AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s as though a large wrecking ball has just been through this space, with the way her words hit me. We aren’t taking care of her at all.
“And to be afforded no privacies, no choice, and then be expected to givemore, to explain to youwhyI might be unexcited about your attentions? You can’t force someone to want you. You have to gently coax them, to allow them to know their own minds and explore in a way they can handle.
“You say you will possess me, but why does that even matter if all you’re possessing is an empty shell? You’re killing off all my spirit. Soon there will be nothing left of me to even attach to.”
She closes her eyes again and tries to turn her head away from us, but we’re…everywhere she tries to go. She cries harder as Kit finally lets her go, as dumbfounded as I am about what to do next. We have to somehow re-evaluate our plan, because she’s so much more complex than we ever planned on. Which I guess is another slap in the face to her, because that makes it seem like we planned on just assuming she’d want what we want once we claimed her as ours.
Kill her spirit?
I try to imagine what it would be like if she turned into a dried-up husk like she described, and it repulses me. She has such light in her eyes; we should be kindling it, not smothering it.
“Then we will try something new,” James whispers. I don’t know where he’s going with this, but out of the three of us, he’s the most emotionally intelligent. He seems to innately understand how to work out of high-pressure situations like this, so we let him step up.
“Forget about everything else around you right now. I want you to tell us what you need right this moment. If given full command of us, what would you have us do first to help you more?”
“All of you need to back up. Off the bed.”
We do. I can tell Kit is uneasy doing so, but he does as the omega asks.
“And now? What would you have now?”
“I want a bath. Not a shower, a bath. With scalding hot water and something floral to scent the water with.”
Her breathing is shaky, and her voice is strained and quiet, but just giving her one small drop of freedom of her own body is already improving her body posture. She’s relaxed her eyes and her shoulders aren’t all hunched up anymore.
I go to the bathroom and start the bath for her, searching through the cabinet for all the bath products we stocked up on months and months ago when this started becoming a tangible dream.
I smell a few before drizzling them into the running water, the scent of honeysuckle and orange blossom filling up the bathroom quickly. James carries the omega into the bathroom and sets her on her feet, and though I’m pretty sure he wants to kiss her as badly as I do, he settles for tucking some hair behind her ear before backing away and leaving the bathroom completely.
I follow suit, brushing her hand gently as I shut the door behind me. Kit is rummaging through her things and comes out with a stack of pajamas to bring to her, closing his eyes before setting them inside the door and re-closing it. When the door closes behind him, he stares at us like he has no idea what to do now.
“I don’t ever stand up to your edicts once given, alpha,” James starts, “but if you cuff that girl to the bed again, we’re going to lose any headway we just gained by letting her fucking bathe alone. We’ve followed your lead this far, and nothing good has come of it. She’s stressed and hurting, and most of that is our fault. If you want that omega to fall for you, for any of us, we need to do things my way.”
Just the fact that James seems to have some sort of plan already has me ready to throw in my support.
“Fine,” Kit bites out, clearly not happy with being challenged, “but only where her heart is involved will you lead. Are we understood? Pack dynamics, pack safety, and anything that involves anything other than making her comfortable here, default to me and me alone.”
James nods his agreement then goes to our linen closet.
“What are you doing?” Kit asks.
“We’re taking the couch tonight. You can set the alarm so she can’t even get out if she wanted to, like we’ve been doing anyway, and lose this idea that she needs to be punished for trying to protect herself. Because deep down, you know that’s why she ran.”
Kit balls and un-balls his fists a few times but goes to our huge U-shaped sectional and begins removing the throw pillows, stacking them on the floor. Every few minutes we hear a small splashing sound coming from the bathroom, and if I stop to imagine what’s going on behind those doors, I’m ready to bust through them.
Is her skin growing softer in the water already? Does she have her head tipped back as she relaxes, or is she scrubbing her body clean or shaving her legs? Kit throws a pillow at my face.
“What the hell?”
“Help us make up our new bed, since apparently we can’t sleep in the one we built.”
“Ouch, bitter Kit isn’t very sexy. Winning over females is going to take more finessing than it took to get us to join your pack. We’re more practical. Omegas need to be nurtured and made to feel safe before they’ll bond.”
Sliding her fingers in between her legs to assuage her aching cunt?
Kit throws another pillow that I dutifully stack with the others on the floor, helping James to spread out sheets all over the sofa.
Washing her hair and running those incredible looking fingers through it?
“For fuck’s sake, asshole, focus.”
I flip Kit off as we finish setting the bed, and James goes to the kitchen and…makes a cup of tea. I’m going to be honest here, I didn’t even know we had tea in our cabinet. He fills a glass of ice water next and knocks on the bathroom door. She’s been in there for about twenty minutes already. “Calai, I’ve got some ice water here, I don’t want you to overheat. Are you thirsty?”
“Oh…that sounds great?”
I shake my head. We must have done a number on her if she’s confused by such a simple gesture. Is that all it really takes? Small, simple gestures? I might be able to handle that. I go to the bed and pull back the comforter, fluffing the pillows so it’s all comfy and ready for her.
James slips inside the bathroom, promising her he’s got his eyes closed, but he doesn’t emerge again. I hear them speaking softly to one another, and I’m too intrigued when five minutes later he’s still inside the bathroom.
I go to peek through the cracked door and see her up to her neck with foam so that nothing is showing, but James is washing her hair. Going by the way her whole face is more at peace than I’ve ever seen it, I’m going to say she’s enjoying the hell out of it. Another simple gesture.
