The guy on the couch pointed to himself. “I’m Gatlin.” Okay, Gatlin with the gray eyes and the incredible jaw. I could remember that. “You know Ellar, he is a Beta. Raiden, our Omega male.” He pointed to the calm guy whose eyes were warm and imploring, though I didn’t know what they were imploring me about just yet.
The guy holding up the doorframe pointed to himself. “Finlo. I’m an Alpha like Gatlin, and this is our second Beta, Seven. He’s the one who found you.”
I raised an eyebrow at Seven. “Like the number?”
He just shrugged. “Probably.”
I looked back at Gatlin as he explained, “We’re a Pack, a bonded group.”
I tipped my head. “Like wolves?”
Ellar snorted. “Not like wolves.” Well, I sensed some tension there. “More like family.”
Now it was Seven’s turn to make a rude noise. “A family who all fuck, maybe.”
Woah. Hold the fucking phone. Back that truck right the hell up and dump that load of what-the-hell right at my feet. “You what now?”
Raiden tensed. “Seven makes it sound more sordid than it is. We are lovers, true, but it’s more than that. We took vows to protect and care for each other, and sometimes that care comes in the form of…” He seemed to grapple for words.
“Making each other come?” I offered.
He grinned and nodded. “Exactly.”
I knew I needed to move on from this bomb they’d dropped, but my brain seemed to be stuck on taking a visual snapshot of each one, and then adding him to a sordid mental fantasy of them all fucking one another. The broad, muscular chest of Gatlin pressed against the lithe muscles of Raiden, or fuck, Finlo grabbing the shaggy blond hair of Seven as he bent his powerfully built body over the couch while the slimmer built Ellar kissed him. Shit, that was hot.
I swallowed hard as my vagina gave a hearty round of applause.
Everyone shifted uncomfortably, and I pretended not to see the blown out pupils and the giant fucking salami that Finlo was packing in his jeans.
Gatlin cleared his throat. “Uh, as we were saying, we are a Pack. It’s the system of relationships in Manix society, where there are few female births, and we are now all but extinct. There are even fewer male Omegas like Raiden, and they are revered in Manix society.”
Raiden screwed up his nose. “He means suffocated and coddled until we are fucking useless for anything but sex and happy feelings.” I could almost taste his bitterness on my tongue. Gatlin wrapped an arm over his shoulders, tugging him closer to his body. Raiden sighed, taking the comfort easily.
My eyebrows drew together in a frown as I watched their easy affection. Had I ever had that level of quiet comfort with anyone, except Luisa? I didn’t think so, and once again, I was incredibly sad. I wasn’t one to sit in the corner and think about how shit my life was, but one day, I’d like to have someone I could depend on. Someone who would reassure me that everything was okay. I didn’t have that with my parents, that was for sure, and I was fairly sure I was too broken to accept it anyway, but hey, a girl could dream.
Suddenly, there were arms around my shoulders and I was pressed hard into a chest that vibrated lightly. It was kind of like a purr, but without the noise. Just a gentle thudding against my cheek. It was nice.
Too nice.
I tugged myself out of the arms that felt way too comforting, and looked up into the face of Ellar.
“Beta,” Gatlin warned, and Ellar’s face fell.
“Sorry Alpha. Omega. I couldn’t help myself. The scent of her sadness hurts my heart. It is harder to resist comforting her than it is to resist the call of her need.”
Gatlin gave him a patient look. “I understand, but I don’t believe Naja is at the level where she is comfortable with physical contact. We must respect that, no matter how difficult.”
I felt like I’d kicked a fucking puppy with the way Ellar’s face fell. I grabbed his fingers as he turned away and squeezed. “Thank you for the hug,” I said softly, and he gifted me that smile again.
Then the rest of his words finally rattled through my consciousness. “Wait a sec. What the hell did he mean by the ‘call of my need?’” I needed a lot of things—a new furnace, a dishwasher, a million bucks. I didn’t think these guys would give me those things though.
Gatlin cleared his throat again. He was obviously the Alpha of the Alphas, or maybe Finlo just wasn’t a big talker. “While male Omegas are rare, female Omegas have been non-existent for decades.”
Finlo finally stepped forward. “Until you.”
Ah. I was beginning to see how the whole cloak and dagger, ‘let's kidnap her’ thing seemed like a good idea to them now. But boy, were they wrong.
“You aren’t listening. I’m not an Omega. Tiger shifters don’t even have Omegas. I’m a tiger shifter who can’t even shift. You’re wrong.”
