Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
ALECTO
M y ass hit the ground outside of her room, and stayed there during the six hours that Lorelei remained passed out.
I could see that Phenex and Samael were worried about her, but no matter what, they couldn’t revive her. The entire time, I struggled to stay calm.
It’s only when she blinks her eyes and opens them slowly that I sag against the door in relief.
It’s time for me to go.
Averting my eyes, I begin to stand to leave.
“Where are you going?” Lorelei asks, her voice still full of sleep. She no longer smells as if she’s in heat, which means her sleep after her prophetic announcement helped.
“Home?” I say. “You’re obviously fine now. I came over because I was worried that you’d called out of work.”
“So you’re just coming over to protect your investment?” she asks in disappointment.
I was, but not in the way she means.
“Because you think I’m your boss?” I ask, lips twitching as I stop trying to stand and instead stretch from the long hours of sitting.
“Well aren't you?” she asks. I can hear the blankets rustling, and then there are tiny feet beside my leg on the ground. “Am I really so repugnant that you can’t look at me?”
Taking a deep breath, I growl under my breath. This girl is going to make me insane. I’m staring at the ground because she’s naked.
“Alecto is a gentleman when he’s not strangling you,” Samael says wryly.
Fuck. Phenex growls as well, and I’m waiting for him to punch me. Samael already got his in.
“You’re naked, beautiful,” Phenex reminds her. The squeak she makes is adorable, and I chuckle under my breath as someone tosses her something to pull over her head. “Please restrain yourself from making my mate upset, Alecto. I’m going to get some food going.”
Glancing at my watch, I see that it’s two in the morning. Time doesn’t much matter when heats break, as omegas and their mates still need to eat.
“You’re just the shit head who jumped the gun and bit her first,” Samael grumbles as they walk out.
“I’m dressed now, since being naked is so offensive to your eyes,” Lorelei pouts.
Glancing up at her, I see that she’s in a shirt that isn’t hers. Would it be too much of a caveman move to bring her some of my clothes to wear?
It doesn’t much matter to me that she’ll drown in them, I still want to do it.
My hand grabs her waist, careful not to hurt her, and tumble her into my lap. Her gasp is perfection.
“I said nothing of the sort,” I murmur, enjoying her widening eyes as she feels how hard I am under her ass. Her legs are bare underneath the shirt, and I have a feeling her cunt is as well. “I came over to see you because you’ve been on my mind.”
Her skin is clear of any bruises, and I retract my claws so I can rub her throat.
“So you’re not planning to kill me for some contrived reason?” she asks, her eyes sparkling.
Such a fucking brat.
“There was a reason, and it wasn’t contrived,” I murmur, my eyes drifting to her pouty, swollen lips. Breathing in her scent only makes me want to kiss her more. “Typically, monsters only get one fated mate, and that’s it. It’s possible that they’ll never meet that other person, or that they’ll end up rolling the dice to start a relationship with someone else, only to have their scent match come into their lives.”
“That’s terrible,” she says. “How do you make that choice to leave the person that you’re building a life with?”
“Sometimes, people don’t, and they make the best of it in a polyamorous relationship,” I explain. “It’s normal for monsters, though the sharing dynamic can be difficult for some.”
She gives me a knowing look, making me laugh.
“I’ve been alone for a long time, Lorelei. Sharing is not my forte,” I say. “I’m willing to work on it, though.”
“Why?” she asks, her hand on my chest as she tries to get more comfortable. Smirking, I push her hand away so that she drops against me. Raising my legs and wrapping my arms around her waist, I rub my thumb over her side.
“Because you’re worth it,” I say simply. “Your existence is one I could never have imagined. I didn’t handle it very well when I realized what it all meant. One moment I was simply pulled to you and enjoying our conversation, and the next, all I could smell was cherries and fucking cream.”
Lorelei blushes fiercely, probably imagining that it was because she perfumed for me. While she did, I would have been able to figure it out sooner or later. It was just a shame that it happened somewhere like the chemistry lab.
“I just found out what an omega is,” she says. “I think Samael and Phenex are waiting for me to freak out.”
After her prophecy yesterday, I think she’s not the only one likely to lose their shit.
“You’re nineteen, right?” I ask. I’m changing the subject, but I’m caught on the words she spoke before.
“Mmhmm. Are you worried about the age difference?” she teases me. Her head is against my chest, and she’s slowly relaxing against me. I could get used to being around her.
“No,” I say, smirking. “I’m thinking about something you said. Do you remember what you told me last night before you passed out?”
Her flush among her skin extends slowly below her shirt, and I can tell she’s remembering what she was doing when I poked my head into the room.
“Yes, I’ve seen every inch of your gorgeous body,” I rumble. “However, I want to have your consent the next time I see it.”
“I remember what I said,” she says softly, shifting.
“Are you slicking all over my pants?” I ask, amused.
“God, I think I may be. I’m so sorry,” she says, hiding her face, mortified.
“Don’t be,” I say with a chuckle. “You’re adorable. It’s probably dangerous for you to be sitting on my lap without panties.”
“Why is that?” she asks, peeking up at me.
“Because it tests my ability to be a gentleman,” I grumble, enjoying her smile. “Do you understand anything you said to me? It sounded very prophetic.”
“It did,” she says. “It’s possible that it’s the rest of the tarot card reading I ran out of on my eighteenth birthday. It scared me. I was just getting out of the system, starting my life, and now there’s this huge cloud over my head. There still is.”
“You’re missing a scent match I hear,” I say. “You’ve got me, but you were calling out for another.”
“It sounds crazy. I have mates that actually want me, and here I am, being ungrateful,” she grumbles.
“That’s not how I see it at all,” I reply. “Prophecy says that you need us all. It doesn’t say why. Let’s go on the knowledge that there are four of us. I don’t think that there will be more, because the number four is balanced. While I’ll fuck with a lot of things, the universe is vast. The tarot card reading and this prophecy is meant to protect you.”
“From falling asleep for a hundred years,” she confirms. “I’ve been traveling from school to school trying to find you all. And now…”
“You’ve found us,” I say. “Whoever this monster is, they may need a little prodding to come into the light. I know I did.”
Lorelei nods, breathing me in, and I wait to see what she says. I’ve been told that I smell like different things to different people.
“You smell like caramel,” she murmurs, rubbing her face against me without thinking. My chest puffs out with pride that she’s scent marking me.
I can smell the scent of food being made in the kitchen, and I know I’m going to have to lose this time with her so she can eat.
“Would you like to know why I hide my scent?”
I ask her.
“Is it because you smell so yummy?” she asks, her eyes hooding. “I want to eat you.”
“That’s part of it,” I say, smirking. “The other part is that it tends to make people do things they wouldn’t typically do.”
“I don’t want to do anything except lick you,” she purrs.
“Fuck, you’re so damn cute,” I mutter, dropping my head to kiss her lips. There’s a puff of air that shows she’s surprised, but then she’s kissing me back.
I know that I’ve been jerking her around, giving her mixed signals.
“I’m sorry I was an asshole,” I say against her lips. “I’ll try to be better for you. That doesn’t mean I won’t still stumble.”
“If I try to catch you, you’ll squish me,” she teases me. Grinning down at her, I kiss her again until she’s out of breath.
“That’s fair. I’m graced with the knowledge that you exist and I’ll protect that with my life,” I say.
Her lips purse as she remembers what she said during the prophecy. “I always thought my parents gave me up because they didn’t want me,” she says. “Madam Sera said that they died of broken hearts after I was adopted.”
Or they could have been killed. What they did was risky.
“If they went so far as to make sure you exist at all, that doesn’t sound like the actions of someone who was heartless,” I remind her. “I’m going to be forever grateful to them, because they gave me you.”
Standing with her in my arms, I walk her to the kitchen.
“Good, we were just going to come tell you breakfast is ready,” Samael says. There’s piles of food ready, making my eyes widen because I know he doesn’t eat. “I figured you’d be staying.”
Since I do want to stay, I nod. This should be weirder than it is. Yet, Samael gives Lorelei a piece of bacon to snack on as we sit down at the table, and Phenex starts to fill plates.
“I didn’t have a chance to tell you about why President Christa was here,” he says.
“The president of the school is visiting you at your home?” I ask incredulously.
“Yeah,” he grunts. “Her excuse was that she wanted to talk about the benefactor that’s going to donate money for renovations of the history buildings, but I’m not in a position where those discussions would need to be had with me. I’m just a teacher. She had a lot of questions about who I was dating, though.”
“Oh, that’s not good,” Samael mutters. “She sounded like she was fishing. It’s not against the rules to date a student, just a little frowned upon. I openly hold Lorelei’s hand when I’m with her.”
“You’re a fear demon,” I say, snorting. “You’re a scary motherfucker.”
“I try,” he says, shrugging. “Lorelei, I’m hungry.”
Shivering, she gazes at him with wide eyes. Her scent is strong, and I groan. Fuck, she’s really turned on.
“Is that code for needing to fuck her?” I ask.
“I figured out something really important this week,” he grunts. “She’s the only one I can feed from. Other people’s fears don’t work anymore.”
“Oh fuck. Could that be dangerous?” I ask. I know the mechanics of how he feeds, and know that some fear demons can scare their prey to death for the ultimate meal and high.
“I’m not a complete monster,” he mutters. “It does mean that I’ll need to get creative in how I feed with our girl. You smell so fucking good, Lorelei. Does it excite you to be the only creature I’ll ever be able to feed from, you greedy little thing?”
Oh, she’s jealous. That’s fun.
“Yes,” she whispers.
Samael glances at me, and I drop my lips to Lorelei’s before tossing her over the table at him. Her shocked scream makes me snicker. Samael groans, kissing her hard.
“That was so good, baby. I’m going to need so much more from you very soon,” he says. “Eat up, because we’re going on a hunt tonight.”
“Hunt?” she asks, her voice breaking.
“Oh fuck me,” Phenex says. “There are trees behind the apartments I suppose.”
“I haven’t heard of anyone hunting their mate in years,” I add.
“Why would anyone need to know?” Samael croons. “If you don’t eat, I’m going to end up devouring your pussy because you smell incredible. Who knows? Maybe we’ll end up testing Alecto’s resolve so he’ll feed you his cum for an early breakfast.”
“She can’t live on cum,” I say immediately before I realize what I said. The laughter is loud as Samael and Phenex snicker.
“I did a pretty good job of it,” she says, stealing a bite of food from Phenex.
Handing her plate to Samael so she can keep eating, I wonder how this pack feels so easy. I can be a contentious asshole, yet I don’t feel the need to be.
“So how does all of this work?” I wonder.
“Lorelei lives here because of how unsafe her dorm is. You know how omegas are about their space,” Samael says.
“Hey teach,” Lorelei says. “Want to teach that lesson now?”
Phenex’s cheeks burn with embarrassment, and I realize he’s been keeping secrets.
“Uh, yeah. She should know what her ancestry is like,” I say. “Also, it’ll help her understand that the little quirks she may have are all normal. Rearranging things, being obsessed with cleanliness, anxiety around lots of people. All omega like things.”
“Thank you!” she says. “Sooo…”
“Yeah, okay,” Phenex says. “Don’t complain when you’re bored to tears.”
“I have lots of ways to entertain myself,” she says. “Spill, or I’ll do that thing you don’t like.”
Shuddering, he shakes his head. Barking out a laugh, I wonder what she means. It would almost be worth him spanking her pretty little ass for it.
It just means I’ll have to kiss it better.