I remember the first day clearly, being knotted by each of my guys, the bond sliding into place as each one marked me. I look around at the three alphas sleeping under and near me. Xan is wrapped around Jacks, and I passed out the last time with Leo still knotted inside me. While cock-warming isn’t a kink of mine, waking up this stuffed doesn’t feel bad at all, and I can see where I might enjoy it in the future if I wasn’t sosore already.
The clouds in my mind clear and now I feel sticky and disgusting. I flail out of the nest, landing in a heap on the floor and letting out a loud groan. Jacks whimpers in his sleep, and Xan grumbles, pulling him closer. I smile watching them, Xan looks like some kind of laid back surfer dude, and Jacks could have fallen out of a British punk band, but the need to be clean calls, so I turn and stumble to the shower.
I get the water started and wait for the steam. Getting a cup and chugging three glasses of water while it heats, my stomach growls in protest for my not including food. But I’m afraid if I try to make it to the kitchen right now I’ll have so much alpha leaking out of me that it will create a slip and slide on the stairs. So for the safety of all and the comfort of me…shower!
I adjust the temperature from volcano-hot down to boiling-alive hot and step under the spray. I miss my waterfall shower head from my house–probably need to get one for here now. A sharp pang fills my chest as I remember that I don’t have a house anymore and I try to put it from my mind. Allowing the hot cascade to rinse away the dried come and slick that covers my body, I reflect on the last few days. This was the strongest heat I’ve ever had, and I don’t remember all of it. There was a deep aching need, but all of my alphas were there at some point to help me through it. I trace my fingers lightly over the necklace of marks wondering why I didn’t mark my alphas in return…or really arrange the nest myself, and it feels like a cold finger of dread slides down my spine at why my omega didn’t do those things. I mean, I feel safe here, I have my alphas.
Is something wrong that my omega brain senses that I don’t?
My body aches, still feeling the need to be knotted again, but it isn’t as strong now, and as I dry off and pull a long shirt over my head I resolve to talk to the guys about it once they wake up. Looking down at myself, the shirt I put on comes almost to my knees, and when I bring the sleeve to my nose I realize it’s Gabe’s–who is not here. Now on top of finding snackage, I need to locate my pack leader, so I concentrate on feeling him through the bond. I think he’s asleep–but why isn’t he here with us?
I leave the room as quietly as I can, closing the door behind me so I don’t wake the guys up. I walk gingerly down the stairs, a death grip on the railing, since my legs still feel a little like Jello. And since I live here now, I have to agree with the guys about moving the nest downstairs before my next heat. It’ll be a good chance for us to paint the room beforehand, like Jacks wanted.
When I get to the bottom I see Gabe in the living room, laying on the couch, he doesn’t look particularly comfortable. However the bond is peaceful, so I’ll wake him up and drag him upstairs with me after I find food. A clear plan in place: I march towards the kitchen…tripping over my own feet a little and stumbling forward, I have to lean heavily on the bar to steady my wobbly legs. Standing there contemplating my own clumsiness and trying to get my legs to solidify, I notice the garage door wasn’t pushed closed all the way. It’s not open, it’s just not latched.
I walk towards it, intent on pushing it closed, I feel a tingle at the base of my skull, a low warning buzz telling me something isn’t right. Fuck the snack, as soon as I get this door shut and locked, I am gonna go wake up Gabe and get his help. My fingers brush the door, pushing against it, but instead of sliding closed it pops up, and a hand grabs my wrist, pulling me forward and unbalancing my already wobbling legs.
My mind spins, as I take in the figure in front of me. A scream bursts forth as I yank my arm as hard as I can, trying to fall backwards instead of towards the snarling asshole who burned down my fucking house. He looks the same. Same fancy clothes. Same messy hair. Same enraged snarl. Same angry eyes...eye...there’s a patch of gauze over the other side, and a small part of me is glad that I stabbed him since he hurt my alpha and burned down my fucking house. Hell, he pretended to be my friend, and stalked me.
I scream again, as loudly as I can…knowing that at any moment my alphas will come, and I’ll be safe. Time freezes as I don’t hear any movement in the house, and I think of all of them sleeping upstairs and Gabe sleeping on the couch. My eyes track down his body seeing the gun in his hand. A tranquilizer gun? I don’t know, but they’re not dead, I would feel if they were dead, wouldn’t I?
This little motherfucker!
He sneers at me again. “Oh, are the big bad alphas all asleep?"
He drags me through the house, his big hand like a manacle around my wrist. I kick and scream, but Gabe doesn’t stir from where he lays on the couch.
“What…what’d you do?" I say, yanking on my wrist, trying to get to Gabe. I need to make sure he’s ok.
“It’s so hard to get medication to knock out alphas. There are all these hoops to jump through. I had considered just using horse tranquilizers, but those aren’t guaranteed to knock one of those big bastards out fast enough.Youhave put me through a lot of trouble, little omega.” His face twists into a maniacal grin.
“Let's go check it out." He holsters the gun, and pulls me towards him–reaching up to rip down the collar of my shirt.
“Fucking omega slut!" He takes a deep breath. “That’s ok…the bond looks new, so if I kill them now it should fade fast enough. It’s going to hurt like hell, but we can just consider that part of your punishment.
Let's get rid of the three upstairs first, if the bond breaking wakes them up, I would rather only have to deal with the one down here.” He pulls me towards the stairs and I go limp, making him drag my body behind him.
“Do I need to knock you out too, omega?" He fingers the gun at his belt…I don’t know what effect alpha tranquilizers would have on an omega, but I seriously doubt I would live through it.
“I wanted you to be awake when they died so you could feel it, but if you’re going to fight me thismuch, it might not be worth it.” I let him pull me up, I can’t do anyone any good if I’m unconscious, or worse.
He pulls me up the stairs and I follow, stumbling on numb legs.
At the top, there sits Iggy, staring up at me from the railing at the head of the stairs. She looks desperate for attention after being separated for most of the week. I yell at her, trying to get her to leave because I would so not put it past this asshole to hurt my iguana. Her head tilts to one side, then the other, and I see what she is planning too late. I grab at her as she leaps, demanding attention. She hits Seth in the chest, scrambling towards his head, her tiny claws sinking into his shirt and skin.
Turns out, Seth is not a lizard guyandhe screams like a little bitch. He flails backward, teetering on the edge. I grab again for Iggy, but she is dead set on getting on his head now and skitters across his shoulders. Seth screeches again, letting go of my wrist, his hands beating at his own chest and head. Thank fuck, that is enough for her. Iggy reaches the pinnacle of Seth, decides he is not worth her time or affection and leaps again, landing on my bare thigh, her tiny claws sinking in. I don’t even notice as I watch gravity take hold of Seth and down he goes screaming.
I turn away, pulling Iggy up to rest on my shoulder in her preferred place. There are a couple of loud snapping noises as he hits stairs on the way down, and his scream cuts off. But I don’t look back, I just run straight into the nest to find my phone. After locking the door I call 911 while I shake my alphas, trying to rouse them.
The emergency dispatcher answers before the second ring. I’m glad she has experience understanding incoherent babbling, because I don’t think I’m making sense at this point. I keep shaking Leo, but he just mumbles. I try Jacks and Xan, and nothing. I’m trying to explain everything as best I can to the operator, but thankfully she finally stops me and asks me for my address. I almost give her my old address before I remember it’s changed. She asks me to stay on the phone while she sends the police over, and I tell her we need a medic too because my guys aren’t waking up.
As a last ditch effort, I pull open the mini fridge and bring a couple of bottles back over to the nest...cracking the seal and pouring the cold water over Leo. He jackknifes off the bed, sputtering and blinking at me, it’s only a second for him to take in my tear streaked face and panicked expression and then he’s pulling me into his arms, holding me and purring a soft soothing rumble. Then he hears the dispatcher on the phone and gently takes it from my hand. He confirms the address, admits he just woke up, and asks how soon they will be here. Hanging up he looks back down at me.
“You know, there are less…wet ways of waking someone up. For instance, I keep smelling salts in the first aid kit." He smiles at me gently, but I just cry harder, my hormones are still high, and I really want him to hold me, tell me it’s going to be ok, knot me again, and go back to sleep…but that option is off the table, at least for now.
So I go with him to get the smelling salts. When we get to the top of the stairs he looks surprised, and a little green. I follow his gaze down, Seth is laying at the bottom, his neck at an awkward angle and his eyes staring open and empty at the ceiling.
Leo asks me to go wait in the nest for him. Still wearing Iggy, I go back and spend my time poking at my two sleeping alphas while I wait for Leo to get back. It takes longer than I thought it would, and I need to ask him where the hell they keep the first aid kit. If it’s this hard to find, I don’t think it is going to be super useful. But when he finally returns, Gabe is with him, looking a bit groggy, and very pissed off. Leo wakes up Xan and Jacks and then we all scramble to get dressed when the doorbell rings, the police have finally arrived.
