Chapter 66
sixty-six
RHYS
I’ve lived this moment before. In the deepest corners of my damaged mind, hidden in places I would never admit to.
My little reprieve from the pain—the only thing that could help, when the worst of my migraines hit.
A fantasy. A dream.
The cure for my curse.
Briar’s fingers feel hot between mine. She pulls, whining softly. Green eyes beam up at me, full of hazy need and the purest, simplest trust.
Fuck, I don’t deserve her.
I never could. Even if I had done everything perfectly from the start… no man could be worthy of the gorgeous perfection that is a naked Briar Rose Blackwood, building her nest.
Dane painstakingly held her hair out of the water while Cillian bathed her. I waited on the floor, on my knees, holding a towel open. Praying she might let me all the way into her safe space this time. Worried sick she might not.
But the second I finished drying her off, bending to plant kisses on each of her feet, our omega started squirming. Whining. For me.
Now, as I kneel in the center of the small, perfect room, a burst of light-headed relief hits me.
She guides my hand to the nearest article of clothing—a pair of Cillian’s sweatpants.
She must like those, because she shows me how she wants them tucked into the pillows along the western wall of the recessed mattress, where I believe she’s constructing her personal spot.
I’ve been reading up on nesting for—okay, fine. Forever.
Most books mention the tendency omegas have to work circularly from a single point. In Briar’s case, it’s the side closest to her bookshelves, with a view of the rosebushes.
My heart twinges at those small details. My knot twitches and my Alpha struggles, fighting his binds. I ignore him, focusing on her scent so I won’t get a headache. It isn’t hard. Her dark cherry aroma is everywhere—embedded in every fiber of the room.
My omega’s nest is nothing short of magical.
Her signature roses sway outside the arched windows, blocking most of the daylight.
They complement her favorite color palette—the richest coal, ruby, rouge, and amethyst. Dark emerald walls, touches of gold, and clusters of candles.
At night, with the moon peeking through the skylight, this nest will feel exactly like the slice of heaven it is.
Especially now. With her carefully rolled blankets and the pillows she stacked so insistently. I realize she’s purposefully sorted out scented items among the piles, creating three collections, in addition to hers. One with all the scents mixed up. And then specific spots for each of us.
Dane’s is the tallest and widest, on the farthest side of the mattress, where he might actually have a prayer of stretching out. Cillian goes between her and the door—his pile practically part of hers.
That’s natural; she wants her pack alpha as her protection and her buffer. She’ll crave his attention and approval with a special kind of urgency. This configuration will keep him poised for whatever she needs.
Smart, gorgeous girl.
Briar tugs me again, too weak to be effective. I follow anyway, letting her feel the absolute control she has, here. Over all of us.
Our omega goes to her knees and shuffles the remaining pile of pillows, never dropping my hand. I let her guide me, yearning and awe growing thick enough to strangle when I realize she’s put me…
Closest to the books. Right beside her. Where she can treat my touch starvation… even in her heat.
My eyes sting as she hands me one of the softest blankets, earnest hope sparkling in her black eyes. Longing for me to accept her care.
Briar suddenly makes sense to me in a whole new way. The woman I love is sharp and bold—but her Omega is sweet. Loving and loyal. The combination devastates the last of my self-control.
I sweep her into my lap before she can so much as whimper. Scent-marking her temples and cheeks. Hoarse as I murmur, “Thank you, pretty baby. It’s perfect.”
I thought I couldn’t smell anything except her, but when I leave my scent over hers, the combination is crystal clear to me. Herbal and tart. Sugary and crisp.
She belongs with me.
The rightness of that thought zings through my blood, directly to the place where my Alpha lies. He’s restless. Concerned about his mate and what she needs. Full of anxiety about truly meeting her for the first time… and afraid I might not let him.
I’m not sure I can. He’s a raging beast, constantly causing me pain. He growled and snapped at Briar for close to a month because we didn’t have her scent. Will she even want me to let him out during her heat? Will her Omega accept him?
It seems like she would take any part of me I offered. The guileless entreaty filling her eyes is enough to put a lump in my throat. I nuzzle her again, whispering, “I love you.”
Cillian slides into the room, busying himself with the extra nesting supplies stockpiled in the corner, adding our sheets to the mix. He texts as he goes, no doubt firing off instructions to every employee we have. I’m sure he’s had every detail of Briar’s heat in place for months.
Fuck, he’s a good pack leader.
And I’m shit at noticing.
The gratitude and regret only climb higher when Dane lumbers into the nest. He has his mask off and his hair tied back, which I know is Briar’s favorite combination.
It seems her Omega agrees, because our girl whimpers until I shift her on my thighs, stretching her body toward the big guy so she can rub her face against his.
His wooden scent swells as he hums, closing his eyes.
In a sudden flash of clarity, I realize how much gestures like that must mean to him. After years of covering himself, hiding the parts he thought others would scorn… her Omega’s innocent appreciation must feel transformative.
Briar smiles as she noses his scarred cheek, her elated expression dazed and utterly sincere. I catch the way it glosses Dane’s gold eyes. His chest rattles fiercely, echoing the lower, smoother purr behind my sternum.
Cillian finishes laying out his plans and promptly chucks his phone into the corner. His underlying impatience makes me smirk. Odd warmth blooms under my lungs as Briar whines eagerly, her wide eyes sparkling as she waits for her alpha to take in her hard work.
Cillian pauses, carefully noting every detail before he steps down into his spot, crawling forward to press his forehead into hers. “Best girl,” he praises, sweetening her scent. “Your nest is so beautiful, rosebud. Did you make this spot just for me?”
She’s obviously overjoyed that he noticed. A fresh tidal wave of tart sweetness spins off of her as she accepts his approval.
Oh God.
Fucking FUUUUUUCK.
Her heat perfume melts my mind. So much thicker and warmer than her usual perfection. Briar squirms, desperation rising. Since I’m the most in tune with her aroma, I feel the way it starts to slice and smolder before our packmates.
When she feels my cock tick under her, her sugared scent only cuts deeper. I groan and Dane growls.
Cillian hums his satisfaction, holding our omega by the chain around her throat. His eyes burn into her. “Tell me, darling: whose knot is going to fill this pretty cunt first?”
Briar trembles. A heated burst of slick pours from her pussy, wetting my thigh. I stiffen, gritting my teeth to give her time to answer. Bracing myself for the moment she says Cillian’s name, or Dane’s…
But our girl is beyond the ability to remember what to call us. So instead she keens, her body bucking in my lap as she turns—
To me.
Longing smolders in her eyes. White-hot in its sincerity, soldering the jagged edges of my heart back together. Healing me with two simple words.
“Want you,” Briar breathes.
She’s fucking perfect. Everything. My goddamn dream. The wild wish I’d given up on. All my hopes.
Fuck, do my lungs even work anymore?
Who cares?
If I die, I die.
I promised that she would never have to ask for me twice. So I ignore the ache in my throat and the awe tightening my airway, lifting her by the hips. My cock stretches high and proud, pulsing with purple veins and oozing pre-cum.
The knot at the base tingles, anticipating her hot, wet cunt. I shut my eyes, panting hard while I try to reason with my Alpha. We told her we wouldn’t knot her until we’ve earned her forgiveness.
He gives me a firm shove, wordlessly nodding at the redness emblazoned across her chest. The way her pupils have yawned wide, swallowing her jade irises. The thick streams of clear warmth seeping down her thighs.
When he actually speaks, my mind falls quiet.
She needs me. Please.
He’s never said that word before. Or treated me with even a modicum of deference. I’ve been fighting this bastard from the moment I designated, trying to keep him from going on a rampage every goddamned day.
But he’s… sorry.
I feel it. His shame. The desperation under it.
All he ever wanted was a mate, that much was clear. But he never told me why. Now I understand.
He knew I needed one.
Because I was abandoned. Rejected. Despised.
And, sure, he’s wild by nature. But the original motivation for all his rage?
We wanted this—her—for me. For both of us. And now he wants to be here for her.
My palms rasp against Briar’s hips, shaking as I slowly release the internal reins I’ve spent a lifetime clutching. Letting the animal inside me float to the surface.
My next exhale is a rougher purr. Briar leans back, into it, and I find myself nuzzling the side of her throat. Sucking the scent of her into my lungs. Feeling them spark as my mouth waters for the taste of sugared cherries.
“You want my knot?” I ask, my voice nearly unrecognizable with my Alpha behind it.
When our mate moans, determination solidifies at my center. I’ve never knotted anyone—and this? The way she looks at me? This is why.
I waited for her.
I would have waited forever if it meant I’d have this moment.
In one smooth tug, pull her body down, sliding my cock into her gushing heat.
Holy fucking—
Every nerve sizzles and snaps, electricity rocketing up my spine. My knot grows wider, throbbing when her clit rolls along the top of the taut swell. Our bodies know what to do, fitting themselves closer, working my girth further in on every thrust.
I choke back a snarl, my hand automatically snapping up to her throat. Gripping her gently, guiding her into a smooth, intense rhythm that has my eyes rolling back within seconds.
My Alpha stays at the surface, his actions and wants blurred with mine. He tilts Briar’s face toward me—I seal my lips over hers. He grinds my knot against the slick opening to her cunt—I stroke a soothing path to her clit, teasing it with the briefest of touches until she moans into my mouth.
Instincts overwhelm me. I press the pads of my fingers to her slippery nub, angling my hips up. Our omega tosses her head against my shoulder, keening desperately.
My Alpha senses his mate’s urgency and issues a bark that would shock me if I had the ability for actual fucking thought. “Cillian,” I grit.
He materializes at my side, squeezing my shoulder while he radiates pack leader approval. “You’re doing great, Rhys. Focus on knotting her. That’s what she really needs.” He turns his head. “Dane.”
My packmate crawls over, a long, painful-looking erection bobbing between his thighs. His eyes fixate on Briar’s glistening lower lips, spread over the too-thick width of my knot. She whimpers and the big alpha mutters a snarl, lunging forward.
Motherfucking—
He covers her clit with his mouth, lapping at it with the same urgency brewing inside me. Like I’ll die if I don’t give this omega every goddamn thing she needs. And then a little more.
Cillian cups one of her tits, leaning down to capture her lips. His tongue swirls with hers at the very second Dane licks a whirl over her clit.
Fuck me, it’s hot to watch. And even better to feel when an orgasm abruptly strikes Briar with all the electric intensity of a lightning bolt.
Her pussy shudders, squeezes, and pulls. Tugging my cock as deep as it can go, popping my knot past the quivering muscles at her opening. Blinding light whites out my vision.
It feels impossible. Complete in a way that can’t exist because it’s just too good. Too perfect.
She’s really here, my Alpha says, dazed. My mate.
Gratitude and amazement fill my chest as my knot explodes, locking us together so tightly I can’t move as Briar comes a second time.
My packmates shift back to give us a second, letting me catch our omega when she collapses into me. We fall to the nest she built for us, right where she wanted me.
I hold her close, wet warmth massaging every inch of my knot, wringing pleasure from my core. Devotion sinks fangs into my soul. Sweet, languid heat spreads through my middle.
And it feels a lot like venom.