Chapter 28 A Look Within
A Look Within
Locke
I’m still gripping my chest at the feelings Kol had exploded through the bond.
I order a car to take me home. I don’t have it in me to be apart from them any longer.
As I drive to the house, away from Mickey in the hotel, I realize I’m only driving home to Kol and Oscar, and not the beta and the mysterious omega.
In my mind, they are already part of us.
I get to the house and unlock the door. I find Kol’s computer bag crumpled on the floor.
It smells like river water. None of the lights are on.
But I hear the shower, so I make my way to the one bathroom in this place.
Inside, I find Oscar and Kol, naked, showering. It’s not sexual. Kol is tending to Oscar. He switches the shower off and directs the injured Oscar to the toilet to sit on its closed lid. Before he does that, I wrap a towel around Oscar’s middle.
“What happened?” I ask, softly. Curiously. There’s a strong intimacy here between them I don’t want to rupture.
Oscar answers me with a strained voice. “I directed Kol to bite me. To help with his impulses.”
He holds up his arm to show the deep wound.
Kol did not hold back, it seems. Oscar gives me a little smile to show that he wanted this.
I find myself shaking my head, even though I’m not even sure what to think.
I hand Kol another towel so he can wrap himself in it.
He then kneels in front of Oscar and opens a med kit he’s retrieved from under the sink.
I stay with them, basking in their closeness. Our bond sings between us. Kol disinfects the wound and then wraps his arm gently. He opens up some painkillers, and I get him a glass of water.
Kol says, “Thank you, Oscar. Thank you. That was a once in a lifetime gift. I don’t deserve you. Truly. All the noise in my head is gone.”
Oscar is about to reply, but I cut him off, “Did you find it hard not to bite the beta?”
“I had to make him put a muzzle on me. He was…freaked out.”
“I bet. But he’s not skittish about alphas biting him, right? Just jumping him?”
“I don’t think his hindbrain cares to be that granular on what alpha threats are scary. But it’s not an issue anymore, I don’t think. We shared his girlfriend tonight. And when I left him, he was no longer nervous with me.”
“You fucked the beta?”
“No, we fucked his omega girlfriend. Together.”
Leave it to Kol to turn his day with the beta into a sexual adventure. Oh, to be a fly on the wall…
Oscar interrupts my fantasy—“I take it, he’s not going to break up with her, then?”
Kol drops his head. “She’s not someone easily discarded, alpha. I myself am not sure I could give her up.”
“That good, huh?” I ask. A little curtly.
“She’s spectacular. She is so sure of herself. She knows herself so well. She knows exactly what she wants and will tell you. She seemed to know exactly what I could offer her, too. I was her slave.”
There’s a long pause as the three of us all hum in one note. We all think that’s nice.
“Would she…” Oscar asks, then pauses, clears his throat, “Would she like to be chased, do you think?”
All the air is suddenly sucked out of the room, and Kol and I sit there with our mouths open. Our resident virgin just asked us if Mads’s girlfriend would be into him chasing her down and fucking her.
His face goes a little pink.
“Chased?” I manage to ask.
He nods.
I guess Oscar’s thought about what he likes.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe our scent match omega is a bunny in the moonlight, Oscar. Or maybe it’s this omega, what’s her name?” I ask.
“Cadi,” Kol answers.
“Either way, let’s find the girl from the soirée first. Then we will go from there.” I’m not usually the most practical person in this pack. The bite must have screwed with their brains.
I decide they need me.
I get them out of the bathroom and tell them to get dressed.
I don’t want to ruin the moment by telling them they probably can never have Cadi. Our omega most likely wouldn’t be comfortable with that. Two female omegas in the same pack?
Unheard of.
Kol insists on Oscar wearing his clothes.
He brings over a pair of sweatpants and a shirt to Oscar’s room and tells him he must wear it.
Oscar is bigger than Kol, so the clothes are a tight fit.
I stand in the doorway, enjoying watching him tug at the bottom of the shirt that does not cover his belly button. Kol looks pleased.
“Did the bite affect your bond to each other?” I ask.
Oscar shakes his head. “No, but I feel really good. Like I’ve had a good day or talked with a pretty girl.”
“I feel grand!” Kol says, hands on his hips.
Well, that’s good. We haven’t had too many good days since our timeline has been coming to a quick end, so this is good.
“I hope it makes a mark,” Kol says quietly. Oscar looks down at his arm. I hope it does, too. I’m worried if it fades, it’ll make Kol sad. And then he says, “I’m sleeping in here tonight.”
That makes sense. I leave them to it.
I crash on the couch, and the waft of blood on the air comes from the chair nearby. River water and blood, along with the scent of their pheromones—joy, pain, connectiveness, love, and peace. It’s a strange cocktail.
I want to know more about what happened tonight, so I text Mads.
Locke: Hey, Kol is home.
Mads: I just got home myself.
Locke: That seems late.
Mads: I took Cadi home first. I walked home from there.
I look at my watch. That fucker.
Locke: It was far, wasn’t it?
Mads: It’s fine.
Locke: Kol said he was going to buy you a car. I’m guessing you rejected him?
He doesn’t reply. And no ellipses pop up.
Locke: I heard that you and he were with your girlfriend. And that things progressed.
Still no reply.
Maybe I’m being nosey.
Locke: I hope you have a good day with Oscar tomorrow. He’s the best person I know. Be nice to him.
I’m about to toss my phone away from me when a ping chimes.
Mads: I will. Goodnight, Locke.