Seven fist pumped the air. “I knew my nose wasn’t broken. You’ve never had children,” he crowed, and Ellar slapped him on the back of the head.
“Not now, dumbass.”
I look around at them, fear clutching my heart. Like the walls had ears and if the wrong people heard about my life, they’d take Luisa away. “She’s my sister.”
I begin to shake, the long-held demons of my past rising up in the darkness of the night. I looked at the clock on the wall. Witching hour. That would be right. All my ghosts were coming out to play now. I should be dancing, bringing home money to give Luisa a better life, not baring my soul to a bunch of strangers.
The odd rumbling sound reverberated through the room again, and I realized they were reacting to my stress. To appease them—or at least that’s what I told myself—I went and sat beside Ellar, close enough that he threw an arm over my shoulders and held me tight. If I sat this close to Raiden, his Omega aura would disarm me completely. At least with this Beta, I could maintain my wits a little, even while he chased away my fear.
He rested his cheek on my hair. “Where are her parents?” he asked softly, but there was no accusation in his tone. Just mild interest.
“Her, I mean,ourmother is dead. Her father, if the Goddess has any sense of justice, is dead too.”
Flashbacks of swinging fists and dark closets, of blood and broken bodies assailed me before I could stuff it back down into the box where it belonged. Ellar groaned, dragging me into his lap and surrounding me with his body. This time I didn’t fight it because it did feel nice. I’d believed Gatlin when he said that if I said no about this, that they would just leave. It might be stupidly naive to believe him, but I had to hold out hope that some good survived in the world, otherwise I despaired for the society Luisa had to grow up in.
No one chastised Ellar this time either. His chest thrummed and I let it lull me. “Will it be a problem for you, that Luisa isn’t Manix? Because she is my first priority always. She’s the only family I have left. There's no one to stand between her and the monsters, other than me.”
Ellar stroked my back softly. “And us, if you consider us. We’ll stand between you both and anything that may come for you.”
God help me, I was considering it. What they were promising, these near perfect strangers, was a scenario I could only consider an impossible dream. But my experience with dreams was that they always turned into nightmares. I didn’t even have to promise them forever. I just had to promise them a week for safety. For time to move all my things and find somewhere else safe for Luisa—preferably somewhere that I wasn’t some kind of supernatural catnip.
Exhaustion swept over me like a wave. “I need to sleep.”
Gatlin and Finlo both stepped forward, but it was Finlo who spoke. “Of course, Omega. We will be around just in case any other Packs have caught your scent on the wind, because you smell fucking delicious. If you are not considering our offer, I implore you to stay indoors and keep the windows closed, until this passes at least.”
I looked between the two Alphas. So different, yet so alike. They both held themselves with authority, like they knew they were the strongest people in the entire room. Finlo was lithe and fair, his body lean yet muscular. He looked like some kind of sleek predator. Gatlin was like the dark side of Finlo’s moon, with a beard that had to be a couple of days old creating a shadow across his cheeks. He was a touch shorter, but broader across the chest, and gave off the vibe of being an immovable wall.
I was kind of glad that they were deciding on civility, because if they hadn’t? I couldn’t have fought them off. Their ominous warnings reverberated in my head, along with my headache.
“Thanks. I’ll keep everything locked up tight.” I tilted my head at the door, and they all converged toward it.
Each one of them brushed my hand softly as they passed me on the way out the door, and it seemed almost reverent somehow. Maybe my brain was trying to make the fact that I was stuck between a rock and a hard place a little more pleasant, but as they disappeared into the darkness, I didn’t even feel scared of them anymore.
Which was fucking insane.
Shaking myself hard, I told my brain to stop listening to my damn lady parts and get its shit together. Keeping my promise, I closed and locked all the windows, and double deadbolted the front and back doors. I curled up on the toddler bed in Luisa’s room, just so she was closer. The Manix had me freaked out, but what they said made sense.
I could feel this so-called heat coming on. It was like a bad flu, compounded by an epic period. I should have known that life would kick me in the crotch while I was down.
The exhaustion hit me like a wave again. I needed to sleep for a week, but somehow I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity. The loss of tips tonight would mean I’d have to try and pick up an extra shift at the flower market tomorrow, which meant I’d have to ask Tamsin if I could bring Luisa, which meant I’d have to be up early to make sure I have everything, which meant I’d probably only get a few hours sleep, which meant… It went on and on. It wasn’t that Tamsin wouldn’t let me bring Luisa, but working all day and caring for a toddler at the same time was not easy. Tamsin was amazing about it though.
I slid beneath the blankets and tried not to think of the Pack that was probably sitting in their van in front of my house right now. Tried not to think of the things they’d offered me, the promises they’d made. And I definitely tried not to think about the fact that my entire body had wanted to fuck every single one of them in every dirty, deep way I could manage to stretch myself into.
Closing my eyes, I drifted into a sleep filled with hot tongues and hungry hands.
7
Finlo
We drove around the block and then parked in a dark copse of trees just at the end of the Omega’s street.
Gatlin climbed out of the passenger seat. “Take Raiden to a hotel. He looks exhausted.”
Our stubborn Omega stuck out his chin. “I’m fine.”
Seven rolled his eyes at him. “Dude, if your dick gets any harder, you are going to pass out. Naja’s heat is draining you, and the longer you’re around her without giving into those urges, the more exhausted you’ll be. Go to the hotel room, let Ellar suck your cock, and relax. The female will agree to our offer. I can feel it.”
Ellar flushed, but I could see the desire in his eyes at the thought. We were all high on the pheromones, and I knew if we didn’t have to put someone on Naja’s block to watch the house, we’d all be back in the hotel, paying homage to our bonds.
