Chapter 47 Red
Chapter forty-seven
Red
My heart lodges in my throat as the two soaked, bedraggled alphas limp toward the porch. Rickon squeezes my hand as they come through the gate, leaving dark footprints on the pavers.
Zack looks up, and his smile melts me right through the middle. “Ohm-ee-ga, meet new pack alpha.”
Emotion burns up my throat as I reach both hands for Callisto. We’ve had such a long road to get here. I’m too shaky to speak, so I take his tie from around my neck and transfer it back to Callisto, tying it like a bow with quivery hands.
He grins and tugs me to his chest, making me gasp from the touch of cold water.
He shivers all over from the exertion, and his right cheek swells along with several bruises on his arms. The wet fabric clings to his clock tattoos, the dark lines branding my name on his skin—marking the time of our first meeting.
This time, there’s no rejection.
“I said I’d come back, beautiful,” he whispers in my ear. “Here I am.”
“Took you long enough, alpha,” I murmur.
He spasms, fists tightening in the back of my loose sweater.
His cherry wood scent floods me, natural and sweet, soothing after the strain of watching my men fight.
From the bond, I learned Zack wasn’t angry, but he was serious.
I don’t fully understand it, but it felt like he pushed Calli to his limits on purpose, intentionally searching for a breaking point.
But whatever happened between them, Callisto’s presence is now stronger and clearer.
“Red,” he breathes, voice rasping. “I’m yours, Red.” He releases me enough to draw one arm back and reaches for Rickon. “And yours, Ricky.”
Rickon chokes as he throws himself into Callisto’s hug, squeezing the three of us together.
Callisto convulses, panting for breath as the rush hits us all.
Finally, everything is back to how fate designed us to be.
The voice in my head sighs quietly and fades as Callisto tucks his arm around my waist.
Thinking about the wild ride we’ve been on clogs my throat. I smack Callisto’s back. “You’re forgiven, but you’re not getting off easy with this,” I grumble.
Calli laughs. “Understood.”
I chuckle and grasp his cheeks, tugging him down for a kiss. He tastes of chlorine and blood, and a hint of vodka from his drink on the plane. But more than anything, he tastes of my future. Our lips splash together, curved by smiles as the joyful reality sinks in.
“Red, I . . .”
“Me first,” I say, leaning back to see his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t try to understand your work. I think . . . if I’d been able to express myself better, we wouldn’t have had such a hard road.”
His eyes widen and his fists clench in my shirt. He soaks in the apology before dropping a kiss on my hair. “I’m sorry too, Red. And Rickon. I’ll fuck up again in the future, I’m sure. But can we work through it together?”
I nod, a lump in my throat.
His arms squeeze tighter. Suddenly he bends and lifts me off my feet. I squeal as he carts me up onto the rear deck and into the house. Inside, the rooms shine with pale yellow wood, warm lights, and beautifully crafted stonework, complemented with modern fixtures and serene landscape wall art.
Calli carries me up the stairs to a massive main bedroom with a custom four-poster bed hung with gauzy fabric.
Sunset paints the sky a dazzling array of reds and oranges out the floor to ceiling windows, lighting up the forests and mountains beyond.
Rickon squeezes by to turn lights on, including a set of fairy lights running around the bedposts.
My alpha sets me down on the bed, eyes burning with love. I roll to one side and grab a towel. “Kneel,” I say, voice rough with emotion. He’s finally mine.
Callisto obeys, settling between my feet. Gently, I rub the towel through his wet hair, drying the excess. “You remember our deal, right?” I ask. “If you’re mine, you do as I say, even if it breaks you.”
“I remember.” He smiles. “But you have to play with the pieces.”
I nod and slide my hands down his shoulders to his buttons.
One by one, I release them, baring his chest. The soggy shirt sticks to his skin, revealing the twin clock tattoo, dark hair on his chest, and the faint outline of abs.
I know this body well after our sex scene, but this time is different.
I trace the lines possessively as I peel the shirt off him and throw it aside.
This time, he’s really mine.
Glancing around, I find Zack’s caged Rickon in his arms against the wall, the big alpha watching me with a smirk on his lips. His approval shines through the bond, melting me from the inside. My alphas won’t be at odds with each other any longer.
Ricky tends to Zack’s skinned knuckles, dabbing blood away while watching Callisto surreptitiously from the corner of his eye. His cock tents his pants, and his hands tremble. He’s hanging in the balance, anxiously wondering how this pack’s going to arrange itself.
Not on my watch, Rickon.
When I put pressure under Callisto’s arms, he rises to his feet.
He stares at me, chest heaving as I undo his belt.
His stomach twitches as I brush my fingers over his navel before slipping down to his pants’ clasp.
The mass under my knuckles hardens as I release the zipper.
Scent thickens in the air: the vanilla, baked bread, cherry wood, and honey macadamia pooling in an intoxicating mix.
“Callisto,” I murmur as I roll the wet pants down his thighs.
“Yes, Red?”
“I have an order for you.”
He leans down, one hand braced on my thigh and his lips an inch from mine. “Anything.”
I press my mouth to his, heat exploding over our lips. He shifts his hand to the back of my head, holding me close as he ravages my mouth. Our breaths collide. As much as my body burns to take him, I want something else even more.
I grip his hair to lift his head. “Go strip Rickon down and make love to him like he’s the most precious being in the universe.”
Rickon sputters. “Red!” he protests. “He should be with you.”
“He will be,” I reply. “But you loved Calli a long time before I even met him.”
Callisto gets a look in his eye like all his wildest dreams are coming true. “And here I thought you’d ask me something difficult,” he murmurs, stroking my jaw.
I grin and give him a tiny push.
Callisto resists me, dropping another kiss on my lips. “Will you be okay?”
“Oh yes. I plan to watch. Very closely.” A soft pant drops from my parted lips as I anticipate what’s coming.
He captures my hand and drops a kiss on my palm, his eyes promising he’ll be back. I can’t fully explain it, but their healing is my healing. I want Calli and Rickon to be one and whole before I take my last alpha into my body.
Zack leaves Rickon and circles the bed, sliding in at my back. As Callisto steps back, Zack’s arms circle around me. “Ohm-ee-ga takes good care of her alphas,” Zack murmurs near my ear. “Me thinks she loves them lots.”
Heat flares in my cheeks. “I do.”
“What about this alpha?” he asks, fingers massaging my stomach.
Fuck, when did he learn to be so sly? I spin, breaking his grip, and slide my arms around his body. “So much, Zack. I missed you more than I can say.”
He chuckles, the vibrations running through my cheek planted on his wet chest. “Me missed more. Missed Red.” My name in his mouth sounds so good. “Missed Ri-ckon. Missed Cal-ee, too.” He tugs me up onto his crossed legs and leans his chin on my shoulder to watch Callisto approach our first alpha.