Chapter 25
Kind of Beautiful
I stare at Hale in shock. Bite me . Did he really just say that? Did he really just suggest that I initiate an omega bond with him? The thing on that stupid scoresheet that was worth the most fucking points?
Creed growls, and Hale turns a glare on him. “It’s not like that,” he says, sharply. “You know it’s not like that, Creed. You can feel it through the bond.” He turns his attention back to me. “You’ll feel it too. This has nothing, fucking nothing, to do with the game we were playing. This is only about reassuring you we are in this for the right fucking reasons. For you. You’ll feel it, feel how we feel about you, how we want you, and then the bond will fade until you’re ready for a permanent one.”
Jude’s nodding like he likes this idea. And why wouldn’t he? This was all of their goals, wasn’t it? If I agree to bite Hale, all of them will probably want me to bite them too.
“Yes,” Tic says. “This is… we should do that.”
My brow furrows as I look at the four of them. Then I shake my head. “I’m not biting you.”
I don’t have to have the bond to know they’re disappointed. Really disappointed.
“Baby girl, please .” Even Creed’s on board.
God, I want to. I really do. My omega is dancing around in my chest, preening under the attention of our scent match mates, loving that they want me to bite them, bond with them, even if it’s just temporary.
But I can’t shake this nagging feeling that it’s still all a lie. They’ve spent the last month trying to prove to me it’s not, that they do want me, that they’ll keep me and keep me safe. That I am the omega they want now.
But I don’t know how I can believe that, trust that, when they broke my trust so thoroughly.
Tic tilts his head, ever the observer, and I’m sure he can read every one of my emotions on my face. He reaches out and thumbs my chin gently. “Bite us, angel. Bite us and you’ll know, definitively, if you can trust this. You won’t have to wonder anymore.”
“That sounds so nice,” I mutter, dropping my gaze to the carpet. “You swear this isn’t just a part of the game?”
“I swear,” Hale’s quick to reassure me.
“I was never playing that fucking game,” Creed tells me. “Everything we did together was because I wanted you.”
“I’m pretty sure none of it was part of the game,” Jude says earnestly. “You know I like to watch and watching you with all of them was… well, it was fucking hot as hell.”
“It’s not part of the game, angel,” Tic says softly. “We just want you.”
Tears prick my eyes as something loosens in my chest. It’s not completely unraveled, but it’s not so tight, no longer strangling me. I look up from the rug, take in all their devastatingly handsome faces. How the hell are they so freaking handsome? How the hell are they even more beautiful to me now than they were the first time I saw them?
I nod slowly. “I want to know.”
They all freeze. Not that they were moving a lot before, but now they’re completely motionless, like if they make even an infinitesimal movement, I might run or change my mind. I’m not even sure they’re breathing.
“There’s my brave little mouse.” He sounds reverent.
I meet Hale’s gaze steadily. “Where should I bite you?”
He swallows thickly, one of his hands coming up slowly, so slowly, to cup my cheek. “You’re sure? You’ll be able to feel me until the bond fades, and I’ll be able to feel you.”
“Stop trying to talk her out of it,” Creed growls. Apparently, as much as he’d disliked the idea of this at the beginning, he’s on board now.
“Why is Hale the one that gets her bond?” Jude asks, shifting. “I want to feel her, too.”
Hale turns his head to glare at the other alpha, but his hand on my cheek stays soft and gentle. “It was my idea. Once she can feel me, she’ll know and I’m sure it won’t be that much longer before we bond her for real.”
I arch a brow. “I just had a heat.”
True, it was over a month ago, and true Dr. Hines told me my heats would likely be unpredictable at first since I’ve been on suppressants for so long, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll happen soon.
Hale shrugs. “We can bond you now and then again when you have a heat.”
Jude groans, head tipping back toward the ceiling. “Oh, fuck yeah. We can cover you in claiming bites. Mark you up over and over. Make sure everyone knows you belong to us.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Creed adjust his dick at that idea. I feel an answering swell of desire low in my belly.
My cheeks puff out as I blow out a slow breath, trying like hell to not just jump all their bones right this second. “Once should be enough,” I mutter.
All of them growl. “Twice at least,” Tic says, drawing my surprised gaze to him. I would have thought out of all of them, he’d be the one to be the most logical about this. One bite from each of them would be enough. Even if it’s not during my heat, I can tell the bond would be strong. It would have to be with us being scent matches.
A dirty little smile curls Tic’s lips. “We can bite you on your neck, scar you up so the world knows you’re ours. And then we can bite you… other places.”
“The inside of your thighs,” Creed growls hotly.
“Your glorious tits,” Jude sounds dazed at the idea.
“Inside of your lip,” Hale murmurs, gaze fixed on my mouth like he’s imagining it already.
“The thumb mound on one of your hands,” Tic finishes.
“Then anytime we touch you in any of those places, baby girl, you’ll light up like a firecracker for us.” I swallow thickly at the implication. Mating bites are erogenous zones, or so I’ve been told. If that’s true, then even the innocent act of holding my hand would turn me on.
I should put a stop to that line of thinking. I already have a hard enough time controlling myself when it comes to them. But I find myself whispering, “Okay. Yeah.”
The looks they give me are positively predatory… in a good way. I look at Hale, meet his eyes, and suddenly my jaw and teeth are aching, my mouth watering at the thought of biting him.
“Where?”
His gaze softens, and his expression turns nervous. Like he can’t quite believe I’ve agreed to this, and he’s worried I’ll change my mind at the last moment.
He holds out a hand and I take it, allow him to pull me closer to his body. “Wherever you want, little mouse. Where do you want your claim on me?”
Where I want my claim is on his neck, where everyone can see. But if this is going to just be a temporary bond and not the lasting one that solidifies him as mine, then I should bite him somewhere else, right? Somewhere not so prominent. Especially if this turns out to be some elaborate ruse. And they don’t really want me.
I don’t know if Hale can read my thoughts, but he gently cups my cheek, turning my face up to his as his thumb strokes my bottom lip. “You can bite me wherever you want, little mouse. If you want to sink your teeth into my neck, then that is where I want you to do it. And if you want to bite me on the other side later, I’ll proudly wear both of your bites. You can bite me as many times as you want. Turn my entire body into one giant scar, one giant fucking claim. Because I am yours. Irrevocably. Whether you decide you want to keep me or not. I am yours.”
“Mine,” I murmur, still not truly understanding this turn of events. This change of positions where he seems to be worried that I won’t want to stay with them, to keep him. Like I might find him lacking in some way.
It’s how I’ve felt since the first moment I met him, the first time he growled ‘little mouse’ at me. Like my future with them isn’t set in stone, like they might slip through my fingers like sand.
Hale Calloway is feeling that now.
I nod and blow out another breath, resolve settling in my bones as the last of the air leaves my lungs. “Okay.” My hand slides up to hook around the back of his neck. “You’re going to have to come down here, though. You’re too damn tall.”
He chuckles and hooks an arm under my butt, hoisting me up. “Better?”
I’m about to agree. My eyes latched onto the mouthwatering spot of flesh where his neck meets his shoulder, but Tic’s voice cuts through my haze. “Maybe you should sit down? I’ve heard that a mating bite can be… disorienting . Wouldn’t want you to drop our girl.”
Disorienting. If reports of mating bites are to be believed, the act is nearly orgasmic. Of course, many of those reports are from omegas claimed during heats, when almost anything is orgasmic.
Without a word, Hale strides over to the couch and drops onto the cushion, hands gripping my ass to hold me tight against him. My arms slide around his shoulders, my chest pressing to his. He slides a palm slowly up my spine, between my shoulders until he’s cupping the back of my neck, strong fingers massaging my tense muscles gently, but firmly. “Whenever you’re ready, omega.”
I take a deep breath and lace my fingers into the hair at the back of his head before fisting it, using my grip to tilt his head to the side, revealing the strong column of his neck. My mouth waters, my teeth ache, and I can’t help but feel like a freaking vampire as I lower my mouth to his skin. His petitgrain and sandalwood scent is stronger, more potent. Between us, his cock is hard, pressing delightfully into my heat. He moans when I rock my hips, unable to help myself.
My omega is giddy, dancing, shouting ‘hip hooray’ because I’m so damn close to claiming my alpha. Mine. She’s been wanting me to do this for fucking months. Angry and confused as to why this hasn’t happened yet.
I suck in a sharp breath when the hand still on my hip urges me to move again while Hale thrusts up, grinding against my clit deliciously. “Fuck, alpha,” I groan. “Should we-”
“No,” he cuts me off so quickly that it feels like a rejection and my chest hollows out. He curses and uses his grip on my neck to lift my head until I can meet his eyes. “I want to, mouse. Fuck, you better believe I want to be inside you when you bite me, but I want you to know how I feel before we take that step again, okay? I need you to understand what you mean to me. I need you to know that this thing between us is more than just physical, more than just instincts. So this time, we won’t be having sex when we form the bond.” He leans forward and brushes his lips over mine softly. “But when I bite you, when we form our lasting bond? Fuck yeah, I’m going to be knotted so deep inside you, filling you with my cum. Fucking breeding you.”
I blink at him, feeling hot and dazed and so fucking turned on, from his words, but also something settles in my chest, a warm welcome weight. He said when we form our lasting bond. Not if. When . Like he knows when I bite him, when I feel him, everything will click into place. Like I’ll be sure in a way that they always said they wanted me to be, even before I knew the truth.
Some part of me suspects now that they never would have actually let me bite them, not without me knowing who they were and what their motivation was. I think every time Creed said he wanted me to be sure, every time Jude mentioned he wanted to bond me, they actually fucking meant it. It just took a long time for us to get to this point. For them to believe their words the way I did.
I nod slowly, the tip of my nose brushing against Hale’s. “Okay, alpha. This time, we’ll do it your way.”
He grins. “Next time too.”
I sniff and lean back. “We’ll see.”
I glance around at the three other alphas, all hovering nearby, all watching intently. “You all gonna knot me and breed me before you bite me?”
“Oh, fuck yeah,” Creed growls.
Jude runs a hand down his face. “I’m so fucking jealous right now, I could scream.”
“We’ll give you whatever you want, omega,” Tic says evenly, but his amber eyes are burning, burning, burning. “Everything you need.”
I shiver at the promise and resist the urge to throw off all my clothes and tell them to just bite me now. My omega wants that. But I’m still not sure I do. Even though they feel like mine, now more than ever.
Hale’s thumb under my chin draws my attention back to him. “Come on, little mouse,” he murmurs, brushing my bottom lip. “Make me yours.”
My vision goes a little hazy and saliva fills my mouth. Without another word, I fist the hair at the back of his head, drawing a moan from deep in his chest. His icy blue eyes never leave me as I bend my head toward his exposed neck. His larger palm cradles my head, gentle where I’m rough, urging me closer. “Bite me, omega,” he growls, and I do.
My teeth sink into skin and muscle and sinew. Blood floods my mouth, bringing with it the woody ozone flavor of Hale. He sucks in a sharp breath at the first bite of pain, but it turns into a moan as he thrusts up, grinding his cock into my slick soaked pussy. My eyes flutter closed as my teeth sink deeper. I’m not sure if I should do that, but Hale doesn’t seem to mind, pressing me closer to him, dry humping against me as he pants and moans.
“Gonna come,” he mutters, like he can’t believe it. “Fuck, omega. Gonna come in my jeans like a fucking teenager.” My teeth unlatch from his throat as I giggle. He laughs too, even as he keeps thrusting, grinding, one hand on my hip helping me to move over him. “Oh, fuck yes, just like that.”
I whimper, even as my tongue traces over my bite mark, even as my own release coils tighter and tighter. “Alpha,” I moan. “Please.”
“Come for me, omega,” Hale grunts. “Come right fucking now. Soak my pants with your slick.”
The orgasm hits, and at the same time, something in my chest explodes. A tendril, a cord, a string that stretches from Hale to me and back. The pleasure is twofold, the release twofold, the awe doubled, because I’m not just feeling myself, I’m feeling Hale. Feeling what he’s feeling.
I lean back to watch him, to examine every inch of him as he loses himself, as his cock pulses and spills between us. So fucking pretty.
It only gets better when he opens his eyes and latches onto me immediately. A pleased little smirk curls his lips as he reaches up to thumb the corner of my mouth. “There you are, little mouse. There you fucking are. ”
I know what he means. He can feel me in his chest the same way I can feel him. And god, there’s no escaping the truth. Hale Calloway, prime alpha, loves me. He hasn’t said the words, but I can feel it. Feel it pulse with every beat of his heart, like that organ in his chest exists only for me.
Tears fill my eyes, and he frowns, sliding his hand up to brush them away. “Don’t cry, Haven. Please. It kills me when you cry.”
“You love me,” I choke out. Maybe I shouldn’t say the words for him. But I can’t stop them from spilling. “You love me.”
He gives me that same smug smile. “I do. I have for a long time now, mouse. We all love you. Desperately.”
All. I look up to the three alphas surrounding us, watching with ravenous expressions, and I don’t know if it’s sex they want or the bond, but I’m not sure it really matters.
With the bond between myself and Hale, I know without a shadow of a doubt that they will not hurt me again. They aren’t planning on using me as a tool. They regret even considering it immensely. They want to keep me forever. That nest, that beautiful, perfect nest upstairs, was always meant for me.
They are mine. And I am theirs.
“You all love me.” It’s not a question. I’m not looking for reassurance from them. I’m saying it out loud so it can settle in my bones, in my marrow, become a part of me never to leave again.
“So much,” Creed murmurs, reaching to catch a tear as it falls. “I’ve been in love with you since the first time I spoke to you, baby girl.”
Jude laughs. “I fell in love with you when you creamed me and Hale at Monopoly. Couldn’t wait to make you mine.”
“You let me win.”
He shrugs. “I’d do it again.”
I look at Tic, who shrugs. “I think I might have loved you long before it was appropriate.”
My brow wrinkles. “What does that mean?”
“A few years ago, you spent a lot of time at a children’s hospital. You would go read to the kids, do crafts with them.”
My brows arch. “It was part of being at the academy. Required.”
“Community service was required, but only about ten hours. But you, Haven Bell, you went every weekend for over a year. You and Ren, without fail, spent every Saturday with them. No cameras, no press. You did it because you cared.”
I nod. “I did.” And then I graduated and my father told me it was a waste of time and forbade me from ever going again.
“I think I loved you then.”
I blink at him. “I was seventeen.”
A rueful smile curls his mouth. “Like I said, before it was appropriate.”
“I didn’t realize you watched me for that long.”
Hale’s hands curl around my hips, slide up over my rib cage, and I can feel that he’s uncomfortable with this conversation, but determined to see it to the end. “Once we decided you would be a part of our revenge plan, we started watching you. We needed to learn what sorts of things you liked, didn’t like. We wanted-” He cuts off with a wince.
“You wanted to make me fall in love with you.” And the best way to do that was to seem like the perfect pack for me. “The problem is that you were only observing the Frederick Bell approved Haven.”
He tugs me tighter to his body. “That’s true. We never even suspected…” His face crumples and I can feel his regret, his shame. “We never thought he would do that to you, mouse. You have to believe if we’d known you were a prisoner to him…” He trails off when I place the tip of one of my fingers on his lips.
“I believe you,” I say. It’s easy to relent because I can feel how much he means it. Feel how much he wishes he could go back and change things. But he can’t. This is the hand we were dealt, and I have to say right now I think it’s kind of beautiful.
We’ve all been through so much, and finding each other, finding our fated mates, is our reward.
And I don’t want to waste a single moment more not being theirs.