Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
Cyrus
Four months ago
I ’d arrived at the estate of Pack Rivera under the guise of delivering some stuff I’d bought for our soon to be nephew. Or soon to be born ? I wasn’t sure how the hell that would be phrased.
And, technically, he was Enzo’s nephew by blood, but since we were a pack, that made Cora our family and her baby our family. I would protect either of them with my own life.
That family extended to Cora’s beta sister, Isabelle.
Since the day she’d crashed into Pack Rivera’s gate – that had already been fixed and was like new – she hadn’t left my thoughts.
I couldn’t get the way she’d looked that day out of my head. Her face had been battered, bruised, and swollen. There was fresh and dried blood on her lips, her hairline, and trailing down her temple. And her abuse had been at the hands of her fucking alpha, the man who was supposed to protect her above everyone and everything else.
She was shy, quiet, and demure. But it felt more like she was afraid. She was afraid of alphas and had every right to be.
Until her sister had become bonded to Pack Rivera, the two of them hadn’t had good experiences with those of my designation. Bain, Ford, Valen, and Cohl were doing their best to make sure she was eating well, getting enough rest, and had regular visits from Doc Henderson. But she needed more than that to fully heal.
She needed her own pack. Her own home. Somewhere to decompress, somewhere she truly belonged.
And with alphas who were growing obsessed with her in the most profound way.
Didn’t matter what Enzo or Ax said – it was obvious by how often they talked about her and checked on her they were as interested in her joining our little group as I was.
Even if she had no romantic interest in us, I knew it would make all three of us feel better if she was under our roof, under our care, and our protection.
Not that Pack Rivera couldn’t keep her safe. Their home and property were a damned fortress and guarded by armed men around the clock. Since they were involved in…less savory activities, they tended to gain enemies. The protection was as much for them as it was for their omega. Or rather, more for their pregnant omega and extending to them.
We’d all noted the increase in the number of guards posted outside the gates, around the property, and at all entry and exit points since Pack Alvarez and Cora’s originally arranged pack had attempted to assassinate all of them. A few of the guards had even made me, Enzo, and Ax wait at the gate a few minutes while they got the okay from their boss to let us onto the property.
Ax had grown impatient during those times, but I fully understood. If we had someone in our life, I would be just as protective. Especially if that someone was carrying our child the way Cora was carrying the first heir of Pack Rivera.
If we had Issa in our pack, I would make sure she was safe. That she felt safe. I would let her make the choices and decisions about her life she’d never been given before. If she only wanted us as packmates, as friends , then we would give her that space. If she wanted another person romantically, we would add them to the pack if that made her happy.
“Hey,” Corazon said from her place on the couch. Her belly was round, and she had that pregnancy glow that made women look so beautiful. I wasn’t one to fetishize pregnant women, but I’d always found that glow to be damned near ethereal. “What are you doing here…again?” she asked with a wry smile.
Lifting my hand, I showed her the bag I’d carried in that contained several sets of stupidly priced baby clothes. It was stupid because the baby would outgrow each of these items within weeks. But hey, it was our job to spoil the shit out of our nephew.
“I come bearing more gifts,” I said, setting the bag on the coffee table as I tried to inconspicuously look around for Issa.
She wasn’t sitting on the couch with Cora and Cohl, and I wasn’t about to start roaming room to room in search of her.
“She’s on the patio,” Cora said.
My gaze darted to her face and my cheeks burst into flames at the wide grin on both her and Cohl’s faces.
“Dude. It’s pretty fucking obvious. Just tell her you’re into her. Or seduce her or whatever,” Cohl said as his hand made slow circles on Cora’s swollen belly.
Craning my neck, I looked around as much as possible to ensure we wouldn’t be overheard, then lowered onto the coffee table across from where the two sat, ignoring Cohl’s possessive growl. He knew I didn’t want Cora but was the least stable of the four alphas. He even tended to growl at his own packmates when they tried to cuddle with their omega.
“You know her better than the rest of us—”
“Not really,” Cora said, cutting me off. There was sadness in her eyes, even as she smiled softly at me.
“Would she…do you think she’d be up to staying with us? Just for a while. She could decide if she wanted to stay. You know we’d never force anything on her and wouldn’t demand anything of her.”
“I know,” she said with a nod.
And then she went silent, her lips pursed to the side as though she was chewing the inside of her cheek.
“She might not want to be bonded,” she finally said.
“That’s fine. I just…we want her to be happy. And safe—”
“She’s safe here,” Cohl muttered as he lowered his head and nuzzled Cora’s belly.
I’d never really thought a whole lot about being a father. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in having a child one day, but, unlike so many alphas, it wasn’t a driving force to my life. If one day we added an omega – or a beautiful Italian beta – and he or she was willing to carry our child, I would love and dote on him or her.
But watching the way these four alphas fawned over Cora, the way they couldn’t resist touching her belly or talking to their unborn child made me almost wish for the day when it was my turn to wait impatiently for my mate’s belly to swell with the life we created, for the day when I would hold my child in my arms. And no, I didn’t give a shit which of us fathered the child – he or she would be ours and would be loved and protected, regardless of how they presented in the future.
“I won’t answer for her. None of us will make the decision for her,” she said, gripping Cohl’s hair tight and earning a throaty purr from her alpha. “Talk to her. See if she would want to stay with you. And then, if you all get along, the four of you can talk about forming a pack.”
The sisters had been estranged at best, and that was primarily because of the way they’d been raised. Since Corazon was the only omega child, she was treated like a prize, though she was still raised by someone other than her parents. The entirety of her upbringing had been how to please her future alphas, to produce heirs to inherit her fathers’ empire, and to continue their delusions of grandeur.
But I’d seen the sisters trying to talk, trying to reconnect. Corazon had made sure her alphas treated Isabelle as a member of the pack, even if it was temporary. Even if she would one day leave.
And hopefully, one day join our pack.
Looking toward the kitchen where Isabelle would be sitting on the patio just outside the sliding door, I gathered my courage and took a few deep breaths. Why the hell was I so nervous? If she said no, she said no.
But if she said yes…
So many possibilities. There was the possibility of these feelings that had sprung to life at the first sight of her battered body growing stronger. There was the possibility of developing a full bond with her.
There was the possibility of rejection.
The fear of that sting would be worth it, though. At least it would be worth it if she didn’t turn down my offer.
I hadn’t come out and directly asked my packmates whether they wanted Isabelle in our home, but all three of us had been talking about her nonstop. And if they were thinking about her half as much as I did, it was a wonder we were able to get shit down or run our club without burning the fucking place down.
“Just go talk to her. Be calm. Out of the three of you, you’re the least likely to freak her out.” Corazon watched me push to my feet and shove my hands through my hair twice. “Or you would normally be the calm one. Dude. Seriously. She’s already on pins and needles. Just tell her…whatever. How you feel or something. Ask her if she’d be willing to stay at your pack house. Tell her…I don’t know. Tell her you’re worried about her safety and want to help keep her safe.”
“They leave for long hours to work the club,” Cohl muttered against Corazon’s belly where he was still nuzzling it and pressing kisses over her maternity shirt.
“Not helping, alpha,” Corazon said playfully.
With another deep breath, I straightened my shirt, pushed my hand through my hair once more, and forced my feet to carry me from the living room and into the kitchen.
Isabelle was stretched out on a recliner, her head tipped toward the sun, her eyes closed as she soaked up the warm rays. It was still chilly outside, so she wore a sweater and had a throw draped over her legs.
How often had she been able to do something as simple as relax in the sun, to have a little quiet time to herself?
After one more calming breath, I slowly opened the door so as not to startle her. Her lids lifted and her eyes settled on me…
And she tensed.
“Hey,” I said, closing the door behind me. “Mind if I join you?” I asked.
She looked past me and into the house then back to my face. “Um…sure. Yeah.”
When she moved as though to sit up, I held out a hand. “Relax. You don’t have to…move for me or whatever.”
Smooth, Cyrus.
Internally rolling my eyes at myself, I lowered onto a recliner beside her so I wasn’t towering over her and intimidating her.
She wasn’t as small or petite as her sister, but she wasn’t exactly tall. She was thin, too thin, and looked frail. A small scar was fading along her hairline and shadows underlined her haunted eyes. She always seemed as though she was watching for one threat or another. Even though she was behind a secured gate and surrounded by armed guards.
“I was talking to Corazon. And my pack. Enzo and Ax…” Damn it. I was rambling and stumbling over my words.
“I know who your pack is,” she said, a ghost of a smile playing at the corners of her pillowy lips.
While Isabelle and Corazon resembled each other in that sisterly way, the beta sister held something that called to me, to my alpha, in a way I couldn’t define nor deny. Not that Corazon wasn’t a beautiful woman. But I’d never once weaved a single sexual fantasy around her the way I had around Isabelle – Issa – on nearly a daily basis.
Who the fuck was I trying to kid? It was more like hourly.
“We’d like you to come stay at our house.” I held up my hands when her eyes widened, and her lips parted. Her warm, sun-dried linen scent spiked and was tainted with a slightly bitter smell as her fear ratcheted up. And why wouldn’t she be afraid? I was another alpha, just like the ones who’d made her life a fucking nightmare.
“W-why?” she stammered.
Sitting up and turning my body to face hers, I hunched my shoulders a little and clasped my hands between my spread knees in hopes of appearing less intimidating and a little smaller.
“I’m only going to speak for myself, but I promise the others feel the same way. We feel responsible for you. We want to know you’re safe.”
“I’m safe here,” she said. Her eyes flitted to the closed door then back to me again. “Do they want me to leave?” Her voice sounded so small, so sad that it broke my fucking heart.
“They never said anything about you leaving. We want you in our home. And, if you’d like someday, in our pack. As a member.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and blinked rapidly and I feared the moment those beautiful hazel eyes grew glassy.
But she never so much as teared up.
“I have no desire to carry your children,” she said, lifting her chin and leveling what I assumed was supposed to be a glare on me.
“That’s not…we haven’t discussed having a family. Not that we won’t want a child or two someday. But…we just…”
Fuck. I was screwing this all up.
“I like you. We like you. And we want to make sure you’re safe. We want to help you grow. We want to help you gain your independence.”
From what we’d been told, she was still reluctant to leave the house, even when the entirety of the pack left the estate for one reason or another. And even when there would be plenty of firepower to protect both women.
“All we want from you is your happiness. You’re free to get a job if you want or just…live your life. We make more than enough that you won’t have to worry about feeling as though you need to earn your keep or whatever.”
Maybe I should have waited and let Enzo have this discussion with her. As pack lead, he might have been able to give her better reasons, or at least been more articulate .
No way would I have allowed Ax to be the one to ask her. He would flirt with her and make sexual innuendos that might have ended up turning her away before we ever had the chance to show her who we really were. How safe she would be. That we were nothing like the fuckheads she’d known her whole life.
“Give us a shot. A week. Two tops. If any of us make you uncomfortable, I will personally call Bain to come kick all three of our asses and bring you back here.”
“I don’t really have anything to bring with me. I’ve been borrowing Cora’s clothes and stuff.”
That wasn’t a no. Hope bloomed so bright in my chest I had to fight the urge to jump up and start doing a jig.
“We can order anything you want or need. You’ll have your own room if you aren’t comfortable sleeping with any of us or in the pack bed.”
“I’m not great at cooking, either.”
“Not expected of you. Nothing is expected of you except…I would like it if you would consider seeing a therapist. Not a requirement,” I tacked on quickly. “But I think it could help. Other than that, we just want to see you heal from your ordeal. From your past. And we want to help show you most alphas are nothing like your fathers or that mother fucker who hurt you.”
I winced as my anger pushed forward, but relaxed when a small smile stretched on her lips.
“I’ve heard curse words before, Cyrus.”
Why the hell did my name rolling from her tongue wake up my dick?
Doing my best to remain quiet when her eyes left my face to stare off into space, I clenched my hands together so hard my knuckles were white from the lack of blood flow.
“Okay,” she said quietly.
“Yeah? You’ll give us a shot?”
Her smile was bigger, brighter this time, and I noticed her eyes grew a little greener as she nodded. “Yeah. I’ll give you guys a shot.”