Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
Issa
W hy the hell was I so embarrassed talking to Amir about this? He’d tasted me. He’d been inside me.
Yet admitting that I had zero game without liquid courage or that I hadn’t known my alphas wanted me here, not only permanently but romantically, was kind of humiliating.
But not like I’d been able to go out there and date, to flirt and tease and find another beta or an alpha to call mine.
Nope. Just like my sister and brothers, my life, my future had been planned out for me from fairly early on. And I was absolutely positive my fathers and my mother were aware Antonio abused me, that he kept me drugged so I wouldn’t fight him when he wanted to use my body for his own satisfaction.
I hadn’t seen my beta packmate, Carlos, since shortly after our bonding ceremony. I had no idea whether he was dead or alive, whether he’d found another pack of people he actually cared for, or whether he’d done what I’d always wished I could and turn my back on my family and carve out a life of my own.
Yet…I had that very choice now and was doing nothing short of existing. It took damned near arm twisting from my alphas to get me to leave the house.
It had only been a few nights since Ax had more or less told me the three of them wanted me on a deeper level. And none of them had done anything more than hold my hand or wrap an arm around my shoulders.
Were they really waiting for me to make the first move? Did they expect me to just…what? … jump at them like a flying squirrel and wrap my legs around their waist? Because it would take a whole lot of booze before that would happen.
Or at least a modicum of self-esteem.
Even before I’d gotten tipsy at The Vault, being around Amir had been easy. But, since he was an omega, I didn’t feel as though he was a threat. I’d never met a single omega who’d abused another person, who would demand anything from me, who would hurt me for their own sick pleasure.
I still couldn’t believe my alphas – it was still hard to admit they were mine, even to myself – had believed I wasn’t interested in sex or a sexual relationship with them. They weren’t na?ve enough to think they weren’t the physical embodiment of masculine perfection. And while they were alphas, they’d never made me nervous or uncomfortable. I knew they would never do a thing to hurt me, not intentionally.
Those three alphas watch you like you hung the damn moon.
That was a bit of an exaggeration. And not only because I was merely a beta. They cared about me; I knew that. And just because they were sexually attracted to me and wanted me to officially be their beta didn’t mean they were in love with me or anything of that sort.
The bigger question was would I even know how that looked or felt? Would I have a clue how it felt to be loved by an alpha? Would I know how it looked for an alpha to gaze at me with nothing short of affection and awe in their eyes ?
“Okay. Let’s go with some easier, less squirm inducing questions. Why haven’t you made this room your own?”
“I told you. I really did think this was a temporary situation. I’d thought they were simply being nice and letting me stay here because of my sister and her pack and all that.”
“That’s the only thing holding you back?” Amir asked.
My shoulders rose and fell. “Well, that and the fact I don’t have a job yet and have zero money.”
He waved my words off as though swatting at a bug. “If those three are like every other alpha in my life, they’ll jump at the first chance to spend money on you.”
My eyes darted to my closet of their own will. The first day I’d woken here, I’d found them circling the kitchen table with laptops open in front of them, ordering clothes and toiletries and necessities along with some luxuries like makeup and skincare products. Honestly, though, even the clothing could be considered luxury being as they’d made sure almost every single thing in the closet or drawers had higher end labels on them.
It was my turn to wave off Amir’s words. “That’s just frivolous spending. Why would I ask them to buy me stuff for the bedroom when I have what I need?”
“Oh, girl,” he said, reaching forward and taking my hand, giving me a faux sympathetic look. “I am so going to teach you the ways of the omega. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll have those three crawling behind you on their hands and knees, begging for your attention.”
A giggle tore from my chest at the imagery.
Then his words hit home. “Wait. What do you mean by the time you’re done with me?”
He moved closer until we were touching. “I saw the woman behind the walls you’ve built around yourself, the fortress you’ve built to protect yourself. You’re a queen, Issa. And I can’t wait to see how you rule your kingdom. I will do anything and everything it takes to help you come out of your shell, to help you see what the rest of us see when we look at you. ”
My mouth opened then closed. I wasn’t sure what I was trying to say or what I was even thinking at the moment.
I was a queen? I was a fucking beta. There weren’t packs out there vying for my place in their pack.
The only reason Antonio had wanted me was because of my parents, because of my fathers’ business, their power and wealth.
Amir was an omega. I was supposed to be chasing him. The alphas were supposed to be chasing him.
Okay. So yeah, they kind of were, but they’d been more concerned that I approved of him rather than seeking out the first willing omega to add to the pack. They’d wanted to make sure I got along with him, that I was okay with him even before I’d known the omega was male.
Male omegas were as rare as female alphas, yet here he was, adamant that I see myself in a different light, adamant that I was royalty in his eyes.
“My parents…” I started but was unsure of how to finish my thoughts. How the hell did I tell him about how I was raised? Enzo, Ax, and Cyrus were fully aware of my background. They’d done what they could in the past few months to help me get past all that bullshit, to accept that my upbringing was abnormal.
And then there was the whole thing of how Amir might see me after finding out the kind of people who’d raised me. Or rather, birthed me, being as we’d all been raised by nannies.
“What about them?” He rested an arm along the back of the couch, lazily toying with my hair.
I could ruin everything with just a few words. Amir could learn about my parents, about my past and decide I wasn’t worth the risk, that the pack wasn’t worth the risk.
His fingertips brushed along my cheekbone as he ducked his head to force me to look him in the eye. “Your past doesn’t define you, Habibi .”
My love . He kept calling me that. And yeah, it was far too early for that four letter word, but the term of endearment sent a frenzy of butterflies fluttering in my belly every time.
“Have you heard of Pack Alvarez? ”
His dark brows shot up his forehead. “Yeah.”
Rolling my lips into my mouth, I hoped he would connect the dots so I wouldn’t have to put them into words.
“That was your family pack? You’re Issa Alvarez?”
“Isabelle Alvarez, one of five beta children. My younger sister is the only omega of the six of us.”
“Weren’t your parents killed in a freak fire?” he asked.
That was a piece of information I wouldn’t divulge. There wasn’t a chance in hell I would get Cora’s pack in trouble, not when they’d done so much to protect first my sister then me. And also because the pack lead was the brother to one of my alphas.
“Yeah. They were.”
His brows lowered until a crease formed between them. “The alpha who mistreated you…he was chosen by your fathers. Arranged bond and all that bullshit.”
His beautiful eyes seemed to darken as his anger grew.
“Yeah. All of us had our packs or alphas chosen for us. Except my sister…did her own thing.” Yet something else I wouldn’t divulge just yet. No reason to tell an omega we were courting that Enzo’s brother and his pack had kidnapped my sister on the day of her bonding ceremony and then fell in love with her.
His eyes narrowed. His arm rested on the cushions behind my head. He was no longer gently stroking my cheek or toying with my hair. He simply watched me with various emotions flashing through his eyes.
“That actually explains a lot,” he finally said.
A knock on my door startled me, and I glanced up as Cyrus peeked his head inside. “Am I interrupting?”
“Of course not. This is your–”
“Stop,” Amir said, surprising me.
“What?”
“You were going to tell him he wasn’t interrupting because this is his house. Or did I guess that wrong?”
“How…” How the hell had he known what I was going to say? Yeah, I’d said that very thing to all three alphas dozens of times since I’ d moved into this room, but there was no way Amir could possibly know that.
Cyrus grinned and raised a brow as he stepped further into the room. “The living room is set up whenever the two of you are ready. Did you show him the omega quarters yet?”
“Not yet. She was telling me how she came from a pack of assholes who convinced her she wasn’t important because of her designation. I’m paraphrasing, of course. But you get the gist.”
My mouth hung open as my wide eyes went from Amir to Cyrus and back.
Of the three alphas, Cyrus had always been sweet, quiet, gentle, and calm. Where the other two were constant flirts and had short fuses when it came to those they cared for, Cyrus was gentlemanly.
“Accurate on both accounts,” Cyrus said with a smirk.
My brows lowered.
“I meant that you were wrong and his paraphrasing was correct. You know what, I’ll be downstairs. You two take your time.”
I leapt to my feet, calling out to Cyrus before he could close the door. “Don’t you three want some time with him?”
“First of all, I’m right here,” Amir said, grabbing my wrist and yanking me back down to the couch beside him. “Second, you are all courting me, so we need time together, too.”
“And third,” Cyrus said, smiling as he backed from my room, “we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other later.”
With that, he closed the door behind him, but not before I caught the grin on his stupidly gorgeous face.
“Like I said, wrapped around your little finger,” he teased before returning to running his fingers through my hair.
“I believe you said they watched me like I hung the moon.”
One of his shoulders shrugged up as he smiled. “Eh. Same thing. Either way, those three are obsessed with you. I can’t believe you haven’t been riding them nonstop. They’re fucking hot.”
Tilting my head to the side, I ran my gaze over his face from his high cheekbones to his square jawline, over his straight nose, to his beautiful light green eyes. “So you like men, too? Not just during your heat but…Sorry. That was super rude and intrusive of me.”
“I don’t discriminate. Beauty is beauty.” And the way he was staring at me now, the way his voice pitched a little lower, made me think he saw me in the beautiful category. “And you can ask me anything. I’m seriously hard to offend.”
Why did I constantly doubt him? I doubted anyone who told me I was beautiful or sexy or desirable in any way. But, until I’d finally escaped Antonio and began to build a life of my own outside of my fathers’ rule, I’d never been treated as though I was anything more than either a nuisance or a rung in the societal ladder.
For a few moments, we simply stared into each other’s eyes until I felt as though I was drowning in the beautiful seafoam green. His gaze dipped to my lips, and I couldn’t help but hope he would lean in for a kiss.
Because this man could kiss. Even the fake kiss at The Vault had curled my toes and rendered me speechless and fuzzy brained for a few moments.
“You want me to kiss you,” he said, as though reading my mind.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“You know you can kiss me, right? You don’t have to wait for me or the alphas to initiate affection.”
“I’m not an omega. I don’t thrive on touch.”
Lie . I had been touch starved for years. But the only time anyone had touched me throughout my life had usually been to either cause pain or to bring themselves pleasure while completely disregarding whether I was enjoying myself. Especially since I was usually drugged by my fucking alpha.
His fingers combed through my hair. “Does this feel good?” he asked as his short nails scraped against my scalp.
“Yes,” I whispered again.
His hand trailed down until his fingers grazed my cheekbone then my throat. “What about this?”
I nodded.
When his hand drifted lower and the pads of his fingers barely grazed over my pebbled nipples, I had to swallow hard to avoid moaning and making a fool of myself. Such a gentle touch yet it felt as though the sensation made my clit throb and my inner walls clench with need. As in a need to be filled. Immediately.
“Touch can be beautiful. It can be arousing,” he said as he trailed his fingers along the swell of my breasts before moving further down my ribs to my upper thighs. “Or comforting. It should never hurt…unless that’s your kink.” The sexiest smirk pulled up one corner of his mouth before he winked at me. “In that case, I’d be more than happy to bend you over my lap and spank your round ass.”
Heat rushed my cheeks and my core. I wasn’t sure whether I was embarrassed by his offer or turned on.
Maybe I was embarrassed that I was so turned on by the thought of Amir’s big hand slapping against my bare ass.
His big hands gripped my hips and pulled me onto his lap until my thighs straddled his and my core rested over his engorged cock. “Touch should never hurt. What happened to you before…that’s your past. Let me show you how beautiful you are. Let your alphas show you how much you mean to them.”
Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I worried it a few seconds as my gaze bounced between his eyes. “I don’t know how,” I admitted barely above a breath.
Amir’s smile was slow but beautiful as he leaned forward and rubbed his nose against mine. “Good thing you have me to teach you.” And then his lips pressed to mine in a chaste kiss that still managed to send my heart galloping behind my ribs.