grab your bag,” I tell her. I don’t care if she sleeps on the couch, she’s not sleeping in this damn car tonight. Fuck, it’s just unsafe. Too much could happen to her, and the rumors of people kidnapping omegas from the streets are rampant. I can’t imagine her ending up at an auction block.

How did a girl like this become homeless? I remember she tended to disappear, but whenever Vivian put her foot down, Nina would be perfectly dressed and walk out to the event like the perfect daughter.

“I really don’t⁠—”

“Now!” Dad and I alpha bark at her, making her startle and scream in surprise.

“No excuses,” I growl as she scrambles to grab a bag and jumps out of the SUV. I shut the door behind her, jutting my chin toward our front door.

“I really had no idea this was your house,” Nina sighs. She sounds like the universe is out to get her, downtrodden and sad. I don’t know what she thinks is about to happen, but I’m getting pissed off.

Why is coming into our house such a big deal? We used to be family, though that does feel like a long time ago.

“Inside is better than freezing to death or getting sick,” I mutter as I start to walk toward the house. Dad is at her back ensuring she follows us.

“I did some digging, and you have a full financial scholarship. How did you manage that with your family’s money? That scholarship is supposed to go to someone deserving,” Dad says.

I don’t think he’s thinking clearly, because no one with family money lives in their car willingly. Opening the door, I sigh as the heat of the house welcomes us.

“I have fifteen dollars in my bank account until I work on Saturday, and that’s if Mikey decides to open the bar,” Nina says softly as she walks inside. “I had a feeling Mom would cut me off when she found out I wanted to go to the University of Lyons instead of a school in Europe, so I wanted to be prepared. I didn’t claim any income when I applied, and my grades are excellent.”

“How did you get the car?” I ask, turning on lights as we walk deeper into the house.

“Mom wasn’t home when I left. She told me to get out or she would call the police, so I took my small savings, the car, and my laptop. I printed out directions to get here from Georgia,” Nina explains. “I shower at the school gym, I go to classes, I work at the bar. Rinse and repeat.”

“I’m having a really hard time believing your mom just cut you off,” Dad mutters, dropping into his favorite spot on the sofa. His nostrils flair, causing him to shudder.

What the fuck is going on? The cold has my senses numb right now, so I can’t tell what he’s smelling yet.

“Her new husband doesn’t have any interest in a daughter, and Mom wanted to hide me away,” she says softly. “Now I’m hidden and doing what I want.”

“You can’t be homeless and attend this school.” Dad winces. Nina’s face crumples and her lip starts to tremble.

“I’ll get another job, if I can work more hours then I’ll be able to apply for an apartment,” she whispers. “Please, please don’t tell the school.”

Glancing at Dad, I see a hard glint take over his dark brown eyes. I’m trying to ignore how hard my cock just got at the sight of Nina’s tears as they start to trail down her cheeks.

The begging is doing it for me too. Adjusting myself carefully, I take a seat in the armchair, waiting to see what my dad’s next move will be. The little ice princess isn’t in a position to make demands anymore. I’m content to see where we go from here.

Because it definitely sounds like we’re about to play a game and my step-sister will be an unwilling participant. Licking my bottom lip as I watch Nina begging my father, I wonder how far she’ll go to get what she wants.

Five

Cooper

Ihave been frustrated all night. The more I found out about Nina and her time here as a student, the more confused I got. I face fucked Brooke for two straight hours, but it didn’t help lessen my feelings. I took a shower in my office before returning home, and I’ve never been more happy that I did. Now, I’m about to unleash the tension I’m feeling on this unsuspecting eighteen-year-old girl, and I can’t bring myself to care how wrong my baser urges are.

My cock has been rock hard since I saw her, fuck, since I smelled her. I can’t get the memory of it out of my head, it would figure that my scent match would be someone I’m not supposed to have. However, I’ve never been very good about following the rules.

“Sit down, Nina,” I say softly. As if by my command, her knees collapse and she sits down hard on the edge of the chair. I didn’t alpha bark her this time, but she’s quick to follow what I want just the same. “It’s obvious to me there’s a lot I don’t know since Vivian and I divorced, but the issue still stands that you can’t live in your car, especially now.”

“I have the heater, and this coat, I’m fine,” she huffs.

“You just got the coat,” my son helpfully supplies. “You’re barely making ends meet, Rainbow Brite.”

My lips twitch as her blue-green eyes glare at him, though they’re still glassy with tears. Fuck, what would it be like to make her cry for another reason?

I’m not a good person, and I’ll never pretend to be.

I’ve also never taken advantage of a student like this before. I suppose, there’s always a first time for everything.

My mind is reeling, and it doesn’t escape me that my son is just as interested in his step-sister as I am. Is she scent matched to him as well? The cold fucks with his senses, and always has due to his allergies. Even in the dead of winter, they still fuck with him.

“Ethan has a point. You said yourself that you have fifteen dollars to your name right now,” I remind her. “It’s expensive to live here. You’re living on borrowed time because I have to report this to the admissions office.”

“What? No, Cooper, seriously you can’t. Everything that I’ve done will have been for nothing,” Nina complains, but her voice doesn’t do that high pitch whine that most girls her age do when they’re not getting their way.

It’s still a beautiful tone that makes me wonder what she would sound like when she comes.

Fuck, has she ever properly come? I have so many questions, and none of them are very appropriate for this conversation.

“One thing you need to know is that I can and I will,” I tell her softly. I never raise my voice as I sit here chatting.

It was a mistake for me to yell out on the street in the middle of the night, but Ethan and I both weren’t thinking.

My mind was merely racing with all the things that could have happened if I didn’t get home later than planned.

What if I didn’t knock on the window?

“No one tells me no, and I am a very well respected teacher here,” I continue. “I have an extra room you can stay in so I won’t have to report a homeless scholarship student to the school. I also have rules and things I want in return. Ethan and I have very busy schedules that are demanding and we have certain needs. You’ll be responsible for those in return for staying here.”

“Like… cleaning after you two?” she asks, eyes wide. Her hands are trembling and I feel an uncomfortable pinching sensation in my chest as I see that she’s not wearing mittens nor a hat. My hand fists as I really face how unprepared she is for this early snowy weather.

“Oh, Nina, so innocent," I coo gently, waiting until I have her full attention before giving her a taste of who I truly am.

The dominant part of me that needs to control things is making an appearance, the part that only Brooke typically sees. I keep one sub at a time for my needs and I work them exceptionally hard.

Maybe I need to train someone new, and this would be the perfect time to do that. "I want you to suck my dick when I get home," I growl, smirking. As I watch the blush of surprise and mortification bloom across her cheeks, I wonder how pretty her ass would be that color.

“There’s no fucking way you want me to do that,” she gasps. “You’re my step-father, isn’t there some kind of law against this? You’re also my teacher!”

“I think you missed the part where I told you I do what I want. I want some kind of reassurance that you’re even capable of this because I’m really picky, Princess,” I rumble.

Nina has always reminded me of a princess in a gilded cage. Even the day of her mother's and my engagement party, she was climbing a tree to get away from the primping and preparations to make her someone that she’s not.

I want to free her from all of that while shackling her to me. Glancing at Ethan and the way he’s staring greedily at Nina, I can tell he wants her as well.

“Cooper,” she whimpers, but I shake my head and snap my fingers for her to stand. Nina’s eyes widen as she scrambles up, making me smile at her in pleasure.

I really want to watch her crawl to me one day soon.

“Take off your jacket, and answer some questions. You ran away from me. Now you’ll do as I say. I don’t appreciate having to chase people,” I tell her.

Nina slowly takes her jacket off, letting it drop to the floor by her backpack. Now I feel bad for teasing her about a dorm room and how she didn't need to carry everything with her. I’m a dick, but it won’t deter me from what I need right now.

“Okay,” she whispers. “What do you want me to do next?”

“Take your shirt off,” Ethan chimes in. I'm not surprised that he wants to play now.

Sitting back on the chair with his legs spread open and his arms comfortably draped over the armrests, he watches her intently.

Nina’s gaze moves over him scathingly, her emotions bouncing all over. It doesn’t escape either of our attention though that she stares at his erection for longer than acceptable before blowing out a breath.

“Seriously?” Nina’s hands twist the bottom of her long-sleeved shirt as her gaze jumps back up to Ethan’s.

“Very. I’m glad you remembered where my eyes are, Rainbow Brite.” He smirks. “I want to see those pretty tits while you suck Dad’s cock.”

I have to admit that the nickname is cute, a nod to the heavy pink streaks through her platinum hair.

Nina pulls her shirt up and over her head before dropping that on the ground as well. She’s not being artful about stripping, she honestly looks annoyed and frustrated, but it’s hot as fuck still.

“Anything else, oh lord and master?” Nina asks sarcastically. My cock jumps so hard at her words, I shift uncomfortably. Goddamn brat.

“Careful, Princess,” I warn. “I’ll make you start calling me that. I like that shit.”

“Really?” she asks with a squeak.

“Yep,” Ethan mutters. “Dad hid it away for a lot of years, but he definitely wants you on your knees when he gets home ready to get fucked hard. Take the bra off, baby girl. All of this anticipation is killing me. I’ve been dreaming of seeing these.”

I haven’t heard how he met Nina, but I’m sure it’ll come out soon. He doesn’t typically keep secrets from me. I’m not surprised they didn’t recognize each other though, since they’ve both changed a lot in the last four years. Ethan wasn’t home much either as a high schooler because of sports and academic clubs.

“I can’t believe this is happening right now,” she murmurs as she unsnaps her bra, dropping it. Her tits are magnificent and I want to yank her to me and bury my face in them.

I’m coiled too tightly right now, my body carefully attuned to her every breath and movement.

Her pebbled nipples and the way she’s rubbing her thighs together aren’t escaping my attention right now either.

“Pants too,” I grunt, watching as she strips off her boots, socks, and pants. I let her keep the tiny scrap of fabric that she calls panties, smirking as Ethan bites his fist behind her back as he stares at her ass.

“Believe it, Nina, because it is definitely happening. Come kneel between my thighs and get used to it because it’ll be a position I’ll have you in often. If I text you and tell you to come to my office, that’s what you’ll do.”

“You want a blow job under your desk?” she whispers, swallowing hard. Her feet slowly move toward me, her heart beating wildly at her throat. I can see it from here as she drops to her knees between my splayed open legs.

“You’d be surprised what I like to do in my office,” I chuckle. Indulging in my need to touch her, I cup her face, stroking her pulse. “Now for the questions, Princess. Have you ever sucked an alpha’s cock before?”

I phrase it exactly the way I meant it, because I’m not interested in fumblings in the dark with some little boy.

Nina’s eyes meet mine and all I see are blown pupils. There’s fear mixed with that arousal. Hmm.

“N-no,” she says, stumbling. Ethan’s eyes grow wide and as he scrubs his face with his hand in disbelief, all I can think of is mine.

“Are you a virgin, Nina?” I ask her, licking my lips. Her eyes follow the path of my tongue, taking a shuddering breath. Her skin is so soft, her hair silky and beautiful. Fuck, the second I saw her name on my roster, I knew she was going to be trouble.

Now that I’ve seen her, touched her, I know I won’t be able to let go.

“Yes,” she says, her breath thready.

Fuck. I can’t wait to collar her throat with my hand and control every breath. I will become her lord and master. Her alpha. Omegas have always seemed like too much effort, especially after my ex-wife.

“Shh, that’s okay,” I murmur. “It means Ethan and I will get all of your firsts, baby. You’re going to learn what we like, and you’re not going to look at anyone else. That’s what I want.”

“And in return you won’t say anything?” Nina asks, swallowing hard. I can smell her slick in the air, and I notice the exact moment that Ethan’s senses come on board and his eyes widen.

His relaxed hands turn to fists and his eyes cut to mine. Smirking, I nod at his unanswered question.

I want Nina to be safe, but I also can’t stay away. I can’t help but be a bastard.

“Yes, and you will live in the spare bedroom. I’ll get you the permit to park on the street,” I add.

“Fuck, I didn’t realize there was permit parking,” she sighs.

“Such a dirty mouth, I think it’s time for me to give you your first lesson in punishment,” I say sternly.

Her breathing quickens, her eyes questioning if I’m serious. Ethan brazenly opens his pants, releasing his cock to slowly stroke it, but she can’t see him because of how I’m holding her face tightly.

“Open my pants and pull out my dick,” I order.

She follows my command, but keeps stopping as if waiting for me to tell her that I’m pranking her. I absolutely plan to have those pouty lips wrapped around my cock, her tears spilling as she swallows me down. Grunting in pain, I squeeze her face tightly, silently urging her to hurry.

Hands shaking, she opens my belt, pulling it out and dropping it to the floor before opening my pants and reaching in to find my dick already out. I went without boxers today because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with them.

Gently wrapping her hand around me, she rubs her thumb over my cock. Her hand is small, so she can’t wrap it around it.

I let her explore for a second before I move my fingers into her hair and pull her forward. Nina hisses as she moves, and I remember she’s a bit tender headed. It’s something she would always complain about when her mom would do her hair.

“I’m not a soft man, Princess. I’m going to pull your hair, fuck your face until I come, and send you to bed without an orgasm after you’ve swallowed every drop,” I explain to her.

“Sounds like you’re dropping her in the deep end, Dad.” Ethan smirks. “She is a sassy little shit though.”

“So are you telling me to continue with what I’m doing or are you going to give me commentary the entire time?” I snort. Ethan shrugs with a wry grin, making me smirk.

Nina stares at me in disbelief and awe, making me realize that I don’t smile very often. Maybe she’ll change that. First, I need her to understand that I mean what I say.

“Ethan, come help me with your sister,” I chuckle. My son rolls his eyes, standing to walk over to us. Dropping to his knees behind her, he presses his hard cock against her back. Nina shivers at his warmth as he kisses up her neck.

“Be a good student, Rainbow Brite,” he whispers in her ear, pulling her hands away from me and behind her back.

The crown of my cock is red and already dripping with pre-cum. I need her mouth more than I need my next breath.

Nina moves where I position her, and I secure her hair in one of my fists while I hold my cock. Her tits move slightly with every panting breath she makes, making me decide to have her beg for me. I may be issuing demands, setting my expectations, but a blind man would be able to see that she wants my cock.

So of course I need to hear the words.

“Tell me you want my dick, little girl,” I growl, smearing my arousal onto her lips. “Taste how much I need you to suck me off and then deny me. Either way, you’re still going to be choking me down.”

“Cooper,” she whimpers. Ethan continues to hold her wrists in one hand as he skims down her body with the other.

“Baby girl, you know these tiny panties are already soaked. Make a decision, either way you’re going to be sucking your first cock,” he croons. My dick jumps in my hand, making me grunt. I’m so fucking turned on, I know I won’t last long.

The reason I fucked Brooke’s face for hours was because my body wouldn’t let me cum. I got so frustrated, I sent her away. Apparently, my cock had other plans.

“Test your theory about how badly she’s ruined her panties,” I murmur, my eyes narrowing on Nina’s face. Her gasp as Ethan moves almost makes me laugh, especially when he pulls her hips back so he can stare at her scantily clad cunt.

“There’s a very large wet spot,” Ethan chuckles, inhaling deeply. “Fuck, I need a taste.”

The sound of him sucking and licking her through her panties makes me groan. “Goddamnit, I’m jealous. I bet she tastes incredible,” I grumble.

“Fucking delicious. I know how much you like honeysuckle, Dad,” Ethan growls.

Nina’s eyes roll as she moans and shudders, and I sit in witness to the first time anyone’s ever gone down on her. All I can hear are the slurping sounds as Ethan thoroughly enjoys her dripping, juicy cunt. With how closely she was watched by Vivian, it makes sense that she would be innocent in all things. She’s beautiful to watch as she starts to get overwhelmed by the stimulation.

“Has anyone ever made you come before?” I growl. I need to know for sure. I also want to bend, let her come, but I need to establish control.

“No,” she cries out. “Please, oh my God.”

“I know,” I croon. “Wait till he rips the panties away and lets himself taste all of you.”

Meeting my son’s eyes, I discreetly shake my head, ignoring his pout.

“Now, do you want my cock, Princess? Your pretty little cunt clearly thinks you do. Make sure you don’t lie to me, because I’ll know. And instead of sucking my cock, I’ll spank you and send you to bed. It’ll punish both of us, because I very much want your mouth,” I tell her.

I never show how much I need someone, and I’m already breaking my own rules.

My control remains but only because she doesn’t know how much power she already holds over me.

“Yes,” Nina gasps, her gorgeous blue-green eyes holding my gaze. The shades of blue versus green are different in each eye, which is typical of those with heterochromia iridum. The effect is one that makes me continue to stare at her as she licks up my slit tentatively. My cock violently jumps again, surprising her.

Ethan cages her in again with his body, watching her intently. “I want to watch you open wide and take him all, baby. Dad’s on the edge, don’t tease,” he says softly.

My son isn’t wrong, I’m struggling. Mouth opening as much as possible, Nina attempts to get the wide, blunt head of my cock to fit. I’ll have to teach her to take my knot. Brooke could be knot trained, that means Nina will be able to be too. She’s a fucking omega, after all. She’ll be acing all the exams I give her with flying colors.

“Suck on it, Princess. That’s it, get it nice and wet, let the saliva drip down it so it’ll glide easier,” I grunt.

Nina sucks enthusiastically, making me groan loudly. “Fuck,” I bark out, my chest starting to heave. “Come on, Princess, swallow me down.”

Pulling her head down my cock, I smirk when she chokes.

“Swallow around the need to gag, baby,” Ethan coaches her. “You can do it. Your eyes are going to water and that’s normal.”

He thinks I don’t know that he currently smells like cum and his friend, but he does. I don’t give a flying fuck who he fucks, but Riley is the only person he lies to me about. I know all about the bathroom fucks when he’s horny and needs a release.

He can keep his secrets for now, maybe Nina will help him soften about how he perceives me. I’m going to use Nina hard, and he’s going to see the depths of my depravity.

If I show him mine, maybe he’ll tell me about Riley, and know I don’t care who he fucks.

Since he’s not allowed to make her come, his right hand moves up her body to knead her breast. Nina groans around my cock, making my hips thrust up as I pull her hair hard.

She squeals, but it doesn’t last long before she gags again. Nina struggles a little, but finds a rhythm as her eyes stream with tears as she sucks my cock.

“That’s it, you’re going to be my good little cum whore aren’t you?” I breathe as my eyes roll. She feels so good, and I don’t want to finish too quickly. Her throat is tight and wet as she sucks, and she doesn’t fight me when I tug her down to take more.

Fuck, she’s a damn dream. Nina mewls around my cock, the vibration making me see stars. Ethan’s fingers pinch and pull at her nipple, making her writhe between us.

“So pretty,” Ethan grunts. “You’re doing so good, baby, keep going.”

All he needs to do is encourage her to finish strong, and I may have to send him out of the damn room. My son isn’t wrong though, Nina is perfect. What she doesn’t have in experience, she makes up for in perseverance.

I’m losing my cool, pulling her down deeper as my hips thrust as I begin to face fuck her. I’m trying to be more gentle than usual, but it’s difficult.

Nina struggles to breathe here and there, her moans despite it all are addicting as fuck. Grunting, I pull her hair until her nose touches my pelvis, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest as my hips thrust harder.

“Such a good girl,” I grunt. “Remember, you don’t need to breathe to suck my cock. I prefer it when you can’t. God, that’s it. Fuck, I’m so close.”

My balls are drawing up, my ears are starting to ring, and I gasp as my rhythm starts to fail. I’m finally going to get the release that stayed just out of reach all day, and this tall beauty is going to give it to me.

“I’m going to come,” I groan. “Swallow every drop like you should. Remember, little omega, you’re made to take my cock.”

My hips twitch and jut as I erupt and ropes of cum hit the back of Nina’s throat. She chokes from the volume, sputtering for a moment before she swallows me down.

On and on I release down her throat until I sag against the couch, out of breath as I drag Nina off my cock.

She’s an absolute mess, making me smirk. There’s cum that’s escaped down her face, and there’s tears streaking down her cheeks. She looks incredible to me. Pulling off my shirt, I gently wipe her face and Ethan kisses up her back.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I tease her, feeling lighter now that I've had my orgasm.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but that wasn’t how I thought it would be at all,” she rasps softly.

“I like things differently than other people.” I shrug. “You took me so well though. We’ll talk tomorrow, iron things out, but your room is at the top of the stairs, the second on the right. I want you to quit your job, too.”

“I can’t,” she says, shaking her head. “What if I need new tires, or a new notebook, or absolutely anything?! I need this job.”

“Then I’ll pay for those things.” I shrug again. “It’s absurd for you to work and carry an eighteen credit course load.”

Scowling, Nina pushes Ethan away from her as she stands. “You’re a fucking stalker, Cooper.”

“He probably knows how you’re doing in every class too,” my son chuckles, standing and fixing his pants so his cock is put away. “What’s her weakest class, Dad?”

Nina looks magnificent as she glares at me, standing tall with just the tiniest panties as her armor.

“Math,” I mutter to prove his point. Ethan snickers as Nina hisses at me, making me howl out a laugh. “Don't be like that, pet. I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”

“I have an appointment with his TA to get some help,” she mutters, turning away.

“I can help you with math,” Ethan offers. Nina simply rolls her eyes and walks away.

“You’re lucky it’s late,” I call out after her as she grabs her bag on the way out of the room, “Otherwise you’d be over my knee getting spanked for that eye roll.”

Nina walks away faster, taking the stairs at a jog.

“She’s going to fight you,” Ethan murmurs, watching her.

“I’m looking forward to it, aren’t you?” I grin. He nods, chuckling as he turns to follow her up.

“You know she’s ours, right?” he asks. At my nod, he shakes his head. “How the fuck is it possible that the fates decided to make her ours?”

“I don’t know, son. What I want to know is how she doesn’t. Not one reaction to our scents, not a fucking twitch,” I growl. “Pulling back the veil of her secrets is going to be a task in itself.”

“As long as she’s not trying to sleep in her damn car, I don’t mind the fight,” he says as he disappears.

Standing to go to bed, I decide that I feel the exact same way.

Six

Nina

Iwent straight to bed last night, uncomfortable and horny. I shouldn't have been so turned on, I should have hated what happened last night, right?

I keep my head down, work hard, and do my best. Unfortunately, it’s never enough. Cooper could take everything away from me.

Taking full advantage of the bathroom connected to the bedroom I’m staying in, I take my time in the shower.

I don’t understand the game we’re playing right now. The things I’m feeling, the heaviness I feel in my breasts and deep inside of me feel foreign.

Turning off the shower, I dry myself and get dressed quickly. I’m hoping everyone is still asleep because it’s only six in the morning.

I woke up at five-thirty and then got frustrated since I was unable to fall back asleep. I have no reason to be up this early when my first class isn’t until nine today, but hopefully I can slip out of the house without anyone noticing.

I’ve worn holes in my jeans by now, so I frown as I pull on a pair of black pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a sweatshirt. My long pink and blonde hair is dry, my teeth are brushed, now it’s time to get out of here.

Grabbing my things, I slowly open the door and peek out into the hallway. I need to start applying to other jobs, because I don’t want to be stuck somewhere. I don’t want to take money from Cooper, what if he throws me out too?

Walking quickly and silently, I move across the hallway to the stairs and then down them. Palming my keys, I quietly open the front door when I hear a cabinet slam closed in the kitchen.

“Nina Marie Sterling, do not walk out that door!” Cooper roars, making me sigh. Just as well, my jacket is on the floor in the living room, and walking outside in socks is probably a great way for my toes to freeze off.

Dropping my backpack dejectedly by the front door, I walk to the kitchen. Cooper glares at me from where he’s making me breakfast, jerking his head for me to come closer.

“I need to get to school,” I tell him, even as my stomach growls when I smell the eggs, sausage, and potatoes that he’s cooking.

“Did you forget that I work at your school and I know when all of your classes begin?” he smirks. “I have your schedule on my phone along with a list of your clubs. Come here.”

“Fucking stalker,” I mutter, dragging my feet across the floor. Grabbing my arm, he pulls me to him, and then my face is pushed against the counter in the next blink of an eye.

Cooper swats me with a wooden spoon across the ass several times in rapid succession, making me scream. “Ow!” I cry out, struggling to get away.

My ass is on fire, his huge body caging me in. Even as tall as I am, he manages to dwarf me. Tears slide down my cheeks, more in shame at having my ass paddled like a wayward child than because it hurts.

“It’s now my job to take care of you. If you’re a brat, I’ll punish you, if you’re a good girl, you’ll be rewarded. It’s that simple, Princess,” he says, letting go of me.

Pushing my hair out of my face, I sniffle and attempt to wipe my cheeks of my emotions.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Cooper coos, his arm wrapping around my waist to sit me on the counter. It’s uncomfortable to perch on the hard surface, forcing me to shift my weight. My step-father merely smirks, going back to cooking. “Are you going to be a good girl now?”

“No,” I pout. “I just want to go, Cooper.”

“Too damn bad, because that’s not happening. I need you to quit your job right now, and then I’m going to give you my credit card to go shopping. You’re going to freeze in those clothes,” he sighs. “I have no idea how you’ve been surviving as it is.”

“I’ve been fine,” I mutter, careful to toe the line between being polite and just being myself. He’s not fucking around this morning. “I like taking care of myself. Mom kicked me out to travel the world with her new husband. What’s going to happen when I become too much trouble for you? How am I supposed to support myself when you kick me out?”

“I’m a pain in the ass and a grumpy fucker, and he hasn’t kicked me out yet,” Ethan grunts as he walks into the kitchen wearing low slung pants and nothing else. He’s covered in a sheen of sweat. All I can think about is the feel of his thick, hot cock against my back as he pinned me against his dad.

Swallowing hard, I remind myself that it’s probably not possible for me to also swallow my tongue. Crossing my legs, I squeeze them tightly, struggling to string words together.

“You’re his son, though,” I tell him. Oh look, here comes the word vomit. “My own mother threw me away, I don’t have much hope for either of you.”

An angry scowl takes over his face as Ethan slams the bottle of water that he just picked up onto the counter next to me. Pulling me hard down the counter, I squeal as I uncross my legs, worried I’m going to fall to the floor.

“Shh, you’re fine,” Ethan says. “I’m not a big fan of your mom, and neither is my dad. Some people shouldn’t be parents. Since the second I almost ran into you with my car, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“Very romantic,” Cooper snorts, turning off the stove. “Now I know how you two met. I promised to always catch you when you were nine-years-old, do you remember that?”

“Is that what you said to her when she fell out of the tree?” Ethan chuckles. He’s gone from looking like he’s going to murder me to laughing, and it’s giving me whiplash.

“I do, though the promise left something to be desired,” I mutter.

Ethan grips my chin, lifting it until I’m staring up at him. His scent of blood orange and chocolate surround me, attempting to soothe my anxiety with the reminder that he’s mine. Since the first time I smelled them both in the living room, I’ve wrapped their scents around me tightly. I don’t want to let them go.

“You’re going to spend a lot of time with a reddened ass, Rainbow Brite,” he grunts, and then his lips are on mine, stealing my breath in the most delicious way possible.

Moaning into his mouth, my fingers tangle in his hair as he lifts me into his arms.

I don’t know how he manages to walk and kiss while I’m so accident prone, but he easily sits at the kitchen table, keeping me straddled on his lap.

“To address what you said,” Cooper says as he plates food and puts it on the table, “I didn’t have a choice when I left before. Your mother threw me out, and I erroneously thought you’d be fine there. I never in a million years would have thought her capable of throwing you out without checking to see if you had a safe place to land.”

“I don’t think she thought about what it would mean to take my phone with her when she left either,” I explain as I pick up my fork and take a bite, moaning as the flavors burst over my tongue. “She has no way to get a hold of me anymore.”

“Let Nina sit properly,” Cooper rumbles, making Ethan snort. Lifting me as if I weigh nothing, he maneuvers me until I’m sitting in his lap, facing Cooper as he sits down. “Princess, your noises are going to make me feed you something else very soon.”

“So I’m your sex toy?” I joke, struggling to not roll my eyes. He seems to have an issue with insolence.

“Yes,” he agrees, making me choke on my spit and grab a napkin. “I’m developing an obsession and the best way for me to deal with it is to lean in and accept it.”

“Most people would ignore their urges,” I tease him, shaking my head. “I’m not going to make a good sex toy, sorry. I told you I’m inexperienced and I meant it. I’m a virgin, Ethan had my first kiss, I gave you my first blow job. I have barely presented as an omega, and I have no idea what I’m doing with my life, much less my designation.”

Ethan rocks my ass over his now rock hard cock, making me gasp. “The trouble with being rich and bored and powerful is that there’s no one to tell you no,” he teases me. “Dad works because he enjoys teaching, I go to school because I enjoy learning, but we both have certain sexual urges that I think you’ll be able to help with. Quit the job, get some clothes that won’t make me hunt you down regularly on campus to check to see if you’ve turned into a popsicle, and in return we get to play with our beautiful new roommate.”

“This is insane,” I sigh. “Cooper⁠—”

His lips press together unhappily and Ethan grunts. “You’ve done it now, baby. I’m going to shower. Enjoy your punishment.”

Dammit. The traitor gets up, pushing me onto my feet before he leaves, whistling under his breath. Cooper glances at him in surprise, and I wonder what he’s thinking about.

“Come here, Princess,” he mutters, still staring at the spot where Ethan just was.

“Why am I coming and what are you staring at?” I ask.

Cooper’s lips twitch despite himself, and when his gaze meets mine, I see amusement swirling in the depths of his eyes.

My feet move of their own accord until I’m staring up at him. His hands grab my shirt, forcing my arms to rise as he pulls it off.

“Ethan and I were both very hurt by your mother’s decision to get a divorce,” he says softly as he drops to his knees and unbuttons my pants. “I thought it was something I did for a long time, and I beat myself over it, which my son saw. He refuses to date at all.”

“Really?” I say softly as Cooper peels off my pants and panties.

“Yep. Neither of us joke much anymore which is why he surprised me as he left. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him whistle.”

I’m naked except for my bra and socks, which Cooper fixes quickly. Tossing my bra to the side, he bites his lip as he stares down at me. “So beautiful, and such a damn brat,” he murmurs.

“Is this where the punishment happens?” I sass. When his dark brows arch at me, I know I fucked up. “Cooper…”

“Sir or no sir, Princess,” he growls. “Yes, this is absolutely where punishment happens.” His hands wrap around my waist before he throws me over his shoulder and spanks my ass hard.

“Ow! What is with spanking me?!” I yell.

“I think you like it. I’m going to test out a theory for academic purposes. If you come, you’re going to quit your job, go online shopping, and then drive to school with me,” he says.

“What’s wrong with my car?” I sass.

“I’m going to have Ethan take it to the mechanic to make sure it’s not going to explode on the drive to school,” Cooper snarks back. “I’m sure you haven’t been able to get it maintained well, and I want you to be safe.”

“This sounds like a recurring theme,” I mutter. “Safety, Sir.”

“Fuck yes it is, Princess,” Cooper says, spanking my other ass cheek hard enough to make me gasp. Lifting me onto my feet, he frowns at me. “I broke my promise to you, not realizing how far your mother would go to control you.”

I think about what really happened before I ran. Mom didn’t let me leave, she said she was going to come back with men who would take me away until I could be trusted to make better decisions. Running was a better solution than living my life locked away. No thank you.

“I didn’t realize it either, Sir,” I mumble. I shiver as my eyes travel to the floor. I don’t like to remember what my mother is capable of.

“Hey, I’m here. Nina?” Cooper cups my face, forcing me to look up at him. “You’re keeping things from me, aren’t you, Princess?”

My eyes widen because it’s obvious. I’m a terrible liar. Pulling me with him as he sits on the couch, his hands move slowly over my body.

“I’m a little jealous I haven’t gotten a kiss yet,” he grunts. “I’m going to indulge myself before I spank your ass red for being a brat, sassing me, and keeping things from me. I’m keeping a tally of this shit.”

I open my mouth to complain, because I don’t know if I like being spanked yet, when his fingers grip my hair at the base of my skull and he kisses me. Both father and son devour when they kiss, and I moan and whimper into his mouth.

Cooper groans, grinding me against his erection. God, now that I’ve seen his cock, I really don’t know if it’s going to fit inside of me.

“I don’t have a lot of control, beautiful,” he growls. “I’m going to spank you, edge you, and fuck you in that order. Are you on the pill?”

“N-no,” I stutter. “There’s never been any reason for it and —”

“Princess, you’re fine,” Cooper coos. “I’ll use a condom, just for you.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. I don’t even know why I’m apologizing, but I feel like I did something wrong.

“Don’t apologize,” he smiles. “I need to make sure we’re safe. If I cum inside of you with the purpose of filling you until you’re pregnant with my baby, you’ll know it because it’s a conversation we’ve had already.”

My eyes widen in surprise. I’ve never had anyone speak to me like this.

“You look surprised,” he teases me, turning me until my head is dangling toward the ground. His powerful legs are spread wide enough to accommodate my body, and his hand squeezes and rubs my ass.

Slowly, his other hand spreads my cheeks, and I shiver as I feel myself exposed to the warm air in the room. Cooper runs his finger through my curls, grunting as he finds my slick. I don’t know if I’m supposed to shave or not, and⁠—

“You’re thinking too damn hard, Princess,” he grunts, spanking my pussy. Shuddering, I feel my walls clench as I gasp. “Be my good girl now and pay attention to me.”

“Sorry, Sir,” I whisper. As if in reward, Cooper rubs my clit gently, making me moan. While Ethan licked and sucked my pussy through my panties last night, no one has ever touched me this intimately.

“You’re so goddamn perfect,” Cooper growls. “Take a finger for me.”

Coating his finger in my arousal, he slowly pushes it inside of me as he continues to rub my clit.

“Oh, oh my God,” I gasp. A part of me wants to ask if I’m supposed to be quiet or not, I read once⁠—

Swat.

Cooper pulls away his hand while his other grabs my wrists tightly.

“Baby, you're thinking too hard again. It’s okay, I’m going to fix it. For every swat, I want you to count. If you miss a number, we’ll start over again,” Cooper says.

“Coo…Sir, please. I’ll do better,” I whimper. I blame the fact that I’ve been alone so much for my drifting thoughts. It’s the only way I’ve been able to occupy my time, and it’s habit forming. I don’t know how to be around people anymore. I’ve taken isolation to new levels.

“I’ll accept one thing from you, Princess. What words do you think they’re gonna be?” Cooper asks.

He’s right on one thing. I’m a brat.

“Yes, Daddy,” I say, my eyes already closing for the answering swat.

“Fuck, baby, how did you know I like that?” he rumbles. “It’s taking everything in me not to impale you on my cock and fuck you raw. Please, keep pushing me, Princess.”

I don’t know what to say, whether to push him or not, because my pussy is clenching around nothing and needy as he strokes my ass and pussy as if he has all of the time in the world.

“I’ll be good,” I whimper. “Please, whatever you’re doing is making me crazy.”

A deep chuckle escapes his lips as he listens to me. “Your skin is so soft, and your pussy is so pretty. Goddamn, baby. Now count for me.”

A rough slap raises me to my toes as I cry out. “One,” I say, my voice a gasp at best.

There’s not a peep from Cooper as he spanks me where my ass meets my thigh. It’s virgin territory, and makes my eyes tear up. He continues to hold my wrists in his left hand, his heavy arm pinning my hips in place.

“Two,” I whimper, my ass starting to warm from the earlier spankings.

Cooper swats my other cheek hard, and I can feel it bounce as I cry out. I lose count as he spanks me a few more times, simply screaming with each slap. Breathing hard, I moan when he pushes two fingers into my tight channel.

“Fuck, you’re soaked,” he says reverently. “Don’t move your hands. I want to reward you for taking that so well. Will you let me?”

“Yes,” I rasp, linking my fingers together behind my back, so I won’t move. Cooper makes a pleased sound, and I wish I could see his face.

“Shhh, remember, stay with me, baby,” he murmurs as he spreads my ass and lifts me up. Squealing in surprise, I moan as he licks my pussy like a starved man, tilting my body higher until my head practically touches the floor.

“Oh my God,” I moan as his tongue laps at my slit. He makes an annoyed sound and he flips me onto my back on the sofa.

My eyes widen as I hold my fingers tighter behind me as his shoulders settle between my thighs.

Lifting my legs up to splay me out wide, he holds me there with his arm before he spreads my pussy lips to suck on my clit.

“Daddy, oh, fuck,” I mewl, uncaring of the punishment as my hips attempt to gain more friction.

“You taste better than I could have dreamed,” he groans, pushing three fingers inside of me. It’s a big stretch, making me cry out as I struggle to relax. Cooper continues to lick and suck, rocking his fingers in and out of me.

“I know, beautiful, I need to stretch you a bit to take my cock. You can do it.”

Tingles move up my body as I start to clench around Cooper’s fingers. His dark eyes are all I can see down my body, and he growls, “Mine,” against my pussy.

“Argh,” I cry out, writhing on the couch. “I feel…”

I can’t finish a sentence to save my life as he scrapes his teeth along my clit in warning. Screaming, I feel a large release of slick as he continues to fuck me with his fingers.

“You feel like mine,” he groans. “Come for me, I know you’re close. I wasn’t going to let you, but you make me soft. I want to have you dripping off my face before I fuck you.”

His mouth, I can’t deal. The sounds coming out of my mouth are foreign, my body tightening in preparation for something.

I’ve never masturbated, I was never interested. My pussy clenches again around Cooper’s fingers, and I scream when he expertly curls them inside of me. Shuddering, pleasure rolls over my body as if in slow motion. My fingers clench, my eyes roll, and my toes curl as I come all over his fingers and face.

I can hear how wet I am as Coop fucks me through my orgasm with his fingers. I can’t catch my breath, so I pant in wheezing gasps as he slowly puts my legs on the couch.

Pulling his shirt off one handed, he wipes his face with it, looking extremely pleased with himself.

“I am ruined for other women,” he mutters, getting onto his knees to push his sweatpants off his hips. His cock springs out of it proudly, my eyes draw to it. “I promise you it’ll fit.”

I can hear Cooper’s amusement before looking up at him. I’m still a puddle, and I think I’m broken. I can’t get up. Nope, he already ruined my pussy for anyone else.

“I’m glad to hear it,” he barks out a laugh and I gasp, covering my mouth as I realize I said all of that. “Come here, silly.”

Sitting up, my jaw drops at how big of a wet spot there is. “Wow,” I whisper.

“Don’t apologize for that or I’ll be taking you over my knee again instead of fucking you, Princess,” Cooper rumbles.

“No, thank you,” I say, unable to think of anything else as he pulls me into his lap. Cooper’s cock bobs against his abs now that he is naked, and he grins evilly at me.

“I broke you,” he chuckles. Reaching over into the table next to him, he pulls out a condom.

“That’s handy,” I squeak as I watch him tear it with his teeth.

“A couple of things,” Cooper says as he pulls out the condom. Stretching it over his cock, I watch as he rolls it down.

“I put that in the drawer this morning in case we needed it. I don’t bring anyone into my home and neither does Ethan. I’ve also only ever had sex with a condom and I’m completely clean. Same with my son.”

“That’s a lot to take in,” I rasp, raising my gaze to meet his eyes.

“I want you to know I’m not having sex with anyone else except for you after this. I’ll tell my assistant we’re done and she’ll accept it. That means that you’ll be taking over her duties as my sex slave,” he says seriously. “If I text you, you’re in my office on your knees for me.”

“Holy… wow.” I catch myself. “You were serious about this.”

“Yep. I live on the edge between control and rage. I love my job, but I can only keep it together for so long,” he explains.

Dipping his head, he pulls my nipple into his mouth. Moaning, I thread my fingers through his hair as he sucks and nips at it.

Lifting my hips as I straddle him, I rock against his cock, needing the stimulation. Cooper wraps his arm around me, lining his cock at my entrance.

“Your choice, but you belong to me after this. Fly or fall, I’ll catch you, Princess. I promise,” he says.

I’m nervous, my body is pebbled in goosebumps, but I trust the intense heat in his eyes.

“Yes,” I pant. My heart is pounding with anticipation as he pulls me down onto his cock as he shifts his hips forward. I can feel so much as he drags along my inner walls. He feels so big, and I gasp at the sting of pain as he goes deeper.

“Fuck, baby,” he groans, burying his face in my neck. Moving his right hand to my clit, he rubs firmly with his thumb. The pain starts to leave as I start to rock up and down, supported by his arms. “Do what feels right, Princess. I’m yours to use until I have to take over.”

Cooper appears to be almost in pain as I ride his cock, neck muscles straining as I manage to take more and more of him deeper.

Groaning, my eyes roll when my thighs meet his, and I grind down on his cock. Keening, I vaguely hear him praising me as his hands squeeze my ass as he mutters under his breath. My mother wasn’t much for explaining what the different designations were. In fact, she kept telling me I was a useless beta, not even good enough to sell off in marriage.

“Nina,” Cooper growls.

“I’m trying, Daddy,” I moan. Too many thoughts exist in my mind, but they drift away as I shift my hips and find bliss.

His cock was made to hit all of my pleasure zones it seems, and I take his advice.

I just feel.

The running commentary in my head is finally gone, and I feel worshiped as Cooper runs his hands up my body. Squeezing, pinching, occasionally smacking my ass, he brings me closer to another orgasm.

“I didn’t think I was supposed to be able to come again,” I cry out, my eyes starting to darken as I feel tingles start to warm along my body.

“There are no rules for that,” Cooper rasps, his hips thrusting up as he gasps. I can see his tenuous control is starting to unravel. Feral is going to look so fucking good on him.

“One day, you’re going to take my knot like the perfect little omega that you are,” he murmurs.

What does it say about me that he doesn’t scare me?

I can’t respond to him as my nails dig into his shoulders.

“Yes, baby, come all over my cock. I can’t even tell you how good you feel,” he gasps. “Fuck, such a tight, warm cunt, strangling me. Goddamn, I can’t do it anymore.”

Flipping me to my back, Cooper hitches a leg over his shoulder, fucking me through my orgasm. I lose the ability to speak, as he devours my lips while his hips piston and thrust.

I don’t know how, but he’s circling his hips as he fucks me, making my body start to tremble again. I can feel his knot as it nudges my entrance, and I wonder if I can really take that. It’s so thick…

Cooper’s kiss is addicting as he sucks on my tongue. I can taste myself on his lips and it doesn’t bother me at all.

I used to hide when my mom would talk with her friends about sex, and Toni would complain about this. Mom wouldn’t contribute much to the conversation, making me especially glad for it now.

Cooper bites my lip, making my eyes widen. His eyes remind me of who I’m fucking as if I could ever forget.

“I’m close, Princess. Come for me again,” he growls.

“Make me,” I squeak before he throws his head back with a bark of laughter. Lifting my ass, he hits a place in my body that I didn’t know existed.

I hope these walls are thick, because the noises I’m making would probably get the police called otherwise.

My hands hold tightly to his neck and I explode, my vision whiting out.

“Hey there, Princess,” Cooper chuckles, kissing my neck. I’m laying on his chest now, my legs on either side of his waist as I blink up at him. “You came so hard you passed out. I think I’m going to enjoy exploiting that.”

“You can do that?” I ask dumbly.

“Oh yes. I’m taking you upstairs to shower and then we’ll head to campus,” he tells me, sitting up. My legs immediately wrap around him, and I see he’s no longer inside of me. The condom is gone now too, I’m assuming it's thrown away, but he’s still hard against my stomach.

“I can probably walk,” I tease gently as he stands.

“I’m not ready to let you go yet.” Cooper shrugs. “Mine to fuck, mine to punish, and mine to spoil. That’s what it’s like to belong to me.”

I don’t think I’m ready for this man. I’ve never belonged to anyone before, but I always felt safe with him, until he left. I stare at him with widened eyes as he carries me up the stairs to his room.

I feel so many things as I gaze at him, realizing there’s so much I don’t understand as well.

“I thought you just wanted to control what I do,” I murmur, watching him from under my lashes.

“How can I possibly keep you safe if I don’t?” he asks, sitting me on the counter in his bathroom. The cold, hard material makes me wince because it reminds me of the abuse my ass went through. “It also doesn’t change the fact that I need an outlet for my needs.”

Turning on the water in the walk-in shower, he looks over his shoulder at me. “Your firsts are mine, your holes are mine, your decisions are an extension of me. I don’t want to cut your wings, Princess,” he sighs. “I want to make it easier for you to reach for the things you want without having to struggle.”

“Okay,” I say softly. I’ll believe him until he gives me a reason not to. It’s the only thing I can do right now.

His answering smile is beautiful as he helps me down from the counter, kissing me as he walks me backwards into the water.

“Being mine means a lot of things, and you’ll learn them all,” he murmurs. There’s shadows in his eyes I don’t understand, but I’m not brave enough to ask.

Not now, when I feel so relaxed about what we just did.

Cooper cleans me up carefully, washes my hair, and makes me feel cherished.

I may not understand these butterflies in my stomach, but I’m willing to admit it feels nice to be taken care of.

Seven

Cooper

Walking into my office with a private smile, I think about how beautiful Nina looked when I dropped her off outside of her first class. Her classes are strewn all over campus, and it’s too damn cold today for that nonsense.

I’m not often chivalrous, but an incredible orgasm is tempering my inner asshole, though I still had Nina quit her job, while I drove into campus and handed her my credit card to go shopping.

I told her to forward me the receipts, so that I knew it was paid and I could ensure she had everything she needed. The money doesn’t mean much to me, the fact that I know Nina is dressed warm enough does.

I also made sure she had both my and Ethan’s numbers. I wasn’t kidding when I told her I would need to fuck her until my sanity returned. Now that I’ve had a taste, I don’t think I’ll be able to get enough.

Ethan texted me to tell me that the mechanic couldn’t take the car until tomorrow, which isn’t a big deal, because I left my permit slip on her SUV before Nina and I drove to school.

I could tell she doesn’t know whether to be amused or frustrated, so I’m calling it a win that she didn’t fight me on this.

“Hello, Sir,” Brooke murmurs as she walks into the office, making me look at her regretfully. She stumbles when she sees my face, her eyes starting to well with tears and understanding. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sorry, Brooke,” I sigh. “I think our mutual arrangement has come to an end. We’ll have to continue in a professional capacity only from here on out.”

Swallowing hard, she nods, brushing the stray tear away. “In that case, you have ten students coming in today, Professor. Please don’t eat any alive,” she says. “Do you need me for anything today?”

“My emails are making me want to throw away my computer,” I wince. “Can you help me clear out the mess there please?”

I gave Nina my personal email, so I’m not worried about Brooke seeing anything she shouldn’t. Smirking, she nods, sitting next to me to tackle my emails silently. Together, we slog through the day, and I’m glad this part at least wasn’t awkward or difficult.

I even managed not to eat any students.

Ethan

Me:

What are you doing right now?

I’m working on a paper in the library but can’t stop thinking about Nina. I’ve been dying to ask Dad what happened, but he has back to back meetings with the students from his extra class.

Rainbow Brite:

I’m doing homework in the Student Union. Why?

Me:

I’m bored, come to the library, baby.

I’m not typically clingy, but I can’t sit still. Fuck, I’m definitely not working on anything until I see her.

Rainbow Brite:

You’re lucky I’m tired of sitting here alone. I’m on my way.

Frowning at her message, I shake my head. I don’t like that she’s alone. I’m happy she’s coming to see me, but I wonder if she has any friends. The students here bond quickly, but she’s been here all semester. If she doesn’t have any friends, is it because of her homelessness?

Previous homelessness. There’s absolutely no way she’s going to ever sleep in her damn car again.

Twelve minutes later, Nina walks into the library, her lips tipping up when she sees me.

“Is this better?” she asks softly, sitting across from me.

“Yes and no,” I grumble. I want to talk to her, but I’m sitting across from the librarian. “Come with me.”

Amused, Nina gets up and follows me, making me pause at how trusting she is. Taking her hand, I walk her deeper into the library.

“Okay, I have questions,” I grunt, pushing her back into the bookcase.

“I may have answers,” she giggles softly. Damn, that mouth. Such a damn brat. No wonder Dad is having so much fun with her.

“How much does your ass hurt?” I tease her back.

“My pussy is more sore than my ass,” she sasses. Dropping to my knees dramatically, I bury my face against her stomach.

“God, you’re so much trouble. I think you like being spanked,” I groan.

Looking up at her, my lips twitch as I watch her think about it with a shrug. Shelving the question about if she has any friends at school, I decide that I want to be her friend. I want to know everything about her.

Then she won’t need anyone else. Except Dad, I guess I’ll share her with him. Maybe if Riley wants to meet her, I’ll introduce them. I think that’s the extent of her supposed social experiences though.

Flicking open Nina’s pants, I watch as her eyes hood.

“Did you come this morning?” I growl, pulling off her boot and her pant leg, so that she’s only half dressed.

“Yes,” she says softly, watching as I lift her leg onto my shoulder.

“Mmm. Are you a screamer?” I smirk. Her cheeks flood with pink as she bites her lip. “Let go of that. I want to bite that lip next.”

Tugging her bottom lip away, I warn her, “Stay quiet. I need to watch you come before I fuck you.”

I want to care about how sore she may be, but I can’t. I’m going to blame Dad since he took her virginity. We’re going to keep her cunt filled as much as possible now.

My lips close over her clit, making her gasp as she stiffens. Nina covers her mouth with her hands to stifle her noises as she rides my face, and I’m too gone to care if we get caught. Thankfully, we’re deep enough in the library that no one really comes down this way.

Pushing my finger inside of her pussy, my eyes flutter closed at how tight she is. Nina whimpers as I push another finger inside of her, and I can tell she’s been well fucked. If her pussy is sore, I guess I’m fucking her ass.

Grunting like an animal at how good she tastes, I roll my tongue over her pussy lips and clit, needing to clean up all of her arousal.

It’s mine, and I don’t want to let even a drop go to waste. I don’t care how much of it there is, it simply means I’ll have to work harder. Soon, her legs begin to shake, her fingers in my hair to help her ride my face. I would never let her fall. Dad and I are a lot alike in that.

Nina’s breaths hitch as she swallows a scream from behind her hand as she starts to come on my face. Fuck, she’s even more beautiful than I thought she’d be when she comes apart.

Sagging against the bookcase, Nina struggles to catch her breath as I rise to my feet.

“Turn around and hold the shelves tightly, legs wide,” I growl. Nina’s eyes widen but she does as she’s told with shaky limbs. My lips twitch in smugness. I’m pretty proud of myself right now.

Releasing my cock from my pants, I tap her legs roughly to get her to open them wider. Pulling out a packet of lube that I left the house with with this vision in mind, I tear it open. It doesn’t matter that she’s an omega, unless she’s in the middle of her heat with slick coming out of her ass, I’m going to use lube.

“Baby, I need to bury my cock in your ass. I’m going to cum so deep inside of it, I’ll be leaking from it for days,” I growl, rubbing the lube all over my cock. “Fuck, I’m not a great option as your first…”

“I don’t care,” Nina moans as I cage her with my body. “I want it.”

“You want this?” I ask her, pumping the base of my cock with my fist. Dropping my heavy dick between the globes of her ass, I slide it between them. Fuck, I just want to cover her in my cum.

Mine. It was a shock to find out last night once my sinuses cleared that she truly is mine. I never thought I’d want to find my scent match, but Nina is the best surprise fate could have ever given me.

Pulling off her shirt, I tug down the cups of her bra to fully enjoy her body. Nina is so damn perfect. Her tits are full, her ass bounces when smacked, and she’s so responsive.

“Are you sure?” I whisper in her ear as I line my cock up with her puckered hole. “It could hurt. I don’t have the time to prepare you⁠—”

The crazy girl grabs my hip and pulls me forward as she pushes her hips back. Biting back a shout as my cock stretches her hole easily due to the lube, Nina cries out as I wrap my arms around her, lost to my lust.

“Fuck, you’re insane. You feel so damn good, I’m sorry I can’t stop. You’re mine. Forever, you’re fucked now,” I groan.

“I’m only fucked if you’re inside of me,” Nina says. Tears color her tone and I move my hand between her legs as my hips rock and thrust my cock deeper inside of its new home. She’s strangling me as she struggles to breathe. Crazy girl.

Pushing my fingers deep inside of her channel, I grind the palm of my hand on her clit.

“I don’t need control the way Dad does,” I murmur in her ear as I fuck her ass. “I need you to tell me if it feels good, when you’re going to come, and if something hurts. Don’t suffer if I’m hurting you, okay, baby?”

“You’re so big,” Nina whimpers. “It feels good, please don’t stop. I don’t know about knotting me back there but…Oh, God that feels better.”

I shifted my hips to hit deeper. My fingers and my cock are rubbing each other through the thin membrane of her body, my arm banded tightly around her waist. “Good girl. Now be as quiet as a mouse and come all over my fingers and cock, baby.”

My words make her clench around me, making me curse under my breath. The cheeky little shit gasps out a giggle before she’s moaning again as I fuck her hard. The sounds of strangled moans and slapping skin fill the aisle until Nina’s body is shaking as she comes.

I may be an asshole and as insane as she is, but even I’m not going to knot her tight little ass in the library. When I do, I want to take my time, so I can enjoy the knot tying us together. The thought makes my cock twitch and my teeth want to mark her.

My balls draw up as I bury my face in her neck. “Goddamn it, I’m going to come. When I do, I’m going to push a butt plug in your ass that you’ll wear until Dad texts you to go see him,” I tell her, my rhythm starting to falter.

I may not like to see her in pain unless Dad’s giving it to her as a spanking, but even then, I know Nina likes it. She ruined her panties while she was sucking his cock.

Eyes rolling as pleasure floods my body, I feel like a masochist as I struggle to hold on. I don’t want to come yet.

I have a butt plug in my pocket for when I empty my balls deep inside of her. It’s just the gentlemanly thing to do since she has one more class after this before the end of the day.

I heard one of Dad’s new students complaining about how difficult he’s making it, and I can only imagine how frustrated he’s getting. Nina is going to have her hands full. He’s going to need to work through some of the shit.

Tugging her head back to kiss her, I let myself get lost in her body. I didn’t think I’d ever see her again, but I’m so glad she’s here.

Nina

I spent all of my class uncomfortably shifting in my seat because of this damn plug. I really need to stop underestimating Cooper and Ethan.

Packing up my things, I check my phone for any missed messages. Since I don’t have my car, I was going to get the rest of my paper done if Cooper was still meeting with students.

Sir:

I may kill someone. Please come to my office, so I’ll spare my students. Nina, I need you.

Cooper put Ethan and his numbers in my phone, naming himself ‘Sir’. Shaking my head at how dramatic he is, I respond.

Me:

Finishing up class, which you know. I’m on my way. Did you eat any of your students yet?

My step-father was very adamant that I buy better winter clothes today, so I spent some time doing that before forwarding him the receipts. I don’t think he cares about how much money I spent, instead wanting to be sure that I did it.

Sir:

No. I’m done for the day. I want you on your knees for me. I want to watch you squirm with the butt plug Ethan put inside of you, while I fuck your face. Walk quickly.

Biting my lip, I lift my backpack to my shoulder and leave the classroom quickly. The snow bothers me a little less today as it falls around me. It looks like a wonderland, but maybe that’s because I’m on my way to see Cooper.

Walking quickly up the stairs of the building, I find his office and knock quietly.

“Come in,” he calls out. Pushing the door open tentatively, I see Cooper raise his brow as I stand there. “Close the door and take off all your clothes, Princess.”

Shivering, I walk inside, knowing my life won’t be the same after this.

There are no words spoken as I drop my backpack and begin peeling off each article of clothing. There’s a purring deep in his chest as he watches that makes me relax as I take deep breaths. I don’t even think that he knows he’s doing it, but it makes my body feel languid and floaty.

Naked, I wait for his next command.

“Look at how flushed and beautiful you are,” he croons. “I can smell your slick in the air, and it’s going to make me feral, Princess. Know that I’m going to be holding onto the tendrils of my control right now. Are you going to be my good little cum slave?”

I don’t know how I should feel when he calls me that. My blood feels as if it’s being set aflame, and I bite my lip because I know he’s going to ask me to do something I’m ultimately going to enjoy.

“Are you still wearing the butt plug? Come here, I want to see,” he insists.

My cheeks flame red at him “checking me,” but my feet move toward him even as I nod.

“Words,” he growls, making me shiver. I can tell he really is on the edge.

“Yes, I am, Daddy,” I purr instead, enjoying as his eyes roll back in pleasure. Yeah, that really does it for him. “I felt it every time I moved in class. I’m full of your son’s cum.”

“Good girl,” he says with a smirk. “Now come here and show me how well your hole is being spread by the plug. Mmhmm. Walk right between my legs. Now, face the desk, bend over, and reach back and spread your cheeks.”

Almost stiffly, I do as he says, feeling very vulnerable and exposed to him.

“Open your legs more,” he says, and I hear him open his pants and pull out his cock. “Fuck, your pussy is still puffy. You took Daddy’s cock like such a good girl. Did you come when Ethan fucked your ass?”

“Ye..yes, Daddy,” I moan, gasping as I feel him move forward. I can smell his scent surrounding me, and I love it. I think I’m addicted to it already.

I have so little education on what it’s like to be an omega, I think I’m going to need to do some research about it. Preferably, something that Emilia Richardson from the Regional Omega Women’s Society isn’t spouting. That's just terrible propaganda.

The sting of his hand on my sensitive skin makes me yelp, and he chuckles darkly.

“You slapped my pussy,” I gasp indignantly.

“I did,” he replies. “You stopped paying attention to me. I’m very jealous, Princess. I want to know every one of your thoughts and feelings are on and about me.”

I firmly press my lips against each other in an attempt not to say anything inappropriate. I may very well be a brat. Another swat makes me moan and he just chuckles under his breath.

“Stay quiet, Princess,” he murmurs, stroking his cock as he gazes at my exposed pussy. I can feel my body continuing to slick at the weight of his gaze, and I whimper with need. “Shh, I’ll use you soon, sweet girl. You’re doing so well. The next time I call you in here, I want you on your knees immediately at my side, naked and ready. Tonight will be different because I found myself missing you.”

He thought about me?

“Is that so surprising?” he asks, groaning as his fingers push my pussy lips open. “So damn pretty. Daddy needs a taste, Princess.”

His tongue and lips are all over my pussy, devouring me as I hold myself open. All I can do is turn my head to try to muffle my noises against my shoulder. Cooper doesn’t simply eat me out, he sucks my soul out of my clit.

And then…he just stops.

“Noooo,” I whine.

“Don’t complain,” he says with a guilty chuckle. “My dick needs to be sucked, and it’s not going to happen by itself.”

Again, I hide my smile as my hands move to my elbows so I won’t touch him, turning to drop to my knees between his thighs.

“Very nice,” he croons, his fingers pinching my chin to hold me in place. “I hope you’re ready to be face fucked for hours, Princess.”

Feeling bold, I shrug. “I don’t think you’ll last for hours, Daddy,” I say. “You’ve had a hard day, and I think you need to come down my throat.”

Growling under his breath, he moves his hands to tangle in my hair.

“Already a mind reader, huh?” he murmurs, inching my face toward this cock.

I can tell he’s going to edge us even in this, and I can feel slick pushing out of my pussy and sliding down my leg. His nostrils flare as he groans.

“This is why my subs are all betas,” he mutters. My eyes widen, wondering if he doesn’t like omegas. I can feel my eyes beginning to fill with tears with inadequacy and he shakes his head. “Your body pushes mine to give you everything you want, and to fulfill your needs, Princess. I want to take care of you, which in turn makes it difficult for me to keep you from getting your way.”

“Oh,” I say with a pout, hating the way my lips tremble with uncertainty. “Is that bad?”

“No,” he says, his thumb catching one of my tears. I watch as he lifts it to his lips and sucks it off. “It just means we’ll be exploring lots of different things together. Come here and wrap those pouty lips around my cock. Let’s see how far you can go before I lose myself in how good you feel. I’ll warn you though. The only place I plan to come is in your pussy, knowing you’ll have two of your holes plugged full of cum. Now what are you?”

“Your good little cum slave,” I whisper, my lips spreading wide to take the already weeping crown of his cock.

Somehow, his answering groan as he slumps in his chair to allow me better access to his cock makes me feel powerful instead of small.

I wonder what that says about me?

Eight

Cooper

Glancing over at Nina as I drive us home, I smile at how relaxed she looks. I let her take out the butt plug after I fucked her face at my desk and then pulled her into my lap to sink my cock in her tight pussy. I feel almost at peace, the clawing need for control and power is quiet for now.

“Did Ethan decide to take the car to the mechanic?” Nina asks, sitting up as she looks at the space where her car had been parked.

“No, and I put the permit on it so they shouldn’t have towed it,” I grunt, sliding into the spot beside it. “Let’s go inside, I’ll call the city, Nina. If it was towed, I’ll pay to get it out.”

Blowing out a breath, she nods, grabbing her bag as I turn off the car. Brow furrowed, I get out of the vehicle, looking around the quiet street. It’s about six at night now, and people are either home or on their way back.

Shutting the door slowly, I see that Ethan is home, and start walking toward the townhouse with Nina.

“Something feels off,” she says softly as I unlock the door. I have to agree with her, but I can’t put my finger on what it could be.

“We’re home,” I call out, my hand firmly on her back to move her inside.

“Hey, can you come here for a second, Dad?” Ethan sounds weird, making me frown.

“Should I go upstairs so he can talk to you?” Nina asks softly, looking up at me.

“Absolutely not,” I tell her, shutting the door behind me. “You live here too. Whatever my son has to say, he can tell you at the same time.”

Dropping my things on the front table, I grab her hand, pulling her after me as I walk to the living room.

“What’s going on?” I ask, heart sinking as I see Ethan scowling at Vivian Sterling. She ignores him as she brushes her hair over her shoulders from where she’s perched on the sofa.

“I should be asking you the same question,” she says coolly.

Nina’s hand squeezes mine tightly as she gazes at her mother in horror. I’ve been wanting to find out what exactly happened between them, and now I think I will. I didn’t want to push too hard, because she’d get this same terrified look in her eyes.

“Mother,” she whispers.

“That’s all you have to say? I left to meet the nice doctors from the psychiatric facility and you disappeared,” Vivian sighs. “You’re not well, darling. It’s not normal for a girl like you to fight what her mother wants so hard. I need you to learn how to be a good girl.”

The same words that I’ve been saying to her feel sour because they are meant to control in an entirely different way.

“Nina doesn’t have to be unwell in order to defy you, Vivian,” I growl. “You’ve been on this girl’s ass to change for her entire life. Why can’t you just enjoy who she is?”

“I want more for her!” she explodes. “I’ve been looking for her everywhere since Nina stole my car and left. I took her phone thinking it would deter her from leaving, but the little bitch walked out anyway.”

“I don’t think you should talk about her like that,” Ethan grunts, turning to face her. Now I know why he sounded so odd. He likes Nina and the way Vivian speaks about her is terrible.

“I agree,” I mutter. “Nina is enrolled at this school, she has a scholarship, and she has exceptional grades. Leave her here with us. I’ll make sure to take care of her. I didn’t realize you were trying to get her committed when she left Georgia.”

Vivian’s eyes move to our linked hands, and her lips curl. “You decided to move to a younger model, Coop. My little whore of a daughter, who I thought was so innocent and perfect!” she yells.

Nina tugs her hand out from mine and I let her, only because it’s not going to help either one of us right now.

“I’m an adult, Mom. I’m not sick, I can make decisions for myself, and I’m not letting you hide me away at an upscale institution until I’ll be who you want me to be,” she chokes out, wrapping her arms around her waist.

“What the hell has been happening the last four years?” I rasp. “I thought she’d be safe with you, and you’re trying to brainwash her into being the perfect Stepford girl just like you are. I should have found a way to take Nina with me.”

“She’s mine,” Vivian snarls, standing and grabbing Nina’s arms to pull her to her side roughly. “It’s not natural to live in your car. I’ve been tracking the vehicle, but she keeps moving the damn thing too often for me to find her. Then when I found the car and Ethan, I put it all together. I don’t know how long she’s been living here, but it’s clear that Nina can’t make proper decisions. I’m contacting the school to unenroll her today.”

“You can’t do that, Mom,” Nina cries, tears starting to slide down her face.

“She’s right, she’s an adult. You can’t do that. I’m her step-father, and nothing inappropriate is happening,” I lie. “It’s perfectly normal for me to offer her a place to live. It’s too damn cold for her to be sleeping in her car. She could have frozen to death.”

“The admissions department will pull her scholarship for it, though,” Vivian insists, her voice shrill and harsh.

“They would if she was still living in the vehicle, but this is her new address now,” I tell her. I haven’t had it changed anywhere, but she doesn’t need to know that.

A knock on the door makes me glare suspiciously at my ex-wife, who has a smug glint in her eyes.

“Nothing you have to say matters, because I have a huge file that talks about her history of self harm,” she says with a smile.

“What history of self-harm?” I ask, horrified at her lies. I’ve seen Nina naked, and I haven’t seen any evidence of that on her skin. Again, this is something else I can’t say as I stomp to the front door to answer it.

“You caught her once when she jumped from the tree, or don’t you remember?” Vivian asks sweetly as Nina sputters.

Vivian Sterling is a gaslighter. Fuck me. Nina fell out of the tree at nine, she never jumped. The whole thing was her mother’s damn fault as well.

“Be a dear, and answer the door, would you? The doctor should be here with two of his associates,” Vivian says with a smirk.

Nina’s sobbing and begging her mom to stop and I hear a ringing in my ears at the thought that I’m going to lose this beautiful girl yet again.

Fuck.

“Come on, Vivian. Do you really want Nina or do you want a perfect little doll, because she’s never going to be that for you,” I try again. “You need to remember that she’s a person with her own wants and desires. You can’t mold her into something she’s not.”

“Anything is possible with a money back guarantee, enough money, and behavior modification techniques. Plus, she’s an omega. I can smell her from here. Nina will be brought to heel,” she chuckles. Lifting a chunk of Nina’s pink and blonde hair, my ex-wife snarls as if it offends her. “Open the damn door or I will.”

Growling under my breath, I open the door. There are three men in white uniform, a man in his sixties looking past me at my now-hysterical step-daughter.

“I can see I’m coming just in time,” he murmurs. “I’m Dr. Kind, and these are my associates. I left the other primary psychiatrist at the institution to hold down the fort so I could be here tonight. It sounds like she’s having a psychotic break from the stress of school. I see it all of the time.”

Ethan leans against the wall, fuming as he watches the men push past me. One of the men shows me a notice for a seventy-two hour hold for Nina in a psychiatric facility.

My lips curl at how contrived this piece of paper is. Nina hasn’t been seen by anyone, she’s not psychotic, and she’s freaking out because her mother is an asshole.

“When did you evaluate Nina,” I ask, raising my voice. “This can’t be written up based on what someone says, and Nina has been at school all day. So how is this piece of paper legal?”

“You don’t need to go through legal channels when you have money, silly,” Vivian laughs lightly as the men take Nina from her. She struggles and kicks, but they’re a lot bigger than her.

I want to beat the shit out of them all, but I can’t. I need to prove this is fake.

“Stop, wait, no!” Nina screams as the doctor pushes an injection into her neck, nodding as she slumps in his arms.

“What did you give her?” Ethan asks, alarmed. His gaze and mine move over her to make sure she’s still breathing. His chest heaves as he straightens. I don’t think he thought they’d actually be moving so quickly.

To be honest, I’m surprised as well.

“A sedative,” Dr. Kind grunts as one of the goons next to him lifts her into his arms. Nina’s head lolls back, her hair loose. “We’ll be leaving now. You’re welcome to call the police, but there’s really nothing they’ll be able to do. This is a seventy-two hour hold, and they’ll tell you just to ride it out.”

“What are the odds that they’ll release her afterwards?” Ethan asks. I let him ask all of the questions I want to, because I’m spiraling and angry. I’m trying to figure out what the best way to navigate this is without going to jail.

If I’m in jail, I can’t help Nina. And make no mistake, she’s ours. My skin crawls with the injustice of this, and I wish I was the kind of alpha who could kill without qualms.

Unfortunately, I’m a barely restrained academic professor.

“I can’t answer that,” Dr. Kind chuckles, glancing at Vivian who shrugs with a smile.

“What facility is she going to?” I rumble, ripping my eyes from the beautiful girl who in a day has made me feel more alive than I have in years.

“Here’s my card,” Dr. Kind says, handing me an embossed white and gold business card.

Weeping Willow Institute

Frowning, I stare at the card. It doesn’t look like any mental health institution that I’ve ever seen. Thankfully, there is an address as well, so I decide to let Nina go for now.

Not for long, though.

“Thank you,” I tell him, looking over at my son who appears ready to tear Nina away from Dr. Kind’s orderly. Shaking my head at him, I ignore the glare he gives me as I turn to Vivian. “I’m sorry, I guess you do know best. I hope Nina is better soon.”

Grinning triumphantly, they walk out of my home together, but I’m already pulling my phone out to call my lawyer. It may be after hours, but Kendra Marks is a very well paid pitbull.

“I’m on it, Ethan, I promise,” I tell him, shutting the door behind Vivian and her goons. Swallowing hard, I watch from the window as I hit the call button.

My son crowds next to me, watching as a black SUV pulls to a stop in front of our house.

“This feels wrong,” he mutters. “I know we don’t have a legal leg to stand on, but I don’t like this.”

“Me either. So I’m going to find our legal leg. We’re going to get her the hell out of there. I promise,” I tell him as the phone picks up.

“Hello, Kendra? I believe my ex-step-daughter was just kidnapped by her mother,” I say in greeting.

I always get what I want, even if I have to take a step back to get it.

Princess, I’m coming for you. I promise.

Nine

Vivian

I’m following the SUV in front of me as we drive to Weeping Willow Institute. While the doctors there do have some actual patients that are ill, many of them are people who snub their nose at their families and society.

It’s a hospital to reprogram wayward family members, mostly omegas. Truth be told, my daughter took so long to come into her designation, I didn’t think she’d be anything but a beta. Then, when she did begin showing signs that she was an omega, I pushed forward my plans to get her institutionalized.

She’s too valuable as an omega to allow her to do whatever she wants with her life. I would much rather stick her in this place that promises a money back guarantee and the promise that she’ll walk out the perfect daughter. It’s all I’ve ever wanted her to be, and while I was married to Cooper, he’d railroad my every intention by insisting that she deserved some kindness.

While he may be a father to a son, he has no idea what it’s like to parent a daughter who is as headstrong as Nina is. I know what my daughter needs, and it certainly wasn’t hopping on her stepfather’s dick.

“Agh!” I yell as I drive.

I know he tried to be a decent husband to me while we were married, but there were so many things he wanted his way. As soon as I could throw him over and divorce him for someone who’d allow me to do whatever I wanted, I did.

Nina isn’t quite as valuable to me now, but it’s possible that no longer being a virgin will make her popular with some of the older male packs. It could be worth looking into.

My mind wanders to how frustrated I am that my daughter ran from me, and I decide I’m going to sign the papers to commit her immediately. I had planned to coo over her, brag some more about how clueless she is about the world, but I’m getting too angry. I want to be perceived as the doting, worried mother who only wants the best for her daughter, and not a controlling psychopath.

I’ll leave her here as long as it takes. Weeping Willow Institute and other hospitals of its kind are talked about in whispers among the rich at brunches and parties. My friends were the ones who put the idea into my head, and when she became even more unruly, I decided to book her into the Thresher Institute in Georgia.

Unfortunately for her, the Thresher Institute is going to look like a spa day compared to this one. The brochure stated they take a very hard stand on unschooling those who do not follow their designations. Omegas are meant to be sweet and generous, always ensuring they follow the rules provided by their elders.

I even heard they partner with an organization called ROWS, and that they use their content to reprogram omegas. I can’t wait to come back to a new and improved daughter.

Parking the vehicle, I sigh as I check my makeup. There are orderlies in front of the side entrance with a stretcher, and I can see from here that my daughter is not making things easy for them. She’s writhing and flailing around, and as I open the doors, I can hear her screaming.

Not very demure at all. She has a long way to go, and I wish they’d given her something stronger for her sedative. Nina shouldn’t be awake so soon.

Steeling my spine, I get out of the car and gently shut the door behind me. I would like to scream about how life isn’t fair like a toddler, but am I? Absolutely not.

Locking the door with my key fob, I walk calmly over to where Dr. Kind and Dr. Brunes are gazing stoically at my misbehaving child.

“I was heading to the office, when I heard the commotion,” I explain, brow raised.

“Please, I need them!” Nina screams.

Is she talking about her step-father? It didn’t escape my notice that Ethan was exceptionally cold with me when I saw him, and he didn’t enjoy seeing Nina being manhandled.

What the fuck has been going on since she’s been gone?

“I suspect that she’s going into heat,” Dr. Brunes murmurs. “Her skin is warm to the touch, and the air smells like honeysuckle.”

My nose wrinkles because there’s only one reason why that would be. It’s indelicate to be speaking about this, but I’ll allow it because he’s a doctor.

“That was fast. She was completely fine at the house,” I say. My forehead would wrinkle in confusion, but I recently had shots to keep that from happening. I’m quite aware of my age, and I don’t want my current husband to divorce me for appearing to age.

I refuse to start over when he’s so rich and he allows me to do whatever I want.

“It’s possible she got overwrought and it triggered her heat,” Dr. Kind murmurs. “Do you know if she’s gone through her first yet? She is eighteen.”

“To my knowledge, she hasn’t. However, I don’t know what’s been happening in the months that she wasn’t with me,” I sniff. “What is the protocol for this?”

“She’s calling out for someone, possibly a few others,” Dr. Kind muses. “If she’s met her scent matches or she’s bonded, the only way for her to get through this is to medically sedate her until it passes.”

“Will it be a heavier dose than what you gave her earlier?” I ask, struggling to keep my tone from being too scathing. This really is their fault.

“Yes, it will be,” Dr. Kind says with a nod.

A strong push from one of the orderlies makes me wince as the wind is knocked out of Nina. Oh well, she really brought this on herself. Hopefully, the only scars at the end of this will be on the inside.

“Oh, one more thing,” I say softly as I watch them tie my daughter down to the stretcher and take her away. “I want the pink strips in her hair cut off. I don’t care if it’s done easily. If she complains, shave her damn head. She’s always been much too vain. This will teach her the humility necessary to be an omega.”

The last bit is a lie. My daughter has never truly cared about her appearance. She was always happier as a child climbing trees and looking like a vagrant. I can’t stand her hair, though.

“Yes, of course,” Dr. Brunes says. He’s the other psychiatrist working here, and the one who cultivated this idea to reprogram omegas. He’s been having good progress with other omegas.

We’ll see what he can do with Nina.

“I’m off to fill that paperwork out now, and then I’ll be returning to Georgia immediately,” I say. “Please keep me up to date about her welfare.”

“Of course,” Dr. Brunes says with a nod. “It’s best that you don’t stay in town for this. I believe Nina will have a very hard road ahead of her. She should never have left home the way she did. The world is full of deceit. We’ll make sure she doesn’t remember her scent matches as well.”

“Scent matches,” I breathe, wide eyed. “Oh that won’t do at all. How am I supposed to get a reputable pack to look at her if she’s scent matched? I need her thoroughly checked for any bites as well please.”

“We can make it so that she forgets those people,” Dr. Brunes says confidently. “As long as she never sees them again, the treatment will have no chance of breaking.”

Dr. Kind nods as he sees my face. I can’t say that Cooper and Ethan will never see her again. The world is a very small place, I’m discovering. She didn’t know they were at this school, yet ran into each other anyway.

“Honestly, we may be able to get it to stick even if she does see them,” the doctor says. “It does mean that she may need to stay with us longer.”

“Is a year long enough?” I ask. “I want to begin putting out the word that my daughter can be courted, but that she is in Paris for the year painting and visiting relatives.”

We really do have relatives in Paris, as I have an ailing great aunt there. No one needs to know I’m telling a white lie.

“Yes, that should be more than enough time,” Dr. Kind says, but I’m already walking away.

I’m not made for the cold, and the Minnesota wind is impossible. It insists on blowing up my coat and chilling me to the bone. No, I’m going back to Georgia immediately.

Nina, you brought this on yourself.

Nina

I’m so hot. My head whips wildly from side to side as I try to get away. All I can think about is knots and the warmth of Ethan and Cooper’s bodies.

Why aren’t they here? Why didn’t they fight for me?!

Screaming as a clenching pain in my lower belly tears through my body, I continue to writhe.

“Please. Please!” I beg, crying. “I need them!”

“Why do you need them?” a voice asks.

My eyelashes are sticking together from the salt in my tears and I can’t fix it with my arms tied down, which means I’m partially blind.

“It hurts,” I groan. “I need them to fix me.”

I’m not so far gone yet that I want to tell a complete stranger about the knots I need to fill me. I hate that I didn’t make the time to learn about what happens during a heat or how alphas are meant to take care of an omega.

I bet Cooper would be amazing at it…

“Cooper, who is that?” the voice asks.

Fuck a duck. I don’t want to tell them anything, so I press my lips together. Pain has a way of making me say too much, I guess. No more, I won’t…

“It appears as if you’re having your heat, Nina,” another voice cuts in. “Have you ever had one before?”

“No,” I wheeze. “It hurts.”

“It only does if you don’t have a pack,” the man says.

Yes, well no shit, Sherlock.

I won’t know if Ethan or Cooper would have wanted to be my alphas. They called me theirs and I thought they were mine. We didn’t have enough time to discuss anything. We needed more time.

“No pack,” I whine.

I don’t know what I mean by this as I start to tremble and cry. My entire body burns, my pussy begs for a knot. I’m a mess of slick and pain.

“We’ll help you make it through,” one of the men says, wheeling into a room. It feels cooler, which means it may as well be freezing next to my overheated skin. “Now be a good girl and don’t move.”

Everyone wants me to be ‘good’. What if I don’t want to be? I want to be bad, terrible even, if it means I get to live my life on my terms. What I wouldn’t give to erase the last twenty-four hours of my life.

Maybe I wouldn’t be having a heat at all if I hadn’t reconnected with Cooper and Ethan. Maybe I wouldn’t be in this position and Mom wouldn’t have found me.

I’m wallowing because I’m in pain and I hate everything. Especially my mother. I really want her to rot in hell.

A prick in my arm makes me flinch, and my eyes are carefully washed with a wet cloth. I’m surrounded by two men in white coats and orderlies. The walls are a blinding white as well, and it’s as if the color has all been washed away.

Is that what I have to look forward to?

Whatever is in the bag hanging over my head dripping into my vein burns, but my body is relaxing at an alarming rate. A part of me wants to hang on, but the medication is ripping through my system and making my eyes closed.

I should have known better than to run. My mom always gets her way.

Ten

Ethan

“No, Kendra,” Dad says, pacing. “Why can’t we get her out? It’s been three days!”

I swear, I’m living in Hell. My father is even more of a miserable bastard than usual, and he doesn’t have a release valve. He’s snapping at everyone, growling, and the only reason his lawyer hasn’t cut him loose is because she’s used to his attitude and he’s paying her really well.

“They’re saying she committed herself,” Kendra says over the speakerphone. “They won’t allow me access to the records, but I’m pushing for a judge to help us. Meanwhile, I have been digging into this place, and forced myself to go to brunch with some of my mother’s friends.”

Dad stops mid-stride in our living room, and I worry he’s going to bite her head off. If she mentioned this, it has to be for a good reason.

“What did you find out?” Dad asks, his voice strained.

Neither of us are sleeping well, the idea that Nina’s mother has been holding institutionalizing her over her head nauseating.

“Omegas are worth a lot of money in certain fiscal circles,” Kendra begins. “The conversation made me glad to be an alpha to be honest. Omegas are sold off to packs, in the illusion of creating a strong marital bond between families. However, a lot of these blue blood packs want omegas to act a certain way. When families have omegas who they consider wild, they will commit them into these ‘mental institutions’ that are really reprogramming facilities.”

“Nina is eighteen,” I finally say, pitching my voice so Kendra can hear me. I’ve been quiet this entire time, but I can’t hold myself still any longer. “Her mother has tried to make her something she’s not ever since we were kids. I always thought it was creepy when she’d stop fighting and just do as she was told. I can’t imagine her being like that all of the time. It’s like being a Stepford wife.”

“Well, that’s what her mom wants her to be,” Kendra says. “I think breaking someone’s spirit and mind under the guise of mental health is disgusting, but I’m going to need a little more time to get her out of there. Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Kendra, she’s mine,” Dad sighs. “She’s my scent match, and we just figured it out when I found her again while she was sleeping in her car. We didn’t have time for solidifying the bond though.”

He was so happy in the short time we had her back in our lives. Everything just clicked for him, and he wasn’t as angry anymore. I mean fuck, she’s done the same for me.

“She’s mine too,” I grunt sadly. It was never odd to share her between us.

We need her back, or neither one of us will be able to survive without her. We’ll always pine for sugared mango and Nina.

“They’ll check her skin for bites so we can’t lie and say you’re bonded,” Kendra mutters. “I’ll try to push that she’s met her scent matches, and insist they release Nina into your care. We are about to go over the seventy-two hour mark. It’s going to throw a corkscrew into your ex-wife’s plans to find her a pack. Unless…”

“What?” I ask. I can feel anxiety clawing at my throat, causing me to feel oxygen starved.

“No,” Dad’s lawyer says, gagging. “It’s so heinous, I won’t allow it to happen. I can’t even bring myself to say it.”

“Kendra, what?” Dad asks, panic beginning to bleed into his tone.

“If they have the ability to change someone’s behavior, it’s possible the doctors can make Nina forget you exist,” Kendra rasps. “Maybe every time she is reminded of something you did or said that could trigger a memory, her mind punishes her for it until she forces herself to forget. The idea of reprogramming someone to that magnitude would leave lasting mental scars.”

“Fuck,” Dad breathes while I rub my chest.

The proper legal pathways aren’t yielding the results I want. There has to be another way, and I need to find it.

“Keep working on it, Kendra,” Dad says. “Thank you for subjecting yourself to brunch for us.”

“I’m going to need hazard alcohol after this,” Kendra mutters.

“I know your favorite kind, I’ll have it delivered to your house once this is over,” Dad promises.

Blowing out a breath as he hangs up, I grab my coat and start putting on my boots.

“Where are you going?” he asks, his hand scrubbing at his hair. It makes him look frazzled and pissed. He prides himself on keeping the undercurrent of his anger under wraps as much as possible, only coming out when students truly manage to piss him off.

Even then, that’s what Brooke was for. He doesn’t have that outlet anymore, and he’d never reach for it now that Nina is in the picture. It doesn’t matter that she’s stuck in an institution, Dad is loyal. He won’t want anyone else.

“I need to go see a friend,” I say, angrily tying my laces. I need to look at this from another angle. There has to be something we’re fucking missing.

“Right now…” he drawls, dropping onto the couch next to me. “Are you going to see Riley?”

“How do you know…” I gaze at him in surprise. It doesn’t matter that he’s correct, I just don’t understand how he knows it.

“We’re very alike,” he says with a shrug. “I typically fuck out my frustration, but I can’t because of Nina. It would be wrong.”

“I wasn’t going over there to fuck him,” I grunt. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell him now that I know she’s my scent match if I’m being honest.”

“So you care about him…” Dad leans his forearms on his thighs, gazing at me knowingly.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, and we’ve kept it casual because I’m an asshole,” I say. “My moods are just as bad as yours are, Dad. I never want to subject people to them, which is why it’s rare that I go see my friends.”

“Of all the shit traits to inherit,” he says teasingly. “Look, I’m willing to table this for now, but if you want to continue whatever this is on a more serious level, you’re going to need to talk to Nina about it.”

Growling under my breath, I nod as I stand. “I understand. I’m not a cheater,” I say.

“Son, you’re being really argumentative,” he says, and I groan as I lock my hands behind my head.

This is my father telling me that I’m being a shithead. I have a lot of feelings surrounding Riley, and I need to take stock of them. The only way to keep him is if I admit the stolen moments between us were real and meant something.

“I know,” I grit out. “You know I never want to disappoint you.”

“Hold up,” Dad says, standing. It forces me to take a step back because of the space he occupies. There’s also a strong aura of authority around him, which is why so many tread lightly. “Fucking a man is not going disappoint me. I’ve made some pretty questionable decisions over the years, and not once have you called me out on them.”

“Vivian wasn’t the best choice,” I admit. “It gave us Nina, so I guess that’s the trade off.”

“Don’t derail me,” he complains. “I’m not going to love you any less for being attracted to both men and women. In fact, I’m all about being fluid with your sexuality because scent matching doesn’t give a shit about who you think you’re attracted to.”

The heavy feeling in my lungs unclenches a bit, and I take a cleansing breath. Fuck, I didn’t realize how much I needed those words.

His eyes on mine, he nods. “Good now?” he asks.

“Better,” I agree, pulling on my coat. “The rest, I’ll figure out.”

Walking away without saying goodbye, I grab my keys and pull open the front door to the frozen elements waiting for me. Wincing as my eyes feel as if all the moisture in them is also turning into ice, I shudder as I step outside and lock the door.

I’m careful of the steps due to black ice, because the last thing I need is to break something. The outside of my car is iced over, and I have to spend a few extra minutes getting my vehicle into working condition.

Thankfully, my engine turns over easily, and it reminds me of how I was going to get Nina’s car serviced. We had so many plans to help get her on her feet, but they were all ripped away.

Swallowing hard, I call Riley as I shiver in the car, waiting for the heat to warm the air. I won’t be able to drive yet.

“Ethan, I think I must be dreaming,” Riley says with a snicker. “I didn’t think I’d speak to you for at least another few months.”

“I know, I’m an asshole,” I grumble. “Something happened, and I’m losing my mind about it. I don’t know if you can help or not. I really don’t know what I was thinking, but⁠—”

“Woah, fucking breathe, Ethan,” Riley says. I can hear the concern in his voice, but it’s somehow making it worse. I can’t breathe again, and my heart really hurts. “Whatever it is, I’ll do what I can to help.”

Yanking the gear shift into drive, I put the phone on speaker and clip it into the mount on the dashboard. On a good day, I’m a dick while driving. I’m trying to ensure I don’t end up in an accident.

Carefully checking my blind spot, I pull onto the road, glad it’s quiet out right now.

“This is going to sound insane,” I warn him. “Remember Rainbow Brite?”

“Yeah, the cute blonde you keep literally running into,” Riley says. “Did you find out who she is?”

“She’s my ex step-sister,” I grunt. “I haven’t seen her in years, so I didn’t recognize her. There’s a bunch of baggage attached to that, but I found her sleeping in her car in front of my house. Dad and I may have, ah, convinced her to stay with us in exchange for sex.”

“That’s not what I was expecting to hear,” he snorts. “Your dad is opportunistic, and you refuse to let go when you see something you want. I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“I did let go though,” I say softly, my throat clogging with emotion. “I didn’t think I’d lose her, and now I have.”

“How?” he asks.

I’m getting the grunted replies now. He wants just the facts, and then he’ll tease out the details as he needs it. Riley appears to have better social skills than I do, but it’s really a mask. I know he enjoys pulling things apart to see how they work, and prides himself on being able to put them back together so they run better than before.

It’s one of the reasons he’s in medical school.

Now that he can hear how upset I am, he’s going into a clinical space of mind so he can fix it.

This is why I’m coming to him. I need to get Nina out of that damn institution.

“Her mother is a cunt,” I say, taking a small sip of air. Fuck, I just can’t get a full breath. Is this how it’s going to be from now on until I get her back? “Nina chose to leave Georgia and come to Minneapolis for school to get out from under her thumb. She’s a scholarship student despite her family’s wealth because she knew her mother would cut her off for wanting to be more independent. Vivian’s response was to have Nina committed to a seventy-two hour stay at Weeping Willow Institute.”

“Just like that,” Riley mutters. “One of my professors mentioned that there’s an increased rate of omegas who are being committed. He said he believes it’s because they’re more delicate of mind without a pack, but that’s bullshit. It is however a long standing opinion of medical professionals, and one of the reasons why many omegas will not seek mental health services unless forced to. Anyway, I think these so-called institutions are really just an excuse to ‘fix’ behaviors that are normal.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right in this aspect,” I say. “Are you home? I’m five minutes away from your apartment. I’m not dealing with this very well. My dad’s lawyer can’t get her out because the institute is stating that Nina committed herself. I know she wouldn’t have done that because she fought the orderlies, and they forcibly sedated her.”

“The only reason why a doctor would make a house call typically is if the person is suicidal,” Riley says.

“She’s not,” I grumble. “Vivian is clearly working with the doctor and the institute to change who Nina is. She was always trying to dictate to Nina when we were growing up together.”

“To answer your question, I am home,” Riley says calmly. “You haven’t seen your step-sister in years you said, right? I know you felt a connection with her the couple of times you saw her around campus. Mind telling me why she’s important to you?”

He knows. I know he has to at least suspect, and I have to keep myself from closing my eyes in defeat.

“She’s Dad and my scent match,” I confess, parking my car on the street in front of his apartment. “Can I still come up?”

“Yeah, I think you’d better,” he says, hanging up.

Riley

Ethan has a scent match. Fuck. A part of me was fine staying casual because I knew this could happen. I just didn’t think it would be his Rainbow Brite.

The only thing I can do is help him in whatever way I can. My mind is already thinking about how I can get a clinical rotation at the institution she’s at. I’m not only good at playing video games, I can also code. I’m a dangerous enemy to have.

The knock on the door pulls me to my feet, and my brain stutters as I see Ethan outside as I open it. He looks as if he hasn’t slept in several days, and he’s wheezing.

“Come in,” I say quickly, assessing him as he walks. “Why do you look as if you’re going to keel over?”

“I can’t breathe,” he croaks out. “My chest hurts too.”

I know from my studies that scent matched alphas can sometimes feel the pain their omegas are going through, even if they aren’t bonded yet. If it’s this bad after three days, I don’t want to imagine how much worse it could get. His scent of blood orange and chocolate smells over ripe and sour due to his emotions, and my nose wrinkles uncomfortably at it.

“I got you,” I promise, shutting the door behind him. “Your instincts want to protect her, so I’m going to start with showing you how I can help her.”

Ethan looks at me like a man searching for water or a lifeline, following me to the couch where I grab my computer.

“I am going to go into their database to see if they have any open jobs,” I explain, my fingers moving over the keys. “If not, I’m going to discuss with my professors if there’s an option of getting a clinical rotation there because I’m suddenly very interested in learning about how tortured minds can be molded to be rehabilitated for society.”

“Someone is going to have to keep me from putting her in a bubble when she’s out of that place,” Ethan says. “Dad will be twice as bad, and may just chain her to him.”

My lips twitch because they have very specific proclivities when it comes to their sex games. That’s what it is, though. The male or female always has a choice. I enjoy relinquishing control when I’m with Ethan. Still, I imagine this mysterious Rainbow Brite may need a buffer when it comes to those two hard headed alphas.

It’s a passing thought, but one I feel may haunt me for a while. It’s a way to possibly have the best of both worlds, and perhaps keep Ethan in my life. I’m not going to force anything, however, the possibility is enough for now.

I am a very patient man when I need to be.

“They don’t have openings,” I muse as I look at both the classifieds online and then hack into the medical network for current medical openings. Sometimes, they try to keep things in house between the different institutions, and I’m seeing that there are several linked asylums of this kind across the country.

They also seem to offer the ability to transfer between the different locations when there are openings.

Digging into the system, I begin to pull up their protocols for different mental health issues, my brows knitting as I find they’re torturing their patients. Electroshock theory, sleep deprivation through controlled rhetoric, extreme degradation and shame for omegas who crave an alpha’s acceptance, and age regression. The age regression is meant to change memories so that the adult will feel differently about themselves and the things they want to do.

Every “treatment” is centered around changing the patient so they are rehabilitated into a “better” version of themselves. There are patient records that I find as I dig deeper, but I can’t find anything on Nina as I look. However, as I glance through their “glowing” cases that have shown true change, I can see all of the treatments that it’s taken for them to get there.

Along with the “behavior” treatment that isn’t just what I stated, there are others and some include medication.

Swallowing hard, I glance at Ethan. Reaching out to squeeze his hand, I meet green eyes.

“It’s not pretty,” I say thickly. “She’s in a shit situation, and this institution is meant to change people at a fundamental level. They’ll try to change her memories, control her by not allowing her to sleep, and torture her. I have to wait until tomorrow to meet with one of my advisors who I believe will be able to get me entrance into Weeping Willow. Dr. Lipnis is very vocal about behavior modification through psychiatry intervention.”

“That sounds as if he condones what’s happening to Nina,” Ethan says, his eyes becoming shiny. “Who thinks of this shit?”

“People who want to control those that they esteem to be inferior to alphas,” I reply. “It’s very rare for me to hear that an alpha is in this position. Omegas have an untenable position in our society, between what we hear about auctions selling them and people who want to use them.”

“It’s fucking disgusting,” Ethan whispers.

“Do you want to crash here and take a nap while I tap into the clinical side of myself and craft my pitch to Dr. Lipnis?” I ask. He’s never slept over, never had a reason to. “You look like shit, Ethan. Little Rainbow Brite is going to need you to fight for her. I have a feeling your chest hurts because you’re sensitive to what she may be going through. Good alphas want the best for their omegas, and the world is not giving her that right now.”

“Sleep here?” he asks, his lids heavy with exhaustion.

“Yes,” I confirm, reaching over to grab him a blanket. “I promise to wake you up if I find anything important. Most of it will be continuing to deep dive into their records, and figuring out what their agenda is. If I can pull who their backers are for your dad’s lawyer to look into, I will.”

“None of this is public record, huh?” he asks as he attempts to get comfortable next to me.

“Do you think I care about legalities?” I ask, smirking. “The only thing I worry about is pulling as much information as possible without going to prison. You know I’m a menace behind a computer screen. It’s why I went into medicine to begin with.”

“I’m dragging you back into bad habits,” he mumbles, sleep dragging him down.

“I am a bad habit,” I mutter, pushing his dirty blonde hair back as he falls asleep. “I didn’t realize how much I wanted to keep you until now.”

Knowing he can’t hear me, I turn back to work on my new project. I need to extract as much information as possible, and see if there’s anything I can slip to the lawyer working on the little omega’s case. I only know her from what Ethan’s told me about, but I’m willing to fight for her.

If she’s important to him, then I’ll do my best to pull her from the fire and help put her back together. These doctors aren’t fucking around, and she may be a very different person than she once was.

Eleven

Nina

I’m groggy when I wake up, even going as far as forgetting where I am until I see all of the blinding white around me. It’s disorienting, and my mind struggles to process what I’m seeing at first. Pushing down a whimper, I lift my head to find that I’m tied down to the bed. Things are coming back the more I look around, and fear fills my lungs. It tastes metallic and cold, a reminder I’m all alone here.

The IV is no longer dripping, which probably means that my heat is over and why I woke up. The banana bag is nowhere to be found, though I can still feel the port they put in at some point in my hand. I don’t understand why they’d leave it, though my anxiety whispers terrible possibilities.

While my skin feels too tight and wrong, my body has a layer of sweat that makes me feel gross. I really want a shower and to scrub off the unknown from the last few days.

Dropping my head back on the bed, I frown. Something is wrong. Why does my head feel…lighter?

Rocking my head back and forth, I wait to feel the weight of my hair. Except it never comes. It’s not brushing along my skin, nor is it in my face or touching my cheeks.

Where is my hair? I had my hair highlighted with pink just before my eighteenth birthday. My mom was pissed. I had already been accepted into the University of Lyons, and knew I was going to have to make a run for it.

I thought I understood the ramifications of my decision, but I was wrong. This wasn’t a simple case of rebellion for Mom. She believes I’m an extension of herself, so she should be able to use me. If I “ruin” my hair or choose to fill my mind with “frivolous” nonsense at school, then I’m less valuable to her.

I didn’t think she’d go this far though.

Pain fills my mind, but it’s a phantom pain, reminding me of the loss of two alphas who I believe belong to me. I still don’t understand what that means, or why it feels as if I’m losing pieces of myself. Hair, my first heat, my freedom.

How much more do I have to lose?

The door to the room opens, and I crane my neck to see who it is. A doctor with bushy brown hair and beady eyes walks in, closing the door behind him. A part of me wishes he’d left the door open. Too many bad things can happen and no one would know.

Shivering, I watch as he walks over to me.

“Miss Nina,” he says with a nod. “How are you feeling? Did you have a good nap?”

He acts as if I’m a lazy teen who just chose to wake up after sleeping away days. That’s not what happened, he drugged me. Keeping my eyes on him, I stay silent.

“So much stubborn will,” he murmurs, picking up a folder and jotting something down. It could be performative, a tactic to make it seem as if these are bad things to exhibit.

I know they’re not. My mother wants to strip my will from me, taming me into something I’m not. Taking a deep breath, I notice the air feels clinical and sterile, and the doctor in front of me doesn’t seem to have any scent.

Working at a bar, I got used to using my alpha scent blockers because it’s a bartender hack to keep from getting overwhelmed. The downside is that the effects would last long after I washed it off. I should be able to smell the doctor now though, and it’s creeping me out that I can’t.

“Well, Miss Nina,” he says pleasantly. “Welcome to Weeping Willow Institute. I am Dr. Brunes. I would wish you a pleasant stay, but that would be a lie. You’re here because your mother deems you a danger to her plans. The next few weeks and months are going to be difficult, and how much so all depends on you.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. “The other doctor said I was a danger to myself. You can’t keep me here.”

“Oh, but the law says I can,” he croons. “Omegas have such sensitive dispositions. They’re often prone to panic disorders and suicidal ideation. In fact, yours started at the tender age of nine, didn’t it?”

“I fell,” I growl angrily. “You can’t use falling out of a tree because I lost my grip as a suicide attempt.”

“Oh, but your mother doesn’t remember it like that,” he shrugs. “Her opinion is the only one that matters, since you were a child when it happened. I can’t use your memory of the event as it’s not accurate. You’re to stay here until the psychosis is gone. We have a money back guarantee here at Weeping Willow, and I don’t like to refund people.”

“This is insane,” I say, still feeling ill at ease about my hair. I need to feel my head, maybe it’s an illusion and simply the way I’m laying down.

“No, I’m afraid that’s you,” he says. “Although, we don’t enjoy using terminology like that. You have an independence psychosis due to your school teaching you that you have choices. I don’t know how far the brain rot has developed, so we are going to be taking a very aggressive approach.”

Someone knocks on the door, and he turns. “Ah, it’s my nurse,” Dr. Brunes says. “Now, your mother told me when you came in that she dislikes the pink streaks in your hair. While this may seem trivial, and an innocent act of rebellion, I see it as the seeds of your psychosis deepening. You thrashed a lot during your heat, and your hair became very tangled, so we chose to cut it.”

Fuck. I had a really bad feeling that was the case. Not the bullshit excuse he’s giving me, but that my hair was no longer intact. I’ve had long hair my entire life. At first, it was annoying because of having to untangle it so often, but I figured out how to embrace its length. And now… gone.

The doctor lifts a heavy leather strap, ignoring my gasp as he threads it through a buckle and cinches it across my chest. I’m completely immobile, and absolutely fucked. The certainty that I may not get out of this is sinking deep into my bones, my breaths heaving gasps that aren’t helping my feeling of being a prisoner.

“The treatment plan is simple,” Dr. Brunes says over my overly loud thoughts. “We are going to cut out the poison in and around you until there’s an empty vessel for us to refill. Your desires will all align with the ones your mother wants for you. While we cut your hair short, there are some very stubborn streaks of pink still here.”

The doctor’s cold touch moves over my scalp, forcing me to flinch away. In response he pulls hard on my hair, sniffing at my cry. I hate that I’m so tender headed. I can feel the beginnings of tears burning in my eyes again and struggle to not allow them to fall. I hate being weak, yet I am.

The one time that I allowed myself to rise up to run away and save myself is probably the only time I’ve shown any kind of bravery. I despise pain, even though I’ve toughed out harsh weather conditions in my car and long work hours on my feet.

I went from a soft life to carving out a life I was proud of for myself. All that effort, only to be strapped to a table beneath the harsh lights and gaze of medical professionals.

“Now, I suggest you don’t move. Nurse Naylor doesn’t have much patience, I’m afraid,” he says.

The sound of an electric razor raises goosebumps along my skin, and despite his words, Dr. Brunes’ hand wraps around my throat and pins me down to the table.

“Please,” I rasp, eyes wide and frantic as his hand tightens around my throat until I can barely get a breath. I can’t move any part of my body, not with the extra pressure from the strap across my chest.

Hair falls into my face as the nurse shaves my head, tears I didn’t realize I’d begun to cry making it stick to my skin. And still, the doctor holds me down as he watches the nurse work.

“This is the start of your treatment,” he says. “We examined as much of your body as possible while you were sedated for the past three days for bite marks, but the nurses are going to clean you up after this. Your heat has made the entire room smell like honeysuckle, so none of the alphas on staff can come in here. No matter how well they can control themselves, it’s not safe.”

My mind is racing from thought to thought as I swallow down a sob. They’re not fucking around.

Three days. I’ve been unconscious for three fucking days, and I’m still here. The seventy-two hour mandate was bullshit, an excuse to get me here and throw away the key.

“My pack will pay to have me back,” I say, or at least I think I do. Dr. Brunes steals my voice as well as he cuts off my oxygen completely. There’s no noise, not even a whisper.

I don’t know if my step-brother and step-father would actually pay to have me back.

Cooper has never failed me, not once. As I hang in the balance between darkness and consciousness, I can tell myself that he didn’t want to leave, Mom threw him out. The conversation between Cooper and my mother faded into the background when the orderlies grabbed me.

I don’t remember if he promised to come for me. My heart pounds, my hands getting sweaty as darkness begins to over take me due to lack of oxygen.

“No, no. We can’t have you going back to sleep,” Dr. Brunes croons, releasing my throat just enough so I can take a ragged breath before squeezing tightly again.

There’s no chance to scream, and I don’t think my self-preservation skills will allow me to anyway. My body is struggling to function, my fingers twitching now from both the cold in the room and stress.

“There we go,” Nurse Naylor says. “If I could just shave all of our patients' heads, it would be so much easier.”

“Let’s just settle for this one for now,” the doctor says goodnaturedly. “Miss Nina is strong, so I’d suggest getting a couple more nurses and the spark rod to make her behave. The little omega hates pain, she should behave for you.”

“Fucking weaklings,” the nurse mutters, the razor still in her hand as she leaves.

If I wondered if she was an omega, that answers it. It seems the betas in this hospital aren’t very impressed with my designation.

Releasing me, Dr. Brunes steps backward and folds his hands behind himself.

“Now, this entire process is going to be difficult, Miss Nina,” he says with a shrug. “I wish I could tell you that if you behave, it’ll be easier, but it won’t be. Your instincts will be to fight. As we want to pluck every seed of disobedience from you, we will put you in awful conditions to ensure that happens.”

What did my mother do?

This can’t be what she expected when she put me here, can it? Does she really hate me so much?

All of my questions die before they’re ever voiced because it doesn’t matter. The three nurses walk in, and they begin to release the restraints. As they do that, Nurse Naylor leans toward me and squeezes my nose so hard, I have to open my mouth in an attempt to breathe. She shoves a mouth gag inside that spreads my lips apart uncomfortably. Shoving my head to the side, she tightens the straps behind my head.

“I don’t want to hear a single word from you,” she murmurs. “I also need to be able to brush those godforsaken teeth so this will have to do. Up we go now, ladies. Chop, chop. I don’t want to smell her any longer than I need to.”

Shame curls around me as the women lift me into the air. I know on some level that it’s not my fault I had my heat, but I can feel the heavy slick on my thighs and legs. I have a feeling it may even be on my sheets, a suspicion that proves true when a male nurse walks in to begin stripping the bed. I’m wearing a thin hospital gown, and I’m somewhat unsurprised they were able to change my clothes while I was unconscious.

My feet hit the cold tiled floor as the nurses pull off my hospital gown. My hands attempt to cover myself, but all I get for my efforts is a warning shock on my ass.

“Owh!” I yell, while Nurse Naylor smirks. I can’t speak properly with the gag, and saliva is already beginning to accumulate in my open mouth.

Have you ever tried to swallow like this? It’s almost impossible, so as they move me around, I gag on my saliva.

I bet Nurse Naylor was a school bully when she was younger too.

“You have no modesty, little whore, so don’t pretend to,” she says.

Hands push me into the little shower and the cold water rains down on me, feeling as if it’s stinging my skin.

A harsh soap is handed to me, and the nurses glare at me. The scent of it is making my eyes run because it smells awful.

“Don’t be daft, girl. Wash yourself!” Nurse Naylor yells at me.

Quickly, I run the soap over my skin, gagging at how awful it smells. It makes my skin feel as if it’s on fire, but there’s nothing else that I can do but do as I’m told. I’m already learning the seriousness of disobedience.

It’s not worth it to fight them on this small thing. I’ll save my energy to keep them from tearing away my very soul.

A nurse grabs my ear, ignoring my screech of panic as she takes the soap from me to scrub my head. It hurts because my pores are still open, and I struggle to hold back my hot tears of pain and loss, despite knowing that the shower will wash them away. There’s a handheld showerhead on the other side of the small stall, and Nurse Naylor turns it on.

When I see the setting she moves it to and how harsh the spray of water is, I gulp soundlessly. Fuck, that’s going to hurt.

“This is taking too long, and I have rounds,” she says, turning the water on me. It feels like a concentrated high pressure spray is being moved over my skin.

Or rather, it would be better to describe it as water being sprayed from a fire hose. My skin feels as if it is on fire, and it hurts as I gasp in pain. I can’t help it, I drop to the floor and cover my head as she attempts to wash off the soap. Honestly, most of it has already gone down the drain, this nurse is a sadistic bitch.

She ignores my protective crouched position, taking advantage of shooting water into vulnerable places I can’t ward off. A nurse leans forward and shoves my head to the tiled floor of the stall, and Nurse Naylor takes way too much pleasure washing below my waist with the shower attachment.

I’m screaming and writhing by the end, feeling her hand spreading my ass cheeks and pussy lips.

“Fucking disgusting,” she mutters. “So much slick, and I can’t tell if it’s new or not. Are you getting off on this, Miss Nina?”

“Wha?” I gasp, choking. I can’t speak properly, though it’s not for lack of trying as I attempt to scream that it hurts.

“I don’t care,” she replies. The next thing I know, she’s washing me as if I soiled myself with soap, and it hurts even more. I can’t not move, trying to kick her away but getting nowhere for my efforts as the nurses turn off the showerhead above me and hold me down.

I can’t do anything but endure it until finally, my mind begins to disassociate. My eyes go unfocused as Nurse Naylor pulls me up with a cruel glint in her eye and shoves the soap into my mouth.

Oh my God. It feels as if it’s burning my taste buds as she scrubs my tongue, and then forces me to rinse my mouth. Of course, it doesn’t go well because of the gag I’m wearing.

The other nurses calmly pin my arms back, kicking my legs so I’ll fall down when I fight back too much. I’m sure I’ll be black and blue after this.

Grabbing a toothbrush, Nurse Naylor adds toothpaste and scrubs my teeth so hard, tears run down my face as I sob. My gums hurt as she tears at them with the toothbrush, and I stop trying to be brave or strong. I’ve been scrubbed within an inch of my life at this point.

Again, she washes out my mouth by pouring water into my mouth, laughing as I sputter and pushing my face down toward the drain in the small shower so it’ll wash away.

I don’t fight as they haul me out of the shower, roughly drying me. I numbly stare as they force me to put on a scratchy pair of pants and a top. Relentlessly, they zip tie my wrists behind my back and march me in bare feet back into the bedroom that feels more and more like a cell.

I manage a passing, fiery thought of rebellion that they’re going to have a mess of water to clean up because of how much was tracked out and sprayed. It’s a small thing, but I know I’m not going to get many of these small acts of mutiny in here.

Another doctor awaits us with pursed lips as he watches me, his gaze heavy with annoyance.

“You certainly took long enough,” he mutters.

I can’t say anything to him without drooling, so I remain silent. Whoever created this awful gag needs to have all of their toenails pulled off one by one because it’s humiliating.

“Miss Nina, I’m Dr. Kind,” the doctor says.

I have a feeling there’s not much kind about anyone who works here. The way the doctors say my name also feels condescending.

“You’re already running late to your first therapy session,” he says, looking disappointed. “I hope you’re well rested, because you won’t be sleeping again anytime soon. I’m glad to see there aren’t too many bruises from your shower.”

My eyes widen at that statement that feels more like a threat, my heart constricting with fear. I also have a feeling that he expected me to fight more than I did.

I’m a smart girl. There was no way that I was going to win against these three women who are all built like they can bench press several of me and not be out of breath.

An orderly walks into the room, his lips twisted into a no nonsense look. None of these people have any scent at all. My nose is very confused, unable to understand why. In my previous experience, even betas have a scent. Maybe they use descenters?

Come to think about it, all I can smell is the foul soap they used on my skin, the scent of honeysuckle gone.

Another part of me is missing. Is that what I have to look forward to here?

“Richter, please take Miss Nina to her first therapy session. You know where to go. Don’t talk to her, or tell her anything. You know the rules for patients.”

I feel lightheaded as Richter pulls me away from the nurses behind me, his large hand bruising as he leads me out of the room. My feet stumble as I try to keep up with him, the cold floor not doing my still bare feet any favors.

He doesn’t speak to me as he walks, finally opening a door and staring at me.

“I should take the gag off but I won’t,” he grunts. “Don’t forget to keep moving your feet.”

Shoving me hard, he slams the door closed as I fall into blackness. Except, it’s not unconsciousness, I would rather have that. No, this is water and it’s deep. I can’t close my mouth, my hands are zip tied behind my back, and I kick my feet the way he told me.

I’m a very good swimmer, but I have thoughts of drowning as I fight against the inky darkness of the water. It’s also frigid. Over and over, I kick my feet, my thoughts on Cooper and Ethan even as I gag and sputter.

I’m going to swallow gallons of this shit by the end of this.

Just…keep…kicking.

Twelve

Cooper

I’m seconds away from going feral. It’s been an entire month since my mate went into that hospital, and it feels as if there’s been no progress on my end.

I’ve even tried going up there with a subpoena to see Nina with my lawyer last week, but we were rejected. They said they didn’t need to adhere to it because Nina was voluntarily committed. The signature on the paperwork backed up their claim, however, I know it’s a lie.

I’m only still teaching to hold onto a semblance of self control and normalcy. I have always known that my need to have a submissive relationship was to release the fury and annoyance that lives just under my skin. It keeps me calm to have that release valve.

I can praise and degrade in the same breath, keeping a sub riding the edge of pleasure.

Nina was a gift I didn’t think I would ever receive. Every nerve ending feels raw, my need to protect her subverted at every turn, and it’s turning me into a monster.

“Sir?” Brooke asks tentatively at the door.

Forcing air into my lungs, I nod.

“Yes,” I growl, unable to help it.

“Do you need anything else today? I was going to get ready to leave,” she explains.

“No, thank you,” I sigh. “I’m going to knock out the rest of these papers and then I’ll go home.”

“Professor, may I make a suggestion?” she asks.

My glare is the only response I give her as I rub my pounding temples. I doubt she’s going to offer to suck my cock, not when I released her from that arrangement.

“I might suck as your assistant, but I do know all of your lessons like the back of my hand,” she says. “Will you let me grade those at home? Otherwise, I think everyone is going to fail.”

Glancing down at my red pen and the marks I’ve already been making as I destroyed this student’s paper, I sigh.

“Yeah, I think that may be better,” I accept, pushing the papers away as I cap the pen.

“I noticed you’ve been more aggressive than usual,” Brooke says gently, walking over to pick up the papers. “Can you tell me why?”

“You know we don’t discuss private matters,” I remind her, stretching to attempt to relax my strained muscles.

“Of course, I know,” she says with a nod, straightening out the papers and putting them in a folder to add to her bag. “I was just wondering.”

“Fair warning, my mood is going to be shit for awhile,” I say before deciding to give her a small tidbit. “The reason I released your contract is because I met my scent match. But, I can’t see her right now and it’s making me lose my goddamned mind.”

“She doesn’t want to see you?” Brooke asks, wide eyed.

“It would be easier if that was the case. I could work with that by convincing her to give me a chance,” I mutter. “She’s being held against her will and I can’t get to her. I know that sounds dramatic, but⁠—”

“You’re not prone to dramatics,” she says, shaking her head as the folder slides into her bag. “I could tell there was something different. You were actually happy for just a little while. Still you, still difficult, but lighter.”

“And now that she’s gone, I just want to burn everything down,” I explain. Blowing out a breath, I stand. “I’m trying to get her out, but they’re throwing their weight behind mental health law.”

“Like the psych ward kind?” Brooke asks.

“Yep,” I grunt, grabbing my bag and pulling on my coat. “Except, there’s nothing wrong with her except her bitch of a mother. It’s complicated and frustrating, and I’m doing the best I can. If shit gets any worse, I’m going to take a step away from teaching. The only reason I haven’t already is because it’s something for me to focus on.”

Brooke nods, and I can tell she’s thinking hard.

“What?” I ask, brow raised. For some reason, I don’t want her to think badly of Nina. In fact, I can feel myself getting incensed by the thought.

“Nothing, it’s just that even though I’m a beta, I hear things about how dangerous it is for omegas,” she explains. “It’s scary shit, you know? I’m going to light a candle on my way home for her safe return.”

“Thank you,” I breathe, shocked.

“Girls have to stick together,” she says with a shrug, leaving.

I wasn’t expecting her to say any of that. Closing up the office, I walk out of the building with heavy steps. My chest hurts so often, if I didn’t know that it was because I miss Nina, I’d worry that I was having the heart attack everyone teases me I’ll have one day.

The cold wind is a welcome punishment as I walk out into the late afternoon air. Everyone is leaving, happy to be done with the day. I refuse to hurry as people pull out of the lot, because my son got his road rage from me. It’s why I’m on his ass about his driving.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I curse, knowing I won’t be able to answer until I’m in my car. My hands are freezing, even stuffed in my pockets. Hurrying, I unlock my doors and get into the vehicle. Pulling out my phone as I hit the start button, I answer it.

“This is Professor Thornefield. How can I help you?” I ask.

I didn’t bother to check the caller ID due to my hurry, and I pinch my nose in frustration as I hear Vivian’s irritating voice. Fuck, why did I even bother getting out of bed today?

“Cooper, I need you to do something for me,” her cool, coy voice says.

A long time ago, I let myself get pulled in by that voice. I allowed myself to get wrapped around her finger like an idiot, convinced I was in love with her. What a joke.

“I don’t think you have that kind of pull anymore, Vivian,” I murmur, turning the heat up.

I don’t trust myself to drive while speaking to her.

“This is for my daughter’s wellbeing, Cooper. You’ve been throwing up quite the disturbance at Weeping Willow. I need you to reject her,” she says confidently.

My heart plummets and I find myself growling.

“I’m sorry, I need you to repeat that with context,” I say. While my voice sounds calm, I know that Brooke would be heading for cover if she heard me.

I’m about to blow, and I will not take any prisoners.

“I…need…Nina to be free,” Vivian says so slowly, I begin to imagine snapping her fucking neck.

Something has changed inside of me. Instead of simply pretending that I’m squeezing people’s heads till they pop off so I feel better, I fucking itch to do it.

“Why?” I drawl, counting in my head.

“I need it,” she hisses. “How else will I get her set up with a pack that’ll align with my interests?”

“I have money,” I remind her. “If your new husband isn’t giving you enough, I’ll give you some, but I am not rejecting Nina, and neither is Ethan.”

“Ugh, I forgot the well built twit was also her mate,” she grumbles. “It just won’t do for her to marry my ex-husband. You knew her when she was a child, Cooper. For all anyone knows, you could have tucked her in.”

I never did, though. Vivian was very determined to keep Nina and I apart, and I wasn’t her father. Those were the lines drawn in the sand, which is why it’s not odd for me that she’s my scent match. I wish that I’d been able to shelter her more from her mother’s abuse.

No one can change my mind on this. Vivian is abusive to her daughter, constantly using her to cement her own position in society. It’s fucking disgusting.

My chest heaves as I silently fume. I’m working myself up, and I refuse to keep quiet. I just need to know more about her plans before I burn them all down.

“You’ve never had a scent match before, which means you don’t understand how strong it is,” I say, digging the knife into her chest. I firmly believe she wasn’t given one because she’s such a terrible person, I simply didn’t realize it until it was almost too late. My regret lies in not being able to take Nina with me.

“That’s why I need you to reject her,” Vivian complains, as if I’m the child who isn’t processing things fast enough for her.

“Here’s the thing, though. Nina will always look for me at every heat, she’ll feel the gnawing pain inside of her because her mates aren’t with her. Our connection runs deep, despite not knowing each other for long,” I remind her. “It doesn’t matter how many years it’s been since we’ve seen each other. Scent matching is forever.”

“Unless you reject her!” Vivian screams. Ha, there’s the cracks inside her seemingly placid nature.

Vivian is a fucking hot head, but few people have had shit thrown at them like I have by her. Her aim sucks, and consistently gets worse the angrier she gets.

“So you can sell her to the highest bidder?” I ask nonchalantly, though I feel anything but. “Are you already shopping around for a pack for her, dear ex-wife?”

“I’m not your dear anything, Cooper,” she grumbles. “I need her to be the perfect daughter, and while the hospital doctors state she’s not there yet, they promise she will be soon. Nina will be pliant, obedient⁠—”

“Boring!” I yell out, my fist clenching. I need to hit things. Maybe I can convince Ethan to spar with me. If not, I’ll beat up a punching bag. “She’ll be a blue blooded version of you then. I want the fire, the brat who talks back to me, and runs away when she can see I'm about seconds away from snapping so I can chase her.”

“Ew,” Vivian says. “Please don’t talk about the sex games you play with my daughter. See, this is why you can’t be fucking and mating your step-daughter.”

“We aren’t married anymore,” I rumble. “You and I were never right for each other, because while I may be a jealous bastard, I have redeeming qualities. You’re just someone I want to kill and then bury so that even the wild animals won’t want to mess with you.”

“Nonsense,” Vivian giggles nervously. “You’re overwrought with emotion. This is another reason why you shouldn’t be with someone so young. Nina will drive you crazy. She needs to be with a pack who can show her a firm hand.”

Remembering the way I taught Nina all about punishment, I smirk.

“I think my brand of that works just fine,” I croon. “My problem is that I am without my scent match, and I am seconds away from going feral, Vivian. I will never, ever reject Nina. Ethan won’t ever do it either. Therefore, it seems as if you’re shit out of luck. Get her the fuck out of that joke of an institution.”

“It’s not a joke, Cooper!” she whines. “These institutions are doing great work for families with wayward children. Nina needs to have an attitude adjustment.”

“That’s not what you’re proposing and you know it!” I roar. Patience is not something I possess, but my fracturing soul isn’t fairing well during this conversation. “You are trying to turn her into another person, one who doesn’t have any other thoughts but the ones you put there. Nina will fight those doctors tooth and nail until there’s nothing left of her. Do you want to be responsible for killing your daughter?”

“She’ll be perfect,” Vivian sniffs, pretending to cry. “Why can't you let her go, you insufferable man! You don’t know what she or I need. You’re trying to ruin all of my plans.”

“I won’t only ruin them,” I promise,“I’ll burn everything you care about to the fucking ground. Nina deserves to live her life as far away from you as possible. I will not only find a way to remove her from that facility, I’ll also ensure you won’t ever have a legal leg to stand on as her mother and guardian. I will bond her, marry her, and put a baby in her.”

Wow. I wasn’t expecting the last part to come out, but it’s not a surprise to me that I have a heavy breeding kink. Everything I can do to tie Nina to me is something I need to happen.

“Cooper, you’re impossible to deal with,” Vivian screeches. “The very idea of Nina pregnant by you is enough to make me physically ill.”

“I’ll make sure not to send any Christmas cards with her belly swollen with child then,” I murmur. “Mark my words, Vivian, this is one fight you won’t be winning.”

Hanging up on her screams, I blow out a breath. I would love to indulge in the loss of control, but this is the most I’ll allow myself. Dropping my head back onto the headrest, I take some deep, cleansing breaths.

We will get her back. I repeat this over and over as I straighten my spine and begin the drive home. I know Ethan has irons in the fire to help Nina, I just need to hold on until one of them works out.

The issue is, if I’m feeling these effects after a month of being away from her, what’s happening to her?

Hold on, Princess. Please.

Thirteen

Riley

The security at Weeping Willow for a medical student on a clinical rotation is rigorous. Paperwork, an intense background check, and the insistence that they follow the employee standards of scrubbing up to their elbows in descenting soap and then spraying themselves with descenting spray before stepping onto the floor to see patients.

While I came in wearing business casual attire and comfortable shoes, I was brought into the employee locker room after having the descenting protocol explained and told to change into scrubs. I figured this was a possibility, which is why I covered any visible tattoos with makeup. I’m on a mission to blend into the scenery wherever possible, and shine like a model student when it’s not.

I’ve always been very careful about my hacking skills, and have never been caught by anyone who has pressed charges. Due to this, my criminal background is nonexistent and I look like a good citizen on paper. Hell, I can even look like I follow the letter of the law as well when necessary.

It took three months from when I began talking with my professor about beginning a clinical rotation at this institute before they took me on due to their security process. My skin crawls as I think about everything that Nina could have gone through during that time. I know her alphas are suffering as they drive themselves mad with the possibilities.

“Riley,” Dr. Kind greets me in his office once I’ve done everything asked of me to prepare for my first day. “I’m very excited you want to study our work and how we treat mental illness.”

I have to keep my face expressionless as I nod. I’m tapping into the part of myself who enjoys taking things apart and putting them back together. Except, instead of it being the body, it’s someone’s mind. I never thought there could be so much harm done to someone until I started to understand Weeping Willow’s non-official rhetoric about behavioral and mental health.

“I’m also very excited,” I murmur. “I didn’t think this day would ever come.”

“Yes, well, I know our process is different from many other hospitals,” he says. “It’s to protect the work we’re doing, because I will not allow any hiccups. Our patients are difficult, and our policies are law. If I ask you to do something, it is for the good of the patient. Our timelines for reintroducing some of our patients to the world are stringent.”

“Understood, Doctor,” I agree.

From my understanding, their policies skirt the boundaries of torture. I still haven’t seen beyond the veil of their words because they’re so tight-lipped, but I am a very good judge of character. Between what I’ve seen through my hacking into their records and my onboarding experience, employees are expected to not ask any questions.

They are tools and an extension of the doctors’ will.

“It’s good that you’re here right now,” Dr. Kind continues. “We have an eighteen year old female omega who is going through a reeducation process. Her mother cites that she is concerned about her wellbeing.”

“Is she exhibiting signs of depression and suicidal ideation?” I ask. It’s a passing concern, one any good doctor or medical student would ask.

I know good and well this facility doesn’t care about any of that though.

“It’s less the expression of suicidal ideation and more her steadfast need to buck against societal norms,” Dr. Kind explains. “Omegas need structure in order to lead calm lives with their packs. No alpha pack will want her if she’ll continually express her individuality through distasteful behavior.”

“This is true,” I lie. I know two alphas who want the omega in question. According to the facility’s records, there are no other eighteen year old girls in residence, which means I’m going to be seeing Nina very soon. “What kind of behavior modification has she undergone so far, if I may ask?”

“Of course you may. Dr. Brunes and I are interested in seeing what you can do with her. Your ideas about the mind have piqued our curiosity,” he says.

I’m sure. I took every opportunity to recall the things my conservative teachers discussed during class to make my case as to why I’m a good candidate for this hospital. They apparently don’t take many medical students for their clinical rotations.

It took so long, I had to begin another rotation before I was finally accepted. Now, I’m working around the clock, but I’ve decided that no matter what happens, it’s worth it.

I don’t even know this omega yet, yet I’m invested in her wellbeing. Listening to Ethan tell me about her is enough. He may not have known her for long as an adult, but he’s memorized everything about her.

An omega like Rainbow Brite is worth my time.

“I have wonderful teachers, and I’ve merely extended their ideas into what I believe the mind is capable of,” I state. “You can get anyone to believe things if you apply the right type of pressure.”

Every word tastes bitter on my tongue, but I force them past my lips anyway. If this is what it takes to have access to Nina, then I’ll say it. It’s no wonder why so many omegas refuse to seek mental health services or even see a therapist when they’re having difficulties processing things.

Maybe I’ll go into psychiatry after this. It’s certainly a field that needs someone who will actually listen.

“Well, it hasn’t been for lack of pressure that this patient is still here,” Dr. Kind sighs. “We have had her in a sensory deprivation tank, refused her sleep through loud music, starved her, and are now introducing her to content on how to be a proper omega. She refuses to speak during her one-on-one therapy, and stares vacantly when spoken to.”

“Is this a sign that there’s a fracture in her mind?” I ask. There’s nothing that shows actual concern in my tone, every question is clinical and detached.

“I wish,” Dr. Kind grunts. “She’s severely disassociating and it’s getting in the way of her progress. I need to give her mother news that we’re going in the right direction. The patient at least hasn’t had any heats since her first due to malnutrition.”

She’s had a heat. That’s the only thing I can think about in his words. Nina was all alone during it, without her alphas.

“How did you manage her first?” I ask, my words sounding as if they’re coming from a long tunnel. My ears are ringing and I have to pull my head back into the game.

If all the world is a stage, then this has to be too.

“Sedation,” Dr. Kind shrugs. “She was inconsolable, as it seems she’s met her scent matches just before the beginning of her stay with us. We can’t return her to her mother until we get her to forget them as well. One of them showed up here, and we had to send him away. His lawyer and he don’t have a leg to stand on for now. Anyone who sees her will agree that she’s unwell.”

You made her this way. My thoughts feel loud in my mind, but there’s no way the doctor in front of me will ever know what I’m thinking. I’m too good at keeping my guard up.

“We are currently developing technology that mimics the voices of her scent matches,” Dr. Kind says. “We are hoping that we’ll be able to convince her that they’ve rejected her. Mind games are what we’re being forced to use. The omega won’t even allow us the elegance of actual psychiatric intervention.”

True hatred for this man bubbles up inside of me, despite the small amount of time that we’ve been speaking. This is the first time we’re even meeting, due to all of the hoops I had to jump through.

He and Dr. Brunes were too busy to talk to me until I was cleared to do my clinical rotation here, and now I can see why. They’re very engrossed in their work. Being normal and a decent person, even if they’re just pretending to be, would be asking too much.

“How terrible for you all,” I say, pretending to be sincere.

Dr. Kind nods, standing.

“Alright, I’ll take you to where she’s currently learning what it’s like to be an obedient omega,” he says. “We partner with a wonderful women’s organization that provides content for us, which is what she’s currently listening to.”

I doubt she’s listening to whatever drivel they’re pushing of her own free will.

Following Dr. Kind, we walk out of his office and through the facility. He gives me a tour as we walk past the different chambers, my skin pimpling with goosebumps as he says things like ‘silent room’, ‘electro shock therapy’, and the ‘water’ room.

I can’t imagine what this kind of “therapy” will do to a person’s psyche, but Nina has been here for three fucking months. I force myself to go to a place of icy calm, and pretend she’s no one for the sake of not blowing things on my first day.

I can’t help her if I show how involved I feel without ever having met her. Ethan’s feelings for her are leaking onto me, and it’s hard to go to the place inside of me that cares about no one and nothing other than science. I want him to be happy, and Nina doesn’t deserve to be entangled in her mother’s bullshit.

“Here we are,” Dr. Kind says. “I’d like to go in with you, monitor how she’s doing after being isolated. The patient is in an intensive protocol program since she hasn’t responded well to being here.”

I have a feeling what he’s telling me isn’t true. Even though I can’t smell his scent due to the scent descenters that are mandatory here, his eyes squint when he lies. It’s very slight, but it’s there.

I’m a good judge of character. Dr. Kind is nothing like his moniker.

“That’ll be fine,” I say, waiting to see what he wants to see from my interaction with Nina. I notice the way he’s distancing himself from “the patient” by not using her name, and take that into account for how bad this might be.

Dehumanizing someone is a coping mechanism for some.

“After I leave, you can do whatever you deem to be best,” Dr. Kind says. “All we ask is that she not be physically damaged in a way someone will be able to notice long term. She needs to be able to carry babies for her pack, whoever that may be, and no one enjoys looking at a scarred omega.”

With those words, he opens the door and strides inside while I struggle to process those words. Fuck, that could mean anything. Has she been sexually violated, physically tortured, choked out?

There’s an endless series of questions flooding my mind as I follow the doctor inside the small room. It’s very bright inside, so much so that even I wince. Omegas dislike harsh lighting, and the room feels incredibly warm as well. The bulbs must be fluorescent.

It’s not over the top to state that this is torture, not a treatment, especially as I listen to the very loud recording playing. The walls are only amplifying the sound as it bounces off them, and it would be difficult, if not impossible to sleep through it.

“Omegas have an inherent need to make alphas happy,” the woman speaking through the speaker drones. “It is your responsibility to embrace your designation and do whatever you can to serve them. You need a pack to protect you, and alphas need you to keep them content. Not everyone will have a scent match, which means waiting for a fairytale is senseless. Be the best omega possible through obedience and being soft spoken.”

The light is so bright, I can barely see the omega in the chair sitting down. I doubt she’s unrestrained due to what Dr. Kind’s been telling me. Is she unconscious?

All I can do is stand in the searing heat of the lights beside the doctor as the infernal woman continues on in her lecture. All of it revolves around indentured servitude because omegas shouldn’t have any thoughts their alphas don’t give them first.

I truly thought this kind of thinking was passé, but this woman seems to believe this is the only acceptable way to behave. She also has a grating tone, which makes my ear drums feel as if they’re going to begin to bleed at any moment since the volume is so fucking loud.

Nina’s behavior modification is full blown torture.

I’m unsure how long I’m forced to stand sentinel to this, but my jaw aches from how hard I’m clenching it. I’m not worried the doctor will be able to see it, not when it looks like a supernova exploded in this room. I can feel my shirt starting to stick to my back from the heat, but I remain unmoved by it.

This is a test for me as well. At first, I wasn’t sure, but after an extended amount of time, I realized it. Everything within me wants to save Nina from this, but I can’t. Not yet.

So I keep my muscles loose, outside of my clenched jaw. He can state this is part of her treatment and try to feed me whatever bullshit he wants, but I fully understand that I need to pass this exam on my ability to withstand the torture of an omega with flying colors.

I noticed as I walked through the facility that many of the employees are betas, and it’s due to an alpha’s innate desire to protect omegas. He’s ensuring I can quell my designation’s needs. On the inside I may be snarling, but the rest of me is calm.

It helps that I have no scent to betray how angry I am. The scent of burned apple pie is difficult to hide otherwise.

Dr. Kind steps forward, and the lights dim drastically, while the woman prattling on through the speakers cuts off.

“Miss Nina,” the doctor says, but I can’t focus on his next words because the girl in the chair is leaning to the side, her head dropped back. The only thing keeping her seated are ties on her arms and legs binding her to the chair. It also doesn’t escape my attention that she’s bald, and there are nicks and scratches along her scalp.

She looks like she’s been through a war rather than “rehabilitation.” I can see how sunken her eyes are and pronounced her cheeks are, showing that she’s lost weight while she’s been here.

Frowning, Dr. Kind fills up a bucket with water from a sink that appears to be the only other thing inside here before dumping it over her head. Nina jerks as she sputters, her eyes wide as her chest heaves. I’m not sure if she lost consciousness or fell asleep.

I doubt it would have been easy to sleep with how bright and hot the lights were, along with the volume of the speakers. Even now in the silence, my ear drums feel sore and the air feels cooler.

“Rise and shine, Miss Nina,” Dr. Kind says without emotion. “There are very important lessons within Emilia Richardson’s lectures. You could learn a thing or two about how to be an omega.”

She gazes warily at him but doesn’t speak, coughing. I don’t see any water available other than the sink, and I doubt she’s been given any recently.

Dr. Kind loudly drops the bucket, making Nina flinch at the sound. Everything feels so much quieter now that Emilia is no longer speaking.

“Your mother sends her regards, and wants you to know that she expects you to willingly accept a pack of her choosing,” he says.

As her eyes widen, they allow me to see that they’re an odd color. They’re green with bright blue flecks, and startling to see. The slight inhale causes her to begin to cough again, wracking her body with shudders. Typically, this would cause someone to tear up, but when none occur, I decide she’s too dehydrated.

I need to find a way to offer her a drink without appearing soft. Or, I need to make it seem as if I’m using generosity to garner trust from her.

Fuck, I usually love mind games, but this is one I fear I’ll get tired of quickly.

“Yes, I expect you’re thirsty after having not had water for the past thirty-six hours,” he murmurs, gazing down at her. “If you’re a very good little omega, Riley will give you a sip or two. We can’t spoil you. I expect to hit a breakthrough soon.”

“May I ask how much longer the protocol in here will continue?” I ask, swallowing hard as I pretend to simply be a curious student.

“Of course,” he says, not appearing annoyed. “This depends entirely on the patient. She hasn’t slept very much in the past three weeks as we are using sleep deprivation as a punishment for her inability to make progress. I am not pleased that she fell asleep.”

Nina remains silent, though there’s fear and loathing in her gaze. I can see her spirit shining through, and I’m both intrigued and protective of it. The idea that they want to break her so thoroughly makes something inside me twist so hard, I have to keep myself from hissing.

It physically fucking hurts, and I’ve never felt anything like this before.

“I have several ways to keep you awake, Miss Nina,” he threatens. “The water tank, a little water torture, or electroconvulsive therapy. The nurses were quite unhappy with the mess you left the last time you had electroconvulsive therapy, but I believe the dehydration will keep you from urinating on yourself.”

Nina tries to say something, but she can’t due to how dry her throat is.

“Don’t bother speaking,” Dr. Kind scoffs. “The time for meaningless apologies is long gone.”

I don’t think she was going to apologize, and I can see the doctor means what he says. He thinks she should cower and ask for forgiveness, swearing that she’ll choose a personality replacement.

He’s delusional, as is the rest of this place.

“Someone will be back soon to see what will be done with you,” he says. “Riley will stay with you, Miss Nina. Don’t bother batting those pretty eyes at him, because I doubt he’ll be as nice as I’ve been.”

He turns and walks away after teaching Nina to fear me, taking a metal cup from an orderly who is at the door and tossing it to me. I yank it out of the air as he slams the door closed, turning to look at Nina. The scent of wilted honeysuckle fills the air, her displeasure being well known about being locked in with me.

So many tests, and this is another one.

Instead of disgusting me, her scent pulls me closer. The pain at seeing her beaten increases, and it’s as if my brain is being rewired.

This is going to complicate matters exponentially. Fuck.

Nina

There’s a tall, lean alpha staring at me. It’s as if he’s trying to figure me out. That’s funny. I don’t even know myself well enough for that.

I immediately decide not to trust him, just as I can’t trust anyone in this place. I’ve been pinched, hit, half drowned, starved, dehydrated, and more during my “stay” at Weeping Willow. To say I’m unimpressed is an understatement.

I haven’t seen any other patients while I’ve been here since I spend a lot of time in isolation, but my heart goes out to anyone else undergoing this. The fact that my mother signed off on my treatment has killed any love for her.

I fucking hate her. I miss my alphas, and my doctors despise that I still remember them. They even tried to make me hate their very names through negative reinforcement.

If I flinched at the memory or thought of them, then I’d eventually choose to protect my mind from it to escape the pain. They were even so helpful as to explain the reasoning for the protocol before adding electrodes to my head and measuring my brain waves. If I reacted to a photo or something that they believed reminded me of them, then I was shocked by Nurse Naylor with her shock prod.

Photos of teachers, a tree, Ethan and Cooper’s home and more flooded a screen, all while I screamed. It was a very unpleasant twelve hours, but more so, it didn’t fucking work. I don’t know how they pulled all of the information about Ethan and Cooper that they did. For all I know, they used my mother for it or are stalking my alphas.

They clearly don’t care about legalities or privacy.

And now… the doctors have sent me a pretty alpha. I give myself half a second to admire him before shutting it all down. I’m exhausted, and even though Dr. Kind thinks he caught me sleeping, my body just gave up for a while and passed out.

It was not pleasant or restful. The fluorescent lights were so bright, it overloaded my brain. Even now, I can taste the metallic scent of the lights.

I can’t speak because my throat is throbbing from the coughing fit and how parched I feel. The facility is really pushing it with the dehydration tactics. If I die, does this mean they win, or do they have to return my mother's money? It would almost be worth hurting the institution fiscally.

It’s a passing thought, and my head lolls to the side. It’s too heavy to keep up. Everything is just too hard…

“Hey,” a honeyed voice says. “Wake up, Nina, and drink some water. Come on.”

Grunting, I raise my head an inch, and the alpha’s warm hand encases my chin to lift it the rest of the way so I can sip the water he tips from the cup into my mouth. I don’t know when he went to get it, but God does it feel good.

It doesn’t matter that the water is freezing and hurts my teeth as I swallow, and I don’t care that it doesn’t taste all that great. I can’t be picky, even if I am usually a water snob.

The cup is taken away too soon, and I whine pitifully. Damn. I’ve been doing so well not allowing them to diminish who I am, yet here I am wanting to cry tears I can’t afford because I can’t have any more water. Swallowing hard despite it feeling like shards of glass, I focus on the discomfort to ground myself.

I also curl my toes until they cramp and flex my fingers. The pins and needles from my arms also help, and I find a small spark inside of me that still exists as I glare up at Riley.

What a dumb name for an alpha. He won’t get even a passing glance from me of admiration again. Fuck Riley.

“Are you making me the enemy in your head, Nina?” he asks, smirking. “I suppose, to you, it appears that I am. Don’t you want to be better?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” I rasp, the water having helped. “I’d rather be electrocuted by Nurse Naylor than speak to you or dropped in a black pool of water with my arms tied behind my back.”

His hazel eyes widen a bit before hardening. He’s just like everyone else in this place. His sympathy and kindness in the moment is only so I’ll live long enough so he can fuck me over.

“You and I could work together,” he says, shrugging, releasing my chin. I force myself to keep my head up, telling myself I can fuel myself with my anger.

“Fuck off,” I whisper. “I’ll never forget my alphas.”

“I hope you don’t,” he whispers back, surprising me. “I doubt you’re going to have a choice though. What’s so special about them? Surely, they’re like any other alpha.”

“They’re nothing like you,” I murmur. “Ethan has kind eyes, is full of passion, and is mine. Cooper protects me, and gives me what I need.”

I don’t know what gets into me to tell him even that much, but it makes me realize something.

I don’t remember what they smell like. I don’t remember the sound of their voices, or what their laughs are like. In the time I’ve been here, I’m already forgetting things.

What kind of omega am I? How…how are they erasing them?

I’m breathing heavily, and this makes me spiral more than anything else that’s been done to me. I was with Ethan and Cooper for such a short period of time, yet I know we were building something important. They both had plans for us.

So why can’t I fucking remember?

“What are you thinking about?” Riley asks.

Black spots are slowly forming in my vision as I hyperventilate, my mind telling me that I’m not worthy of their affection or love because I can’t remember them.

“I can’t remember,” I gasp.

Maybe the doctor was right to send someone new, if only to make me realize that I’m a terrible omega. Maybe I really don’t deserve to have scent matched alphas.

I don’t realize I’m keening in sorrow until he steps back and glances at the door as it opens.

“Oh, this is progress,” Dr. Brunes murmurs, stepping inside the room.

“Fuck you!” I scream, uncaring that I know he has a taser in his hand. He typically does when I see him, a little reminder of the pain that lies at Weeping Willow.

“I think you need a nap,” he says, moving over to shove the taser under my arm to make my body twitch and shudder. “If you need something to scream about, it would be my pleasure to give it to you. Orderly!”

The orderly who is holding open the door steps inside the small room with a syringe, smirking with dead eyes.

“Tell me what the patient is experiencing,” Dr. Brunes commands Riley.

“Extreme stress and sadness,” he murmurs. “She seems to be preoccupied with her alphas and still has firm memories of them.”

Riley lied. My body is twitching from fatigue and pain, and I can’t respond. I never said that to him, in fact I almost said the exact opposite. Except, Dr. Brunes will never know that because the cameras don’t have audio.

I’m unsure if the alpha knows this or is making shit up for whatever narrative he wants to spin. I for damn sure can’t say any different.

“I’m going to prescribe a nap and then we’ll move to a different therapy,” the doctor says. “I think it’s time to change things up.”

“N…no,” I gasp. Dr. Brunes still has the taser against the small opening in my shirt where there’s bare skin.

Over time, I’ve lost layers of clothing, and the oversized shirt is the only thing covering me. It barely touches the middle of my thighs, leaving me feeling exposed.

“Yes,” he hisses. Pocketing the taser, he takes the syringe from the orderly. “I am in charge of your body, your life, and your mind. Whatever I deem necessary, is what will happen.”

The sting of the syringe in my neck is the last thing I’m aware of before my lids slide shut.

I’m never getting out of here, and now I don’t think I deserve to.

Fourteen

Cooper

Riley sits across from Ethan and I with a serious look on his face, gazing pensively at us. He came straight to our house after his rotation tonight at the institute, insisting on coming through the back door and checking for cameras and audio listening devices.

His overlapping rotations have ended, or I’d have been worried he was losing it due to exhaustion. It would be laughable if he didn’t find two of them in the living room. They’re now sitting in a glass of water in the kitchen, ruined and broken.

I have no idea when anyone would have gotten into the house to place those so strategically, but it’s clear I need to get a security system for the house. Less for our safety, and more so to keep the hospital from getting information on Ethan and I.

It’s been eight months since Nina went into Weeping Willow, and the school year is over. I didn’t sign up to teach any summer classes, which means I have too much time on my hands. I have to take medication to sleep, but even then I wake up exhausted.

“Things aren’t going to get any better,” Riley says sadly. “Not for you and not for her. They want to obliterate you two from her memories. She’s lost weight she didn’t have to lose, they regularly shave her head to keep her off balance, and the sensory deprivation is escalating. Nina isn’t going to be able to survive much longer, guys. As her scent match as well, it’s killing me to watch this happen.”

Ethan flinches at his words. Way to bury the lead, Riley. This is the first time we’ve heard this. It means the alpha is invested in her safety, but he’s also torturing himself each time he steps into that hospital.

“Why didn’t you say something before?” I sigh, scrubbing my face.

“It didn’t matter,” Riley insists. “She’s our priority, and I have some hard truths to discuss. Nina is forgetting things about you. She’s holding on as tightly as she can, but they’re punishing her for it. They’re taking pieces of her.”

My heart clenches so hard, I wince.

“Ethan,” I rasp, forcing myself to breathe. “We had so little time with her…”

“Maybe twenty-four hours, if that,” he agrees. “We need to let Nina go, don’t we?”

“I think so,” I murmur. “Riley, can you help her do that?”

“Me?” Riley asks, blinking at me. “Help how?”

“She needs to forget Ethan and I,” I say.

Breathe, Cooper.

“She has…” Fuck, this hurts so much. “Nina needs to think I’m just a random professor who took over her class, and that Ethan is just a guy she ran into on campus. She can’t remember us as her scent matches.”

Ethan drops his head in his hands as he hunches over but nods in agreement.

“Yeah,” Riley replies, swallowing hard. “I can use hypnosis to make her forget. Remove the memories as we talk through them while she’s under. You want me to take all of it?”

“Yes,” I gasp. “She doesn’t know you’re her scent match, right?”

“No, they have me use a descenting soap and spray when I come into the hospital each time,” he explains. “She doesn’t know.”

“If we found her once, we can find her again, right?” Ethan asks, his voice cracking. His shoulders are shaking and I know this is destroying him too.

“Yes,” I say. “It’s better than having them do something that could fuck with her sense of smell permanently.”

“They’ve been discussing that,” Riley says woodenly. It sounds as if he has no emotion, but the blankness on his face is a defense mechanism. I’ve used it enough to understand that. “She’s almost been at the hospital for a year, and her mother is getting anxious.”

“The bitch probably has a line of packs for Nina that are chomping at the bit as she tries to explain why her daughter can’t meet with them,” I grumble. “Convince the doctors this will work, and that she won’t recognize us if she sees us again.”

“They’ve begun water boarding her as part of her treatment,” Riley says. “She’s refusing to cooperate, and the staff is panicking. Weeping Willow wants Nina to be their success story so they can do this to others. There’s a possibility that she may have some damage to her senses.”

I remember how long it took Ethan to recognize Nina as his scent match due to the way his sinuses swell during cold weather, but it still happened. I have to hope that Nina’s senses will still recognize who we are to her when the time comes.

This isn’t goodbye, we are not giving up. We are merely retreating until we can find her again.

Reaching out, I rub my son’s back as he cries. Riley’s gaze stays on Ethan as he decides on his next words.

“I have some ideas on how we can ensure Nina sees us all again. We’ll win her over, even if she can’t recognize that we’re her scent matches,” he says. “Fate gave her to us, we’ll meet her again.”

She was once ours and she’ll be ours later. We just need to be patient, bite back the crushing pain, so she can live.

Nina

I feel drowsy as I wake up, but I’m beginning to get used to this. I’m either drugged asleep or forced to stay awake. I don’t know what it feels like to sleep in a bed anymore since I’m often left on the floor or tied to a chair, which is why I’m surprised there’s something soft underneath me. Blankets surround my body, another comfort I haven’t been allowed to have since I woke from my first heat.

A soft noise of confusion slips from my lips and I move my hands expecting to be tied down. My eyes fly open in shock as I find that I’m completely unrestrained. Unfortunately, I’m so weak I can’t sit up, and simply gaze up at Riley.

I don’t know his last name, and he’s maintained a stoic demeanor throughout every therapy he’s watched. He doesn’t participate unless Dr. Kind feels it’s necessary. It doesn’t change the fact that I fucking hate him too.

“What… Is this a trick?” I ask, gazing at my hands and rotating my ankles. I don’t get to exercise unless it’s life or death in the water tank where I have to tread water with my hands tied behind my back for hours.

As a result, my muscles and joints ache.

“No, and there aren’t any cameras in this room,” he murmurs. “I need you to listen to me very carefully, Nina, because this only works if you let me in completely. You need to forget your alphas. This is killing you. I know you’re already beginning to forget little things, right?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “That doesn’t mean I want to forget the rest.”

I’m unsure why we’re both speaking so softly, but I do it anyway. It feels wrong to speak about erasing my alphas from my mind. The shame I’m weighed down with is heavy enough as it is.

Every therapy session I’m forced to participate in hurts, and I’ve had countless nosebleeds from the electro-convulsive therapy. My body is exhausted, and where I have never had thoughts of suicide before, I have them all the time now.

What if I just didn’t tread water one day? What if I just stopped fighting?

I know no one is going to save me from this. My alphas can fight for me, throw the full letter of the law at the institute, but I’m never getting out until the doctors and my mother get the results they want.

“So maybe I die here,” I rasp, a tear escaping from my eye.

My soul is exhausted. How much more can I take?

“No,” he growls, moving from the end of the couch to lean over me so quickly I screech. “You’re not fucking dying here, Nina Marie Sterling. For once in your life, don’t be stubborn. I know I don’t deserve your trust, but I’m here for you. Your alphas sent me here to watch over you, do what I can. They want you to let go of them and save yourself.”

“They don’t want me anymore?” I ask, sniffling.

“They’d prefer that you live,” he says seriously. Reaching out, he smooths away a tear. “Try it my way, okay? Forget them.”

“How do I know that you’re telling the truth?” I ask.

“Ethan calls you Rainbow Brite, and has since he met you,” he says. “We’re friends, and have been since we met in undergrad. The rest is for him to tell you when you meet again. I believe in fate, Nina. Trust in that if you can’t trust me.”

I can hear the truth in his words, and my heart pounds as I nod. It feels profound, as if I am selling my soul away.

“Good,” he says softly, moving away. Riley doesn’t call me a “good girl” which is a positive because if I’d had the strength, I would have slapped the shit out of him.

I don’t think I’ll want to be called that for a long damn time.

“Tell me every interaction between you and the two of them that you’ve had as an adult,” he says, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen.

Slowly, painstakingly, he jots down notes as we talk. My cheeks heat as I tell him about some of the spicier and more intimate moments, but he doesn’t comment on it. He simply prepares to take them all from me.

“Now, I want you to close your eyes and take deep breaths. We are going to go back to the time where you first met Cooper and Ethan at school. Instead of remembering that Cooper was your teacher, you’ll recall that you had a substitute teacher your freshman year for a class, but not remember who it was or what class,” Riley says. “It’ll remain shadowy and unclear, the way the past sometimes can become over time.”

“Okay,” I say, barely moving my lips as I feel my body relax.

He speaks to me as he sends me back to the memory when I first met Cooper, my mind transporting me to that moment. Riley hardly has to say anything for me to remember it all. It’s a moment I haven’t forgotten, and now it’ll be gone.

“Forget,” he barks. His alpha bark has the memory disintegrating, and then he asks me to go to the next moment with Cooper.

Systematically, every second that I’ve spent with him is removed from my mind, and then Riley ruthlessly moves to Ethan. I’m calm because he told me to be, his hands rubbing my feet to keep me semi conscious.

I doubt this is what the doctors would call appropriate, but it is working. Every moment, kiss, touch, and authoritative word I experienced with my step-father and step-brother is removed, until I feel empty.

“Now, I need you to do one more thing,” he says. “Think about your step-brother and step-father from when you were a kid. I want you to force those memories to go hazy. Their faces, what they sound like, things that they said to you. If asked, you’ll say you don’t remember much about your childhood, even though you’ll be able to remember other things without any issues. Even their names will fade with time, but you’ll remember them if your mother asks you about them.”

There’s power in those words as well, and I want to fight against it. A faint whine slips from my lips, but Riley shushes me. He’s insistent on taking everything from me, and I slump on the couch as the memories fade away. All of it is gone, and there are just pockets of shadow now.

“When I say ‘goodbye’, you’ll wake up and think it’s the first time you’ve woken up. I’ll tell you the doctors are ready for your next treatment, and you’ll allow me to walk you there,” he says. “It’s very important that you not fight me or anyone here, Nina. If they say something confusing to you, let it roll off your back and just nod. Don’t question them. Do as you’re told so you can get out of the hospital.”

I make a small noise, and Riley squeezes my feet. There’s a hint of his alpha bark in his voice, and I feel compelled to do what he wants.

“Goodbye, Nina,” he says, and I shudder before I open my eyes.

Riley is sitting at the end of the couch, leaning forward as he gazes at me.

“I hope you slept well,” he says, while I blink at him confused.

“Why am I laying on the couch?” I ask. I don’t typically have comforts like this, and the blanket is soft and warm. I feel disoriented, having expected to wake up on the floor or bound to a chair.

Neither is happening right now.

I didn’t even think they had any blankets like this. I certainly haven’t received any comforts like this. There’s a soft pillow underneath my head, and I think I could cry with how nice it feels.

“Dr. Kind thought you may enjoy it because you’ve been getting better,” he says. “When you do what you’re expected to do, you get nice things.”

“I have?” I ask, shaking my head. I don’t remember doing anything that they’d be happy with.

The staff and doctors usually glare at me because I’m so awful.

“You have,” Riley says. “Do you remember your alphas?”

“What alphas?” I whisper, feeling as if I have a large chunk of my heart missing. “I have alphas?”

“Not anymore,” he says softly. “Come with me, Dr. Kind wants to run some tests.”

Flinching as I remember the pain those tests involve, I want to fight, but my body disobeys me. In fact, I’m trapped in my mind as Riley wraps his hand around my bicep and leads me out of the office and toward a testing room.

Dr. Kind gazes sharply at me before glancing at Riley.

“It’s done,” he says. “No memories, sir.”

“Miss Nina, if you pass this exam, we can work on other parts of your therapy and be closer to your being released,” Dr. Kind says. “Come along.”

My feet move even as I ask myself why when I’ve never done what they’ve wanted me to do. It feels as if I’m watching myself from the outside, silently yelling that I stop.

And yet…I can’t.

“Please sit on the chair,” the doctor says, his eyes heavy on me as I sit down. “Now, I want to measure how you react to the stimuli I’m going to play on the screen in front of you. Nurse Naylor is going to put electrodes on your head to measure your brain waves. If there’s no sign of the recognition pattern I’m looking for, nothing will happen.”

Nurse Naylor steps into the room with a cart and the items she’ll need for the exercise. She prepares my scalp with a gritty cream and scrubs as I wince but remain still for her. The nurse grunts to herself, but continues working, and the electrodes are soon taped to my scalp.

Honestly, I’d rather her grunt and mutter to herself than call me a graceless and ungrateful whore. This nurse doesn’t like me, and enjoys hurting me.

The dull hum of the machine sounds in the room, and Dr. Kind turns on a projector. I remember the pain connected to this type of “test” and I stiffen slightly as Nurse Naylor’s hands hold me still in the chair.

“Every time we see a recognition pattern that we don’t want to see, there will be a negative response applied,” Dr. Kind says, showing me what appears to be a pen.

However, I know there has to be pain involved if he’s holding it so nonchalantly.

“Hold out your arm,” he commands.

He’s not an alpha. There’s nothing he can do to force me to do as he says, but I do as he says, offering him my inner arm.

“Very good,” he purrs, flicking a button on the pen and pressing it to my skin.

The pain is immediate and my body jolts as I scream. I’m vaguely aware of Riley stepping into the room and the door shutting. He doesn’t say anything though, and my body feels as if it’s on fire. Such a small fucking thing to hurt so much.

“There we go,” Dr. Kind says in a creepy sing-song voice. Pocketing the pen, he picks up the projector’s remote as if he didn’t just fry my nerve endings.

Dropping my arm into my lap, I breathe through the pain. Fuck, the other stun wand shit they’ve used on me didn’t hurt as much as that pen did. I refuse to touch the spot that’s red and angry on my inner arm, I simply force myself to gaze at the projector screen.

I’ve never wanted to get something correct so badly in my entire life. I’m tired of being hurt day in and day out, and for some reason, I’m docile as I wait for the next step.

“Here are rainbow colors,” Dr. Kind says.

I stare at it without anything coming to mind, and the nurse grunts. That must have been enough for the doctor, because he nods and clicks to the next image.

A classroom fills the screen, and I sigh because I miss school. The nurse grunts again, and the doctor clicks the remote again.

I sit until my ass goes numb and my tailbone tingles with pins and needles without complaint as he has me watch his version of a slideshow, without a single zap from his pen.

“Good, good,” he murmurs with a nod. “Let’s move on then.”

A part of me feels as if I shouldn’t have passed this with flying colors, not when they typically torture the fuck out of me. Everything feels wrong as the nurse peels off the tape from the electrodes and scrubs at my scalp.

It continues to feel as if I’m living in an alternate universe day after day at Weeping Willow as I suffer through their tests and therapy, until my mother comes to visit me in the garden outside.

I know what I look like. I’m bald, too thin, and my pants and shirt issued hospital clothing hang from my body.

My mother’s lips thin as she sits across from me, gazing at my appearance with her baby blue eyes, cold and calculating.

“Who is Cooper Thornefield to you, Nina?” she asks.

Why is she asking me that? I haven’t heard that name in years.

There’s a dull sense of deja vu, but I shake my head in confusion.

“My ex step-father,” I murmur, my mind spiralling at such a random question. “Why are you asking me about him? Did you run into him or something?”

“No,” she says coolly. “Did you know that he’s living in Minneapolis?”

“I didn’t,” I say. “Why does that matter to me?”

“I suppose it doesn’t, I’m just making conversation,” she says, shrugging. “I suppose you’ve been here so long that you don’t remember how to do that. We’re going to have to work on it, and you’ll need to attend etiquette classes so you don’t embarrass me.”

“Where will I be that anyone will see me, Mom?” I ask. My skin feels too tight as I sit across from her, my feet in the first pair of shoes in months, even though they’re slippers.

Everything feels surreal, especially the warmth of the sun as it warms my face, despite the shade of the tree over me. I’m waiting for my mother to make a big deal about it, since she hates when I’m in the sun.

“You’re so very pale,” she murmurs absently. “Maybe we’ll need to look at a modest spray tan, and a really good wig for your poor bald head.”

I stare at her as I wait for her to get to her point, allowing myself to enjoy the sounds of nature around me, especially the birds. It’s very sterile within the walls of Weeping Willow, and the only sounds are those of my screams.

Although, it’s been a week exactly since that’s happened, and I’ve been allowed to sleep in a bed. The change is so sudden, I’m waiting for someone to tell me that it’s all a lie as they drop me in the freezing pool to tread water for hours.

I’ll never take the beauty of the world for granted again. Not ever. I feel as if I’ve been in a war for my sanity, and I’m not certain I’m coming out the other side intact.

In fact, the emptiness I’ve been feeling inside of me for days tells me that I’m missing something, I just don’t know what.

My mother doesn’t seem to know what to do with my silence, and her fingers press together as she looks up at the sky. She’d never be indelicate enough to wring her hands, my mother is entirely too well bred for that, but I can tell she’s at a loss for words.

Still, I won’t be the one to break the silence, because it’s not mine to break. She’d find something wrong with how I did it, and the last thing I want is to be punished for rules I don’t understand.

“Dr. Kind and Dr. Brunes seem to think you’re ready to be discharged,” she says, still not looking at me. I suppose my change in appearance is shocking, though I had nothing to do with it. “Georgia is sweltering with heat during the summer, but it’ll give you time to get ready to be courted.”

I allow the words to fall around me like tiny pebbles, measuring what they mean to me. I recall a fight we had before I was brought here, but not who was there. Ah, yes. She was upset that I ran away to go to college, and believes I should be content to find a pack instead.

That’s what this is about: becoming an obedient omega. I’ve certainly listened to enough of Emilia Richardson’s lectures to know what one should act like. I suppose I should follow those to the letter.

Weeping Willow’s teachings and rehabilitation aren’t for the weak or faint of heart, and I for one have had my fill.

“Yes, Mom,” I murmur, my voice cracking due to the strain from the past months.

“Oh, your voice,” she gasps in horror, glancing at me. “We’re going to add voice lessons to the list, I suppose. You should have honeyed, dulcet tones in your voice soon. There will be no discussion of returning to school, because that life is not for you. Your alphas will not respect you if you’re too smart. Thank God Martin understands how important this time is for you, and is being very understanding.”

Her husband. I can’t even really call him my step-father because I rarely see him. He’s just another revolving alpha in my mother’s life.

“That’s nice,” I murmur, trying to control the terrible condition of my voice and failing.

“Isn’t it?” she asks, beaming.

Since she doesn’t need an actual response, I press my lips together in a reminder to myself to not say a word. It’s slight, just for me, and I know she won’t notice it. While my mother thinks she knows me inside and out, she doesn’t.

“Yes, well,” she says awkwardly. “I’ll be back to collect you in a couple of days. Dr. Brunes says he wants to ensure you won’t back slide in any of your lessons, ah therapy. Yes, that’s it!”

A whisper of disappointment fills me, because I thought I was done. The assumption is mine alone, but knowing I’ll be subjected to more of their “lessons” before I’m released takes my breath away.

I watch as she clasps her hands happily, even as she plans to abandon me to these people.

“I have it all planned out,” she sighs happily. “You’re going to have the best life, and everyone will praise me for being the best mother to you. Be good, listen to your doctors, and I’ll be back. I know I don’t have to tell you of the consequences if you aren’t.”

I can feel the presence of the alpha behind me before he speaks. I don’t know what his schedule is for working here, since there aren’t any windows where I can see them here. Even my bedroom here doesn’t have any.

“I can reassure you that your daughter is doing wonderfully,” Riley says confidently. “She’s recovering nicely.”

I don’t know why I needed to recover from being a normal teenager with plans for her life that didn’t align with her mother’s, but again, I press my lips slightly together.

It helps me keep my voice under lock and key. My thoughts need to remain inside my mind at all times. No mistakes.

“Good,” my mother says, nodding as she stands. “I’ll let you get back to it. Remember what I said, Nina.”

I incline my head as she walks away, refusing to say goodbye. There’s nothing “good” about it, except for her being gone.

I wait for Riley to tell me it’s time to go back inside, but he doesn’t. Instead, I get to bask in the beauty of the world for as long as I can until it’s time to return inside.

Where the lights burn too warm, and everything tastes metallic.

Fifteen

Vivian

Everything has to be perfect. Walking around the table in the garden, I twitch napkins into place, and check with the housekeeper that tea will be ready in time. Walking to the kitchen next to speak to the chef about any allergies the alphas have reported, I then head upstairs to check on my daughter.

I hope she’s dressed and isn’t being surly. Although, in the three months that she’s been home, Nina has been very well behaved. She’s done all of her exercises to regain muscle tone and strength in her body, attended voice lessons to keep from any further destruction of her vocal cords, and gone to every etiquette class.

I would feel guilty that her vocal cords have suffered the way they have, but it’s her fault that she screamed so much in treatment. She should have done as the doctors wanted without kicking up a fuss. Honestly, no one wants to deal with such a theatrical patient. She obviously needed a very firm hand in order to gain the results I’m seeing. Weeping Willow is a miracle worker, and I’ll recommend it to everyone.

It’s also Nina’s fault that she could barely walk when she left the facility and had difficulty with balance. She was an absolute wreck with terrible posture and torn cuticles. My daughter didn’t even try to keep up with her appearance.

Lazy child.

Huffing in annoyance as I hurry up the stairs, I force myself to take a deep breath and slow my steps as I get closer to her room. There’s no use getting myself all worked up. I need to maintain my own calm countenance to ensure Nina emulates it.

No feathers will be ruffled. It’s an important day since she’ll be meeting the first round of packs who want her. It hasn’t been easy holding them off while she was at Weeping Willow and then bouncing back from treatment, but they no longer have to wait.

Thank goodness, because their patience is close to snapping. I’ve been playing a dangerous game, but how was I supposed to know that Nina would be out of commission for eleven months after she entered Weeping Willow to when she’d be ready for visitors.

I blame her for being so weak. I would never have had so many issues with my mother. Just suck it up and do as you’re told.

Striding through the doorway since I had it removed the day before her return, I look around the room. Nina is getting the bare minimum from me until she’s packed up. All of her needs are taken care of, her nails are back to normal, and her skin is no longer so dry from the terrible soap they had at the institution.

She tried to tell me it’s from the chlorine in the pool where she had to tread water for hours, and I told her not to lie to me. That’s clearly not therapy, and if it were true, she’d have more defined arms and legs than she does.

If she didn’t need her tongue to speak to her alphas, I’d have it removed. I don’t really understand the need to speak to your omega. I sit pretty for Martin and allow him to do whatever he wants. None of it needs my words or consent.

To me, it’s worth being safe in this house. I have just enough freedom, I don’t need anything else.

The room is empty. Hmm.

“Nina?” I call out, attempting to hide how nervous I am. Things have to go well. They just do.

“I’m here,” she says, stepping out of the closet as she slides the post of her earring in. “I dropped it and had to feel around to find it. I don’t think I wrinkled anything though.”

“Turn around slowly so I can see. I’ll grab the steamer if needed,” I say sharply.

Nina nods calmly, doing as I say. I trained her out of flinching whenever someone’s tone changed. I won’t have the packs thinking that she’s been abused. She can be twisted in knots on the inside, no one should ever know.

Smart omegas live longer when they hide their emotions and only show the ones that allow them to get what they want. I can cry on command, make someone believe I’m in love with them, or turn it all off to make someone believe I’m a cold hearted bitch.

My eyes move over my daughter, taking her in. She’s wearing a navy two piece skirt set of the softest fabric possible. Not only does it appear rich and beautiful, but it’ll help her sit still because it won’t itch. I’m not a complete monster. I know the sensitivities that omegas go through.

She took so long to present, I decided she had to be a beta, but I wasn’t upset the way she thinks I was. I was relieved. There are many dangers for omegas, and the responsibilities are endless. Now, I’m merely trying to set her up for the best life possible.

Who cares if it also happens to benefit me? I think I should be admired for everything I’ve done for my daughter.

My eyes move to her feet as Nina has her back to me, where I can see the barest hint of her open toed heels. I know she dislikes them, but she’ll be sitting most of the time. She’s spent countless hours practicing how to walk in them.

You’d think that it would be like riding a bike, but it’s not. I’d rather not think about how terrible her first experience back in heels was after being barefoot at Weeping Willow for eight months. I really thought she was going to break her neck clomping down the stairs.

Repressing a shudder, I say, “Turn again.”

I’m so glad I broke her of the habit of twirling when I asked her to turn around. How on earth am I supposed to scrutinize all the details to ensure she’s perfect?

Nina turns the rest of the way around, and I gaze at the way her neckline has just a hint of cleavage to give the packs something to look at before moving to her face. The guilt is always worse when I look at it.

Her hair isn’t growing back very well. It’s white peach fuzz, which isn’t very womanly. Instead, she’s wearing a bleach white blonde wig that’s the same color as her natural hair. It flows in pretty waves around her body down to her waist. I bought one made of real hair, and you can’t tell this doesn’t belong to her.

Her makeup is understated and beautiful, her lips a pretty, neutral pink. Her only jewelry are the studs she’s wearing as well. I don’t have a single thing to complain about or fix.

“I suppose this is acceptable,” I state, none of my praising thoughts showing through in my tone. “They’ll be arriving soon. Pack a small clutch with your lip gloss and I’ll give you a phone to put inside there as well.”

Nina hesitates in confusion, but only for a second. She hasn’t been allowed to have any type of technology, unless it’s to listen to Emilia Richardson’s podcasts. We may be back in Georgia, but I’ve been noticing that more and more people have been listening to her recently.

She has good advice for omegas on how to survive, and doesn’t buy into the more liberal notions that omegas should go to school and work. I hear too often about omegas who go missing all over the country to be trafficked.

I’m reminded that I’m making the best decisions for my daughter with every report that crops up.

Once Nina has her cream clutch in her hand, I hand her a phone.

“It would be odd for you to be an unmated and unpacked omega and not have a mobile device,” I state. “Some of the men will want to exchange numbers. Well, I shouldn’t say just men. Pack Tremaine also has a female alpha. They’re very powerful in Savannah, and it’s important to keep an open mind when it comes to choosing a pack.”

They’re also loaded. They would make a great pack for my daughter.

Nina returns the bag that now has the slim phone inside of it to her side and I nod.

“Remember your lessons,” I remind her. “I think tea will be a wonderful way to get to know the packs. We’ll segue into dates if any of them want to formally court you. Don’t embarrass me.”

The last is stated in a growl, but Nina isn’t fazed as she inclines her head. She looks regal and beautiful, and I can’t help feeling proud of myself. I did that.

I took her from that weak, pathetic girl screaming about not being allowed to finish school and stay with her scent matches to what she is now.

Confident she’ll perform exactly as she should, I walk out of the room with her following me.

The doorbell rings just as we arrive at the first floor, and I take a deep breath as the housekeeper walks to the door while we walk to the living room to act completely normal.

Ha. As if it’s every day that I’m setting up my nineteen year old with the best packs in the area.

While I was getting everything ready for Nina, her birthday passed without any recognition. I don’t believe it’s a big deal, and at the time, I didn’t think she deserved it. My daughter was also a mess the day she got out of the hospital, which was the same day as her birthday.

She will have other special days, ones that have nothing to do with the passing of time.

Nina sits down on the settee next to me with her clutch in her lap, and I make conversation with her at a dull murmur as the packs arrive. They all file in together, and I rise with Nina.

“Hello, everyone. We are so honored for you all to be here today,” I say. Every stare is on my daughter as she stands tall with her gaze trained on someone’s chest rather than their eyes.

It’s a state of submissiveness, the way an omega should appear.

“If everyone is ready, we can make our way into the backyard for tea. I know we are still in the height of summer, but there are fans to ensure everyone is comfortable,” I add.

“It’s a pretty day,” someone murmurs, shrugging. “We’ve all been very patient, Miss Vivian, and it appears that your daughter is more than ready to be courted.”

“Yes, yes. Of course,” I say, feeling rushed as I begin walking to the back door to step outside. While I would prefer to stay and observe everything, I have a feeling that I may not be able to.

While the packs following Nina and I seem to be the wealthiest and the most successful, there’s also a thread of progressiveness that runs through them as well. They want to court my daughter because it’s what is expected, but they also want to see why they had to wait so long to meet her.

It’s been just about a year since I started the process of gathering packs to meet my daughter, even though I knew she wasn’t in any type of position to do it. I’m going to need to be flexible, because honesty is beyond me.

As everyone sits around the table, I hesitate, watching as the housekeeper brings in the tea, pastries, and sandwiches. So much effort, and I have a feeling that I’m about to get kicked out.

Abbott from Pack Thornefield leans forward, his gaze moving from Nina to myself.

“I think we can handle tea with your daughter,” he says with a smile, as if reading my mind. “Nothing untoward will happen in the backyard, Miss Vivian. We all give you our word.”

The table fills with murmurs of agreement, while Nina shifts uneasily. Did I mention this is the first time she’s spent any time with people? Shit.

Giving a small smile, I incline my head. I’m careful not to touch Nina, because I don’t trust myself not to pinch her to remind her of what to do. Everyone is staring really hard at me, all I can do is go.

“Of course,” I say. “I hope you have a wonderful visit with Nina. Please, enjoy.”

My feet feel heavy as I force myself to walk back inside. I’ve done everything possible to set her up for success. I didn’t even set up cameras outside because I didn’t think of this eventuality.

My breaths are even as I walk to my sitting room. I can’t see anything here, but I did it for a reason. The last thing I need is for one of the alphas to say I didn’t trust their word.

Fuck. Don't screw this up, Nina.

Nina

I have four packs of alphas and a couple of betas surrounding me at the table. My mom only focuses her energy on what’s important to her, so she tends to ignore the betas when she’s speaking to me.

What if I fuck up who is from what pack? What if I forget someone’s name? What if I offend someone?

Breathe, Nina.

There’s roughly fourteen people here. As someone who tends to be alone, it’s very nerve wracking, and I take a deep breath to fight through the anxiety crawling through my veins.

My nose still hasn't recovered from being waterboarded at Weeping Willow, so my scent is off. It’s also affected the way I’m able to taste things, which affects what I enjoy eating now.

For my mother, she thought Weeping Willow would be a small piece of my life, but it’s causing lasting effects. I have to remind myself I’ve only been out for a few months, however, that makes me feel like an ex-inmate. It’s not that far from the truth.

“I think it’s safe to say that this could be overwhelming for anyone,” an alpha says kindly, filling my cup with fragrant tea.

The housekeeper thankfully put a pot of tea that she knows I’ll enjoy. My mother may rule with an iron fist, but the staff here try to make my life easier in small ways.

The female alpha mom mentioned, leans forward, her nostrils flaring as she inhales deeply.

“The last thing we want to do is make you anxious,” she says quickly. I memorized her name first from the cards my mom gave me. She left me speaking topics as well, but they all feel so wooden and insincere.

Cassidy. That’s her name.

“There’s a lot of you,” I say carefully, looking around slowly.

“Your mother wanted you to be able to meet us so you could decide who you’d like to see again,” Cassidy says, turning the tiers of food slowly. “This strawberry sandwich looks delicious. Would you like one, Nina?”

“Yes, please,” I say immediately, though eating was the last thing I thought I’d actually do today. My stomach has been in painful knots since I woke up.

I’m also surprised that Cassidy seems to think that I would be able to make any choices in regards to who I see again.

“Your scent smells… odd,” Lyle murmurs, frowning.

“Are you saying that I smell bad?” I ask, finding a smirk somewhere within me.

“No,” Lyle grins. He is in his mid thirties, and older than some of the other people at the table. Everyone is wearing clothing fit for an afternoon tea, but seem to relax a bit as we talk.

Why are these things so stuffy? Even my feet are beginning to pinch in these shoes, and it hasn’t been very long since I slipped them on.

“Scents change when someone is feeling intense emotions,” Lyle explains, taking pity on me. He seems like someone who enjoys knowing more than anyone else in the room. “For some, it can end up being a truth meter. I’m a lawyer, and I use it regularly to learn about people.”

“You all seem really nice, but I feel like a small fish around much bigger predators,” I murmur softly.

The alphas around me freeze for a moment, and someone rolls his eyes at them.

“You’re not the only one who feels like that,” Carter says, leaning around someone to meet my gaze. “They don’t realize they’re doing it. Alphas have big personalities and big⁠—”

“Ahem,” Cassidy says, shaking her head with amusement. “Nina really doesn’t need to hear that.”

Dicks. My cheeks heat a little as I think about Carter’s words. I think I’m a little innocent for this conversation. My mother has isolated me from everyone. All I have are the words of those from Weeping Willow Institute that I entered into a relationship with someone that was inappropriate.

I don’t remember who that person was, or what I did. I may as well be a virgin, since my transgressions have been pulled from me so thoroughly, I don’t know what forced my mother to commit me.

It’s very difficult to understand, and I often feel as if I’m missing pieces of myself. It doesn’t help my anxiety or the feeling of constantly being off balance.

“Anyway,” Cassidy stresses. “I will admit that being in a space with so many alphas can be overwhelming. I’m glad your mother thought of putting us outside with plenty of ventilation from the fans to help dispel all the pheromones.”

I very much doubt that’s why my mother did that, and I find myself pressing my lips together slightly to remind myself not to say what I’m thinking. It’s become a habit, though not one anyone would notice.

“Please eat something,” Abbott begs. “I can’t enjoy any of this until you do.”

“Same,” Lyle sighs. “It’s taking everything inside of me not to load up your plate because I don’t know what you like.”

“It would help if I knew what some of this was,” I confess, making a few of them relax slightly.

“Well, that is a valid point,” Cassidy murmurs. “Try the strawberry sandwich, and I’ll ask the housekeeper. I can see her peeking out.”

At the widening of my eyes, she shakes her head.

“Oh, I’m blaming my question on Abbott,” she chuckles. “He’s a picky eater anyway.”

Abbott mock glares at Cassidy as she calls over the housekeeper, asking her to explain what everything is. Five minutes later, I’m eating things I’m actually enjoying, and everyone is more relaxed around me.

I don’t know much about alphas. It’s silly since I’m an omega, but I’ve only spent time around my mother’s omega and beta friends and their kids. I’m unused to so much attention, or the fact that they all seem to want to get me what I need as I’m reaching for it.

“What is your favorite thing to do, Nina?” Lyle asks, taking a sip of his tea.

I have no idea. Outside of studying to ensure that I don’t disappoint my mother and exercising, I couldn’t tell you what I enjoy.

“I don’t know if others would think it’s enjoyable, but I like going for a run in the morning and reading outside,” I admit. “It may be hot, but I can’t get enough of how pretty it is out.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” Lyle says with a shrug. “We’re lucky to live in such a beautiful place. Gardens like this aren’t found just anywhere.”

Even though my mother travels with her husband, she loves flowers. I’ll have to give her that. She also hasn’t left at all since I returned home. I still don’t think this counts as actually being a parent, not when she’s parading me around in front of alphas to pack me off.

My eyes travel to the giant tree in the backyard, my lips twitching in memory at how I used to climb it.

“What are you smiling about?” an alpha asks. Glancing at him, my mind reels in panic to find his name. Easton. God, my nerves are going to be so shot by the end of this.

“When I was a little girl, I used to climb that tree,” I say, shrugging. “I may have had a thing for being outdoors even then.”

“I used to give my parents gray hair,” Cassidy admits. “If I could climb, scale, or jump off of it… I would. It’s part of being a kid.”

“I’m surprised your mother would allow that,” Easton says carefully. “She doesn’t seem the type, Nina.”

“She’s not,” I murmur, picking up a mini croissant. “Sometimes, the tree limbs called anyway.”

Easton gazes at me as I take a bite of my pastry before nodding. It feels as if I told him more than I meant to with that sentence. He doesn’t pry any more, and the conversation turns away from the topic of trees and climbing them.

I find that I enjoy having tea with this group, and that it wasn’t as terrible as I thought it would be. They rightly have questions about me, and I respond. Slowly, I find the confidence to ask them in turn, and I can feel their satisfaction as I do.

Alphas want to protect. Somewhere, those words drift through my mind, and I can see it in the way they try to set me at ease as well as ensure that I have enough to eat.

Maybe this won’t be so terrible. I thought being packed up would mean forcing myself to conform to what they wanted me to be. My mother seems to change her personality with each marriage, having multiple people around that I need to please seems impossible.

“Nina,” Cassidy says, pulling me out of thoughts.

I really like her and her pack. I haven’t felt attracted to anyone here, but maybe that takes time? I don’t know much about how attraction works, or if it’s supposed to be instantaneous.

“Yes,” I reply with a smile. I don’t want her to think I’ve retreated completely from the conversation. Sometimes, I just check out and don’t mean any harm by it.

“My pack and I go for a run with a group of friends a few times a week. It’s really lowkey, and we choose a different route whenever possible,” she explains. “Since you enjoy running and being outside, would you like to join us?”

I don’t know if I should say yes. I really want to, because I would love it and it would give me a chance to spend more time with them. I just don’t know if my mother would feel it was an appropriate choice.

“We can run it by your mother as well,” Abbott adds. “Trust me, we’ve all been in contact with her for the past year, and she’s intense. Let us run interference. We just need the nod of approval from you.”

“Then, yes,” I say with a nod. “I’d really like that.”

The other packs make sure to find their own ways to spend time with me, and my head spins at how loud it becomes.

“Oye!” Carter yells, banging on the table. “A little less of that, please. She just went white as a sheet.”

“Shit, sorry,” Easton says, wincing. “It’s safe to say we’re all enjoying ourselves and got a little excited. What if we put our numbers in your phone, and text you throughout the week. We’ll make plans only if you’re comfortable. You don’t need to agree if the vibes aren’t right.”

“In fact, you don’t even have to respond,” Carter says, making my lips part in shock. “No, it’s not rude. Ghost their asses.”

The very idea makes me giggle. “That’s not nice,” I tell him, pulling my phone from my clutch. There’s not a lock feature on it, so I simply hand it to the alpha beside me.

“You shouldn’t leave your phone unlocked,” the alpha next to me mutters, opening my contacts before glancing at me.

I know there aren’t any contacts, no social media apps, not a single text message that he’ll find on the phone, and my cheeks heat with embarrassment. If this doesn’t say I’m being held hostage by my mother, then I don’t know what does.

As he enters his number, he bites his lip hard as if he’s angry.

“Everything Carter said is true,” he drawls under his breath, releasing his lip. His name is Silas, and I can tell he’s measuring his words carefully. Everyone else is talking, which means only I can hear him. “However, I think it’s important to see the world outside of these four walls. There is a small step between a well meaning parent and a jailer, Nina. Use us to get out. Even if we aren’t who you want as your pack. Abbott is right. We’ve all been in communication with your mother, and recognize that she’s a tyrant.”

My heart pounds as I watch him hand my phone to the next person, and it begins its journey around the table.

“Just think about it,” Silas adds.

He’s right. I know he is. I just need to make sure I don’t do anything that’ll cause me to end up at Weeping Willow again, or any hospital like it. Their form of therapy, or rather torture, isn’t something I ever want to undergo again. It’s why I’ve been so careful to jump through every hoop my mother has presented to me.

My phone makes it back to me, and I tuck it back into my clutch just as the omega who haunts my thoughts steps outside. My energy is beginning to flag after speaking for so long. If I’m not careful, the dulcet tones I’ve trained myself to speak in are going to sound harsher.

My mother smiles as she makes her way over, her eyes sharp as she gazes over everyone.

“Miss Vivian,” Easton says with a cultured smile. After spending an afternoon with him, I can tell that it’s fake. It’s not a bad thing to speak to my mother with the utmost deference. “Tea was wonderful, and I can already say she’s going to be busy this fall as we’re all very excited to spend more time with her.”

“All?” my mother asks curiously. Everyone nods as they slowly stand. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Nina shines brightly,” Cassidy says. “In a world where so many people lose their light, it’s a breath of fresh air.”

I don’t see myself like that at all. It makes me wonder if she’s gassing me up for my mother, because I don’t recognize the girl Cassidy is talking about. I’m who my mother tells me to be, and no one else.

Silas pulls my seat out, helping me stand. My legs have fallen asleep, and it takes a moment for me to get them to work. Smiling in thanks, I follow everyone back inside. My mother holds her smile until she says goodbye to the last person and they walk out the door.

“I didn’t know you were so charming, Nina,” she says accusingly. I have no idea why she’s so angry, so I try to deescalate whatever narrative she has running in her head.

“I used the talking points you gave me,” I lie. “I’m glad I had them.”

“Oh,” she says, deflating slightly. My mother reminds me of a cat whose fur puffs up when she’s angry. It only seems to happen around me, because I’m constantly angering and disappointing her. “I suppose all the lessons are working. You’re free for the rest of the day if you want to nap then.”

“Thank you, Mom,” I murmur, turning away to walk up the long staircase. I used to love these stairs when I had more energy, and when not wearing heels.

As soon as I’m on the second level and out of her sight, I pull off my torture devices masquerading as shoes and walk to my room. I ignore the fact that I’m missing my door and move to the closet to change into pajamas, remove my wig, and then close the blinds before faceplanting into my bed.

I wish I was an alpha. Then, I would have so many more choices in life.

My eyelids get heavy and I drift away into dreamless sleep, marked safe from the feeling I get every night that I’m missing something very important.

Sixteen

Nina

“You’re going running…” My mother stares at my cotton shorts and bright purple tank top in disgust. It was a bit of a pain to braid my wig and make sure it was secure, but it worked. “Think of all the sweat, Nina.”

I’m fairly certain Abbott ran it past her since he said he would, but sometimes my mother has selective memory.

“Cassidy and her pack are coming to pick me up,” I say mildly, waiting for her to get it out of her system. She’s been full of plans and plotting, but I have to send the texts to people, which means I get to make decisions.

It feels surreal. My mother can complain or suggest, but she’s set this path for me to be courted. Funny enough, this group of packs aren’t so old fashioned that they think the same way as she does. They want me to experience life, and I’ve been speaking with a few of them throughout the week since we all had tea together.

“They’re already on the way?” she asks, sighing.

I have my bottle of water, tennis shoes already on, and let her baby blue eyes gaze at me to answer her own question. Only the outside of my fractured eye color reflects hers, yet another odd way that biology works. The doorbell rings, further forcing her to accept that I’m going for a run with a pack as they court me. It’s a casual thing, and it’ll help me continue to gain my strength. I did warn Cassidy that I may tire quickly, yet she told me not to worry about it.

She said they’d adjust to me. Another way that she constantly surprises me.

“I suppose they are,” my mother sighs. “Now I know why you’re not wearing any makeup and you look homeless so early in the morning.”

I ignore the comment as she moves away so I can answer the door. I think she realized that hovering over me isn’t going to help me get to know the packs courting me. It’s embarrassing that she’s prancing me around to the best pack, but she says this is the way things are done.

She forced me to endure lunch with her friends earlier this week as if to affirm her words. They talked all about how they were doing this as well with their daughters. There’s no use fighting against this, I know what happens when my mother doesn’t get her way.

I’d rather avoid that at all costs.

“Hi,” I say with a smile as I see Cassidy at the door. “Is there anything else I’ll need other than water?”

“With us? No,” she says, her green eyes moving up my body slowly. Her long hair is up in a sleek ponytail, and she’s dressed similarly to me. Her gaze is appreciative but also appears to be looking for something. “Do you have your phone? You’re going to want that just in case.”

“I swear, I forget it everywhere,” I mutter, biting my lip. My phone is pressed into my hand, and I glance at my mother who rolls her eyes at me. Oops. Guess I left it on a table and she found it. Putting it in my pocket, I zip it up, shrugging as my cheeks heat up.

“Now you’re ready,” Cassidy teases me. “We’ll take good care of her, Miss Vivian. Bye!”

She didn’t even see my mother, but it’s pretty obvious who I got my phone from I suppose.

“I’m sure you will,” my mother says, poking her head around the door. “Have fun.”

Taking this as my cue, I step out the door to stand next to Cassidy, and we begin walking together down the driveway.

“I did drive, but we told our running group to join us outside of the house,” she says as I glance at her pack stretching outside of their vehicle. “This neighborhood has great street parking, and everyone is still asleep so there’s no one to yell at us.”

Smiling, I gaze down the street where people are walking to join us. It’s probably around six people plus her pack, and I force myself not to worry about meeting extra people, though it’s hard. She told me they have a running club that meets at six in the morning three times a week.

My mother is always attending some club, and they enjoy going to breakfast, which is why she’s already awake before the sun.

The sky is still dark as I gaze up at it, and I can feel my body starting to relax. I didn’t realize how tense the atmosphere of the house was until I stepped out of it without my mother lurking around me.

“I was wondering if you’re always strung tightly or if it’s just your mother’s presence,” Cassidy says quietly as we walk to join the group stretching in the street.

Ignoring her words, I focus on what she said before. She’s right, no one will be driving this early. In fact, anyone who has early mornings has already begun them at home. The benefit of being rich and having their own schedules.

Ugh. Maybe if I ignore her observation long enough, it’ll just go away or I’ll find the right words to say. I can’t bring myself to talk about my mom and how complicated our relationship is. It’ll lead to too many things I can’t talk about.

At my glance, she reaches out and squeezes my hand. Unless someone is hurting me, I don’t get touched very often, and I force myself not to flinch. It’s something my mother was very insistent on training me out of. It doesn’t matter that this is her fault, a side effect from my “therapy.” The truth stands that she didn’t want anyone to think that I had been abused.

Flinching is a trained trauma response.

Pushing the memories away, I simply shrug at her. I also won’t speak badly about my mother, because it could get back to her very easily.

“The world feels quiet right now. It’s easier to be relaxed,” I say instead.

“It does,” Cassidy agrees, even though my comment is odd. I need to be careful of how I say things, but I’m just so happy to have a little freedom. “Let’s stretch together. Even if you take it easy, you may feel sore later. Not being able to move kind of defeats the purpose after a run.”

A small laugh escapes my lips, and everyone’s gazes snap toward me. It’s a little like living in a weird fishbowl where everyone is paying too close attention.

“I look forward to you doing more of that,” Cassidy murmurs. “Ignore them. Alphas are a little intense overall. You’re going to be sweating after this and your scent will be in the air. Everyone here has really good control so you’ll be safe. I wouldn’t suggest going for a run with just anyone though.”

“Oh,” I say, blinking owlishly as I follow her lead and begin stretching.

It’s like I’ve completely forgotten how to survive in the world. Things like keeping my phone charged and with me, or paying attention to my scent would have been things I’d remember, but I feel so out of place now.

I had an entire year of my life stolen from me. It’s hard to remind myself to be gentle with myself as I figure out how to interact with the world again. Being an omega leaves me with complicated feelings even without including how fucked up my life is.

Should I hate this thing that makes me so valuable to my mother and alphas? Am I just going to be a pawn forever?

“Nina,” Cassidy says softly, making me inhale sharply as I glance at her. A tear is clinging for dear life at the corner of my eye, and I hope she won’t notice. I strayed too closely to the darkness of my mind, accidentally hurting my own damn feelings. “Ready to start?”

Clearing my throat, I lean down to pick up my water bottle, discreetly wiping away the tear. “All set,” I breathe, feeling my lungs clench as if to punish me.

My voice teacher taught me that whenever I’m feeling a lot of emotions, it’s easier to hide it if I’m speaking at a lower pitch. Just another way to lie, I suppose.

Cassidy sticks by my side as we start by walking in a group. People are chatting around me, catching up on what they’ve been doing since they last saw each other. Everyone around me is a male except for the female alpha walking next to me, shooting me glances here and there. I can hear the talk about high stakes law cases, charity events, or things that happened when they went to a bar. It’s all so painfully normal, it almost hurts to be listening to it happen around me.

I once was just like this, going to school and working my ass off, but that’s never going to happen again. My future clearly lies in a different direction. Even with a pack, I doubt I’ll be able to do the normal things others do. My wings will still remain clipped.

Abbott comes up on my other side, smiling in greeting. Since I don’t want to discuss if Cassidy did notice that I was upset because I can’t talk about it, I smile back at him.

Deflecting with style, I suppose.

“We’re going to stretch our legs and walk up to the trail not far from here,” Abbott says. “There’s a gorgeous lake, lots of trees, and we’ll have a chance to catch the sunrise. We all go at our own pace, run or walk as much as we want. It’s why we’re a good group for you to hang out with.”

“Thanks,” I say warmly. “I was a little worried I’d hold you all back. I can run about a mile before I have to slow back down.”

“That’s fine,” he says. “Don’t be surprised if a couple of us drop back to walk with you. We have this thing where we won’t leave people behind. Especially you.”

“Me?” I ask, confused. “Why especially me?”

“We’re running with precious cargo,” Cassidy says, leaning slightly against me.

I have a feeling alphas may be very touchy feely, or maybe it’s just her? I don’t mind it, I just have to get used to being touched at all.

By anyone. Even my mother is careful about how often she touches me, and even that is to test to see if I’m going to flinch if she does.

“Exactly,” Abbott says with a nod. “You’re an unbonded, gorgeous omega. We plan to keep you safe.”

I don’t get many compliments, so I merely nod in response. My cheeks feel warm, and I know it’s not from the weather.

As we walk through the quiet streets to the trail Abbott told me about, I let the sounds of birds chirping as they wake up wash over me. I know people are important, but I could be happy being a spinster I think. No pack, just the freedom to go wherever I want, surrounded by flowers and my favorite things.

It would give me time to explore what those things are, at least. My life is stifled, sad, and boring.

“There it is again,” Cassidy hisses at me.

“What?” I ask, wide eyed. “Where is what again?”

“You,” she says, grabbing my hand and pulling me aside just enough to give us some privacy. I’ve heard there are alphas with great hearing, so it probably won’t do much. “Did you know your scent changes when you’re sad?”

“I’m not sad,” I reply. “I just get stuck in my head sometimes and it’s not particularly pleasant.”

“That’s the same thing!” Abbott calls out, proving my theory.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“Just ignore it,” I suggest. “It’ll pass.”

Walking faster, I wrap my arm around myself to get some space. Maybe this isn’t a great idea. They all seem to see too much. Taking a deep breath of fragrant air, I tell myself to bury it. I can’t just walk back home so I can hide because I’ll look even crazier than I already am.

Cassidy catches up to me easily, but I ignore her. I’d rather soak up every second I’m allowed outside until I’m locked inside again with my mother.

Abbott is true to his word, and as we walk down to the trail, the sun begins to rise over the lake. My smile is real as I stop to watch it, and I sigh happily at how pretty it is.

“Experiencing the world through you is incredible,” Abbott says, gazing at me. “It doesn’t feel as if you take anything for granted.”

“I don’t, because I’ve learned not to,” I explain. It says so much and yet not enough.

“Can I ask a question?” he asks. “The way you interact with the world is like someone who was sick and couldn’t go out for a long time.”

“Or like a prisoner,” Cassidy sighs.

“The answer is somewhere in the middle, I guess,” I say.

“I would say you’re a brat that needs taming, but I really don’t think you mean to be,” she grumbles.

Down the recesses of my memory, something twinges, but I don’t know why.

“Too many truths are dangerous for me,” I state. “Seriously, take my word for it.”

“Well, we’re going to keep you as busy as possible,” Abbott decides. “My pack may or may not be in a group chat with the others from the day we met you.”

“Now that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” I tease him.

“Shh, Little Brat,” he teases, picking up the nickname. “Typically, courting an omega is competitive, and full of posturing. You don’t need to say anything either way, but we’ve made it our mission to get you away from your mother.”

“It’s kind of like a weird bromance,” Cassidy teases. “They really are all growly and adorable about it. Alright, look, we’re done for now. We want you to know you’re not as alone as you think you are. Now get your cute ass moving.”

Chuckling, I jerk into motion as I move into a jog and then a run. I love the way the world blurs as I run, and the breeze moves over me. My shirt is sticking to my skin, but I don’t mind it. I feel as if I’m chasing something I need. Running is where my mind empties of everything, and calm washes over me.

My feet keep moving, my legs reminding me of my limitations, but I keep going even as my chest heaves. The alphas keep pace with me, some ahead or beside me, doing exactly what they said they’d do.

Keeping me protected in the middle of a makeshift pack of people. I feel safe, and just able to do what I need to. I’m not being suffocated by them, I can’t even smell any of them, though I can see here and there that the sweat is also pouring off of them.

I’m still completely nose blind, the pollen in the trees making my sinuses swell worse than normal. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just another reminder of how much Weeping Willow’s torture has impacted me.

I’ll never be the same, always fractured in a way that’ll make people uncomfortable around me. I can’t even be broken in peace, since apparently my scent betrays me. It’s just not fair.

Gasping for breath, I begin to slow down, mindful of the people around me. Finding a hole to slip out of the circle, I come to a stop, leaning forward on my knees as I gasp for breath.

“You made it two and half miles,” Cassidy says, glancing at her watch.

They’re all jogging in place, and I smile.

“I think it helps to have someone to pace with,” I wheeze. “I just need a breather so I don’t collapse. I’m really out of shape.”

“I think you’re well on your way to fixing that,” Cassidy says, winking at me.

An alpha steps out of the group with dirty blonde hair and a worried look. “I’ll hang with her, guys,” he says. “She should get some water in her and rest.”

I don’t know him, and I figured they would argue with him, but shockingly, no one does.

“We’ll catch you on the loop back around, Nina,” Abbott says. “Oh, shit. This is Ellis Taylor. He’s a good alpha. You’re in good hands with him.”

I’m too out of breath to say anything, and too well trained by my voice coach to try when I’m fighting to stay upright. Fuck me and social etiquette. They’re running again before I can even try, leaving me to guzzle down water.

“Do you want to sit or walk?” Ellis asks. “There’s no right answer by the way. When you’ve run as hard as you were, you want different things.”

Fuck, I’m going to need to talk.

“Walk,” I croak out, wincing.

He doesn’t judge me for how rough I sound or second guess me.

“Let’s do it,” he says.

Together, we fall into a silent walk, while I struggle to get my breathing under control. Unfortunately, it feels as if it takes forever. I can’t believe I ran for so long.

“Is this your first time running with them?” he asks, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” I wheeze. “It sounds dumb, but I’m kind of impressed with myself. I thought I’d tap out earlier than I did. I forgot to pay attention to anything except moving one foot in front of the other.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” he says with a crooked smile. His green eyes remind me of emeralds right now, and it would be easy to fall into them.

Huh. That’s not right. He’s not in any of the packs my mother chose, which makes him firmly off limits. I have no idea what Cassidy and her pack were thinking. Clearly, my body and I are having a difference of opinion as far as decorum is concerned.

Fucking hussy.

“Your voice sounds kind of rough. Is your water cold?” he asks, concerned.

For some reason, my hackles don’t rise quite so high about it, and I nod.

“Mine is warmer. It may help your voice. Try drinking this,” he says, shoving his bottle of water at me.

It feels so intimate as I place my lips where he does and tip the bottle back so the water will spill out. It’s lukewarm, and it doesn’t bother my throat as much as the cold water does. I’ll have to remember this.

“Thank you,” I say, passing the bottle back to him.

“Anytime. Let’s keep your heart rate up and walk. Cassidy will kill me if I fuck up your progress,” he winks.

My lips twitch in amusement at the possible verbal ear lashing she may give him, but it would be her fault for leaving me with him.

“So Pack Tremaine is courting you?” Ellis asks curiously.

“They are,” I reply as I tip back my head to feel the sun on my face. I don’t even feel bad about it. I put sunscreen on before I went out, I shouldn’t burn.

“They’re a really good pack,” he says. “I just moved here recently, and joined their running group in an effort to meet more people. It’s easy to feel isolated with a new move.”

I force myself to move slowly so I don’t look crazy or wrench my neck from the shock I feel.

“You don’t seem like the kind of person who has a hard time meeting new people,” I say, brow raised.

“No?” he asks, the full weight of his gaze on me. It wants to steal the breath that I finally got back, and flushing in ways that are very inappropriate.

Shit. Backpedal!

“You just seem very confident,” I add.

“Well, that has nothing to do with meeting people if you’re inherently an introvert,” he says, shrugging. “I’d much rather spend time alone, and I can be an asshole.”

“Do assholes suggest ruining their run to walk with someone who’s slow?” I ask, rolling my eyes. “Bah, I doubt it.”

“You’re not slow,” he laughs. “You kept up with an experienced group of runners for over two miles. Give yourself a break, Nina. As for ruining my run, you didn’t. I’m coming off a knee injury and I have to baby it more than I’d like. You’re doing me a favor by walking with me.”

“Mmhmm,” I snort, surprising myself. Covering my face as he laughs harder, I shake my head. “Excuse me. Must have almost swallowed a bug.”

“Who's full of shit now, Little One?” he asks.

“We’re doing nicknames now? I don’t think you know me well enough for that,” I say primly. While I didn’t correct Abbott or Cassidy, it doesn’t feel right to let Ellis speak to me like that.

I’m not supposed to be having such an easy conversation with a stranger. I’m awkward, quiet, and have a boatload of secrets. They come out much too easily when I let my guard down.

“This is true. My apologies,” he says, inclining his head toward me. “I’m afraid I’m also a bit of a flirt. God, I don’t think I’ve flirted with anyone in ages outside of my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” I ask, feeling as if I may be moving onto more solid ground. Though, he shouldn’t be flirting with me at all if he has a boyfriend.

“Yes, I think he’d like you too,” he says, winking at me.

Now I’m very confused.

“I can see by your face that I’m in danger of breaking you,” Ellis says.

“Only because if you’re with your boyfriend, then you shouldn’t be flirting with me,” I say, echoing my earlier thoughts.

Hell, I shouldn’t like that he’s flirting with me, and not only because I have packs of alphas I need to be focused on. God, it’s enough to make my head spin.

“Right, I mean, we can talk about that,” he says, grabbing my hand as we walk past a group of men. “Lean into me, just trust me.”

They’re staring at me, and my natural reaction is to do exactly that. Ellis wraps his arm around me as we walk and the group of alphas turn away. No wonder Cassidy and Abbott didn’t want me to walk alone.

Shivering from the interaction, I don’t move away from Ellis right away, letting the warmth of his body melt away the ice in my veins. Alphas really do remind me of predators, waiting for the exact moment to pounce.

“You’re good,” Ellis murmurs into my hair. “A lot of people run here. I may only be one person, but I’ll keep you safe.”

“You already did,” I say, though my voice feels as if it’s coming from a long distance away.

I can’t get the shaking to stop and my breaths are coming faster.

“Maybe, but your body is taking a little longer to believe it,” he says. His voice is still soft, strong, and calm, though he’s walking toward a bench. “Let’s take a break and slow your breathing down.”

“I can’t be having a panic attack,” I groan, though I can feel the signs of it. My vision is blurry, and I manage to trip, only not eating shit because Ellis steadied me.

“Eh, those alphas were looking at you like you were a piece of steak,” he says, pushing me to sit once we arrive at the bench. Squatting in front of me as I force myself to breathe in and out, he adds, “Some alphas are pigs. You just saw a bunch of them show their asses.”

Huffing out a laugh, I nod. My body is on the edge of an attack, but not quite there, which means I can pull back from it. My fingers are twitching painfully, and Ellis takes my hands and begins to rub them.

“You asked about my boyfriend,” he says conversationally as he continues. “We’re both alphas, and we met in college. It started out as light and fun, messing around here and there. Then, it was a way to expel stress when we were having a rough time.”

I recognize that he’s talking to me to distract me from the way my body is reacting, and I appreciate that. I also want to know more about him and his boyfriend.

“That’s not a relationship, that’s called using each other,” I say without thought. “Sorry, my filter is malfunctioning.”

“Meh, I deserve to be called out,” he says. “It was my fault that we were sneaking around anyway. I didn’t want a relationship, convinced my moods were too rocky. So I used one of my friends, who routinely tried to pull me out of funks and reminded me that civilization has its positive moments.”

“I smell bullshit,” I state, wincing. “Ugh, this is helping, but I don’t think I’m fit for conversation.”

“If anyone knows how that is, it’s me,” Ellis says, amused. “I’m enjoying myself. Please, Little Queen, call me out on my shit.”

“Nicknames,” I remind him, unable to frown because I’m fighting to hold my shit together.

“Eh, I thought ‘Little Queen’ was cute,” he says, winking. Ugh, he’s incorrigible.

“Please tell me you treat your boyfriend this well,” I say. “I think he deserves some of this.”

“I’m doing my best,” he admits. “I realized something while I was being a cocktease, using him to satisfy our baser needs.”

“What’s that?” I ask, beginning to feel some of the chill leave my body.

“I was worried about what people would think,” he says seriously, moving from my fingers to rub the palms of my hands.

Do you have any idea how much tension I hold there? It feels so good, I moan slightly. He ignores it like a gentleman, and just continues to talk to me.

“People think that if you’re an introvert, you don’t care what anyone thinks, but that’s a lie too,” I admit, sighing.

“So wise,” he murmurs. “That’s exactly right. I was very worried about what my father, of all people, would think. He’s one of my rocks in life. Always very encouraging, and never judges. Unfortunately, it stunted my ability to see what could happen between…my boyfriend and I.”

It almost felt as if he was going to say his name, and then chose not to. I don’t know why I mind, but I did. However, I have to remind myself that I’m not owed any more information from someone I just met than he wants to give me.

“So what happened?” I ask, feeling myself hunch forward as I relax. It’s as if someone cut my strings, and everything just collapsed in on itself.

If my mother could see me now, she’d have a fit. Fortunately, she’s not.

“My father and I had a conversation, and it was a very honest one. I was crashing out about something else, and I mentioned his name. In the midst of what I was going through, he was the person I wanted to go see,” Ellis explains. “My father put things together pretty easily, and called me out on my shit.”

“Did he care that you cared about another guy?” I ask lazily. I swear, he has magic hands. I feel amazing, and I no longer feel as if there’s an elephant sitting on my lungs.

“Not a damn bit,” he chuckles. “I felt really dumb. My father told me that no matter what, he was going to love me.”

“Even when you’re being a shithead,” I confirm.

“Yep,” he says. “As for flirting with you, my boyfriend and I are both bisexual. We very much enjoy women. It’s not insincere, you’re intriguing to be around. Ready to walk again?”

My eyes widen at the change of subject, and I blankly nod. I think I have whip lash.

Thankfully, I’m able to rebound as we both stand.

“Ah, can we try a jog?” I ask.

I need to set a pace that’ll make it more difficult for me to speak to him. He makes it entirely too easy to talk to him, and I’m very aware of how much of a danger I am to myself without a filter.

“Yeah, I think we’re both ready for that,” he says with an easy smile.

Neither of us talk very much as we jog the rest of the time, eventually catching up to the group when they take a break.

“There you are,” Abbott says, drinking water and red faced. “What do you think about your first run with us? Want to join us a couple of times a week?”

“Or three,” Cassidy teases, since that’s how often they run.

“I think I can build up to three,” I say, smiling as I find it easier to regulate my breathing from the exertion.

I know I have to look like a mess after running for two hours, but I feel incredible.

“Good deal,” Cassidy says as we slowly begin to return to my house. “How was it? Any issues?”

“Nina definitely shouldn’t be here alone,” Ellis sighs. “We walked by a group of alphas who were entirely too excited to see her.”

“You pretended she was yours, right?” a guy next to us asks. I really need to get an introduction next time we do this. I feel terrible that I don’t know anyone’s names.

“Yes. It’s the only way to get guys like that to back off,” Ellis agrees.

As they continue to talk, their voices kind of fade to the background as I think about that. I really liked the feel of his arm around me, and I could almost pretend that I was his.

I’m a mess.

“Nina?” Cassidy asks, bringing me back into the conversation.

“Yes?” I ask.

“We told you Ellis would keep you safe, right?” she asks, her eyes searching for something.

“You did,” I agree. “He did a great job.”

Maybe too good.

Seventeen

Riley

It seems I’ve hung up my hat as a medical student and begun stalking. Well, that’s not entirely true. I am doing my rotations at a psychiatric hospital in Savannah that doesn’t seem to hold the same views as others. They believe in helping people through the stresses of life.

There’s a very thin line between good mental health for omegas and alphas and the road downhill due to avoiding their natural needs. It’s the reason there’s so much misinformation about it.

It’s exactly what’s happening to the alpha male in front of me.

Glancing at Cooper as he sits across from me at a diner near the hospital, I take in how awful he looks. The bags under his eyes tell me he isn’t sleeping, his regularly clean shaven face is covered in facial hair. His patience is shit as well, which means he’s not here on a social visit.

We all moved here very quietly, and Cooper took a step away from teaching for personal reasons. Ethan is also taking a year off from his studies, stating that he has pack related problems he’s working through. While none of it is a lie, I feel guilty that I didn’t also take a break.

They wouldn’t let me though, stating that my career is important, especially if something happens to Nina.

So much has changed in a few short months, and one of them is that Cooper is now completely feral. The one day he had with Nina solidified everything for him except the bond, and his very soul is screaming for her return.

I’ve never seen anything like this, and I feel for him.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” I ask, dunking a French fry in ketchup before taking a bite.

Damn, I really love this diner. The fries are thin and perfectly crispy, and the burgers remind me of mine. I haven’t had the time to cook with the whirlwind of clinical rotation. The three of us are living together and even then, Cooper had to track me down to speak with me.

“You can leave the adorable shit for my son,” he growls, making me huff out a laugh.

I’m glad Ethan finally told his dad about us. Nothing sexual has happened between us since the night in my apartment, but he’s no longer worried about openly showing me affection or talking about things with his dad.

Though, it’s difficult to have any kind of relationship when we’re all so busy. I can’t even be upset about it though, because Ethan has his own responsibilities to handle. We’ll have more than enough time to figure it out once we have Nina with us again.

All in good time.

“Fair enough,” I agree.

“As you know, Ethan has been finding reasons to be around Nina. She hasn’t recognized him⁠—”

“And she won’t,” I retort. “I used my alpha bark when she was under hypnosis. I made sure she even forgot me.”

“You and your fucking secrets,” he sighs. His voice reminds me of crushed gravel, deep and dark. “We’re on the same goddamned team, but there’s always some other piece that pops up when it becomes relevant for you to talk about.”

“Honestly, I think it’s because I’m so ashamed of myself that I force my mind to bury it,” I admit. “Other times, it’s because I really don’t think it’s relevant. I had a job to do to protect our girl. So I fucking did it.”

Cooper glances around the diner, but there’s no one who will overhear us. It’s the rush hour for lunch, and everyone is focused on scarfing down their food before their break is over.

“I’ve never liked a martyr,” Cooper sighs. “Break down what you did. I also don’t know why or how Ethan is being invited to pack outings despite being an outsider in Savannah. I’ve been stuck in my head, trying to keep myself together. I’m essentially useless here.”

“No you’re not,” I snap, continuing to eat. I’m going to be at the hospital until midnight after this, surviving on protein bars. I’m not letting this food go to waste. “There is going to be a time when Nina needs you to get her to believe that we’re hers. Until then, you need to continue to keep it together and not kill anyone else.”

“Please say that louder,” Cooper drawls.

Ethan told us about a group of alphas that scared the shit out of Nina the first time she went running at a trail near her mother’s home. Cooper felt that was too close for comfort and tracked them down to a local bar. He beat the shit out of them in an alley, killing at least two.

As far as I know, no one pressed charges, and the last time the running club ran that route, those alphas were nowhere to be seen. In my eyes, Cooper took care of the problem the way he saw fit. Nina is his as well, and that’s what he told the alphas in that back alley of the bar.

There’s a savagery that comes over certain alphas when they haven’t bonded with their omega. They need to protect them at all costs, and the fact that Nina is still in a precarious situation makes things difficult on Cooper. He was in a better mood after killing, so I’ll take the win where I can.

“No one is listening,” I say, shrugging. “I’ve got ten more minutes before I need to get back, so I’ll spill what I can manage in that amount of time.”

“Why are these packs so welcoming to Ethan?” Cooper asks, intent on being the one to move the conversation. There is definitely no doubt in my mind who leads this pack.

We may all have our own strengths, but when Cooper is more sound of mind, it’s clear he enjoys the responsibility of being in charge. He can have it. The decisions I’ve had to make have been haunting me enough.

Taking a breath, I push away my plate, deciding I’m done.

“I have some friends from the University of Lyons who have roots here in Savannah,” I explain. “Cal is best friends with an alpha in Pack Tremaine, and Hugh grew up with some of the alphas who are currently courting Nina. They spoke to them about Nina and gave them enough background information to make an educated decision.”

“They’re willing to help just like that?” Cooper asks.

“Just because she doesn’t remember us, doesn’t mean she isn’t the saddest fucking omega there is,” I sigh. “The packs who signed up to court Nina have been dealing with Vivian this entire time, and she does things the way she wants. Even without context, they can tell something is off.”

“I can’t even let myself sit in the car when I know she’ll be somewhere because I don’t trust myself,” he mutters, shaking his head. The words are for himself, so I don’t respond.

Everything inside of him misses Nina, and while we feel the same way, it’s more intense for him. His very insides are clawing with anxiety and anger. This is why alphas are taught about the dangers of going feral. My hospital is one of the leading places for treating it, but without an omega to balance them out, they go insane.

Extreme exercise sometimes can help. I’ve seen two feral alphas be transferred to a community in the mountains to live alone. They chop wood, work hard labor jobs, and fall in bed exhausted at the end of the day.

The root cause? Losing their omega without either party severing the bond by rejecting the other, or the omega dies. It drives them mad.

“Is that why they’re falling over themselves to keep her busy?” Cooper asks.

“Yes,” I say. “There is a core group of packs that are Vivian’s first choice. They met Nina and decided none of them wanted to bow out, especially because they know what’s at stake. Think about what you feel for her, and now imagine how an alpha would feel when they see her. Even if they’re not scent matches. She’s terrified to say anything. One of the alphas in Pack Tremaine told Cal that she wants to kidnap her to get her away from her mother.”

A growl fills the booth and I roll my eyes.

“She won’t actually kidnap her,” I grunt. “Chill, Cooper. But by getting her out on dates, group friend outings, or even just a trip to a bookstore, they’re giving Nina a chance to experience life.”

“Okay,” Cooper breathes. “So what happens when she falls in love with ‘Ellis’ who has a boyfriend?”

“I don’t want her to think Ethan lied about me,” I say. “We were fuck buddies at best for a long time, but things have changed. He’s giving her the breadcrumbs to see what she thinks. Right now, she thinks I deserve better.”

A rare smile cracks along Cooper’s lips before disappearing. Maybe these little anecdotes are good for him. I’ll have to remind Ethan to tell his dad about them. Anything to help how raw I can see he is.

“Well, she wouldn’t be wrong,” he says. “Ethan told me to corner you for information, because apparently you’re tight lipped with him too.”

“More so, we don’t see each other much,” I sigh. “One more important piece of the puzzle. I erased everything about you outside of your names and your previous familial relationships with her. What you look like, sound and smell, all of it is gone. She’s starting from scratch here. It’s possible she’ll have moments when things feel odd, but that’s it.”

“You’re fucking scary,” Cooper grumbles.

“I didn’t want to do it,” I reply. “However, to make it work, I had to take it all. On the day she was released from the institute, I went into her room and told her there was one last thing I needed to do. I put her under hypnosis once more, and then erased myself to become non-descript in her mind. I have no name, I’m just a med student who worked there. That’s it.”

“Fuck,” he mutters.

Yeah, when I decide to go all in, I mean it.

“In some ways, it was selfish. I did a lot of fucked up shit,” I say. “I didn’t want her to remember it.”

“What are you going to do when we get her back? How are you going to handle that?” he asks.

“I have no idea, but I’ll figure it out when we get there,” I promise.

The road here has been littered with lies. Ellis is a lie. There are things that he tells her that are real, in fact, I’m sure that most are within a certain context. Who he is is the biggest lie he’s told her, but there’s no other way to do this.

It’s all such a delicate balance, like a house of cards. One shift of the wind can fuck it all up.

Ethan

“Don’t let go,” Nina says, eyes wide as she wobbles on her ice skates.

“Straighten your back and fix your feet,” I say calmly, moving behind her while continuing to hold her hand.

We are out skating with Pack Mayor, which is Silas’ pack. He’s very serious and intense, and I’m surprised this is what he decided to do with her. He just said she needed to have some fun because he could tell she seemed tense on the phone.

Vivian is unhappy with Nina apparently because none of the packs have asked for a formal commitment. It’s been about a month of courting, so I’m unsure why she’s so frustrated. However, she’s decided that Nina needs to speak to the alpha who runs each pack more.

Therefore, she’s scheduled to take a call every night with a different alpha. Everyone has been telling me that she tries to keep the calls light, but that the stress bleeds out into her voice.

I can tell why Silas suggested they take Nina skating, because they’re all ex-hockey players. He sidles up to us, a small smile on his lips.

“Alright, Nina. Let’s take this slower,” he suggests. “I teach kids to skate now, I can teach you.”

“Just let me know when to let her go,” I say, smirking when she squeezes my hand.

Nina’s still not sure what to think about me, or why I’m being invited to things, or how I just happened to be here today. I told her I felt like ice skating because I missed my workout today. That’s not necessarily a lie, I really did.

“Nina, you’re going to be a big girl and stand on your own two feet,” Silas says gruffly, making me stifle my laugh against my shoulder.

“Really, Silas?” she asks, making him smirk.

“Yes, really. Ellis, go away so you stop distracting her,” he says.

At this point, I can stop the fight and let her go so I can skate away as I laugh. He may be a hard ass, but he also won’t let her hurt herself.

Lyle skates up to me, and we’re silent for a bit as we skate next to each other.

“So how long are we going to keep this going?” he asks finally.

“She doesn’t remember me,” I remind him. “She has to fall in love with me all over again. Otherwise, it won’t work.”

Lyle growls under his breath, making me shrug. None of us are particularly happy to keep up the charade, but it’s the way things are.

“I give it another month, and then I’m going to have to insist on pivoting,” he says.

“Ominous,” I say, brow raised.

“College boy, just because I now work in a courtroom and not on the ice, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to pivot,” he says. “I can be just as devious as a lawyer. Just watch.”

“I think that’s what’s so scary. You watch, plan, and execute when the timing is perfect,” I say. “You’re right, though. Her mom isn’t going to let things slide for long.”

“No,” Lyle grunts. “None of us are willing to put forth a fake commitment unless it’s absolutely necessary. She would need to know it’s fake if we did. We don’t want to hurt her.”

“No we don’t,” I agree.

His other pack member joins us as we continue to skate, and I have a feeling some serious war planning is about to happen. Over the last month, I’ve gotten to know the different personalities in this pack, and right now, Silas is a distraction for more reasons than I originally thought.

“Ellis,” Easton says, amused. “Is Lyle talking your ear off about pivoting?”

“He is,” I admit. “We appear to be in a holding pattern with a very impatient omega’s mother.”

“The bitch,” Easton mutters under his breath.

“She is, but what’s more is that she’s dangerous,” Lyle says. “Somehow, she made herself her daughter’s medical proxy. It’s how she was able to get her committed, though there were a lot of illegal shenanigans there.”

“I’m sure,” I sigh.

We pass Nina as we loop around the rink, and she appears to be doing better on her skates. Her long hair is braided, her cheeks flushed with excitement and maybe a little terror.

I know from Riley that her hair can’t possibly be her own because of the way they shaved it obsessively. Not only was it a way to demean her, it also made it easier for the nurses to keep her clean. I fucking hate all of those assholes.

For now, she’s having fun, and I love seeing it. Her jeans mold to her ass, her long sleeved shirt meant to keep her warm since the ice rink is always freezing. Vivian is heavily against casual clothing, which means this is Pack Mayor’s doing.

“It does look as if you’re a good influence on the bitch,” I say once we’re far enough that my voice won’t carry.

“It’s our money that’s influential," Easton snorts. “She’s a bitter woman for doing all of this. You and your pack are just as wealthy, yet here we are.”

“So what do we do now?” I ask. “I’m all ears.”

“We continue to get Nina out of the house, building Vivian’s trust in us, and suggest taking her on a trip to get out of the city,” Lyle decides.

“You think she’ll go for that?” I ask, wondering where this is going.

“I know how to coerce her into things,” Lyle says. “The stranglehold she has can only go on for so long until we begin to ask why she’s so controlling. Vivian doesn’t want to disclose Nina’s supposed poor mental health.”

“We all know there’s nothing wrong outside of the effects of the things they did to her,” I growl. “She’s terrified of her mother.”

“We’ve noticed that as well,” Lyle says. “Go skate with Nina and be your charming self. We'll steal her away soon, though. It is our date, after all.”

“Maybe, but we know I’ll get the omega in the end,” I tease them with a wink as they grin.

Who would have thought that getting the girl would be a community wide effort?

“How is she doing?” I ask, coming to a stop beside Silas and Nina.

“I think she’s ready to skate,” he says, gently pushing her in my direction.

“Silas!” she gasps, but stays upright.

“You’re good. Just keep moving your feet and keep your knees bent,” he says, skating toward his pack.

“I didn’t realize alphas gossiped,” Nina mentions, gazing up at me.

The cold is messing with my sinuses, but I can still smell her scent. It surrounds me, and makes me want to kiss her. Holding out my hand for her to take, I clear my throat.

“More skating, Little Queen,” I say, enjoying the way she rolls her eyes at me.

Once we’re moving, I shrug. “We discuss things, we do not gossip, Nina.”

“Nope. I’m going to call bullshit on that,” she says, her fingers pressing against her lips in surprise.

“Cursing sounds good on you,” I tease her. “Besides, you’ve been to a baseball game with Pack Tremaine. They’re huge shit talkers and gossips. I don’t think you’re surprised at all.”

“Maybe,” she says with a grin. “How’s that boyfriend of yours?”

She’s changing the subject, and I let her.

“He wants to meet you,” I say nonchalantly. “As soon as he gets a free weekend actually.”

“Me?” she asks. “Why would he do that? I’m no one, and I think I’m taken.”

Oh? Does she?

Ironically, we’re about to skate by a ‘corner’ of the rink, and I wrap my arm around her waist and lift her as I skid to a stop. Depositing her against the boards, I lean forward, my arm over her head even as I continue to hold her hand.

“Are you?” I growl, my chest purring as I gaze down at her.

Swallowing hard, she squeezes her thighs together and fucking perfumes for me. How I’ve fucking missed this.

“You don’t smell taken, Little Queen,” I say, burrowing my face in her neck. “You have all the power here. Tell me to fuck off.”

“Why… don’t I want to?” she asks, her pulse wild against my lips as I kiss it.

“Maybe you should figure that out before you tell me you belong to someone else,” I suggest, smirking. I want to do so much to her. Suck on her pulse, kiss her lips, fuck.

Blowing out a breath, I enjoy the way she shivers slightly.

“No one tells me I have power,” she whispers, as if it’s a secret.

“Oh, Nina,” I murmur. Silas skates over to us, brow raised.

“Did she fall?” he asks.

“No, I was just teaching her a little lesson,” I say.

“Is that why she smells amazing right now?” Silas asks.

“Mmhmm. She seems to think she has no choices. I had to remind her of how much power she has,” I say.

“Interesting,” Silas says, playing along. “You’re staring really hard at his lips, Nina. I think you should kiss them.”

“I…what?” she asks, wide eyed as she looks between us.

“I can get behind that idea,” I say. “If you want a kiss, Little Queen, you should take it.”

“Isn’t that rude? Also, we discussed the nicknames, Ellis,” she says tartly.

No matter how sour she wants to be, it doesn’t change how sweet she smells.

“Nina,” Silas says, getting her attention. “For once, take what you want.”

It takes lightning fast moves for me to catch her as she wraps her arms around my neck and jumps up. Fuck, these runs have done wonders for her strength. Lifting her up with my arm under her ass, I give her a smug look. I got her first kiss, now I may just be getting her next.

“Your move, Little Queen,” I tease her.

Nina licks her lips as she gazes at me, while I inhale how damn delicious she is. There’s a daring look in her mismatched eyes, and I have to say that the devil may dare attitude is sexy.

She’s currently slightly higher than I am to give her some leverage, and her fingers toy with my hair before she lowers her lips to mine. It starts out tentative, but I lick her lips in return, loving her little shiver and moan.

Before I know it, she’s devouring my lips, taking what she wants. I let her do whatever she wants, content not to be driving this bus. It can swerve, bounce, and crash out all it wants. I used to crave control, and then I lost fucking everything.

While I may need it at certain points, and she may enjoy it, this part of our story will be written by her. I’m in no hurry.

I lose myself in her lips, suck on her tongue, let her bite my lip until there are whoops and clapping around us. Chuckling against her lips, I open my eyes to find her cheeks are aflame.

“Oh shit,” she whispers. “I pretty much tried to eat your face off.”

“He fucking loved it,” Lyle says with a chuckle.

This must be so confusing for her. Why is a pack she’s courting happy that she’s kissing me? While I can understand her plight, I’m loving the way her body feels against mine.

“There’s nothing wrong with taking what’s freely offered,” I murmur. “My boyfriend is going to want me to replay every second.”

Fuck, she smells even better now, and my eyes almost cross as my chest rumbles. It helps her stay calm and relaxed in a situation that could cause her anxiety. I love that she’s enjoying my purr. She’s the only omega I’ll ever do it for.

“Every second?” she stutters.

“Mmhmm,” I say, kissing her lips again before sliding her slowly down my body. Her squeak as she brushes over my very hard cock is adorable.

“Skate it off,” Silas says gruffly, and Nina looks at him as if through a haze. “You really are adorable, Nina. Come with me.”

She takes his offered hand and I watch her skate off with him. She’s a little wobbly, but gets her bearings again. Twisting to watch her, I hear Easton clear his throat.

“There are kids here,” he says, making me look down at my erection.

Wincing, I turn back toward the wall and adjust myself the best I can.

“Ugh, it’s definitely not going down anytime soon,” I groan, shrugging. “I should probably get going anyway.”

As I face them, I see Easton and Lyle watching Nina. She’s openly smiling and talking with Silas, looking more relaxed than ever. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still blushing furiously, but she’s happy.

“That’s why we’re doing this,” Lyle says as if reminding himself. “She deserves to be able to move within the world as herself. Protected, cherished, and fucking unapologetic. Every time she cringes, I want to punch her mother, and I’m not one for violence.”

“I have a feeling my father will have no problem getting rid of her as soon as she’s no longer pulling the puppet strings,” I murmur.

“How is he?” Lyle asks.

I don’t keep secrets from the packs that protect my girl.

“Still feral,” I grunt. “My father can process information, has a mind like a steel trap, but his impulse control is shit. I’m just glad that he hasn’t decided to just kill Vivian and be done with it.”

“Sometimes I think it would be easier,” Lyle mutters. “She had a birthday that wasn’t properly celebrated, right?”

“She did, in July. I doubt that her mother would have done anything for her, but calling her out on it would cause friction,” I admit.

“The only friction I would want around that woman is that of a match against a striker strip,” Easton grumbles. “Lighting her on fire would be very satisfying.”

“You’re lucky I’m your lawyer,” Lyle grunts. “Cassidy and Abbott have a call with Nina tonight, I’ll check in with the group chat to see how it goes. Vivian can be volatile.”

Cassidy is pushing into their call because she’s salty that she hasn’t seen her outside of their morning runs. Nina is touching so many lives. They all say they adore her, and want to be able to continue to see her once she’s settled into pack life.

I don’t see any reason why they can’t. Riley is settled into this new hospital well, and he’s enjoying it. Dad can teach from anywhere if that’s what he wants to do, and I can just transfer schools.

Savannah has been very welcoming, and it doesn’t snow very often here. I’m personally sold.

“Thanks,” I say, getting ready to go. “She’s having fun. I should still say goodbye, right?”

“Yeah,” Lyle and Easton say together, making me laugh.

“Heard loud and clear,” I reply, skating over to her. “I’m heading out, Nina. I’m glad I got to see you today.”

“Just a random bumping into each other, huh,” she says, a smile playing on her lips.

“Absolutely,” I agree, grinning. I smile so much more around her. I’m less of a surly bastard, it’s a very odd change to be honest.

So much so that even Riley teases me when he sees me. Speaking of which, I think his shift ends soon. Typically, he’s on rotation until the early morning hours.

“You keep telling yourself that, Ellis,” she says goodnaturedly.

“See ya around, Little Queen,” I murmur, skating off the ice.

It doesn’t matter how often she says she dislikes it, that’s what she is to me. The little queen to my heart.

Eighteen

Nina

“It’s silly, but I really do need girl time,” Cassidy says, flopping onto her back. Abbott tickles her sides, making her scream as she tries to get away.

Giggling, I press my fingers to my lips as I watch them. I love these nightly chats with the packs. It makes me feel less alone when I’m in this huge house, walking on eggshells around my mother.

I have to make sure not to show too much of my room on the video calls, since I don’t have a door anymore. I also no longer have curtains or fucking doors on my closet or bathroom as of earlier today. I got home from ice skating, and my mother was very busy taking apart my room.

Then there’s the fact that I can’t get into anything comfortable until after the call, and I have to wear my wig which is starting to itch uncontrollably. All I want to do is rip it off and throw it across the room!

Holding back a sigh, I force my attention back to Cassidy and Abbott. I had the best day, but then it all went to shit. And that kiss… God, can Ellis kiss.

I’m very confused when it comes to him, and why everyone is so comfortable with us hanging out. It feels as if they make an effort to include him in everything.

I also am aware of how precarious my life is. I’m not allowed to relax, have anything that belongs to only me, or enjoy life too much.

Bad things happen when I do.

“Nina,” Abbott says, getting comfortable on his bed with Cassidy. She said they sleep in a giant puppy pile, which sounds nice.

I just don’t think this whole love thing is for me. Maybe I could just be mildly happy, and that’ll have to be enough. More and more often, I feel as if there’s something wrong with me or that I lost something important when I was at Weeping Willow Institute.

…I just don’t know what it could be.

“Yes,” I say with a small smile.

“You look sleepy, or just kind of out of it,” he observes.

“Kind of, yes. Running every morning didn’t prepare me for the different muscles needed for skating,” I tease.

Cassidy grins, shrugging. “The guys said you did awesome, though. You only fell once, I hear.”

“Yes, and ugh. It wasn’t even when we were first starting,” I laugh, remembering. “I hit a patch of ice that wasn’t as smooth and I went flying. I was totally fine, but I’ve never seen Lyle so upset before.”

“Precious cargo,” she murmurs, smirking. “It’s supposed to be nice this weekend. I think we should go check out the festival they’re having downtown.”

“You suck,” Abbott groans. “I have to go see my family this weekend. Not that I don’t love them, but I hate missing out.”

“Ooops,” Cassidy says, winking at me. “We’ll send you photos and show you everything you’re missing.”

“She’s so mean to me,” he grumbles. “My mom is going to interrogate me about you, Nina. Please keep me entertained with texts.”

I like how easy the conversation is with them. My mother says ultimately, I don’t have a choice about who I pack up with. My job is to make sure I’m interesting enough to them to keep their attention.

Whoever puts in their formal request to make me theirs first, will be who she sends me off with. Except no one has yet, and I haven’t the faintest idea as to why.

“I will,” I promise Abbott. I can see the shadow of a body outside of my room, and wonder what my mother has to say to me now. “I’ll let you go to enjoy the rest of your night, though. I look forward to this weekend, Cassidy.”

They get a pinched look on their faces, but nod. This isn’t the first time my voice has gotten stilted because my mother is listening to my conversation. I just can’t keep up my concentration under pressure like this.

I’m constantly worried about saying the wrong thing, or responding improperly. It just really stresses me out.

“Talk later,” Cassidy says, waving before I say goodbye and end the call.

“Why are you so awkward?” my mother asks, stepping into the room. “Honestly, Nina. All of the conversation cards in the world won’t fix you, I fear. Nothing important came out of your call. You should be pushing for some kind of commitment from the packs.”

“You told me not to?” I remind her, my tone questioning her.

She’s wearing a pretty pantsuit as if the last thing she’s thinking about is heading to bed. My mother always looks perfectly dressed, not a hair out of place. Wrapped around her hand is a belt, and my gaze stutters on it before returning to her face.

She still seems really angry, and she’s pacing as she complains at me. The air has an unnatural charge in its energy, making me feel on edge as I drop my phone onto the bedspread and sit up.

“I don’t understand what you want me to do,” I say, my voice struggling not to tremble.

Maybe if I stay calm, I can deescalate whatever is going on with her. But, as I watch her talk about timelines, the need for action, and how the seconds are slipping away, I feel that may not be possible.

Shit.

“Martin misses his wife,” my mother says finally. “He wants me to go on a trip around the world with him, but knows I won’t be able to until I get your situation taken care of.”

She talks about my unpacked state as if it’s a malady that needs to be cured. I’m not sick, I can’t take two ibuprofen and call it a day. I hate when she acts as if getting me matched to a pack is as easy as snapping her fingers.

I hate it.

I gaze blankly at her, because I don’t know what she wants me to do or say. I must look stupid to her, which is a fate worse than death to my mother, because she grabs my ankle and pulls me to her angrily.

“Mom, what are you doing?” I gasp.

“I think you need some time to yourself,” she says, unraveling the belt only to double the strap. My chest begins to heave, because I can recognize a weapon easily enough.

When what appears to be a simple pen can be used against you by a doctor, you get very good at recognizing when you’re about to be hurt.

I just have yet to be hit by my own mother. She likes to hire out her dirty work.

“Mom,” I say, panic entering my voice. “What do you mean?”

“It means you’re not trying hard enough!” Her arm raises and falls hard, striking my leg. Flinching, I hiss in pain, kicking at her to get her to release me. I also pull myself back in the bed, but can’t because she just yanks me back.

It’s as if she has a new found strength, and I can’t get away. My chest starts to heave as she strikes me again, and tears rise up as she hits my stomach instead.

Fuck, that hurts.

“Then what do you want me to do?” I wail as she hits me over and over.

I’ve lost my window of reason, and I can only twist away as she seems to strike a different part of my body each time. My legs, stomach, back, it all gets the brunt as she hits me. It just works her up even more as she tells me how useless I am.

All I can do is try to protect the more vulnerable parts of my body by curling up as tightly as possible.

“I want a pack to choose you so you won’t be my problem anymore!” she yells. “I have to feed you, clothe you, buy you expensive wigs because you insist on sweating in them. Why can’t you do things that’ll get you to commit to them. Are you fucking any of them yet?”

“What? Me? No!” I gasp in shock as she hits me again.

“I don’t think these are the kind of men who are going to be impressed by the virginal omega,” she says snidely. “We tried that way, and you aren’t even a virgin.”

I don’t remember. I don’t. Does it count if it’s a big, black hole?

“I don’t care if you fuck them all,” she scowls. “I bet Cassidy is even expecting you to put out.”

“Mom,” I plead. “Let go!”

“No!” she screams, slamming down the belt. She catches me across my chest, and it feels as if I’m on fire. Gasping, I burst into tears, unable to bear it.

“If you keep this up, I won’t be able to see anyone,” I say. I’m wearing pants, which is probably pissing her off even more, but I’m sure welts are rising everywhere that she hit me.

“I’ll tell them you’re in heat,” she says primly.

“I’m taking pills for that,” I say. “They’ve all asked me about it, and they know I’m on them.”

“They’re not foolproof,” she reminds me. “It can fail, especially if you’re around more alpha pheromones."

Not if I can’t smell them. I don’t think my mother knows how badly my nasal passages have been affected by the institute’s “therapy sessions.” I hope they’ll bounce back, in fact, I know that my body heals better as an omega because of how well I’ve healed after all the abuse. However, I just don’t know.

“I guess I should put this away,” my mother sniffs, wrapping the belt around her fist again and letting me go. I scramble to get away from her, my back hitting the headboard. The welt there complains, but I don’t care. “You’re so dramatic. I barely touched you.”

I can tell that’s the narrative she convinces herself of, because she doesn’t appear repentant.

“You bring these things upon yourself,” she says. “You have three months to find a pack that will commit to you. I should get the other applicants to meet you, but I don’t want to upset the four packs currently courting you.”

“I can do it,” I rasp. “Three months. Silas said something about inviting me on an overnight trip out of town soon.”

It was a casual mention while we were skating, but I know that was his way of introducing the idea to me. At this point, my happiness be damned. I don’t need it. I just want to survive my mother.

“Did he?!” my mother says excitedly. “Oh that’s nice. Pack Mayor would be good for you. They’ll keep you in line as older men.”

Mmhmm. That’s exactly what I need. Tears trail down my face as my chest heaves, and I struggle to get a handle on my body’s insistence that I need to run. There’s nowhere for me to go, no doors to close, no place to hide.

“I’ll let the packs know that all of your plans have to be cancelled due to your heat. It just started, you’ll muddle through on your own,” my mother says with a shrug.

For someone who believes I should whore around with the packs courting me, this feels counterintuitive. Except, it’s all a lie meant to cover up her abuse.

Staying silent, I watch as she turns to walk away. Seeing my phone, I reach out with a wince and slide it under the covers. I don’t want her to remember I have it. It feels important to me for some reason.

“Oh. One little thing,” my mother says. “Don’t tell anyone about this. I’ll be checking your phone tomorrow. I know Cassidy likes to text you even after you say goodbye for the night, and that Carter sends you inappropriate memes. I don’t think they’re funny, but to each their own. You forget your phone everywhere, making it easy to check your messages.”

Of course she checks my phone. I’m not surprised. She gives me a little smile and a wave goodnight before glancing at the window.

“That’s going to be annoying, isn’t it? The moon is shining right into your room,” she muses with a shrug. “Sweet dreams, dear.”

My heart is pounding, my ears ring from stress, and I close my eyes to lie enough to myself that I won’t spiral into a heart attack.

She’s gone. I’ll be free or sold off in three months and never have to see her again. Anything has to be better than here.

The last one is definitely a lie, because Weeping Willow is worse. The lectures Emilia would give through the speakers went into great details about the auction blocks bad little omegas would find themselves on.

It definitely can get worse.

Glancing at my bedspread where my phone is hidden underneath, I tell myself to ignore it. I should get ready for bed, not do any texting when I feel like I’m back inside of a nightmare.

The truth is, things felt better for the past month. My mother had just been biding her time to show me the monster that lies underneath her skin.

My fingers tremble as I reach toward my phone, but my mother pops her head back into my room and I thread my fingers together instead.

“You should get ready for bed,” she says. “Since you’re going to be home all weekend, you should probably get used to the idea of me making your life hell. It’s been so nice to have you gone on your little dates. It’s really too bad it’s been all for nothing. Maybe I’ve kept you too secluded and innocent.”

My mother walks off and I swallow hard. My entire body is shaking, and I feel as if I’m being starved for air. All of that feels like a threat. My hand slides under the bedspread almost in a fog, and I gaze down at it.

There’s text messages sitting unanswered, and I open the app to stare at it. Everyone is careful about what they say, because as Silas noticed, there’s not a lock on my phone. I didn’t even think to put a code on it, since I’m aware that I don’t have any privacy.

Cassidy is the first person I see that messaged me and my fingers move without thinking.

Me:

911. I need out. Soon. I’m deleting this after you see it.

We both have read receipts on for our messages, so I watch until it says she’s read it and I delete it. Since it was done so quickly, it doesn't even show as a deleted message.

Pushing my phone back under the bedspread, I force myself out of bed. Now that my body is in movement and upright, everything chooses to flair to life. Limping and hunched over I walk to the bathroom, take off my wig and clothes, and take a shower.

I lose consciousness for a moment and wake up on the ground with the water still running over my legs. Groggy, I blink up at it as if cursing it for existing. Fuck, I’m out of it.

I know this is a weird kind of disassociation due to trauma. And yet, I can’t find the will to try to pull out of it.

My eyes glance down at my legs, and I wince. My skin is a mess of raised bumps that are threatening to turn into lots of colored bruises. While my mother’s blows were artless and wild, she still managed to hit me hard.

Taking a deep breath or two, I force myself to get up. The pain threatens my vision, and I lean against the wall for a second.

Since a couple of spots are bleeding, I grab my body wash and run my hands over my body to clean up. Every movement is agony, and I’m very unsteady by the time I turn off the water.

Opening the door, I dry my body as I stumble out of the shower stall, suddenly exhausted.

Wrapping the towel over my body, I grab my wig and walk into the closet. I’m pulling out pajamas when an insistent knocking sound comes from my window.

“What is that?” I whisper, dropping the pajamas and wig to the ground as I turn.

There’s a body on the balcony, and while the light on my bedside table isn’t bright, I feel intense shame as I take a step forward. My fingers touch my bald head and I blink away tears as my steps pull me to the window.

“Carter,” I whisper, seeing his wide eyes on the other side of the window. Glancing over my shoulder, I expect to see my mother, but I can’t relax because he’s seeing beyond the veil of my facade.

Everything about me is fake.

Swallowing hard, I unlock the window and push it outward.

“You can’t be here,” I rasp. “How did you even…”

“Doesn’t matter,” he grunts. “Cassidy is freaking the fuck out. You’ve been gone from your phone for a goddamned hour.”

“I passed out in the shower,” I say, my voice sounding as if it's coming from a long way away. That’s probably why the water also felt really cold.

“Hey,” Carter snaps his fingers at me but my eyes are already starting to roll back. “Stay with me. Is she still home?”

It takes a lot of effort, but I manage to claw my way back and I realize he’s talking about my mother.

“She is,” I wheeze. “You have to go. It’ll be worse if you don’t.”

“Why are you like this?” he asks, his hands wrapping around my upper arms.

Unfortunately, the belt caught me across my bicep at some point, when I stopped paying attention to the blows. My body flinches as I bite back a whimper of pain. His hands lift as if they’re on fire, his face worried and pinched.

“Tell me. Right now. Or I’m carrying you out of here. Your mother just texted us all that you’re in heat, but that’s a lie, right?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I whisper, my body swaying. “She beat me with a belt… doesn’t want you to see me.”

“What does she want?” he asks, looking as if he doesn’t know where to touch me.

My hand rubs my head self-consciously, and he shakes his head.

“You’re gorgeous and I don’t care,” he grunts. “Focus on the present, Nina.”

His eyes dart to the door, realizing there isn’t a door.

“No door. God she’s fucking ruthless.”

“No doors anywhere,” I rasp. “I can’t…focus.”

“I’m coming in,” he grunts, ignoring me as I shake my head. He takes a step inside and closes the window behind him. “One thing at a time. Is there anywhere that doesn’t hurt?”

“No,” I whimper, gasping as I continue to cry pitifully. “I’m sorry. I can’t…”

“You’re not allowed to apologize to me,” he says, “because you didn’t fucking do anything. I’ll hide if she comes in. I need to get you dressed and put to bed. Then, you’re going to text Cassidy because she’s losing her mind.”

I gaze at him, and he gently turns my body around, barely touching my skin.

“Move,” he says.

My feet shuffle because I’m freezing in the air conditioning of the house. I swear, my mother must have dropped it lower.

“What are you doing?” my mother calls out from down the hallway.

“I just got out of the shower,” I call out, my voice clogged with tears.

Carter freezes, swallowing hard as he stares at the shadow of my mother’s body a long way down the hallway. She must be heading to bed.

“There’s no use drawing things out,” she says. “Punishment is punishment. Suck it up, buttercup.”

The light turns out in the hallway and I hear her door close.

“Fuck,” I whisper. I’m trembling in pain and freezing.

Forcing my feet to move, I shuffle over to my closet. Carter looks through my shelves before grabbing a huge hoodie.

“Arms up, I won’t look if the towel falls,” he says softly.

His gaze drops to my arm where the bruise is getting darker, and his blue eyes go almost gray in anger. Helping me into the fluffy hoodie, he pulls the knot apart on my towel, and guides the clothing down until I’m engulfed in it. He tosses the towel into the hamper, noticing I’m still freezing.

“Do you have sweatpants or joggers?” he asks.

“One pair,” I admit, my chin shifting to the side.

Pinching them, he drops to his knees to help me into the pants. Holding onto the wall, I step into them and sigh as the warmth begins to envelop me. I know he saw the welts all over my legs, but it’s not up to me to hide my mother’s sins. I’m past that now.

His eyes take in the shelves full of frilly clothing, wigs, and makeup as he finds socks and helps me into those as well. The closet has a place for me to apply my makeup, and any girl would be happy to have it.

To me, they represent a gilded cage, and the shackles chafe.

“Bed,” he murmurs, turning out the light and chancing a look into the bedroom.

Finding the coast clear, he motions for me to walk forward. I know he’s scared to touch me, and I don’t blame him. The skin behind my knees even hurts because I tried to ball up in a protective fetus position and that’s where the belt fell over and over.

It hurts to move, but I force myself to push through and make it to the bed. Carter pulls the blankets back to help me in. While I would love to do things like brush my teeth or wash my face, I don’t have the spoons for it.

Wincing as I get comfortable, I watch as Carter fluffs my blankets and pillow.

“I’m becoming a mother hen,” he sighs. “Why did this happen?”

Pressing my lips against each other for a moment, I sigh. “It’s so dumb.”

“If she was willing to beat the fuck out of you, then it isn’t,” he grumbles.

“She’s frustrated that no one has asked to make me theirs,” I rasp. “See? It’s dumb.”

“We thought we’d have more time,” he whispers. “Fuck, we did this.”

“No, she did this,” I mutter, my hand moving under the covers to find my phone. Whimpering in pain, I try to lean over to reach it.

“Little Omega. What the fuck,” he complains.

“Phone,” I grunt, done with today.

Carter searches for the phone, pressing it into my hand. Cassidy is blowing my phone up, trying to figure out how to speak to me without getting in trouble.

Me:

I’m fine. Kind of.

I wait until she sees it before I erase it, my hand dropping to my side as my eyelids threaten to droop.

“Woah, don’t pass out yet,” he begs. “Did you hit your head at all?”

“I don’t think so,” I mumble. “Not your fault, and not the worst thing that’s happened to me.”

My filter is shattered, and I don’t care. Unconsciousness feels a lot better than being awake. Maybe I can forget about this fucked up day for awhile. Without curtains, the sun is going to shine right into my bedroom.

“I will never forget that you said that,” he hisses at me. “We’re going to get you out of this hell hole, I promise. Even if we have to claim you ourselves.”

“Do you not want me?” I whimper, feeling really shitty and sorry for myself. “It’s the hair, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not that,” he says, almost growling. “It’s complicated, Nina. I don’t think you’re even going to remember this, but please trust me. We’ll get you out of this house.”

“Maybe,” I whisper, my eyes closing.

I don’t know if I can trust anyone again. There is this hole in my chest, and I don’t know why. It’s how I always feel. As if I’m missing something.

“Sleep,” Carter says. “I’m going to spend the night on the balcony.”

“But there’s no curtains,” I mumble, or at least I think I do.

I swear I hear him chuckle as I tumble into the abyss where nothing hurts, and there are no dreams.

Vivian

I can’t rouse that lazy girl for anything. I tried everything except throwing water over her head, and even then I didn’t because I saw the bruises from the belt when the comforter fell down to expose her arm.

It’s an ugly brown, the color of old blood. When I pulled down the comforter more, I found she was covered with them. I can see her phone is lost in all of the blankets, and pick it up. If my plan is going to work, then she doesn’t need it. Deciding that she was better off sleeping off her little tantrum, I stalked off.

I checked her past messages, and found nothing of interest. Her last text was something innocuous and sweet with Cassidy. However, the alpha has been texting her asking if she needs them. No, she absolutely doesn’t.

Now, I’m glaring out at the beautiful day outside, trying to decide if I want to have lunch with my friends and bitch about Nina or stew in my anger.

My nose wrinkles in annoyance when the doorbell rings. The phone beside me has been blowing up with texts and calls about my daughter’s welfare. The packs want to know why they weren’t told about her heat so they could help her through it.

Yes, please tell me you want to fuck my daughter. That’s lovely.

I finally texted Silas back and told him that if he wanted to help my daughter through a heat, then that was a pack privilege, and she isn’t theirs yet. I’m about to turn off the fucking phone and be done with it.

I know I told my daughter to spread her legs if it would help get her packed up sooner, but I will cover up our family secrets any way I can.

She brought this on herself, after all.

The housekeeper pokes her head into the living room, biting her lip because she was expressly told not to answer the door today. Whoever is out there is really leaning on that damn doorbell today.

“For God sakes,” I huff out, standing. “Let the poor girl rest.”

I’m just going to tell them that she’s been put under a medically induced sedation for the duration of her heat and be done with it. If she was truly in heat, that’s what I would do.

Thankfully, her little pills do wonders. They’re expensive, top of the line, and guaranteed by a scientist friend of Martin’s. They better fucking work.

I don’t care how much I fuck with her system. Martin’s friend said it may affect her ability to have children, but that won’t be my problem anymore, will it?

I won’t accept any returns or refunds for broken omega daughters. I don’t want her back.

My feet bring me to the door while deep in my thoughts, making me frown for a moment. Ugh, may as well get this over with.

Taking a deep breath, I school my face into that of someone who gives a shit and open the door.

The head alphas of every pack that is courting Nina are standing on my front porch, plus Cassidy.

“What do I owe this⁠—”

“Cut the shit, Miss Vivian,” Silas growls.

The five of them all glower at me, and I have to steel my spine not to cower before them. I’m an omega, but I am not weak.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I say. “Nina is resting in her bed, deeply medically sedated during her heat. It was the most humane thing to do.”

“Isn’t she on heat blockers?” Cassidy asks. “We were talking about it once, as I was worried about this happening. She said she was on a pill to keep it away. However, they aren’t meant to be used long term.”

“Tick tock then,” I say, shrugging. “I’m just a mother forced to make difficult decisions on her behalf because the alphas before me can’t make up their minds. Do you want her or not? It’s been a month, and nature has a way of making things difficult for single, unmated omegas.”

“We didn’t want to rush her,” Cassidy says angrily. Even the air smells of irate alphas. It smells spicy, and my nose itches.

“And yet, here we are,” I sigh.

“I want to take Nina on a trip with my pack, especially after the toll of having to go through a heat alone. I want to make it up to her,” Silas says, his gaze narrowed on me.

If I didn’t have the facade of always appearing collected and calm, I would be sweating bullets. I feel like a bug underneath a microscope on a sunny day.

I feel the heat of this dangerous game I’m playing with these alphas.

My mother always taught me to play hard to get, and now is no different. Examining my nails, I shrug.

“As kind as that is, this is the curse of being an omega. It’s better that Nina learns this now, without pretty words and trips. Not all alphas are good or worthy,” I state.

“We are good alphas,” Patrick growls. He’s another alpha that’s been very attentive, but I think he may be too soft for my daughter.

“And yet, here we are.”

“Miss Vivian, the best way for us to get to know your daughter is on an overnight trip with each pack,” Abbott interjects. “There will be a longer uninterrupted time for us to find out how she sleeps, if she’s cranky when she wakes up in the morning, what her morning routines are. I don’t believe these things should be learned about after committing to be her pack.”

“It’s old fashioned and asking for disaster,” Cassidy adds. “At the end of this, we will decide on which pack will take her as theirs. The issue is that we all want Nina, but we have alliances that keep us from wanting to make too hasty of a decision. The best pack should get to make her the happiest she’s ever been.”

“Happiness is a fake construct,” I mutter. “Stability is what an omega needs. You have three months to decide. I have duties out of the country after that and I want to see this courting through.”

They stare at me and nod. I guess they can all tell that I won’t be accepting any exceptions or excuses.

“Three months,” Silas grunts. “I will be picking her up as soon as she wakes up. I don’t care if that’s a Tuesday at four in the morning, Miss Vivian. Do we understand each other?”

“What will your business and stockholders say?” I ask in mock horror.

“This is why I own the business, so I can do whatever the fuck I want,” he growls. “The others in my pack will figure it out. I need to see her as soon as possible.”

I can tell that ridiculous alpha nature is riding him hard, and that I definitely need to stop pushing. I live off the power I wield, I don’t intend to die for it. Silas is growling in anger, I’ll give him this.

Lowering my eyes for him, I nod.

“I’ll text you just as soon as she’s awake,” I murmur.

“Good,” he says. The five of them turn and leave, and I have to control the tremble in my limbs as I step back inside and close the door.

Only when it’s locked, do I allow myself to collapse against it. I guess they want her after all.

Nineteen

Nina

“Ihate to reward bad behavior, but you’re going to Colorado,” my mother sighs.

I’ve been hidden under lock and key without a phone for five days. I’m convinced Carter may be a ninja because he snuck an e-reader up to my balcony for me full of books.

Unsurprisingly, none of the packs believed my mother, and they have been having the beta check in on me when possible.

Thankfully, it’s been easier since my mother has been largely ignoring me. I’m not sure if it’s due to guilt or simply not wanting to see me.

Looking down at my pajamas, I bite my lip. I’ve been so sore, for the first two days, I refused to get out of bed. It was nice not to have to worry about wearing a wig or a face full of makeup. The housekeeper was gracious enough to keep me fed and bring me medical supplies for my welts.

“Yes, yes,” she says. “Silas has been very insistent that it has to be today. He’s coming to pick you up and take you to the airport. He says that he’s sorting out whatever you need for Colorado, as they’re having snow already there.”

It’s as I continue to stare at her in shock because things are moving quickly that she rolls her eyes.

“Here’s your phone. Go call him, and for God’s sake, put your wig on and make yourself presentable. I have no idea what they all see in you if you insist on looking like that,” she scoffs. “You’re so ugly now.”

Without even trying, my mother has managed to hit on every insecurity I have. Trying not to visibly flinch from her words, I take my phone from her. For some reason, my fingers don’t want to work, and I almost drop the damn thing.

“Worthless,” she mutters, not quite under her breath.

Steeling my spine, I walk away from her and up to my room, knowing I won’t have much privacy there either. I need a break, but I know Pack Mayor will have a lot of questions. I’m already exhausted thinking about it.

Me:

I hear I’m going on a trip, Silas?

I text him as I walk to the bathroom to shower, wincing as he video calls me. I can’t answer that.

Me:

I’m about to jump in the shower. I can’t video chat right now.

Silas:

Throw on a towel and answer anyway. I don’t care about a damn wig if that’s the issue.

Ugh. Carter has a big mouth.

Me:

My mother will have a fit if I do. Just give me twenty minutes.

Silas:

No. I’m on my way, so that’s all I’ll give you.

Fuck. Stripping off my clothes, I turn on the shower and get in, even though it’s frozen. Even though I have no privacy, not even in the bathroom, it hasn’t cured how insecure I feel about being naked.

Logically, I know no one will come up here to clean if they can hear that I’m in the shower. The housekeeper has been very helpful in giving me as much space as possible since I don’t have any protection between my space and the rest of the house. It’s a power play by my mother to remind me that I don’t have any rights.

This is the fastest shower ever. I shave as much and as quickly as possible without cutting myself, wash all over, and then throw myself out of the stall to dry off.

I don’t know if he means twenty minutes exactly or not, which means I have exactly ten minutes to get my life together. Fuck, this is stressful.

Using two towels to both cover and dry myself as quickly as possible, I walk to my closet and search for clothing. I have no idea what to wear, but decide to go with layers.

While the rest of the United States is leaning into the beginnings of fall, the September Georgia weather is still sweltering with heat. Pulling on a pair of maroon leggings, a tank top with a long sleeved gauzy tunic, and flats, I grab a very warm coat to throw over it all for when it’s actually cold in Colorado.

Either way, I’m ridiculously happy just to leave here. I don’t care if I freeze. It wouldn’t be the first time.

I apply light makeup, my wig, and sigh as I hear the doorbell ring. Grabbing a large handbag, I use it to throw in my essentials to keep up this fake persona I have. Gazing down at it, I remind myself how sad this all is.

What would it be like to just be me?

“Nina!” my mother calls up to me, and I cringe.

Glancing at my phone, I see that Silas texted me.

Silas:

Time’s up. Get your cute ass downstairs. I have everything you need for Colorado. Leave whatever you’re thinking about bringing.

Gazing down at my bag, I sigh as I drop it on the ground. I’m going to have to just trust him. He hasn’t given me any reason not to, I simply am nervous about leaving overnight with him and his pack.

There are so many layers to why I’m fucked up.

Phone in hand and nothing else, I force myself to walk downstairs.

This will be fun. It’s better than being home.

Silas’ arms are crossed as he waits in the foyer, his gaze moving up my body as he watches. If he’s looking for bruising, he won’t find any, not anymore. My mother made me stand in front of her and turn slowly around so she could check at six in the morning before telling me to go back to bed.

It scared the shit out of me when she turned on the overhead light and yelled at me to get up. It was reminiscent of my time at Weeping Willow in a way, and something I would like not to relive.

“Hello,” he murmurs, watching as I smooth my hands down my body. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I respond, taking his hand when he offers it.

“She didn’t have much time to get ready, so it’ll have to do,” my mother sighs.

“Nina is beautiful regardless of that,” Silas rumbles. “I’ll be in contact, Miss Vivian, and let you know when I’m ready to return her.”

“Wait, I thought this was just for a few days,” my mother says, eyes wide.

“Ah, but you see, we’re going to be in the mountains, and we may get snowed in. We won’t be checking in regularly,” he says, opening the front door.

He leaves my mother standing there as he walks out with me, appearing amused.

“Bold,” I murmur as we walk to the SUV parked on the street.

“Apparently, we haven’t been bold enough according to her latest exploits,” he grunts, opening the back door and helping me in.

To my surprise, Cassidy is sitting there and I surprise myself by throwing myself into her arms.

“I missed you too,” she says tearfully, hugging me fiercely.

Silas closes the door behind me without a word and gets into the front seat.

“Am I being kidnapped?” I ask, half laughing, half hiccuping from tears.

“If I thought Lyle could win the case, we would,” Silas says. “We aren’t quite there yet.”

“Now, what the fuck is happening?” Cassidy sniffles, pulling back as I wipe my face.

“How much time do you have?” I grumble, grabbing the seatbelt, only to have her steal it from me to buckle me in.

Alpha instincts can be cute, I guess.

“We really are on the way to the airport, so I’m going to help steer the conversation a bit,” Silas says, putting the vehicle into drive.

Cassidy quickly puts her seatbelt on, and his eyes watch as it clicks into place before merging out of the parking spot.

“What have you been doing the last five days?” he asks.

“Healing,” I sigh. “I can’t sleep very much because the sun and moon shine into my bedroom. It keeps me awake.”

“Carter mentioned that you don’t have any doors or curtains,” Cassidy growls.

“He talks a lot,” I reply. “I don’t have any privacy and it makes me twitchy. My nerves are raw. One of the things I was most excited about was having my own space again.”

“As opposed to what?” Silas asks, brow raised.

“Fuck a duck,” I mutter. Too comfortable, Nina. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t get to thank Carter for the e-reader because I was in such a haze. I need to make sure I do that.”

“Later,” Cassidy says, squeezing my hand. “You have a lot of secrets that we can’t help you with if you don’t tell us.”

“Secrets that belong in the past,” I respond. “Knowing I’m a basketcase isn’t really going to help anything.”

“Nina, I don’t care to hear you speak about yourself like that,” Silas says. “Why is your head shaved?”

I grumble to myself, but drop my head back onto the seat.

“I used to have really pretty, long ice blonde hair,” I say. “When I turned eighteen, I had highlights done in bright pink, and my mother hated it. She walked out the door and said she was going to check me into a mental hospital to give me an attitude adjustment. Apparently, that’s what the rich do when their daughters have moments of defiance.”

“I don’t think dying your hair is a form of defiance,” Cassidy shrugs. “It’s an expression of individuality, and it can always be changed.”

“What did you do when your mother stormed out the door?” Silas asks.

“I ran away,” I confess. “I had applied to a university in Minneapolis, knowing she wasn’t going to be happy with any of my choices. I packed up my life and left. I slept in my car, worked at a bar, and went to classes.”

“How did you afford the school?” Silas asks.

“I got a scholarship by stating that I didn’t have any income, which I knew was going to be true as soon as I left. It didn’t cover housing though, and the SUV became my home,” I say. “It worked for a while, until my mother caught up with me and had me committed. That’s where I was while she was looking for packs to court me.”

It feels as if my insides are vibrating as I tell my story, but my voice is dead and calm. I hate having to tell them this.

Cassidy purrs for me, helping me take an easier breath as she holds my hand.

“What happened to your hair?” she asks. “Can I see it?”

Running my fingers through my wig, I wrinkle my nose.

“I don’t think I’m ready for that,” I whisper. “Some of it is really foggy, but I had my first heat when I was brought into the hospital. They put me under medical sedation because I was inconsolable apparently. I didn’t come into my designation until I was almost eighteen. I feel as if I'm constantly learning new things about being an omega, and it’s frustrating that there isn’t a guide book or something for this.”

“You should make one,” Cassidy suggests. “Work your way through everything that frustrates you about being an omega, and journal about it. I guarantee you there are others who feel the same way.”

“That’s not a bad idea, but it makes me even angrier that your mother didn’t at least think it was a possibility that you’d be an omega,” Silas grumbles.

“She thought I would be a beta, and I think she wishes that I was,” I say. “When I woke up from being sedated, I was strapped down to the bed, and I found that a lot of my pink strands of hair had been hacked away while I slept. The doctor said since there were still traces of pink that the best thing to do was to shave it all.”

My lip wobbles as my calmness cracks, and I take a shuddering breath.

“It’s just hair,” I wail. “I know this. I’m not really vain, so why does this bother me so much?”

“It’s traumatic,” Cassidy whispers. “I can’t even imagine.”

Silas curses as he slams on his brakes, throwing us all forward.

“Sorry,” he rasps. “Fuck, I really want to turn around and snap her scrawny fucking neck.”

Cassidy’s breaths are coming fast as she nods. “Can we?” she asks. “There are very few reasons to kill someone, but this is one.”

I don’t know if they’re serious enough. People don’t just talk like this, do they?

“The hospital was meant to rehabilitate me and my behavior,” I remind them. “All individuality had to be removed from me, and I…”

“You what?” Cassidy asks.

“I think I lost a lot of myself there,” I whisper. “The therapy is closer to torture, which is why I tend to flinch easily and I’m not used to touch. If someone was touching me, it was because they were going to hurt me. Electrical shock, water boarding⁠—”

“You’re this tiny fucking thing, are you kidding me?” Silas yells, making me jump. “I’m sorry. Fuck. They could have easily killed you.”

They’re going to kill you. Whispers seem to echo in my mind before I banish it with a ragged breath. I’m not there anymore, even though I kept dreaming that I was the last few nights.

Nightmares have been intruding into my dreams, which has made my sleep even worse. I’m sure the adrenaline of Silas picking me up will drain soon, and I’ll need a nap.

“They almost did,” I say, lifting a shoulder. “If you were to look up war torture, I feel like that’s where they may have taken their therapy practices. There’s nothing keeping her from doing this to me again, Silas.”

“Yes, well that’s not completely true,” he says. “If you have a pack, the burden of your health under the law would fall to them, and your mother wouldn’t have any rights. They would be sure to dissolve her proxy.”

They. Whoever “they” are.

“Nina,” Cassidy says.

“What did I say?” Silas asks. “Your scent…”

“Ignore it,” I snap, looking out the window. “I’m being oversensitive. I’ll get over it.”

“No,” Silas says, pulling the car to the side of the road. We bump along a bit, and my head turns to glare at him as he twists his body to face me. “Now, you’re being a brat. I wouldn’t dream of stifling that, but we’re going to fucking talk about it.”

Pulling my hand from Cassidy’s, I wrap my arms around myself with a sigh.

“I feel like the ugly duckling,” I say. “It’s ridiculous⁠—”

“Is it because we haven’t chosen yet?” Silas asks.

“Yes, and I shouldn’t feel like this.”

“Your mother made it very clear that we’re responsible for your absence the last five days,” Cassidy growls. “Just because she pretended it was related to a fake heat and not the fact that she chose to beat you for something outside of your control makes no difference.”

“I promise to have answers for you about that during this trip,” Silas says, taking a deep breath.

Without thinking, I breathe with him, and the faintest scent of fresh cookies slips through. It smells really nice, but it isn’t earth shattering or anything.

“Who smells like cookies?” I blurt out.

Silas grins. “Huh. You can smell me?”

“I usually can’t smell anything,” I admit. “Food sometimes can taste odd because of it, and it throws off my appetite. I thought my sinuses were all messed up from my, ah, treatments.”

“Torture,” Silas says, his smile dropping. It’s a shame because it cuts into his grumpiness when he smiles. “Please call it for what it is. Your body worked really hard to heal the last five days. It’s possible other parts of you are also healing as well. That’s really good.”

“Okay,” I say, kind of shocked. “Well, you smell nice.”

He smirks, inclining his head. “It would suck if I didn’t.”

A giggle escapes me, and he turns back around to merge back onto the road, continuing to where we’re going.

“I wish I could say I’m surprised your mother would do something so heinous to her own daughter, but I’m not,” Silas says.

“We’ve always been at odds,” I admit. “I prefer leggings like this and loose clothing, while my mother thinks that skirt sets are a better option.”

“She’s got a stick up her ass,” Cassidy snarls. “This will be a good escape from her.”

“She’ll only be worse when I get back,” escapes from my lips, and I press my lips together. It’s too late, the words are out there.

“Hopefully, you won’t be going back,” Silas says. “Let’s just see how this goes, okay? I’m not going to lie to you and say that we haven’t discussed choosing. I don’t want you to be moderately content though. That’s a cop out in life.”

“We want you to be fucking outrageously happy,” Cassidy says, a sad smile crossing her lips as she swipes away tears.

“Why are you crying?” I ask as we drive through the back roads of the airport. We were closer than I realized, which isn’t a surprise since I rarely travel anywhere.

“I hate how much you’ve gone through, and I’m so glad you’re my friend,” she says. “I really am surrounded by men all day where I work, and it’s a nice change of pace.”

“You’re always very aware of how I’m feeling or when I’m in my head. I don’t have many people who give a shit,” I say. “Thank you for being my friend.”

“You now have more people to give a shit than you might be ready for,” Silas says, waiting for someone to open a gate for him to pass through. “Whatever happens, we’re not going anywhere.”

There’s no time to ask him about what he said as the security guard checks Silas’ identification and we pass through the gates.

“Private plane,” Cassidy explains as we pull up at our destination. “I’m driving his car back to his house. Have fun.”

“I still have questions,” I say, watching as Silas gets out of the vehicle.

Unbuckling, I take his hand as he helps me out, and Cassidy comes around to give me a hug.

“Go with it,” she says in my ear, squeezing me. “You’ll be safe.”

The promise makes me relax a little as she gets into the SUV and pulls away.

“The getaway vehicle is gone, may as way come with me,” he teases me.

“Very funny,” I say, following him up the stairs onto the plane. The rest of his pack isn’t here, and we settle into our seats. They’re huge and really comfortable.

“The crew has been asked to turn the lights down as soon as possible. I suggest that you catch up on some of the sleep that’s been eluding you,” he says. At my raised brow, he adds, “I can tell.”

Taking the blanket he offers me, I pull it over me. The crew goes through their pre-checks, and close up the plane. My eyes are already closing by the time we take off, and I hope the nightmares stay away.

Silas takes my hand, leaning in.

“I’m a poor substitute, but I’ll do my best,” he says.

I’m not sure what he means by that, but it’s clear that I’m talking without meaning to. Letting myself drift off, he keeps me anchored as I sleep.

It feels as if my soul was pushed back into my body as I wake up, and my body jerks hard.

“Welcome back,” Silas says gently as the plane begins to taxi across the tarmac. “We just landed, and that must have woken you up.”

“Oh,” I yawn, covering my mouth. “Sorry. I slept really hard.”

“Flying will do that,” he says. “Look out the window.”

Pushing the window shade up the rest of the way, I gasp as I look. It looks like a winter wonderland outside. I think I hated the snow so much while I was in Minnesota because I could never get warm. It’s nice to admire it from inside.

“I have clothes for you to change into in this bag,” he says, lifting it up for me to see. “It’ll keep you warm, and the coat has heating elements, as do the gloves and boots.”

“That’s a thing?” I ask.

“Oh yes,” he says, appearing proud of himself. “The leggings are fleece lined too. You’ll be the warmest omega there is.”

“I was just thinking about how cold it looks outside,” I say, glancing back out at it.

“Not for you,” he says smugly. “There’s a bedroom just behind me, and a bathroom.”

Unbuckling, I decide that questions as to why and how we’re in a private plane are invasive. I’m grateful for being able to travel like this, because I slept really well. If Silas wants to tell me more, that’s up to him.

Standing, I walk into the aisle and take the bag from him. The plane is set up so that the large club chairs are facing each other, and there’s a lot of space between them. I love this plane, I decide. I’ve never flown until now. It’s cool that this was my first experience.

It helps that I was too tired to feel nervous about taking off and landing.

Walking toward the back of the plane, I find the bedroom, smiling like a loon when I see there’s a door that closes. It’s funny how much something means to you until you’ve lost it.

Placing the bag on the bedspread, I open it to find everything Silas said there was inside of it. Changing quickly, I sigh in happiness as I find that the clothes fit perfectly and that the boots are comfortable. It feels like my body has been encased in a warm hug.

Leaving the bag on the bed, I open the door to the bedroom and go out into the hall to use the restroom. My nerves are starting to flare as I remember how much I don’t know about where we’re going. I remind myself that Silas has done nothing to make me distrust him, and that maybe his pack came up before he did.

Washing my hands, I take several cleansing breaths before drying them. It’s like I’m giving myself a pep talk, and I chuckle at myself a bit.

“You’re being silly,” I whisper.

Opening the bathroom door, I find the bag has already been removed from the bedroom, and that Silas is waiting for me. He’s already wearing a coat and gloves, and has changed into a pair of boots.

“Ready?” he asks, his piercing gaze moving over me. “Coat, gloves, and hat. Here, put these on, please.”

I take them from him and pull on the coat, smiling as I button it up.

“In the pocket, you’ll find a button that’ll work the heating element,” he says. “Push it on if you’re cold, and again to turn it off.”

“That’s amazing,” I grin, fixing my gloves.

Taking the hat from me, he carefully puts it on so that my wig doesn’t move at all.

“They’re tools to keep the omega wrapped in them from freezing,” he says, taking my hand to walk down the aisle and off the plane. “We’re going to drive up to the house now, which is up the mountain. The house actually belongs to Lyle’s family. We all borrow it whenever we want.”

“That sounds nice,” I say, glad to be bundled up as the wind whips around us. There’s an SUV waiting for us as we leave the plane, and Silas hurries to open the door for me.

Coming around, he gets into the driver’s side.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” he says. “I know not all of this makes sense, but I really want you to know that your happiness comes first. That’s all that matters to any of us.”

I want to ask him why, but that feels as if I’m trivializing the passion in his words as he puts the SUV into drive. Quickly buckling myself up, I press my lips together to hold my questions back.

I don’t know what’s up at the mountain house, or why this is so important to him, but I’m willing to wait.

The drive is beautiful, and I get lost in the snow flurries as they begin to fall. It starts to get heavier the higher we go, but Silas doesn’t appear worried as he drives. There’s a lot of traffic on the road until we turn off onto a side road, and then it’s quiet and deserted.

There are houses nestled into the mountain here and there, appearing as if they’re trying to hide from the snow. The thought makes me smile a little, but it drops as Silas turns down a long driveway.

“Almost there,” he promises.

“It looks like it’s really coming down,” I observe worriedly.

“You’re not really going to need to leave much,” he promises. “The house has everything, it’s already been filled with food and wood in case it’s snowed in.”

The way he says that makes me glance at him suspiciously, however he doesn’t explain.

“Silas, this is getting weird," I admit.

“I know,” he says, blowing out a breath. “There’s just no more time. I can’t ease you into this, Nina. Your mother is too volatile.”

Parking, he doesn’t give me a chance to ask what the fuck he’s talking about before he’s putting the vehicle into park and turning it off.

“Come on, let’s get out,” he says, opening the door wide and grabbing the bag from the back seat.

I want to tell him ‘no’. My heart is pounding, and my fingers are twitching as my body tells me something isn’t right. Except, he slams the door shut and comes around to open my door. Silas even unbuckles me and tugs me gently out of the car.

“I promise whatever is on the other side of that door is important to you,” he says, his hand pushing my door closed behind me.

The snow freezes any tears that may be threatening to fall because I don’t know what the fuck is happening right now. Swallowing hard, I gaze at him.

“You’re not making any sense,” I rasp.

“Sometimes, the best things in life don’t,” he promises, pulling me into motion.

The cold feels as if it’s freezing my sinuses and lungs as I pull in oxygen to keep myself from freaking out as I walk beside him. The house is two floors high with a wraparound porch, but I can’t seem to enjoy anything more than that before Silas is unlocking the door.

My heart is thumping in my chest, and everything tells me that my life is going to somehow change. Silas isn’t the type to wax poetic, which means this is something really fucking big.

The door swings open, and he squeezes my hand before walking inside with me. My anxiety has this odd alternative reality where he shoves me inside instead and locks me in. My imagination is very rude.

I’m safe, I’m safe, I’m safe.

I keep chanting that to myself as the door closes behind me and I flinch.

“Hey, we’re here,” Silas calls out. “The weather is getting pretty bad out, so I couldn’t let you know.”

Relaxing slightly, I expect to see his pack coming down the stairs. I can hear the footsteps, though they don’t say anything. Everything he says makes sense. I didn’t see another car in the driveway, but I wasn’t paying attention.

He also couldn’t have texted or called to announce that we were almost here because the snow really is beginning to come down.

When I instead see alphas with sandy brown hair, dirty blonde hair, and an alpha covered in tattoos, my mind stutters to a stop. I know one of these alphas, but there’s no reason why I’d believe he would be here today.

“What…” I whisper, shaking my head.

“I want you to listen to me,” Silas says and I look from him to them.

“Nina, breathe,” Ellis says. Swallowing hard, I decide that I’d rather him call me the nickname he’s insisted on calling me.

“I don’t understand,” I hiss, glaring at Silas.

“Fate and your mother took something from you,” the alpha says patiently, tugging off a glove as he drops my bag on the ground.

A growl fills the air, but Silas turns me around to continue to pull off my other glove.

“Hush,” he barks, though not to me. “They’re just gloves. You know I haven’t touched her in any other way.”

His fingers begin to nimbly unbutton my coat, his eyes glancing to the side from time to time.

“The reason the four packs that are courting you haven’t chosen is because you have one already,” he says. “The alphas in this room are good men, and one of them is feral. You had nothing to do with that. In fact, there’s no way you could know it. The point of this is for you to know you’re perfect.”

The growl gets louder, and Silas rolls his eyes.

“Can you pull your coat off, please? He’s a bit on edge,” he says.

Doing as he asks, I glance to the side. The alpha who is growling is tall with wide shoulders and dark eyes that almost appear black from here. There are sections of his hair that are darker than others, making me wonder if it lightens in the sun. It’s an odd thing to think about, and I move my eyes to where his fists are clenched and his lip snarled.

“On edge” is an understatement. Silas hangs up my coat before giving me his full attention.

“I know this sounds crazy,” he tells me. “However, I know the hospital took memories from you as well. Everything you told me corroborates their story, even though it makes me want to rip your mother’s heart out of her chest.”

The growl died down a bit, making Silas smirk in amusement.

“I need you to take a leap of faith for me,” he says. “You know Ellis, and there’s a reason we all invited him to everything possible. It’s also why we don’t care if you kiss him, or if he constantly has his hand around your shoulders. You’re his, you just don’t remember. I know you can’t get back the time you lost, but the only way to escape your mother is to connect with them now.”

I can hear the truth of every word he says to me, even though it seems bizarre. I read a book this week that was an Alice in Wonderland retelling, and I feel as if I just fell through the looking glass. I force myself to stay in the present and not drift, curling my toes in my boots until they cramp, grounding me.

In for a penny, in for a pound. It looks like I am going to need to see this through.

“Okay,” I whisper.

Twenty

Cooper

She’s here. I keep my feet planted as I watch her, but there’s another alpha who keeps touching her. I don’t fucking like that.

Her glances keep moving between us, and I flinch as Ethan puts his hand on my shoulder.

“Chill, old man,” he mutters. “We have a lot to talk to her about, and none of it will be easy. Keep it together.”

Yeah, that’s easier said than done. I’m losing myself. I know that, but I can’t keep it from happening. Inhaling deeply, my eyes nearly cross as I smell her heavenly scent.

Fuck, I’ve missed everything about her. I’ve kept myself from being anywhere near Nina, because I can’t be trusted right now. I’m being ridden hard by my baser instincts. In fact, it feels as if logic is not only taking a back seat, but I threw it out of the fucking car.

Breathe.

Yeah, I’m really losing it here.

“What does it mean to be a feral alpha?” Nina asks tentatively, peeking at me again from underneath her long lashes.

Standing taller because my omega is looking at me, I puff out my chest. While I don’t think Silas told her that I was an alpha, there’s no way I could be anything else.

“It means that he’s met his scent match, but hasn’t bonded with her,” Riley replies, pulling her attention. “He’s constantly pining for his omega, and it’s making him lose his ability to process anything outside of finding her. Logic doesn’t matter to him, nothing does outside of his omega.”

“Can… it be reversed?” she asks. There’s no pity in her mismatched eyes, just wonder.

I need her more than anything else. Even breathing, food, or sleep. Anything else isn’t important.

“No idea,” I rumble, my voice sounding like broken glass. It barely passes for words at this point.

“Nina, I need to get on the road before I get stuck here. You saw how the snow is coming down,” Silas murmurs.

There’s a hint of unease in her face before she nods.

“Are you going all the way back to Georgia?” she asks.

“No, I’m staying in a cabin not far from here,” he says. “My pack really did come up before me. However, I want you to spend time with your pack, because they have been waiting a long time for you. It was never that we didn’t want you, Nina. We just knew it was up to us to help you find what you’ve lost.”

“Lost…” she whispers, rubbing her temple as if it hurts.

“Take your time,” Silas murmurs. “Can you handle this?”

“I can,” she sighs. “I feel as if everyone else is looped into a conversation I just joined.”

“That’s because that’s exactly what this is,” he winces.

The alpha opens the door and slips out, and Nina jumps a little as it slams closed due to the wind.

“Nina,” Ethan says carefully. “Why don’t you take off your boots and come sit down.”

She doesn’t say anything as she leans down to unzip her shoes and drops them onto the floor. She’s moving slowly, and any other day if I was myself I’d take control by telling her she’s a brat, but it’s clear she’s processing things.

“So everything you told me was a lie, huh?” she asks, turning to face him. “You don’t have a boyfriend who’s a med student and you’re not really new in Savannah.”

“That’s all true,” Ethan says. “I spent a few of my childhood years in Savannah, but didn’t return until you came back.”

“That doesn’t answer anything,” she whines.

I want to take her in my arms and hug her. There are bags under her eyes, signs that she’s not sleeping well. I’m unsurprised that she’s pushing back about this.

“Also, I am the boyfriend,” Riley says, raising a hand. “I really enjoy the stories he has whenever he sees you. My schedule is insane, but he stockpiles every moment so he can tell me about it.”

“And what do you think about it?” she asks, moving to a corner of the couch to curl up into. “I told him I’m not a homewrecker.”

“You let me kiss you,” Ethan teases her.

My hand flies through the air so fast, he grunts in pain as he rubs the back of his head.

“Sorry, that was mean,” he mutters. “You could never be a homewrecker, Little Queen.”

“We talked about nicknames,” she says automatically. I have a feeling this is an argument they have often.

“That was before you found out you were ours,” he says.

“I don’t know that,” she argues. “Ugh, none of this makes sense. I was supposed to belong to one of the four packs that were courting me, but none of them wanted to choose. So my mother fucking beat me⁠—“

“Vivian did what?” I snarl. “No one told us that.”

“It’s fine,” Nina says, waving a hand in a motion reminiscent of her mother. Except this is her not wanting to talk about it.

Toeing off my shoes, I walk quickly, jumping onto my hands and knees on the couch next to her. I’m not a small man, and she gasps as she bounces too.

“It’s not fine,” I grumble, beginning to crawl closer to her. I remember a time when I wondered what it would be like to have her crawl to me, but I’m no longer interested in power dynamics. The blue flecks of her eyes seem to swirl within the green and it’s mesmerizing, pulling me closer.

“There aren’t any marks anymore,” she breathes as she looks up at me as I hover over her.

“The marks you can’t see are sometimes the most painful,” I say, my palm gently rubbing over her heart.

I know this would be considered inappropriate since she doesn’t remember me anymore, but I’ve never been very good about social niceties. Her blonde strands pull my attention away, and I bite my lip. Fuck it. I’m going to shoot my shot.

“The pink in your hair was one of my favorite looks on you. It feels odd to not see it anymore,” I murmur. I can feel the tension behind me. I’m the wild card here. I know it, but I can’t stop the words coming out of my mouth. “You know why I loved it so much? It was authentically you. Just like whatever is under this wig is too.”

Her pupils are blowing out with a mixture of fear and arousal, and I can’t help but love both of those reactions. The brute inside of me wants to chase, claim, and fuck her. It’s very difficult for me to repress my instincts anymore. Nina can’t close her legs because my body is between them, her slick beginning to perfume the air around us.

“Will you show me?” I beg, my nose burying in her throat and inhaling deeply. My teeth fucking ache to mark her, bite my omega so she’ll always be mine. I can’t though, not yet, and I’m irrationally angry about that.

She smells so fucking good. My tongue wants to swipe up the column of her delicate neck to taste her, but I wrestle back the urge. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“It’s ugly,” Nina whimpers, her head dropping back to give me more access.

That’s all the permission I need to suck on her pulse point, loving the way she mewls for me.

“You could never be fucking ugly,” I rumble. “There’s a light inside of you that can’t be extinguished. Whether or not you have hair anywhere on your body isn’t going to change that.”

Biting her lip, she glances at her hat where it fell and then pulls off her wig. The three of us stare for a moment before I grin.

“I think you’re the only one in the world who can pull this off. You’re gorgeous,” I murmur, my hand cupping the back of her head.

I’m in her personal space, but I can’t get myself to move. My lips travel down her face to her chin, and Nina seems to tremble with anticipation. Everyone has hesitated around her. It’s all been for very good reasons, yet it has left her feeling unwanted.

That’s unacceptable.

My lips press against hers, waiting for her to respond. Her little noises are loud in the quiet of the house, and she opens her lips slightly for me. Slowly, deliberately, I devour her, and she drops the wig to fist my hair as I kiss her.

I’m very careful not to crush her or lay fully on top of her body. All I can smell is honeysuckle, it completely surrounds me. My fingers claw at the pillow behind her head, struggling to rein myself in. Nina sucks in little puffs of air as if she’s starved, or trying to smell me.

We still don’t know how ruined her sense of smell is after the water boarding.

“I think I could kiss you forever,” I mutter, my eyes gazing into hers as they flutter open.

“I hate that I can’t smell you,” she sighs. “You feel so right, but I’m still broken.”

“Not broken,” I growl, dragging her with me as I sit up to cuddle her in my lap. “Being able to tell if we’re your scent match or not doesn’t change the fact that we are.”

Ethan moves over to sit next to us, pulling her feet into his lap. He takes off her socks and begins to rub her feet absently as Riley sits on the coffee table. Nina lays her head on my chest as my arm wraps around her waist, and I vow I’m going to do whatever possible to keep her.

“Mine,” I purr against her hair. She rubs her cheek against my shirt before squeaking in embarrassment. “Why did you stop?”

“I’m scent marking you,” she gasps, looking up at me. Color runs high in her cheeks, and she looks adorable.

“Good, I like it,” I say, pulling my shirt off and tossing it to the side. “Come do it some more.”

Her lips twitch slightly in amusement, and she lays back against me with a happy sigh. Her fingers gently rub against my chest where my heart beats just for her as if mesmerized. Ethan and Riley leave her to it before one of them clears their throat.

“What?” she asks petulantly, pouting. My lips curve in a smile, leaving the other men to look at me as if I’ve lost it.

Yeah, I haven’t exactly been a joy to deal with lately.

My thumb moves to tug her lip down teasingly, but that makes my cock thicken underneath her ass. I’m imagining all the things her mouth can do, and her head lifts to gaze up at me.

“Are you having dirty thoughts?” she teases me.

God, there are so many ways she’s changed, yet others where she’s still herself. Her eyes glitter with mischief, her body language more open than it ever was before.

“The filthiest,” I growl, enjoying the way she shivers. “Before I act on any of them, we need to talk about a few things.”

“Talking never leads to good things,” she mutters.

“I promise to bury my head between your thighs until you’re screaming my name if you hear us out,” I murmur.

I love the way she smiles up at me, until her eyes cloud over.

“I don’t even know your name,” she realizes. “What does that even say about me?”

“It means Cooper jumped the gun,” Riley says gently.

She repeats my name, as if tasting it on her lips, and my cock fucking twitches. Ugh, I need to get a grip.

“I can’t help myself around you it seems,” I confess.

Riley picks up Nina’s abandoned wig and puts it behind himself on the table when she’s distracted. She’ll never have to wear it again unless she wants to.

“So let’s start with some confessions,” he says, leaning forward. “You may have noticed that there are some gaps in your memory, Nina.”

She tenses in my lap, and my arms band a little tighter around her body before I begin to purr. It’s a deep, gentle rumble. This isn’t going to be an easy conversation.

The last thing I want to do is hold her captive in my arms as she listens, but I don’t know what else to do.

Please understand why we let you go.

Nina

Forget. They’ll kill you if you don’t.

There’s been so many times where this has run through my mind, the echo of a lost memory.

“It’s like it’s full of Swiss cheese,” I say, keeping my head against Cooper’s warm chest. It’s helping to keep me grounded, my breaths even. I need to hold onto that. “I can reach for information I should have, but it’s not there. Or, sometimes I can feel the emptiness where a memory should be. It’s really disconcerting.”

Shifting uncomfortably, Ellis’ boyfriend swallows hard. God, they’re right. There’s so much I just don’t know. I know that part of that is because Cooper and I got caught up in each other, but hopefully I can get some answers now.

“I’m sorry to say that I’m responsible for that,” he says. “I made you forget Ethan, Cooper, and myself.”

“Ethan…” I trail off. I don’t know who that is. Should I?

My heart begins to pound with anxiety, and Cooper’s hand runs up and down my back soothingly. I don’t know if I should lean in or shrug him off.

What should I do?

“I’m Ethan,” Ellis grunts. “Way to bury the lead, Riley.”

“So your name is fake too,” I mutter bitterly.

“Yet everything else is true,” he counters. “I didn’t know if you’d know me by that name.”

“I don’t know you at all,” I yell, feeling frustrated.

“It looks as if what I did worked better than I thought,” Riley says.

At my glare, he grabs my hand.

“Ethan and I have been friends since undergrad,” he says. “If he told you that, then know that part is true. Your mother put you into Weeping Willow because you found out that Ethan and Cooper were your scent matches and she wanted to reprogram you into the perfect daughter.”

“I’m not the perfect anything,” I say, pulling my hand away from his. I’m feeling overstimulated for some reason, and I don’t want to touch him right now.

I push away the whisper in my mind that tells me I’m a liar, because I don’t want to listen to it. I hate thinking about the hospital, but it appears that I don’t have a choice.

There are answers I need that lay there.

“We’re going to agree to disagree there,” Riley says, a wrinkle between his eyes.

His hair is tousled just so, and I wonder if he likes to have it tugged on. My thoughts are drifting in a very different direction, forcing me to ground myself. Almost unconsciously, I do what I always do, and Ethan glances down at my feet.

Only when they cramp fiercely do I stop, breathing deeply. As if nothing happened, I shrug at Riley. My quirks to survive are mine alone.

“Maybe so,” I say. “Is that why I went into heat when they brought me in? I remember that part of things.”

“Yes, sometimes, meeting your scent match will trigger an omega’s heat,” he says. “I joined the hospital as a medical student three months after that happened. Ethan came to me and told me you were the girl he ran into on the university campus. He was completely smitten. I’ve never seen him like that before.”

“Only because I refused to let you see it,” Ethan grumbles. “My butterflies were widely ignored when it came to you, Riley.”

“Yes, because you’re an idiot, son,” Cooper mutters.

Son…

“Ethan and Cooper are related,” Riley confirms, reading my facial expression. “There was a miscommunication between them at one point, and Ethan thought that his father would care if he was bi.”

Craning my neck to look up at Cooper, I watch as he kisses my forehead and shakes his head.

“That’s absolute bullshit, Princess. I don’t care who he loves,” he says.

Settling against him again, I nod. The tips of Ethan’s ears are bright red as he sits with the memory of how he thought his father would react.

“I was wrong,” he breathes. “I am an idiot.”

“Do better,” I tell him before glancing at Riley. He’s hiding a smile as he watches me underneath his lashes.

“I fucking love that you put him in his place,” he says. “I can defend myself, Little One, but I appreciate that you’re in my corner.”

“All the nicknames,” I murmur, though I don’t mind that one or Princess.

“Well, you’re adorable. We can’t help ourselves,” he says. “To pull this train back onto the tracks, I made Ethan’s wants and needs a priority, so I found a way to get into the facility by pretending that I agreed with their doctrine.”

“That omegas should be used, and that we’re malleable,” I grunt. “I have so much propaganda running through my mind, it’s disgusting.”

“There’s a woman who runs a women’s organization that’s creating some chaos in Minneapolis,” Riley explains. “Weeping Willow gets their content from Emilia and pays her well for it. She’s a complete bitch, though. It’s part of the treatment plan that they had you on.”

“Along with sensory deprivation tanks, negative reinforcement, and torture,” I add. “Yeah, I was there.”

Cooper snorts, and I glance back up at him again.

“You’re going to wrench your neck like that,” he says, placing me next to him so I can curl up and still see them all. I miss his warmth, but his hand remains splayed on my thigh.

Ethan looks a little sad that he’s not holding my feet anymore, but he can deal.

“I made that noise because you have such fire,” Cooper says. “The sarcasm, the way you say things unapologetically, I love it all. You’re already coming out of your shell. Even when I knew you as your teacher, you had very timid moments. I want you to yell, fight, and make up with me.”

Ethan makes a noise, while Cooper rolls his eyes.

“Just as you’ve changed, Nina, so have I. Before I met you, I thought I needed control to be happy. I needed to dominate, expel my frustrations on my sub, but that all fell to pieces when I lost you. I need you anyway I can have you.”

“We’ve all been changed,” Riley says. “The only way that Weeping Willow would let you go is if you admitted that you didn’t have alphas that belonged to you. Nina, the way you fought them… It didn’t matter what they did, you refused to let anyone take Cooper and Ethan from you. I realized when I first walked into a room with you that you were mine too, but my hands were tied. I couldn’t get you out.”

“No one could,” I sigh. “I was dying.”

Cooper growls, but I squeeze his hand. It bothers him to hear about the hospital, so I want to get it over with.

“You were, so I made a compromise with the doctors,” Riley explains. “If they could give me uninterrupted time with you, without cameras or anyone hovering over us, I would make you forget your alphas. I hypnotized you after convincing you that this was the best way, and then erased every memory you had of Ethan and Cooper. I even blurred them from your childhood, since your mother was married to Cooper for a brief period of time.”

“Married,” I muse. “Really?”

“She was a different person, or I thought she was,” Cooper grumbles. “She was sweet back then, and then I stayed longer than I should have, for you.”

“I remember the way that you’d fight her, refusing to put on dresses so you could play,” Ethan says. “I didn’t get to see you very often, but it’s always stuck in my mind the way you’d fold when she got angry.”

“My mother has a way of gaslighting you into believing that your actions are hurting her,” I say. “It’s always that I was expected to perform a certain way or I’d embarrass her.”

“Which is bullshit,” Cooper says. “Kids should be able to be kids and not dolls to be paraded around.”

“I wish I knew what that was like,” I reply. “So you made me forget everything, Riley? Even you?”

“Yes,” he says sheepishly. “I used my alpha bark so that it would stick, because I didn’t want it to come back at the wrong time. Now, I’m worried that I won’t be able to bring back those memories, though. I also made you forget me in a selfish moment. I fell in love with your fire and spirit while at Weeping Willow. I didn’t want you to remember all the fucked up shit I had to do to keep my cover.”

“I still don’t completely understand why you wanted to be there,” I say. “It was awful.”

“If he was there, we hoped he could influence the doctors in some way,” Ethan explains. “We also wanted eyes on what was happening, but in some ways that was worse.”

“It wasn’t a cakewalk,” I say, shivering. Cooper drapes an afghan over me, the warm material attempting to warm places that are due to trauma and not the cold. “I do think the doctors would have been willing to kill me to prove a point if necessary.”

“No, I think they wanted your mother’s money more,” Riley says. “If there was a way to get you out, then I wanted to be the one to do it, Nina. Even before I found out that you were mine.”

“If you’re Ethan’s, I think I would have been yours either way,” I mumble, beginning to feel the emotional toll of the day pulling at me. “I may be an only child, but I share just fine.”

Riley’s jaw drops wide in shock, and I chuckle softly.

“Glad I can still surprise you, Doctor,” I tease him.

“I have a long way to go before I’m a doctor,” he admits. “You have so many holes in your memories… Do you want me to see if I can put them back?”

“I don’t want to be an experiment,” I yawn, covering my mouth apologetically. “I’ve had enough of that, thank you very much. I’d like to move forward with what I know now, see where things go.”

I know I’m taking a leap of faith, but I feel pulled to each one of them. I’m a little wary of Riley, yet I’ve always felt protective of him for some reason, even before meeting him. Fate doesn’t always make sense.

I don’t think this needs to either.

“I think we can manage that,” Riley says. “Are you not sleeping well?”

“I don’t have any doors or curtains in my room,” I breathe, my eyelids feeling heavy. “My mother took them all because she doesn’t believe I deserve privacy. Knowing that people can walk in whenever they want makes me twitchy, so it’s difficult to fall asleep. The window also lets in a lot of light, so when the sun rises, it’s game over.”

“Vivian really is such a cunt,” Cooper grumbles. “Do you care if you ever see her again, Nina?”

“Not really,” I say. “Is this your way of asking me if I care if you kill her?”

This time, the strangled sound comes from Riley.

“Yes, it is,” Cooper admits. “Would you care if I killed her?”

“Not in the least. I’d finally be free then,” I admit.

“Good,” Cooper says, lifting my body as he adjusts himself so I’m lying over him. I guess he decided I was too far away. “She’s never deserved you.”

“You should nap then,” Riley says. “What do you love to eat that you never get to?”

“Lasagna,” I moan, remembering it. Fuck, my mouth is watering at the memory. “I’ve only had it a few times, but it’s so good. My mother always said that pasta was bad for my figure and would make my ass expand.”

From where I’m sprawled over him, Cooper’s hand ghosts down my body to squeeze my butt.

“She’s wrong,” he rumbles. “You’re underweight if anything. Eat the fucking pasta, Princess.”

“Yes, sir,” I sigh sleepily.

“I’m going to make you lasagna for dinner then,” Riley decides. “Take a nap, it’s just us here. No more big surprises.”

Nodding, I allow myself to drift off as I listen to Cooper’s heartbeat. I don’t know what’ll happen when I wake, but I do believe that I’m safe with my pack. I can tell from the strain in each of their faces that they’ve been through their own share of hell while we’ve been apart.

I don’t believe in beating a dead horse because it’s what my mother’s always done. She’ll take the same topic and berate me about it over and over again. My alphas did the only thing they could so I could survive and I could be theirs later.

I understand untenable circumstances, and this is one of them.

“Sleep,” Cooper murmurs. “You’re thinking very hard.”

“Hard to stop,” I rasp.

His fingers massage my scalp, and I moan with pleasure. I love this so much. I didn’t think I would because I’m so sensitive about my hair, but he really does think I’m beautiful. I can tell in the way he touches me, kisses my head, reminds me it’s just hair.

It’s going to be difficult for me to get used to not wearing a wig. I really hate the way it feels, and it’s always itchy, I’ve simply been indoctrinated into wearing it.

Cooper’s firm motions drag me under into sleep, and I stop fighting it.

Twenty-One

Riley

Ican’t help getting lost as I gaze at Nina. Her entire body seems to relax completely against Cooper. The alpha is a menace to society and people move out of his way when he walks down the street, but he’s a downright teddy bear for his omega.

Go figure.

“Okay,” I sigh, standing. “I’m going to go see what the kitchen has for ingredients. I’ll just make the pasta sheets from scratch if necessary.”

“You can do that?” Ethan asks, surprised.

“Yes,” I laugh, “I can. I can prepare five course meals from scratch, I just don’t have the time to anymore. My mother loves to cook, and taught me how so I could spoil my omega. It’s like she knew something I didn’t. I have never put much stock into scent matches until it happened to me.”

“Neither did I,” Cooper says, also appearing sleepy. Nina is definitely everything he needs. His insomnia has just been making everything worse.

“Huh,” Ethan grunts. “Learning new things every day. Is the hospital going to understand that you’re taking vacation days?”

“I said it was a pack emergency,” I say. “These things happen, and we’ve already put our paperwork in to state that we want to record our pack information. The hospital didn’t make a big deal about it.”

“Good,” he murmurs. “Your rotations have been brutal.”

“Wait till residency,” I tease him, walking away to check out our food situation.

Silas promised a full stocked kitchen, and that’s exactly what I find. Preparing dough, I fall into the repetition of making fresh lasagna sheets and laying them out to dry before beginning the filling.

While I’ve missed cooking, sleeping, and all the normal parts of life, I also love learning at the psychiatric hospital. Every day is something new. I’m never bored, and I know my work is meaningful.

Unlike what they do at Weeping Willow.

I stir a little more viciously as I snarl at the pan I’m holding.

“The food is not going to be able to defend itself,” Ethan says, leaning against the counter. I didn’t even notice that he’d walked in.

“It could,” I grunt. “I got caught up in my thoughts.”

“I could tell,” he says. “What were you thinking about?”

“The differences between the hospital I work at currently and Weeping Willow,” I reply. “Too many people believe that psychiatric care should be manipulative.”

“It shouldn’t be,” he says. “Look at my dad. Didn’t you say you care for feral alphas?”

“We do,” I say. “I don’t think he needs or wants treatment, though. She’s the only person who can help calm his instincts. The problem we run into at the hospital is when there’s no way the alpha can be reunited with their omega. They either died or they couldn't be together.”

“Fuck,” he says. “That’s a hard place to be in. Can I help you with anything?”

“Can you make bread?” I ask.

“Umm. If you point me in the right direction I could,” he says, biting his lip.

Fucking adorable.

Nodding, I let the sauce simmer, and move over to him. Grabbing him around the back of his neck, I pull him tightly to me and kiss him hard.

“No more waiting,” I growl, enjoying the way his green eyes go slightly unfocused. I love the way his hair always looks slightly mussed, and his scruff on his face refuses to be tamed.

“No more,” he promises.

Together, we make and shape several loaves of bread. This kitchen has a double oven, which will help ensure this is done by the time dinner is served. Covering the bowls of bread, I preheat the ovens and stick them in so it’ll rise faster.

“That’s a nifty trick,” Ethan teases me.

“I know a thing or two,” I laugh.

Just having Nina with us helps to lighten things up. There’s been a cloud over us, especially after we agreed to become a pack. It’s been a reminder that we’re omega less in a lot of ways.

That’s no longer true, we just need to focus on bonding and spending time with Nina. Our timeline is tight, especially without her ability to scent us, but the three of us thrive on challenges.

We’ve come this far, after all.

Nina

I can’t breathe. Water is flowing over a hood on my face as I’m tilted upside down on a table. My arms and legs are strapped down and no matter which way I move, I can’t escape the water.

What’s worse is I also can’t close my mouth, the gag holding my lips open wide while I scream and scream. I’m drowning.

“Nina, you can make this stop,” Dr. Kind yells over the rushing water. “All you have to do is reject your alphas. Admit you were wrong and that your mother has your best interests at heart.”

Reject? No. There’s no way I could possibly do that.

My head moves from side to side, and the water stops suddenly, allowing me to breathe.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. What was that?” he asks.

“No!” I scream, jolting awake.

“Nina,” Cooper gasps, wide eyed as his arms squeeze me so tightly I can’t breathe before abruptly falling away. “Shit, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

Pushing myself up, I gaze down to see the wild state he’s in.

“It was a really bad dream,” I croak out, swallowing hard.

“I could have hurt you,” he says.

“No. No,” I growl, flicking his nose with my fingers. “I’m not going to break, Cooper. You were reacting to my dream. Did you fall asleep too?”

“I did. I don’t usually sleep so deeply,” he says, his hands up and away from me. “Fuck, I heard you scream and my arms crushed you. I shouldn’t⁠—”

“Cooper, stop,” I say. “You reacted to my fear. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I know, but I’m not safe for you to be around, Nina,” he groans.

“Fuck that,” I state, laying back on top of his chest and tugging his arms back down to hold me. “I’m the safest right here.”

We lay in silence as I listen to his heart thunder. He didn’t hurt me. I know he’s worried he did because he squeezed the breath out of me when he woke up, but he immediately let go.

“Nina,” he breathes, as if he’s releasing every ounce of oxygen in his lungs. “Okay. I believe you.”

“You bet your ass you do,” I sass, squealing as he squeezes mine instead.

“What did you dream about?” he asks. His voice is so damn deep.

“Being tortured,” I mutter. “I dream about it sometimes.”

Turning to his side so he can be eye to eye with me, he sets his dark gaze on me.

“I’m sure you do,” he murmurs. “Tell me who it was so I can gift him the same treatment.”

I know he means it, and the shackles around my heart release a little.

“Dr. Kind is one of the cruelest people I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet,” I say, my voice breaking. Fuck. I hope I don’t cry.

I hate crying.

“Hey,” he says, his thumb running over my cheek. I lean into his touch, loving the connection. “You tell me what you can. Don’t try to control your voice, and if you cry, I’ll hold you through it. I can take anything you have to say to me. Want to know why?”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because you’re mine, and in my arms. I no longer care about societal niceties, or what people think. If I want to burn the world down, there’s nothing to stop me from doing it.”

Holy shit.

It’s easy to get lost in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, I tell him everything. The dream, the nights where I used to tread water for hours instead of sleeping, and how electricity was used against me. Tears spill over as I cry, my voice a mess.

My voice teacher would be cringing right now.

“Cowardly twats,” he growls. “Dr. Kind is going to meet his end. It may not be anytime soon, but someday.”

“Anyone hungry?” Riley asks, his steps getting closer. I brush away my tears while Cooper’s lips purse because I’m hiding again. My nose is seriously stopped up and congested and I know I look a mess.

However, my stomach rumbles audibly and his expression becomes amused instead.

“I think I am actually,” I say, pushing myself up and turning to face Riley.

His smile drops as he falls to his knees in front of me.

“I should have made dessert too for whatever is wrong,” he mutters.

“I don’t know if chocolate will fix it, but it can’t hurt,” I tease him.

His hands ghost over my thighs, as if to remind himself that I’m here with him.

“Okay,” he murmurs. “How do you feel about molten chocolate cake?”

“Um, marry me?” I ask, smirking.

“Are you proposing to my boyfriend already, Little Queen?” Ethan calls from the kitchen as I laugh.

“He said the magic words!” I yell back.

Riley smirks as he smoothly stands, holding out his hand.

“You’re going to be the best kind of trouble, aren’t you?” he asks.

Cooper stands up behind me as I giggle, kissing my neck and tickling me with the scruff on his face.

“I think she’s going to keep us on our toes,” he says as we walk toward the kitchen.

Sitting at the island because Cooper pretty much lifts me up to put me there, I watch as the three alphas that are mine work together. Plates, cutlery, platters of food and bread, everything is placed together in quick order as I watch in awe.

Cooper presses tissue into my hand as I sniffle from the after effects of crying, and I nod in thanks. Slipping away to blow my nose outside of the kitchen, I wince as I find that it’s more than the tissue can handle.

“The bathroom is down to your right,” Cooper calls out.

Handful of tissue pressed to my nose, I walk quickly to it so I can properly blow my nose. It takes several rounds of nose blowing before I feel better. Washing my hands and face helps me feel almost human, and I use the towel to dry off.

As I step out of the bathroom, I groan at the scent of lasagna. God, that smells amazing. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to smell my food. I really thought that I wouldn’t be able to.

Following my nose back to the kitchen, I think about how I was able to smell Silas in the car earlier today. As an omega, I’ve experienced how well my body is able to heal, and wonder if that’s what’s happening right now.

Breathing deeply again, I grin as I walk into the kitchen and gain the full attention of my alphas. It’s obvious it’s true, calling them anything different is wrong.

The three of them turn to face me as if they were waiting.

“The food smells amazing,” I say, waiting to see their reaction.

“Does it, Nina?” Riley purrs, his pupils slowly blowing out. Fuck, I’m playing with fire, and I really want to get burned.

Please, nose don’t fail me now.

“It does, Chef,” I smirk.

Riley tosses the towel he’s using to the side, stalking toward me slowly.

“Sneaky little omega,” he growls, picking me up to hug me. Burying my nose in his neck, I whimper as I smell his apple pie scent.

“Oh my God,” I cry, holding him tightly. “I don’t know how, but you smell amazing.”

“Thank fuck,” Cooper rumbles.

“What?” Ethan asks. “Someone catch me up.”

“My nose. I don’t know what happened, but my crying has managed to clear my sinuses,” I sob.

Everything is changing inside of me, and it’s hard to believe that I ever wondered if Riley was mine. My very body chemistry is singing inside of me, happy to be near our scent match.

Wow, this is what this is like. My sobs get ever harder, as I revel in the awe of it all.

“Shh, you’ll clog it up,” Riley teases me. It’s strange, one second I’m crying and laughing with this gorgeous alpha gazing at me, and the next he’s kissing me.

My memory may be fucked, but nothing he’s told me leads me to believe that he’s done this before. It’s our first, though I expect I’ll be having a lot of redos with Cooper and Ethan.

Letting myself go, I bask in the feel of his firm lips, the way he takes his time, and makes my thoughts clear. It’s quiet in my mind, which is something I don’t typically get to enjoy.

Riley’s kiss has a hint of tongue, is completely unhurried, and has me melting in his arms. My moan has his arms tightening around me, and his groan manages to travel as far down as my clit.

“Fuck that was hot,” Ethan murmurs.

“It doesn’t bother me at all to have one of you two touch her, but I wanted to tear Silas’ head from his shoulders,” Cooper grunts.

“Silas is a friend,” I say quickly, twisting around to make eye contact with Cooper. “No killing, please.”

“I suppose,” he pouts adorably. I don’t think he’d appreciate me calling him that though.

Another part of my heart settles inside of me, and I sigh happily. Inhaling, I groan as I find that crying fucked with my sinuses again.

“What’s wrong?” Riley asks.

“You were right about crying,” I wail. “I really thought I’d miraculously healed or something.”

“Ethan’s sinuses get swollen from the cold and allergies,” Cooper says, tugging me away from Riley to hug me and lead me back to the food. “When that happens, he can’t smell anything either. Since it sorted itself out once, it means you’re healing, Nina. Rome wasn’t born in a day, and your sinuses were damaged.”

“But this won’t be forever,” Ethan says, sitting next to me with a smirk. “We can be patient.”

Cooper rolls his eyes because he stole his seat, and settles into a chair across from me. Riley begins to plate lasagna, salad, and bread.

“When we’re done, I’ll throw together some lava cakes if you’re still hungry,” he says. “And if not, they make a really great late night snack.”

“I’d love to say that I’m patient, but I’m not,” Cooper says. “I can be for this, though. Your body is healing.”

Smiling happily, I wait until everyone is served, loving that they look expectantly for me to start. Taking a bite, I moan happily as the flavors explode across my palate.

“I’ll take that straight to my spank bank,” Riley murmurs, taking me by surprise.

Putting my hand over my mouth, I glare as I cough slightly.

“I can’t help myself,” he says, shrugging.

“I want to play a game,” Ethan says carefully as we eat.

“A game?” I ask.

“Mmhmm. The ‘what if’ game. I want to get to know what you want, and it’s best played if you pretend to be in a world where your mother and Weeping Willow don't exist,” he says. “It’s just you and us. And you’re the master of your own destiny.”

“I feel as if there’s some kind of trick to this,” I say suspiciously.

“Of course there is, Little Queen. If you hesitate, you have to remove an article of clothing,” he says.

“Really, Ethan?” his father groans.

“Oh, I’m in,” Riley grins. “She has to finish eating first.”

“It’s too good to stop,” I confess.

“There should be leftovers,” he says with a wink.

Who would have thought a wink over food would be so sexy?

Twenty-Two

Vivian

The house feels emptier now that Nina is gone. I know the goal is to permanently have her leave once she’s packed up, but I didn’t realize the weight her presence has.

It doesn’t take long before I’m standing in her room, frowning. She didn’t make her bed or put anything away. It doesn’t matter that I have a housekeeper for this, I begin picking up things and tossing them into the hamper.

“Miss Vivian?” Colleen asks from the doorway. Scents usually can get muddled in an omega’s space, but Nina’s sense of smell is ruined.

I was reassured that it was probably irreversible due to her therapies at Weeping Willow. I don’t think she knows that I know this. I should feel bad, but I don’t. It doesn’t seem to be affecting her ability to keep Packs Mayor, Tremaine, Nisim, or Alston from courting her.

It will, however, always keep her away from her scent matches. Even if they ever find her again.

There’s a lot that my actions have done to mess with Nina’s body, but I don’t give a single fuck. When I went to pick her up when she was discharged, Dr. Kind mentioned that some of the injections they gave her kept her heat away, which would make it unpredictable now that she wouldn’t be on them anymore. That’s why it's so important to make sure she takes the heat blockers that she’s currently on every day.

“Colleen, can you take these clothes to be washed please?” I ask her. “I’m going to spruce Nina’s room up while she’s gone.”

What I actually mean is that I’m going to rearrange everything and make her insane. My daughter likes things a certain way the way any omega does, and now her instincts are going to ride her even harder because she doesn’t have doors or curtains.

It’s the perfect time for a bit of motherly love.

The housekeeper rushes forward to take the hamper of clothing while I move on to her bed. Pulling off the sheets, I decide I’m going to remake it myself with a substitute that isn't as soft.

Humming to myself, I dump the bedclothes at the doorway for Colleen to take and then walk down the hall to grab all of the rags that were used to dust with. Snapping the rags in Nina’s room, I fill the air with the dust so it doesn’t disperse.

I want her stay in this room to be as uncomfortable as possible. Granted, it makes me cough uncontrollably, but I’m willing to deal with it. If she thought her sinuses were terrible before, let’s see how they fare now.

Stepping into her closet, I wrinkle my nose when I find things I didn’t sanction. I am very particular about what she’s allowed to wear. Pulling out a pair of sweatpants, a slouchy sweatshirt, and any kind of snarky shirt, I toss them behind me.

I am doing a complete overhaul of the closet so only acceptable clothing, footwear, and makeup remain.

“Miss Vivian?” Colleen asks tentatively. I think I scare my staff with my manic moments, but I can’t help myself. “What would you like for me to do with this?”

“Donate it,” I snap, glancing over my shoulder at her. “My daughter doesn’t need it anymore.”

“Yes ma’am,” she murmurs, picking up as much as she can.

I may have gotten carried away.

There’s a bag on the floor, as if Nina left it on her way out. I vaguely remember that Silas told her he had everything she needed. Opening it, I begin to rifle through it, cursing as I find her heat blocking pills.

For how expensive they are, these pills don’t remain long in the blood stream. Lifting the packet of pills, I sigh when I see that she didn’t even take today’s pill. My lie about her heat may be coming back to bite me if she actually goes into heat while she’s with Silas.

Well, that’s one way to get bitten and bonded. As much restraint as Pack Mayor has been exhibiting, I don’t know if they’ll be able to keep it together during what will be Nina’s first heat since the other doesn’t really count.

She’ll be working off instincts, and she may end up biting them. Ha, won’t that be funny?

Putting the pills on a shelf where she’ll be able to easily see it, I smirk as I pick up the bag she left behind. Clearly, she doesn’t need any of this either. I haven’t worried about birth control, because if any of these packs impregnate her, they’ll be forced to keep her.

That’s the reason her father married me after all. God rest his soul.

Whistling under my breath, I step out of the closet only to sneeze. Ugh, she’s going to fucking hate her room so much.

I can’t wait.

Nina

“So we’re serious about this game?” I ask, once the kitchen is spotless. Riley and Ethan work together really well.

“Oh yes,” Ethan says as Cooper rolls his eyes.

“I’m too old for strip anything,” he grumbles, pulling up the shirt he put back on for dinner, showing off his stomach muscles.

My mouth waters at how delicious they appear, while Cooper raises his brow as I perfume.

“On second thought, I guess I’m in,” he smirks.

“You guys,” I sigh, taking his hand to hop off the stool. I swear, they were all made for giants. I let him lead me to the couch, and watch as they make sure I have enough pillows and blankets.

I suppose it’s not going to really help if I end up naked during this game though, will it?

“You can ask us questions first,” Cooper decides, ignoring the way that the other two glance at each other, bemused.

“Our omega is going to get everything she wants from you, isn’t she?” Ethan asks.

“Of course,” his father says, sitting next to me. “Why wouldn’t she?”

“Gone are the days where you’d spank her ass red and then refuse her orgasms I guess,” Ethan sighs.

Squeezing my thighs together, I bite my lip. I mean, I guess that wouldn’t be too terrible, would it?

“We’ll revisit that,” Cooper murmurs, breathing deeply because I’m slicking everywhere. “I still need to spend some time between your thighs eating your pussy, Nina.”

“Okay,” I squeak, enjoying their dark chuckles.

“Ask away then,” Riley says. “The floor is yours.”

“Okay,” I murmur. “So where are we living in this mysterious future?”

The three of them hesitate before cursing and ripping off their shirts.

“We need to go house hunting,” Riley says.

“We’ve been living from moment to moment, and haven’t thought that far,” Ethan says sheepishly.

“Wherever it is, it needs a decent room for a nest, Princess,” Cooper says firmly. “A place just for you, and we’ll only come in when you want. Privacy and safety is important.”

The way this alpha makes me melt is ridiculous. I think being feral may just be a five letter word for being a simp for your omega. He’ll snap your neck for looking sideways at me, or be completely down to cuddle.

My dopey smile is interrupted by three alphas excitedly staring at me.

“Your turn,” Ethan says, smirking.

“Bring it on,” I tease him.

“Do you want to go back to college?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say immediately, remembering the way my mother tells me that there isn’t a place for smart omegas with an education in the world.

“What do you want to do?” Riley asks interestedly.

“I really don’t know,” I sigh. “I’ve never been allowed to explore things. I just wanted to be able to get a decent job at the end of it.”

“Well, money isn't an issue anymore,” Cooper rumbles. “We all have it, and it’s yours too now.”

“Simple as that?” I ask.

“Yep,” he grunts.

Okay then.

“Who’s next?” I ask smugly. After all, I'm still wearing all of my clothes. Even if my panties are ruined from all the man chest on display.

Damn, Riley has some really gorgeous ink work.

“Me,” the alpha I’m admiring says. “Are you on birth control?”

My brain short circuits as I focus on the fact that I’m missing another type of pill.

“Fuck,” I gasp.

“What?” Riley asks. “I was only half joking. I’m sure at least one of us brought condoms.”

“I did,” Cooper grunts. “One of us has to be an adult. Hey. Nina. You look like you forgot something. What was it?”

“My heat suppressant pills,” I wail. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m so…sorry. I can’t believe I didn’t bring them!”

“Why do you need those when you’re with us?” Ethan asks. “You’re ours. If it happens, we’re here. It really isn’t the end of the world.”

“Doesn’t it feel like I’m tricking you or something? I should have thought of it,” I gasp.

Cooper lunges forward to grab my hands. “Why should you have to be on heat suppressants, Princess?” he asks. “When you have alphas, it’s a moot point. Our job is to take care of you during it. Don’t complicate things. My only concern is how long it’ll take to stop working. I don’t want you to go into heat on your way back to your mother’s house, though I’d prefer to simply kidnap, bite, and bond you.”

“Um, yes please?” I ask, blushing. “Well, there goes my filter.”

“Filters are for boring people,” Cooper replies.

“I don’t know how long the suppressants are supposed to stay in my body,” I sigh.

“Those things can’t be legal,” Riley groans. “It’s probably for the best that you stop taking them. We’ll figure it out.”

“Does this count as hesitating?” I ask teasingly, squeezing Cooper’s hands before reclining back.

“No,” Ethan says, chuckling. “Your turn.”

“Do you want kids?” I ask, running my nails over my palms. It keeps me in the moment, even though I’m worried about their answers.

The three of them appear to swallow their tongues, making me laugh. And to think, Ethan thought he was going to win this game. This is kind of fun.

“The thought of you barefoot and pregnant is very attractive to me,” Cooper growls. “There are a number of reasons why I also want it. It would tie you to us in another way, I’d have another piece of you that exists in the world, and it would be an excuse to spoil you rotten.”

Riley and Ethan stare at Cooper in shock. “Those are inside thoughts, Dad,” Ethan hisses.

“I like them,” I shrug. “Pay the toll.”

Riley and Ethan stand, unsnapping their pants as I watch. Not to be outdone since he also hesitated, Cooper rises smoothly from the couch.

“I’ll take the spoils of war here, please,” I announce, pointing next to me.

The three of them grin as they toss their pants and shirts onto the waiting couch cushion. The three of them are rock hard, their boxers showing off their erections as I worry my bottom lip with my teeth.

“I’m still waiting for my answers, Alphas,” I purr, feeling bold.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Ethan chuckles. “The little queen has some big brat energy. Bring it, Baby Girl. So, I want kids if you do. I’m not pressed either way. There’s so much I want to do before that with you.”

“Like?” Cooper asks sardonically.

“I want to travel,” he says. “I want to spoil the shit out of her and fuck my omega over a balcony while Riley eats her out. Romantic, right?”

His father barks out a laugh as Riley smirks.

“I think we can make that happen,” Riley says. “I’ve personally never thought about kids, only because I never thought I’d be lucky enough to meet my scent match. I thought it was a pretty fairytale my mother used to tell me. I also have been more attracted to men until recently. So, I’m in Ethan’s camp. If you want them, then so do I.”

Nodding, I feel another little thread of anxiety loosen. Cooper wouldn’t purposely force me to get pregnant, despite his instincts. I’m still struggling with the propaganda from the hospital that said being barefoot and pregnant was part of getting packed up.

“Who’s turn is next?” I ask.

“Mine,” Cooper says. “Can I eat your pussy now? I’m hungry.”

My jaw drops for a moment too long, and he grins.

“That’s how you play the game,” he growls. “Leggings off.”

“I have to say, you definitely get results,” Riley mutters.

Standing, I fist the waistband of my leggings nervously.

“You’re serious?” I ask nervously.

“Mmhmm. I need you to come all over my face right now. Especially since you know my name now,” Cooper teases.

“This is a very important part in screaming it,” I say, smirking.

Moving slowly, I revel for the first time in the way their molten gazes watch as I pull my leggings and panties down my legs.

“Hello, beautiful,” Ethan growls, his eyes glued to my pussy as it comes into view. “You smell fucking amazing.”

Blushing furiously, I push my leggings down, surprised when Riley of all alphas is suddenly on his knees to help me out of them. His hazel eyes darken as he gazes at me, and I gasp as he lifts my leg onto his shoulder to lick and suck the slick on my inner thigh. My fingers hold onto his hair for balance, finding out that it’s not only a great handhold, but that he enjoys having it pulled.

“How does she taste?” Ethan asks.

“So fucking delicious,” Riley groans.

“Leave her pussy to me,” Cooper barks possessively, using his alpha bark. Riley’s hands tighten around my thighs before inclining his head in submission to him.

Holy fuck. I can feel my pussy pushing out more slick and I whine as I feel it slide out.

“Fuck, I now see the appeal of an omega,” Riley whispers.

The way he says it makes me growl, and he looks up repentantly.

“Of my omega,” he corrects, putting my foot down on the ground. “You’re way too tempting. Please go sit on Cooper’s face before he decides to kill me so he doesn’t have to share.”

Smirking, I move toward Cooper who is slouching on the couch, waiting for me.

“Now you’re ready for your throne?” he teases me.

“I thought that was your son’s line,” I tease back.

“Meh, he got his moves from somewhere,” he rumbles.

Ethan chuckles as Cooper moves so he’s laying on the couch.

“Nice one, old man,” he grumbles.

“It’ll keep you humble,” Cooper says. “Shirt off, baby. Give the boys something to watch while you ride my face.”

“Well, at least he can be gracious,” Riley says, sitting down to watch. “That’s something at least.”

Their banter makes my smile so wide it hurts. Pulling the rest of my clothes off, I let them drop to the ground.

“Are you sure you want me on top of your face?” I ask dubiously.

“Mmhmm. Take my hand and straddle my face,” Cooper says.

I do as he says, and I’m facing his feet as I hover over his face.

“Now get ready to scream for me,” he growls. “No one but us will be able to hear.”

Cooper’s hands pull me down onto his face, and I gasp as his mouth gets to work. It feels as if he’s devouring me, and I can feel my hips shifting to grind on his tongue. I don’t know what I’m doing, or if there’s a right way, but fuck does this feel good.

Riley and Ethan get up, moving closer to me. “Stop thinking so hard and just feel,” Ethan rasps. “If my memory serves me right, my dad eats your pussy really well.”

The fact that he may have done this to me before, even though I don't remember it, makes my pussy slick even more. Cooper gasps for air as he swallows down my cream, and then his mouth opens wide to cover as much of my cunt as possible. It’s all encompassing, and it makes my thoughts fly away like wild birds that have been scared away.

Whimpering, my fingers dig into my thighs as my chest begins to heave with desire.

“So pretty,” Riley murmurs, tipping my head up to kiss my lips. His tongue pushes into my mouth to twist around and suck on mine, making me mewl as I shudder.

A warm mouth sucks on my breast, and I find that I really like that. It also gives me something to hold onto, so my fingers dive into Ethan’s hair. Someone is licking, sucking, kissing so many parts of my body, and I writhe in pleasure between them all.

“I think we should kiss her together,” Riley whispers against my lips to Ethan.

“Good idea,” he murmurs.

Before I know it, I’m in a filthy kiss between them both. Whimpering, I enjoy every moment, knowing they’re also kissing each other as I gasp for breath. It’s so fucking hot. I think I had an idea it would be, but I would never have thought to ask for a three-way kiss.

Cooper growls underneath me, and I squeal as his thick fingers demand entrance into my dripping pussy. Ethan and Riley palm my breasts, their fingers torturing my nipples in the best of ways as they pluck and squeeze them.

It’s as if I’m unsure where to anticipate the twinge of pain, and after being hurt in other imaginable ways, it’s hard to believe that I am enjoying this as much as I am. I know it’s different though. My alphas won’t hurt me, not after the effort they’re made to bring me here.

I can feel the slow build of something deep in my lower belly. I can feel the burn in my thighs as my muscles clench and release, and the heaviness in my breasts.

Riley’s hand surrounds my throat, his thumb caressing my pulse point.

“That’s it, Little One,” he croons. “Rock, grind, fuck his face. I bet this is the happiest he’s been in a long time. Fuck, you’re making such a pretty mess.”

“I’m jealous as fuck,” Ethan admits, his hand cupping the back of my shaved head to kiss me. I miss my hair less when they’re worshipping me. That’s for damn sure.

Everything just seems to slide away, until all that’s left is us.

Cooper’s hand on my thigh tightens as his fingers begin to curl inside of me, making me gasp.

“Oh,” I keen, my eyes crossing at the feeling. “Yes, don’t… fucking stop.”

“He won’t, Little Queen,” Ethan promises. “Ride that wave, Nina. Keep going when you get to the top and fall. We’re all here to catch you.”

Ethan and Riley continue to kiss me, but they also move to suck and bite my breasts. My fingers tighten in their hair as I feel myself getting closer to that crest in the wave that Ethan talked about.

Cooper is unrepentant as he uses his teeth to edge me closer as he sucks on my clit. It feels amazing. I’ve never touched myself, not once, since leaving the hospital. I was never interested, and I didn’t have any privacy to do so either.

I make a frustrated sound, and Riley’s lips press against the shell of my ear.

“You can do it, baby,” he rasps. “You’re so fucking close. Keep going. Trust your body.”

“I can’t,” I wail, gasping as Cooper pushes another finger into my pussy and then rubs my asshole with his thumb.

Fuck me, I just became a fucked up version of a bowling ball. As my alpha fucks me with fingers and begins to fill my asshole with his thumb, I begin to pant as he destroys my clit with his tongue. Cooper is showing me his appreciation for my pussy on every level.

“Yes you can,” Ethan says, his eyes moving up to meet mine before he goes back to rolling his tongue over my nipple. I think I’ve found one of his favorite parts of my body.

“Give yourself over to us,” Riley croons, kissing down my neck. The hint of his teeth as they dimple my skin makes me cry out. “Fuck, that’ll come very soon, Little One. You’ll be proudly wearing our marks. Just not yet. Fall for us.”

His words have a slight bite, while not quite being a bark. They’re patient as I whimper and moan as they take care of me, until finally, it happens.

It’s like the trifecta of things all at once. I don’t even have time to feel badly for Cooper, or the way I’m drowning him in slick. I can hear how much he’s enjoying it. And I can’t concentrate on the way that Ethan is being even rougher with my tits, his growls sexy as fuck.

No, it’s all of that, with the addition of Riley whispering in my ear if I want to suck Ethan’s cock with him later. Those filthy, sex ridden words push me finally over, while I hold on for dear life to his arm as I come.

My vision blackens with its intensity, my oxygen freezes up, and I stop breathing as I explode. Ethan and Riley catch me just the way they promised they would, and Cooper pinches my thigh to force me to gasp in a breath.

“There we go,” he praises as my breath rasps in and out raggedly. I hiss as his fingers pull out of my holes, the sound of him sucking the ones from my pussy clean, lewd and loud. “It’s too early in the night for you to pass out, baby.”

“There’s more?” I ask, laughing a little hysterically.

“Always,” Riley says, helping me up. Snagging his shirt, he pulls it over my head and I push my arms into its respective holes. “First, I think you need to hydrate and have some cake.”

“I always have room for that,” I say, unthinking as they groan.

The bottom of Cooper’s face is covered in slick, and I blush as he sits up.

“That’s the face of a man who’s just been rewarded for a job well done,” Ethan snorts as he grabs my hand to pull me toward the kitchen.

Smirking, I sigh happily. This is the life that dreams are made of.

Twenty-Three

Cooper

My hand flexes over Nina’s stomach, making me frown in my sleep. She’s making little noises and is moving as if she’s uncomfortable. Blinking to wake myself up, I glance at her.

We fell asleep after coming into the bedroom and giving her lots of orgasms through oral. She also begged for cum, so she and Riley sucked Ethan off before doing the same to Riley. Nina was insatiable, but she wasn’t as warm as her skin is now.

Could she have been going into heat and we didn’t realize it? My chest vibrates as I worry, pressing my lips against her shoulder. The skin here is burning up, and if this was any other time, I’d worry that she was getting sick.

Either way, we’ll take care of her. Ethan is sleeping with his hand on her breast, which I’m unsurprised by, while Riley sleeps behind him. His hand is on her hip, so we’re all touching her. Yet, I’m the one awake. My protective instincts are firing, and it feels as if there’s a giant boulder on my chest.

Moving my lips to press against the shell of her ear, I murmur, “Nina, wake up, honey.”

She whimpers instead, her legs pressing together as her pussy releases a huge amount of slick onto the sheets.

Fuckballs.

“Nina,” I growl as she begins to writhe in pain. “Baby, wake up.”

My hand cups her face as I lean over her, my thumb ghosting along her skin. We all fell asleep naked in a giant puppy pile in bed. I’ve never enjoyed sharing my space with anyone before, but I strangely didn’t hate this.

Ethan inhales a gasping breath, startling awake at my voice.

“What?” he asks, confused. “Why are you awake?”

“Apparently, swallowing all of that cum was a precursor to Nina’s heat,” I sigh. “She smelled a scent match, and that could have overridden her meds. I can’t get her to wake up.”

“Nina?” Ethan says, squeezing her side hard as if that’ll help. I swear, if he pinches her, I’ll backhand him.

I may have stooped before to do shit like that, but I’m not that man anymore.

“Ow, it hurts,” she whines, her eyes unseeing as she blinks. Nina is bound inside her body, half asleep still.

My hands turn her to lay on top of me, and I kiss her sweaty temple.

“I can help,” I promise. “Do you want my knot, Princess? It’ll stop the pain.”

“Mmmm,” she says, pushing herself up. She’s still not awake, working off instincts. If our first time is going to happen while she sleep fucks me, then so be it.

“Take it, baby,” I encourage, grunting as she lets her legs drop open to straddle me.

Her pussy slicks all over my dick as she rolls her hips over me, grunting as my crown bumps her swollen clit. So needy.

“Please,” she gasps, shuddering as another wave of pain hits her and she folds her body over as if to protect herself.

I should worry about condoms, but going to find some in my bag would be ludicrous. My omega isn’t cognizant, in heat, and needs my dick now.

Deciding to take control of things, I help Nina to rise more on her knees and grab my dick, pumping it twice. The second I smelled her sweet scent, I was rock hard, and it just solidified that she was experiencing her heat.

Lining my cock up with her slick entrance, I push her down my shaft. Her lashes flutter even as she moans loudly, and yes, she still doesn’t wake up. I’m strangely aroused that she’s sleep fucking me, and my eyes cross at the way her pussy grips me.

Riley yawns as he sits up, but quickly wakes up as he sees us.

“Oh fuck,” he whispers, inhaling deeply.

“Pretty much,” I rumble. “That’s it, Princess. Your cunt is taking me so well. I’m so fucking proud of you. Ahhh. Yes.”

Riley will catch up, I’m not really worried about him. My attention is all on my omega right now.

Nina’s fingers clench onto the sheets as she pushes her upper body up enough that she can take control. Her eyes are half open, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she thought she was dreaming. Her hips rise and fall to take more of my thick cock, her tits swaying with each movement.

“Hurts,” she whines again.

“What do you need?” I ask, hoping she can tell me as I sit up to hold her. Nina’s nails dig into my shoulders as she hits the base of my dick, and I know this position makes it feel as if I’m deeper inside of her.

She makes a keening sound as she feels my knot bumping against her entrance, her hips rocking back and forth as if trying to figure out how to push that inside of her pussy. I know she can take it, and that she’ll work on instinct. I just need to help her trust them.

“Knot,” she breathes. “Cum. I need more.”

“It’s yours,” I promise. “I’ll help you, and your pussy will suck my knot inside of you. For now, get it nice and slick, Nina. Yes, just like that. Rock those beautiful hips.”

“Mmm,” Riley groans, his eyes glued to where we’re connected. “Your pretty cunt is begging for that knot, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she whines. “I need it.”

Shifting so that I can thrust up, I love the way she clings to me. Her heels dig into the base of my back, and her breasts are pressed against me as I begin to fuck my knot inside of her. Her whines and begging increases over time, her nails scratching at my shoulders as she bears the pain as her cunt stretches.

There’s a reason I refused to knot her until now. My knot is larger than others, and I don’t deflate quickly.

“That’s it,” I croon in her ear. “Almost there, Princess. I know it hurts.”

“Daddy please,” she gasps, and my eyes widen as she fully wakes up. “Fuck me, I need it.”

My lips crash onto hers as she kisses me back, and I flip her over until her back hits the sheets. Having her call me that is still my kryptonite. The haze of a rut takes over as I thrust and piston my hips, my lips kissing down her throat and tentatively biting down on her pulse point. I’m well aware of the worried alphas at my back, but I’d never hurt her.

I will, however, claim what’s mine. She’s not walking out of this bedroom unmarked or unbonded.

“Alpha,” Nina keens, making my cock twitch inside of her. Fuck, I really like when she calls me that too. “Bite, please. I need to belong to you.”

“Dad,” Ethan grunts as I look down at my omega.

“Mine,” I growl. I’ve waited too long for Nina. I’ll never be the same alpha I was before meeting her, and I really don’t care.

Ethan sighs as he watches us.

“Bite,” Nina whines again. Her body is writhing underneath me, and my entire knot is covered in slick. I love how she’s claiming me right back, refusing to back down as she pulls on my hair. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

My heart fucking stops at those words, and my mind refuses to take no for an answer. Snarling, my teeth sink deep into her throat, my tongue coating with her blood.

“Alpha?” Nina asks as the bond begins to snap into place.

“Mine,” I growl into her mind. “Bite me back, Princess. Stake your claim.”

The last of my knot is being sucked inside of her dripping cunt, the lewd sound loud when she leans up with the cutest squeak and bites just underneath my jawline. Now, everyone will know I’m hers. The translucent scar when it heals will be on display proudly. Fuck, maybe I’ll just get it tattooed on there.

Hmm, I’m going to do that. The alpha who doesn’t care what others think inside of me growls in approval, just as my vision whites out from the force of my orgasm. Yelling as my hips fuck my knot into her as her release also hits, I feel as our connection fully solidifies.

Tears of joy hit me so hard I lose my breath, and I bury my face in her throat as soon as she releases me. Breathing hard, I nuzzle against her, only to find that she’s unconscious when I shift to check on her.

“Shit,” I mutter worriedly.

“She’s fine,” Riley quickly reassures me. “It makes sense that the bond hit her hard. I’m going to run down and get some frozen fruit and water with electrolytes. Fuck, I’m glad I prepared that just in case last night. Goddamn is my dick hard though.”

Ethan and I chuckle as he walks out of the room. Shifting so I’m not crushing Nina, I snuggle her against me. She’s going to need these moments of rest when she can get them if her heat is already this intense.

“So we’re stuck with Riley forever, I see?” I tease Ethan as I yawn. We probably didn’t get more than four hours of sleep before this started.

“Ah, yeah. I guess we are,” my son says, the tips of his ears turning red. It’s one of his rare tells, and typically only happens when he’s trying to wrap his mind around something.

“I suppose he isn’t too annoying,” I murmur, grinning as Ethan makes a face at me. “He’s a good alpha, son. I also think he’s good to you and Nina. Speaking of, hello there, beautiful.”

“Hi,” she whispers. Wincing, she whimpers again and I worry at the sweat beading at her temples. “I feel so ungrateful.”

“Why, baby?” I ask, my fingers massaging over her back. Nina sighs happily, while her cunt clamps down on my knot so hard I see stars. Fuck, baby.

“I need more,” she complains. “I want to be made into the filling between a sandwich with extra cream.”

Huffing out a laugh because that was very descriptive, I nod.

“Ethan, I think our girl needs you to fill her ass,” I murmur. Turning so I’m on my back, I squeeze her ass. There’s more than enough slick so that he doesn’t even need lube.

An omega’s body is fucking incredible.

“I was your first there once, seems fitting that I’m your first now,” Ethan says so softly I don’t think she hears. She’s very sensitive right now, I don’t want her upset because her memories of that time are lost.

We’re moving forward now. We’ll give her everything she could possibly need or want. I don’t care if it makes her the most spoiled omega in the world. I can handle her brattiness.

Ethan kisses her back as he palms her ass, opening her wide. His dick rocks over her hole, ensuring that he’s fully coated with her cream. Does it bother me to fuck my girl with my son? Not at all.

My dick is thoroughly cocooned in Nina’s hot cunt. I also don’t give a shit. As long as she’s happy, I’m good.

I can feel his dick as he thrusts his cock into her tight hole, and I soothe Nina as she cries out. I’ve heard that some omegas don’t feel any pain during their heat while having sex, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for her.

“Slower,” I growl at him.

“I… I’m trying,” he grits out. “Her asshole is trying to pull me in, and it’s fucking with my head. Plus, she smells so good. I swear I’m not trying to hurt her.”

Grunting in frustration, he moves at a snail's pace. Nina writhes between us, and I rub her clit and praise her. I talk her through an orgasm as she pants, her eyes rolling wildly as Ethan’s cock fills her. I can feel him through the thin membrane between us, and I know she’s got to be feeling really full.

I’m refusing to move until he’s completely inside of her, my muscles corded and strained in an effort to stay still.

“Poor Alpha,” she sighs, snuggling against my chest. “Your knot is throbbing inside of me. It feels so good, but I need you to fuck me again soon.”

“Soon,” I growl. “Just as soon as you’re ready for it.”

“Nina,” Ethan pants, his hands planted on the bed on either side of us. “Tell me when you’re ready for me to move.”

“Move,” she growls adorably. “I need to be filled with cum.”

She’s a persistent little omega, that’s for sure. Riley enters the room to the view of her sitting up, forcing Ethan to also shift his position. She really does look like a queen on her favorite throne when she rides me. Wrapping his arms around her, his hips begin to move, and her head drops back to his shoulder as she gasps with pleasure.

“Riley,” I growl, making him startle into motion. He drops everything on the table and crawls onto the bed to join us. “Nina needs another hole filled.”

His answering grin is wicked as he balances on his knees to fist his cock. The crown is red and angry, and already beaded with precum. Nina growls possessively as I chuckle, proud that she’s so vocal about what she wants. Her mouth opens wide as her tongue drops out, drool already beginning to accumulate from how much she wants his dick.

Together, we fuck Nina as she holds onto one of us for balance. My hand holds tightly to her hip as I rut my knot inside of her, and Ethan groans as Nina begins to take his knot. Neither of us are small, and she screams at the stretch.

“Think about how much you want his knot,” I growl. “Relax for him, Princess.”

Her tits bounce as we fuck her, and I desperately wish I had a vibrator for her clit. I didn’t think of it when I packed for this trip, and in my head I promise her a chest of sex toys for her nest. Anything her heart desires. Even a strap on in case she wants to peg one of her other alphas.

Fucking anything.

Instead, I make do with my fingers rubbing her swollen clit. I swear, it’s larger than it was last night, and I pay attention to her noises as I touch her. Her breasts beg for attention, her nipples so tight and inviting. Contracting my stomach muscles as I continue to rut, I suck on her nipples, making sure I use my teeth on her.

“Such a show off,” Ethan mutters, kissing her neck as he groans.

Nina pulls her mouth off Riley’s cock, her fingers digging into Ethan’s hair.

“Bite me,” she groans. “Stop teasing me, Ethan.”

My lips twitch in amusement that she’s able to differentiate who is who, because her pupils are blown wide with desire and need. Her fingers yank on his hair insistently as we hold her between us, and I can hear Ethan’s purr of happiness.

Any alpha would love this, and we’ve waited a long time to be able to enjoy our omega’s impatience and need. Even if she doesn’t remember us, and our relationship is on an uneven track because we love her so much, it’s clear that the omega inside of her wants us.

Fuck all the rest of the world. This is what matters.

“You want me to be yours forever?” Ethan growls. “My bite, my teeth, make you mine? I’ll always know what you need, and I’ll bend over backward to give it to you.”

The words hit me hard as Nina screams at him to make her his, and he bites down savagely on her shoulder. No one will be able to accuse her of being unwanted or unclaimed again. My son has come a long way from the selfish alpha in college who hated everyone.

He’s found the importance of community while working with the other packs, which is something we’re going to need as we fight to make Nina ours in the eyes of both the law and Vivian.

My release crawls down my spine and takes me by surprise as it hits, and I gasp as I pump ropes of cum into her pussy. The bite and my orgasm triggers Nina’s and we both shudder as our connection heightens everything.

Holy shit.

Ethan

“Come on, Little Queen,” I purr in Nina’s ear. She told Riley and I, no her highness demanded rather, that we both fuck her pussy at the same time.

It’s been two days of non stop fucking as her heat rages on, and she’s becoming more and more demanding. Nina has barely eaten unless Dad alpha barks her into it, but I’m loving every moment of this.

All I’ve ever wanted is to have Nina back in my life, and that includes every omega quirk of need she has. I want it all.

She wants me to build her a nest from scratch? I’ll figure it out and watch tutorials. She wants help color coordinating books, shoes, or anything else? All she needs to tell me is what color gradient we’re going with.

Earlier today she bit my chest in her eagerness to mark me, and I came so hard I passed out with my dick inside of her. Nina continued to ride me, so that when I came to, I felt her coming on my cock.

The bond is fucking wild.

“I feel so…full,” she moans. Her back is pressed against my chest, while I pull her thighs tightly toward her chest. My cock is buried in her cunt, but I’m waiting to give her my knot until I know she can handle both of us.

Because yes, she demanded to have her pussy double knotted as well.

“Fuck, look at how gorgeous you are,” Riley groans as he stretches her pussy wider with his dick. Her pussy flutters around us both, gushing huge amounts of slick to accommodate us.

I can feel his cock as it slides along mine, and I groan as I find that I have to fucking move. My hips spasm as I gasp, my cock thrusting inside of Nina. Her answering moan makes me smile. I really can’t help myself.

“Shit, Ethan,” Riley groans, his cock moving faster as a result of me. “Sorry, Little One. I need you to hold on tight. I’m barely keeping it together.”

Biting my lip as I watch Riley wrap his hands around Nina’s thighs, I’m enthralled by the way his muscles make his tattoos move as he fucks her. It’s when he manages to also lift and drop her on my dick, effectively taking over that I lose my own control.

All that matters is slick, the sound of our moans, and giving Nina everything she could ever want. I have no idea where my father went, nor do I currently care as we sandwich our omega together.

She squirts between us as she comes, her head thrashing as she takes us both.

“Riley,” she whines. “Fuck us harder.”

God, she’s amazing. Insatiable, but perfect.

“Give her what she wants,” I sigh happily. Her slick is covering my entire lower body, including my asshole. I bet that would make a very interesting lube when we aren’t in the middle of a heat.

The muscles in Riley’s throat bulge as he pushes his knot inside of Nina’s pussy, and I take over by thrusting up to continue fucking her. Her screams become even louder, pulling my father from the bathroom. His hair is wild as if he jumped out of the shower, his towel in his hand.

“Fuck,” he mutters, sagging against the door frame, his hand fisting his cock. We must have worried him. “Now I’m going to need to stuff your mouth full of cock, Princess.”

Dropping the towel, his skin still covered in water droplets, he stalks over to where Riley and I have her pinned between our bodies.

“So fucking gorgeous,” he purrs, his hand gripping her chin to tilt her face up. “Are the boys being good to you, baby?”

“You left me,” she pouts, her eyes rolling as she takes more of Riley’s knot. “Oh fuck. Yes!”

“Sounds like you’re being well taken care of,” Dad says, amused. “You’re taking Riley’s knot so well, Nina. Your body is made for us.”

“Before I can’t talk anymore, I want Riley’s bite,” she says. “Make sure he gives it to me.”

“Whatever you want,” Dad promises, smearing the crown of his dick over her lips. “Now open nice and wide for me.”

Nina’s head is pressed against my windpipe as she sucks cock, but I don’t mind. I will gladly accept some asphyxiation so she can get what she wants. My cock feels as if it’s in a vice as Riley pushes the rest of his knot inside of Nina’s cunt and my chest is heaving with the need to come.

Fuck, my thighs burn as I press my feet into the mattress and take control, fighting to get my knot to fit as well.

Nina’s moans and screams only fill our bond between us with happy vibes, and I can feel how accepted she feels. From being what she thought was unwanted to having three alphas that adore her, I can understand why she felt the way she did.

There just wasn’t any other way that I could see to protect her while I got closer to her. Did she fight the tug of attraction between us to begin with? Yes, of course.

But, I love the challenge and the chase.

“More, Alpha. I want Riley’s bite once your knot is seated deep inside of me,” she begs me through the bond.

This. This is what I love more than anything. I don’t know how far the bond will go if she’s away from me, but being able to speak through the bond is life changing.

“As you wish,” I promise. My teeth grit together as sweat drips down my face, my knot slipping in and out of her cunt as I fuck her with it.

Riley grunts and curses as he feels my knot grind against his, while I grin cheekily at him.

“Ethan,” he groans. “It feels as if you’re fisting my knot somehow. Fuck, I’m not going to last.”

“Last until you bite her,” I growl back. “Don’t keep our omega waiting.”

The sound of Nina gagging on cock makes my knot thicken even more, and I gasp as I struggle to hold back my release.

“Baby, you’re making me wild,” I whisper in her ear. “Show me how much you love cock. Swallow down every inch.”

Whining in response to the challenge, her hand grabs Dad’s ass to pull him closer. Smirking because now she’s distracted enough that she won’t come yet, I concentrate on giving her what she wants.

If her pussy strangles my knot anymore, I won’t be able to restrain myself. Feeling my body’s instincts riding me hard, I begin to rut into her. I hold onto the only promise I made to her, though.

Nothing else matters.

The squelch of her pussy is loud as she fucks the rest of my knot in, and I yell at the odd feeling. It’s as if her pussy is a sentient being in search of cum.

I think it’s safe to say that omegas in the middle of a heat become cum monsters.

Reaching up to grab Riley’s arm, I pull him over us so that his body is caging us.

“Bite her,” I growl. “Then bite me.”

Riley is breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he gazes down at us, his hips never stopping their thrusting motion. My eyes roll at how fucking good it feels, and my knot tells me that I’m out of time. Dammit.

“Riley,” I wheeze, desperation in my voice.

“Okay,” he whispers. “My bite belongs to both of you.”

I know how much I’m asking him, but I also know my father will be the leader of our pack. It’s only right, and he’ll insist on giving his own bites to connect us all to him. A united pack is important to my dad, as is his ability to protect us.

It’s part of the feral beast inside of him. He’s changed a lot, but it’s all for the better. Being feral works for him.

Riley finds himself the perfect place to bite Nina, and my lips twitch as I crane my neck to see that it’s the side of her breast. My favorite part of her body is about to become even more special.

His teeth bite down without preamble, and I gasp as she comes around our cocks. It triggers my and Riley’s release, my hearing destroyed as we both roar with pleasure. My father groans as he praises her, tells her he’s also close.

I know that cumming isn’t his main focus outside of giving her it. I’m mildly surprised she hasn’t hit the point where she begs us to cover her in it. I’ve done some research on heats since we lost Nina, because I wanted to be able to know what she’d need.

The reality is that every omega is different.

Riley lifts my hand and bites down hard on the fleshy part between my thumb and forefinger, somehow forcing me to come again.

“Oh fuck,” I whimper, shuddering.

The bond that begins to solidify makes it worth it, even though my dick is going to be very sore after this.

Twenty-Four

Nina

I’m curled between two bodies, and I’m very comfortable. Sighing happily, I don’t even care that I’m covered in cum or that I could do with a shower. I’m bitten, claimed, and I have an alpha still knot deep inside of me.

“Hey there, Little Queen,” Ethan murmurs in my ear as I smile.

“Hi,” I reply, almost not wanting to open my eyes.

I don’t know how many days have gone by, or what’s going to happen next. All I know is that every second with my alphas is one I’ll treasure. Reality is waiting once I open my eyes.

“You’re squishing your eyes shut, Nina,” Riley says, amused.

Ugh, I’ve been busted. Opening my eyes, I sigh with relief that the curtains have all been drawn closed, shutting out the icy sunlight outside. I can still see the outline of it, confirming a new day.

“They’re open now,” I grumble.

“Nina,” a growl says from the doorway. Sitting up, I see Cooper standing there with a mug of coffee, clean, wearing low slung joggers.

God, he is gorgeous.

“Come here, Princess,” he insists.

“I’m a little stuck,” I tease him.

Ethan grins against my skin, and I feel his knot already starting to deflate.

“This is one of my favorite ways to sleep,” he confesses. Hissing as he pulls his dick out of me, I whimper in response because I am going to miss the comfort of his cock. I have no idea how long we’ve been locked away in the bubble of my heat.

Crawling out of the slick covered sheets, I stand to pad over to Cooper, loving his knowing smirk.

“Coffee?” he offers.

Taking a sip, I hum as my stomach begins to grumble angrily.

“This is what happens when you refuse to eat during your heat, baby,” he says.

“I know,” I pout. “I wasn’t hungry for food at the time.”

There were times where I was more aware than others, but I do remember that Cooper kept pushing me to eat frozen fruit and drink water. Sometimes it worked, while others it definitely did not.

“I’ll get something started. I don’t have a clue what time it is,” Riley says, stretching as he sits up.

“I should probably discourage naked cooking,” Cooper rumbles. “If you set your dick on fire, there are two people that may be disappointed.”

Riley snorts as he pulls on a pair of joggers off the floor and stands.

“You’re probably right,” he grunts.

“It’s midafternoon by the way,” Cooper mentions as Riley passes him.

“Shit, really? Why does it feel as if it’s so much earlier?” he mutters.

“The snow plays tricks with the light,” Cooper reminds him as he walks out of the room. “You should get cleaned up, Nina. Otherwise, I’m going to take you back to bed and your holes have been well used over the past five days.”

“Five,” I whisper, my jaw dropping in shock.

“That’s what happens when you suppress things like your heat for a year,” Ethan says, getting out of bed. “We can shower together, and I’ll make sure all of your holes are very clean.”

Cooper rolls his eyes even as he smirks in amusement.

“She’s more likely to bite your dick off in hunger than suck on it,” he says. “I can hear her thoughts, and they all revolve around food.”

“I can’t help it,” I whine, my arm banding around my stomach. “I’m so hungry.”

“I’m not going to tell you ‘I told you so,’” he chuckles. “Go shower.”

“Yes, sir,” I murmur, walking toward the bathroom with Ethan.

“Suck up,” Ethan teases me, but only once he’s sure his dad is gone.

Mmhmm, I’m not the only one who banks brownie points.

He turns on the shower, catching me around the waist before I can get inside.

“It’s cold,” he says. “Wait for the water to warm up.”

My lips twitch because that’s so sweet. I’m so used to not having any privacy, I just jump into the freezing water to get my shower over with. I can’t just enjoy the spray of warm water or let my mind wander over happy memories because I don’t really have any.

Well, not until now.

“Where did you just go?” Ethan asks.

“Nowhere good,” I admit. “And everywhere wonderful. I was thinking about how nice it is just to take a warm shower.”

“Vivian cuts the heat to your water?” he asks. He’s not wrong to ask. It’s something she’d do if she could, but the water boiler works for the entire house.

“Not quite,” I reply, watching as he pulls out fluffy towels and checks the shower to make sure he has everything he needs. It’s sweet and very thorough.

He helps me into the shower, and I sigh as the water rains over me. It’s gentle, and not like the sharp spray of the one I have.

“Explain,” he murmurs, getting in and pulling me tightly against his front. I marvel at how warm and handsome he is.

And then I realize that I’m cataloguing everything because I’m going to have to go home.

“No privacy means I don’t enjoy getting undressed when anyone can walk in,” I sigh, blindly looking away to wash my hair.

“I fucking hate your mother,” Ethan snarls, picking up the shampoo and pouring some into his hand. “Tip your head back.”

I open my mouth to ask why when I feel his hands move to what little hair I have. He doesn’t care though, he begins to massage it in. Sighing because it does feel nice, I can feel my eyelashes flutter closed.

“Dad is going to make her wish that she’d never fucked with you,” he growls in my ear. “We aren’t going to play her game, and neither will the other packs. Her days are very limited.”

“But I am going to have to go home,” I confirm.

“Not for long,” he denies. “You’re claimed, let us file the paperwork and cut through the red tape.”

His fingers are sure and firm as he rolls them over my scalp, and I can feel my anxiety trickling away.

“You have Lyle on your side, Nina,” he reminds me. “I have a feeling he’s going to be making sure every ‘i’ is dotted and ‘t’ is crossed. It’s the kind of alpha and lawyer that he is. They have all been chomping at the bit to make sure we reunited. None of them are going to drop the ball now.”

His words make sense, and they help calm me as he rinses my hair. I’m drowsy as he washes my body, and then he leans me against the tile wall with a wicked grin.

“You need something to wake you up,” he says, just before he raises my leg over his shoulder and kisses my clit.

My small inhale of surprise makes him smile wider, and his tongue joins the party to roll over my growing arousal.

“Mmm. Honeysuckle first thing is exactly what I need,” he growls.

The sweetness intensifies as he eats me out, and my moans grow louder. Cooper thought I might be sore, but I’m not. This feels so good. I’m slicking all over his chin, and he pushes his tongue inside of me to eat it straight from the source.

The shower stall smells like honeysuckle, blood orange, and chocolate. I drop my head back and laugh as my body begs for more, pushing my thoughts into Ethan’s head so he doesn’t think I’m insane.

I can smell, and I think it may be because of the hot water working to clear my sinuses. Mmm. We smell good together.

“Fuck, we really do,” Ethan groans, hearing me through the bond. His fingers begin to fuck my pussy, and he gazes up at me as I begin to pant with need. “Come for me, baby. Take your time, just feel, and stop thinking.”

It’s not a secret that it can take me longer to come, but they’ve yet to complain. A gentle nip of teeth along my clit makes me gasp, though it’s effective. His tongue and mouth seal around my clit, driving me wild, and my hands slam against the wall as I keen.

There’s nothing else that exists except him. His fingers, the way they twist and curl to hit the secret spot inside of me that make my toes clench as my hips begin to move of their own accord.

I end up pushing up against his fingers so I’m fucking him back, and his tongue is pushing me closer to coming.

“Ethan,” I beg, my head thrashing against the wall. “Please, fuck, yes!”

His manly chuckle against my clit is the vibration I need as I come, slick flowing over his fingers.

“So pretty,” he groans.

“Now that she’s awake, maybe you can feed her too,” Cooper calls into the bathroom.

My legs feel like jello and I grin like a maniac as Ethan settles my feet onto the ground. I didn’t realize that he’d picked me up completely at one point. Fuck, he has a way of helping me clear my head.

Standing, he kisses me hard, ensuring that I taste myself.

“I have to finish showering, Dad. I’m going to give you the responsibility of feeding the temptress,” he teases.

Cooper opens the door with a towel already open in his hands.

“It’s not her fault you can’t control yourself,” he muses. “Out you go, Princess.”

Stepping out of the shower and into the towel he wraps around me, I allow him to guide me back to the bedroom as he dries me off.

“How bad is the snow?” I ask. I’m trying to figure out if I need to start rebuilding my armor.

How much time do I have before I have to stop being happy?

Cooper’s chest begins to vibrate as he kisses my temple before he pulls out clothes from a bag. Silas was right when he said I didn’t need anything. I think there’s at least seven days worth of clothing inside.

I just didn’t need any of it the last few days. Letting the towel drop, I watch as Cooper kneels in front of me with my panties.

“It’s lightened up a lot,” he says. I know he’s feral, but the way nothing else seems to matter when he’s speaking to me is a heady feeling. “You still have some time left, Nina.”

I nod as I step into my panties, watching as he drags it up my thighs. Cooper makes sure they’re not pinching my skin in any way before he picks up a pair of maroon fleece leggings. My mother would hate this color, but I think they’re fun.

I allow Cooper to help me dress, and he pulls out a bra that actually fits.

“I know everything about you,” he reminds me, standing behind me as he latches the clasps. A kiss on my shoulder is followed by a soft cream long sleeved sweater, and I have to admit I love this outfit.

It’s soft, smells like Cooper, and…

Oh.

The bond between us muted the sensation of recognizing my scent matches and I find myself standing in awe of it. God, I feel complete.

“What… what just happened?” he asks, sounding as if he just got hit by a two by four.

Turning to face him, I see that his eyes are dark and intense, his teeth bared as he’s filled with my emotions.

“The shower cleared my sinuses,” I say shyly. “I can smell you and Ethan. The scent match clicked for me.”

“Thank God,” he growls. “Your senses may always have some issues, but no one can ever take this from you. You’re completely ours now.”

I feel as if I’m flying as he takes my hand and walks down to the kitchen with me.

“I just finished,” Riley says, placing my plate in front of me as I hop up onto the stool. Giants, I tell you.

He made an egg frittata that looks airy and delicious, and I inhale deeply.

“This looks really good,” I confess, picking up a fork and digging in.

Ethan walks in as I moan after the first bite, and he groans.

“My dick is apparently always going to stand at attention around you,” he says. “It’s sore, Nina.”

“Such is a mated alpha’s life,” Cooper snorts as he begins to eat.

“Yes,” Ethan says sheepishly. “I love that for me, but five days of fucking Nina non-stop wasn’t something I thought needed to be on that bingo card.”

Riley smirks as he sits down with us, shrugging.

“It was a very intense heat,” he admits. “The suppressants likely had a lot to do with that, and they shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Don’t take them. If your mom tells you to, flush the dose, Nina. I don’t know if you’ll have monthly heats, or if they’ll have a wider gap between them. We’ll figure it out.”

Nodding at how matter of fact he is, I concentrate on my food. I am starving, and he hands me a banana afterward to take the edge off.

“Thank you,” I murmur, polishing that off as well. “I think I’m good now.”

“Let me know when you’re hungry again,” he says. “Seriously, I don’t care if it’s five minutes from now.”

They’re all so nice. It’s not that I haven’t been around good alphas, but my mother’s view of pack life is shutting the fuck up and doing what you’re told. I think her dim view of being mated may have something to do with the revolving door of husbands she’s had.

Those aren’t mates, they’re people to service her needs. It’s not the same.

Wanting to brush my teeth, I walk back upstairs to do that, and then realize I also need to empty my bladder. Riley finds me sitting on the edge of the bed putting on socks because my feet are cold, and I feel sadness through the bond.

“Is Silas here?” I ask, not having heard the door.

“We just got a text that he’s on his way,” he says, moving to fix my socks so they sit just right. “Your mother has been blowing him up, and threatened to get the Healthy Pack Organization involved.”

The organization is meant to protect omegas within a pack, but by the same standards will back my mother up if her daughter is “kidnapped.”

This is such bullshit.

“However,” Riley continues. “He texted us before he spoke to your mother to see how things were going. Ethan told him that you were bonded and bitten.”

My teeth worry my bottom lip as I nod.

“What does that ultimately mean?” I whisper.

“It means that Silas told your mother that you have a pack and a decision has been made,” he says. “Your mother took that to mean that Pack Mayor had made a decision, which is completely on her to assume this. He told Vivian that you wouldn’t be living with her for long.”

“Okay,” I murmur, struggling to figure out why I have to go back at all as Riley puts my boots on.

“Your mother hurt you,” he says softly. “She’s going to have to pay for that. We’re going to be on a flight back today, as well, and you’ll be out of there by tonight. We have to pretend to abide by the law, even if our names are being entered as your pack instead of Silas’.”

“Okay,” I breathe.

Remembering the way Cassidy, Silas, and Cooper have talked about killing my mother, I can only imagine the type of justice that’ll be meted out. Do I feel badly about this?

Absolutely not. The hell she put me through more than warrants it. I want my life back, no matter what it takes.

“She’s always going to try to fuck with my life otherwise, won’t she?” I ask, watching as Riley zips up my boots.

“We aren’t exactly who she wants your pack to be,” he says, standing as he pulls me up. “Your mother doesn’t want Cooper and Ethan in your life at all.”

I can hear what he doesn’t say. It was one of the reasons I was at Weeping Willow.

“I want that place burned down,” I growl. “The hospital, Riley. I want it gone.”

“Cooper wants the same,” he says as we begin walking out of the bedroom. “It’s going to take some planning because there are so many ‘patients’ there.”

“I know,” I say. “A part of me still worries I’ll be sent back, and no one will be able to help me.”

“Never,” Riley snarls. “I swear it. You’ll never go back.”

Those words ring in my ears as I sit and wait with my alphas to be picked up by Silas. My hands cramp from how hard I hold onto Cooper and Riley's hands, but neither complain. Instead, Cooper leans toward me, reminding me of how strong I am.

“I’m tired of being strong,” I whisper. “It’s exhausting.”

Cooper wilts as he nods, pulling his hand away to pick me up into his lap.

“It fucking sucks,” he agrees. “I hate that you have to go back, but if we don’t do things right, Vivian could throw a fit and fuck everything up. The Healthy Pack Organization could choose to block our claim. It’s a power play, but I’ve heard it happen.”

“We can’t let that happen,” Ethan says urgently, picking up the wig I haven’t had to wear in days. He winces as he sees my face, and I can tell that this doesn’t sit well for him either. “I’m burning these things as soon as I can, Nina. We’re going to have a giant bonfire.”

“We need a place to do that,” Riley adds. “Choose a city to live in, Nina. Savannah or Minneapolis?”

“Savannah,” I decide immediately. “I don’t think I’m built for the cold.”

“Do you want a porch?” he asks. Riley is serious.

“Ah, yes,” I say, confused. “What is this?”

“House hunting,” Ethan explains. “Riley has an incredible memory, and he’ll use your answers to help us find a house today.”

“Today?” I squeak.

“Mmhmm,” Cooper murmurs. “We have a pack that needs a home, Princess. We’ve waited a long time for you, and it would be wrong to not give you the space you need. If you hate it, we’ll sell it.”

I gape at them, because I think they broke me.

“Focus, Nina,” Riley says, smirking. “Bay window or casement?”

“Are bay windows the ones that also become window seats?” I ask, frowning as I try to concentrate.

“Yes,” Cooper confirms, his cheek pressed against mine.

Talking about this is helping to distract me, but my skin feels too tight and my eyes are burning.

“Then yes,” I say, my voice cracking.

“You’re doing so good,” Ethan croons. “Do you want your nest in an attic or in a bedroom? The attic would have lower ceilings, and we could easily change out the glass in the windows so that they have a more filtered light coming in.”

“Oh,” I say, trying to decide. “I’ve never had a nest before. I don’t know anything about them.”

“We can design it together, I just need to know so I can ensure that the attic is usable,” Riley explains.

“Yes then,” I say. “I really like the columns that some of the porches have. It would be fun to have hanging plants and a swing too.”

“Good, good,” Cooper murmurs. “I need something to do. Give me shit to build, baby.”

A half laugh escapes that is strangely close to a sob, and he holds me tighter.

“What color do you want your house?” he asks.

“White with a navy blue door,” I rasp. “I want a separate bedroom where we can all sleep together that’ll fit a huge bed. I don’t want to sleep alone.”

“Never,” he promises. “How many bedrooms?”

Forcing myself to breathe, I whimper as it becomes difficult. “Six,” I squeak out.

“I kind of want to know why, but I can ask you later,” Riley grunts. “There’s a house I saw that had all of this on the market. I troll the real estate sites on my breaks believe it or not. Do you want a garden, Nina? We’ll pay for someone to take care of it if you want, but this house has pretty paved walkways along a huge backyard with a garden.”

“How did I get so lucky?” I sob, breaking. “You’re all so wonderful.”

“We’re wonderful to you, Princess,” Cooper corrects. “The rest of the world can burn for all I care.”

“Yeah it could,” Ethan sighs. “We’ll get working on the house⁠—”

A knock on the door cuts him off, and I shudder at the sound.

“It’s not for long,” Cooper whispers reassuringly. “You’ll be back with us before the clock strikes midnight, baby. Sooner depending on how long it takes for us to kill your cunt mother.”

Riley clears his throat while Cooper shrugs.

“I was married to the bitch,” he growls. “I can call her whatever I want. Okay. Breathe for me, Nina. Nice and deep. Do it.”

The last words have the power of an alpha bark, and I find the vise around my lungs loosens so I can breathe. I’m grateful for it, and I take several deep breaths for my alpha.

“Now dry your eyes for me,” he murmurs. Riley grabs the tissue box, and I blot at my eyes. I’m leaking all over the place. “Now put your wig on, and don’t let her get to you. Answer her questions, show off your bite marks, and tell her you’re tired, okay?”

Nodding, I take the wig woodenly from Ethan and put my wig on. Standing on autopilot, I check the mirror to make sure it’s on correctly, and it immediately feels as if I’m a different person.

I hate this fucking thing.

“Think of it as armor, baby,” Cooper growls through the bond.

He’s right. Piece by piece, I’m putting myself back together to walk into her house. I can’t even say it’s mine anymore, because she’s ruined everything I loved about it.

Ethan stands to answer the door, and Riley helps me put on my coat, mittens, and knit hat.

“Nina,” Silas says from the door, his eyes tortured as I meet them. “I’m so sorry. If I could, I’d tell her to go fuck herself.”

“I know,” I whisper. I don’t trust my voice. Not because I care what my voice teacher would say, but because I’m afraid of breaking down again.

I can barely feel my feet as I walk over to him. My alphas gaze hungrily at me, but I’m too scared to say goodbye. I refuse to let this be the last time I see them. Saying the words feels like a bad omen.

“I love you,” I say instead, my body twitching as I wrap my arms around myself.

“We love you,” Cooper says, speaking for the pack. Riley and Ethan look devastated as they nod. “We’ll see you soon.”

“Soon,” I repeat, a tear escaping to run down my cheek. “Okay.”

“We should go,” Silas says. “The rest of my pack is in the car. We’re going to show a united front, Nina.”

I let myself memorize Riley’s tattoos, Ethan’s brilliant eyes, and Cooper’s unapologetic attitude. Pack Thornefield is mine.

Turning away when I can feel myself waver, I walk out the door with Silas behind me. I won’t be able to leave if I stay a second longer. Lyle and Easton are sitting in the backseat waiting for me, and they act as bookends on the way to the airport as I stare at nothing.

Lyle picks me up and cradles me in his arms to walk me onto the plane, rubbing my back as he sits down in the chair. He ignores the flight attendant as she asks that everyone sit in their seats, and I mourn the loss of my pack’s scents. Crying fucked everything up again due to the inflammation.

Sniffing, I close my eyes and let myself drift with my head pillowed on Lyle’s shoulder. I can hear them talking as I try to reach out to my alphas, but I’m too far away. The realization makes me start crying again, and I’m inconsolable until Lyle alpha barks me to go to sleep.

I don’t even blame him for it. Oblivion is better than this pain.

Twenty-Five

Nina

My eyes are puffy as Silas pulls up to my mother’s house and I take a deep breath. God, if this is what it’s like to be away from my pack, I can never do this again.

It feels as if my heart is in someone’s fist and being squeezed. It fucking hurts.

Refusing to wheeze or show signs of weakness, I take the tiniest of breaths so I won’t pass out. Lyle and Easton glance warily at me as they get out of the car and help me out. I accept the help because my legs feel like jello.

“Nina,” Easton murmurs worriedly.

“Just drop me off and go,” I say, fixing my hair as I lift my chin and straighten my spine.

“She’s holding on by a thread,” Silas says, shutting his door. “Nina, I’m going to do this so you can hold it together, but I’m also going to issue a warning to your mother. I want her to be fucking terrified to touch you. I refuse to allow her to think that she can hurt you.”

I nod because talking isn’t possible, my body feeling overly warm because of the Georgia weather. My winter clothing is no longer appropriate, and I can feel a trickle of sweat slide down my back.

My phone is in my hand as I walk, though I just powered it back on. There are multiple unanswered calls from my mother that I’m sure I’ll hear all about soon, but I haven’t had it with me at all.

I suppose I can also blame the weather in Colorado because the snowstorm knocked out one of the cell towers. They managed to get it repaired, but my mother doesn’t know any of that.

Less information is better when it comes to her. It’s harder to trip over my lies and secrets that way.

Standing on the front stoop, I watch as Silas rings the doorbell. My anxiety is spiking hard, and I can feel my vision sliding in and out. It’s scary as fuck, and feels as if I’m drowning again.

Breathe.

Gasping in a breath, I realize I had stopped breathing, and Silas’ hand squeezes my hip hard in worry. So fucking stupid. None of this will work if I pass out before I even get into the house.

I’m still exhausted despite sleeping on the plane. I know I barely slept during my heat, because my body insisted on being taken care of. I loved every minute of it, but I need a nap.

And maybe someone to guard my door. Fuck if my life isn’t odd.

The door opens to reveal my mother, and I can tell she’s unhappy. She manages to smooth away the peevish look on her face, but she’s simmering with anger. I love that for me.

“Miss Vivian,” Silas says. “We want to formally announce that we’ve not only decided, but Nina is now bonded as well.”

I can feel how smug Lyle is at his alpha’s words. Not one is a lie, but they also say something different than what my mother is hearing.

“Lovely,” my mother says. “Is Nina going to remain your dirty little secret or are you going to submit paperwork to make this official?”

“I already submitted it,” Lyle says, a hint of danger in his tone. “You may want to rethink the accusation in your words, Miss Vivian.”

“You may have her for tonight to say goodbye, but we are coming back in the morning,” Easton warns. “We want her with us. You know it can be very dangerous to keep an omega from her alpha.”

Another warning, but it’s not what my mother thinks. Instead, it helps me breathe easier as her gaze rakes over my body.

“You must be sweltering in that outfit, Nina,” she says, ignoring Easton. “Come inside.”

“Miss Vivian,” Silas growls, his hand spasming against my hip to keep me in place. “We need verbal confirmation that you understand her alphas are returning for her in the morning.”

God, I really do adore these men. There’s no backing down, not one lie stated. Yet, a very different conversation is taking place between them. It’s also a balm for my soul as they remind me that Cooper, Ethan, and Riley are coming to get me.

“Yes, yes,” my mother sighs. “I’m just glad you’ve finally decided. I am well within my rights to ensure you’re treating my daughter well. She needs a nest, Silas. Have you taken all of this into consideration?”

“Of course,” he says. “Our home has had a nest since we became a pack. It’s been waiting for years.”

Years. I hate that they’ve been waiting for so long. I really hope they find their omega, because they deserve one who will adore them. They are such good alphas.

“Then as long as you can prove tomorrow that your claim has been accepted by the Healthy Pack Organization, I will gladly hand over my daughter’s care to you,” she says.

Grabbing my hand, she yanks me into the house as the three of them snarl at her. It’s immediately cooler in here but my jaw drops as she bids them a good day and slams the door shut in their faces.

The sun is already setting since hours have passed since I got on a plane to return here. Hopefully, that means I won’t have to wait very long before I can leave this house forever. I wouldn’t mind lighting this place on fire.

It’s no longer my childhood home, but a place where nightmares live and dreams are crushed.

“You certainly don’t waste any time,” she says, locking the door behind her.

“Did you have to be so rude?” I ask her, pulling my hand away from her. “I also don’t understand what you mean. You told me that I needed to find a pack. That’s exactly what I did.”

Technically, they found me, but that’s splitting hairs.

“You conned them into it,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Did you forget your heat suppressants on purpose, Nina?”

My mother wants to argue, which means there’s no reasoning with her. While I’m hungry and should eat, I eye the staircase because I want to escape more than I want to spend another moment in her presence. I should feel badly that part of the plan to get me out from under her thumb is to end her life, but I don’t.

Trauma has broken me of such silly things like empathy for her.

“I didn’t realize I’d forgotten them until later,” I admit.

“So you trapped that pack based on their primal instincts,” she says, twisting my words.

“I did no such thing,” I sniff. She’s wrong.

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night,” she laughs. “Those alphas looked as if they wanted to tear me apart. You’re clearly unable to think about things like where you’re going to sleep or stay if you haven’t asked about a nest.”

I press my lips together to hold back my words. It’s not worth it, and neither is she. Anything I have to say will just be turned around.

I don’t want to get beaten because I spoke out of turn. Just because she’s only hit me once in my life doesn’t mean it won’t happen again.

“Thank you, Mom,” I force out in dulcet tones.

“You’re so welcome,” she gushes, coming over to hug me.

Struggling not to push her away, I stay completely still until she lets me go.

“You should go rest,” she says. “I want you to think about how you made me a liar. The only reason those alphas would have bonded you so quickly is if you went into heat, Nina. Fucking them into an answer is all your youthful body is good for. You may as well use it to your advantage.”

Stay silent and small.

I gaze at her dispassionately as she huffs out in frustration. My mother wants to fight, but I won’t let her pull me into an argument.

“Fine,” she grumbles. “Go away then. I made some updates to your room. I hope you like it.”

Ice fills my veins at her words and my heart pounds. I feel sick. I have so little that belongs to me. What the fuck could she have done?

Turning, I give my mother my back as I jog upstairs, away from her. My skin crawls until I step inside of the room.

What’s different?

There’s still no doors or curtains, and I can see there’s a different color duvet on the bed. Is that all she’s done?

It’s a bright yellow and hurts my eyes, but I suppose it isn’t completely terrible outside of the fact that it’s the only place to sit in my room. Ignoring it, I glance at my phone.

I had noticed some messages from Cassidy earlier, but I didn’t have time to answer it. Glancing through them, my lips twitch with mirth at the last one.

Cassidy:

Was the dick good, little brat? My pack is withholding from me, so I think I’m going to tease them into fucking me.

Me:

Be careful what you wish for. I’m told brats get punished.

Cassidy:

That’s part of the fun! How is it to be home right now? It won’t be for long, I promise. No matter what you hear, please stay upstairs in your room, okay? We’ll send Carter to you.

Anxiety claws at me from her words, but I remind myself that I’m fine. No one is hurting me, I’m mostly safe, and my heart needs to stop telling me that I need to run.

Ugh, why can't I be normal? It would be nice not to feel as if my heart was trying to escape my chest during conversations.

Me:

Okay.

Needing a distraction from the anticipation of what’s to come, I walk into my closet to find something to wear. I want a pair of cloth shorts and a t-shirt, but gawp at the sight of all formal clothing.

I don’t even have pajamas!

My fingers move over the different shelves, but anything that can be considered loungewear or comfortable is gone. Even my leggings and tunics have disappeared. My mother’s version of changing things in my room is the equivalent of an omega’s nightmare.

My makeup is moved to a completely different section of my closet, my jewelry as well. Fuck my life. Just because I hate this room and closet doesn’t mean I want everything moved.

Scowling, I begin to touch all of the different fabrics in my closet in an attempt to find something that won’t be tight or scratchy against my skin. Finally, I pull off my clothes and get dressed in a maxi dress that’s as soft as butter. If I had a door in my bedroom, I’d wear my underwear and nothing else.

I really do hate it here.

Dumping my clothes into the hamper, I walk to my bed and sit on it, only to jump up with a cry. The material is obscene! It’s a micro fiber of some kind, and makes my skin feel as if I need to scratch it off.

Sometimes, the people who are able to torture you the most are the ones who know what you hate because they hate the same things. As an omega, my mother has inside knowledge about the things that drive me up the wall.

This place is officially a prison. There’s not a soft blanket in sight.

Thankfully, my e-reader is still on my nightstand. Picking it up, I find all of my books still there and I take it to the balcony to read outside. Curling up against the railing with the window open, I lean my head back to read.

No one bothers me out here, there’s a light breeze, and I read until the sun completely sets. My eyes feel heavy, and I yawn as I gaze out at the dark lawn. Something drops over the edge of the gate at one point, forcing me to blink hard as I wonder if I’m seeing something.

Instead, I watch as the figure scales up the side of the house and drops down next to me.

“Why are you outside?” Carter hisses.

“I can’t stand my room,” I murmur. “My mother messed with everything, and even my bedding is awful.”

He gazes at me for a moment before he shakes his head.

“Explain,” he grunts.

“Nevermind, I just like things a certain way,” I grunt. “Aren’t you worried someone will see you?”

“No,” he says. “I will not just ignore what you said. To answer your question, though, the alphas are here. They have your mother and they’re teaching her a few lessons in how to treat people. I’m here to keep you company.”

“Oh,” I say, checking my phone to see that Cassidy texted me to tell me something similar.

“Now, come snuggle with me and tell me what your bitch mother has done to your room,” Carter says, pulling me closer so I can drop my head on his shoulder. “Don’t say it’s dumb.”

Picking up his phone, he shoots off a text before getting comfortable.

“Are the pillows also fucked?” he asks.

“I didn’t check that far,” I admit. “I touched the blankets and escaped out the window.”

“Huh,” he murmurs. “Let me look.”

I watch as he climbs back into my room to forage for pillows, all the while smiling. I never thought I’d have a village like this.

I seriously love it.

Cooper

Cassidy glances at her phone in the basement of the house, pursing her lips.

“You’re such a fucking bitch, Miss Vivian,” she groans, glaring at my ex-wife. “What did you do to Nina’s room?”

My eyes snap back to Vivian, who is currently zip-tied to a chair. The alphas that have been taking care of Nina in our stead surround her with me, while Riley and Ethan stand guard inside. They also asked the staff to leave, and since Vivian doesn’t have any loyalty with the people she employs, they quickly did.

The only thing they asked is if Nina would be safe, which says volumes about her more than her mother.

“I rearranged her room,” Vivian mutters. “I really don’t understand these theatrics. You aren’t going to actually hurt me.”

I’m standing toward the back of the group and she hasn’t seen me yet. She also never saw Riley or Ethan, which means she believes these are upstanding pack members who would never touch a hair on her head.

Typically, she’d be right, but she’s pushed these alphas too far. They’ve been forced to see Nina in pain, hurt, and silently suffering for way too long.

She’s strung them all along while Nina was at Weeping Willow, all while they were kept in the dark. The blinders have fully been removed, and it’s not pretty.

“Perhaps you’re too comfortable, Miss Vivian,” Lyle, the lawyer, says with a fierce smile. I bet he’s a fucking shark in the courtroom. He certainly looks as if he enjoys the hunt. “I think we need to change that. We brought our own chains, didn’t we?”

Someone from Pack Nisim drops a bag at Lyle’s feet, and I watch as he pulls thin chains from it. These are Carter’s alphas, which is interesting since they are stoic while he cracks jokes. When I asked if I needed to bring anything, Silas told me they had it handled, and everything would be untraceable.

I guess having a lawyer in your corner for this is helpful. Mine tried her best, but couldn’t help at all while Nina was being imprisoned at Weeping Willow. Maybe I’ll keep Lyle on retainer.

My musing continues as I think about the alphas surrounding me. Someone in Pack Nisim is a medical examiner, while another is a police officer. I don’t think Vivian was thinking about how dangerous these men could be in the face of her greed.

Hindsight really puts things into perspective.

There are hooks in the basement that I put up when I wanted to hang a large swinging chair down here. I thought about turning this large area into a hangout space for Ethan and Nina, but Vivian eventually distracted me away from the project.

Now, those hooks are still here all these years later, and are being used to string Vivian up. Handcuffs circle her wrists, while the officer uses black zip ties to attach them to the chains. Then, the chains are pulled through the large hooks in the ceiling until Vivian can no longer touch the ground.

“Let’s cut the bitch’s clothes off,” Cassidy suggests, slapping down Vivian’s kicking feet as she gets to work.

Yet still, I stand and wait as I watch Vivian scream and twist. The feral beast inside of me is enjoying this. Once I begin to participate, blood will begin to flow, and the alphas around me deserve to get their pound of flesh first.

“What, no. No!” Vivian screams, the chains clanging as she fights. I’m still waiting for her to realize how much shit she’s in. “Are you seriously going to hurt me over Nina? She already has a pack. Why do this when she’s yours, Silas?”

“I never said she was mine, Miss Vivian,” he murmurs. Always polite. I think he may continue to be right up until he begins to carve the knife he has in his hand across her alabaster skin. “You always insist on hearing whatever you want.”

“That’s a dangerous habit,” Easton grunts.

“Just stay still,” Abbott says, bored. “I need Cassidy to hurt you a little so she’ll stop pouting at me.”

“I’m not the one withholding sex!” Cassidy yells, making me smirk. Well that sounds fun.

The female alpha punches Vivian in the stomach, making her grunt as she loses the rest of her clothes. Her body has aged. She’s not as pretty as she once was, or maybe I ignored the ugliness inside of her.

Abbott kicks Vivian to make her swing in a wide circle, and the two alphas use her as a punching bag. Lyle picks up a bat from the open bag and slams it into Vivian’s kneecap, making her scream.

“Is that how Nina sounded when you beat her with a belt?” Lyle asks innocently.

“She texted me that day,” Cassidy adds, rifling through the bag for something. “Whoever packed this is my new favorite.”

Lifting it out, I see that it’s some kind of wand, and when she turns it on, it sparks.

Vivian’s eyes widen, and she screams, which makes me growl. The sound makes everyone turn toward me, giving me space as I walk forward.

“I fucking hate your voice,” I say. “Dramatic, fucking cunt.”

“Cooper,” she whispers. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“That’s the wrong thing to say,” I growl, crossing my arms. Cassidy raises her weapon and I nod as she shoves it into Vivian’s side cruelly. “The correct question is why you thought to keep scent matched mates away from each other. You’re not fucking God, Vivi.”

She hates that nickname, and I plan to use it often now.

“I’ve seen her hair, know how you had her tortured at Weeping Willow,” I continue. “Your arrogance is showing if you truly thought no one would think that shit was fucked up.”

Her body flops around as the electricity courses through her body, and Cassidy giggles before pulling away the rod. It reminds me of a cattle prod.

“Omegas should be cherished,” Abbott grunts. “Except you. No one gives a fuck about you, much less your current husband. I took it upon myself to call Martin.”

“You did?” Vivian asks, her eyes wild with pain. She looks like a cornered animal, but there’s nowhere for her to run.

“Yes, and I explained to him that he’d married a shit omega,” Abbott says. “I told him I’d start the divorce proceedings for him, and he thanked me, Miss Vivian. You see, no one wants someone who is a terrible fucking person.”

My ex-wife appears stricken as Lyle pushes the air out of her lungs with the bat in his hand.

“He hired me to expedite the paperwork,” the attorney alpha says. “You’ll be pleased to know that it’s a no contest divorce, and it’s already gone through. You’re going to die alone.”

“You’re doing all of this,” Vivian wheezes, “for her?”

“Nina is one of the most beautiful omegas that I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting,” Lyle says, ignoring my glare. “The way you’ve treated your daughter is disgraceful, Miss Vivian. She deserves to be with her scent matched alphas. I have a strong sense of justice. It’s why I’m a lawyer instead of a hockey player.”

I always forget that he went pro, because his stage presence is so large as a lawyer. There’s this air of confidence inside of him that says he’s used to getting his way.

“Think we can flip her upside down?” I ask, smirking.

“Is it waterboarding time already?” Lyle drawls. “I’m glad we have a doctor on hand, aren’t you?”

“Medical student,” Riley calls out as he takes the last step down. “I don’t really care if you kill her, but I can keep you from making it happen too quickly.”

“I thought you were staying upstairs?” I ask, surprised as he makes his way to the front.

“I had to watch those doctors hurt her,” he says. “Now, I want to watch her mother suffer. I can enjoy that without ever having to cut her. Ethan is upstairs still. I left the door open so he could hear her scream. That’s as close as he wants to get.”

My son doesn’t enjoy the sight of blood, and I don’t blame him.

The alphas work together to release the chains enough that they can flip her upside down. Two alphas from Pack Alston hold Vivian’s legs up in the air to keep her in place, while Easton takes her shirt and wraps it tightly around her face.

Riley grabs an abandoned bucket that the housekeeper left on the ground and fills it up, and prepares to dump it on her face.

“Make her feel what Nina felt when she was trapped without us,” I growl.

Let the games begin.

Riley

The cold water flows out of the bucket and over Vivian’s face. At first, I can tell that she’s holding her breath, something that Nina was never able to do with the gag in her mouth. She even manages to keep the water from going up her nose somehow. However, she’s not going to be able to just wait me out the way she thinks she will.

Cassidy quietly fills two more buckets with water before standing to watch. Vivian sputters and coughs as she gasps for air once I drop one bucket for the next. Except, she miscalculates.

Vivian didn’t hear Cassidy bring me more buckets of liquid, because her hearing is dulled by the rushing water covering her ears. The sound of her screams as she swallows and snorts water up her nose makes me laugh.

I don’t care if that goes against any oath I have yet to take as a medical student. I’ve already broken them all at Weeping Willow. I’ve done a lot of harm, I may as well enjoy making the bitch I’m torturing scream.

Vivian writhes as she attempts to catch her breath, but there’s not a chance in hell of that. Cassidy keeps my buckets filled without a sound, basking in the warmth of Vivian’s discomfort.

“A little electrocution sounds nice right about now, what do you all think?” I ask, dropping a bucket onto the concrete floor.

We’re making a fucking mess with all of the water everywhere, but I can’t find a fuck to give about it. This isn’t my house, and I don’t live here.

Vivian is pulled upright, her eyes bloodshot and red when Cooper tears away the shirt over her face. Everyone steps back as she vomits up water and food, the alphas appearing disgusted. She’s no longer the put together ice queen now that she’s been stripped away of everything.

Instead, mascara runs down her face, and she appears pitiful in her matching bra and panty set. I think Cassidy has plans to strip off the rest of Vivian’s pitiful excuse for underwear, but I’m glad she’s saving my eyesight.

Abbott pulls out a car battery from somewhere, and I can’t help but bark out a laugh. The alpha just grins at me as he hooks Vivian up to it, making sure one of her feet is in the puddle of water.

“When you push someone too far, you break them,” Abbott says. “We would have taken her without a thought if she wasn’t already scent matched. Sorry, Cooper and Riley, but Cassidy adores her.”

“It’s hard not to,” I allow while Cooper scowls. I can be magnanimous about this because they are our allies. However, I hate that I know that Lyle had to alpha bark Nina to sleep as she cried on the plane ride home, or that so many of the alphas in this group are used to touching or hugging her.

They know she’s ours, but there’s a line that’s crossed in pretend dating. When you’re given the saddest omega in the world to protect, what alpha isn’t going to want to keep her?

This is something we have to live with, but I will gladly do it because it’s finally made her ours now. Not later, never again.

Vivian gasps as the liquid snot also runs down her face, and I raise my brow at her as she takes a really good look at me. It takes a minute at least before she recognizes me.

This is someone who doesn’t pay much attention to people that she believes to be the help. I was a medical student that she’s seen at the hospital, but she allowed herself to pay minimal notice to.

“As someone who took care of your daughter at Weeping Willow, I think living through some of the things she went through will be beneficial for you to realize how harmful this bullshit reprogramming really is,” I say, stepping back with the other alphas as Abbott turns on the car battery.

None of us give her time to speak, but we stand and listen to her scream. The only break she receives is when the other alphas get tired of listening to her voice. They disconnect the car battery and begin to get their own licks in, and that’s when Cooper unleashes his anger.

His hands systematically begin to break her bones, and Lyle shoves her shirt deep into her mouth to muffle her screams and begging. We don’t care what she has to say now, just as she didn’t care about her daughter’s needs.

“Places like Weeping Willow should be illegal,” Lyle says, stepping back to watch Cooper’s systematic destruction. “Cassidy, would you like to shave off Miss Vivian’s hair? I brought an electric razor just for you.”

Cooper snorts out a laugh as he takes a catalog of Vivian’s broken body. There are burn marks along her feet, and multiple broken bones along her legs, arms, and hands. Asher from Pack Nisim and Easton from Pack Mayor have broken a few of Vivian’s ribs as well. 

It feels fitting that her hair should go next. The chains are lowered so the bitch omega’s knees hit the wet concrete, and I think about how this basement isn’t finished. This could have been a really nice space, but instead it’s just used for laundry and cleaning supplies.

Anything she wants to keep hidden seems to stay here.

Cassidy fishes the scissors out of a puddle and wraps her fist in Vivian’s hair. It doesn’t escape my notice how obnoxiously polite they are even as they torture her.

Having money, etiquette, and grace doesn’t make you better than anyone else. It simply gives you the tools to survive in another type of jungle. Vivian has lived in this world for so long, she stopped noticing the predators because she thought she was one too.

“Please,” she begs, gasping for air. At some point she managed to spit out her shirt, and it lays forgotten on the wet ground. Her eyes are blown with fear, and my nose curls with disgust as I smell urine as she pisses herself.

“Good god, the least you can do is die with some dignity,” Cooper growls. He’s not even breathing hard from his creative rearranging of Vivian’s bones.

There’s no denying he’s dangerous, though he keeps as tight a lid on his control as possible. His hands clench in frustration as he glares at the column of her throat, obviously wanting to snap it too.

“Breaking her neck is too good for her,” I grunt to him. I don’t even know who I am right now, but the platitudes of civilization have fallen away. We’re all showing our feral natures tonight. “Light her on fire.”

Cooper barks out a laugh bending over as he loses it. Curiosity has people turning to glance at him, but he doesn’t give two shits about what people think of him. Brushing away a tear as he straightens, he nods.

“You’re right,” he agrees. “May as well have her go out with a bang. Did anyone bring some fireworks?”

“I have some in my trunk if you’re serious,” Asher grunts.

Those are not my monkeys, I don’t fucking want to know.

“Yep, that would be great, thanks,” Cooper says. I think that’s the most polite that he gets.

The basement is filled with the scent of angry alphas and piss, and I’m sure it’s about to get a lot more rank soon.

Cassidy snarls something at Vivian, and I realize that she must have mouthed off to her. Jabbing the scissors into her eye, Cassidy digs around Vivian’s eye socket as she screams.

“I think you should just stay quiet and die with a modicum of dignity,” Cassidy complains.

I hear Ethan call my name, and I smirk as I leave it to the other alphas to kill Vivian.

“Make sure she’s actually dead,” I tease them as I begin to climb the stairs.

I get flicked off by a few of the alphas as I walk upstairs, chuckling under my breath.

“She’s really fucking loud,” Ethan complains as I join him. My shirt is wet and I pull it off to drop it on the ground as I settle in a loveseat next to him.

“You know Vivian,” I say as she screams even louder. “She’s vain, dramatic, and currently missing an eye.”

“Well, I hope she’s missing more by the end of this,” he grunts as he gets comfortable beside me. “This house is full of bad memories. I get the heebie jeebies sitting here alone.”

“I got my lump of flesh, so I’m satisfied,” I admit. “There are some very angry alphas down there though.”

“I don’t blame them,” Ethan says. “I’m fucking pissed too. I remember everything she did when we were kids to groom her into the person she wanted Nina to be. Vivian sucked the life out of her.”

“She tried,” I correct. “Our girl is a lot fucking stronger than that. There’s only so much people can handle before they break, though. It’s up to us to build her back up.”

Nodding, Ethan grows silent and the only sounds are the screams that continue downstairs.

Twenty-Six

Cooper

Vivian has lost the ability to speak, but only because Abbott stole Cassidy’s scissors and cut out her tongue. She’s now also bald, a look that only looks good on her daughter.

Cassidy is currently sawing off Vivian's breasts because she said that she doesn’t deserve them.

“Women should stand in solidarity instead of trying to beat them down,” she complains as she uses her knife. Whimpers are all that Vivian can give as Cassidy steadfastly works.

“You’re doing all womankind a favor,” Abbott says, nodding wide-eyed. I think Cassidy is fun, but apparently she’s scaring her alpha a little.

Oh well, we have that in common too. I scare everyone.

Vivian’s tits drop with a plop into the puddles by her feet, and she looks like she may have passed out. Oh, that’s not going to work for me.

There’s a place right behind her right ear where she’s very sensitive. I used to kiss her there while we were married, but now I reach over and pinch the skin hard. Her squeal of pain makes me shrug as I give the floor back to Cassidy.

“You’re just doing the Lord’s work today, aren’t you?” she mutters.

“Something like that,” I agree. “Want to stuff her asshole with fireworks and light them with me?”

“That counts as flirting for Cassidy,” Abbott grumbles as I snort.

“I think she knows I’m not flirting,” I grunt.

“I do,” she says. “I will take that as officially being best friends now, though.”

Shrugging because why not, I rip down Vivian’s panties and get to work. Together, Cassidy and I stuff my ex-wife’s asshole full of fireworks while the other packs grin evilly. If she doesn’t completely combust from this, I’ll happily set her on fire as well. Fuck it, I may do it for the sheer pleasure of knowing she’s ash before we destroy the rest of this house.

Just call us controlled chaos. Ignoring the way Vivian tries to get away from us, Cassidy just uses the blood from cutting out her tongue to lube up the fireworks. I guess that’ll work.

Stepping back once there’s four inserted in her asshole, we step back to enjoy our handiwork.

“This is the best execution I’ve ever been to,” Easton says with a smirk.

“Easton,” Lyle groans. “We need to have a discussion later about giving your lawyer plausible deniability.”

“It’s harder for you to defend me if you don’t know all the shit I get up to,” he retorts. “Here’s a lighter, Cooper.”

Easton hands me the lighter, and I raise my brow at Cassidy. She shrugs and shakes her head, stepping away to strip her gloves off. I suppose that’s pretty handy. The fact that these alphas have no problem doing this says something about the packs in Savannah.

I’m going to enjoy living here again. It’ll be very different from the first time. Flicking the lighter, I smirk as I light the fireworks. As we all give Vivian’s body a wide berth, I watch as she hangs from the chains, exhausted and mute. Her eyes tell me she knows this is the end, and she just gives in.

Everyone cheers as the fireworks explode, blowing apart the lower part of her body. It kills her as it destroys her back, intestines, and lower body, and she barely manages to stay in one mangled piece.

“Let’s light her up, friends,” Abbott says, dragging an old couch over to use as kindling.

“It’s best to call the fire department once the fire spreads to the top floor so it doesn’t spread to the other houses,” Grant says. He’s a policeman funny enough, which means he’d know best about this shit.

I’m proud of myself. I’ve learned new people’s names today. Bonding at its finest.

Leaving them to it, I wash my arms and hands thoroughly before drying off and going upstairs to collect my pack.

“It’s over?” Ethan asks, looking up from where he was starting to doze off. We jumped into the car right after Nina left and flew on a commercial flight back to Savannah.

We are all due for good sleep since we were all too worried to sleep on the plane ride.

“Yes,” I say, moving toward the stairs. “They’re lighting the fire now, which means it’s time to go.”

Ethan and Riley jump up to follow me, and the three of us jog upstairs to Nina’s room. Stepping inside, I find the doors have all been removed just like Nina told me, and I feel myself get angry again.

Her window is open as well, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Where the fuck could she have gone?

“Carter? Nina?” Riley calls out. It’s true that cooler heads prevail, but it’s been much too long since I’ve seen her.

“Outside,” Carter calls out, and I immediately walk to the small balcony where Nina’s asleep against him.

“Why are you out here?” I ask, looking back inside. There’s a single light on in the room, but I can feel the heat coming off of it from here.

That’s a terrible lightbulb for her to have. There’s no fucking way any of those are allowed in our house.

“Vivian fucked with her stuff,” Carter explains. “All of her things are moved, she threw out her comfortable clothing. Just trust me. Go and touch the comforter on her bed to see how vile it is.”

The beta shudders at the memory, which makes me curious enough to go touch it.

“Is that…microfiber?” I ask. “It feels really awful. Nina wouldn’t be able to even sit on this shit.”

“That’s why I ransacked another room for pillows and a blanket,” Carter sighs. “It’s not the same, but it helped her get comfortable. Wait…Do I smell smoke?”

“You do,” Ethan says. “Ding, dong, the wicked bitch is dead.”

“Sweet,” Carter says, shifting before freezing to look at me. “Are you going to kill me if I carry her back inside?”

“No, but I’d rather you pass her to me,” I admit.

Carter lifts her into his arms and passes her to me before glancing out at the backyard.

“I’m going to leave the way I came up so I can see if anyone else can smell the smoke or if it’s just me,” he says. “Though, come to think of it, the open window is probably why I could tell there was a fire.”

Riley nods, closing the window as he waves at Carter. The beta scales down the house without a second thought and runs off the property to scout, leaving us to walk out of the room.

“Cooper!” Abbott calls out, and we move faster to run down the stairs. The drapes of the bottom floor are already ablaze. All of this is going to burn quickly. Fuck. “Let’s go.”

The lights at the front of the house are off as we sneak out and down the stairs. Abbott made sure to take one of the house keys to lock everything back up, and we begin strolling along the sidewalk toward the cars waiting on the street.

“I’ll make sure the fire department is called,” Abbott says, opening the driver door to his SUV. “I want to go back to seeing Nina three times a week at our running club.”

“Consider this us accepting our standing invite,” Ethan says with a grin, fist bumping the alpha.

That’s my kid, making friends with everyone apparently. He’s come a long way from the antisocial kid who hated everyone.

Our car is parked ahead of Abbott’s and we get in as I cuddle Nina against my body.

“She’s so fucking loved,” I murmur, pulling her wig off and tossing it to the side.

Her hair is growing in, it’s just slow to do so. I wonder if her hair is skittish after being shaved so often. If she wants to grow it out faster, I can see if I can find anything that’ll naturally help.

Riley starts the car and glides us out of the parking spot. I have to say that he’s a much better driver than my son. Sighing, I let my head drop back as I slowly begin to relax in the back seat.

Fuck, I can’t believe she’s ours.

“Everything is in order,” Riley says, feeling my relief through our pack bond. “The Healthy Pack Organization should have us accepted by now.”

“I’ll check the website,” Ethan grunts, pulling his phone from his pants. A few quick touches on the screen has him nodding. “All good on that end. I also have an email from the real estate agent that we can swing by now to sign the paperwork for the house. Should I tell her yes and then have an alibi for tonight if we need it?”

Riley has his shirt on again since it had dried during the time I was finishing up downstairs, and none of us are wearing any blood on us. We’ll pass.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” I grunt. “Let her know we have a very tired omega who has been traveling so our realtor doesn’t get too chatty.”

“Will do, Dad,” Ethan murmurs. “She’s nice, but she does tend to talk a lot.”

“The house is perfect,” Riley adds. “All I had to do was make one call and she got working once I sent her all the paperwork to ensure that we had the money in order.”

“Money talks and bullshit walks,” I mutter. “Trinity works quickly. I’m a little shocked the place is move in ready. Didn’t she say we’d be able to have the house by tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Riley says with a nod. “The owner passed away and his kids want to sell quickly. It seems they need the money. They also don’t live here.”

“That makes sense I suppose,” I say. “After seeing Nina’s room, I’m ready to give her everything she needs or wants. Starting with new clothes since we just burned everything up.”

“From what I understand, none of that shit is anything she’d want to keep,” Ethan says. “We still have her bag of clothing and things from the Colorado house in the trunk. Anything else we can buy for her.”

“Only one of our signatures needs to be on the bill of sale for the house since we bought it outright,” Riley says. “Do you want to do it as the head of the pack, Cooper?”

“I don’t want to wake her if I don’t have to,” I say honestly. “One of you can sign, and then we can go home for the last time. We’re mostly packed up already.”

We’ve been living out of boxes for weeks. As soon as things started unfolding, the three of us began to pack so we could move as soon as possible. The place we’re at is a rental and came furnished. I figure I’ll rent out the townhouse in Minneapolis to a teacher or students at the university and we’ll just buy everything new for the house.

Every item will mean something because it has Nina’s personal touch. We’re building our lives together now. A purr of happiness rumbles my chest, and Ethan grins.

“Did it just hit you how fucking lucky we are?” he asks.

“It really did,” I rasp. “You work toward a goal, and then finally achieve it. Now what?”

“Now we remind Nina of this until she believes it,” Riley says, parking outside of the realtor office. “Here’s to hoping I’m in and out.”

Watching as he walks into the office, I get lost in how pretty Nina is while she sleeps.

Nina

I vaguely remember Cooper helping me into bed last night, but then I was knocked out again. Yawning as I open my eyes, I smile as I look around. I’m in a bed that’s much smaller than we were using in Colorado, sleeping next to Ethan. Cooper is asleep on the floor on one side of the bed, while Riley is on the other side.

They aren’t going to be happy when they wake up with knots in their back. Ethan’s arms tighten around me as he kisses my temple, his breaths still steady as he sleeps.

There are boxes all over the place, and I wonder why. Are they moving in or out?

There’s a lot I’m confused about, or I don’t have all the answers to things. Now that I’m bonded, I think it’s about time I got some of those. Elbowing Ethan, I grin as he grunts awake.

“Little Queen, you woke me up,” he says, rubbing his cheek against my forehead. “Do you have to pee? Am I holding you against your will?”

Giggling, I shake my head. Ethan is really cute in the mornings.

“I realized I have questions, and you seemed like a pretty willing victim to get them answered,” I say.

“That’s fair,” he says, turning to his side to wiggle down until he can use my breast as his pillow. “Fire away, baby.”

“Where are we right now?” I ask, choosing a safe question. I have to ask about my mother, but I don’t know if I can jump into that.

“We are in what equates to an apartment,” he says. “It’s a little bigger, but still as you can see, not ideal. It’s close to where Riley has clinical rotations at the hospital, which was the main reason we decided to lease it.”

“Okay,” I say, letting my fingers play in his hair. I love the purr deep in his chest as he sighs happily. “Why are there so many boxes in here?”

“Two weeks into your fake courting, we decided to pack everything up so we would be able to pivot in any way needed,” he says. “Whether that meant buying a house with you or chasing you to another part of the country. Your mother was very volatile, and anything could have happened.”

“Was?” I ask, biting my lip.

“Nina,” he whispers, looking up at me. “Fuck, we should have woken you up to tell you yesterday. Yes, the packs killed her for what she did to you. Dad and Riley were there as well, while I kept watch. Afterward, we burned the house down. Abbott made sure the fire department got an anonymous call to come put the fire out. I haven’t heard anything else since.”

“Nina?” Cooper asks, sitting up. “Good morning, baby.

“Morning,” I say with a smile. “Ethan is filling me in on things that I need answers to.”

“Good, you should ask whatever you want,” he says.

“How did you get the packs to agree to all of this? I know that no one wants an omega who is already promised to someone else, but they could have made it really difficult for you guys,” I say.

Riley sits up sleepily, pushing his brown hair off his forehead.

“I have friends who have connections here,” he mumbles. “They made sure to put in a good word for us.”

“Easy as that?” I tease him.

“Yes, Baby Girl,” he says. “Just like that. Oh, we bought a house yesterday. Want to move in with us?”

“Of course!” I squeal, enjoying their laughter. “Today?”

“Yes,” Riley says. “I’ll break the lease, and we’ll move in today. We don’t have any furniture, we can either go shopping at the stores in Savannah today or order online?”

“I kind of want to touch things,” I confess. “There’s certain materials that make me grossed out.”

“Like that fucking bedspread,” Cooper groans as he stands to stretch.

“Yes,” I say with a shudder. “That thing is going to give me nightmares.”

“I guess we’re going to have to make new memories fairly quickly so we can keep that from happening,” Ethan says with a smirk. “We have your bag that we packed from Colorado. Get dressed and we’ll have a quick breakfast.”

“I want omelets,” Riley mumbles as he gets up and stumbles away.

“Is he like that often?” I ask with a giggle.

“Sometimes,” Ethan says with a shrug. “You’re going to have to discover all of his quirks with me.”

“Why don’t you know them all?” I ask, watching as Cooper chuckles under his breath and walks out of the room.

“Between his busy schedule and mine, we haven’t seen each other often,” he admits. “I also haven’t slept in the same bed as he does until now with you. Remember, I was an idiot. That’s why Dad was laughing at me.”

“Oh,” I murmur, scratching his scalp gently. “Well, you should stop being an idiot then, huh?”

“Yes, Little Queen,” he says, his eyes fluttering as he enjoys what I’m doing. “Please keep me in line.”

“I promise,” I say, smiling. It feels as if I’m saying a lot more than I am, but I’m full of love for these men.

I can’t wait to move in with them.

“Oh,” he says, turning to place his chin on my chest. “I’m claiming my own damn date, Nina Marie Thornefield. I’m tired of sharing.”

“Thornefield?” I whisper, tears pricking my eyes as he pulls me up with him.

“Fuck yes,” he says, walking me out of the bedroom. “It’s all official. Do you hate it?”

“No,” I say, shaking my head violently. “I love it. And you.”

His smile says everything as he pushes me against the wall.

“I love you,” he says, kissing me slowly and thoroughly. “I plan to tell and show you often.”

“Ethan, please don’t fuck her before breakfast!” Cooper yells from the kitchen, making me giggle.

“Cockblocked at every turn,” Ethan says woefully. “My time will come, Little Queen.”

I just bet it will.

Twenty-Seven

Nina

I’ve never had a say in decorating any kind of space before. My cheeks hurt as I smile while I walk through the furniture store holding Riley’s hand. My fingers trail over different material, and I stumble to a stop when I see a giant module type of couch.

“This reminds me of a nest,” Riley says. “All the pieces can move to create a giant bed or it can open up to offer more individual seating.”

“I’m afraid to touch it in case the material is a letdown,” I whisper, eyes wide. “It’s so pretty.”

“Pretty and functional,” a store associate says as she passes by. “The material is stain resistant while still being soft. Everyone’s tastes are different, but you may like it.”

She bustles off again, and I bite my lip as I lean down to pet the material. Sighing in relief, I find that the material feels like butter.

“There’s only one way to fully test a sofa, Little One,” Riley says with a smirk before he’s picking me up as I gasp.

He gets up on the couch and flops onto it, allowing me to snuggle against his side.

“Oh my God,” I sigh. “This is amazing. It’s like a hug.”

“I’m almost jealous of a fucking couch,” Cooper murmurs as he sees us, smirking. “Is it love at first sight, Princess?”

“Why don’t you move the couch pieces around so you can see?” I suggest, laying my head on Riley’s chest.

His hand comes up and rubs the fuzz on my head, but instead of feeling unsettled by it, I relax even more. I’m out in public for the first time without my wig, no makeup, wearing shorts and a tank top.

And my pack only sees me.

Cooper moves around the couch pieces, untrusting of them almost.

“It’s complicated,” he grunts before he lays down and closes his eyes. “Nevermind. It’s amazing, Nina. This is coming home with us.”

Ethan chuckles as he watches us, crossing his arms in amusement.

“Is it really that good?” he asks.

“It is,” Riley confirms. “There’s so much room, come join us.”

Ethan lays down as well, and as a pack it’s almost as if we take a full breath. We’re not just trying out furniture, we’re creating our life together as we fill our house with things we love.

Before coming here, they brought me to the house to walk through it. My alphas insisted that I have an idea of what all the spaces looked like and they were excited for me to see the house.

I love it. They took everything that I told them I wanted in a house and found the perfect place. I feel as if I’m living in a fairytale.

“Fuck, this is the couch,” Ethan groans. “I’m in love with a non-sentient object.”

Giggling, I see a manager hurrying over.

“I think we may be a little obsessed with your couch,” I tell him before he can say anything.

“This is the only way to test furniture,” he says, with a nod. “How else can you see how it’ll work within your life? Someone mentioned that people were sleeping on one of the modular couches, and I told her just that. I don’t care if she left the store.”

“Oh wow,” I say, surprised. “I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’ve met way too many people who behave badly.”

I was birthed by one.

“Nevermind her,” the manager says warmly. “I’m George, and if you need anything, just let me know.”

“We’re going to need one of these couches,” Cooper rumbles. “Please.”

George blinks at Cooper’s deep voice, but doesn’t flinch as he meets his gaze. I appreciate him even more that he treats my feral alpha with respect and not fear.

“Yes, Alpha,” George says immediately.

“Cooper, not Alpha,” Cooper replies, sitting up. “That’s a really good couch. How fast is delivery?”

Standing, Cooper talks to George, excited enough to ignore the fact that he hates people.

“Well that’s different,” Ethan murmurs. “Let’s go look at beds next.”

Riley sits up with me with a smirk. “You just want to get us into bed.”

“No, I don’t want anyone to sleep on the floor,” Ethan retorts. “I also don’t want to be the one who has to sleep there. I got lucky last night when I got the bed with Nina.”

Riley snorts as we get up and begin to walk through the store toward the bedroom sets. As we do, I see a section that appears to be nests as well, and I can feel my lips parting in surprise.

Am I allowed to drool over this?

“This is a full service furniture store,” Riley murmurs in my ear. “They have fabrics here, and everything you could ever want for a nest. We’re in no hurry or rush for anything today, Nina. We can design your nest if you want and take our time.”

“Holy shit,” I whisper, blinking rapidly.

I will not cry over this. Except, it means so much because I’ve never had a nest before. It comes with the territory of having had a mother who controlled everything.

Abbott called Riley earlier to confirm that the fire had been extinguished, and my mother was found in the basement. The fire burned so hot down there that they only found her ashed remains. He also mentioned that it was ruled out to be a freak fire incident.

The water heater of all things exploded, and ignited a fire. I can tell the entire thing is fabricated. I should feel guilt or shame that an entire group of people came together to not only kill my mother but also cover it all up.

Right?

Except, I don’t. I feel light and free, as if the tether that chained me to her is finally cut. I think there’s only so many different times you can kick someone to keep them down before they get sick of it.

“We’ll come back to the nest,” Riley says, lifting my chin to kiss my lips. “I know you already know where you want to put it.”

I do. When I saw the attic with its low ceiling, I knew that’s where I wanted it. It’s the perfect size for a nest, and Cooper told me he’d install any lighting that I may want. Apparently, he used to enjoy do it yourself projects until he married my mother.

She wasn’t a fan of his creativity or anyone else’s.

“I may have been really vocal when I saw the attic,” I admit with a dreamy smile.

“I love seeing you excited,” Riley says, tugging me into motion. Ethan is ahead of us, already checking out the different bedroom set options.

“Are they going to have⁠—”

My words cut off as I see the huge pack bedroom sets that they have available.

“Woah,” I rasp.

“See? Full service,” Riley teases me. “We could drive all over Savannah to find what we need, but even I know Cooper doesn’t have that kind of patience. If we can find everything under one roof, so much the better.”

Numbly, I nod as I look around. There are mattresses that are pallets meant to lay on the ground, as well as giant bedroom sets that will allow us all to sleep spread out if we want.

“There’s so many choices,” I say, not knowing where to look next.

Together, we get lost in the possibilities, and Cooper finds us laid on a bed to see if we can touch each other’s hands while laying out spread eagle.

“Well, that’s one way to try out a bed,” he says, amused. “George said everything will be delivered by tonight.”

“Do I even want to know how that happened?” Riley asks, brow raised as he sits up.

“Nope. I have my ways,” Cooper smirks. “Someone give me the highlights on this bed, other than it’s really fucking big.”

“It’ll charge all of our appliances,” I say. “I also really like the fact that the top allows for fabric to go over it and curtains.”

Cooper crawls up onto the bed, and we barely have to move to make room for him since the bed really is ginormous. Flopping onto his back, he looks up at the wood panels over the bed.

“I think we could mount a swing off this thing,” he muses. “What do you think, Nina?”

“A swing?” I squeak. “Like for sex?”

“Oh that would be fun,” Ethan agrees. “Weightless fucking is always a good time.”

“A father and son who share their kinks, that’s somehow unsurprising,” Riley mutters. “I’m definitely down for a swing, though. This bed set is sturdy and probably weighs a ton. Are we going to a sex shop next?”

“Your mother is dead and gone, and she’d be so upset to see you like this,” a voice says snootily. Ugh, of course one of my mother’s friends would be here. Glancing over, I see she’s with a group of women who are all wearing black.

It’s like a cult of Stepford Wives. How wonderful. I’ve always hated my mother’s friends, and I realize that the snooty one is Carli.

“God, what’s wrong with her hair?” Toni asks. “Did it all fall out? Nina, wigs exist for a reason.”

My mother’s friends titter and laugh as if that’s the funniest thing ever, while my cheeks burn. Sitting up, I gaze at some of the worst people I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.

“My mother did this,” I state, looking them in the eye despite their veils of mourning. Stupid fucking posturing. “I’m shopping with my pack, and I would appreciate it if you went away. I don’t care what a dead woman would think either.”

Cooper sits up and glares at the group of women, and Toni gasps as she recognizes him.

“Nina, why are you here with him?” she asks. “Your reputation will be in shambles.”

“Don’t care⁠—”

Riley and Ethan sit on either side of me like bookends and they each take my hand as Riley interrupts me.

“Actually, Nina has a wonderful reputation in Savannah, and is friends with several packs that have higher status than you do,” he says. “We are scent matched to her, ladies. The best way to piss off her pack would be to continue to insult our omega.”

“Or end up six feet under too,” Cooper whispers through the bond to me.

It’s a struggle to keep myself from smiling, but I manage.

“It’s hard to mourn someone who never loved you,” I add. “Please go away before I have you removed by the manager.”

I know that the cold, clipped words are something my mother would say, and one of the women flinches as if I had slapped her. I can channel with the best of them.

“Ladies,” George practically growls from behind the women as he stalks up to them. He’s a beta, but he looks pretty pissed off right now. “Can I help you, or do we have a problem?”

“They’re just lounging on the bed,” Toni sniffs. “It’s unseemly. Why can’t they shop normally? It really sets a bad precedent. Next, you’ll be chasing out the homeless!”

I roll my eyes as I tug my hands away from my alphas and get off the bed. She’s being completely ridiculous.

“Honestly,” Cooper rumbles as he stands. “That’s quite the assumption, Toni.”

The woman’s eyes widen while he looks smugly at her. She hasn’t changed very much over the years due to medical intervention, but it shows that Cooper doesn’t forget a face.

Just like he didn’t forget me.

“What’s wrong with your voice?” Carli asks, taking a step back.

Feral alphas give off an aura of danger, and Cooper is definitely giving ‘fuck around and find out’ vibes.

“What’s wrong is that you’re upsetting my omega,” he growls. “Vivian kept me from her daughter for a year after we found out we were scent matched, and let’s just say it didn’t go very well for me.”

“Feral,” Toni whispers. “Oh my God, ladies. Did you hear that?”

Cooper gives a slow, dangerous smile that I think is roguish and hot, but probably scares the shit out of them. Ethan’s hand rests on my lower back as we watch Cooper work his magic, because he’s always had a way with words.

When Cooper snaps his teeth as if he’d bite them, they scream while I suppress a smile. He’s also a bit theatrical.

“Leave my pack alone, ladies,” he says. “I won’t tell you again.”

“Oh my,” George mutters under his breath, wringing his hands. For a moment I think he’s going to tell us to leave, but the opposite happens. “Ladies, it appears that you’ve worn away the good will of this establishment. I will escort you out.”

“Us?” Toni squeals as George begins to herd them out like animals.

“Go,” he says. “Time to leave. Cooper, will you be taking the bed as well?”

“Absolutely. Thank you, George,” Cooper calls after him with a dark chuckle.

“You made a friend,” I say in awe. “I really thought we were going to be thrown out.”

“Nah, I told him we’re furnishing a new home and that we’d be spending lots of money today,” he says wryly. “Also, your mother’s friends are all cunts.”

“That’s an accurate statement,” I say with a nod. “Okay, what’s next?”

“A fuck ton of curtains,” Riley says. “The house gets a ton of sunlight with all of the windows.”

Well they aren’t wrong.

It’s easy to forget my mother’s friends as we shop, moving from section to section of the huge store. It’s more a home goods shop than just furniture I quickly see as I move further into the building.

“The curtains are lilac, the couch is a pale oak color, what color bookcases do we want for a library?” Riley asks.

“A library?” I ask, surprised.

“Mmhmm. There’s a small room off of the hallway that would make a great library,” he says. “It’s kind of hidden.”

I vaguely remember the room, but it does sound nice. Cooper pulls out his phone to show me, and I think about how nice it is that he has that photo.

“I photographed the entire house,” he explains. “It makes it easier to plan that way. I also don’t want to deal with people again for a while after this.”

Ethan barks out a laugh as his father rolls his eyes. People are kind of annoying. He’s not wrong.

The store associates have wonderful timing, and pop in when it appears we clearly need help. No one feels pressured, but it allows us to get our questions answered. Before long, we’ve found beds for the other rooms, and Cooper explains his plans to make the space off the living room into a movie theater.

He wants to do the work himself, and I can see how excited he is about it.

“I think it’ll be amazing,” I say. “It’ll be fun to have everything we might want in our home. I think I’m about to have my fill of being out soon too.”

“Oh, this is not an excuse not to take you out,” Cooper murmurs, cuddling me into his side. “We intend to do that often. This is so that we don’t have to worry about what the movie theaters are showing because we have our own.”

Smiling up at him, I enjoy gazing up at his eyes because I can see how much he loves me. I never have to wonder about it since they show me with their actions.

“Anything we don’t find here, I’ll order online, but I do think you should decorate your nest while we’re here, Princess,” he says.

“I don’t know the first thing about what a nest should have,” I admit. “What if I suck at it?”

“I very much doubt you will,” he says, walking me back to where the nesting department was. “Whatever you want is what you’ll get. That’s what a nest is: a place where you can go to relax, decompress, or spend your heat with the alphas who adore you.”

“Hi, I’m Millie,” an omega says with a smile as she stands up from a table. It looks like a command center of look books and fabric. It’s set underneath a canopy and there are soft lamps underneath it as well. She’s perky and clasps her hands together as she sees us. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Yes, you can,” Cooper says. “We’re moving into our new home and my omega needs a nest. Can you help Nina figure out what she wants for it?”

“Yes,” Millie says with an enthusiastic nod. “Am I helping to design the entire nest?”

“Please,” Cooper grunts. “Do you need a photo of the area?”

“Do you have one?” Millie asks, surprised. “I would love to see it.”

Pulling his phone out, he scrolls through until he finds the images he’s looking for. Handing it to her, he watches as she looks through the photos of the attic.

“This is going to make the most amazing nest, Nina,” Millie says excitedly. “Would you like to come sit with me so we can look through some books to see what you like?”

Nodding shyly, I walk around to sit next to her as she pulls out a book.

“Nina?” Cooper asks. My head snaps in his direction, where he’s pointing toward where Riley and Ethan are talking to George. “I’m going right over there. Yell if you need me please.”

I have my phone in my pocket, but nod anyway. I love that he was making sure I knew he wasn’t going far.

“Okay, let’s chat about color schemes,” Millie says. “What are your favorite colors?”

She makes it so easy as she helps me build my nest by adding everything that we talk about to an app she sketched out the attic on. It makes it so much easier to see the way everything will look.

An enormous bed on a pallet on the ground means if someone falls off during a heat, it’s not as far to fall. It also gives the illusion of a floating mattress.

“Do you like curtains?” she asks.

“I love them,” I sigh dreamily. “It’s so silly, but I’ve never been able to have my own space. Now that I can, it feels overwhelming, or maybe like I’ll mess it up.”

“There’s no way to do that,” she says. “It’s your space. If you want curtains, get them. A swing chair? Hell yes, let’s go. This is your chance to design a space that’s uniquely yours.”

Somehow, I feel better hearing it from another omega. Do I trust Cooper? With my life, but he also will do anything to make me happy. The anxiety still hits me that I’m a terrible omega.

I lose track of time with Millie as we chat and I touch different fabrics for my nest. Slowly, I lose the sense that I’m doing this badly, and start having fun. I choose a hammock chair that’s large enough to lay in for a corner of the room, fluffy blankets, gauzy curtains that’ll flow on both sides of the bed, and a few hanging plants.

“What do you want for your lighting?” Millie muses, going through some options. “You have a really chill boho vibe right now. We could go with willow vine lights to crawl up the walls behind the mattress if you’d like?”

The word “willow” should creep me out, but a deep breath dispels it. I’m free, I want to remind myself of that.

“Yes,” I answer. “I like how gentle that lighting is.”

“I do too,” she murmurs. “Do you want the chair enclosed with a cute curtain doorway to shut yourself off from everything? It’s easy to feel overstimulated sometimes.”

“You just get it,” I sigh. “The world gets really loud. Even bright lights are an issue.”

“We move through the world differently than alphas and betas,” Millie explains. “We feel deeper, are very creative, and need an outlet for that. That’s why it’s important to have employers who understand that and a nest to escape to. That’s why I work in this nook, even though the lighting is fantastic in this store.”

Looking out at the building, I realize she’s right. Not once have I felt as if I’m sweating underneath the lights, and the music they have playing is really chill instrumentals.

“I haven’t had any problems here,” I admit. “It’s so nice.”

“An omega and her alphas own this store. They’re amazing to work with and so nice,” Millie gushes. “I think we may need another light or two for your nest…”

Putting our heads together, we decide on a beaded chandelier and a lamp for my little swing nook. We also pick out decorations, pillows, and a wall of fairy lights. She helps me with suggestions as we chat, and I’m almost surprised when my alphas walk over.

“It’s been three hours,” Riley teases me. “If you’re still working, I should bring you food to keep your strength up.”

“I think we’re done,” Millie says with a smile. “I’m free to come set this up on Tuesday. Is that okay?”

Nest coordinator is literally the coolest job ever.

“We’ll be home,” Cooper says, coming around to help me up. My back is sore from sitting for so long while barely moving and I wince. I’m also starving. “Did you have fun, Nina?”

“I actually did. Millie made this a really fun experience. I’m glad I didn’t have to do this by myself,” I admit.

“That’s why I love what I do,” she says. “We work with a few other businesses for some of the specialty items, but it’s nice to plan everything in one place, knowing things will come together the way you want them to.”

“I didn’t know this job existed,” I say. “It makes sense though. There’s a need for it.”

“Omegas naturally get easily overwhelmed with a lot of choices too,” Millie says. “Those are all normal things we all go through. It’s something Eleanor, the owner, was adamant about when she opened the store.”

“I love that we’ve been able to furnish an entire house in one place,” Cooper sighs. “I might have lost my mind with a million stops.”

Ethan smirks. “Savannah thanks you for saving them from that,” he says as Cooper rolls his eyes.

“Thank you again,” I tell her as we leave. My stomach growls and I rub it with a wince. “Okay, I’m starving now.”

“Food first,” Riley says as we leave. “Then, we’ll go home and at least get our bed set up for tonight.”

“I still can’t believe it’s being delivered so fast,” I say.

“George may have pulled in a few favors,” Cooper says. “Let’s just say I was very motivated.”

Riley throws his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer to him as we walk, while I daydream about how everything is just falling into place.

Twenty-Eight

Riley

Ihad to fight Ethan for this date. I go back on my medical rotations tomorrow, which is the reason I won. Cooper just smirked and said he was retiring so he could spend all of his time with Nina.

Smug fucker. He’s earned it, but damn.

“I’ve never been allowed down here,” Nina says in wonder as we walk through Factors Row. The historic area is charming, and it gives me a chance just to stroll around and hold her hand.

“I had a feeling you hadn’t,” I say. “I figured we could play tourist, grab lunch, and then hang out on a bench and make out."

The last part makes her grin up at me as I wink at her. We’ve been in the house for a week, and it’s starting to come together. It’s amazing what three alphas can do when they work together.

Her short blue green dress reminds me of her eyes as it flirts with danger. It hits about mid thigh and is tied to the side. She makes me want to drag her into a corner so I can do really dirty things to her.

Nina inhales deeply and I realize she can smell me as her pupils begin to dilate. It’s almost October, and as the world makes her cry less, her sinuses are less inflamed.

“You smell like you want to fuck me,” she purrs, making me bark out a laugh as we walk.

“That’s because I do,” I reply. “Honestly, when don’t I though?”

“The three of you tend to attack me in the hallway,” she teases me.

It’s not my fault she’s irresistible. I’ve heard that newly mated packs tend to be insatiable, but this is very intense. I fucking love every second of it.

The two of us walk down the cobbled streets, and on a whim duck down some stairs to the lower levels.

“This feels like we’re in another world,” she murmurs.

The sounds of people and cars fade away as we continue walking underneath a bridge. Well, maybe a quickie wouldn’t be terrible if I find there’s no one down here. Nina drops her chin with a smile, attempting to hide it.

Sometimes, I think she misses the wig because it helped her hide better. Now, her gorgeous face is on display.

I don’t want her to hide, I want her to fucking fly.

“Ethan’s getting his classes to transfer and is going to start school down here soon,” I tell her.

“Mmm. I think that’ll be good for him,” she murmurs. “I don’t know what I want to do yet. I can start applying so I can get in for the spring semester.”

“I think you should write,” I confess. It’s something I’ve been thinking about often. She has a notebook that she uses to make notes in, but I don’t know what about. “Start with blog posts, and by the time spring semester rolls around, you’ll know if that’s what you want to pursue.”

“What would I write about?” she asks. “I’ve played with the idea of writing about what it’s like to be an omega as a counter to all of the stupid rhetoric I see online. It’s so easy to get caught up in a world where someone else makes decisions for you.”

“It is. You have firsthand knowledge of it. Use it, Nina,” I encourage. “Those blog posts could turn into something more substantial, but remember you don’t have to work unless that’s something you want to explore.”

“I worked as a bartender,” she says, shrugging. “It was just really cold most nights in Minneapolis, and the bar uniforms did not cover much.”

“There’s a difference between working to survive and doing something you’re passionate about,” I say. “I love working at the hospital I’m at. Every day is different, and I’m never bored.”

“It would be nice to have something I really enjoy doing,” she says. “I bet Cooper loved teaching.”

“No, you’re not going to get all nostalgic on his behalf,” I warn. “He was unhinged as a professor.”

Her laugh is full of life as she throws her head back. Fuck, now all I want to do is fuck those pretty pink lips. Argh.

“I don’t remember, but it sounds like anything worth doing by Cooper would be best done while scaring the shit out of his students,” she admits.

“I’m sorry,” I sigh.

“Don’t be,” she insists. “We agreed to stay in the present and move together into the future. Besides, I really love this time period in my life. My stomach gets all fluttery with you guys and living with you is so much better than being alone.”

“You’ll never be alone again,” I promise, my control over.

My arm swings her up as she squeals, her legs scaling up my body to get more comfortable. Cooper set up a weight room and he’s been having her do pull-ups to build up her strength. Her reward? Sitting on his face after she’s all sweaty.

Ethan and I “supervised” the other day and it was hot as fuck watching her take her reward.

God, I need to be inside of Nina immediately. My hand grabs a handful of her ass to hike her further up my body, while my other wraps around her throat to kiss her. Nina moans against my lips and I enjoy exploring her.

I’m unhurried, despite how hard my cock is. I just want to enjoy every second with her. This will get me through my long shift tomorrow, and while I’m not proud of this, I’ll definitely fist my cock to memories of today.

I stumble toward an alcove where no one will be able to see us, careful not to slam her back against the wall.

“You don't have to be so careful,” she gasps. “I promise you won’t break me.”

“Maybe not, Little One,” I growl, biting her lip. Nina shifts her hips to rock over my cock with a moan, and I know the minx wants to play rougher than usual.

Releasing her lip, I reach underneath her dress and tangle my fingers in the waistband of her panties. I see the exact second that she realizes my intent before ripping them off her body. Her gasp makes my cock twitch as I give her a cocksure smile and pocket her panties.

I can give her rough without hurting her.

My fingers find her clit and begin to rub it, my blood pressure singing as I hear her moans before it's no longer enough. Dropping to my knees as she gasps, I lift her up until she’s straddling my shoulders.

“I just realized I’m very hungry,” I murmur, bunching her dress up around her waist. Her pussy is pretty and pink, her slick already giving her a gorgeous shine.

“Riley,” she moans, her fingers fisting my hair. She’s become less shy with us lately, getting used to walking around naked. I love how confident she is. So damn sexy. “Make me come.”

“I’m just an alpha at your service,” I growl. My lips wrap around her clit as I suck and lick, the vibrations making her shudder.

I eat her pussy like it’ll be my last meal, knowing slick is smearing over my chin. My tongue pushes into her cunt, allowing me to lap at her cream. Nina rides my face, her heels digging into my back.

Her chest heaves as she gets closer to coming for me, her breasts threatening to spill out of her dress. I may have to commit a few felonies if anyone looks at her for too long. I can hear her needy whines, her hips insistent as I get back to sucking on her clit.

Remembering the way she told me to be rougher with her, I push my fingers inside her cunt and fuck her with them before grazing her clit with my teeth.

“Fuck. Yes!” she begs as she squirts all over my face.

“That’s my girl,” I murmur, lifting my face with a wide smile.

“You look very proud of yourself,” she wheezes.

“Just wait,” I reply, standing as I lift her off my shoulders to drop feet to the ground. “Face the wall, ass out, legs apart. Present, Little Omega.”

Still breathing hard, Nina turns and puts her hands on the wall before pushing her ass out. I flip her dress up so I can see what’s mine, her cunt still dripping for me.

“Anything else, Alpha?” she asks. I can feel my breaths coming harder as I crack my hand across her ass to see how she reacts.

Nina shudders as she surprises both of us as she comes. “Oh, oh fuck,” she whimpers, sagging against the wall. “Alpha.”

“Mine,” I growl, unbuckling my belt and pulling open my pants. My cock bounces out as I release it, my eyes rolling as I fist it. “You’re a naughty little omega, coming without permission.”

Her eyes get glassy with need as she watches me over her shoulder.

“Do naughty girls get fucked, Alpha?” she asks, her voice trembling.

Saying no to her isn’t in the cards today. I check in with the bond to make sure I’m not pushing too hard, but it’s thrumming with love and need. She’s so fucking perfect.

“Definitely,” I grunt, my hand slamming on the wall next to hers as I bend my knees to line up my cock at her entrance.

I love our height difference, even though it can make sex a fête of acrobatics.

Due to the slick, I slam into her with a yell, listening as her head drops back as she screams.

“More,” she whines. “You feel so fucking good.”

My hand clamps on her hip as I thrust inside of her, knowing this won’t last long. Her ass bounces as I fuck her, her whimpers making my knot want to slam into her cunt. Still, I control myself as I tease both of us and rock my knot over her entrance, making my thrusts more shallow.

Nina goes wild as my hand shifts to her clit and I rub it in tight circles. Her cunt is strangling my cock, her neck showing her gorgeous bite marks. While they’re mostly healed, I can still see the shiny outline of them. They’ll be visible to anyone who comes near her, and knowing that makes me feel really fucking happy.

Mine, I whisper through the bond as I pinch her clit, the pain shoving Nina into her next orgasm. Groaning, I fuck her through her release, ropes of cum filling her up. I love marking her, reminding myself that she’s mine over and over.

I’m feeling extra possessive as I kiss her shoulder, enjoying the way she hisses as I pull out of her.

“Such a pretty, full pussy,” I praise her, loving the way her skin pebbles with goosebumps. “This is how this is going to go, Little One. Don’t clean up, and we’re going to take a walk out to the river to people watch all while my cum leaks out of you. How does that sound?”

“Like you’re a possessive fucking alpha,” she says with a dazed smile, pushing herself off the wall to straighten her dress.

Chuckling because that’s exactly what I am, I put my dick away and fix my pants. At some point, she dropped her bag, and I pick it up for her. When I said that she has a notebook that she writes in, I should have mentioned that it goes everywhere with her now.

“I don’t know if that’s good enough,” I tease her, wrapping my arm around her as we begin to walk. Her hiss tells me that my cum is definitely running out of her pussy. “While we’re people watching, I want you curled up next to me so I can push my fingers into your used pussy to ensure the rest of it stays put.”

“Riley,” she says, looking as if I just broke her as I fix her bag so that it’s over my shoulder. I don’t give a shit who sees me, Nina will just drop it again due to how badly her arms are still shaking.

“Yes, dear,” I grin, kissing her forehead as we walk back upstairs to find a good place to hang out at.

“You’re insane,” she sighs, shaking her head with a smile.

“Just because I’m the more level-headed alpha in your life doesn’t mean I’m not bat shit crazy too,” I say, spotting a good spot.

Sitting down, I look pointedly beside me so she’ll join me. Curling up next to me, she fixes her dress so I can slip my hand down her ass to possessively curl my fingers inside of her cunt. Purring happily, I hand her her notebook and pen as she lays her head on my shoulder.

Nina writes for a bit while I watch parents chase their kids and tourists take photos. My lips curl up in amusement as I wonder what they’d think if they knew I was shoving my cum back inside my omega.

She has an appointment to get birth control in a few days, so there’s a small chance that she could get pregnant, but I doubt it. That doesn’t mean that we won’t give it our best shot anyway.

After a while, I notice that Nina is very quiet, and glance down to see that she’s dozing against me. I guess I tired her out. With the sun shining down on us, I hold her against me as I enjoy watching her instead as she sleeps.

All the while, my fingers plug up her pussy.

Twenty-Nine

Nina

I’m staring at my computer screen, and I feel paralyzed for some reason. I wanted to write, and started my account to begin blogging, but I can’t seem to start the words.

Slumping back in my chair, I gaze out at the backyard. The real estate agent said that the owners maintained the garden right up until they sold, and now Cooper is keeping it going.

It’s beautiful out here. We’ve been in the house for two months now, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the property. Brick walls surround the entire garden and pavers wind through to give the illusion of a secret world among the flowers and trees.

So why can’t I write?

“Nina,” Cooper says, stepping outside. “You look a little dejected. What’s up?”

My alpha is always watching. He’s been working on a new house project, but I know he watches me out the window. Still stalking me.

Right this second, I love it because I am feeling a little stumped.

“I’m stuck,” I pout. “I love coming out here to read and take notes, but now my brain feels locked up.”

“What if your brain is bored because it’s too quiet?” he asks. At my look, he smirks. “Princess, I know all of your quirks. You tend to listen to music when you want to block out the world in your nest. I think that background noise kickstarts your brain so it’s not too quiet.”

“Maybe,” I frown. “Okay, I’ll bite. What do you think will help?”

“Move spots,” he says immediately, pointing at the swing. “Your brain will think you’re doing something as you move back and forth. Then, play music or a podcast that’ll engage your brain while not making you pay attention to the words. Get your brain busy so you can write.”

“I swear, you have the manual down on me,” I sigh, standing.

Cooper just smirks as he helps me into the porch swing that he made for the backyard. There’s a breeze now that fall is moving in, and he covers my legs with a light blanket to help me get comfortable.

Picking up my water bottle, he frowns as he shakes it.

“I’m getting you more water,” he murmurs. “Riley also made some bread before he went to work. Do you want me to toast a piece and add hazelnut spread on it with some banana?”

I haven’t eaten much today and my stomach rumbles at the thought of eating the best piece of toast that’s ever been eaten.

“That sounds so good,” I whimper.

“I got you, Princess,” he promises. “I’ll be back.”

Cooper disappears back into the house as I smile after him. He’s so damn good to me. He’s also right. My head isn’t in the best shape to write if I’m hungry.

Opening up a browser, I scroll through podcasts on Omega Link and find someone called Little Rabbit. The name sounds vaguely familiar, but I don’t always trust my memories.

Turning on a podcast, I begin listening as I start my blog. A piece of toast appears in front of my lips, and I take a bite without thinking, continuing to type. Cooper chuckles and walks away, but I’m already lost again to my words.

“Emilia Richardson has decided to host a dating event, and I think she’s the last person who should do that,” Little Rabbit says. My fingers stop moving as I catch this part, my nose wrinkling.

Fucking Emilia Richardson. God, I hate that woman so much.

“If something sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Who can say who the ‘right’ alphas are that you should be meeting? Status doesn’t always mean safety. The ugliest people sometimes come in the prettiest trappings,” she says. “I know what it’s like to want and wish for someone to look at me with adoration. I promise it’s out there. I just found it in a way I never thought I would.”

The Little Rabbit’s words help to fuel mine as I use my anger to put my thoughts together. I don’t really care if it sounds unhinged, because I doubt anyone is going to read it. They’re just the words of an omega, right?

The Little Rabbit’s podcast has an insane amount of views, but she’s anonymous and there’s a certain amount of allure when it comes to the unknown. I’m just me.

An omega with a shitload of trauma and some burgeoning anger issues.

The sky is darkening by the time my words run out, and I sigh as I close my laptop. I’ll have to edit it tomorrow, when I’m not so tired.

“Hey, Little One,” Riley says, coming outside. “I heard you’ve been hard at work. Can I tempt the writer into some food?”

“Yes, please,” I sigh. “Cooper tried to feed me, but I barely remember it.”

“He says he got you to take a couple of bites before you pushed his hand away,” he says, amused.

Taking my laptop, he holds out his hand to help me stand. My legs complain from sitting for so long, but I feel content. I didn’t realize that I needed to get some of that out. I don’t know how much I’ll use for the blog post and what I’ll cut, but it was really therapeutic.

“Good day?” he asks as we walk inside.

“Yes,” I admit, grinning tiredly. “The time just slipped away from me, but it’s been a really good day.”

Sitting with my alphas, unwinding together as we talk about our days is even better though. I get to spend my life with them.

I still can’t completely get my mind around it.

Four months later

Curled up in my nest, I glare at my current homework. I was accepted into South University, and of course I’m overloaded with courses. I still hate math, and it’s a prerequisite to graduate. I may need to get Ethan to help me.

Not that he hasn’t already offered, I’m just stubborn as hell.

Tossing the textbook aside, I groan.

“Math?” Ethan asks from the doorway of my nest. They all insist on asking before coming in, unless there’s some kind of emergency or I fall asleep and they want to bring me back to our room. At my nod, he raises his brow. “Let me come in, Little Queen, and I’ll banish your problems.”

Giggling, I accept his kind offer, and he strides inside.

“Let’s blow through this,” he says. “Riley promised to make molten chocolate cake before he leaves for his rotation.”

“God, you had me at chocolate,” I moan, sitting up.

“He knows the secret to your heart,” he teases.

I didn’t think my blog would go anywhere, but the Dean of the Communications reached out and asked for a meeting. He told me that I could continue to write while learning about how best to move in the world since it’s a competitive field.

Dean Holsten pretty much refused to take no for an answer, and I’m really enjoying my classes. With this course load, I’ll be able to finish school in three years and I can take less math classes.

I’m good with having my arm slightly twisted to confirm my major in the communications department.

“Why do you explain this so much better than my teachers?” I ask, working out the last problems. Somehow, he makes it all make sense to my brain.

“A lot of university professors overcomplicate things,” Ethan murmurs, watching as I work my way through the math problem. “It doesn’t need to feel like mental gymnastics. See, you got this.”

“With a lot of help,” I remind him. “Done. Is it chocolate time yet?”

Riley yells from the first floor, and I burst out laughing.

“You can use the bond,” I tell him.

“It’s more fun to yell. Get your cute ass downstairs.”

Smirking, I scramble up and Ethan and I walk downstairs.

“Dad said he wanted to show you something,” he says.

“I remember he said something about an appointment,” I say. “He was really cagey about it though and wouldn’t tell me what it was.”

“My father is insane,” Ethan grunts. “You’ll see, I hear his voice.”

“What the fuck, Cooper?” Riley asks as we approach the kitchen.

“Should I be worried?” I ask, raising my brow.

“No. It’s almost romantic,” Ethan grumbles. “Go look.”

Peeking into the kitchen, I see Riley looking at something on what seems to be Cooper’s neck.

“Hi,” I announce myself as I walk in. I know they can tell it’s me, but I feel a little awkward because Riley is glaring at Cooper.

“Hey baby,” Riley says, glancing at me. His glare softens as he comes to hug me. He smells like melted chocolate.

“I want to dip you in chocolate and eat you,” I moan.

“Anytime you want,” Riley chuckles. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I think so,” I say. “I keep thinking about how I haven’t had a heat again. I don’t know when I should worry.”

“Never,” Riley says. “Seriously, your body is going to do what it wants, Nina. Give it some time.”

I’m on birth control now and haven’t touched a heat suppressant since I went to Colorado. I guess he’s right. Midterms are soon, I don’t want to borrow trouble and spontaneously worry myself into a heat.

I mean, it could happen.

“Cooper,” I say, smirking as he looks at me. “Where have you been hiding today?”

“I’m starting to reconsider this after Riley’s reaction,” he grumbles.

“Show me,” I insist.

Gazing at me intently, he stalks over and points under his jaw where I bit him during my heat. Grabbing his arms, I tug down so he’ll bend down for me to see better.

There’s a transparent bandage over the area, and I realize it’s a tattoo! My lips part in awe as I see that he had my bite drawn on his body so it no longer looks translucent.

“Cooper,” I whisper, my fingers gingerly touching outside of it. “What made you decide to do this?”

“Do you hate it?” he asks. “The first thing I thought about when you bit me is that I wished everyone could see it.”

“I think this is the sexiest thing anyone has ever done for me,” I admit, squealing as he lifts me into the air to kiss me.

“See, it’s romantic,” Ethan shrugs.

“And mildly insane,” Riley laughs.

“To-may-to, to-mah-to,” Cooper mutters.

Honestly, they’re all kind of unhinged, and it works perfectly fine.

Putting me down, Cooper leads me to our island and lifts me onto the bar stool. I swear, somehow all the furniture was bought for the giants that live here.

“Don’t pout,” Riley smirks, sliding me cake. “Even if you were tall, we’d still pick you up.”

“You’re all lucky I love you,” I grumble as I pick up my fork and take a bite. My smile makes them chuckle as they listen to my obligatory moan.

Cooper sits with me and plays with my hair. He bought me drops to massage into my scalp that’ll promote hair growth, and it’s been working so far. My hair is more pixie-like than fuzz now.

It means I can play with what I have now, and sometimes I curl it into a cute punk look. Even though my mother is dead, I still find myself needing to remind myself of my freedom. The scars run deep, but I’m working through it.

Ethan

“I want to surprise Nina at work,” I tell Dad as I grab my keys.

She graduated about nine months ago and immediately got a job at The Journal as a columnist.

“Can you bring her food?” he asks. “She said that she was going to have a long day, and insisted on only bringing snacks.”

“Yeah, I can,” I say. When she’s busy, it’s harder for her to get the time to eat a full meal, so snacks work better. It’s almost four though, so I may be able to tempt her with tacos.

Walking out the door, I check my phone as I head to my car. I started my business right after I graduated with my masters degree as an analyst to help companies enhance their profit margins.

I wanted something that would allow me to help others while still being able to work from home when I wanted to. The business definitely exploded when I started proving how quickly I could turn around a company that might be flagging in sales or marketing.

Opening my door, I get into my Jeep and start the engine. Georgia weather is so nice year round, I bought myself a new car to celebrate graduating. If I want Nina to enjoy her wins, then I have to walk the talk.

Her birthday is coming up next week, and she’s still weird about celebrating it. Vivian managed to ruin a lot of her birthdays until she stopped acknowledging them at all.

That’s unacceptable to me, which means I’m planning a surprise birthday party for her. She deserves to celebrate with people who love her.

The drive to the newspaper goes quickly, another plus for Nina since her commute is short. Parking in the underground garage, I hum to myself as I make my way to the elevator.

Nina started work at six this morning, and has barely responded to messages today. That means the day has been heinous. As her alpha, it’s my duty to kidnap her and ply her with tacos.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Impatiently, I sigh as I step inside of the elevator and stab at the button for the twelfth floor. I swear, it takes forever for the elevator to rise, and it constantly stops at different floors.

If I were my father, I’d just scare people out so I could get to my omega without having to wait. These are the times that I can appreciate being feral.

As soon as the doors open, I practically explode out of them, stalking past the cubicles to find Nina’s. The sound of people talking and keyboard tapping is loud and I wonder how she’s able to concentrate.

As I approach, I see her standing and arguing with her manager. What the fuck is he going on about?

“I’m sorry,” he says, shrugging. “Martin bought out the newspaper and said he doesn’t want you working here.”

Martin…As in Vivian’s ex-husband?

“I was barely his stepdaughter,” she groans. “I don’t know why his sleeping with my mother makes any difference.”

“Martin says you’re a liability⁠—”

Yeah, I’ve heard about enough of this.

“Excuse me, what exactly is the problem here?” I bark out.

Nina glances at me with a sad expression, and I fist my hand in anger. I fucking hate seeing her sad.

“Nina’s fired,” her manager grunts. “She needs to be out in the next five minutes.”

“Are you going to stand there while she gets her things together and continue to speak to her?” I ask. “I believe you no longer have that privilege since she no longer works here.”

“I…” Her manager swallows hard and shakes his head. “Five minutes or I’m getting security involved, Nina.”

My little queen rolls her eyes at him while I enjoy a bit of pettiness and shove her manager aside with my shoulder as I follow her into her cubicle.

“He blindsided you, didn’t he?” I ask, watching as she drops into her chair.

“Pretty much,” she says. “I was working on my piece for the newspaper, in the zone and ignoring everything when Milo interrupted me. He said that effective immediately, I was fired due to a change in owner. When I asked him why that would cause me to lose my job, he said that it’s because Martin is the new owner.”

“He didn’t seem to have a problem when Lyle encouraged him to sign divorce papers,” I mutter, crouching beside her.

“The piece I’m writing is about the new Omega Center that they’re getting off the ground in Savannah,” she says, flicking away a wayward tear as she reopens her laptop.

“Blog it,” I say, knowing there’s some gravel behind my words. “You have a following now, Little Queen. Use it.”

“You’re right. I just really liked this job,” she says.

I watch as she sends the piece she’s writing to her email and then deletes it. Nina then systematically begins to delete everything that she’s written for the paper off the computer after sending herself everything first.

“I’m fired,” she says, smirking as I chuckle. “They don’t need any of my work anymore. This will include the piece I’m working on as well as anything else that I was playing with in the background. Fuck them.”

“That’s exactly right,” I murmur, watching as she grabs her oversized bag and throws in her phone and a photo or two from her desk. For someone who’s been here for months, Nina doesn’t keep very much personal shit at her cubicle.

An idea starts to form in my head as she stands and pulls her bag over her arm. Since the laptop belongs to the newspaper, everything else will stay right where it is now. Taking her hand and looping it over my arm, I lead her out of the cubicle.

Nina chin held high, not a hint of the only tear she allowed herself to fall in evidence of how upset she is, she walks across the long room with me. An alpha with cold blue eyes watches us, and I realize that this must be Martin.

Vivian seemed to like men in power with money, though Martin just looks like an ass.

“I’m doing you a favor, Nina,” he says. “An omega like you shouldn’t be working at a newspaper.”

“You’re right,” I bite out. Nina doesn’t flinch beside me, completely trusting that I’m a better alpha than Martin. “I think she should own one. See you around, Martin.”

“Wait, what?” he asks. “She doesn’t have the kind of money for that!”

“My money lies with Pack Thornefield,” Nina says in an airy tone. “If I want a newspaper, then that’s what I’ll have.”

Fuck yes you will.

The two of us get onto the elevator and I stab the button, hoping we won’t have to stop.

“Stand tall, Little Queen,” I murmur as she begins to sag against me. “Assholes like that probably watch the elevator videos.”

Taking a breath, she nods as she steals her spine.

“We just talked a whole lot of shit just now,” she mutters.

“It’s not shit if it’s true,” I say. “I still have a lot of time on my hands, and an online newspaper would do very well in Savannah.”

“You’re serious,” she breathes as we arrive at the garage.

“Fuck yes I am,” I say as we walk to the car. “You should be able to work in your house instead of an office, and regularly eat instead of skipping meals. Can I take you out for tacos to celebrate our new partnership?”

Nina’s laugh tinkles over me as she nods. “You and Riley claim Cooper is over the top,” she says as I help her into the Jeep. “I’m pretty sure a company is right up there.”

“How else is a queen to rule?” I ask, shrugging. “A more liberal approach to news is needed. It’ll also give you more time to write the book you’ve been working on.”

“I haven’t had time to write much,” she admits as I close the door.

Well, now she will.

Thirty

Nina

My sneakers hit the pavement as I jog with Cassidy and the morning running crew through a wooded trail. I didn’t want to come, but Cassidy showed up at the house and dragged me out of my nest.

“Martin is a sleaze,” she says. I just finished telling them all about what happened yesterday. My mind is still reeling after it all.

“He seriously is,” I huff out. Speaking is getting a little harder to do. “Where are your omegas?”

Pack Tremaine scent matched to two omegas, and while they’re both shy, I can tell they probably keep Cassidy and the guys busy.

“They looked so cute curled up in their nest, I didn’t want to wake them up,” Cassidy smirks. “Besides, they don’t like when I’m mean and bully you into doing shit you don’t want to do.”

“It’s done with love,” Abbott grunts. “They also don’t enjoy running.”

Shiloh and Ansel snort, knowing he’s telling the truth about their omegas.

“Enough talk,” Ansel barks out, and I groan because I know what’s coming. “If you have enough breath to talk then⁠—”

“You need to run harder!” The group yells.

Fuck me.

I’m in the middle of a protective circle today, and no one would ever know there’s an omega in here. The running group is larger than normal today, though Ethan had to skip to start working for his other clients so we can begin our plans for the online newspaper.

The group picks up speed and I’m forced to follow.

The plan is to offer advertising space to companies to cover some of the start up costs for the newspaper. We’re also going to reach out to writers who may be interested in providing articles and content for the paper, especially those who are thinking about working more part-time.

Being an online newspaper allows us to also offer more flexibility, as long as the articles are submitted on time.

“Pick it up!” Cassidy barks out, and I huff as I force my feet to move faster.

My mind clears of everything else as I concentrate on not passing out and continuing to breathe. It feels as if we’re flying as the world blurs as we run. The sun shines intermittently between the branches of the trees, and the world is quiet outside of the birds chirping.

This is why I run. The feeling of freedom is addictive, and the alphas in this group offer me the safety to be able to enjoy it.

Slowly, they reduce the pace until we’re walking slowly to be able to take a break. I’ve learned that completely stopping isn’t a good idea because my legs will turn into jello and collapse.

“Feel better?” Cassidy asks before taking a sip of water.

“Yes,” I say honestly. “Much.”

“Good,” Abbott says. “It always helps to chase out the racing thoughts by depriving them of oxygen.”

Snorting, I shrug. Well, that’s one way to go about it.

Cooper is on top of me as he sleeps, pinning me to the mattress. Usually, I wouldn’t care, but I really have to pee.

It’s been a week since I was fired, and I’ve been satisfying the itch to write by working on my book. I’m calling it The Confused Thoughts of an Omega: a guide to figuring it out. I don’t know if anyone will want to read it, but I think at this point, it’s more for me than anyone else.

“Cooper,” I rasp. “I have to pee, and I don’t think that watersports are on the agenda for today.”

Riley snorts as he lays next to me, refusing to help. Ugh, this is just mean.

“Did you just tell Dad in his sleep that you didn’t want to pee on him?” Ethan asks behind Riley, yawning.

We have this giant bed, yet we usually end up in the middle by the morning.

“I don’t know, Little One. It’s your birthday, you can piss on Cooper if you want to. Wait, is that not the way that song goes?” Riley asks.

As they laugh, my brain short circuits. Shit, is today really my birthday?

God, I’m twenty-two today. It’s sad, but at one point while I was at Weeping Willow, I didn’t think I’d live to see this birthday much less any others.

“I’ll roll him over, Nina,” Riley says, shoving Cooper off me so I can escape.

“What the fuck,” Cooper groans.

“You almost became the victim of Nina pissing on you,” Riley says as I shut the door to the bathroom.

The sigh of relief as I get to do my business is soul deep. I almost didn’t make it.

“Oh my goodness,” I gasp, flushing the toilet before washing my hands. Gazing at myself as I dry myself off, I shake my head.

I managed to finish school in two and half years essentially because I took summer courses, and now here we are.

“Happy birthday,” I whisper.

Blinking rapidly, I brush away the tears that threaten. I’ve had other birthdays with my alphas, and they always make a big deal about it. I don’t know why this one seems to be hitting harder today.

Opening the door, I smile at my pack as I walk out.

“How does French toast sound?” Riley asks, rubbing his stomach. My eyes move to his cock that is bobbing in front of me and my mouth waters.

“That sounds really good,” I purr, not talking about food at all.

“Good,” Riley says, getting up to grab his boxers. “Come downstairs with me and I’ll make you coffee, baby.”

Pouting, I nod as I grab a robe and throw it on. Ethan looks knowingly at me but doesn’t say anything as he and Cooper get up.

What about birthday sex?

Going downstairs, I allow myself to be cuddled by Cooper on his lap as he sits at the island.

“I’m sorry I crushed you in my sleep,” he murmurs against my hair.

“I wouldn’t have minded if my bladder wasn’t screaming,” I tease him. “I’m completely fine.”

“Good,” he says, lifting my chin to kiss my lips. “What do you think about going for a walk in the woods with us?”

“Will you be chasing and fucking me on this walk?” I ask, smirking against his lips.

“I don’t know why I can’t add that to the agenda,” he chuckles as Riley shakes his head.

“Nina, I can smell your pussy from here,” Riley groans. “We don’t have time for you to sit on my face.”

“I’m sure we could make time…” I say.

“We will end up not going anywhere if that happens,” Ethan says. “I solemnly promise that we will be fucking, knotting, and having you come multiple times on our cocks.”

“That sounded pretty serious,” Cooper says.

“Yeah, well, we have the beginnings of a sexually frustrated omega,” Ethan shrugs.

“We can’t have that,” Cooper murmurs.

He kisses me senseless, turning me so that I’m straddling him.

“Make yourself come, Princess,” he growls. “Use me.”

His cock is thick and long underneath his boxers as I grind down on him. My fingers curl into his skin as I whimper. I’m so turned on, I don’t think I’ll last long. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.

Every time the crown of his cock presses against my clit, my eyes roll back and I slick even more on him. He’s going to be a mess by the time we finish.

The sight of his tattoo makes me happy, seeing that it’s all healed. Kissing up his neck, I suck on the skin where his ink and my bite is, and Cooper growls. Loving the sound, I whimper as I get even closer. Imagining that he’s inside of me, I project the thought to my alphas, and Cooper’s fingers squeeze my waist as he pulls me harder against him.

“Cooper,” I gasp. “Please.”

“You’re going to make me come with you,” he snarls. “Goddamn, woman. You play really fucking dirty.”

“Then come with me,” I whine.

My breaths are getting harsher as Cooper takes over and uses my body to make himself come. I’m not at all mad about it, not when he makes my body ignite, and I come so hard I see stars. His answering yell as he follows me is also hot as fuck.

The sound of the fire alarm makes my head turn to find that Riley and Ethan both masturbated until they came and the food is burning.

“I think we should take the birthday girl out for breakfast,” Cooper chuckles as Riley curses and tries to manage the burning food with a fistful of cum.

Ethan laughs as he shoves his hand in Riley’s mouth to clean him up before grabbing a dish towel to wave the smoke away from the wailing alarm. I’m trapped between wanting to laugh and helping.

“They’ll figure it out,” Cooper grunts, holding me carefully as he stands. “If they’re old enough to jerk off, they can clean up after themselves. I’m going to steal you away to shower with you and then give you a present.”

“Present?” I ask, lighting up.

“We always give you presents for your birthday,” he laughs. “And every year you act surprised.”

His long legs eat up the distance between us and our bathroom, and I sigh happily as he cleans me up in the shower and washes my hair.

Kissing me as he washes his hair, I grin as he scrunches his eyes shut as the shampoo threatens to run into them and he’s forced to rinse off. I admire his body as he runs soap over it, biting my lip at how his cock is already hard.

“None of that,” he murmurs as he turns off the shower and grabs towels. “I will happily fuck you until you pass out later.”

“Promises, promises,” I laugh.

Once I’m dry, I start to get dressed in our room, loving our giant closet. This house is absolutely perfect. Knowing that we’re going hiking, I decide on a skirt with shorts underneath it and a black tank top that says Love is a Rainbow.

Cooper eyes me as he dresses in a pair of lightweight cargo pants and a t-shirt.

“What?” I ask.

“I have zero control around you,” he groans. “Nina, I can see side boob in your shirt. Those boys aren’t going to survive your birthday.”

Shrugging, I grin as I trail my fingers over his crotch as I pass him. If they’re going to be cock teases, I don’t have to play nicely.

Riley and Ethan don’t see me as they disappear into the shower, making me smirk. They call it “saving” water.

I take a few minutes to blow dry my hair and put on my make up with sunscreen while Cooper watches me obsessively. Sometimes, he’ll hand me makeup or a brush that he knows I’ll need because he probably knows my routine as well as I do.

“Okay, I’m ready,” I say, turning to find the three of them watching me.

“Dad, there’s side boob,” Ethan hisses at Cooper.

“I know,” he sighs. “Open your present and we’ll leave, Princess.”

Handing me a wrapped gift, he waits as he watches me open it. They’re really pretty emerald and diamond studs and my lips part as I gaze at them.

“Cooper,” I whisper. “They’re gorgeous.”

“You like them?” he asks tentatively. “If you don’t…”

“Mine!” I exclaim, making Riley and Ethan laugh.

Moving to the mirror, I put them in, sighing happily as I see the way they glitter in the light.

“We each have a more serious gift,” Ethan says, holding out a box.

“However, this one is for fun,” Riley says as I open it.

It’s a…vibrator?

Glancing at Cooper, he just smirks.

“It does figure they’d get you a panty vibrator,” he grunts. “Is there a remote?”

“App controlled,” Ethan replies.

“Fuck it,” I shrug. “I’m in.”

Walking into the bathroom, I figure out how to insert it so it’ll sit on my clit and get redressed. It can’t be that bad? Right?

Cooper decides to drive as we chat, when a low pressure starts to build in between my legs. Biting my lip, I shift in my seat, the low vibration just enough to edge me, but not enough to be shocking or make me come. I am glad I chose a pair of panties that are thicker than my usual.

I make it through breakfast just fine, though my stomach is fluttering.

“You good, Princess?” Cooper smirks as he drives to our next location.

“Yeah,” I say, though my voice is a bit breathy. “Just peachy.”

Riley chuckles under his breath as Cooper parks.

“Walk with me, beautiful,” Riley says as we get out.

I’m not sure where we are because we didn’t drive through a gate or anything to show that we’re in a state park. We’re literally parked on what looks like the side of the road.

Huh.

Always willing to trust my alphas, we begin walking as I hold Riley’s hand and the pressure and vibration get more intense.

“Fuck,” I whimper, squeezing Riley’s hand as I clamp my legs together.

“Ride it out,” he croons as I shudder. It feels so good, and I can feel tingles running down my legs.

Breathing hard, I straighten as the vibration gets less intense. That’s the game they play as we walk. Sometimes it’s mid conversation when they turn up the vibration, others it’s a dull hum. My heart is beating hard, and my clit is starting to get swollen as the need to come gets more pressing.

“Is that a house?” I ask, my chest heaving a little.

“Mmhmm,” Cooper murmurs. “Let’s say that the packs wanted to celebrate too.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hiss.

I can’t yell at them any more because the back door opens and out walks Cassidy.

“Happy birthday!” she yells as I grin.

It’s not even fake either, because I really do love seeing her.

“Surprise!” everyone yells as we walk in, and I feel my eyes get hot as I grin. I have the best fucking friends and alphas, even when they’re edging me.

My alphas give me a slight reprieve as we walk inside and I get to say hello to everyone. I even get hugs from Cassidy’s omegas. I’m talking to Abbott when the vibration gets really heavy, and I struggle to keep my breath even. Unfortunately, they’re all so in tune with me that his eyes narrow as he watches me.

“Nina,” he says. “You’re acting weird."

Fuck a duck, I hate them so much. Apparently, the vibrations can be split so that it’s more intense on one side than the other. Whoever is controlling it flips the vibration to be really intense against my g-spot, and I gasp.

“My alphas are playing chicken,” I squeak.

“What?” he asks, confused. Cassidy comes to join us, because of course she does, and I grab her hand and squeeze.

“Nina,” she says, watching me as I gasp. Looking around the room, she sighs as she sees Riley’s smirk. “You’re like three seconds from coming, aren’t you?”

“Mmhmm,” I rasp.

“Well that’s fun,” Abbott smirks. “I heard about the chase through the woods. They’ll be lucky if you don’t chase them instead at this rate.”

I can’t stop the laugh that escapes, which leads to some uncontrollable laughter. Cassidy grins as she holds me up, her eyes finding her omegas and winking at them.

I sometimes worry about my friendship with their alphas making them upset or jealous, but they don't seem to be bothered by it. Cassidy told me once that she thinks I’m the only one they’d be like this with. Anyone else would probably meet the sharp end of a knife. I guess I should be more concerned about that response, but since Pack Tremaine is just as deadly, I’m going to count my blessings that I’m on the right side of their omegas.

The toy cuts off again, and I release Cassidy’s hand as I take a deep breath. She looks like she’s struggling not to laugh.

“I’m sorry,” she gushes. “I’m sure it sucks, but I’m really happy that I’m not the only one who gets edged!”

The room gets really quiet and Cassidy gets redder than a tomato as Carter snickers across the way. “Girl solidarity at its finest!” he calls out.

Silas smirks, making his way over to me. “Sounds like someone decided to make their omega a toy,” he teases me.

“Shh,” I whisper. “I really don’t need anyone else to joke about my current situation.”

“Okay,” he smirks. “What if I told you that Asher’s sister, Sophia, just moved into town and is interested in writing for your newspaper?”

“Did you tell her I got fired?” I ask. I’m still salty about it.

“Not that newspaper,” Abbott says.

“Oh! My newspaper?” I gasp.

“Yes, the one you’re setting up,” Silas laughs. “She’s here. Would you like to meet her?”

“Will you threaten Ethan and Riley into behaving?” I ask.

“I’m on it,” he says. “Abbott, can you do introductions?”

“Wait, Silas, I didn’t mean to actually threaten them!” I whisper yell, but he just waves and keeps walking.

“It’ll be just a little threat,” Abbott says, leading me to meet Sophia.

The rest of my time at my surprise birthday flies by, and everyone even sings to me and cuts cake. Cooper grabs my hand as we finish and the packs smirk as he escorts me out.

“Run little omega!” yells Carter while I stick my tongue out at him as he chuckles.

As we clear the doorway, the vibrator gets turned back on, and I gasp. Tugging my hand away from Cooper, I break away at a dead run.

Ethan whoops and begins to chase me, but since he hasn’t been making our running group as often, I’m faster. I can hear my alphas’ footsteps pounding on the ground, a sweat breaking out along my skin. My pussy is gushing, the toy is on the highest setting that it’s been all day, making me sob with need.

Yet, I continue to run as my heart thunders in my chest, and I hear my feral alpha growl behind me.

“Fuck!” I squeak, turning right to get away from him.

“Princess, let Daddy fuck you,” he growls, making my pussy clench.

God, why does that turn me on so easily?

“Only if you can catch me!” I yell, forcing my legs to move faster.

The torture the running group puts me through three times a week is a benefit here. I refuse to thank them for it, though. They know more than enough about my sex life.

I can hear them behind me still when the unthinkable happens. The movement of my running has been giving me extra friction as the fucking toy rocks over my extra sensitive nerve endings, and I stumble as my orgasm hits me hard. Cooper’s arms wrap around me as he picks me up so I’m safely in his arms instead of running over me.

He manages to slow our speed enough for him to flop onto his back with me on top of him. My chest heaves as I gaze at him with wide eyes, my legs straddling his body to feel his hard cock.

“My hero,” I gasp, my hips moving again as we both moan. “Now fuck me.”

“My pleasure,” he growls, his hands ripping my skirt off me.

“Woah,” Ethan says, dropping to the ground to help me get my panties off and remove the toy. Breathing deeply, his eyes widen. “Ah, Nina?”

“Hush,” I say, pulling Cooper’s pants down. My alpha’s hand squeezes my ass as he lifts me and impales me on his cock. My answering scream as I feel myself stretching isn’t because he hurt me, but because it feels so damn good.

My pussy gushes around Cooper’s cock, and he groans as he uses my ass as hand holds to fuck me. His pupils are blown, his teeth grinding together as if he’ll die if he can’t fuck me. A pulse of heat slams into me, and I whimper because it’s intense and it fucking hurts.

“She’s in heat,” Riley says, pulling his clothes off. “Well, baby. This isn’t how we thought we’d spend your birthday when we planned this.”

“I think my body decided this was the only way to get you to fuck me,” I gasp, bouncing happily on Cooper’s cock. “Now I’ll get orgasms for days.”

Riley snorts as he fists my hair, and my pussy clenches around Cooper. I’m discovering that I love having my hair pulled. Smearing his precum over my lips, he shoves my mouth open to suck his cock. Moaning as I force myself to swallow as much of him as possible, I hollow out my cheeks and suck hard.

“Oh. Damn, baby,” he groans. “Where did you learn that? Sneaky omega.”

I may have picked up a few tricks from the books I’ve been reading. Cooper grinds me down on his knot but won’t let me have it, and I dig my nails angrily into his hands. Cooper grunts and thrusts up harder and I scream as I feel his knot start to fill me.

“If I can’t knot her, someone better,” he growls as he ruts me with his partially inserted knot.

I have to admit that it feels really good, and my eyes roll back as I come.

“Mine,” Ethan grunts, lifting me off Cooper’s dick. I cry out at the loss of both dicks, while Ethan pulls off my shirt. “Present for me, Little Queen. I’ll fuck you good, I promise.”

Falling to my hands and knees immediately, I moan as he coats his cock with my slick. My asshole is already covered in it, and I gasp as he pushes into my tight hole.

“Yes,” I cry out, my fingers digging into the soil as he fucks me.

Ethan pushes my face to the ground and I can feel the moment he snaps. His thrusts are harder, his hands holding me tightly as if he’s worried I’m going to try to get away. It gets even better when I shift my face to see Riley pressing the vibrator against my clit.

“Please,” I beg. “Don’t edge me.”

“No more,” Riley growls. “Come for us, baby.”

My stomach clenches as I cry out, and I find myself falling over another cliff as I come again.

Ethan pulls me with him as he lays on his back, and I whine as I feel his knot fighting for entrance.

“Knot, knot, knot,” I chant, uncaring of how filthy we’re getting. The dark soil has to be all over my legs and chest, but I need them now.

Nothing else matters.

“It’s yours,” Ethan groans, his hands on my hips as he ruts his knot deeper inside of me.

Riley turns off the toy and moves between my legs, his eyes glued to my pussy. His fingers spread me open to expose my clit, his mouth closing over me to make me whine for more.

“Such a needy little omega,” Cooper growls, pulling my attention to where he’s fisting his cock.

“Mine,” I moan, opening my mouth and dropping my tongue.

“You’re goddamn right it is,” he says, giving me his cock to suck.

Mmm. This is the perfect heat. All I need are cocks, cum, and knots. I don’t fucking care if we’re in the woods on someone’s land. I should know whose it is, but keeping my thoughts together is really difficult.

Riley pushes his fist inside my cunt as he eats me out, and it feels so fucking good. I’m dripping slick as he uses his fist as a smaller knot as Ethan fills me, and I scream as I come around it. Cooper fucks my throat through my orgasm, his eyes rolling back.

“That’s it, fuck, it feels so good when you scream,” he says. “You’re strangling my cock, baby.”

Ethan and Riley take that as an invitation to make me scream more, and Riley removes his fist to stroke his dick to transfer the slick on to it before pushing himself deep into my pussy. I love how hard they fuck me, and the way they’re using me.

Moaning as Cooper fucks my throat, his knot filling my mouth, I whine as sweat begins to coat my skin. I want his cum, I need it, and I refuse to stop until I’m swallowing every drop.

My heat is riding me hard, my orgasms are crashing over me more than they ever have before, and when Riley knots me, I come so hard I pass out.

I’m being carried as my eyes open slightly again, and Cooper purrs for me.

“I’ve got you, baby. Sleep until we get home,” he says, shoving his alpha bark into his command.

The world falls away, and I decide this is the best fucking birthday ever.

Thirty-One

Cooper

Three years later

I have shit to do, but I find myself dragging my feet. Looking inside Nina’s nest, I smile as she swings in her giant chair with our four month old baby on her chest as she softly sings.

Juliette was a surprise, even though we did decide to try. Except, as soon as Nina went off birth control, her body went into a seven day heat. I’ve never come so much in my fucking life, and I was worried I’d never recover.

Of course, I’m just as dramatic as my omega, and I’m fine. The doctor said that her body is going to always have inconsistent and very intense heats due to the trauma she went through at Weeping Willow Institute.

That’s what I need to do tonight: destroy the institute and kill the alphas who hurt Nina. I need to protect my girls and any other omegas from this ever happening again.

“Are you leaving now?” Ethan asks softly behind me.

“Yeah,” I murmur. I’m sure the all black clothing is a dead giveaway. “Juliette is going to wake up at three in the morning. Be ready to get up and change her diaper so she’ll fall back asleep. And⁠—”

“Dad, I promise we got this,” he says, squeezing my shoulder. “I think it helps that I’m not terrified that I’m going to drop her anymore.”

Snorting, I shake my head. Ethan was petrified of how tiny Juliette is. She has blonde curls like her mother, brilliant blue eyes, and none of us have any idea who the biological father is. It doesn’t matter to any of us, she’s simply ours.

Riley comes up behind us, his eyes glued to Nina and Juliette.

“If she asks where I am…”

“We’re going to tell her the truth,” Riley says thickly. “She can handle it.”

Nina looks up to see us, and her head tilts in question. Taking that as an invitation, I step inside of her nest to walk toward her.

“Hey, Princess,” I murmur, kissing her lips as she tips her head up to accept it. “I have to go out for a while. I won’t be back by the time you head to bed.”

“Okay,” she drawls. “I’ll bite. Where are you going?”

“Minneapolis,” I grunt, my fingers drifting over my daughter’s curls. God, they’re so soft.

“It’s snowing there,” she complains.

“I know, I’m pretty unhappy about that myself,” I admit.

“Does this have anything to do with Weeping Willow?” she asks.

I should have known that she’d ask. Nina is smart as fuck.

“Yes,” I say. “I told you I’d end that place, and I meant it. Don’t stay up too late, okay? I know you’re doing admin stuff for the newspaper tonight.”

“I am,” she says. “I can’t believe how well it’s doing.”

“I can,” I smirk. “You and Ethan together are a powerhouse. The newspaper is thriving. I bet Martin is kicking himself.”

His paper isn’t doing as well as he thought it would, and it’s because a lot of his talent came over to work with Nina. Being able to work around your own hours speaks volumes.

“Well, fuck him. When you get back, we need to talk about the book signing,” Nina says, rubbing Juliette’s back. “Please be careful.”

I can’t even begin to say how proud of her I am. Her book is finished, self published, and she’s attending her first book signing soon.

“I will. Silas is going to let me borrow his plane. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Kissing our baby’s head and inhaling her sweet scent, I leave before I find that I can’t. I hate leaving her, and we’ve found that we can communicate through our bond until we leave town. After that, we no longer can.

It’s simply too far.

I have two duffle bags waiting for me downstairs, and I pick them up as I leave. Making sure everything is locked up tight, I get into my SUV and drive to the private gate for the plane.

In my bags is a change of clothes, black gloves, and the rest are various types of torture implements and things I’ll need. Thankfully, the flight isn’t long as I fly next to two alphas from Pack Alston who will be helping me. I have a small window, and I refuse to miss it.

Dr. Kind and Dr. Brunes have a Thursday poker night together on a rotating schedule once a month. I will just make it in time to catch them at Dr. Brunes’ house.

They’re both solitary men who live alone and like it that way. This just so happens to work for me as well. I approach the house from the woods that surround the property, a ski mask in place and black gloves on.

Jumping the back fence, I creep up to the door that leads to the kitchen and pick the lock. There’s a lot of people that I’m lucky to have that have helped me get this far. I know the doctors’ quirks, their schedules, and all of the access codes to their homes. I also know Dr. Brunes doesn’t have pets, which will help me here.

The back door opens silently thanks to someone coming by to grease it for me a few weeks ago, and I slip in unnoticed. It just so happens that no one likes what the doctors are doing, and they’ve hurt a lot of people in their search for the “perfect omega.”

They’re honestly just money hungry assholes that enjoy playing God.

Placing my bags next to the door, I pull out a stun gun and a tranquilizer gun that’ll allow me to incapacitate both of them while they are still able to feel everything. Walking slowly, I test the wooden floor to make sure that I won’t make any noise.

“What do you think about the Tutley girl?” Dr. King asks. “Do you think she’ll be difficult to break?”

Leaning forward I watch as they play poker at a dining room table. They both look relaxed, and each have a glass of scotch in front of them. Listening to them talk so easily about hurting one of their “patients” disgusts me.

“Easier than the Sterling girl,” Dr. Brunes snorts. “I wonder what happened to her. She was fucking difficult.”

Ice and fire flow through my veins as I watch them talk about my omega. My feet are moving before I can stop them and I shoot a dart into Dr. Kind’s throat.

“Ah!” he yells before beginning to relax. This shit works fast.

“What are you doing here?” Dr. Brunes asks. “I don’t keep valuables here.”

“I’m not here for anything you might have,” I growl, grabbing hold of his bushy brown hair and shooting a dart into his neck. “I’m here for the Sterling girl. Except, she’s mine instead now. Pack Thornefield is here for its pound of flesh on her behalf.”

His mouth tries to move, but he’s frozen. Moving around the room, I make certain the blinds are drawn, the video cameras are disarmed, and then bring in my duffle bags.

“I want to preface this by saying that as much as I would love to take my time here, I need to get home,” I say, pulling out a nail gun. “However, that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy this.”

Pulling their chairs out so that they’re both in front of me, I nod as I aim the nail gun and begin to pull the trigger. I bought it initially for all the projects I’ve enjoyed around my home. For example, I recently built a trellis so I could plant climbing roses for Nina.

And now, I’m going to enjoy a bit of target practice. The men grunt and flinch as the nails hit them, but can’t make any words because of the tranquilizer. When I get tired of that, I pull out a branding prod and walk over to the fire that’s happily burning.

“You two are the worst kind of men,” I say conversationally as I heat up the brand. “You pretend to want to help people, but instead use what you know to torture them.”

Deciding it’s hot enough, I walk over and rip the buttons of their shirts so they hang open.

“The snow is keeping everyone inside, and this house has great insulation,” I murmur, eyes glittering madly. “Please feel free to scream.”

Pressing the brand into Dr. Kind’s skin, I watch as the layers of skin are burned away. The doctor does scream, and I grin once I’m ready to pull away the brand. On his chest is the word Quack.

There are different kinds of insanity, and no one is more dangerous than a feral alpha whose omega has been hurt.

“Quack, quack motherfucker!” I yell in Dr. Brunes’ face as he gets the same treatment.

Enjoying his pain, I hum to myself as I put the brand aside and pick up a pair of scissors. Making quick work of their pants and boxers, I begin to sing as I pull out knives and sharpen them slowly.

“Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall,” I sing as I crouch down in front of the two betas and begin to stab them.

Sometimes I hit their legs, other times the chair, but the true money shot is their ruined, sad cocks. It doesn’t matter how much they scream, or what they attempt to say to me, I continue to stab them.

I hope they feel as helpless as Nina did whenever they conducted their experiments. The blood flows onto the floor, soaking into the carpet as I work. I don’t give a shit since I’m wearing all black and I have a change of clothes for myself far away from the blood.

I have no idea how much time has passed as I find that the light has gone out of their eyes. They’re dead, but I’m not done yet.

There’s a lot of flammable wood in this room, making it easy to stoke the fireplace fire and get it spread out. I read that there are a lot of accidents during the winter months that occur just like this. The fire will burn hot and destroy any evidence that I was here, and a toxicology report won’t show the tranquilizer drug I used.

Packing up my shit, I let myself out the way I came in and jump the fence. Walking through the woods, I call my contact with the Alston pack.

“You good?” he asks, knowing it’s me.

“Yes, they’re out of commission,” I murmur. “I’m hiking out to where my pick up is. How is the hospital?”

“Evacuated,” he says. “Everyone is being moved due to carbon monoxide emissions. They have the fancy fire alarms that go off when the levels are too high. We insisted that they be transferred. Blowing it sky high now.”

“Good,” I say. I don’t ever want that building to be inhabitable again. “Thanks for this.”

“She’s our friend,” the alpha says. “As are you. This bullshit isn’t acceptable. We’ll see you on the plane.”

Hanging up, I pull my coat hood over my head and trudge into the night and the snow.

Ethan

Three years later

“I’m gonna get you!” I yell as I chase Juliette.

She squeals as she runs, her chubby little legs moving as fast as possible. I follow her to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself as we get lost in the greenery of the backyard, picking her up the second it looks like she’s going to trip.

Little legs can only run for so long before they get tired, after all.

I also may be kind of a helicopter dad. I’m trying really hard not to be, but I hate when she scrapes her knees. Riley is better at this shit because he knows how serious her bumps and bruises are.

Hugging Juliette to me as I blow raspberries onto her neck, I love every second of her giggles as I carry her back to where everyone else is.

“Did Dad catch you?” Nina asks, pretending to gasp.

Juliette giggles. Nina is wearing our son, Ellis, in a ring sling as she nurses him. She decided she was going to be a brat and name our son after my fake name.

I suppose I deserve it.

“I saw that you ran super fast,” Riley says, watching as I put her onto the ground so she can run to him.

“I did!” she says. “Dad always catches me.”

Since Juliette has three fathers, we keep it easy and have her call all of us “Dad.” None of us care that we’ll all answer to it when she says it. She thinks it’s hysterical when we do.

“He’ll always catch you,” my father chuckles.

Sometimes, I wonder if anyone will ever be an asshole to our kids because their dads are related. Others, I decide that our kids will be aware enough to be able to tell people off and then make them accept it.

We don’t get to choose our scent matches, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

“Juliette, do you want to help me make a snack for Mommy?” Riley asks. “Ellis is eating a lot and is going to make her hungry.”

“Yes,” she says, hugging Riley’s neck as he swings her up into his arms. “I’m hungry too though.”

“Snacks for everyone,” my Dad decides. “What should we make, Juliette?”

“Cookies,” our daughter says as I chuckle.

“What about cookies and apple slices?” Nina asks as she stands. “You can make sure Mommy eats her fruit.”

“Okay,” Juliette says, drawing out the word as Dad hides a smile.

“I wonder where she gets that from?” he teases Nina as we walk inside.

“No idea,” she lies, smirking.

“Mmhmm,” Dad says, patting her ass as we head into the kitchen.

There’s nothing I’d trade this out for. Not ever.

Would you like to see where Weeping Willow first came into play? Read Fight.

Want to learn who the blondes are in the epilogue? Preorder Knot a Happy Ending here.

Join Jenn’s group here.

Afterword

Take a breath, friends. That was a ride, right? Welcome to the Forbiddenverse, you’ve officially been pulled into my world. 

Now, let’s chat! Pack Thornefield goes through it for their happy ending. I originally wrote some of their story as part of an anthology, but it was rejected due to the cliffhanger in the antho story. This means the story has been simmering in my head for a year. 

I introduced a lot of people in this book, and you’ll see them again in this series. The “pack drama” was the only way that Nina could remain safe from her mother. They protected her until she could reunite with her mates. 

They will all be getting a book, and you’ll be seeing Unhingeverse characters that will collide into the world. It is a crossover world, so you can read Unhingedverse to catch up if you’d like! 

All questions you may have will be answered if they’re meant to be in subsequent books. You just have to trust the process. 

Oh! Did you see the feral alphas in the hospital by chance? I have a lot of crossover worlds planned, hang tight friends. 

If I made you cry, laugh, and curse me out…please consider leaving a review.  

Acknowledgments

I’m going to keep this short and sweet, because keeping my little world in orbit takes a lot.

Thank you to you, my readers, who continue to take the leap with me and trust me to fix things by the end. My sadism knows no bounds, and I’ll find new ways to rip your hearts out after falling in love with my characters.

Thank you to my husband for getting it. He keeps me fed, cared for, and reminds me to take a breath! 

About the Author

Jenn Bullard is a tiny pixie author that loves to read. She has three daughters and is married to her golden retriever husband.. She is a stay at home mom and full time author with a healthy appreciation for things that vibrate. Most of the time, Jenn is ruled by her characters: they drive, she just tells their story. If Jenn could tell her readers anything: it’s to follow your dreams. She wouldn’t be writing if she hadn’t. 

Also By Jenn Bullard

Unwritten Truths duet:

Living Words

Taking Chances

Darkest Nights series

Darkest Chord

The Sweetest Note

The Lost Melody

Endless Harmonies

Cinderella step-sister re-telling

Desire

Seduce

Other Books

Show biz: A Dark Second Chance RH

Líadan’s Code : A Dark Mafia MMF Romance

Unhingedverse (Dark Omegaverse)

Knot My Sin

Fight

Forget

Tangled in Knots

Broken Dreams

Retribution (Coming October 2025)

Forbiddenverse (Forbidden Dark Omegaverse)

Ours Later

Knot a Happy Ending (Preorder Available)

Carlysle Kings Duet

Unspoken Truths

Unspoken Lies (Coming July 17th, 2025)

Shared World Books:

Wicked Temptation Key Party

A Teacher-Student, Age gap, FFM Standalone

Isabela

A Night To Remember Auction

An FFM Friends to Lovers romance

Saved By My Buyers

Cowrites with Alisha Williams

Sinfulverse Omegaverse

Beg For It

Scan the QR code to access my book links