Chapter 22 Hastings
Hastings
The room was quiet except for the soft rhythm of Etienne's steady inhales against her hair, and of Fritz's occasional murmur in his sleep.
Moonlight filtered through the half-drawn curtains, casting silver across the tangled nest. Presley lay curled between us, her body finally still after the frenzy of her heat.
Her scent had mellowed into something warmer, deeper—pack-scented, claimed in every way but the one that mattered most.
And why I couldn’t sleep.
My mind kept replaying the way she'd whispered she wanted all of us. It always remembered something else. And now my alpha instincts gnawed at me. The mating gland at the base of her neck had swelled during her heat, flushed and sensitive every time one of us grazed it with our teeth.
We'd held back. Of course, I’d never wanted to sink my teeth into an omega’s neck in the past. Not one omega had ever done that to me.
Until her.
I shifted carefully, trying not to disturb her. My arm was draped over her waist, fingers splayed across her stomach. The thought of a baby had lingered since we met her and now she could be nine months from giving us what we wanted from the start.
It seemed strange now, though. Somehow the woman we’d fucked for three days straight was the only thought in my mind. For some reason, I'd buried the surge of want deep, where it couldn't complicate things.
A soft sound pulled me from my thoughts.
Presley gently took my fingers and moved them until they were on my hip. Then she slipped from the nest. Her bare feet tip toed across the carpet.
I opened my eyes fully and watched her silhouette moving back and forth at the foot of the bed. She was gloriously naked. Her hair was wild, tousled from sleep and everything we'd done. She wrapped her arms around herself, hips swaying slightly as she walked, like her body couldn't settle.
I sat up slowly. Etienne stirred but didn't wake. Fritz rolled over, arm searching for her warmth and finding only blankets.
"Presley," I whispered.
She froze, turning toward me. Her eyes were glassy, and her pupils wide again. A faint flush crept up her neck.
"I need... more," she murmured, voice husky, almost pleading. She took a step closer, thighs pressing together.
My cock stirred instantly, hardening against my thigh.
"Just once more," she whispered, coming closer but staying standing at the edge of the nest.
Her hand found my chest, fingers curling into the hair there. She was burning. No doubt, residual heat. It happened sometimes after a heat. Sometimes the waves lingered.
"I need to be knotted again. My body... it's crying out for it."
The words hit me like a punch. Her scent already coated the air. The vanilla, leather, cedarwood and the smell of fresh rain in the air, partly sweet, partly earthy, but it was her arousal blooming again.
I glanced at my pack mates who were still asleep. If we started here, we'd wake them. The nest would turn into another frenzy, and she was sore. We'd all seen to that.
I caught her wrist gently. “I might help for you to shower first," I said, keeping my voice low. "You're sticky. Let me clean you up."
Her lips parted, a small whine escaping, but she nodded.
I stood, scooping her up easily. Presley was small in height. She had curvy hips and boobs but still she weighed nothing in my arms. I carried her out of the bedroom, down the hall to the en-suite bathroom in my wing. The door clicked shut behind us, soft enough not to echo.
I set her down on the wide counter, turning on the lights to dim. Steam began to fill the space as I started the water, testing the temperature with my hand.
She watched me, legs dangling, revealing the slick glistening on her inner thighs. "Hastings..."
"Shh." I reached for her and we stepped into the shower, letting the water cascade over us. The water soaked her hair, running in rivulets down her breasts, her stomach, between her legs.
I grabbed the body wash. It was neutral, unscented, and now I was glad of that because her natural smell was everything.
After lathering my hands, I started slowly, massaging the tension from her muscles in her arms and shoulders.
She sighed, leaning into me, head tipping back as I worked down her arms, her sides.
"Good?" I murmured against her ear.
She nodded, eyes half-closed. "So good."
I turned her gently, washing her back in long strokes, thumbs pressing into the knots along her spine.
She arched slightly, a soft moan escaping when I reached the curve of her ass.
My hands slid lower, soaping her thighs, careful because she’d have bruises from three alphas who weren’t always gentle with her.
She parted her legs without prompting, inviting. I knelt slightly, hands gliding up the backs of her thighs, thumbs brushing the sensitive skin where her leg met the cheek.
"Hastings," she breathed again, pushing back just a fraction. "More."
"Not yet." I kept it tender, washing her calves, her feet, then standing to turn her around again until we were face to face under the spray.
“Please–”
I tried to ignore her pleas as I soaped her breasts with slow circles around her nipples until they pebbled hard. She whimpered, hands coming up to brace against my chest. Down her stomach, fingers tracing the soft swell where Etienne had lingered so often today.
And then between her legs.
I was careful. Gentle. The cloth wasn't needed; my hands were enough. I cupped her mound first, letting the water rinse away the suds before sliding lower. Parting her folds with my thumbs, cleaning the slick that still coated her.
She trembled, thighs clenching.
"Please," she whispered. "I need more."
I kept washing, slow and thorough, like this was just care. Nothing more. My fingers glided over her clit, light pressure, cleaning but not teasing. She bucked anyway, a frustrated sound escaping.
Then her hand slammed over mine, pressing my palm harder against her pussy.
"Touch me," she demanded, voice breaking. "I know you're a pack, but they'll understand.”
“Of course they will.”
“Then, I'm an omega who needs more. It's your fault anyway. This was my first time with a pack. My first heat with real alphas, not just my dildos."
The words ignited something feral in me. My cock throbbed, fully hard now, brushing her thigh.
"You want a baby, don't you?" she pushed, eyes locking on mine, bratty challenge in her tone. "Then fuck me."
"Omega," I warned, voice low and rough, alpha command threading through it.
She didn't back down. If anything, her chin lifted higher, a spark of defiance in those blue eyes. "I just need a little more."
Fuck.
I dropped the pretense. Slipped two fingers inside her without warning.
She groaned as my thick fingers curled to stroke a spot that made her knees buckle. Her head dropped back against the tile with a thud, a loud moan echoing off the marble.
Water pounded around us as I pumped slowly, deliberately. Her walls fluttered, slick coating my hand, mixing with the shower spray.
"How does it feel with my thick fingers inside you?" I growled, leaning in close, lips brushing her ear. "Is it enough, Presley? Or do you need something bigger to stretch this greedy little pussy?"
She swallowed hard, eyes fluttering open to meet mine. "I need more," she panted. "I need your knot."
That was it.
My hands almost spanned her waist as I lifted her effortlessly, pinning her against the cool tile wall. Her legs wrapped around my hips instinctively, ankles locking at my back.
I held her there one-handed for a moment, looking at her, before guiding my cock to her entrance with my free hand.
One thrust. It was deep and brutal as I buried myself to the hilt.
She cried out, nails digging into my shoulders. “That’s it.”
Our eyes locked, unblinking. The moment was intense as water streamed down our faces, and her hair plastered to her cheeks.
"You're mine now," I rasped, pulling back and slamming in again. The slap of wet skin echoed.
Her pussy clenched around me, hot and slick and perfect.
"I want you," she whispered, voice trembling with need. "All of you."
"Then what do you have to do?" I coaxed, slowing my thrusts to deep grinds, rolling my hips to drag against every sensitive inch inside her. "Show me, Presley. Present for your alpha. Let me claim what's mine."
I wanted her more than I could ever let her know. I wanted this four scented omega. She was rarer than she realized. And it was rarer that she matched with a four scent alpha. Me.
Which made her mine.
She hesitated only a second, breath hitching.
"My knot's aching for you," I continued, voice dropping to a darker tone. "I’m swelling already. I need to lock myself inside this tight cunt, pump you full of my cum. Coat your walls, breed you deep. Put my baby in you."
Her eyes widened, pupils blowing outward making her blue eyes look fully black now. She stared at me for a long moment—searching, deciding.
Then she tilted her head back, lifting her chin high, exposing the swollen scent gland at the base of her neck.
She offered it to me. She presented me with her neck.
And I wasn’t going to turn her down.
I didn't wait.
My eyes closed for a moment as I ran my tongue over my teeth. But it was the roar that left my throat as my teeth sank into her flesh with a hard, piercing, claiming, that shocked me.
I felt it. The bond everyone talked about snapped into place like lightning, flooding me with her emotions.
She wanted trust and love, but I also felt her overwhelming pleasure.
She screamed, her body convulsing as the bond sealed. At the same exact moment, my knot swelled fully, catching at her entrance before popping inside with a wet stretch. I ground deep, roaring against her neck as I came—pulse after thick pulse, flooding her, breeding her exactly as I'd promised.
Her pussy milked me endlessly as her walls rippled around my knot, tying us together. The bond hummed between us, and her pleasure echoed in my chest.
I held her there against the wall, still buried deep, knot throbbing, mouth sealed over the fresh claim mark with her pulse racing under my lips. The metallic taste of her blood tinged my tongue, mingled with her scents.
The water continued to pour, steam thick around us.
She clung to me, soft whimpers escaping as aftershocks trembled through her. My arms tightened, holding her close, knot still locking us.
The bond sang between us. And it was perfect, unbreakable, but the others…
I'd claimed her. Alone. Without the pack.
Fuck. What have I done?
They'd feel it when they woke up. We always agreed to claim our omega together. We agreed it was a moment to be shared, or at least discussed.
I'd lost control and taken what my alpha demanded without thinking of them.
But she was mine.
She was ours.
And I'd just complicated everything.