2
Lucia
Warmth and hope spread through my heart at the sight of my three best friends. Trevor left me waiting for over an hour at the auditorium gates. I couldn’t help but feel super self-conscious as groups of people passed me by with their friends and dates.
My anxiety vanishes as soon as I see my friends’ familiar faces.
Even though Damien, Leon, and Mikhail are wearing tuxes, they easily stand apart from the rest of the crowd. They’re older, taller, and more handsome than most of the guys here.
But it’s not just that , I realize, looking at their beautiful faces.
There’s something about them that makes them seem different. I can never put my finger on it but since the moment my gaze fell on them, I felt an insane, inexplicable pull toward them.
“Where’s your date?” Mikhail asks, reaching me first. Strands of his silver-blond hair are swept away from his broad forehead, giving him a polished look. I stare into his silvery eyes, forgetting all about Trevor.
“I don’t know,” I say with a frown. “He was supposed to meet me here an hour ago. I tried calling him but he wouldn’t pick up.” My cheeks flush with embarrassment. “I guess he decided to ghost me.”
A strong arm wraps around my shoulders, pulling me against a hard body. “That’s his loss,” Leon whispers in my ear. His warm breath skims along my neck, sending a shiver through me.
Unlike Mikhail, he’s kept his fiery red hair loose and wild. Almost unconsciously, I try to take a whiff of his addictive clove and cinnamon fragrance. Disappointment washes over me as I catch notes of an artificial perfume that masks his natural scent.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, noticing the change in my expression.
“It’s nothing,” I mutter, desperately trying to hide my attraction toward him and his brothers.
“Are you enjoying the party?” Damien asks, drawing my attention to him.
My heart kicks up and beats harder as I meet his intense gaze. He’s the eldest and the tallest among his brothers with the broadest shoulders I’ve ever seen on a guy. His dark hair falls into his piercing blue eyes, giving him a dark, sexy look that surprisingly suits him.
“Not really,” I confess with a smile. “I hate loud music and crowded places.” Stepping closer to him, I stand on my toes. Automatically, he bends lower, lending me his ear. “I hate their choice of music too.”
Damien chuckles. “If you don’t want to be here, just tell us. We can do whatever you like, Princess. We’re yours for the evening.”
I love it when they say things like that. Even though we’re friends, a part of me feels extremely possessive of Damien and his brothers. My omega instincts are already being fired by a group of older girls who are ogling them shamelessly.
They’re my friends. No one else has the right to even look at them!
“This is the first time you guys have come to my school,” I say, struggling to suppress the jealousy burning in my chest. “How about I show you around the campus?”
The suggestion seems silly because it’s nighttime and the only thing worth seeing on campus is a specially designed rose garden. The place is beautiful during the daytime with roses blooming in myriad colors but it’s useless to go there now.
A strange look passes between Damien, Leon, and Mikhail. They often do it, as if they’re sharing a secret between themselves.
“Let’s do that, then,” says Damien. “We’d love to see your school.”
I can’t believe they’re agreeing to it. How can a girl keep her heart in check when these handsome men treat her like a real princess, agreeing to her silliest whims?
Excitement swells inside me as I lead the way. Loud thuds of hip-hop music follow us as we walk further away from the auditorium.
On most occasions, I’m a meek little coward among my peers. Tonight, though, I’m walking with squared shoulders and a raised chin as everyone checks out the three young alphas escorting me.
Damien and his brothers are a couple of years older than me, easily attracting the attention of the senior omegas. Some of them are bold enough to call out to them but my friends don’t even bother looking in their direction.
I’m sure they’re all wondering how a dork like me can have the full attention of these handsome young alphas. They have no idea about the deep friendship I share with Damien and his brothers. Pure happiness bubbles inside me, making me feel more beautiful than all the omegas here tonight.
The crowd thins as we move further away from the auditorium. Even the sound of music dulls here. A chilly breeze blows down the hill, making me shiver.
Damien notices my discomfort at once. Shirking off his jacket, he lays it over my shoulders.
“Thanks,” I say, smiling up at him. “What about you, though? Aren’t you going to be cold?”
“I’m okay,” he replies, glancing down at me with a reassuring grin.
I dip my head, hiding the blush spreading across my cheeks.
My mind goes back to the moment three years ago when I first came across Damien and his brothers. I’d been in a car with Dad when we spotted them by the side of the road.
Mikhail had been injured by a man on the freeway. He lay bleeding by the road while Damien and Leon desperately tried to help him.
Dad got them all into the car and drove them to a hospital, making sure Mikhail was looked after.
It was only later that Dad realized they were homeless.
Damien begged Dad not to call on social services but to let him and his brothers stay in our home. They were all older than seventeen and willing to work for us.
Dad was always a big softie. He couldn’t bring himself to risk separating the three brothers, so he let them stay in our home and help out in the kitchen and the gardens.
“Why do you look so lost?” Leon asks. His big hand engulfs mine and squeezes gently.
“I was thinking about the day I met you guys. Can you believe it’s been three years already?”
“Are you sick of us yet?”
“What?! Of course, not!”
Leon laughs, making me realize he was teasing me. I punch him in the arm and suddenly, he’s grabbing me, spinning me around until I crash against his chest.
“Careful, Princess.” Leon’s amber eyes glow in the dark as he fixes me with an intense gaze.
My heart pounds with a mix of fear and anticipation. Leon’s face draws closer to mine, his warm breath fanning my face.
I tip my face to him, begging him to close the distance between us.
Leon’s gaze slowly slides down to my lips. He swallows, still intent on not breaching the distance between us.
Frustration rises within me. They always keep up this invisible wall between us. Are they hesitating because of our social positions?
I want to tell them it means nothing to me. There were plenty of kids in my school whose parents came from nothing but were richer than the families with old money.
Their present situation doesn’t dictate their futures.
I don’t have the words to explain all this to them, so I do the only thing I can.
Closing the distance between us, I press my lips to his.
Leon’s eyes widen at the contact and for a second, he freezes completely.
My heart pounds in my chest as pure heat courses through me, warming me to the tips of my toes. A remote part of my brain is aware of the wolf whistles and shouts erupting all around me as Mikhail cheers me on.
Before I can truly lean into the kiss, Leon pulls away, staring at me with wild, gleaming eyes. “Lucia,” he whispers.
I grin and step away to look at Damien and Mikhail. My cheeks burn as I feel their gazes on me.
“Sorry,” I mutter, unable to look them in the eye anymore.
Damien steps up to me and pulls me against him.
I bury my face in his chest, too embarrassed to face him.
“Princess,” he whispers as his big, powerful arms wrap around me in a gentle hug. “You don’t have to be shy around us.”
I glance up at him. His beautiful ice-blue eyes swirl with emotions as he slowly leans down to capture my lips.
Damien’s kiss is different from Leon’s. There’s no hesitation as he mashes his lips against mine.
My knees feel weak from the sheer force of his kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly. His dark chocolate and bourbon scent envelops me, keeping me trapped in a haze of pure desire.
Suddenly, I feel the heat from two bodies on my either side.
When I break away from Damien, Mikhail turns me toward him and captures my lips. At the same time, Leon wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me against his chest. He holds me tightly as he kisses a trail from my neck to my exposed shoulder.
My insides explode with a hundred fireworks, the heat shooting through my veins, warming me to the tip of my fingers and toes. My knees feel weak, threatening to crumble anytime. Even though I’m locked between Leon and Mikhail, I can feel Damien’s eyes on me. It makes the situation ten times hotter.
Thank Goddess for the suppressor pills I’ve been taking since last year. Without them, my body would’ve surrendered to the combined scents of the men before me and pushed me into my first heat.
A deep, guttural moan escapes me at the thought. When Mikhail parts from me, I turn to look at Damien.
His pale eyes glitter like a predator’s in the dark.
I desperately try to calm my throbbing heart as desire coils tight in my gut. The three boys I’d been crushing on for the past three years stand so close to me, their body heat seeps into my skin through the thin fabric of my dress.
I step closer to Damien, about to kiss him when a loud, animalistic cry rings out, shattering the silence of the night. Turning around, I find Callum running toward me. Astonished, I stare at him.
Callum is my elder brother and has been living in Europe for the past several years, overseeing our dad’s business there. I had no idea he’d come home.
“Get away from my sister!” Callum shouts, shoving Damien in the chest.
“Callum, stop!” I shout. “They’re my friends!”
“Friends?” My brother barks. “I know who they are! They fucking work with the servants in our home.” Grabbing Mikhail by the front of his shirt, he shakes him. “Where did you get these clothes from? Did you steal them from us?”
“Callum, please stop!” I beg, trying to pull my brother off Mikhail.
He pushes me away, making me stumble and fall to the ground.
“Lucia. Are you okay?” Damien is beside me in an instant, hauling me back on my feet.
“Don’t touch her!” Callum bellows, pushing Damien aside. “What are you waiting for? Get these boys out of here.”
At once, my brother’s guards move into the scene. Damien, Leon, and Mikhail don’t fight back or protest even when they’re grabbed by them.
“Take them away,” Callum orders. My brother’s face is a mask of fury as he gazes at me.
“Why are you acting this way?” I ask him while his men drag Damien and his brothers away.
“Why? How could you let those filthy guys touch you?”
“They’re not filthy!” I shout. “And I happen to like them. It was me who kissed them first.”
A harsh slap falls on my cheek, the strike so sudden and sharp, that all I can do is stare at my brother with wide eyes.
“I knew it was a mistake to let Dad take care of you.”
I slowly touch my stinging cheek, hardly able to believe my brother hit me. Callum always doted on me. He was intensely protective of me, even bordering on being overbearing when it came to me. How could he hurt me?
Tears slowly gather in my eyes. We’re seeing each other after nearly five years and this is the way he’s treating me.
A remorseful expression comes over him. “I’m sorry, Lucy,” he says, drawing me into a hug. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone these past years. It’s the only reason those hyenas came sniffing at you.”
My anger rises and I push him away. “They’re my friends!”
“They’re nothing, sweetheart. Like it or not, they can never be your friends. Boys like them are only fit to lick the soles of your shoes. Nothing more.”
“I’m going to tell Dad about this,” I threaten.
A manic grin comes over his face. “Dad? Haven’t you heard already? He was in an accident this evening, sweetheart.”
“What?”
“It doesn’t look like he’ll live much longer,” Callum says crassly. “From now on, you’ll be living under my rule, sweet sister. No one’s going to separate us again.”
A chill goes through me.
How can Callum talk this way about our father? How can he change so drastically over the years he spent overseas? It feels like I’m meeting a stranger with my brother’s face on him.
Tears roll down my cheeks. I’m already panicking about Damien, Leon, and Mikhail, but now, all my thoughts drift to my dad. I can’t believe no one informed me about his accident.
“Let’s go home,” Callum says in a suddenly sweet voice. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and drags me alongside him. “We have so much to catch up on.”
“What about Damien and his brothers?” I ask. “Can you tell your men to let them go?”
“You’re still thinking about them?” A cold, cruel expression mars my brother’s handsome face. “Things are more serious than I thought.”
“Please, Callum—”
“You’ll never see them again,” he says in a deceptively calm voice but I catch the underlying threat in his tone.
“Please, Cal. They’re really good guys.”
Callum stays silent but his cruel, calculating expression tells me it’s too late. He’s already made up his mind about them.
Hurt and sadness wash over me. Dad is the only one who can control Callum. All I can do now is hope that he’ll get better soon and make sure Damien, Leon, and Mikhail are okay.