Harley & Her Ferals (Pack Bonds #9)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Attic, Battle House, The Alpha Underworld

H arley

“Will we finally be free to bond as our own pack, if we win the cage fight?” I whisper. “Or is that only a dream?”

My fighting partner and best friend, Feral, growls possessively. It’s a gorgeous, rumbling sound.

I love it more than any other.

To Feral’s rivals and enemies, however, it’s the most feared sound in our outlaw Alpha Underworld beneath the mountains in Sanctum. It makes them tremble and pale because it doesn’t take an Omega to hear the tone that marks my friend and protector out as surely as his name does as a feral Alpha .

He can make even Alphas fall to their knees and bare their necks in submission.

Feral is dominant over everybody…or he would be if he wasn’t controlled by my pack.

He’s a champion because he’s been trained since kindergarten on a strict schedule, where his diet and ruts are controlled.

His name was stolen from him, as soon as he was fostered into our pack, the Battles.

His primal instincts have been awakened and shaped.

Feral is dangerous to everyone but me.

For me, his scent matched Omega, he’d burn down the world.

I smile. “It has taken three years to save up enough to free you from your contract. The pot on the last match of the season before the Championship Special should be enough to finally pay off the debt. Almost there, huh? Just two more days until fight night.” It’s cruel that Feral has a debt to pay back simply because he was taken in by my pack as an orphan . “Do you trust Dad to honor it?”

Feral shakes his head.

I don’t blame him.

Dad, Don Battle, is the mafia boss who runs the Alpha Underworld with an iron fist.

Yet Feral’s startling eyes are still bright with joy at the thought of finally earning the prize money to earn our way out of the dark world of the Battles.

One of Feral’s eyes are almost black and the other is icy blue.

I love how unique they make him.

But then, he’d stand out anywhere because of his giant size. Also, because he has the body of Adonis, if Adonis was also the God of War.

Scars bisect along his chest and shoulders.

Of course, only I know the one hundred small ways that make Feral also stand out from any other Alpha amongst these villain packs.

These include the way that he loves nuzzling against my neck ritualistically as he goes to sleep each night, the nest he builds me out of his single blanket, and how he tears apart other Alphas who dare to bad mouth me in cage fights let alone get in hits.

Thin artificial light shines through the high, barred window of the attic. It’s the only way that I know it’s morning.

The room is small and concrete. The walls are painted red like blood. Gym equipment hangs from hooks, including skipping ropes and boxing gloves.

My nose scrunches up at the stink of damp.

The steel cage that Feral and I are sitting in is large enough for both of us to lie down and stand up but not to move around much.

The bottom is fitted with a thin wooden board. It’s hard to lie on but less painful than when Feral is being punished. Then the board is removed.

The same size cage stands next to it, empty.

The second cage is for the agonizing times that I’m torn apart from Feral, during his ruts.

It’s a way to still leave me close enough to trigger him into deeper ruts.

Close enough that he smashes himself against the bars in desperation to reach me.

Until he’s broken, a nd I’m devastated.

Those experiences are what has turned him feral.

My pheromones are the weapon that are used against Feral.

Would Dad weaponize our love , if he discovered that my refusal to accept a mate by shredding nests wasn’t a refusal of all bonds and my Omega nature, but only ones that aren’t made by Feral ?

Hell, yeah he would.

It’s wolf eat wolf in this mafia world.

Feral is Dad’s grand experiment in producing the perfect, deadly champion.

He is also, as an adopted Alpha, the lowest rank in the Battle pack.

Well, the lowest rank, apart from River, the adopted Beta.

River is the most beautiful Beta in the Underworld.

He is a sunny Italian, who is also a Companion.

My adopted older brother, Lionzio, is River’s Guardian and best friend. River was brought into the pack to be my brother’s tutor.

River is also the pack’s nurse.

Once, River dreamed of being a doctor because in Sicily, where he was raised, Betas have the same equality as Alphas. Yet in America, only Alphas have that right.

My brother has allowed River to spend most of his nights after his tutoring and chores are completed, staying up and studying online courses to become the pack’s medic.

It's an essential role after fights.

River was once a mafia heir himself but now, he’s a servant.

River appears too traumatized to talk about how that happened.

What’s the secret?

Together, Feral, River, and me are the three rejects and outcasts.

The Cinderellas of this pack.

But we love each other so fucking much.

I don’t care whose ass I need to kick, I’m going to find a way to keep my found family together.

Yet I’m only the invisible middle child.

I’m the Second Omega, unlike the favored First Omega, my sister, Allegra.

The only reason that I haven’t been broken as well is because Dad offered me illegal heat suppressants.

Yet I ache to experience a heat with the men who I love.

I close my eyes.

Soon, fuck, please .

I feel a concerned caress down my cheek. Then I’m being dragged up by the arms.

I open my eyes with a gasp to find myself staring into Feral’s deep gaze. I’m unable to stop mine from dropping to his full, kissable lips.

Feral is the most stunning fighter in this illegal world of cage fighting and Omega trafficking.

Feral’s punky, neon red hair falls over the strong lines of his face and neck like flames. It contrasts with his peachy skin, which has a golden cast.

He’s a giant; I’m tall for an Omega, but he towers over me. He has broad shoulders and thickly corded muscles with defined abs.

He truly does look like his ring name: Devil Alpha .

My Devil Alpha in secret.

“I’m okay,” I promise.

Feral arches a disbelieving eyebrow.

“I never could bullshit you, huh? I’m anxious. I heard about this new fighter in the Hades’ pack, the Harbinger. The Betas are fangirling over him. He’s been brought in to rival you. The rumors are that he’s unhinged, however, a psycho in the ring. I won’t lose you, when we’re this close to finding a way out. I fucking can’t.”

Feral slowly lowers me again, and I indulge myself in watching the play of his bulging muscles.

I caress his strong jaw, and he turns his head to nuzzle my hand. I reach up, smoothing down his thick brows, knowing that we both need the touch.

Feral is even more touch starved than I am.

He’s been taught by everyone but me that touch hurts.

Especially from other Alphas.

I’m going to spend my life showing him that it’s not true.

Feral’s large eyes are smoky with red eyeshadow and flicked out with eyeliner on the top to give him a sinful expression.

People don’t just pay big money because he’s the fiercest fighter but also because he’s the hottest.

Dad plays up to the beautiful monster side with the way that he dresses and dolls Feral up.

I’ve caught Dad studying Feral for just a moment too long, before a fight starts.

Dad’s eyes gleam with a possessive, violent desire.

It makes me want to hurl.

Every day that I haven’t earned enough to claim my Alpha, I dread Dad calling me into his study to declare that he’s bonding with Feral as his Second Alpha.

I have to get us out of here.

Luckily, for the moment, we’re too valuable.

Together, we’re the pretty Omega and hot Alpha fighting partners.

The elite, wealthy packs who lounge around with their wine, watching and betting on the fights, get a kick out of us being hurt, as much as us hurting others.

Sex sells, but pair it with pain, and you have a real moneymaker.

Feral strokes my hair back for a moment, as if thinking, before snatching up a scrap of thin, purple paper from the back of the cage. He twists it in his strong fingers expertly.

River passes these ruined sheets of paper from his tutoring to us, whenever he can.

As orphans within the pack, neither of the two men are allowed to possess anything.

The rest of the Battles can’t complain about them taking trash, right?

That’s all we are to the other members: trash .

Outlaws don’t follow society’s rules on Omegas, Betas, and Alphas. But their hierarchies are just as strict.

I study Feral, as he works on the origami with the same intensity as he trains his grappling skills with our Alpha coach, Romilly, or runs his daily half marathons around the estate.

The cage itself is decorated by hundreds of paper roses, which are wound around the bars of the cage.

Feral makes one for me every day.

I cherish them all.

When he’s finished, he gives me a satisfied look, before tucking it behind my ear.

I purr, happily.

“Thanks, Fer.” I push the rose more firmly into my waves, as if it’s priceless.

It is.

Feral can’t buy me diamond clips or bouquets of real roses.

My eyes burn with tears.

Does he remember what real flowers look or smell like? Or does he recreate these from the ones that River shows him in books?

Does Feral miss flowers? The sky? The sun?

How incredible must the moon and stars look like?

It feels like a myth or fairy tale that they’re real in the world, which I only know as Above .

Yet River tells me that the rest of the world Above exists just like in the movies.

He’s sneakily shown them to me on Lionzio’s phone, especially the ones that he loves with the sexy Omega movie star from the Champion pack, Jex.

I hadn’t even kissed River but I learned a lot about his kinks from those movies.

There is another real world Above this one. It’s my world that’s the twisted one.

I don’t miss Above, the world for people who aren’t outlaws, beyond these labyrinthine tunnels and entire town carved into the mountains because I never knew it.

At the same time, I long to experience everything that I can see online.

I’m in awe at the size of the ocean, cities teeming with different dynamics, and Omegas living in happy packs and not cages.

River talks dreamily about things called Omega snuggle piles .

There aren’t many Omegas where I live. They’re not seen as useful, apart from as breeders or prizes in the fights…

My heart clenches at the thought.

Also, what about the family that Feral lost? I don’t know who they are.

Does Feral? What’s the mystery?

I’ve only been locked in the attic for three years, since I refused to bond with Vinnie, the forty year old, ruthless leader of the rival biker pack, the Hades.

I insisted that I wanted to fight instead.

Dad is enough of a showman that he laughed. “Why not? A freak, feral Alpha and the world’s first Omega cage fighter. You’ll make my illegal fights the biggest in America. Well, as long as you’re not torn to pieces in the first one. So, try not to embarrass me by dying.”

I found out that he bet big against me.

I won.

Dad never bet against me again.

When I chose this path to independence — grasped the chance to save the man who I’ve been falling in love with for years — I knew that I would be giving up my own freedom and risking my life.

But the reward is a chance to be with my scent matched Alpha.

To save each other.

Dad and my sister have tried to tame me, building me nests and attempting to push me into the arms of brutal Alphas who’d have me on my knees like Vinnie attempted to.

I’ve destroyed every nest.

I ripped and tore and stood panting in the center of the destruction, half laughing and half sobbing.

It was Vinnie’s shocked face like I’d torn his favorite leather jacket to shreds, rather than his nest with its fussy, frilly cushions that showed how little he knew me, which made me burst into full laughter.

Possibly, I looked manic.

Still, I long for a soft nest with Feral, a male Omega soulmate who I can love and cherish, and my Beta, River.

Pheromones flood from me at the thought of my own pack.

I flush, when Feral sniffs and cocks his head, giving me an interested look.

I push my wavy, brunet hair out of my honey colored eyes.

When I shiver, Feral instantly drapes the single, scratchy blanket over my shoulders.

I burrow my nose in the material, soothed by the spicy cinnamon brandy scent of my Alpha.

I’m always cold. It feels seeped into my bones.

How long has it been since I’ve been allowed to dress in more than my pack’s fighting colors: red shorts and a t-shirt?

Huh, I’m the mafia boss’ daughter but I’m locked in a cage with tangled hair.

Except, Feral always looks at me like he never notices anybody else. “M-my Omega. Will f-f-fight for you.”

Feral’s voice is husky, but he stutters.

Talking is hard for him. Often, he speaks more slowly to manage to force out the words.

Most ferals can’t talk at all.

I’ve worked to help him retain speech, despite the rest of the Battles’ efforts to beat it out of him.

He’s learned to be silent.

He’s so expressive, however, that he barely needs to speak to communicate.

River slips into the attic at nights, despite the risk of being caught out of his quarters after curfew, to teach Feral the same lessons that he’s taught my brother.

Dad wanted a blunt, uneducated weapon for a fighter. River has made sure that Feral can read and keep up with the rest of us.

Feral is smarter than my brother.

Fuck you, Dad.

I push myself closer to Feral, tilting up my chin in invitation. “My Alpha. We’ll fight for each other. For our Feral pack.”

Feral grips my chin. “Rise up…”

“…And no regrets,” I complete our private mantra, never looking away from his piercing gaze.

Just for a moment, he rests his forehead against mine.

This ritual is sacred.

It has kept us both strong. It’s helped us to survive.

I respect the hell out of Feral that despite everything, he doesn’t only care about his own survival.

For years, we’ve planned a revolution of every unwilling Alpha fighter, Beta servant, and kidnapped Omega prize who has been whisked away and caught in the dark of Dad’s Alpha Underworld.

For now, however, we need to focus on freeing Feral.

Two more days…

After years of blood, bruises, and broken bones.

Just two more…

I swallow.

When Feral’s lips ghost against mine, I dart out my tongue to steal a taste.

In turn he pushes my head to the side, before licking up my scent gland. “My f-favorite.”

Warmth floods through me.

My scent is chocolate chip ice cream.

Feral has never tasted real ice cream but he loves licking and nuzzling me like it’s his favorite food in the world.

Reluctantly, I pull back.

“Something’s wrong,” I whisper. “Riv should have been in by now with our breakfast. He never misses the scheduled timings. Rom would kick his ass, if he messed up our training this close to a fight. We must be late for our run. What if something is happening within the pack? If Lion has hurt Riv—”

“I’ll t-t-tear out his th-throat,” Feral snarls.

He crawls to the front of cage like a deadly tiger. His muscles are coiled.

I swallow. “Lion can be harsh but he’s still my brother. As Guardians go, he’s kinder than most. He gets shit from Dad for not keeping Riv in line more. Riv is an irrepressible troublemaker, even if he does it with a smile.”

Feral’s lips tilt up just for a moment at this thought.

River being a troublemaker is what makes River so attractive to Feral.

For me, being with River is what I imagine it feels like to turn your face up toward the sun, which I’ve only watched on a screen.

No one else makes me feel as free.

Yet neither I nor Feral have kissed River yet.

How can we?

If it’s dangerous for us to be together, then it’s forbidden to fall for someone else’s Companion.

Not to mention the fact that I’m almost certain that my brother is secretly in love with River, his best friend.

Fuck, it’s complicated.

“My Beta.” Feral slams his hand against the front of the cage in frustration, rattling it.

“Uh-huh, mine too. But let’s hold the throat tearing, until we know what’s going on.” My nose wrinkles in concern. Why haven’t we been allowed out today? This is bad. Feral drags at the red shock collar, which is padlocked around his neck. It matches his hair like it’s a fashion accessory and not a torture device. My stomach turns every time that I see it. “Is it sore? Has it rubbed or burned you? Can I see?”

Feral flinches back.

He shakes his head.

I hold my hands up. “I won’t set off the shock. Allegra is a bitch for insisting you wear that. We’ll have it taken off and destroy it, as soon as we win the fight on Saturday.”

Feral narrows his eyes, slicking back his hair. He flexes his powerful arms.

Then he smirks. “S-scary Alpha.”

“Terrifying.” I widen my eyes in an impression of my younger sister.

I clutch at my chest, pretending that I’m about to faint.

It makes my stomach fluttery, when Feral chuckles.

Making my serious Alpha laugh is always the best reward.

“ Please, don’t hurt me ,” I say in a mock, shrill voice. “ A little thing like me doesn’t dare to be around you without a dog’s shock collar around your neck. What’s mean about that? You’re just so big…and wait, is that your knot in your shorts? It’s scandalously large. Outrageous. How could a sweet, innocent little Omega be safe in a house around such a giant, killer Alpha with a cock like a…? ”

Feral shivers, growling with a dominance that turns me on.

I know how to distract him and what he likes to hear in role play.

What Alpha doesn’t have a praise kink about the size of their knot?

“ Lie down .” Feral’s Alpha Bark takes me deliciously by surprise. It also makes me tingle all over.

It’s not oppressive or cruel like the Alpha Commands, which Dad uses to control me.

An Alpha Bark can be used by ferals on any dynamic. It doesn’t force me against my will to obey, but rather, fills me with overwhelming pleasure, when I choose to.

We’ve both agreed to play with this skill.

When I lie down, obeying him, I gasp and arch my back.

Waves of pleasure cascade over me, rewarding me.

Slick gushes from my pussy.

I whimper.

Fuck, that’s good.

Feral watches me darkly for a moment, before he pounces on me.

I grin up at him, as he straddles me, careful not to put weight on me.

We both know that I could flip him off with around twelve different moves.

It’s what makes this game so thrilling.

“Hi,” I say, casually. “Do you want something?”

Feral tilts his head like he’s thinking for a moment.

Then he pecks me on the nose.

The soft strands of his hair brush against my cheeks. His piercing gaze searches out mine.

“You,” Feral breathes.

“You have me,” I murmur because it’s true. In my heart, I’ve been his for years. Yet we’re not bonded. I yearn for that more than my next breath. “Anything else?”

Feral scans down my body with a smirk. “ You .”

Oh.

I lean up, licking over the skin of Feral’s neck above the collar. He lets out a shuddery breath.

I fight dirty.

“What if I want you ?” Then because I fight even dirtier, I take control of this Alpha, who is much stronger than I am, by going for his weakness.

His hair.

I slowly run four of my fingers through Feral’s flame-like hair at the back of his neck.

Instantly, he stiffens, and his breath hitches.

Got him.

Then slowly, I draw my fingers up through Feral’s hair with just enough pressure to make his eyes darken further and his breathing speed up from the pleasure. I lightly scratch his scalp with my sharp nails, loving the way that it’s making him puff out pants of soft breath against my cheeks in an effort not to fall apart at the pleasure.

Feral’s cock is now hard in his shorts against my hip.

He doesn’t reach for it, however, since all his focus is on me.

It’s incredible, when he looks at me like this, as if I’m his Omega goddess.

When I reach the top of his head, I suddenly twist and grab his hair with a tight tug that takes him by surprise.

Feral’s eyes widen and then darken.

I tug his head back like I’m going to bare his neck in submission.

He snarls but he doesn’t struggle.

I smile in triumph.

My first mistake .

Because I miss that he’s going for my weakness.

All of a sudden, I feel a feather light touch along my ribs.

He’s not going to…?

It’s my turn for my eyes to widen.

Feral waggles his eyebrows, before he mercilessly dives in and tickles my sides.

I squeal, laughing.

I’m seriously ticklish. If any of my enemy fighters discover this flaw, I’m screwed.

Instinctively, I let go of Feral’s hair to wrap my arms around my middle, breathless with laughter.

He doesn’t let up, tickling under my chin.

I’m high on the thrill and playful excitement.

Every time that I writhe beneath Feral’s strong thighs, electric sparks shoot through me.

Feral is laughing too now, diving in to pepper my face with kisses.

“Below the belt,” I gasp. When Feral glances significantly at my shorts like it’s an invitation, I use a blast of my Omega pheromones to momentarily knock him off balance and evade his cruel, tickling fingers. “You’ll have to hunt and overpower your Omega to earn that.”

I use my wrestling skills to flip Feral over.

The waves of pleasure from the Alpha Bark stop the moment that I cease to obey, but it’s more than made up for by the thrill of playfighting with my Alpha.

My soul is singing, as I kiss Feral hard, distracting him from dislodging me.

I bite on his lower lip, before soothing and sucking it.

We both need this to be rough and passionate.

I pin my man down, playing at forcing him into a submission, which I know by the way his eyes are twinkling, he’s giving me willingly.

I slowly run my fingers up Feral’s muscled arms, before raising his hands above his head. “Keep them there.”

I dive in for another kiss, but the moment that our lips meet, I’m shocked by the vibrations of Feral’s deep growl.

I’m taken off guard, when he disobeys my order to keep his arms where I left them (of course he does because this is the uber dominant of Alphas), and sweeps them around me instead.

He wrests me around in a single, easy move, until I’m the one pinned beneath him.

My wrists are dragged above my head between a single one of Feral’s large hands.

“K-k-keep them th-there.” Feral smirks.

Then he slips his other hand down me, ghosting my breasts and making me shiver.

My chest is rising and falling. My eyes are glassy.

“My f-favorite prize.” Feral rubs his hand back and forth over my clothed pussy.

I hump up into his hand.

Touch me.

When I squirm around in desperation, Feral drops his mouth to my neck, licking and sucking like he’s desperate to bite.

But he can’t.

He can only bite, when we have permission to bond. It’s killing us both because we feel in our hearts like we’re bonded already.

His teeth lightly graze my neck.

“I. Love. You.” Feral pauses between each word, struggling to get them out clearly without stuttering.

Its agonizing and beautiful at the same time.

My heart clenches because I know how much it means to Feral both that he managed to say those words without becoming stuck on a sound or stumbling over a word.

I feel his relieved puff of breath against my neck.

When I begin to purr in happiness, Feral glances up at me surprised but then, delighted.

He licks my scent gland, and my purr deepens.

“I love you too, Fer,” I reply. “Forever and no regrets.”

He nods, before his hand slides back to my shorts. Then he’s edging under the material.

My back bows, when he thumbs across my clit, circling it. He watches my face, gaining pleasure from my pleasure.

I flush at Feral’s close scrutiny, staring up into his striking eyes.

He keeps the rhythm over my clit, at the same time that he slips two fingers down to the wet folds of my pussy.

My eyelashes flutter. “Fuck, yes…”

He pushes his fingers into my slick pussy, growling deep in his throat.

“Faster,” I beg.

Pleasure is coiling through me like a rubber band ready to snap. My thighs are quivering.

In and out, in and out.

Feral taps on my clit, insistently.

“Almost,” I whisper.

Feral dives to capture my lips, kissing me as dominantly as he’s fingering me. Then he sinks his teeth into my lip, and that flash of pain is enough to push me over the edge.

I come with a scream, which is muffled against Feral’s mouth.

He kisses me through the aftershocks, still working his fingers in and out of my pussy through them as well.

I’m breathing hard. Yet I’m sated.

A fight and a fuck.

I needed that.

By the satisfied look and relaxed slope of Feral’s shoulders, so did he.

He shoots me a smug look, as he finally releases my mouth. He licks over the imprint of his teeth on my lower lip.

Then he tilts his head with a sinful look that I know means watch this , removes his hand from my shorts and licks clean my slick like it’s nectar.

I shiver.

Fuck, I could come again simply from watching that.

Feral looks pleased with my reaction.

“Shall I…?” I start to reach toward Feral’s shorts. “I want to make you feel good too.”

We’ve been each other’s firsts, including innocent kisses and now, our explorations of each other’s bodies.

We’re still virgins, however, and neither of us have experienced natural heats or ruts.

Feral’s knot is oversensitive to touch because of his suffering through too many ruts alone.

Feral shakes his head, flinching away.

I lower my hand. “The offer’s there, okay? But we can take this slow at your speed. You see how incredible it is for me. I know that we can discover things, which feel amazing for you like the hair pulling. But we’ll only ever do things that you want and meet your needs. Do you trust me?”

Feral’s gaze becomes dangerous. “Do you t-trust me?”

He leans closer to me, tightening his hold on my wrists.

“You are a scary, feral Alpha,” I reply. “But then, I’m a rebellious, bad Omega.”

I no longer flinch at being called a bad Omega .

As a kid, I’d sob for hours alone in my bedroom, when Dad would casually call me that over breakfast, while patting my younger sister on the cheek and praising her as a good Omega.

I never could work out what I was doing wrong.

No matter how much I obeyed him or how hard I worked, it never made a difference.

Fuck him.

If you claim a label as your own, it can’t hurt you.

Much.

Feral snarls, looking as deadly as he does when he rips his enemies apart.

He looks like a real Devil Alpha.

Beautiful, deadly, and mine .

I stare up at him in awe.

Unexpectedly, there’s a shrill scream from the doorway, along with the revolting scent of burned sugar. “How dare you attack the daughter of the Head Alpha?” Shit, my sister is here. “This is why psychopaths like you need to be controlled. I’ll teach you what happens to low status Alphas who forget their place.”