Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
With all three men in my nest, it feels crowded but right .
Having them come in here was the right call.
I open my mouth and snap it shut several times, trying to figure out how to start this conversation. Eventually, I clamor to my feet, unbutton my pants, and begin to slide them down my hips.
“Woah, is it that kind of party?” Maverick asks, holding my hips. “I mean, I’m not opposed to it, but Manny here doesn’t seem like the type to throw caution to the wind with an impromptu orgy.”
Emmanuel huffs but doesn’t disagree.
“No, it’s not that, it’s-”
“Your tattoos,” Gage interrupts. “This has to do with your tattoos, doesn’t it?”
I nod, finally succeeding in climbing out of my pants. I prop myself up in the nest with my leg on display to all three men.
Maverick runs his finger down the snakes and flowers that decorate my thigh. “It’s gorgeous,” he whispers. “You do good work, Gagey boy.”
“She’s come to see me every three months for four years to get a piece done. I could never figure out why, but I knew the timing was intentional.”
“It was. Do you guys know what happens when you bite an Omega who isn’t in heat?”
Emmanuel sucks on his teeth. “It fades during the heat, if not reinforced, right?”
“It does, but until then, it’s still a real bond as long as it’s reciprocated.” I take a deep breath, pull my hair off my neck, and turn around. “And when it’s not reciprocated, it’s called a blighted bond.”
Growls fill the air, shocking me. Neither Maverick nor Emmanuel seems like the type to growl, but I guess their protective Alpha instincts went wild.
“It’s like a wound,” Maverick says quietly. “It looks like it never healed.”
“It doesn’t. It aches, but I’ve gotten used to it now after all this time.” I drop my hair and turn back around, shocked at how pale Gage looks as he stares at me.
“Every three months. Omegas go into heat roughly every three months. You’ve been bitten every three months for four years and come to see me right after.” He slaps his hand over his face and darts out of the room.
We can hear his retching in the quiet he leaves behind.
Emmanuel gently gathers me in his arms and wraps me up tightly against his chest. There is a slight quiver in his limbs, and I realize he’s holding me for him as much as he is for me.
A stuttering, broken purr rolls from my chest in an attempt to soothe my Alpha. He smiles against my hair, and I can feel his body relax.
Gage comes stumbling back into the nest, his face ruddy and eyes watery. “I’m so sorry, I… Crystal, why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me you were in trouble? I would’ve done something.”
“That’s the problem. No one can do anything, Gage. Going to see you helped me take my body back in a small way every time it happened. I will forever be grateful to you for that. I went off suppressants the first time he bit me, opting to go through heats without a pack rather than wear it on my body any longer.”
The memory of that first heat rises to the surface. I thrashed in the nest, on my own, for days, trying to get relief with toys. Screaming and wailing, begging for help in an empty room.
I bite back tears. “But he didn’t care, of course. As soon as he noticed it faded, he bit me again.”
“Who’s he, Crystal?” Emmanuel’s voice is low and dark in a way I never expected from him.
“Kieran Cobb,” Maverick answers for me. “Right? That makes sense based on what you’ve told me.”
“Who’s Kieran Cobb?” Gage asks, subtly scooting closer to me before resting his hand on my ankle. That’s when I realize they’re all touching me because Maverick’s hand is still on my thigh.
“Kieran Cobb owns Prism, the nightclub downtown. But he is also the leader of the Conglomerate.” I grab my sequined cherry pillow and start picking at the shiny disks. “He’s a drug lord and a trafficker. And my brother-in-law got into debt with him and then died. They were going to collect from my sister, who was pregnant with my niece, and I couldn’t let that happen. She was grieving. When we lost our parents, Eve took me in and put her life on hold for me. She scrimped and saved to send me to the Omega Academy, and we still had to take out loans. But it wasn’t as much as it could’ve been. She’s always done everything for me. I couldn’t let her lose her husband and then immediately have the memories she held of him destroyed. I couldn’t have her or Hannah put at risk.”
Tears fall down my cheeks as I avoid eye contact with the men around me. If I don’t keep going and get distracted by their expressions, I may never tell them the whole story.
“So I took on his debt. I was told I just needed to work for Kieran for a bit, and then it’d be paid off, and I’d be free to go on my way.” I scoff bitterly. “Of course, it wasn’t that easy. I had been there a week or so, working as a cocktail waitress, when I got called into Kieran’s office. He said he had some very important clients coming and needed me to take care of them.”
I swallow down the bile that rises at the memory.
Clammy hands groping me, tugging my hair, running their noses down my neck.
Kieran, bursting through the door, barking until they left me alone, and carrying me to his office.
“It was a setup, of course. Serve these Alphas and nearly get taken advantage of, and then Kieran sweeps in and saves the day. He bit me as soon as he got me alone, claiming it was the only way he knew how to protect me while I worked for him.” I look up, and I’m trapped in Maverick’s gaze. “I think he always intended to trap me with him from the first moment he saw me. Because every time I asked when the debt would be paid off, he would threaten my family. And then he got me my job at the Design Clinic to spy on Walter because I had an advanced degree.”
“Dr. Talbot works for the Conglomerate?” Emmanuel asks from behind me.
“He’s in debt to Kieran, too. He’s their on-call doctor when ‘negotiations’ get out of hand.” I pull a red sequin from the front of the pillow and roll it between my fingers. “Anyways, long and depressing story short, Kieran will never let me go. He…”
I almost tell them what happened with the foreign Alphas, about the fizz and the collar.
But I can’t bear how they’ll look at me when I do.
“He’s got my family in his sights. He’s promised to take my niece if I try to get away. I’ve seen what happens to most women who come through Prism. In comparison, I’ve gotten off easy.”
“Just because others have it worse doesn’t mean you’re not going through something traumatic.” That’s Gage’s voice. It’s not steady or strong, but it’s warm. He’s barely holding on, and I don’t have to look at him to know that.
“My Pops works for the LCPD,” Maverick says softly. “Maybe he can help.”
I shake my head. “No, he can’t. Kieran is untouchable. Even his second, Puck, has said as much. It’s like Kieran is untouchable.”
“No one is untouchable,” Maverick insists. “Let’s get my Pops involved.”
“No.” My voice is hard. “Absolutely not. I cannot risk my family. I’m telling you all because Kieran will kill you if he finds out about us. He wants me to himself, and I doubt he’d mind going through you to get to me.” Crawling out of Emmanuel’s lap, I curl up beside Maverick. “Puck told me as much after you came to see me at Prism. He told me it was for the best that you think I wasn’t your scent match.”
“That was the second in command? But he was being… kind of nice to you?” Maverick runs his nose up the side of my neck with a sigh.
I melt into his touch, wondering if it would be weird to ask him to take off his shirt so I could keep his sweet almond scent in my nest at all times. “It’s odd. He’s a complete dick to everyone, but with me, he’s always been gentle, and he tries to keep me safe as best as he can without going against Kieran. I don’t think he’s all bad, despite everything.”
“Not a good guy, though. Not if he’s letting this happen to you.” Emmanuel runs his hand through his dark hair before rubbing his temples. “It probably goes without saying, but I will make it clear now that I don’t care about the risk to me. I’m here to stay and will figure out how to free you from him.”
Maverick’s lips meet my ear as he mutters softly. “You already know I’m all in for good.” A shiver of arousal runs down my spine.
My eyes meet Gage’s where he sits across from me. “Obviously, this is more than new. This is, like, right past conception, new. And there is such a huge risk to you that I can’t ask you to put yourself in more danger than necessary, Gage. It’s selfish of me to ask that of you.”
“Crys,” he says firmly, “I have been a part of this since the beginning, even if I didn’t know it. And when I get you free of him, I’ll finally show you the completed tattoo I designed two years ago.”
I glance down at my thigh, looking at the empty space for the first time. Of course, he’s got a plan. It’s obvious now that he’s been working around something. When our eyes meet again, he smiles sadly. “I knew that something was going on. I could always tell. You just seemed so defeated every time. I wanted to give you something for when you finally decided you’d had enough or finished whatever you were starting. I was going to finish it for you for free.”
I tentatively extract myself from Maverick’s clutches, ignoring his exaggerated sigh, and sit beside Gage. “You don’t have to tattoo me for free.”
“It’s the least I could do,” he says as he grabs my hands. We’ve touched so many times over the past four years, but never like this. “You’ve been my muse since we met. There are so many beautiful pieces of art adorning the bodies of people across Lunarcrest City that you inspired. Even the one Mav over there picked out.”
Maverick whips his shirt off again, showing the abandoned crown. “Do you know what he asked me when I got it?” I shake my head, and for the first time, I don’t worry that my hair will move too much and show my shame. “He asked if my Omega would get upset that it was a discarded crown.”
“What’d you say?”
“I told him I didn’t think you’d mind leaving your crown behind.”