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The feeling of terror had been faint but it was there, rippling across the bond. I only acted on it because of the way Ren had jumped out of his chair, eyes wide. He had found a seat in the nursery as I worked and the silence had been wonderful. Now, it was deafening. I hadn’t noticed my mates acting so strongly to each other’s emotions before but maybe it was that finally becoming a pack had allowed our biology to take full effect. Ren scrambled for the front door as I stalked into the living room, my eyes peeled for the danger that had come to our other two mates.
“What is it?” I hissed. Elias and Leo tensed in my arms and it took several breaths before I calmed enough for them to snuggle back into my chest, their little hands buried in my beard. I winced as Elias tugged but brushed off the pain as I focused on the little Alpha. “Ren, don’t you dare leave. What is that? That emotion coming through the bond. What’s wrong with them?” Ren twisted around, panic dialing the keys on his phone. Ihanded him Leo before snatching the phone, not surprised to hear Isaias’ voice on the other side.
“Hey, babe I’m fine. We’re fine,” Isaias answered but I could quickly tell that he was anything other than fine. Especially when another emotion rippled through the fading bond, one that hadmeuneasy.
“I don’t believe you. I’ve never felt that before—nothing that intense. You said you were on your way home. Where is Joel?”
“Kieran, hold on. Slow down. We’re fine.”
My gaze traveled to Ren who was basically vibrating where he stood, clinging to Leo the same way I usually did when new scents entered the house. I had a feeling that these emotions had something to do with Michael but decided not to dwell on it. “Doesn’t fucking feel that way,” I spat into the phone. “Where is Joel?” All the happy feelings I had been banking on with Isaias’ return had been swapped out for uncertainty.
“Right here, Kieran.”
I mulled over Joel’s scratchy words. Of all of us, his voice was usually the softest. He spoke up when he needed to but he was our observer, the one that sometimes faded into the background because he didn’t know where he fit. There was no reason for his voice to be that scratchy.
“We’ll be home in a few minutes. You doing, alright?”
“Will be when you’re here.” I hung up, not wanting Isaias to hear the grunt that tumbled from my lips seconds later. I dragged Ren over to the couch, both of us impatiently waiting for our mates to show up, our eyes glued to the front door. It worried me that I didn’t know what kind of state they would be in when they stumbled into the house. A twinge of panic still trickled through the bond but mostly relief. I hated it. Relief was what I felt when Isaias stormed into Michael’s house and saved me.
Relief was what I felt when I found out that Michael had been thrown in jail.
Relief was what I felt when I found a pack that wasn’t going to leave me after Michael defiled me.
Relief always cameaftersomething happened and it was the last thing I wanted to feel from my mates.
The moment the door opened, Ren handed me Leo and bounded toward our Alpha, wrapping himself around Isaias with sweet kisses and little cries of worry. I stayed seated, unsure of what I was looking at. Isaias looked like he had aged a few years, his weary gaze traveling over to me with such pain that my chest clenched with anguish. Joel, standing beside him, was obviously running on adrenaline, his eyes wide, the Beta wringing his hands together and a small patch of blood seeping into the bottom left corner of his shirt.
Isaias wrapped his arms tightly around Ren, rocking him back and forth as he kissed him. Joel stepped farther into the house and that’s when I caught a scent I never wanted to smell again. My body locked up at the sudden memories bombarding me but I shoved them away so that I could focus on my Beta. His emotions were chaotic, ranging from fearful to murderous but I couldn’t get past the scent. It lingered on Isaias as well but only faintly.
My Omega whined at the intrusion in our house and while I wanted to greet my Alpha after being away, I needed to tend to Joel first. Carefully, I laid my babies onto their blanket on the floor, wedging them in by pillows before stalking over to my mates. Joel flinched and then calmed, my eyes immediately dipping to the growing bruise around his neck. Anger bristled beneath my skin as I tried to rein in my emotions, failing when my scent blasted through the room—a combination of burnt peaches and spiced rum.
Isaias released Ren and stepped in between us. “Kieran, sweetheart…”
I relaxed a little when Isaias’ hand fell to my chest and I breathed in his scent, warmth fighting with the rest of my emotions. “Isaias, I need answers.” He nodded, about to speak but I cut him off. “Right now, though? I can’t have that scent in my house. He can’t be in here.” My Alpha stepped aside as Joel stood before me, wondering what I needed. “Joel?” I asked almost timidly, unsure of how comfortable he was at the moment. My biology was dueling with my need to fix this. My Omega needed to rid Joel of Michael’s ashy smell but I also wanted to wrap my arms around my Beta and never let him go.
Ever so slowly, Joel met my gaze. “What do you need, Kieran?” His bottom lip trembled and I leaned down to kiss him, not touching him anywhere else. Joel’s adrenaline was wearing off, pain replacing it. It was a familiar feeling that I fucking hated.
“No,” I said. It came out harsh, dangerously close to Isaias’ bark. “What doyouneed?” I was determined to set aside my desires in lieu of what Joel needed. They had done the same for me after rescuing me from Michael and I knew thinly laced terror when I saw it. Despite how well Joel was holding back his emotions, I knew that whatever my ex-Alpha had done would leave a lasting impression. The bruise around his neck would fade but the memories wouldn’t.
Joel glanced around the room, looking to Isaias before meeting my gaze again. “I smell like him,” he whispered. My heart broke as I scooped him up in my arms and headed straight for the bathroom. I said something similar to Isaias last year, unable to stand the aura surrounding me in that moment. I had needed a distraction, to be smothered in my mates’ scent, to be reminded that while Michael had tried, he hadn’t succeeded.
I paused and twisted around to face Isaias, my remaining two mates watching me carefully. “Did you kill him?”
“Xylo was there. He’s currently in custody.”
“You should have slashed his throat and let him bleed out on the pavement,” I bit out, my grip tightening on Joel in my arms. Michael didn’t deserve to live in general but he had attacked my Beta, the father of my children, and he wasstillout there. Asking for Isaias to kill him though was quite the ask, my emotions too chaotic to rein in. Leaving the conversation there, I stepped into the bathroom and set Joel down. Absentmindedly, he stripped and stepped into the shower, his eyes unfocused as he turned the water on.
I followed after, shedding my own clothes, standing behind him, and waiting for him to direct this moment. As much as I wanted control, Joel had to speak up and tell me what he needed.
“Cover me, Kieran.” I raised an eyebrow as he turned around and placed his hands on my chest. “Fuck me. Claim me. Smother me in that rich scent of yours. Remind me that he’s not a threat.”
“Joel…”
His need burned through the faint bond. “My life flashed before my eyes when he had me up against the wall, Kieran. All I knew was that I needed to get back to you, to us. I would have never forgiven myself if-”
“But it didn’t,” I whispered, turning us around so that his back was facing the tiled wall of the shower. I walked him back until he was pressed against it, my lips instantly on his. The lingering scent of ash hid beneath Joel’s stressed tones and I was determined to change that. Water cascaded down my back as I grew more insistent, my lips trailing down his jaw and neck until I was sucking on his gland. His scent strengthened and in turn, so did mine, the bathroom full of sweet rain and spiced peaches.
Joel groaned as one of his hands moved into my hair, the other resting on my hip. He bucked against me, our half-mast cocks rubbing against each other until we were perfectly hard,moaning for each other. “Don’t stop,” he mumbled when I dragged my tongue across his gland, needing more from him.
