9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Per
I leaned over the sink, slowly breathing in and out and telling my body to calm down. I was in my forties, and I had never seen an omega in the high of her heat.
She’s Karl’s daughter.
But she was rubbing herself on my couch, her scowl directed to Anders as if fighting him was turning her on.
I wish she were looking at me—not with that scowl of course, I’d prefer something nicer.
Here I was, imagining what kind of look she would give me when I should be wishing that she wasn’t here at all.
And if here, not like this. Sven smelled like her. The lucky bastard got to sink his fingers inside her pussy before he knew.
Maybe my wishes were for me not to know. If I met Isadora somewhere away from here, I could just enjoy her perfume, the way her hip dipped, and how soft her cheeks looked.
There was no point in wishing. I knew that bitter reality well.
Pushing against the sink, I moved to start the bath, before I found some medicinal herbs stocked in the back of the cabinet.
My movements were automatic. My mind was split in two—one part wanted my erection to calm down, and the other wanted to sink into the little omega downstairs.
She’s Karl’s daughter.
“Isadora?” I called with my head out of the bathroom door. “Come over.”
The towel was new and soft, but I fluffed it anyway, trying to ignore that her perfume was overpowering me again as if stepping toward me, a vine closed around my ankle, pulling me into madness.
By the time she reached the landing and I heard the soft padding of her steps, my cock was pressing against my zipper once again.
I couldn’t even look at her. I felt it in my bones when she came close. The cinnamon and star anise were thick in the air, choking me. I nodded to the bath, and the moment she stepped in, I closed the door, unable to remain standing if I saw any sliver of her perfect, smooth skin.
My mind was cloudy with the thoughts of Isadora, and I almost missed the havoc coming from downstairs.
They didn’t raise their voices, and I couldn’t be sure what tone their statements were, not until I was in the middle of the stairs, too close already, and the argument broke into a fight.
The distinctive sound of a punch hitting flesh got my teeth grating, and I ran down the last of the steps, arriving at the scene right when Sven flashed Anders a look, a hand over his now bleeding lip, and his fist was ready to swing.
“What the fuck?” I swore and put myself between them, my hands extended.
“He was about to fuck her!” Anders was boiling with anger.
“Why did you bring her here?” Sven asked from my other side.
Anders pushed against my hand, trying to get closer to Sven. “Not for you to fuck, that’s for sure.”
Sven opened his mouth to reply, but I’d had enough. “What’s done is done!”
I pushed Anders. He was a mountain and barely moved, but he got my meaning. I eyed Sven, wondering if he was going to start something, but all he did was look down at the blood on his hand and sneer at Anders.
“She is here,” I said once it didn’t look like they were about to get into each other’s throats. “It’s done.”
“She’s in heat because of him,” Anders added but didn’t try to swing on Sven.
I nodded. “She’s in the bath now. That might help with the heat. In the morning, we can go over to the lab and match her with a pack.”
The words were bitter on my tongue, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t keep her. She was young and full of life, and most importantly, she wasn’t mine to keep.
“That will take weeks,” Sven said.
“Weeks?” I croaked out.
He nodded. “Between taking her blood and the travel to the international system, it could take weeks to match with a pack.”
I cursed, and my eyes followed the path of the stairs where I knew there was a hungry omega taking a bath. The image of her rubbing her legs was forever imprinted in my lids.
“We have to give her to someone,” Anders said at last.
“She’s not a lost puppy.” I turned to him angrily.
He was the one who brought her here from fucking Brazil! And now he wanted to just send her away?
“She’s on her heat!” he hissed back at me. “The perfume on her? Do I need to spell it out?”
No, no one needed to spell it out. She was going to be the end of us all.
“Taking her where?” Sven asked firmly. “Her grandparents? It’s not right to burden families with the heat.”
“And she doesn’t know them,” I added.
“She doesn’t know us either.” Sven sighed.
“But Anders brought her here,” I said, my eyes on Sven rather than Anders. “And as his packmates, his mistakes are ours.”
Anders scoffed but said nothing, choosing to move to the couch, leaning his elbows over his knees as he stared down at the rug.
“So she stays,” Sven summarized.
“She stays.” I accepted reality.
We waited in silence until we heard her moving upstairs.
I hoped the bath had worked, and she was back somewhat to herself.
It wouldn’t hold it for much longer, but I prayed that at least she would be okay for the night.
In the light of day, maybe things were better. Maybe my cock decided to behave.
She never came back. Eventually, I let out a breath and realized that Isadora was sleeping and so should we. It was late, and there was too much to think about. Without saying anything, I marched to my bedroom, locking my door too as if I could trick myself to stay in.
It didn’t work.
I woke up with a start when I heard her whining in the middle of the night. It was low and needy and traveled even with the door securely locked.
“Fuck,” I said to myself before tossing the covers away and swinging my legs down and taking my glasses from the bedside table.
It felt wrong to twist the key of my own bedroom, to test it out if I was really just a prisoner of my own making. I wished someone had locked me in, but the door opened easily, and I stepped outside.
I wasn’t the only one.
The three of us met in the hall, eyes on her door where the whining came from. Sven wore no shirt and boxers, and Anders at least had pajama bottoms, while I was the only one fully dressed with pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt.
“I thought she was going to be okay for the night,” Anders whispered.
I didn’t. It was a bath, not a miracle by any means, but I sure hoped that everything was going to be okay until the light of the day arrived with our senses.
Isadora moaned sinfully. It felt like a hand gripping my cock, and the three of us almost stumbled from the power of her hoarse voice. I couldn’t hold myself back. I didn’t even know what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn’t thinking at all.
I tiptoed to her door, opening it just a little until the light from the hall bathed her, and I saw her in her bed, tossing and turning.
Her moans and whimpers were empty, alone, like the saddest song ever sung.
My heart pushed against my rib cage in a desperate rhythm as I took her in and sampled her perfume.
“Is she in pain?” I whispered.
Her beautiful face was contorted, and she tossed angrily, her thick legs caught between the white sheets. Now her moaning didn’t sound exciting, but it hurt anytime it was out from her lips.
“A little,” Sven replied. “The heat started, and the ache won’t stop until she gets knotted.”
My own knot pulsed with his words. I turned back to her, and before I said another one, I went in.