Chapter 15 #2
I offered him an encouraging smile. “You don’t need to do much. But I can walk you through it. Soothing requires touch and a feeling of safety. Once we get that started, your hormones will respond to each other and create a natural feedback loop.”
Hugo took another hesitant step closer. “So, what, we just hold hands and sing kumbaya?” He still looked uncomfortable.
Jade made grabby hands at him. “Come on, Hugo. Dr. Casey says we need cuddles.”
Hugo cleared his throat and came closer. Jewel was trembling, and I watched them stare at each other as Hugo knelt on the bed.
“Wait,” I said. I could feel my face heating, so thank goodness it was so dark in here. “You should take your shirt off.”
Hugo didn’t move. “What?”
I felt like squirming. “Skin-to-skin is best.”
He didn’t budge, and I sighed.
“Off we go!” Jade said, pulling off her own top. She cast it to the side and looked up to find us all staring at her. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and the light was dim, but not that dim.
She reached over and started helping Jewel out of his.
“Come on, you two,” she said, glancing up at us.
I cleared my throat and pulled off my shirt. I was glad it was dark, and we were surrounded by blankets. The soft swells on my chest and of my belly were in stark contrast to everyone else here. Jade was slender and small, Jewel was muscular, and Hugo was built.
I glanced up to see Hugo had taken off his shirt too. The hair on his chest was very distracting. I only had a bit of hair and really wanted to know what it felt like.
I pushed the thought away. Not appropriate.
“Hugo, we'll start with you here.” I patted the space in front of us, trying to focus on the task. The mattress springs creaked as he made his way over. Jewel seemed torn as he looked between us all. “Lie down and scooch over a bit. Jewel’s going to be between us. He’ll be Hugo’s little spoon. Jade, yeah, you go in front of Jewel.”
Jade tucked herself in front of Jewel, pulling Hugo’s arm around them both. Jewel let out a sigh and buried his nose in Jade’s hair.
?
HUGO
This was a terrible idea.
Not because it was bad, but because it was the exact opposite.
Casey's voice was soft and soothing as he talked.
Jewel's skin was warm and silky beneath me, and I could feel the tension slowly leaving his scent and muscles.
Jade's fingers were tracing gentle patterns on my hand.
I swallowed past a lump forming in my throat.
It felt… precious. Something quiet and cozy, a feeling of rightness settling into my bones.
I shouldn’t be here.
I’d managed not to rut earlier, when Jewel had fucked Jade in front of me.
If I had rutted… I didn’t know what would happen. Jade and Casey weren’t alphas, but what did that mean for me?
Part of me wondered if maybe it wouldn’t be a problem. Two betas who I felt possessive over—was it possible that I wouldn’t see them as a threat?
But that wasn’t a gamble I would risk their lives on. If I attacked them, I would tear them to shreds.
“You're all doing so well.” Casey's calm voice washed over me. He genuinely sounded so pleased, a satisfied purr rumbling to life in my chest.
Jewel stiffened beneath me, and the purr stuttered out. I felt my face heating, but then a large hand rested gently on my shoulder.
Casey offered me a smile. “It's all right. You should lean into your instincts right now. They'll guide you from here.” Casey pulled back, but I caught his arm.
“Stay,” I muttered. The thought of him leaving, of him settling somewhere else in the room on his own, was almost unbearable.
Before he could protest, both Jewel and Jade had grabbed him and placed him firmly in front of Jade.
There.
That was right.
My purr started up in my chest again, and this time, I just let it go. The peace of this moment was calling me, and I gave in.
After a minute, there was a rumble beneath me—an answering purr from Jewel. It was faint and stuttering at first but grew stronger when Jade pressed a kiss to Jewel's hand.
I still couldn’t quite believe that the omega curled up peacefully on my chest was Jewel. I’d never seen him so soft before.
No, that wasn’t quite right. An old memory stirred, of a time when he’d been much younger. I’d been training with him for about a year at that point.
He had been a belligerent, stubborn, sarcastic teen who often sulked when I corrected him. He didn’t seem to want to learn the alpha fighting techniques I’d been told to teach him.
I didn’t blame him for that; he wasn’t an alpha, so it was kind of pointless to teach him to leverage superior strength and speed. I hated training with him, and the feeling had been mutual.
He’d been getting increasingly rude and snarky, and then one night, he didn’t show up.
I knew I’d be the one in trouble for his absence, so I set out to find him.
I found him wedged in a broom closet, hugging his knees. He had tears streaking his face as he looked up at me.
When I reached out to him, he flinched, as if expecting pain.
“Just get it over with,” he said, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
“Get what over with?”
“The punishment. For crying.”
I stared down at him, and he tried to put on a sullen face, despite his watery eyes. I knelt in front of him. “It’s okay to cry,” I told him, pulling him into a hug.
He started sobbing again, clinging to me. “I’m never going to be an alpha. Why won’t he leave me alone? I’m so tired of pretending all the time.”
I didn’t really know what to say, so I just scooped him up and carried him back to the gym. I set him on a beanbag and gave him snacks.
“How about this,” I told him. “We both stop pretending you’re an alpha when you come here. I’ll teach you how to fight like a beta. How to win, even against alphas.”
He snorted and told me that wasn’t possible. But he showed up to my lesson the next day.
He never mentioned the incident, but he did become bearable to teach after that.
Slowly, inch by inch, he started to let his guard down. He was still belligerent, stubborn, and sarcastic, but the tone was lighter, and he started to smile around me. Joke around. And—thank the heavens—actually listen to me. Laurel would come more often, just to spend time with us.
I found something that should have been impossible for a rut-cursed alpha trapped in Thaddeus’s underground fights.
A little bubble of joy.
Something Jewel had created again, right here as he slept in my arms.
Only last time, it had ended with losing him. I’d do everything I could to make sure that didn’t happen again. Last time, I’d been helpless to do anything but watch as I lost him.