Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Heir’s Suite, Battle House, The Alpha Underworld
A rtificial morning light streams through the high window of the Heir’s Suite — my new bedroom — warming my nest with Laurent.
Laurent and I lie curled next to each other in a huge nest on the four-poster bed, which is surrounded by diaphanous drapes. It smells deliciously of our mingling scents of chocolate chip ice cream and rose truffles.
The nest is built on top of the soft bed out of silky blankets, satin scarlet pillows, and Laurent’s jacket, waistcoat, and shirt.
Laurent is only wearing his trousers.
His chest is lean and athletic. He’s more toned than I’m expecting like a dancer.
I can’t resist tracing my fingers lightly down his chest.
Laurent smiles at me, sleepily.
Laurent built the nest around us, when Dad led us back here from the Hades estate last night.
Dad told me that now I was his heir, I could choose to sleep in the official Heir Suite with Laurent.
“What did you break into the Hades estate for, apart from to impress me?” Dad was wily. “What was the stunt about?”
“What would you say, if I told you that we found information on Vinnie, which you can use against him?” I replied.
Dad patted me on the shoulder. “I’d say that you’re a good Omega, the new First Omega of our pack. Also, that I’ll hold a ball in your honor to announce you as winner of the Heir Contest.”
Triumph surged through me.
We’d done it!
I just hope that I don’t run into my siblings before the ball tonight.
I needed to win in order to claim my bonded pack. But I know how angry my brother and sister are going to be.
I love Lionzio and Allegra.
I’m not doing this to crush them or their dreams.
I simply wish that I trusted them enough to be able to share my plan. Then they’d understand that I’m doing this for everyone in the Underworld, including them.
The Heir Suite is the grandest room that I’ve slept in.
It’s palatial.
A round chandelier like the sun hangs from the high ceiling. The wallpaper is a burnt umber. The thick carpet and drapes are crimson. Ostentatious, cherry wood chest of drawers stand on the far side next to a luxurious couch.
A door leads through to an en-suite bathroom.
I wish that Feral was here with me, rather than still locked in the attic.
With a single decision, Dad has decided that I deserve an entire suite of rooms, rather than a cramped cage.
Does he think that by spoiling me now because in his eyes I’m worthy of it, I’ll forget how he’s treated me until now?
I eye the colossal muffin basket, which has been balanced on the nightstand.
Laurent notices the direction of my gaze. He sits up, before reaching out an indolent hand to grab a cherry muffin.
He holds it up to my mouth. “My brave bodyguard deserves to be handfed for protecting me last night.”
“I didn’t do anything.” I push myself up with my elbows, leaning against the headboard.
A painful memory of Harbinger’s swollen and bleeding face forces itself on me.
Is Harbinger okay?
I swallow, wringing the blanket in my lap.
I hope so.
Laurent pushes the muffin more insistently against my lips. “Alphas make this look easy, but you’re embarrassing me on this handfeeding attempt.”
I huff. “Okay.”
I take a bite and then another.
Hell, that’s good.
Laurent looks satisfied. “That’s better. And you did do something. Our mission was successful. We should be celebrating. You’re heir now. It doesn’t matter that things went wrong or were dangerous. They’re always going to be. This game is high stakes. The point is that our move worked.”
“I can’t look at everything that coldly,” I grumble around my mouthful. “Harbinger was beaten black and blue.”
“You think that I’m cold …?” Laurent fidgets, avoiding my gaze. “If I am, then it’s how I’ve survived.”
“Sweet Thorn…” I reach out to take his hand.
Laurent pulls back, dropping what remains of the muffin into my lap.
He turns to the muffin basket, rummaging through it in a move that is clearly deflection. “Let’s sneak these in to Fer. What type are his favorite?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “He’s never been allowed one before.”
I stuff the remainder of my cherry muffin into my mouth.
Laurent sorts through the pastries with a determined expression. “Then we’ll save one of each type for him. He can have a feast later and find out which he prefers. We need to catch him up with what’s happened anyway.”
“It’s not part of his training diet.”
“Judge by my face how much I care.”
Fair.
I lick the crumbs from my lips. “Where’s the thumb drive?
“Safe.”
Laurent plays his cards close to his chest, even when he’s not wearing a shirt.
When I raise my eyebrow at him, his expression softens.
“If I’m the only one who knows where it is right now, then your dad can only torture one of us to find out its location,” he explains with an earnestness that makes my breath catch because he’s serious about the torture. “Plus, I’m the one who your dad thinks of as a soft elite. The prize who is valuable if unmarked. He wouldn’t damage me… much . I don’t trust that he wouldn’t interrogate the rest of you with harsher methods.”
This man truly does think ahead.
What kind of life has Laurent led that he’s needed to?
I want to give him a pack where he feels safe enough to lose the wariness that lurks in his eyes, as well as the act that he puts on around most Alphas.
A pack where he can be himself and believe that he’ll be loved.
A pack where he doesn’t need to be on the alert all the time.
A pack where he can feel safe to be an Omega.
I grasp his hand, dragging him back into the pile of cushions next to me. His long hair splays out. How can he look like he’s on a boudoir model shoot, simply sprawling here in the soft morning light?
I snuggle on his chest, and he relaxes.
I strengthen my pheromones, hoping to make him feel more secure.
Then I hold his hand between us, playing with his fingers.
“You have talented hands,” I praise because every Omega loves praise. “You can type so fast. Plus, I didn’t see you move the thumb drive. It was like magic.”
Laurent begins to purr, as if he can’t help himself.
It’s a fucking sexy purr.
“Do you want to see how talented?” He uses his free hand to dance up my hip.
My breath catches. “Later. You slipped Harbinger’s thumb drive back to him, right?”
Instantly, Laurent’s purr breaks off.
I don’t regret mentioning Harbinger, however, because we can’t avoid this discussion.
Laurent nods. “He earned it.”
“You trust that he won’t ruin our plans.”
Laurent doesn’t answer for a moment, before he carefully asks, “Do you hate him?”
I startle.
Do I?
I thought that I did.
Harbinger is the new enemy fighter.
The psycho.
Unhinged.
The man who beat Feral and me in the octagon.
But after what happened in both the tunnel on the way to the fighters’ dorms and then Vinnie’s study, I can’t hate him.
I’m drawn to him.
I understand and respect him.
The spark between us burns me.
Does he feel it too?
I don’t know.
Would any Alpha act like he does, however, if he didn’t have feelings?
I squeeze Laurent’s hand. “He’s a member of an enemy pack but he’s not bonded to them. He’s fucking chained and abused by them. He’s only there because of a debt. I mean, you’re here because you’re kidnapped.”
“But I love you,” Laurent bursts out.
I stare at him.
He hasn’t said it before.
I didn’t expect him to. And it feels like he didn’t expect to blurt it out like that either.
He appears frustrated with himself, biting his lip. “Sorry, that wasn’t romantic. I’m cold , after all.”
“Don’t,” I say, sharply. Then I smooth over his lip, stopping him from torturing it further. “I don’t care how someone says that they love me. It could be with flowers, words, or actions. It’s precious every time. And I love you too.”
Laurent’s gaze is vulnerable. “I love being part of your pack. Fer and our bubbly Beta are both like a dream to me. They’re the best Alpha and Beta I could imagine. But then…”
When he hesitates, conflicted, I think that I understand what’s tearing him in two.
It’s been doing the same to me.
“But then you met Harbinger for the first time yesterday…?” I prompt. I hope that my next guess is right. From how both the Alpha and Omega acted, good as they both are at hiding their reactions and emotions, it was still hard to miss when I care about them both. “And he’s your scent match.”
Laurent reaches out and cups my cheek. “He’s my scent match.”
I grin.
I knew it.
Something settles inside me, as if a part of me that has been missing, has now been found.
Is Harbinger the final member of our pack?
“Except, I didn’t meet Harbinger for the first time yesterday,” Laurent whispers.
My eyes widen. “What?”
“When I was being held by the Hades,” Laurent nuzzles at my neck like he needs the comfort, “it was tough. Two of the Alphaholes with guns who came into the study with Vinnie yesterday kindly cared for me. They tried to break me with Alpha Commands and discipline. There was only one Alpha who would sneak down for a couple of minutes some nights to the basement where I was being kept and check me over, make sure that I had enough food and water, and soothe me with his pheromones. He never spoke. It was clear that he wasn’t meant to be there.”
“ Harbinger .”
Harbinger is an enigma.
He acts like a villain Alpha at the same time that he was secretly protecting an Omega all along.
I wrinkle my nose. “Vinnie must think that Harbinger has a bladder problem, after he made all those excuses to get up to piss at night.”
Laurent chuckles, and it breaks the tension.
I smile, wrapping my arm around Laurent’s waist. “So, your scent match, huh?”
“I’m finding a way to save Harbinger. I will bond with him.” Laurent licks my scent gland.
“I like an assertive Omega who knows what he wants.”
“I want Harbinger in our nest. I want River to be tending to Harbinger’s injuries. I want to know that my Alpha is safe.”
“I know.” I meet Laurent’s gaze. I need him to believe me. I know how I’d feel, if I’d been forced to watch Feral with a gun at his head or had to leave him behind in an enemy pack, which is even more brutal than the Battles. “Harbinger protected both of us, even Riv. We’ll find a way to protect him as well. But I have a question for you.”
“Hmm?”
“Why did Dad turn up last night? How did he know that I was there?”
Laurent gives a sharp smile. “That’s an easy one. I tipped him off through River, of course.”
I stare at Laurent in shock. “You did what? ”
“Your reaction needed to be realistic, which is why I didn’t tell you.”
Shameless.
I tickle Laurent in retaliation, and he lets out an outraged squeak, scrambling away from me.
I pin him, however, tickling up and down his ribs.
“W-w-w-ait,” Laurent laughs. “L-listen, it worked, d-didn’t it?”
I pause, but hold my tickling hands above him in warning.
Laurent blows away his hair, which has tangled over his face. “It was the crucial and unexpected chess move to be certain that your dad actually saw your daring. It would hit harder for him to witness you risking your life, rather than simply hearing about it.”
“How did you know that we’d be caught?”
“Sorry to pop your bubble, but the risk of us getting caught was extremely high. Also, increasing conflict between the Hades and Battles only works in our favor. Let them focus on their rivalry and not our revolution, which is brewing underneath their noses.”
“You’re dangerous,” I say in admiration.
“I am, aren’t I?”
I kiss Laurent because he deserves punishment but also a reward.
Kissing him hard until his breath is stolen counts as both, right?
I straddle Laurent, keeping him in place by holding him tightly between my strong thighs.
I could crush this fragile, beauty of an Omega. But he’s trusting me to hold him secure.
I slide my hand to his throat, putting just enough pressure to warn him that I could truly steal his breath.
Beneath me, Laurent’s cock hardens in his trousers.
Laurent’s cool gray eyes are blown wide.
He moans into my kiss, raising his hands to grip onto my back.
I tighten my hand.
This Grandmaster…deadly…Omega may be Harbinger’s scent match but he’s my soulmate.
He can calculate, assess, and scheme.
I’m going to kiss him, however, until he’s enough of a mess to stop being able to think of even his name.
Suddenly, there’s a whistle from the doorway.
I break the kiss, glancing over my shoulder.
River is leaning in the doorway dressed in jeans and black t-shirt, watching Laurent and me with a heated gaze.
“Don’t stop on my account.” River pushes his curls out of his eyes, before gesturing at us. “Two Omegas in a snuggly nest kissing is my fantasy come true. Now, when it’s you two…”
He sighs, dreamily.
“Get in here,” Laurent commands. “Close the door behind you.”
River laughs. “I’m never going to get tired of you ordering me around, la mia rosa.”
“As it should be.” Laurent arches his brow.
I swing myself off Laurent. He stretches out next to me, pillowing his head on his hands.
I feather kisses on his neck, which my hands had just been circling. Laurent begins to lightly purr.
River closes the door behind him, bouncing into the room. He’s vibrating with excitement as he explores the suite.
He dives onto the couch and does a surprisingly accurate impression of Laurent in model pose. I stifle my laugh on Laurent’s shoulder.
“Needs work,” Laurent bites out.
River winks. “Thanks for the feedback, la mia rosa. You are the professional.”
“Excellent work with both the drugging and the message to Mr. Battle.”
“If you’re in this brilliant room, then it must have gone smoothly. You deserve a suite like this, bella. All that’s missing is flowers. I’ll bring some for you. You should be treated like a princess. Look at these drapes! How much must this chandelier cost? Wait, let me check out the bathroom.”
I smile, fondly. “Is it good?”
“Amazing,” River’s echoing voice replies. “Wow, it’s marble. There’s this huge fountain shower and claw-foot bath. I can’t wait to help you bathe in this.”
I blush, imagining River washing me.
Showering with him, while he fucks me, slow and deep.
Actually, I can’t wait to bathe Laurent, pampering him like he deserves.
River wanders back into the bedroom. He leaps onto the bed, making it bounce.
“Do you always wake up with this much energy?” Laurent asks. “Just asking because I’ll need to find a way to drink a morning coffee from now on to keep up with you.”
River grins. “Lion struggles with that about me too. He says that he’s exhausted just looking at me sometimes.”
River crawls toward me, stopping at the edge of the nest. He sits cross-legged.
I glance at Laurent, unsure whether he’s ready to tell River about Harbinger.
Yet I don’t keep secrets from River. I need Laurent to understand that.
“Ah, the classic reward muffin basket.” River begins to reach for the closest pastry. “Your sister is always getting these. It’s going to be the highlight of my life, when Allegra hears that you’re now the First Omega. Can I eat all her blueberry muffins? It’s my revenge for the times that she—”
“Harbinger’s my scent match,” Laurent says, casually.
River drops the muffin back into the basket. “Ah.”
“We would like him to become part of our pack, if he wants to,” I explain. “He saved our lives last night. But more than that, he was prepared to die for us.”
River leans forward, panicked. “Is he injured? Should I get my medical bag?”
“Harbinger is hurt, but Vinnie would never allow us back onto his estate to treat him. He was whipped earlier in the day. Then accepted a beating to protect us. He also took the blame for the guards being drugged.”
River sits back on his heels. “Do you have feelings for him?”
“We both do.”
River tries to smile, but I can see that it’s strained. “I’m so happy, bella. For all of you. You’re such strong Omegas that you deserve strong Alphas like Fer and Harbinger. If they fight for you, then I’ll always want them to protect you in a way that I can’t. Once, there was a time that I was an heir too, you know?” I freeze, horrified. In my excitement, I’ve forgotten how painful this entire contest and plan must be for River. Yet he’s not shown any jealousy that I’ve achieved the position that he’s lost, only joy on my behalf. River is truly the kindest man. “I could have stood equal, shoulder to shoulder with you. Here in the Underworld, however, I’m only an orphan Companion, a Beta nurse, a man who rambles about flowers and…”
I cut him off with a growl.
River’s eyes widen, as I launch myself at him, toppling him backward. I lie on top of him, nuzzling him.
Laurent prowls after me, pinning River down by his shoulders.
Laurent’s hair sweeps over River’s cheeks, as Laurent nips kisses down his neck.
I’m not entirely sure if River is being mauled or loved on by us two Omegas.
River looks overwhelmed, shocked by our territorial display.
An Omega is possessive of the people in their nest.
Two Omegas, it turns out, are doubly so.
I kiss River, deeply and thoroughly.
He melts.
I want to kiss the sadness out of my gentle Beta.
When I draw back, I rub my cheek against River’s, breathing in his warm, citrus scent like it’s life. “You’ve never been only anything, Riv. You’re everything . The heart of this pack. You’ve brought the joy and sunshine into Fer’s life and mine for years. Every day, we’ve looked forward to seeing you. You’ve been the one bright spot that we’ve clung to. But you were our brother’s best friend, tutor, and his ward. Our love was forbidden. I was terrified of getting you into trouble. But I still knew that I was your Omega from the moment that I met you.”
River takes a deep breath, before his shoulders finally relax under Laurent’s clever, massaging fingers.
He submits to his two Omegas, at the same time that his eyes crease at the edges. “L’anima gemella, I knew that you were mine in my soul.”
“Do I get a kiss?” Laurent lets go of River’s shoulders, hovering over River looking hopeful.
“Please...” River sighs.
“Begging already? Pace yourself.” Laurent kisses River tentatively.
River raises his hands to cradle Laurent’s face and draw him into a deeper kiss, encouraging him.
Laurent moans.
But then, River is an amazing kisser.
Also, an amazing tutor.
Yet these two men are both virgins and exploring things together.
They can support each other in their first experiences. I glow at the idea that I can be the one to direct them.
Finally, when they break apart, they’re both panting.
And equally hard in their pants.
River continues to cradle Laurent’s face like he never wants to let go.
“You don’t know me from before I was brought to the Underworld.” Laurent nips at River’s lower lip, making sure that he has his full attention. “But the ballet academy was filled with Betas. They were astounding. So was my Beta best friend who taught me to dance. I have never seen Betas as only anything: servants or Companions. You’re my Beta . Harley and Fer’s Beta soulmate.”
At last, River releases Laurent. “I’m nothing to Harbinger.”
“Don’t you remember how he stood up for you in the tunnels?” I ask. “He’s clearly interested in you. What do you think about him?”
River’s eyes twinkle, before he says in a breathy voice, “ Knot me now, Daddy .”
Then he laughs brightly at Laurent’s haughty, shocked expression, before attempting to scramble away.
Bad luck, naughty Beta. You’re in the nest of a cage fighter Omega.
I smirk, grabbing River’s ankle and yanking him back.
River mock yells, as Laurent sits on his chest and glares down at him.
“I’ve hunted a Beta,” I declare. “What should we do with him?”
River is attempting to look scared, but his pupils are dilated.
When I run my hands up and down River’s inner thighs over his jeans, he trembles.
“Remember how you told me, Harley, that we could show our love through our actions…?” Laurent arches his brow fiendishly at River. “Why don’t we prove to our Beta now that we’ve caught him, how much he’s loved?”
River’s breath stutters.
He gazes adoringly at Laurent. “Why does that sound like a threat?”
“It’s a promise of worship.” Laurent kisses River, and this time, he’s more confident. “Because in bed with me, or any pack that I belong to, you will always be equal.”
My heart breaks at how happy River looks.
Then he sighs dramatically. “Well, I suppose I shall just have to lazily lie here and be worshiped then.”
“Tough life, huh?” I unzip River’s jeans with deliberate slowness.
He swallows. “Not really.”
Laurent cards his fingers through River’s hair. “It’s silkier than my hair. How do you keep it like this?”
“I wash it in cold water.” River flushes. “To be fair, I wash all of me in cold water, since Allegra shut off the hot for the Betas.”
“Are we about to make our Beta come harder than he has in his life or swap grooming tips?” I demand.
“Both,” Laurent replies, helpfully.
“Also, you should have told me what my sister did to the servants, Riv. I’d have kicked her in her frilly ass, until she turned your hot water back on.”
“That’s what I was worried about,” River mutters. Then he appears to process what I said. “ Come harder than…? ”
I give a mischievous grin. “Uh-huh.”
I slip River’s jeans down his legs. He lifts his hips up eagerly.
I pull them off completely, throwing them merrily to join the other clothes in my nest.
Then I grip his underpants and drag them off in a single movement as well, claiming them as a trophy.
River better not think that he’s getting them back.
River’s cock hardens.
When Laurent begins to explore River’s chest through his t-shirt, River notices the shake in the Omega’s hand.
Gently, River clasps Laurent’s hand, stilling him. “It’s okay, la mia rosa. I’m yours, willingly. I have you, and you have me. I won’t move, if you don’t want me to. I’ll just lie here, and you can feel safe to touch me. You have my consent. I’m honored.”
Laurent’s hand steadies.
He plays with River’s fingers. “How do you understand me like that?”
“Because you’re not the only one who has spent years around people who…” River hesitates, glancing at me.
“What?” I whisper.
“My world was shattered,” River replies. “My family and pack in Sicily was taken away from me. I’ve grown up being surrounded by my enemies, not knowing who to trust. I’ve been beaten and used. You…my new pack…are my safety.”
“And you’re mine.” Laurent kisses River with a fresh confidence. “Now that we’ve found each other, nobody is ever going to touch us without consent again. Touch is only going to be about pleasure.”
“Show me,” River breathes. “Push up my t-shirt.”
Laurent glances at me, and I nod.
Laurent lets go of River’s hand to edge up the Beta’s t-shirt, first revealing the olive skin of his stomach and then further, all the way to his chest.
“Put your arms above your head,” I order River, “and keep them there. You’re going to be our good Beta today and let yourself feel how much you’re loved by your Omegas.”
If Betas were capable of purring, River would be now.
He’s close to wagging his tail.
He raises his arms, linking his hands above his head. It stretches him in the most delicious way.
Laurent tucks River’s t-shirt under his armpits, revealing his pretty nipples.
Laurent traces over River’s nipples with interest, especially when River reveals his sensitivity by gasping.
By Laurent’s sharp grin, that’s a mistake.
I turn my own attention to River’s hard cock. I run my hand up and down it, twisting my wrist.
River whines.
Then I slip off my shorts and straddle River.
I deliberately grip River’s cock, teasing it along my clit and the folds of my pussy.
River stiffens and then attempts to thrash from side to side.
“Still.” I smack the side of his hip, crisply. “Accept what I give you.”
I continue to tease him, while his thighs quiver.
Pleasure winds through me at the scent of these men in my nest and the feel of River’s cock as a toy in my hands.
With a smirk, I sit back.
I pull River’s cock between my thighs, encouraging him to pump his cock between them for friction.
It feels incredible for me as well.
Laurent strokes his fingers up and down River’s sides, making him squirm.
River is taking short, panted breaths.
Then Laurent relentlessly focuses on our Beta’s nipples. He circles them, before flicking across them.
He’s watching River’s expression for cues.
Every time that River gives away how much a certain move is pushing him toward his orgasm, Laurent repeats it with a mix of dominance and fascination.
I’d feel sorry for River, if he wasn’t humping his hips, making such obvious groans of pleasure.
When Laurent turns his head toward me, tossing his hair over his shoulder and looking like something too debauched to exist outside a Beta’s fantasy porn on OmegaHub, I lean up to capture his plush lips.
I moan, as Laurent thrusts his tongue into my mouth.
He leans down, tweaking on River’s nipple. The way that River bucks up against my core, while Laurent kisses me, pushes me into a shuddering orgasm.
Laurent grabs me by the hair and drags me down to River’s chest.
Laurent and I exchange a wicked glance with each other, as we latch onto one of River’s nipples each.
River is panting, shaking.
He watches us from underneath his long eyelashes.
“My Omegas,” River breathes in reverence, as Laurent and I lick and suck at his nipples.
River’s eyes widen, however, as he appears to catch onto our plan.
This is our Beta. We’re going to mark him.
We may not be able to bond with him yet. Hopefully, after the ball this evening, if nothing goes wrong, then we can.
Right now, it may be too taboo to bite his neck but we’re going to claim him in our own way.
Laurent and I lick Rivers’ nipples one final time, before we bite.
We show him just how much we love him.
Then River comes, just as promised, harder than he has in his life.