Chapter 25 The Faircastle House
The Faircastle House
Kol
It’s well into the afternoon at this point.
I think my day with the beta is going well.
I am hopeful showing Mads that we can be normal guys who can spend a normal, no nonsense day together is possible.
I’m an alpha, but I can also be a friend.
He’s got to know at the end of the day we are all humans, designations be damned.
“Hungry?” I ask. It would be an early dinner. He nods his head, still a bit tired.
We get dressed and head out. There’s lot of good food spots nearby so I let him pick. He lands on a pizza-by-the-slice place. He eats nearly a whole pie, and I enjoy the show.
Next, I take him to an Irish pub for a drink. I answer emails and he texts that omega. I enjoy being near him. I could do this all the time. He orders a basket of fries along with his beer.
“So there’s a historic building, the Faircastle House, I’d like to check out. It’s up for sale for a fraction of what I think it’s worth. It can go either commercial or stay a single-family home. After this do you want to check it out?”
“Yeah, and then I’ll need to take off. Where is it at?”
I tell him the neighborhood.
“Oh, that’s right where my date will be. Maybe I’ll have her meet us there. She’s in omega housing and she says her handler is very nosey, and she would prefer we meet somewhere. So, this is perfect.”
I don’t point out that Mads is freely giving me information I didn’t explicitly ask for. That he’s comfortable enough with me, he can just say what he wants to say. I think my day with him was a success. I didn’t dye his hair a sexy white or get him his meds. But I think I did good.
I call Oscar who is at home working on some project for the pack. He’s taking inventory of all our things and seeing what he needs to make sure Mads and the omega will feel like we have enough for them. Cups and plates. Forks and spoons. Throw blankets. Toothbrushes.
“I think we need to have a place ready to go. I know there’s a lot up in the air, but Locke seems to think we need a house. Which made me start to look into it.”
“I agree. I’m not sure we can even convince Mads to live with us for a while in the apartment.
He needs quite a bit of space. You, me, and Locke can share a bed and be fine.
I think Mads would be terrified,” I say right in front of Mads who doesn’t refute my conclusions.
“I’ll be home later and we can start looking at some listings. Something with a nest.”
Even just saying that gets me so excited I have to adjust my legs. I just fucked that omega. I shouldn’t be this horny again. That reminds me.
“Oscar, my teeth were aching earlier.”
He makes a thoughtful sound and then asks me, “Muzzle?”
“I’ve got it.”
“Would Mads put it on you?” I need someone to help me into it. It has a lock and the combination is only visible from the back and randomized, so they need to be able to see it to ensure it’s locked. I wouldn’t want it slipping off at the wrong time.
I tell him I don’t know, and he doesn’t push it.
Oscar runs a few more things by me, and then we hang up. I’ve got the check paid and we leave. The house is in another neighborhood, but Mads insists on walking. We are slow, but he doesn’t seem in pain.
“So, today wasn’t so bad, right?”
His face is soft. No scowl. No tight jaw.
“Not so bad. I’ve been dreaming about a hot tub, actually. My bathtub at the apartment doesn’t fit my whole body.”
I preen. I made the beta feel good. I gave the beta his dream.
We come upon the historical house, and both of us pause in awe. It’s this chateauesque, medieval mansion with turrets, red stone, and leaded windows.
“I’ve never seen a Queen Anne Victorian home like this,” Mads says.
“It’s quite striking,” I agree.
The listing agent greets us and lets us in.
She says she has to leave, and to lock up when we go.
We both wander the halls. She left us with a leaflet that talked about how the family was from Scotland.
They had a pack of seven alphas. One omega.
Twelve children. It was restored by an arts council in the 1970s but has sat unused for the last fifteen years.
I guess it’s just a lot of upkeep. And the city has shut off utilities to it until it can get back to code.
But it is gorgeous. Original oak floors and staircases.
Adobo walls. Stained glass. The tiling in all the bathrooms is a work of art.
“You can’t buy this,” Mads tells me from the piano room up front. There’s a fireplace with a window above it. From the outside, you can see the flue splits in two to go around the window.
“No,” I agree.
“A large organization would need to take this on.”
“Yeah,” I say. Still in awe.
“But damn.”
“But damn.”
I look over at the beta. He looks fresh and younger. He has a slight glow about him. I did that. My eyes catch on his pulse at his neck. Thumping lazily. I don’t notice the ache in my canines until I close my mouth from salivating.
“Mads,” I say to get his attention. He’s busy looking at the details in the wood trim. Beehives and wildflowers carved into it.
“Hm,” he replies.
“I need you to do a quick favor for me,” I say. My voice is steady. He makes another “hm” sound.
“In my bag, that I left by the front door, there’s a pocket in the front. The bigger pocket. Please retrieve the item in there.” I have to say each word deliberately, otherwise I may start growling.
This gets his attention. Mads looks me over, and something innate triggers in him. His eyes blow wide and his pulse thumps harder. He slowly backs away from me and towards the front door.
Instead of running away, a possibility, he gets my muzzle from the bag.
“Kol,” he calls out to me, “What is this?”
“Please,” I beg. I’m hunched over, gripping the edge of a covered wingback chair, when he returns.
“It’s a muzzle. Can you assist in putting it on?” I have to keep my language formal to counterbalance the absolute hell my body is going through. The alpha in me is pacing. Snapping his teeth. Snarling. Growling. Salivating. It wants me to bite the beta. Bite the beta.
“Yeah, sure,” he says. He comes up to me and I kneel in front of him.
“Go behind me. There’s a locking mechanism. It’s not hard to figure out.”
Mads walks around me, hesitates, then places the muzzle over my face. It sits over my nose and just above my chin. The leather wraps up to the ears. His cold fingers carefully, and respectfully, I notice, twist the lock into place. He tightens it well.
I breathe easy.
“Kol, why do you need that?”
I sit back on my ankles. Mads walks around back to my front, to meet my eyes.
“I have a biting problem. It’s fairly well managed.”
“You’ve bitten someone?”
I lower my eyes so he knows my shame.
“Who?”
“Locke.”
He barks out a laugh.
“I’m sure he didn’t mind.”
“Maybe you don’t understand. I gave him a bonding bite. It didn’t turn into a dark bond, so there was enough of him who maybe didn’t mind. But it was not approved by Oscar, my alpha. And I didn’t ask Locke’s permission. The whole thing was…chaos.”
I hear a little “oh” from Mads.
After a long pause, he asks, “Am I in danger?”
I meet his eyes again. Not answering.
Eventually, I say, “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.” I stand up. “I’ll get my things and leave you to meet your omega for your date.
“Wait, Kol, are you ok?” He takes a step away from me.
“I’ll be fine. I’m going right home. Oscar knows what to do.”
“Should I,” he pauses. He’s conflicted. Should he help me or leave me like this? “Should I call him?”
“No, I’m leaving.”
But Mads is in the doorway. So, I can’t leave.
He’s conflicted. My mask bothers him. A lot.
“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to explain the muzzle thing to me again. I’m just not understanding.”
“Mads, it’s fine. Ok? I bite. And this prevents that from happening. For the last couple of hours my teeth have been aching. And I’ve been feeling…bitey. Like with Locke, I could go a little rogue, and I know you’d never forgive me.”
“What happened with Locke?”
“Oscar and I were at the O’Bannon pack house negotiating terms with Legs about dissolving my little business I had going with him.
I noticed Locke. Oscar did too. We propositioned him privately, but he declined.
He was Legs’s ward. Additionally, Legs promised him to his own daughter.
It was some power move to keep growing his pack in Salt Port.
But he was ours. And the alpha in me knew he was ours.
We’d finished negotiations, and I’d gone to the pack house to say goodbye, I swear.
I was just planning on saying goodbye. But when I saw him, I attacked.
I sank my teeth so far into his arm they couldn’t pull me off of him.
“I’m trying to be honest here. But I don’t regret it. That move, while absolutely crazy, saved him. Oscar was only worried I’d dark-bonded him. But when the bite mark came out silver, I’d known my alpha knew all along Locke wanted the bond.”
“You gambled, and you won.”
Of course, I gambled, but I’d do it again. My alpha is never wrong. The only reason I hold back is for my pack lead. I’m a loyal dog, even if I bite.
“And was he the only one you wanted to bite?”
“No, when I get into a rut, there’s a possibility my alpha could take over and bite someone. I wear a muzzle when the urge kicks up.”
“You’re afraid you’ll bite me?” He is so brave.
“Stop asking me questions you know the answer to.”
“Answer the question, Kol.”
I huff in frustration.
“Yes, I will bite you if I don’t take precautions.”
“Will it hurt?”
My head tips so far to the side that my ear meets my shoulder. What did he just ask me?
Will it hurt? Not, would it hurt.
My mouth prepares itself for a bite I won’t allow it to have. Saliva edges out of my mouth. The pain in my teeth travels up my skull. I remember how good it felt to bite Locke. Sometimes he lets me put my mouth back on the bite. It eases me. Maybe I should seek him out rather than Oscar.
A feminine voice calls out from the front of the house, “Hello? Mads?”
Mads and I twist our heads towards the voice and then back to each other. Oh my god, his omega is here.
“Mads?” She calls again, this time closer. He’s not saying anything. I’m not saying anything.
She calls out a third time and then steps right behind him. Mads is still staring at me. Wide-eyed. What would he have me do? I can’t bull him over and run away.
He turns to face her, slowly.
“Hey, we were just finishing up.”
He steps to the side, and I finally get a good look at her. And my heart skips a beat.
At the club, I never even got a good look at her face, and yet I recognize her instantly.
My hand shoots up my chest, and I take a step back, gasping. Her eyes widen, and her mouth parts.
“Oh my god,” she says.
“It’s you,” I reply.
Mads whips his head back and forth between us.
“What’s going on?”