Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Heir’s Suite, Battle House, The Alpha Underworld
W ait, am I cool at last?
Is my heat over?
How long have I been sleeping?
My last memory is of my Alphas’ teeth biting my throat in a way that completed me.
Then…nothing.
But I’m alive!
My men saved me.
I turn my head to sniff at the pillow and slide my hands along the clean blankets that have been lovingly wrapped around me.
I should be a slick covered mess, and so should the bed. In fact, with the way that Feral and Harbinger were clawing at the bed, it should be torn to shreds.
I never guessed that two dominant Alphas could be so hot together or that it was even hotter for one of them to submit to the other in the way that Harbinger did.
I bet River was the one to change the bedding, as well as to clean me up. He must be exhausted after staying up for over a day and night to look after us Omegas and Alphas, getting us through the heat.
I warm inside at how well he cares for us.
Yet his life was on the line in the heat as much as mine was.
I couldn’t allow myself to die — I battled to hold onto life, no matter what.
Because Dad would have held River responsible if I’d died.
He’d have shot him.
I’m beginning to understand that Dad has already had the rest of River’s mafia family killed.
River should see my brother and me as his enemy. Yet he never has.
I will do anything to repay him for the trust that he’s put in me.
I wrinkle my nose at the delicious scents that are wafting from the nightstand. I peek at the stacked plate of fried eggs, bacon, waffles, and blueberry pancakes with syrup.
My mouth waters.
I’m never normally allowed such a large breakfast.
Suddenly, I realize how hungry I am.
After all, apart from the snacks that River must have been able to handfeed me, I’ve missed at least three meals.
My body aches like I’ve been through a dozen brutal fights in the octagon. My skin is covered with scratches and bites. My hips feel bruised.
On the other hand, it’s the good kind of ache that makes me squirm and hope that the marks don’t fade for at least a week.
I reach up to press on each of my fresh bond bites on my neck.
I ball my hands hard not to cry out at the electric sparks that burst through me. Even a featherlight touch will reignite the pleasure on either of the Alphas’ bond bites, even when they scar over.
They’ll be my permanent marks.
It makes me feel safe and loved.
In the same way, the imprints of my Beta and Omega bites do as well, even if those will fade.
But the bonds have still taken.
I can hear the quiet, serious chatter of my pack somewhere in the room.
More than that, I can feel them.
As soon as the bonds hit, saving my life from the effect of the suppressants, I was connected to both my Alphas in a way that I could never have prepared myself for: their emotions and needs.
I’ve long felt connected to Feral without a bond. But with it, I can sense the fierce intensity of his love for every pack member.
It’s pure, primal, and possessive.
Harbinger is playful and good . It lifts my soul because I hoped that’s what I would find underneath his villain mask.
There is also a vein of pain, however, that hurts my heart.
I can feel Laurent: a cool but loyal presence.
It’s River who burns like the sun. His sunny joy is blinding.
These men belong to me. I belong to them.
I can sense the love from each one of them through the bond, for me and each other.
So, this is a true pack bond.
What would it be like to be free of Dad? To truly be able to create a new family?
To give this new pack, the Ferals, a home?
After all, will Dad even recognize Feral as a Chief Alpha?
He gave Feral permission to bond with me but not to create a new pack.
It would make Dad our Head Alpha with control over us still.
Plus, Harbinger didn’t gain permission to bond from Vinnie. What’s going to happen about his status?
I struggle to shut out these thoughts, pushing myself to sit up against the headboard.
“I’m alive,” I declare dramatically like I’m risen from the dead.
When all my men look at me with the same joy that I’m feeling, I no longer need to guess if it’s genuine because I know through the bond that it is.
“Pfft, who was worried?” Harbinger takes another sip of coffee.
He’s sprawled with one arm along the back of the couch.
I blink, when I notice that he’s wearing an ill-fitting gray suit and tie, which is too small for him: my brother’s suit.
But then, Harbinger’s white one was added to the nest, and he doesn’t have any other clothes in Battle House.
I try not to smile at how the conversation must have gone between Lionzio and Harbinger.
Harbinger’s hair has been caught back by one of Laurent’s rose clips. I’d have also loved to see the moment Laurent decided to play with the Alpha’s hair like that.
It says a lot that the tough fighter has allowed Laurent to put rose clips in his hair.
I won’t tell Harbinger how pretty he looks. Actually, I may in order to see if I can make him blush.
There is a sheen on the bruises on his face that looks like River’s special ointment. I can also see a fresh bandage peeking out of his suit sleeve, which has been wrapped around his injured wrist.
I should have known that River would have already started tending to our new Alpha.
“You’re a bad liar.” Laurent pokes Harbinger in the ribs. “You were as scared as the rest of us were.”
Laurent is elegantly lounged on Harbinger’s lap like it was made for him. He nuzzles at Harbinger’s neck, lazily sniffing his scent gland.
“Busted.” Harbinger holds the coffee mug to Laurent’s mouth, as if this is a morning routine between a married couple of twenty years. “I’m happy that you’re still breathing, Kit.”
I’d think that he didn’t care, except I can feel his sincerity flowing through the bond.
River had been leaning over the back of the couch, quietly chatting to the other two men in an intimate way that makes me feel fuzzy and happy.
But when he sees me sitting up, he beams.
“L’anima gemella, you’re up.” River twirls around the couch, humming to himself. “Do you know that Lion has let me off chores for the next two weeks? I don’t even have to tutor him. He said that I should stay here in the suite with his sister and not come in to work for him at all.”
“M-mandatory bond leave.” Feral holds his hand out to River. “Has to.”
I have a feeling that it may be more that it’s too painful for Lionzio to see River right now, especially if he smells of me.
I hope that Lionzio takes this time to heal.
My brother’s heart has been broken.
I would say that it was nobody’s fault, but then, I now know that Allegra was scheming against him and dripping poison in his ear.
Feral is stretched out like a guard tiger in red shorts at the end of my bed.
I am relieved to hear his voice.
After he reverted to entirely feral during his extreme rut, part of me feared that he would wake up and be unable to talk.
I feared that gaining my bond would lead to the loss of his voice.
Actually, this morning Feral looks the healthiest that I’ve seen him in a long time.
He appears confident and self-satisfied.
The true King of this pack.
Being Chief Alpha suits him.
“It was still kind of Lion.” River glances at me with a complicated expression. He takes Feral’s hand. “He lent me the suit for Harbinger. He was really concerned about you, bella. He helped me to carry you back here from the ballroom, until Dad sent him away. And he didn’t sleep at all during your heat because he was so scared of losing you. He told me that: he didn’t care about losing the succession, if he lost his sister. ”
My eyes burn with tears. “I love Lion, you know that.”
“I love him too. He’s my best friend.”
“Do you think that we can mend things with him?”
River smiles, sweetly. “Of course, I can do anything for you two. I told him how Allegra has been playing him. He’s upset but he understood. He didn’t even beat me.”
I really need to get River to raise his expectations.
“That’s good,” Harbinger drawls, “because now I don’t need to beat my bonded Omega’s brother to death with his own office chair.”
We all turn to look at Harbinger.
Harbinger shrugs. “What?”
Laurent taps the mug. “Give me more coffee, killer.”
“ Killer…? It has a good ring to it. I should have chosen that for my ring name.”
I blink. “What’s your real name?”
Harbinger stiffens. He gathers himself a moment to think, while he obediently raises the coffee again to the beautiful Omega in his lap.
Then he sighs. “I swore to myself that I wouldn’t tell anyone, while I was still in the Underworld.”
Anxiety stabs through the bond.
“I won’t pressure you…” I reply.
“It’s okay,” Harbinger replies. “You’re not anybody. You’re my pack. Huh, that feels…incredible…to say. I never thought that I would. But you have to keep it secret. Vinnie has taken so much from me. I promised myself that I wouldn’t bare my neck to him. I don’t regret that I did. But I won’t let myself be called anything but Harbinger down here.”
“I understand,” I say, gently.
He licks his dry lips. “It’s Chase. My pack name is Wolf.”
Chase.
“It suits you.” Laurent kisses Harbinger.
Harbinger finally relaxes, kissing him back.
Laurent ducks his head, licking Harbinger’s neck over his scent gland.
I smile, when I realize that he’s happily licking out the letters: CHASE .
Harbinger shivers.
“It does,” I agree. “You truly are a wolf then. Your tattoos are incredible.”
Our acceptance makes Harbinger’s — Chase’s — emotions settle in the bond.
He relaxes.
Seeing him outside his fighter identity allows me to see Harbinger properly as a man in the same way that I view Feral.
River is studying Harbinger closely.
I love that Harbinger has trusted us with his name.
I want to know everything about him.
More than anything, I want to work out how to take away his pain.
Finally, I glance down at myself. My eyes widen in horror.
I’ve been dressed in pink cotton pajamas.
Kitten ones.
The cute type that an Omega like my sister would wear.
I let out a shocked yelp. “Help! I’ve turned into my sister.”
Laurent tries to hide his laughter against Harbinger’s shoulder, but Harbinger isn’t much good because he’s already laughing.
I turn my glare on the co-conspirators.
Only the fact that I love the way that Harbinger has brought out an adorable cheekiness in my normally reserved Laurent lets me forgive this prank.
Also, because it’s kind of funny.
I’m going to have to find a pair of wolf pajamas for Harbinger in revenge.
“I blame you,” I splutter, pointing at Harbinger.
“People usually do.” Harbinger couldn’t sound less bothered. “Problem, Kitten? ”
Now, River has to cover his mouth to hide his mischievous grin.
Hold on, River was the one who got the new clothes from Lionzio. He must have requested these pajamas.
So, three co-conspirators.
“Nice to see you’re bonding over cat pajamas.” I cross my arms.
“And f-f-fluffy kitten socks.” Feral’s eyes glitter.
I stare at Feral. “You too?”
Four co-conspirators.
I lift the blanket to stare at my feet, which are encased in cute black kitten socks.
Feral is watching me with a sparkle in his eyes.
Nobody has included Feral like this before. He hasn’t had the chance to play pranks, be playful, or simply get to know other Alphas who he wasn’t fighting.
He hasn’t had friends apart from River.
Already, Harbinger is pulling Feral and my other men into both friendship and mischief.
And I couldn’t be happier.
I can’t even pretend to be pissed off anymore.
I drop the bedding. “What color do you want your wolf pajamas to be?”
Harbinger blinks but answers without a beat, “White. And make sure that the matching socks are as fluffy as yours are. I almost stole yours because they looked so warm.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Feral yanks River onto the bed. Then he kisses him, before shoving him toward me.
When River crawls closer to me, looking delicious like he always does in his black t-shirt and tight jeans with his curls falling over his eyes, I can’t help shuddering with anxiety.
“Does Dad know that I survived?” I whisper.
River settles next to me. “Your brother offered to tell him. You know, so that I wouldn’t get a gun waved in my face.”
He says it casually, but we both know the danger that he was in last night.
In fact, I now realize the danger that he’s been in every day he’s lived under our roof.
How has River acted so carefree, hiding that his parents were murdered by mine, along with the fact that he was under a potential death sentence the moment that my dad saw him as a threat?
Is that why River was careful to never act like one?
River is as smart and calculating as Laurent is.
When I look up, Laurent is studying River with respect.
He’s worked out the truth, or at least some of it.
I can feel that River’s positive nature is truly who he is. But how many days has he played at being the harmless servant, who could be disciplined or talked about like he was a Beta fuck toy?
When in reality, River has always been the powerful mafia heir that he was trained to be, defying Dad to heal the Betas as well as the Alphas, training as a nurse, experimenting to develop new medicines, and growing dangerous poisons alongside his flowers.
I admire him so fucking much.
River snatches up the plate of food, along with a fork, and balances it on his knee. “I made you a bit of everything. I thought that you’d need to get your strength back.”
He forks a piece of bacon and waffle, before feeding it to me.
I munch it, groaning in pleasure.
“Delicious,” I mumble around the mouthful.
“How are you feeling?” River asks, feeding me a loaded forkful of egg.
I munch happily, giving the thumbs up.
Harbinger laughs. “Now I know that the way to our Omega’s heart is through her stomach.”
“So’s mine.” Laurent holds up his hand regally. “Chocolate truffles reach my heart the fastest.”
“Or a flower, of course.” River picks up a tulip that’s lying on the nightstand, tucking it into my hair, behind my ear. “I don’t break promises.”
I blush.
“M-my Omega, are you okay?” Feral crawls closer.
He sits on my other side, as River continues to feed me.
“Amazing.” I lick a drip of sweet syrup from my lips. River makes better pancakes than are served at Dad’s table, and I don’t have the risk of Dad’s explosive temper to sour their taste. “I feel the best that I have in my life.”
It’s true.
“Me too. Nothing hurt during my rut. It w-was incredible. Being able to s-s-spend your heat w-w-with you was…”
“Everything.”
We smile at each other.
Feral and I both know how many years we’ve waited for this moment. How much we’ve suffered for it.
And how much it means to us both that the experiment of keeping him caged hasn’t led to a permanent oversensitivity of his knot.
River finally places down the plate and fork.
“Hey, the earth moved for me too.” Harbinger tightens his hold on Laurent. “At least, my ass will be feeling it for the next week. What about you, Rook?”
Laurent tosses his long hair behind his shoulder. “I’m a prize, the precious Omega. So, my ass was treated gently, as it will continue to be, thank you very much.”
Laurent’s cheeks blossom with pink.
Harbinger places down the mug and grips Laurent’s chin, forcing him to meet his eyes. “I didn’t mean… Look, If I’m too rough for a refined elite like you, just tell me. I know that I can be direct but—”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Laurent reaches to cup Harbinger’s face. “This is new to me. I’ve spent years being treated like a pretty object with no ownership over my own body. I was terrified of being forced into a bond with an Alpha who wouldn’t care about my pleasure or pain in bed. I won’t allow myself to be trapped in that type of pack. Knowing that you’re showing me something different is possible means that I trust you. And I don’t trust easily.”
“I know you don’t. Neither do I.” Harbinger entwines their fingers. “Every night that I visited you in the Hades estate, I was falling harder for you. Not because you were my scent match and so fucking beautiful. But because you refused to break. I admire strength. Hearing Vinnie’s frustration about the strongest Omega he’d ever met…his rage…made me desperate to know more.”
“And now you have?”
“Now, I’m never letting go.”
Laurent purrs, resting his head on Harbinger’s chest.
“I have a bonding gift f-for you.” Feral prowls off the bed, rounding the couch.
“It’s from both of us.” Harbinger looks like he couldn’t be happier than to have a lapful of cuddly, purring Omega.
Laurent does look unbearably beautiful. His contentment resonates through the bond.
I didn’t expect that I would see him like this.
Laurent always seemed calculatingly in charge. Adding Harbinger to this pack, however, has shifted things. Perhaps, it’s shown just what is possible, if our plan works out.
And that’s dangerous because we all have so much more to lose now.
“Unfortunately, I only came to your house with literally the shirt on my back and I even lost that.” Harbinger shifts uncomfortably in his tight suit. “I’ll get you another bonding gift. How about a new motorcycle helmet with a kitten on it? Okay, okay. No more death glares. I promise, I’ll spend my life buying both my Omegas everything that I can. But for now, this is from both of us.”
Feral bends and picks up something that rustles, before returning to the bed.
My breath hitches, when he kneels next to the bed and passes me a bouquet of twenty-four paper red roses.
I stroke over the soft paper bouquet on my lap.
“It’s beautiful.” My voice wavers. My throat is tight with tears. “Perfect.”
I can tell which roses have been twisted into flawless shapes by Feral, and the misshapen ones that must be Harbinger’s.
I love both style of roses equally.
I can’t help the thought of the two Alphas sitting together on the bedroom floor, while the current Champion gave a flower origami lesson to the deadliest fighter.
Feral surges forward to claim my lips. I kiss back as passionately.
When Feral draws back, he glances up at River, who is watching us both with a wistful expression.
Feral quirks his brow at me. “Now?”
I know what he means.
My heart soars. “Now.”
Feral’s lip draws back to reveal his sharp teeth.
He stands up, towering over River. Then he straddles him, caging the Beta on the bed. He grabs River by the neck and presses him firmly down against the mattress.
River looks startled. “Mio re…?”
I turn to push a curl out of River’s face. “We’ve always wanted to claim you.”
“Bond me…?” River carefully clarifies.
“Will you…accept the…bond…of the Feral pack?” Feral struggles to say clearly without stuttering.
River’s expression softens with joy. “Yes, please .”
He deliberately turns his head to the side, baring his neck.
Immediately, Feral bites.
River hisses, clutching at the sheets.
Feral snarls as he bites, rougher and harder than he bit me.
Yet River’s groan is all pleasure.
He arches, and his eyelashes flutter closed. His limbs become loose like he’s drugged.
It’s a long moment, before Feral draws back, licking over the bond bite possessively.
Then he crawls off River, looking smug. He pulls the dazed man onto his lap.
I card my fingers through River’s hair. “Is he okay?”
“He will be soon. Look after my Sunshine. The bond bite is intense for Betas.” When Harbinger moves a grumbling Laurent off his lap and onto the couch, before standing up and smoothing down his suit, Laurent’s gaze becomes sharper.
“Why can’t you look after him?” Laurent demands.
“I’ll be busy.”
“Busy?” Suddenly, the warm afterglow of the heat, best sex of my life, and bonds fade. Dread churns in my guts. “What could be more important? Plus, we have things to discuss.”
“Like?”
I struggle out of the blankets and crawl to the end of the bed in anger. “Like how the Alphas — in my pack — the two men who I love, are meant to kill each other.”
Harbinger’s lips pinch. “Oh, that.”
“Yes, that . We only have two weeks…”
“Nine days,” Laurent corrects. “The Nine Pits of Hell happen at the weekend. It’s unlikely that your Dad will allow the bond leave to delay it.”
Nine days.
It’s not long enough.
In that time, our plan must come together to bring down the Underworld. Simply escaping ourselves was never enough. We’d be hunted by Dad, Vinnie, and the rest of the packs for the rest of our lives, even if we ran.
There is no escape from the Underworld without taking it down.
But nine days isn’t long enough. Everyone’s focus will now be on the NPH. It’s the perfect distraction to cover our schemed uprising.
Yet if we rush into it before the NPH, when Dad has us on bond leave, which we’ll be expected to spend in isolation together, then we’ll screw it up.
Dad will notice our move and catch us.
All of us will die.
“Don’t you care that Feral and you will have to try and kill each other?” I demand.
Harbinger blanches.
His pleading gaze meets Feral’s.
“Or maybe, they won’t,” Laurent says, quietly.
Hope flares in my chest. “Are you still in control of the board?”
“Always.” Laurent’s cool, gray gaze meets mine. “More importantly, I’m in control of the players.”
“While you have fun with your plots, Rook,” Harbinger adjusts his tie, “I need to go. I’m already late. It’s been amazing and all that.”
“Wait, wait.” I scramble off the bed. “Where are you going?”
Harbinger arches his brow. “Work.”
“Then you may want to take my rose clip out of your hair,” Laurent suggests.
Harbinger raises his hand like he’s forgotten that the clip is there.
Then he drops his hand again. “Or maybe I don’t. It’ll remind me of you.”
Laurent tries to hide how pleased he is but can’t.
I push myself off the bed.
“Stop,” I yell.
At the same time, Feral growls, “No.”
Harbinger shudders at Feral’s dominance and his wave of displeased pheromones.
He hangs his head. “You’re my Chief Alpha, but this is complicated, Devil Alpha. Punish me first, before I leave, if you have to for disobeying. But I am going to disobey. Until we can make your new Feral pack official, Vinnie is still my Head Alpha. I bonded without his permission, remember?”
My stomach drops. “What about bond leave?”
“Do you think Vinnie believes in shit like that? He barely accepts bathroom breaks.”
“But you need to spend the next few weeks with us or the bond may not take. It’s essential. It’ll be agony for you to be separated this soon after bonding.”
“Tell Vinnie that. And I swear, Kitten, nothing could make our bond fade. Look, Vinnie sent me a furious text this morning. He’s within his rights to send me to the Discipline Cells for two weeks conditioning instead. I broke some serious fucking rules. I don’t regret it. What matters is that you survived. Anyway, guess I’ll get going then.”
He's trying for casual. But now that I can feel him through the bond, it doesn’t fool me.
His anguish at leaving us, combined with his fear, shocks me.
It’ll be agonizing for Harbinger to be separated from us this soon after bonding.
There’s also a real risk that Vinnie may kill him.
Harbinger knows that he could be saying goodbye for the last time.
I run to throw my arms around him, holding him back as he reaches for the door. “Don’t go.”
Catching onto my fear, Laurent leaps up and rushes to join me.
He wraps his arms around Harbinger’s neck.
Harbinger stops, remaining still more out of fear of hurting either of us than because he couldn’t struggle his way free. I’ve fought him in the octagon. This man has serious moves.
“Come on,” Harbinger strokes over each of our hair, “it won’t be that bad. I’m good at talking myself out of situations. You may have noticed that I have a mouth on me. Vinnie needs me to fight in the death match. He won’t break my legs or anything. I’ll take a couple of hundred lashes from the Discipline Strap and—”
“I won’t let you go.” Laurent’s voice is raspy with tears.
He determinedly tightens his arms around Harbinger’s neck.
Harbinger looks touched, kissing the top of Laurent’s head.
“You have to, Rook. You’re the smartest man I know. It must be obvious to you what could happen, if I don’t.”
“War between the packs,” Laurent replies, grudgingly. “Vinnie would gain the upper hand against the Battles and Harley as heir, once it gets out that they’d bonded with Vinnie’s Alpha without permission. People would see it as a ploy to steal you, as the best fighter before the NPH.” But then Laurent adds in a small voice, “But I don’t care.”
“I do,” Harbinger replies. “I don’t want anybody to be hurt because of me. And definitely none of you. It’s my duty as Alpha to protect you. And I will.”
“M-m-my Alpha,” Feral growls, low and possessive.
Harbinger gives a lopsided smile. “You proved that to my ass. My heart is getting there too. I know, I’m a member of the Ferals. I believe you. But Vinnie won’t. Plus, there’s the debt I owe him. I’m not a free Alpha. I’m property.”
When I glance at Feral, he nods his permission. “I have savings. Prize winnings. Feral and I could offer to pay off your debts.”
Harbinger sighs, allowing himself to take a deep breath of my scent and then Laurent’s. “How did I get so lucky, huh? Thanks for the offer. But it won’t be enough. Your dad is a jerk. He keeps the prize winnings low to make sure that his fighters have to battle for years to pay off their contracts. They’re more likely to die first.”
“How big is your debt? Are you a gambler?” I demand.
Harbinger shakes his head. “Unless it makes you hot to think of me as the bad boy then—"
“Just tell me.”
“I only had Omega and Alpha dads. There were no Betas in my pack. But my dads were amazing. Good men, and even better dads. Our pack was wealthy. One day when I was in high school, however, it all fell apart.”
He’s struggling. I can feel it through the bond.
“He doesn’t have to tell us,” Laurent says. “He doesn’t owe us this.”
“My dads were executed,” Harbinger gets out in a rush like now he’s started, he can’t stop. “I wasn’t even told that they had been, until after the sentence was carried out. I only knew that they’d been arrested for some scandal. They weren’t criminals. They never even fucking broke the speeding limit.”
Next to me, Laurent jolts.
He tightens his hold further like a limpet, sending out soothing pheromones.
My heart breaks for Harbinger.
Why were his parents executed?
They don’t sound like outlaws.
If Harbinger was originally from an elite pack, however, how is he now such a violent fighter who is chained to Vinnie?
“I’m sorry,” I say because I have literally no idea how to comfort him.
It seems to be enough.
“I don’t think anyone’s bothered to say that to me before,” Harbinger says, quietly. “I thought that I belonged to a rich pack, until the reading of the will. Then I realized that I inherited a bankrupt company, along with all of the pack’s debts. Who knew that you could owe so much, when you hadn’t started college yet?”
“Is that how Vinnie owns you?”
“The courts took everything. Then they tried to take my younger Omega sister and brother, Bliss and Piper. They claimed that I wasn’t capable of raising them. They argued that they’d be better off as Companions.” Harbinger’s gaze gentles, when he glances at River. “I told them to fuck off through my lawyers. And that took cash, which is why I dropped out of school without any qualifications and worked every job that I could around caring for the kids. But it still wasn’t enough.”
My stomach hurts.
I can see where this is going. I wish that I couldn’t.
“I was only seventeen, when I fought in my first street fight,” Harbinger sounds weary, and I can feel it like a darkness sheeting through the bond. “Despite everyone laughing at me, I won the fight. Hunger and knowing that you have two Omega kids at home relying on you makes you scrappy. I earned more than I had in the last week. An ex-military SEAL offered to train me. I built up my reputation in the illegal fighting rings. My ex-military trainer was strict but he taught me moves that nobody else knew. It gave me the advantage. He kept me focused and he became like a godfather to my siblings. I’ve had two missions in life. One has been working out why my parents were executed. The second was that my brother and sister were safe and cared for. I wanted to ensure that they’d be happy, safe, and have the confidence and skills to be independent. I couldn’t be more proud of the man and woman Bliss and Piper have become.”
My heart warms.
They’re lucky to have been raised by an Alpha like Harbinger.
My brow furrows. “How does Vinnie come into this?”
“Your parents’ original debt.” Laurent’s voice is flat. “He stalked you like he stalked me, right? He must have been looking out for the best fighter that he could find to help him become Champion. Then he bought up your debt to hold over you.”
“See? I love a smart Omega.” Harbinger kisses Laurent. “But you left out the part where he also threatened to kidnap Bliss as a prize (like he did you), if I didn’t agree to fight.”
Laurent’s eyes flash. “Alphahole.”
“You see now why I need to go back to the Hades,” Harbinger urges.
I nod but I still can’t make myself let go of him yet.
Harbinger’s expression shutters. “Don’t make this harder. An Alpha shouldn’t be late to work. I promise, I’ll be fine. I always am.”
An outrageous lie.
I meet Laurent’s tormented gaze, before we both move back from Harbinger.
It feels like I’ve lost the Alpha, the moment that I do.
My soul is dying, and I can feel the sensation amplified through the bond from every one of the other members of my pack.
When the door slides closed behind Harbinger, I drop to my knees and sob.
“We’re getting him back.” Laurent is shaking.
“W-we are,” Feral replies.
But what will be left of Harbinger when we do?