Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Oh, fucking hell, I’m hungry.
Stretching my sore muscles, I groan as I blink my bleary eyes open. It takes me a second to shake off the sleep fog. Sitting up, I have to blink a few more times because the sunlight coming in through the crack in the window is too bright.
Mmm. It smells like slick and pheromones in here.
Benson’s snoring draws my attention to him, and I admire his adorable sleeping face, pouting when I see he’s wearing boxers again.
Ah, boo. I’m wearing a large t-shirt. It smells like all four of us, though, so I smile.
Fine. Acceptable. Nick is sprawled out, also still in his boxers, with his arm slung over his eyes.
Kai isn’t in the bed anymore, making me frown. A quick glance reveals he isn't in the room at all. I scoot my ass down the bed, and the second my feet hit the floor, I’m speed walking out the bedroom door, down the hall, down the stairs, and into the den.
No Kai.
Did he leave?
My chest heaves, heart racing as the thought causes panic to flood my veins. His scent is stronger down here…
“K-Kai,” I whisper, swallowing the lump in my throat as I leave the den and head for the kitchen. “Kai!” I yell, voice cracking. No chance he didn’t hear me that time. I’m turning the corner into the kitchen when I slam into a body.
“Plum, what's wrong? Are you okay?” Kai asks frantically, catching me in his arms and steadying us so we don’t crash to the floor. He tries to lean back, but I bury my face against his chest. His racing heart pounds, and for a moment, I just listen to it beating.
“I thought you left me,” I admit, tears stinging my eyes as I hold him tighter. “I panicked.”
“Oh, baby.” Kai’s voice is filled with pain as he crushes me to him. “I’m not going anywhere, not ever again. There is nothing in this world that could ever take me away from you. Nothing is more important to me than you, my Plumshine.”
“I want to believe you.” I squeeze my eyes shut, then loosen my hold so I can look up at him. “I think I do believe you.” He looks shocked by my admission, staring at me with wide eyes for a long moment. “I don’t want you to leave me, Kai. I want you to stay.”
“Yeah?” he questions, barely more than a whisper, but the hope in his eyes is so fucking beautiful.
“Yeah.” I nod, and the smile he rewards me with is fucking blinding. I giggle as he lifts me into his arms and spins me in circles in the middle of the kitchen.
Once back on my feet, I’m tugging him down, his hands pushed into my hair, and then he’s kissing me. It’s perfectly Kai—messy and wild. It feels so good, and when his tongue presses between my lips, the taste of him is like omega catnip.
My reaction is overwhelming as I moan against his lips, clawing at the waistband of his boxers, hunger completely forgotten as a different need takes over my senses.
“Whoa there, Plumshine,” Kai says and chuckles, breaking away from our kiss, making me frown. I whine, watching him closely. Is he rejecting me? “Plum?” Kai frowns right back, but I don’t know why he’s upset. I’m not rejecting him.
Maybe he just doesn’t understand what I want?
I place my hands on his shoulders for leverage and then jump. He catches me as I wrap my legs around his waist and start kissing his neck, scraping his skin with my teeth.
“Shit, Plum, you’re burning up…” His concerned tone makes me purr, and I wiggle in his arms as he moves quickly out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
Oh. Good idea. He can fuck me in my nest. My perfect new, covered in all the right scents, nest. The thought makes me slick. I’m moaning already.
“Wake up, Alphas!” Kai bursts into Nick’s bedroom a little dramatically, if I’m honest. He doesn’t need to announce this, but I don’t mind if the alphas watch, I suppose.
“Nest,” I demand between kissing and biting his neck.
“Fuck, Omega. No biting,” Kai grunts. Did he just tell me not to bite?
I frown. I’ll bite if I want, thank you very much.
This time, I bite hard enough to leave a mark, satisfied when he moans deliciously, his hardness growing between us. He deposits me into my nest, and I do exactly what my instincts demand of me.
I’m on my knees, ripping the shirt off, and presenting for him in seconds. I wiggle my ass, arch my back, and press my cheek to the floor of my nest.
“Alphas!” Kai barks urgently.
What’s he waiting for? I glare at him, feeling impatient. He should be naked and on his knees by now. I lift my head and glance over my shoulder at the beta with a hand pushed in his hair and wide, worried eyes.
Surely what I want is clear by now, but I wiggle my ass again just in case. I stare at him…
Psst. Come fuck me already…
There are some grumbly mutters from outside the closet. The alphas are protesting waking up after too little sleep, I think. I don’t really care. I want my beta. In my nest. Fucking me. Now.
“Oh damn,” Benson grunts when he appears behind Kai. “Her scent is…” he trails off, shaking his head as if it’ll clear it. “Wow, that's intense.”
My beta spins away from me, taking his attention off my body and looking at the alphas instead, as Nick steps up beside his brother.
Why is Kai looking at them and not me?
Nick watches me with this look of concern. What is happening right now? I wiggle my ass again. Do they not see my ass? Maybe they can’t see my slick. I scoot toward them, ass still in the air, and whine.
What am I missing? Do—do they dislike my scent? The second whine I release is a lot more pitiful.
“When was your last heat, Plum?” Nick asks gently, and I frown.
Why does that matter?
I shift, uncomfortable. I don’t like this. Why are they rejecting me and bringing up painful memories? My body is too hot—my skin is too sensitive. I don’t want to talk about my last heat. I want my Kai to make love to me again.
With a whimper, I drop my ass, moving into the furthest back corner of my nest until I’m pressed against the wall, and my body is hidden by my knees pulled tight to my chest. The wall is cold against my skin and feels good, distracting me from the shitty memories.
“Fuck, you have to use your bark on her, Nick. She probably doesn’t even realize what’s happening yet, and we can’t wait for her to get a moment of clarity,” Kai says, and I glare at the back of his head.
“I don’t want to bark at her,” Nick argues, and Kai looks frantically between the two alphas. Their scents are all filling the small space, but as they stare each other down, their dominance starts to seep out as well.
“Then one of you better have emergency heat suppressors, because that's the only way to guarantee she answers,” Kai growls at the alpha, challenging Nick, who stands several inches taller than the beta. I shiver.
This aggressive display of dominance makes my instincts go a little wild, causing me to shamelessly purr.
I bite my lip, about to crawl out of hiding so I can drag the beta into my nest for fighting for me.
I pause when his scent fills the small closet with delicious, overwhelming beta pheromones more dominant than expected.
It sends heat and need crashing through my system in a flurry, and my purr turns right back into a whine.
Kai’s growl is fucking incredible as he goes toe-to-toe with my two alphas. I’m watching them, practically drooling when the alphas' pheromones join the party in an even more powerful combination of dominance and desire.
My beta is strong, but of course the alphas are stronger and more dominant.
Exactly what you expect from an alpha's pheromones, and it’s an intoxicating mix as I breathe deeply.
Over and over again, until I’m dizzy with it.
Just when I think they’re about to lunge at each other, my inner omega disturbingly satisfied by the idea, I gasp, knowing my pheromones are hitting them when they all grunt.
“Mmmm,” I groan with frustration as my stomach cramps, making me wince, and then gasp as reality comes crashing in. The pain, combined with the powerful concoction of pheromones filling my lungs, has a little bit of clarity returning to my foggy mind.
“Oh shit, guys, I’m going into heat!” I announce, clutching my abdomen.
It’s comical, the way three sets of eyes snap to me, wide, shocked, and—are they annoyed?
“Yeah, we figured that out, Little Omega. Thank you,” Nick snarks, and I lift a brow at him.
Is this his first day as an alpha? He’s sassing an omega?
At a time like this? Very brave of him. The look I give him is enough to counter that attitude of his, because he huffs, crosses his arms over his chest, and steps away from the other two.
I can see him pacing in front of the door, and I snort.
“Anyway, we’ve got like maybe an hour before I’m full-on feral,” I inform them with a sigh, glancing between Benson and Kai.
“What?” I ask; they’re both just staring at me.
After everything, I’m pretty confident that they aren’t about to abandon me, but they’re making me nervous.
“You’re not going to leave, right?” I ask just to be sure.
“What? Benson’s face morphs from concerned to completely offended. “Why would we leave you, Plum? No. None of us are going anywhere.”
“Okay.” I nod, letting out a relieved breath. “Then why are you looking at me like this the first time you’ve ever heard of an omega going into heat?”
“When was your last heat, baby?” Kai asks very gently as he gets down on one knee, leaning forward to rest an elbow on his bent leg. He pushes a stray strand of hair behind my ear. The light caress makes me shiver, but I pull back.
“Uh, technically August.” I clear my throat. “Why?” I don’t like where these questions are going.
“What do you mean technically?” Benson tilts his head, stepping further into the closet now that Kai isn’t blocking him, and crosses his big arms, assessing me with a critical look I don’t appreciate. I look away from him, but Kai’s concerned face isn’t much better.
“It was unfulfilled,” I say quietly, looking away from them both to stare at the floor.