Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Saint Cage, Haven
M y eyes flutter open, and I find myself staring up into two pairs of concerned eyes: aquamarine and gray.
Immediately, my hand raises to my neck.
I suck in a sharp breath as I trace over the bond bite.
“What day is it?” I rasp.
My throat is hoarse.
But then, how many times have I deepthroated Lincoln in the last twenty-four hours?
Plus, my lips barely stretched around Thomas’ giant cock. I should receive a medal for fitting that in my mouth: Services to Sucking .
My memory is hazy of my intense heat. But my body aches in the best way.
Delicate morning light filters through the window, illuminating the luxurious room with its books and vinyl records.
I’m lying in Thomas’ bed.
Last night, the bonding and deep connection with Thomas and Lincoln, feels like a perfect dream.
But it’s real.
So is my mission — to free all of us.
My gaze becomes determined because I’ve survived.
I’m alive.
I didn’t expect that.
I’d resigned myself to die. In some small way, I always have.
Having a health condition like mine has meant that I’ve worked my hardest every day to help my brother and to make my own dreams come true.
I’m the first Omega baker.
My bravery to make that happen was driven by knowing that I could die any day.
But I’ve survived.
And that’s because of my bond with these two men and our promise to free each other.
Freedom is as important to me as my life.
Some people would prefer to live their whole life in a cage, if it means that they’re safe.
But I wouldn’t.
I’m cool now. The fever has faded.
I run my hands over the clean blue silk sheets on the four-poster bed. They still smell deliciously of sugar cookie martini.
My nest fortress has been dismantled. The peacock stuffie remains on the bed like it’s been guarding over me.
I smile.
My peacock.
Thomas and Lincoln sit next to each other with their thighs touching. They’re perched on the edge of the bed like they’ve been waiting for me to wake up.
Lincoln is dressed in a smart black suit with silver threaded waistcoat. Thomas looks like he broke off from getting dressed, when I began to wake up.
I study him, curious.
I’ve never seen him like this before.
Thomas’ feet are bare.
He’s dressed in shirt and pants but hasn’t pulled on his jacket and tie yet. I can see the rest of his clothes neatly lying on the end of the bed.
Seeing him like this is like seeing beneath the mask.
He’s letting himself be vulnerable.
My chest is tight.
He’s mine.
My Alpha.
Except, like this, with his shirt open at the neck, I can see the finger shaped bruises ringing his neck.
Richard or his dad hurt him, and I’m going to stop them laying another hand on him.
Plus, I’m going to punch them both in the dick.
When Thomas notices the direction of my gaze, he deftly does up the top button of his shirt, hiding the bruises.
“It’s Monday morning,” Thomas says, briskly. “Lincoln and I were up and sorting things out yesterday, but you needed to sleep. Your body has been through a lot. The heat was dangerous. I’m proud of how strong you are. I told you that you weren’t going anywhere.”
“I’m not.” I meet his gaze and hold it.
Thomas’ brow furrows. “Forever…?”
I hate that it sounds like a question.
“Forever,” I repeat, firmly.
I glance down at the clean sheets, before noticing that I’m now dressed in one of my own pretty rose patterned summer dresses.
I flush.
It’s strange. Since Mom was sold, no one’s cared for me the way that Lincoln must have, even washing my hair, before dressing me.
Is it wrong that it makes my inner Omega feel cherished?
Lincoln smirks. “Your brother came around with a suitcase of your stuff on Sunday evening. Plus, he was desperate to check that you were okay. Fuck, he was a wreck. He collapsed when he saw that you were still… Anyway, he gave our poor peacock the shovel talk. Tom was gracious and let him. There’s nothing more badass than an Alpha who lets himself be threatened, even when he could break the other Alpha in half. I love Tom for doing that for Vito. Oh, and I changed the sheets because we made a hell of a mess of the nest. It was almost a waterbed by the end.”
I blush.
Thomas wrinkles his nose. “Classy, love.”
Lincoln laughs. “If you invite a snake into your bed, expect it to have fangs.”
“I know that you like to bite.” The tips of Thomas’ ears become red. “My ass knows it well.”
Wait, Lincoln bit his Alpha’s ass, and I missed it?
Not fair.
Plus, Thomas allowing Vito to be protective toward me and reassuring him that I’d be safe here, makes me fall for Thomas even harder.
Because I am…falling for him.
“I made sure that you were fed and well looked after because wow, you were both primal and feral.” Lincoln glances between Thomas and me with a sly grin. “Truly lost in each other. I’ve never seen two people so lost in their heats and ruts. I was honored to be part of it. It was sacred. You should see your backs — scratched, as if by a wolves. I can’t wait to fuck you both again.”
My gaze shoots to Thomas’ face. He seems caught somewhere between embarrassment and smugness.
“How are you feeling?” Thomas asks.
I stop to consider.
How do I truly feel?
The room feels calm like another world from the Dough Knot. The gentle honking of the peacocks fills the silence.
I should feel only the aches and tenderness down my back and at my hips, all the good sensations left over from primal fucking.
I start to answer that I’m good, only my mouth snaps shut.
Because there’s more.
I feel good.
Amazing.
The best that I’ve felt in years.
Panic spikes through me, and I raise my hand to my neck. I whine in pleasure, as my fingers trace one bond bite and then the other.
But there’s no medical patch there.
Yet I’m not overwhelmed by scents. My temples aren’t throbbing. I don’t feel sick.
The bonds must have helped my OHS to settle. To have had this much of an impact on my nervous system, they must be powerful bonds.
Extremely powerful.
I scramble to push myself up in the bed, wiping away happy tears from my eyes. “Incredible. Better than I have in my life. Link, my OHS may have stabilized. I can’t believe it. I can’t…”
“ Fated …” Lincoln grabs me, pulling me into a hug.
We’re both laughing, grinning, and kissing.
But that’s when I feel it.
Deep in the connection to my bonds, I realize that I’m not only feeling my own joy surging through me, I’m also sensing Lincoln’s.
With a gasp, I shiver as both men’s emotions and needs coil around me.
It’s intimate and magical.
This isn’t about romance, hookup apps, or dating any more.
This is about finding my forever home.
My pack.
A found family.
Perhaps, I won’t have to keep running any longer, looking over my shoulder.
Is this what everyone feels after they bond? Would I have felt it immediately after bonding, if I hadn’t been as feral?
I can feel Lincoln’s strength and intense happiness. It’s blinding.
Yet Thomas still feels guarded.
I can sense the brokenness deep inside Thomas that Lincoln told me about.
A tortured, emotional pain.
It makes tears spring to my eyes.
At the same time, I can sense Thomas’ love for Lincoln and me. It’s pure and like light.
He’s not a bad man.
He’s not a bad Alpha.
I know bad men, and Thomas isn’t one of them. They don’t have this pureness inside.
Who taught Thomas that he is? I’m going to kick the ass of anyone who made him feel this way.
Deep in my gut, I know now that these two men belong to me.
And I belong to them.
I untangle myself from Lincoln, although I don’t let go of his hand. Thomas is sitting with his back ramrod straight. His expression is shuttered like he doesn’t expect to be included in this moment.
“You saved my life.” I hold out my hand to him, and he gently takes it. “Thank you.”
He looks surprised. “I remember being pretty demanding about you not dying. I should be thanking you.”
“Commanding’s your style.”
“You love it, remember?” Thomas teases.
It’s strange remembering that he’s Seven. Yet now, the two men are melded in my mind.
He’s a better man than I thought.
Especially when he lets go of my hand to pick up a black mug with an omega symbol in glowing purple on the front.
I take a deep sniff, before squeaking in delight. “Coffee!”
When Thomas smiles, his eyes crinkle at the edges. “Strong, as you like it. There are bagels prepared in the kitchen.”
He passes me the mug, and I warm my hands around it.
I sigh happily at the delicious rich scent.
“Thanks, Tom.” I’m thanking him for more than the coffee. I take a deep swig to allow myself to work out my conflicting emotions. “You saved my life and took Lincoln and me into your pack. But it’s more than that. You told me that you had family shit going on. You don’t have to tell me what it is, but I saw how that asshole Richard treated you. When we were kids, I never wanted you to go home with your knothead dad either. It’s not like my pack is any better. I just want you to know that I understand what it’s like to be raised in a dangerous, violent pack. It makes you have fucking high walls. And you’re lowering yours and trusting us. It means the world to me. So, I’m going to do my best to do the same.”
Thomas is staring at me with awe-struck eyes. It’s like he’s never been seen before.
It’s like, despite being an Alpha, he’s as used to being as ignored and overlooked as Lincoln is.
“We both will,” Lincoln adds, quietly. “Our new pack is going to be different. We’ll love the hell out of each other, you’ll see.”
Thomas swallows, and his gaze darts between Lincoln and me. “I spent every year in high school furtively watching you both. Didn’t you notice? I was obsessed. You felt like mine. But I couldn’t tell you or anyone. It killed me.”
My breath hitches.
I did notice.
The long looks across the classroom and the corridor. The way that he’d dart glances at me, when he thought that I was engrossed in my textbook in the library. How he’d flush and move away whenever I got too close. The way that his gaze would flick down to my lips, whenever I licked them.
I made up elaborate fantasies that it meant Thomas wanted to be my Alpha.
I wanted him so much that I ached.
I’d touch myself in the bath, biting my lip hard so that no one else would hear me, as I imagined that it was Thomas’ fingers circling my clit.
I wanted his to be the first cock that I stroked and explored. I desperately wanted his to be the first fingers to push inside me, filling me completely.
But it was only a fantasy.
Yet all that time I was crushing on Thomas, was he having the same thoughts about me too?
“You’re fucking with me?” I blurt, breaking the moment.
Thomas stares at me, coldly.
Then Lincoln bursts into laughter, patting Thomas hard enough on the back to jerk him forward with his large hand. “Don’t scare the poor guy. Of course I noticed. You felt like mine too. This Destroyer of Alphas ripped Richard apart for you. But that didn’t change that we were in rival packs. We could never have claimed each other.”
“Huh, it’s not like it’s much easier now.” Thomas looks uneasy.
Fear and distress sheets through the bond, taking away my breath.
Yet Thomas’ expression remains carefully neutral.
What’s happened to him in his life that he’s been able to develop such a good mask?
He reaches for a small velvet box that rests on the nightstand next to his book. “I have a bonding gift for you.”
My expression lights up. “First coffee and now a bonding gift. You’re spoiling me.”
“We haven’t got to the best bit yet.” Lincoln exchanges a look with Thomas that I don’t understand.
What’s going on?
I carefully place the mug down onto the nightstand. Thomas strokes over the box for a moment.
“I only have one thing that belonged to Mom. She died giving birth to my twin and me. She was an Omega, and Dad loved her. He blames Mercy and me for her dying. At least, I’m sure that’s why he spent as little time around us as possible, when we were young. We were raised by a stream of different nannies and Betas. Now, I’m expendable to him. He’s proved that enough.” Thomas taps on the box. “This necklace is the bonding gift for female Omegas joining the Saint pack. I know that Mom would have wanted me to give this to you.”
Warmth floods through me.
I know what this must mean to Thomas.
I only have the cookbook from my own mom. It means everything to me.
Thomas is about to give me the last thing that connects him to his mom.
This means so fucking much.
Thomas opens the box.
A large, gleaming aquamarine pendant nestles on the black velvet. It gleams brightly.
I stare at it.
No one has given me anything like this before.
The gem is clasped on the end of a pretty gold chain that’s woven like feathers.
Thomas is studying my reactions closely. “Do you like it?”
I hear the vulnerability underneath his coolness.
How many times over the years has Thomas opened this box and imagined the mom, who he never knew, wearing this? Wished that she was with him? Grieved her?
How many times has he taken it out and held it in his small palm?
How many times has he smiled at the gem that matches his own eyes and hoped that his mom’s eyes were the same color as his own?
Has he imagined me wearing this?
Hoped that I could?
My voice is suddenly thick with tears. “It’s as beautiful as your eyes.”
Thomas’ mouth falls open in surprise, before his cheeks tint pink.
Then his eyes darken, and he growls.
He carefully takes the pendant out of the box, but I can see that he’s holding himself back. His pheromones are thick in the air; I can smell his dominance.
Yep, primal Alpha triggered.
“Hold her hair back,” Thomas orders.
“Yes, sir.” Lincoln salutes, before diving to hold up my hair, as Thomas adjusts the pendant around my neck.
Thomas does up the clasp.
I can feel his hot breath at my neck over my bond bite. It makes me shiver and clench my thighs together.
At the same time, I love the feel of his soft hair tickling my skin.
When Thomas draws back and Lincoln lets my hair fall, I glance down at the pendant hanging at my neck. It’s got a satisfying weight to it.
I feel like an elite Omega.
A cherished First Omega.
This doesn’t feel real.
“Okay, are you ready for the best bit now?” Lincoln says, vibrating with excitement.
I eye him warily. “Normally when you say that, you mean your cock.”
“True, but not this time.” Lincoln and Thomas share a secret smile again. “This is something that I always believed in. There have been cases all over the world, but often in communities that keep their bonds private. I’ve been tracking cases online in America. There are more than you’d think. It’s not only a myth or conspiracy theory.”
I scrunch up my nose. “What?”
In tandem, the two men begin to unbutton their shirts, Lincoln even undoes the buttons on his waistcoat.
“Okay, not your cocks but a striptease…?” I venture.
“How about we save that for the second date?” Thomas drawls. “Although, we may have already jumped some of the normal courting stages.”
I blush.
When the two men pull aside their shirts to reveal their chests, I gasp.
Above their hearts, they’re marked in the same way.
A violet wolf’s head glows above their hearts. The wolf sparkles, however, as if it’s been tattooed onto their skin with diamond dust. Underneath it in gold is the single word:
SAINT
Shakily, I push myself against the headboard.
I’m transfixed.
“They’re not normal tattoos,” I whisper.
I can feel my connection to those gorgeous pictures on their skin from here. I’m struggling not to reach out and touch them.
It’s magnetic.
It can’t be.
A fate bond.
“They’re not tattoos at all. They’re Soul Marks. They appeared when we bit you and the bond took.” Lincoln is glowing with pride. “You fell into heat and barely seemed to know your own name. You loved the colors though and kept stroking over mine. You called me Wolfie . But you were fascinated by your own more. You howled. You make an adorable Omega wolf.”
“I have one…?” I’m breathing hard but then, I smile, feeling like I’ll never stop. “ I have a Soul Mark .”
I scrabble to drag the side of my dress down to reveal the skin above my heart and a pretty violet wolf that glimmers as if with stardust above the word SAINT .
I stare at it for a long moment, before looking back at the matching designs on my men’s chests.
I can feel their pride, joy, and deep sense of belonging through the bond as well.
I’ve never felt such a feeling of family and connection before.
If only my brother could be part of this — or find this type of belonging — then I’d have everything that I’ve ever wanted but thought I couldn’t have.
“You can say you told me so now, gargoyle,” I admit. “I know that you’re dying to.”
“Who, me?” Lincoln buttons up his waistcoat, before moving to button Thomas’ shirt like it’s a familiar routine that he’s been doing for years. It’s so domestic that I blink. “How about I just say that we’re fated mates and I’m the happiest man alive.”
“What does fated mates mean to your culture?” Thomas allows Lincoln to gather his tie for him from the end of the bed and do it up neatly around his neck. “I thought that it was a myth or something that only existed in ancient times. Don’t I look stupid now?”
Lincoln grins, showing his canines. “There are secrets known to the oldest packs, ones who are treated like outcasts or trash. Perhaps, people shouldn’t treat our beliefs like superstitions to be sneered at. We’re more than scent matches now. We’re more powerfully bonded than most people. I think that’s why you survived the heat and feel so much better after it.”
My heart is beating fast. My palms are sweaty.
Fated mates.
This rare bond is what saved my life. It’s why we were always so drawn to each other.
I truly did discover magic in so many ways, when I discovered Lincoln that day in the summer flowerbed.
“Could it be why Candy didn’t need multiple Alphas?” Thomas asks, smoothing down his tie.
He reaches for his socks and begins to push his feet into them.
How is he able to even have elegant feet?
Lincoln’s eyes glitter. “She didn’t need them. She had us, her fated mates. Let’s face it, if we hadn’t been taught that we should hate each other — the mafia criminals and the elite but corrupt mayor’s son — then we’d have claimed each other. In ancient times, fated mates were prized like diamonds. The Soul Mark is a sign that we’re bonded by fate in this life and in every life that comes after.”
My pulse is roaring in my ears. I dive forward, grabbing Lincoln’s arms.
He swings me to sit on his lap, and I nuzzle at his neck, settling myself.
Thomas reaches to push a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Resurrection?” I whisper. “We’ll be together forever?”
“If that’s what your faith believes.” Lincoln tightens his arms around my waist. “Whatever comes after this life, it means that we’ll be together. A fate bonded Omega can’t have their bond broken, be auctioned, or sold off.”
“Hmm,” Thomas hums, thoughtfully. He slips on his shoes and begins to tie them with sharp motions. “That may help us. I’ll contact Senator Falcon Knight and see if he can find a legal precedent. There must be some kind of official protection for this kind of bond.”
“Why?” I watch Thomas smooth down his hair.
Thomas’ jaw clenches. “Because when my dad discovers that I’ve bonded with my bodyguard and a Reject Omega (and he will, even if we can hide it for a couple of days), then he’ll try to break the bond and ruin me.”
Terror surges through me.
Yet it is rage shooting through the bond from Lincoln.
Lincoln slips his hand to his gun. “You didn’t have the best bodyguard in his year, who’s also mildly unhinged and mafia raised, at your side before. Anyone who raises their hand to you, fucking loses it. Wait, we both bonded with Candy. You didn’t bond with me.”
“Didn’t I?” Thomas casually replies.
“Is this your shit aristocratic way of asking me to bond with you?”
But I can see… feel …Lincoln’s excitement.
I could kiss Thomas.
He needed to bond with me to save my life. But he’s bonding with Lincoln to accept him equally into our pack.
It’s what I’ve always wanted for Lincoln.
I squirm off Lincoln’s knee, sprawling on top of the bedding. I can’t wait to watch this.
“I apologize,” Thomas says, reminding me of the haughty student who’d once seemed untouchable, “I didn’t realize that you’d want the whole courting schtick too. You know, bonding gifts like…”
Thomas drops fluidly to one knee in front of Lincoln.
I only just stop myself from clapping.
Lincoln’s eyes are wide and shocked.
Thomas slips his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a pair of cufflinks.
He holds them out as an offering on his palm to Lincoln.
The cufflinks are glittering peacocks with aquamarine eyes. The tails are encrusted with emeralds and sapphires.
“The peacocks are me,” Thomas says with a self-deprecating smile. “My sister gave them to me. The bond with a twin is like they’re another half of your soul. Nobody understands it. I miss Mercy and I know that she’d like you. She’s found a pack who loves her like she deserves and she’s been desperate for me to find the same. I want you to have something that means a lot to me. When Mercy was bonded against her will, I wore these cufflinks every day. So, they’re precious to me. I thought that you could wear them, when you’re not working.”
“I love them.” Lincoln gently takes the cufflinks. “Can I wear them? Just today?”
Thomas nods.
Lincoln slides the cufflinks through the slits on his cuffs like a ritual. “I’ve never owned anything like this. Are you certain that I can keep them? They’re too expensive for a bodyguard and—”
“Love,” Thomas says, softly, “you’re my Beta now. I’m sorry for every day that your old pack made you feel unworthy of food or new clothes. I told you that I noticed everything: how Candy had to share her lunch with you every day because your pack expected you to go hungry or the way that you were given detentions for lacking basic school supplies. But I care for everyone in my pack. Plus, now that you’re going to be my bonded Beta, you’ll have to let me spoil you. It’s part of the whole deal. You deserve the world, and I’m going to work my ass off to give it to you.”
My chest tightens.
Please let Lincoln believe him.
Lincoln’s hand shakes. He looks away like he’s not able to speak for a long moment.
Then he steels himself, and his gaze is challenging when it meets Thomas’. “I’m not bonded to you yet.”
Thomas gives a delighted laugh. “Are you telling me to shut the fuck up and bite you?”
Lincoln winks. “I’m saying, get up here, peacock, and fucking bite me.”
Thomas growls and surges up.
He shoves Lincoln onto his back next to me in a move that knocks the breath out of him. Then he grips him hard by the hair, yanking his head to the side to bare his neck.
It’s fucking hot to see such powerful men together like this.
They’re finding it hot too by the way that their pupils are dilated.
“Lincoln, will you accept the bond of the Saint pack?” Thomas snarls.
“Fuck, yeah.” Lincoln bares his neck further in invitation. “I love you.”
Thomas hesitates in shock at Lincoln’s heartfelt words. Then his eyes darken. He growls as he bites, rougher and harder than he bit me.
Yet Lincoln’s groan is all pleasure.
Lincoln arches underneath Thomas, and his eyelashes flutter closed. His limbs become loose like he’s drugged.
Thomas draws back, licking over the bond bite possessively. Then he sits up.
I cradle Lincoln’s head on my lap, carding my fingers through his hair.
“He’ll be okay soon.” Thomas draws the back of his knuckles gently down Lincoln’s cheek. “Make sure that he knows he has two weeks bond leave. That’s mandatory. He doesn’t need to work, but I have no doubt that he’ll still want to care for his charge.”
Charge.
Ice water dowses me. My joy is extinguished.
Even in the midst of everything — surviving my heat and discovering that I’m fated mates — how could I have forgotten my real mission here with Lincoln?
How could I have forgotten the male Omega?
Thomas hasn’t noticed my reaction. Instead, he’s stood up, smoothing out his suit.
“I wish that I could take my bond leave but obviously, I don’t want to tip off Dad about our bond, until I have to,” he explains. “So, I need to love you and leave you. Mind numbing work calls. We can talk more later. I have a lot to…just a lot to tell you.”
Thomas kisses the top of my head, before prowling to the door.
“Like what his charge means?” I manage to force out.
Thomas hesitates, gripping the door handle. “There’s one more member of this pack who you haven’t met yet. I’m not bonded to him. I’ve been forbidden to. Unlike Lincoln and you, I can’t shower him with gifts, clothes, and attention. But it’s for his own protection. He’s a prisoner. Feral. Please, be kind to him. He’s broken but also, braver than I am. I care deeply for him. I know that in most packs, there’s a hierarchy with unbonded Omegas being at the mercy of the bonded. But I won’t allow that. He needs an Omega friend, desperately. After breakfast, ask Lincoln to take you down into the basement. You should meet Ghost.”