Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Romeo Hall, Sanctum
I stretch with a satisfied sigh, yawning.
I’m surrounded by a mingling of my pack’s scent: spicy, fruity, and vanilla honey.
It’s the most delicious scent in the world.
It makes me feel safe and loved.
I’m cool. My fever has finally died down.
My heat must be over.
I only have a hazy memory, after I was lost fully to it. I ache in the best way though.
I smile, opening my eyes.
I’m lying in the middle of a double bed with bronze, silk sheets that look like they cost more than the academy’s entire bedding budget for a year.
Late morning sunlight streams through the wide window. An elegant honey locust tree leans against the glass, and a blood-red breasted robin hops along its branches.
The bedroom isn’t luxurious like the rest of the mansion is. It’s cozy, messy, and as contradictory as Ambrose is.
A sleek, leather violin case leans against the far wall next to a tall, antique mahogany wardrobe, in pride of place.
One entire side of the room, however, is taken up with a home gym: stacked dumbbells, jump ropes, and boxing gloves. A heavy punching bag hangs from a hook.
Does Ambrose need the punching bag to take out the stress of being a CEO? Or has he bulked out into his ripped physique because he’s taken up boxing as a replacement for football?
Perhaps, he never stopped being a jock.
I glance down at myself, patting myself in excitement.
My smile widens.
I’m alive!
I didn’t die yesterday. These incredible men saved me.
I raise my hand to my neck. Then I whine in pleasure, as my fingers trace one bond bite, before lowering to the next. Desperate to feel every single one, I touch the other side of my neck, stroking across the final two bites.
I have two scent matches, but four fated mates.
Is that why I was able to survive my damaged heat?
Has Swan been right all along about those?
I expected to wake up in a sticky mess in the middle of the library. But instead, my skin is clean. My hair has been washed. And I’m dressed in dark brown, silk pajamas.
Despite their own exhaustion after the heat, and likely knot soreness, have the two Alphas carried me here? Proved their intention to cherish me by washing me? Then settled me to sleep, alongside Benedict and Swan?
Only the first Omega has the right in a Traditional pack to sleep in the Chief Alpha’s bed. But this must be Ambrose’s bedroom.
Curious, I glance around myself.
When I was in high school, I spent hours daydreaming about what Ambrose’s room would look like.
I imagined that he’d sneak me up here like we were in one of those movies that the gorgeous Omega movie star, Jex, starred in when he was a teenager, about kids from rival packs falling in love. Jex would be smuggled into the Alpha’s bedroom to supposedly work on a joint school project but instead, would be kissed senseless.
Of course, that would be when the Alpha’s dad would storm in and find them. Cue much angst and drama, before the HEA.
I’d dream that I was the Omega, and Ambrose the Alpha. Except, his mom wouldn’t interrupt us at the crucial moment.
My expression softens, when I can see glimpses of the boy that Ambrose had been back when I’d known him in high school.
A poster of iconic formula one racing cars is plastered on the wall behind Ambrose’s punching bag. The top of his chest of drawers is covered in trophies and medals, which he won in his football days, although they look dusty and unloved now.
Swan is lying next to me in the bed, wearing matching pajamas with AR monogrammed on the pocket. It’s like Ambrose wants to be certain that we belong to him.
We’re marked.
Possessive Alphahole.
Swan has his arm slung around Benedict’s slim shoulders protectively.
Benedict’s curls look like they’re tickling Swan’s nose.
The two of them are beautiful together.
This is what I’ve always wanted: Swan in my bed, our love out in the open, and a male Omega in our arms.
Benedict is still naked. He’s been cleaned up as well and is swaddled in fresh, weighted blankets.
He’s snoring, lightly.
I love that he feels safe enough to sleep this deeply. But then, when have I ever slept as well as I’ve been sleeping, since I came to Romeo Hall?
Where are my two Alphas?
I push myself to sit up, and the blankets slip off me. Looking around, I catch sight of a paper love heart, which has been caught underneath a book on the nightstand.
My eyes open, before I grin.
I lean over, stroking the note’s edge, before I read the messy handwriting:
If you awake before I return, I had important work to attend to in my study.
Romeo, Romeo, Romeo!
A deep contentment settles over me like a mantle.
Ambrose is thinking of me.
Enough to know that I’d wake up to needing him.
Enough to make sure that I didn’t worry.
Enough to miss me.
“ Hmm , I could wake up to a smile like that every day,” Swan’s sleepy voice murmurs. “If this is what you’re like after a heat, then it’s worth the aching in my tongue and fingers.”
“And what about your cock?”
“My cock is ready to go again.” Swan disentangles himself from Benedict, who truly is a deep sleeper. He edges across the bed toward me with a wicked smirk. “How about it, my Queen?”
“Your cock may be ready, but my pussy is waving the white flag. I could use your lips though.”
Swan gives me a heated look, before kissing my inner thigh. “My poor, tired tongue…”
“Up here.” I tap my cheek.
“Don’t you mean here ?” Fluidly, Swan launches himself up and presses his lips to mine with a depth of emotion that shocks me.
Then he pulls back, and his love shines in his eyes.
“ Fated ,” Swan breathes in awe. He’s said that word so many times before. But this time, it’s different. “Can you feel it?”
I pull Swan into a hug.
We’re both gasping, grinning, and shaking.
Deep in the connection to my bonds, I realize that I’m not only feeling my own joy surging through me, but I’m also sensing Swan’s intense happiness .
I shiver, as all my men’s emotions and needs coil through me.
This is my found family built from rivals, enemies, and the abandoned.
But together, we’re stronger than anyone suspects.
Now, I won’t be a captive, forever dancing to someone else’s tune.
Is this what everyone feels after they bond?
I can sense the fragility and fractures in Benedict through the bond. Even sleeping, I can tell now how differently he experiences the world. I’m happy that the bond gives me this insight.
Yet it also reveals his strength and genius.
Both are staggering.
Even though Vito isn’t in the room, wherever he is in Romeo Hall, I can sense his hyper exhilaration. He may have been raised in darkness, but the light inside him is blinding.
Yet Ambrose feels wreathed in shadows.
I can sense the brokenness deep inside him: The darkness that he warned me about.
It’s a stabbing pain that makes me flinch.
At the same time, his love for each of us is like the moon struggling to shine through the snow storm.
I was raised in moonlight. I love the night sky and the stars.
I want to bathe in Ambrose’s moonlight. But how do I clear the clouds that are causing him such agony?
“Breakfast,” Vito calls merrily, banging into the bedroom.
I startle out of my thoughts.
Vito is dressed in a black t-shirt and leather trousers. His hair is slicked back from his face, and he looks like fucking sin. Especially, as he’s carrying a tray of cinnamon and raisin bagels.
He swaggers to the bed, sprawling next to me. Then he rests the tray on the nightstand, before passing me a bagel.
“These are freshly baked,” I exclaim, taking a delighted bite. I moan and then mumble around my mouthful, “Yummy.”
Shit, these are good.
There truly are advantages to being bonded to a baker.
Are all breakfasts going to be like this now? Pancakes and bagels?
Perhaps, if I’m really, really lucky, I’ll never need to eat oatmeal again.
Vito puffs out his chest. “Candy may be the creative talent behind the Dough Knot, but I can still bake. I’m used to getting up at dawn. The morning after a bonding should be memorable, you know? Expect to be plied with treats.”
“Bring it on, Little Snake.” Swan holds out his hand, expectantly.
“Do you want something, beautiful?” Vito’s lips twitch.
“One of those pastry things. I’ve never eaten anything like that before. I’ll have to spend the rest of the day exercising, but it’ll be worth it to taste one.”
I swallow my mouthful, wincing.
Vito’s expression hardens. “You fucking won’t. You eat as much as you like. There’s no cost to it.” He snatches up a bagel and stuffs it hurriedly into Swan’s hands. “They’re cinnamon and raisin bagels. If you don’t like it, just tell me, and I’ll make you something else.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Normally, yeah. But not about this. What you like or don’t matters to me. So, I’ll make shit, then you can try it. If you don’t like it, then I’ll make something else, right?”
Swan nods, although he glances at me, unsure.
I give him a reassuring smile.
I can feel through the bond how much Vito means it.
Having the bond now, I can sense how honest and genuine Vito is.
The man has a vein of trauma running beneath his upbeat personality, along with a deep loneliness. But it hasn’t made him take out his pain on others.
Instead, it’s turned him into an Alpha who is dedicated to the protection of Omegas and Betas, before even his own health and needs.
He calls himself trash, but in fact, he’s a gem amongst Alphas.
Swan takes a bite of the bagel.
He licks his lips, before taking another even larger bite. “Wow, chewy sweetness. Add this to the Swan likes list.”
Vito beams, tapping his fingers on my thigh. “Done. I’ll make more. You should know, the last twenty-four hours were the best of my life. You were both perfect.”
Swan leans forward to grip Vito by the chin. “So were you.”
When Vito flushes, Swan pulls him into a kiss that’s all sugary cinnamon sweetness.
Vito laughs, fighting to fit himself on the bed between us, half in each of our laps.
“Comfortable?” Swan arches his brow.
Vito wriggles his ass in a distracting way. “An Alpha has to assert their dominance and shit. Isn’t this what Ambrose would do?”
“Sprawl in our laps…?” I laugh. “Definitely not.” I stuff the last of the bagel into my mouth. “Can you check on Mary and Thiago in the academy? Or ask Amby to? They’re our friends, and Thiago twisted his ankle. Plus, the Dance Master is sure to be giving them a hard time over their performance, no matter how much Amby tried to praise everybody.”
I hold my breath.
Please…
“This Thiago hurt his ankle, right?” Vito replies. “I’ll phone after breakfast and make sure that a doctor is sent to the academy. At the same time, they can do a checkup on all the students. Ambrose can use his artistic director influence to make sure this Dance Master doesn’t dare bully anyone.”
I stare at Vito with the same amazement that I can see on Swan’s face.
He makes it sound easy.
We’ve spent years suffering, but it’s like Vito’s just waved a magic wand and made my Christmas wishes come true.
My eyes gleam with tears. “Thank you.”
“I’m going to fuck you so hard as a reward,” Swan snarls into Vito’s ear, making him flush, “that I’m going to be able to even breed an Alpha.”
Vito’s blush deepens. “Oh, fuck.”
Just then, however, Benedict’s nose scrunches up in an adorable way.
I think that he’s smelling the aromatic scent of the bagels, (unless, he can scent Vito’s dirty talk), until he reaches out to Vito and strokes up and down his trousers like he’s enjoying the feel of the soft leather.
“Alpha.” Benedict opens his eyes, peering out of his nest of blankets.
“I’m here.” Vito leans across, telegraphing his gestures, before he strokes Benedict’s hair. “Good Omega.”
Benedict almost flinches but then pushes himself up into Vito’s touch.
Immediately, Swan holds out the remainder of his bagel to Benedict, who opens his mouth like a baby bird and allows himself to be fed.
Swan relaxes, enjoying hand feeding his Omega.
Any Beta would but at the same time, nobody but me will truly understand how much being able to provide food to the people he loves means to Swan.
Swan was essentially the Robin Hood of our academy.
He risked beatings, and sometimes in daring missions climbing high walls and through windows also risking his life, to steal food for the rest of the students.
Swan’s a thief at heart but because that means rebelling against a system that oppressed and starved us.
Being able to provide for someone he loves makes joy dance through our bond.
“Is Amby used to getting up at dawn as well?” I ask, thinking about the note and the one person who is missing from our bed.
“I didn’t think that anyone got up earlier than me.” Vito’s lips pinch. “Ambrose is already working in his study every morning, however, before I’ve even turned the oven on to bake breakfast. That man is a workaholic.”
My brow creases. “Is his mom driving him to that?”
Vito shakes his head. “He can drive himself.”
“Why?”
“Guilt.”
“What?” My eyes widen.
“I have a secret to tell you, my Juliet.” Ambrose strides into the bedroom. “We all have.”
My pulse races. I stare at him in shock.
I can sense the shadows through the bond, which slash Ambrose like daggers.
His expression is guarded.
Ambrose is dressed in a bronze suit with matching tie and waistcoat. He looks like a golden boy jock who has gone off the rails and been recruited as a mercenary assassin.
He hasn’t.
Right?
How can the two sides exist at once: the brilliant violinist and artistic director CEO of the ballet company and the man who has turned his bedroom into a boxing gym, as if he’s plotting to go to war?
“Secret?” I whisper.
Ambrose is carrying a pretty, vintage ballet bag with a rose surrounded by thorns embroidered on the front. He drops the bag onto the end of the bed and then casually sits next to it.
He exchanges a secret smile with both Vito and Swan.
What the hell is going on?
“Tell her,” he orders Vito.
“It turns out that by sharing bond bites the way that we did, every single one of us became fated mates.” Swan is vibrating with excitement.
“You’re confirming that it’s not a myth…?” I ask.
“My sister has a fated bond with Link’s pack,” Vito explains. “It must run in certain packs. Want to see something awesome?”
“Is it your snake cock again?”
Vito chuckles. “Maybe later. First…”
At the same time, Vito and Swan unbutton their pajama shirts. Benedict pulls the blanket down from his chin, beginning to wriggle free of the bedding.
“Is this another orgy?” I tease.
“Again, maybe later.” Vito glances at Ambrose. “You too.”
“Are you trying to give me an order?”
“I wouldn’t dare, sir.”
Ambrose still begins to undo his waistcoat and slip open the buttons of his shirt.
I stare around at them in surprise.
My throat is dry.
Ambrose clicks his fingers at Vito. “Stop lying around on people’s laps. Up.”
Vito rolls his eyes but scrambles off the bed to stand next to Ambrose.
Despite the fact that Ambrose is sitting down, he somehow manages to still seem like he’s larger than Vito. It could be the fact that Vito is slouching like an Emo James Dean.
When all the men reveal their chests in tandem, I gasp.
They’re marked in the same way.
A violet wolf’s head glows above their hearts. The wolf sparkles, as if it’s been tattooed onto their skin with diamond dust.
Underneath it in gold is the single word:
ROMEO
“ Soul Marks .” I’m transfixed. “Feathers, you promised that if we were fated bonds, these would appear. They’re more beautiful than I imagined. We no longer have to pretend.”
“We never have to pretend about anything anymore. I can feel it in my heart and soul, JuJu. I can feel it here .” Swan presses his hand to his Soul Mark.
His eyes are gleaming with tears, and mine are too.
My connection is intense to those gorgeous pictures on their skin. The draw to reach out and touch them is magnetic.
“They appeared on each of us, when we bit you and the bond took.” Ambrose’s eyes are dark and possessive. “You have one over your heart as well. You belong to the Romeos forever now.”
I have a Soul Mark .
I smile, meeting Vito’s eye.
He’s smiling as widely as I am.
Ambrose leans forward and gently undoes my pajama top, button by button, to reveal the skin above my heart and a pretty violet wolf that glimmers as if with stardust above the word ROMEO .
I study it, before looking back at the matching designs on my men’s chests.
Ambrose plays his fingers over the Soul Mark, and I whine.
It’s Swan, however, who twists to me and dips his head to lick over the letters of ROMEO .
I throw my head back, remembering when we were lying in the cold, barred room at the academy. Together on that hard mattress, we believed that we’d only have the illusion of a fated bond, as Swan licked ROMEO across my chest.
We’d been playacting our dreams.
Now, we have it for real.
When Swan pulls back, I feel the trail of tears on my skin.
I grab Swan by the shoulders, dragging him into a fierce hug. “I’ll always catch you too.”
“I love you.” Swan returns my hug. “We made it, JuJu. We found our pack.”
I meet Ambrose’s eyes over Swan’s shoulder. “Have we? Have we both found it?”
I’m bonded, but Swan isn’t.
I’ll fight to my last breath for him to have a proper position within this pack.
Ambrose steadily meets my gaze. “Let me make my intentions plain.”
He picks up the vintage dance bag, before opening it and pulling out two exquisite ballet pointe shoes.
“These were worn by the first principal dancer in the Romeo company, when it was first established. They danced the opening night of the first performance of Romeo and Juliet .” Ambrose brushes his thumb over the toe. “It’s meant to have been one of the most spectacular performances in history.”
I suck in a sharp breath. Everyone knows about that dance.
It’s legendary.
Swan and I both stare at the shoes in wonder. They’re a piece of dance history.
They’re priceless.
“When I chose to invoke the Ballet Bonding Tradition, it became my right to give these as a bonding gift to the principals I chose.” Ambrose’s gaze slides from me to Swan. “I never intended to give these to anyone because I detest the tradition. But maybe I’m a bad Alpha because now, I don’t regret selecting you. I can’t live without you. Perhaps, I’m selfish. But saving you is worth sacrificing myself and my soul.”
He holds out the ballet shoes, one to me…and one to Swan.
I take mine, holding it like the treasure that it is to my chest.
I can’t believe that I’m touching something so precious.
Swan, however, doesn’t take the shoe. “Why are you giving this to me?”
“Juliet and you are a pair like these shoes,” Ambrose replies. “Accept the bonding gift.”
Swan crosses his arms. “You didn’t bond with me.”
Ambrose’s expression becomes icy. “Take the shoe. You’re ruining our romantic moment.”
“You’re not used to being disobeyed, are you?”
“Observant.”
“Well, get used to it.”
Ambrose grits his teeth. “This is a present.”
“Is it?” Swan’s eyes burn. “It looks more like you chose Juliet and had to take me because I come along with her as the matching pair.”
My heart clenches.
Surprise flashes across Ambrose’s face. His concern and distress sheet through the bond.
He tosses the shoe at Swan, who has no option but to fumble and catch it.
“Cheat,” Swan mutters.
“I didn’t mean to make you feel like that, Swan.” Ambrose’s expression becomes dangerous. “We were friends for years. I saw you every time that I was taken into the academy. You were always the most dazzling dancer. You protected me from my mom, when she was in a rage. You showed me your best hiding places. Do you know how much I wished that you could come to high school with me? I thought of you every day that I was in England. I was proud to hear how bravely you were mentoring Juliet. I wouldn’t have trusted her with anyone but you.”
Swan hurls himself across the bed into Ambrose’s arms. “I didn’t know—”
Ambrose encircles Swan with his powerful arms. “I didn’t tell you. I can’t talk about…many things.”
“Jerk.” But Swan holds him tighter.
“On that stage, I handed roses to two people. When I watched you that night, I was blown away. I’ve never seen a more beautiful Beta.”
“There isn’t one.” Swan grins up at Ambrose.
“Or talented,” Ambrose adds.
“You have taste.” Swan preens.
“I’m not going to have trouble with you accepting praise, am I?” Ambrose’s lips twitch.
“Nope, only getting me to follow your rules.”
“Ninety-one rules for outside the house and fifty-two different ones for inside the house.” Benedict stretches, revealing distracting acres of naked skin.
Swan looks horrified. “You’re going to be busy punishing me then.”
“I won’t.” Ambrose’s expression becomes cold and deadly. “I promise that I’ll never hurt and only protect my pack. Those rules are Benedict’s alone because he asked for them. For someone who needs to fly free like you, there will be no rules.”
“No rules?” For the first time, Swan looks daunted. “What if I get something wrong? I could make the wrong choice, you know. How can I guess what decision I should make all the time?”
“It’s hard, but we’ll help you get there,” Vito offers, softly. “And hey, I’m the king of bad choices. I eat pizza at midnight, drink way too much beer, and sometimes even air guitar in front of the mirror. Together, we can survive anything.”
“A bonded pack?” Swan says, cautiously.
Vito smiles at Ambrose and nods. “Yeah.”
“How about I show you how I truly feel?” Ambrose slides his hand up to grab Swan by the hair, baring his neck. Then he swings him around, until his neck is exposed temptingly to Vito as well. “Bond with me, Swan.”
Swan’s eyes are glassy. He’s panting.
Joy rushes through me, at the same time as it does Swan.
Vito presses closer, leaning over Swan to catch him between both Alphas like he’s cradled in a dance.
“I’d be honored, if you’d bond with both of us,” Vito leans over Swan to murmur, seductively.
“Yes.” Swan’s voice is raspy with tears. “Please, yes .”
I know how much Swan means it because of how polite he’s being.
I reach across the bed to clasp Benedict’s hand.
Then both Alphas lower their mouths to either side of Swan’s neck and bite.