Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Heir’s Suite, Battle House, The Alpha Underworld
A nxious, I lie awake in the darkness.
I can’t sleep.
I’ve had insomnia for the last five nights, since I woke up after my heat.
How can I sleep, when one of my Alphas is missing from my bed?
When I can feel Harbinger’s agony every night?
I wince, as another whiplash of pain slashes through the bond.
What the hell is happening to Harbinger?
I hiss at another strike of pain.
I hate that Harbinger is hurting like this. Yet I’m glad that I can suffer alongside him because it’s what tells me that he’s still alive.
I could kiss the bond for that alone.
But the pain…the anguish…
Harbinger tries to hide it with his smirk, banter, and his white suit.
The bond strips him bare.
Is it because Harbinger is separated from the rest of the pack during the initial bonding period? Or is Vinnie punishing him each night on top of that?
I can’t feel every time that my other bonded packmates are hurt. I know because River stubbed his toe on the nightstand yesterday and hopped around like it was a strange new dance.
Laurent’s amusement was stronger through the bond than River’s pain.
Even though I can feel a terrible thinning of the bond with Harbinger like a thread being pulled tight, however, it hasn’t snapped.
Yet.
It’s held strong. Just like Harbinger has.
I believe in him. I have to hold onto that.
I haven’t told the rest of the pack what I’m feeling, only that I can still sense Harbinger through the bond because Laurent has been so worried.
Yet Feral has been casting me piercing looks.
He knows me too well. He also understands how the Hades pack works.
Has Vinnie truly sent Harbinger to the Discipline Cells?
I shudder.
When I was nine, Dad took Allegra, Lionzio, and me to the intimidating corridor that led to the freezing concrete block of cells.
“Only the naughtiest people are locked up here to be punished in the dark,” he warned.
He knew that Lionzio was terrified of the dark.
I sometimes wondered if it was because Lionzio had been blindfolded, while he was brought all the way from Sicily to America and then to the Underworld.
When Lionzio looked like he may bolt, Dad rested his heavy hand on his shoulder.
“Then we’ll never need to go to this nasty place, will we Papi?” Allegra lisped.
When Dad tightened his hold on Lionzio’s arm, my stomach dropped. “Of course not, giomia mia. Soft Omegas should be tamed by a gentle hand at home. These Discipline Cells, however, is where bad Alphas are taught a lesson, including unruly, disobedient puppies.”
When Dad dragged a struggling Lionzio by his ear toward the cells, I began to cry. “Daddy, no, no … Bring my brother back.”
I didn’t see Lionzio for a month after that.
When at last he was sitting at the breakfast table again, looking immaculate in a suit like he’d never been away, he was quiet.
And he flinched even more.
He was also never disobedient to Dad.
He’d been conditioned into Dad’s perfect soldier… and son .
When I wipe my hand over my cheeks, they’re wet at the memory.
Yet Harbinger isn’t a traumatized kid who is frightened of the dark.
He won’t break like Lionzio did, right?
I sigh, turning on my side to study the men who are sleeping in my bed.
Feral is laid across the bottom of the bed, which appears to be the spot that he’s claimed for himself.
He’s curled up like a big cat.
Feral has found it hard to adapt to sleeping outside the cage.
He complained that the bed was too soft , grimacing at the sensation of my nest of cushions.
Instead, he’s thrown the bedding off the end of the bed and made his home on the bare mattress.
The amount of space that he has to move around in, even within the suite, is intimidating to him. He spends most of his time within the four-poster bed like it’s the walls of his cage.
It’ll take time for him to get used to having greater freedom.
Laurent determinedly joins his Alpha on the end of the bed each night.
Feral is holding onto Laurent like he’s an Omega stuffie.
Laurent is almost hidden underneath the giant Alpha, who even in sleep is possessive with the way that he’s holding tightly onto his Omega.
On the plus side, it means that I can sprawl out in the middle of my nest, stealing all the cushions and sheets, while spooning River.
I study River’s sleeping face.
I reach to hover my finger just above his butterfly lashes that fan onto his cheek. Then lower to the bow of his lips.
How is my Beta even more handsome when he’s asleep?
I tuck a curl behind River’s ear.
“I love you,” I whisper.
Then I sigh, wracked with as much worry as exhaustion.
These last days spent in the suite with my newly bonded pack have been incredible, but at the same time, the death matches in the Nine Pits of Hell are looming fast.
If any of our bonds are shattered, I’m terrified of what will happen to us.
Together, we have made more progress than a month ago, I could have dreamed was possible. And that is down to the Omega who is now trapped underneath Feral.
At this angle, I can only see Laurent’s sharp cheekbone and his messed up blond hair.
Laurent as Grandmaster has maneuvered me into the position of heir.
He has the door codes.
We’re bonded.
Dad trusts me over my sister and brother.
Yet Feral and Harbinger haven’t been able to bond Laurent yet. He hasn’t even mentioned it.
Laurent may act like a thorn, but recently, I’m seeing the sweetness in him as well.
After all, many Omegas wouldn’t be able to cope with another Omega bonding their scent match or the Alpha that they’re in love with.
I’m in a nest with Laurent’s pack.
But he’s never doubted me or my love.
After all, we’re bonded.
An Omega bond is a powerful, ancient thing. It’s forbidden amongst most packs. I feel connected on a primal level to Laurent.
Eventually, our heats will even align.
I can’t wait to be in rhythm with him like that. I’ve missed being around Omegas, and he’s the perfect one for me.
Yet he’s set to be the prize in the NPH.
What happens if another Alpha, aside from Feral or Harbinger, wins?
I shudder.
I can’t let myself think that we’ll lose one of our Alphas, let alone two.
I stroke my fingers through River’s silky curls to soothe myself.
Yet it’s become apparent over the last week that our grand plan can’t happen before the NPH without Dad finding us out.
Dad has Alpha security stationed outside the door. He’s monitoring us.
Trust me , Laurent has urged repeatedly.
I do.
It’s hard, however, when our lives hang in the balance.
I whine, taking deep breaths of River’s Sicilian lemon scent.
I try to imagine that I’m no longer in the dark, but instead, I’m hiking on Mount Etna with River like he described it to me. We’re surrounded by bright bursts of flowers.
I can feel the sun warm on my face.
“I wish that it wasn’t only a dream.” I lean to kiss River on the forehead.
All afternoon, Laurent and River were sitting together on the floor, talking together in hushed voices. Their heads were so close together that their black and blond hair mingled.
I do trust Laurent. Possibly more than I’ve trusted anyone.
I have to because our lives and futures are in his hands. In the same way, when he was first dragged here, he trusted me . He made the deal with me, despite my being his enemy’s daughter.
Yet this has been the tensest week of my life, and I’ve grown up around the most volatile mafia boss in the Underworld.
River has become our strongest asset. I should have known that he’d be excellent at both spying and acting as an undercover agent.
He’s been secretly doing both from the moment that he was brought into the Battle pack.
Laurent and he have grown not only close as lovers, but also, as family. They are inseparable in their plotting.
River is a proud Lieutenant for Laurent.
Laurent rolls his eyes, when River salutes him.
But I can tell how much he loves it.
River’s advantage is that he knows Battle House so well and that he has been able to slip in and out of the suite through security on the excuse that he needs to make our meals or retrieve drinks and snacks for us.
The Alphas outside accept without blinking that we would be ordering our Beta around like he’s a servant.
Inside, River is using the ruse to rally the Betas to our side against Dad.
It’s worked.
The Betas would follow River anywhere.
At the same time, River spoke to Romilly to rally the fighters.
It was the best feeling, when River reported that they would follow Feral and me anywhere.
The pieces are falling into place. But we are not ready to declare checkmate.
If we move against Dad too early, then we’ll ruin everything.
Dad is paranoid about people rebelling against him.
He actively weakens rival packs, as he’s doing with the death matches.
He wipes out entire enemy packs, as he did River’s.
He’d kill all of us .
Dad is brutally good at these games. He’s played them his entire life.
On the other hand, he’s never played against the World Online Chess Champion.
Rook will be devastating in the endgame.
I suck in a sharp breath, as another wave of pain hits through the bond.
“Hang on, Wolf,” I murmur, sending comfort and warmth through the bond. My love. “We’re waiting here for you.”
The pain lessens like somehow Harbinger can feel me too.
I hope that he can.
Please, let him be able to.
The hardest part of the last week has been trying not to arouse Dad’s suspicions. It has meant each of us playing the part of the newly bonded pack.
Particularly, Dad would expect me to enjoy my men as the entitled heir of the Battles would.
Allowing myself to be waited on and pampered, however, hasn’t been difficult.
River has handfed me treats every day, while never once missing laying a tulip on my pillow each morning. His slow tonguings have also been his best act of worship.
Feral made an origami wolf out of silver paper, which River begged from Lionzio.
The silver wolf was pretty like Harbinger.
“Chase.” Feral gently placed the paper wolf onto my palm.
Feral was trying to help me fill the hole in my heart. But I knew that he was missing Harbinger just as much as I was, and making this paper wolf helped him too.
Just like his paper roses.
I blinked away my tears. “Thanks, Fer. I love him. Shall I put him on the nightstand? Then you can see him each day as well.”
Feral nodded, relieved.
Feral has also insisted on pushing the couch and armchair back to the edges of the room after breakfast each morning.
Then Laurent and River have enjoyed sitting together on the bed and being our audience, as Feral and I have sparred.
More often than not, the sparring has ended with either Feral or me allowing the other to pin each other down, before Feral would fuck me wildly, also for the benefit of our audience.
My favorite position, I’ve discovered, is riding Feral because then I can watch the flushed faces of the two men on the bed, who Feral has forbidden to touch each other or themselves.
Then I can see how desperate the Beta and Omega are to come, while I’m driven to an orgasm that has me seeing stars.
Laurent has run me a bath each evening in the luxurious marble bathroom. He’s added rose oils and petals. He’s stripped me, before himself.
Then we’ve bathed together in silence.
I rest against Laurent’s chest, as he nuzzles me and purrs. His fingers feel incredible on my scalp, while he washes my hair.
I’ve never felt this looked after before.
Yesterday, I turned to kiss Laurent, and we made tender love in the water.
It was different to how we’d fucked during the heat. In fact, different to any other time that I’ve fucked any of my men.
I felt like our souls were touching each other, as we were surrounded by the rose scents, the heat, and the slide of each other’s bodies in the bath.
Both our walls tumbled down, as we locked gazes.
Laurent’s gray eyes will be forever burned into my heart.
I smile, remembering how Feral and River looked up, as Laurent and I emerged with a single towel wrapped around us. We were drying each other and laughing.
Something had shifted between us. It was impossible to miss.
Now, in the bed, River’s brow creases.
He stiffens. His breath catches, and his jaw clenches.
I stroke my hand through River’s hair, attempting to hush him. “You’re okay.”
River tosses his head, flailing his hands.
Alarmed, I hold tightly onto him.
What’s wrong?
Is this a nightmare?
Sweat is beading on River’s forehead.
He looks fucking terrified.
“Riv,” I whisper, trying to soothe him. “I’m here.”
Is it the right thing to wake him? Or will it startle him more to be woken up suddenly?
“Mamma!” River’s voice sounds young like he’s a kid. My blood turns to ice in my veins. I have a terrible feeling that I know the exact moment that this bad dream has him trapped in. “Papi!”
“Riv,” I shake him urgently by his shoulder.
I can’t let River relive this.
Except, I don’t normally sleep with him.
What if this is a recurring nightmare for him? Has he had this nightmare, while he’s been alone in this room, since his parents were killed?
He still doesn’t wake up.
My eyes smart with tears.
I clasp River more tightly to my chest like somehow, I can travel into the past and protect the Beta kid who needed me.
But I can’t.
River is talking fast in Italian now. I can’t understand it, but it sounds like desperate begging.
When River starts to cry, I can’t stand it anymore.
I shake him again.
This time, his blue eyes fly open.
River stares at me in confusion, dazed and frightened. “Mamma?”
Then he drops his head to my neck. I can only tell that he’s silently sobbing by the way that his shoulders are shaking.
A tear traces down my cheek.
I rub his shoulders, soothingly. “You’re in my suite. Bonded to the Feral pack. I’m here, Riv. I’ll always be here.”
When River starts to murmur in Italian against my throat, I can only make out the occasional English word. It’s as if in his distress, caught still between the dream world and waking, he’s also caught between the language of his youth and the one that he had to learn once he was in America.
But the words that I can make out chill me.
He had them shot…all of them…killed…my birthday…in front of me…over my cake…my fault because it was my party…
My heart feels like it’s been shredded.
A rage raises in me against Dad, which crystallizes in a determination to burn his entire world around him.
Finally, River raises his eyes, which are glassy with tears, to meet my gaze. “I’ve been alone with that secret for too many years.”
“You’re not alone anymore, Riv,” I reply, fiercely. “You’ll never be alone again.”