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She should be angry hearing it, but Devin couldn’t say she was surprised. Beau looked out for himself first, and Rey was a very close second. While she didn’t doubt that he cared for her after a fashion, it was attached to Rey.
“So? That gives you the right to do this to me?” Devin’s lips compressed into a livid slash, angry at herself for giving in to the urge to speak up.
“The thought of him anywhere near you…” Rey shook his head, burying his face against her neck. “You’ve made me so much stronger, Devin, and I can’t even begin to understand it. But if he decided he wanted you, I couldn’t stand against him.”
“You just said he has a mate.”
“As you’re so fond of saying, what does that matter? And besides, she’s damaged goods.”
“How can you say something like that,” Devin hissed, blindly reaching back to slap at Rey’s head.
“Because it’s true, sweetheart. I don’t know what happened to her after she was taken or what she did to survive, but she’s not the same. Who knows what an Alpha like him will take offense at? On top of that she can’t…”
“She can’t what,” Devin asked in a hushed whisper, though the way Rey’s body tensed as he trailed off had horror swirling through her.
“Seems she can’t have more kids.”
Though Rey’s arms tightened over her, the words hit Devin with all the force of a sledgehammer to the solar plexus. Wheezing against the tiles, she shook her head. Frantic, she twisted and squirmed. Devin kicked her legs in a bid to be free and away from the leaden weight of his statement drifting in the hot steam from the still flowing water.
Rey offered wordless sounds of comfort as he crushed her against the wall. Whispered promises that he’d never cast her away ran in sludgy rivulets down her skin as he pressed his mouth against her.
Body slick with water, she managed to gain an inch only to have excruciating pain explode through her hips as the knot tugged. Still tied to him, there was nowhere to go as she whimpered with her face smashed against the cold tiles.
He pet at the wet strands of her hair, murmuring an endless stream of reassurances until he could slip free of the tightness of her body without hurting her too much. Still swollen, pearlescent fluid trickled from the angry red of his crown as he shushed Devin and bathed her. Scrubbing her clean, he took longer than necessary to wash her hair just to massage her scalp the way he knew she liked.
Shivering even after she was dry and dressed in oversized sweats, Devin slogged her way into the kitchen. Most of the food gone, she shuffled to the refrigerator to find it restocked. Someone must have found her hastily penned grocery list and taken it upon themselves to deliver it.
As Rey sat at the table to watch her in unrestrained concern, Devin began to cook.
Chapter Six
Days bled into weeks where Rey was called away more and more often. Beau became a permanent fixture in the house, along with the dark clothed males meant to protect her.
During the long days where Devin could find no comfort, she buried herself in the mountains of paperwork from the club Beau plied her with. Losing time in numbers and accounts, her fingers flew over the keyboard of the laptop perched on her lap as the guards shifted in and out of her line of sight.
The Gods knew there was enough of it to keep her busy, months’ worth of accounts to sort through and balance out. They’d finally fired the latest office manager screwing everything up but hadn’t hired a new one yet. Some faceless man was tipping the waitresses and dancers out at the club, leaving Devin to do all of this on her own.
Then there were the scant times Beau took her to the gun range, berating and cajoling her in turns to perfect her aim and speed. She always hit the target now, but not often where she aimed. There was confidence there though, where once there’d been only fear. She could maim someone, if not kill them. Provided they held still.
Nights were harder. When she would feel the bond come alive, a crackling fire in her chest. Could hear Rey’s enraged roars clamoring inside her skull, only to have him come home bruised and bloody. He refused to tell her what happened, what had caused those moments of sheer panic that dragged her from an uneasy sleep to scream into the shadowy darkness.
Not Kahler, but that was all Beau would tell her.
On one such evening, Devin didn’t even try to rest. She set herself to work in the kitchen, clearing out the refrigerator with dish after dish. Sniffling as she chopped a carrot, she tried not to listen to the low murmur of male voices just outside the door.
Omegas were territorial creatures, and Devin was no different. They were meant to protect, but they made her uneasy. Too many bodies, too much testosterone, and far too much ego crammed into the once spacious house. She knew they were loyal to Rey on some level, maybe to Kahler as well, but she didn’t know any of them.
Either they were ordered not to or didn’t deign to speak to her. Devin bet on the former, with a healthy dose of the latter adding to their silence. She was feeding them for Gods’ sakes, she would think they could at least thank her!
Devin startled and whirled, knife poised in front of her as someone gave a perfunctory knock at the jamb. The Alpha looked from the knife to Devin, lowering his gaze with obvious effort to the floor.
“Mr. Rey’s called. He’s said he’ll return within the hour.”
“He… He didn’t want to talk to me?” It hurt, and she didn’t even know why. He was coming home, what did it matter if he told her himself?
“He just said he’ll be back within the hour, ma’am.”
The Alpha turned and left, quiet as a ghost as he slipped back into the shadows of the hall.
