Chapter 25 After Glow
After Glow
Acadia
The haze of my heat is clearing. Oscar’s cock is no longer knotted in me, but he’s holding me tight in his arms. I’m curled between him and Kol.
My hand is holding onto Locke’s shoulder.
Even though Kol is basically asleep, his lips are on my bond mark, and his tongue licks it every once in a while.
My beta is on Locke’s other side. He’s turned away from us.
The omega in me doesn’t like that.
There is a space between him and Locke. Mads is hugging a pillow at the edge of my nest. A little tendril of jealousy climbs through me. I huff out a breath. I can’t believe I’m jealous of a pillow.
But why is he holding a pillow? He could be holding Locke. Or me. I’m going to eject that pillow from this nest. It’s an offensive pillow. It’s no longer allowed here with us.
“What got you so worked up, omega?” Oscar asks with his deep, morning voice.
I sigh. My moment of jealousy is already waning. That was weird.
“Mads is too far away from us,” I explain.
He picks his head up and sees what I see. He moves overtop the three of us until he can grab onto Mads.
“Get over here.” We all feel the alpha bark in his voice.
It doesn’t work on betas, but it wakes Mads up all the same.
He looks dazed. Then he looks at the pillow, confused.
To my surprise, he drops the pillow off the edge and onto the ground, then turns to us.
Locke wraps his arm around Mads and brings him in even closer. Oscar moves back into his old position.
Satisfaction hums through me and the bond.
We’ve been vibrating on the same level since Mads and Locke came back. It’s been a beautiful expression of care and love…and fluids.
I wish I knew what time it was. I wish there was natural light in here. It’s a reminder that this isn’t my nest, but we are in a hotel. I look at my men lying before me, relaxed and in repose, and it may not be my nest, but this is my pack. I’ve never felt more connected to alphas before.
Oscar, the handsome man that he is, stretches next to me.
His eyes keep closing, and there’s a small smile on his lips.
He offers me everything I wanted from an alpha.
A strong leader, someone who can make decisions when I need that, and also, Oscar sees me.
He’s dialed himself into my frequency, so when he makes a decision for me, it’s one I would make for myself, and not to control me or bend me to his desires.
He takes his time to smell my pheromones, look at my body language, and hear the words I’m speaking, and then acts accordingly.
He knew when I needed a knot. When I needed him to keep going.
He knew when Kol needed to be there. The freedom I got to experience because I knew someone was taking care of me—that is incredible.
Kol is on my other side. I’ve never seen this much love shining out from an alpha before. He loves his pack. He loves whom he chooses, and he chose me. He’s too much. And I want too much. I want him to never stop. To beg, to give, to bite, and bleed.
Kol is hungry all the time. He knows what’s good and wants it as much as possible. His ambition, even during a heat, where we are brought to the edge, should be studied. He found edges of my desire I didn’t even know could be challenged. I never had to hold back. He fueled all my fire, endlessly.
Locke doesn’t look as relaxed as I want him to.
I make my way over naked limbs, avoiding hurting any of the four cocks that may get in my way, so I can lie atop my scent match.
Kol grabs me and pulls me across him once he realizes what I’m doing.
Locke is totally asleep, but his eyebrows are all scrunched up.
I press my thumb gently between his eyebrows, trying to get the muscles to relax.
His lips tighten up instead. This is no good.
I kiss the corners of his mouth. He sighs, so I kiss his jaw and chin.
Finally, his face relaxes, and then his hands come up to stroke my back.
“Omega,” he hums.
Everyone starts stirring.
My body kind of wants to get up and shower. The men are also getting fidgety.
“It’s over, huh?” I ask and lay my head on Locke’s chest. He plays with my hair.
“I could go another round,” Kol says, and Oscar playfully hits his shoulder.
“No.”
I laugh and then detach myself from my boys. Oscar helps me get to my feet. I look down at my sex-addled body. I’m so proud of my first proper heat. My pack looks at me with adoration, shimmering in their eyes. I’ve never felt more beautiful.
“Wow,” Locke says, and I smile for him.
I lean down and kiss his lips. He embraces me. I then kiss each one of them. I end with Mads, who runs his knuckles down my cheek.
“That was amazing. Thank you,” I say to Mads.
“You’re amazing.”
“Kol, how’re you?” A few days ago, he was close to turning feral.
“I’m doing fantastic.” And I believe that. He looks so clear-eyed. I turn to the youngest alpha.
“Locke?”
“I’ve never been better.”
“Oscar?”
“Wonderful.”
“Mads?”
He takes a deep breath. “I’m in some pain. But I’m ok.”
Kol slides off the bed, on a mission to find his meds and probably some food. I love that they care for each other. It makes me feel better as their omega, knowing they have each other.
Kol comes back in with some Saltine packets, a bottle of water, and medication. He kisses me on the top of my head, hands the things to Mads, who sits up to take what he needs. He also has a can of lime seltzer. Giddy to taste the cool, fizzy water, I shimmy to a sitting position and crack it open.
Kol leaves to go get more things.
“You guys came back.”
Locke pulls himself to the wall and leans back against it. Kol returns with protein shakes that he hands out to all of us. Mine is blueberry.
“Thank you,” I say. He kisses me again. I sip my seltzer and close my eyes in pleasure of the lime and bubbles.
“I have something very important to say, and I don’t know how to say it.
” I get everyone’s attention and then wait until I see Locke and Mads look at me straight.
“You two smell so bad. Like you were at the zoo. And a really smelly gym. There’s a lot going on.
While we did a great job showering, you have to know, it’s still there. ”
Mads buries his face in his hands in shame, and Kol laughs.
Locke stands up and pulls Mads out of the nest.
“To the shower beta!”
They are out of the nest and in the en suite bathroom before I turn to my naughty alphas.
“Two things—how did they make it back to us, and where the hell is the omega?”
Oscar shakes his head.
“We haven’t talked. They got here and went right to you. They’d been feeling your heat for two days. They needed you.” He takes a deep breath, sounding a little lost. “The omega isn’t with them, but she’s still bonded to us.”
I can feel her. Like she’s standing behind me, but if I turn, no one is there. I like to watch vintage Chinese movies, and the handsome businessman will have a wife who’s really a ghost. She’s our ghost wife.
“What’re we going to do?”
Oscar shakes his head, and Kol pulls me close to him.
“I don’t have that answer, mi amor.”
Locke bonded her. We technically have two omegas in this pack.
I don’t know how I feel about that, except there’s a small thrill.
And a desire to have everyone together. I’ve never seen two female omegas in a pack myself.
Two female omegas. There’s a sixth member of my pack not here…
no, don’t be possessive over her. She was forced into her bond. Aurora might not want to be here.
“It’ll heal,” Oscar says of the bond. “It’ll fade. It’ll dissolve. She’s in Salt Port. Locke is here. I can use my influence over this pack to help dissolve the bond.”
A hand slips into mine, and I look up to Kol, who smiles warmly at me.
For a moment, it feels like he shares the same thoughts about this situation.
He and I get it. Aurora isn’t the bad guy here.
She’s a victim. She’s an omega who needs all the love and support she can get.
She’s had enough people hurting her or otherwise mistreating her, and she won’t get that from us.
She would never get that from me.
I wonder where she’s at. If she’s safe. If she’s ok.
I want to ask, but it’s probably best we move on.
Mads and Locke leave the bathroom in search of clean clothes.
“I need a shower, too, you know,” I say, and Kol picks me up off the bed and carries me to the shower, laughing.