Chapter 15
15
BEN
The drive to our apartment is torturous.
I go way faster than I should, and the whole time, I kept thinking about the sounds Devyn made on the phone.
I wasn’t there to help her, and I know how much she hates that shitty parking garage.
We were literally just talking about it at Ace and Connor’s place, too.
I received Ace’s text that he’s with her, but I don’t want to know exactly how he got into the building.
Devyn is more important, anyway.
If he had to break a few laws to get to her…
Then so be it.
I’m a detective, but I’m not unreasonable.
By the time I reach the front door to our apartment, I can scent both honey and lavender coming from the room.
My cock immediately twitches in my pants, and my worries from before are discarded.
Devyn’s in Heat, and Ace is with her.
Ace has been taking care of her.
Fuck.
Connor should be here any minute as well. He was stuck in Stone County, but the moment he read my message, he left to head to our apartment.
Ace is in the hallway to our bedroom, a glass of ice water in his hand. “She’s dehydrated,” he tells me. “She needs to keep her fluids up.”
Another scent of honey and vanilla washes over me, and I walk into our room to see Devyn buried in a nest. My jacket and Ace’s sweater are around the pillows near her head, and she sits up when she sees me.
She’s naked. Her beautiful face is flushed pink, and her eyes are dilated.
“Ben,” she breathes, kicking off the blankets and crawling over to reach me. I sit on the bed, and she pulls me by my shirt collar, kissing me deeply.
She tastes like honey, vanilla, and the slightest hint of lavender.
She tastes like she’s been with Ace, and my cock grows rock hard.
“I missed you,” she breathes, and I smile against her lips.
“Your nest is so beautiful, Dev. Probably the best one you ever made, baby.”
She laughs. “Okay, I’m not that far gone that you need to compliment my nesting abilities.” She blushes anyway, and I know she’s pleased with the compliment.
Ace enters the room and hands her the water bottle, and she looks up at him fondly. “Thank you,” she murmurs, and he nods.
“Anything for you, babe,” he says. “Anything for my mate.”
It takes a moment for his words to register as I hold Devyn in my arms.
Mate?
Devyn gives him a lazy smile, then kisses me again. She hums in my mouth, running her fingers through my hair.
Mate .
Has Ace decided that? Did Devyn?
What exactly happened while I was gone?
But then, Devyn reaches down to grope me through my pants, and I lose myself to her.
She’s in Heat—we can discuss everything else later.
I can feel Ace watching us in the doorway as I undress, and I only grow harder, knowing that Devyn and I have an audience. She lies back down on top of the blankets.
“Tell me what you need, Dev,” I whisper. “Tell me what I can do for you.”
Clad only in my boxers, I move higher up on the bed and lie next to her, slowly running my hand down her breasts, her stomach, then her core.
She’s soaking wet with slick, but that’s not the only thing leaking out of her.
Ace’s cum drips down her thighs, too.
“What do you want, Dev?” I ask, pushing some of his fluid back into her with my fingers. I try to keep my voice steady, to stay strong and calm for Devyn, but the sight of Ace’s cum dripping out of her cunt makes my balls tighten and my cock ache.
I’m moments away from losing control.
But as the Beta in the group, I need to be the one that stays as grounded as possible.
Ace stands in the doorway, keeping his eyes on my fingers as they push his cum back into her. Devyn arches her back and cries out softly.
“I need to come again,” she breathes. “It’s been too long.”
Ace chuckles darkly. “It’s only been five minutes, sweetheart.”
Devyn looks at me. “I need to. Now ,” she growls.
This is my favorite part of her Heat. Instead of being docile or helpless, she turns possessive and growly.
It’s fucking beautiful. She voices and takes what she wants.
So, I turn over on to my back and pull down my boxers, exposing my cock. “Ride me, baby. Show Ace how much you love taking my cock.”
“ Fuck ,” Ace hisses.
Devyn slowly sits down on top of me, her cunt swallowing my length. I groan as she rides me, placing her hands on my chest and using me for her pleasure.
Ace groans behind us, and his panting tells me he’s touching himself while he watches me fuck Devyn.
I grip her hips, my hands digging into her warm skin while she bounces on top of me.
Devyn arches her back and thrusts hard against me, and that’s when I see it.
The raised red mark near her neck with teeth indentations.
There’s a reason why her scent is slightly more layered with lavender, and it’s not because Ace is in the room.
It’s because he bit her.
My mouth falls open in shock as Devyn picks up her pace.
I’m a mixture of confusion and lust, too turned on to fully process what I’m looking at.
But Ace bit her.
They’re mated .
What the fuck.
I flip us onto her back so I’m on top of her and slow my movements.
She makes a face. “Don’t go slow…I was close…”
I rest my forehead against hers and sigh.
What the fuck happened?
Did she really let Ace bite her, after she’s been begging for a mating bite from me first?
She kisses me again, moans into my mouth, and I drown out everything but the sensation of being inside her.
I press a gentle kiss to the mating bite, and she gasps.
“Ben,” she begs. “Ben, I’m close?—”
“Come for him, Omega ,” Ace demands behind me, and she does, as if on cue.
Something inside me snaps.
Devyn clamps her walls around me, drawing out my own release, and I sink my teeth into the same spot Ace bit.
I do the most irrational, reckless thing I’ve ever done in my life.
I mark her as my own, just because I couldn’t stand that Ace had done it first.
Devyn freezes in my hold and gasps for air, and I feel our mating bond snap into place.
She’s everywhere inside me, and I almost black out from the sensation.
I sense the core of who she is—I can literally feel the woman I love, her heart beating alongside mine.
“Ben,” she whispers in shock, and I pull back to look at her. Her bright eyes are wide with surprise, her mouth parted.
“I love you,” I murmur. “I love you so much, Dev.”
Her cunt walls strangle my cock, but I don’t stop moving inside her.
I can’t, now.
I’m a man possessed, getting my fill of Devyn and only Devyn.
My mate.
* * *
I leave Devyn sleeping, but it’s hard to stay away from her even to just take the extra steps to the shower.
Once the high wears off and the hot water streams down my body, nausea builds in my gut.
What have I done?
I didn’t ask to give her the mating bite. I just did it, and it was out of jealousy.
What kind of man am I? What kind of partner am I?
Fuck.
The mating bond is the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced—I’m permanently tied to Devyn now.
But after all our conversations, I initiated the bite, not her.
Fuck. Fuck.
I need to keep it together.
She’s in the middle of her Heat, and with our bond, I’m sure she can sense if something is off with me.
After I towel off and dress, I check on her. She’s fast asleep in her nest, wrapped in blankets and surrounded by pillows.
Her face is peaceful, and her lips are pulled into a small smile.
She’s happy.
But will she be after her Heat ends?
I can’t imagine she’ll come out of this thrilled that I bit her without explicit permission.
Also, where the hell is Connor?
I head into the kitchen to find Ace rummaging through our fridge.
He’s shirtless, giving me a view of the tattoos on his back. His body is full of ink, with intricate, abstract patterns I rarely see on people.
It’s not the typical skulls, flowers, or anything common.
It’s one-of-a-kind art—there’s no other way to describe it.
“You really need more food in your fridge.” He chuckles, his back to me. “Maybe I can have some groceries delivered here.”
I ignore the barb, doing my best to stay cordial with him. We’re both bonded to Devyn now, and I won’t put her through any extra stress by not getting along with him.
Although right now, he’s not making it very easy.
“You bit her,” I say.
He shuts the fridge and turns to me, a smirk on his face. “I did,” he says. “She’s my mate.” He narrows his eyes. “And you bit her too,” he says slowly.
I nod.
“Good,” he says. “Now you’re stuck with me.”
“Tell me what happened,” I demand, and he raises an eyebrow.
“What normally happens when an Alpha mates an Omega, Ben. I bit her.”
The front door opens, and Connor enters, then looks at both of us. “Where is she?” he demands, his breathing heavy. His coffee scent is stronger than usual, and his eyes are dilated.
“Hi, babe,” Ace says, grinning. “Our mate is in her nest.”
I have the urge to punch him.
Ace may be taller than me, and most likely stronger, but I’m quicker.
A soft whimper comes from the bedroom, and Ace moves to step out of the kitchen, but I block him.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” he snarls.
“Tell me what happened,” I snap.
The ache to go to Devyn is deep in my chest, but I force myself to ignore it.
Connor rushes out of the room and down the hallway to the bedroom.
“I already told you what happened, asshole ,” Ace hisses. “If you don’t get the fuck out of my way, I will knock you out. I don’t care.”
I should know better than to get between an Alpha and his Omega, but I’ll be damned if I don’t get answers. “There’s more to it. When did the bite happen?”
Ace glowers at me. “In the parking garage. Is that what you want to hear, detective ? In the parking garage, against her car.”
My mouth falls open in horror. “ What ?”
“In. The. Parking. Garage,” Ace hisses. “Now move .” He shoves me, but I shove right back.
“ What did you do to her ?” I slam him back into the kitchen, fury radiating from me. “You forced the mating bond in the garage ?”
He falls against the cabinet, then shoves me back against the stove, a pot falling to the floor. My back throbs, but I don’t care.
Ace roars like a fucking monster, his eyes full of fury. “You think I forced her? You think I would ever do something like that to hurt her?”
I swear to god, if I had my weapon on me, I would draw it on him.
There’s no way she asked for it in a parking garage. There’s no possible way she wanted that.
“You’ve known her for less than a month. There’s no way?—”
“Guess what, asshole,” he spits, grabbing me by my shirt collar and hauling me up against the cabinets. “I did exactly what she asked me to do because I’m a fucking Alpha and I found my mate.” He leans closer into me until our mouths are almost touching. “And you’re stuck with me. So get fucking used to it.”
My head spins.
She asked him to do it? In the parking lot?
Devyn’s always wanted it to be special, so why…
It’s not my proudest moment, but I cock my fist and punch Ace right in his stupid fucking mouth.
I don’t get violent. Devyn hates violence.
But I don’t trust the man in front of me enough to think that there wasn’t some coercion in the parking lot.
And he hits me right back, and suddenly there’s a full-out brawl in my kitchen. The spice rack collapses, the oven door shatters, and Devyn’s bags of espresso fall to the floor, coffee grounds spilling all over the tile.
It would be almost comical if I weren’t in a physical altercation with my packmate.
It’s only after Connor pulls me off Ace that I come to my senses.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on with you two,” he snarls, and shoots a deadly look at Ace, who is sporting a swollen, bloody lip. “But it stops right fucking now. Right. Now. ”
Ace has the nerve to look chastised, but I just glare at Connor. “Get your boyfriend in check,” I growl. “ She’s the priority now. Devyn needs to be taken care of and doesn’t need him acting like a psycho. ”
Ace lets out a twisted, humorless laugh. “Like I said, baby, you’re stuck with this psycho now.”
I grimace at his words, but Connor just nods at me.
“She’s our mate now. We put all this aside and do what’s best for her. We give her what she needs.”
It takes a moment for his words to register, but then it clicks.
There’s a connection to Ace now, as much as I hate to admit it. Just like I can sense Devyn, I have a heightened awareness of Ace and Connor.
The scents in the apartment meld together, and that’s when I realize Connor has bitten her, too.
Oh, no.
Devyn’s mated to all three of us now, and I’m positive this is not how she wanted it to go.