Chapter 23
Iwas forced, cuffed to workout apparatus, to watch as Knight turned from sexy hunk of topless Alpha, to glistening sexy hunk of topless Alpha, as if that was going to help me get my head on straight.
Kyan had sent my fragile hormones completely haywire, and I would be lying if I said I was crossing my legs so tight because I was cold. I’d bared my neck to Knight, like a desperate Omega in heat. I’d never done that to an alpha in my life.
But boxing in front of me? This was getting out of hand.
I needed to get out of here.
I watched with a scowl as Zed appeared. He stopped in the living area doorframe, narrowed eyes fixed on me, then crossed to Knight like he was on a mission.
I wrinkled my nose as they argued—clearly about me, since they were hissing under their breaths like angry snakes.
As I watched, Knight threw up his arms, no longer lowering his voice. “I would say this is a bad plan, but I’m starting to wonder if you know what those words mean when they come out of my mouth.”
“She’s right about the heat,” Zed said. “Lock her up and she’ll go into it instantly. Kyan’s using it as an excuse to go behind her back?—”
“It’s gonna fuck with our heads a million times more if she’s wandering about like this is her home.”
Uh… what? I glanced between them. “You could just… let me go?—”
“No!” both of them snapped at the same time, glaring at me with furious expressions.
“Put her in the fucking room, lock the door, and take all the keys away from Kyan.”
Zed was shaking his head.
“Did you forget what she did?” Knight demanded.
“As if I could?—”
“What about Kyan—you know what she did to him.”
Zed paused, jaw ticking as he stared at Knight, and I saw a shadow cross his face.
“What?” I asked.
Silence hung between them, neither looking at me.
“What happened?—?”
“Don’t.”Knight’s voice was more dangerous than I’d ever heard it. He still wouldn’t look at me.
I got to my feet, staring at him.
“Knight,” Zed hissed. “None of this gets better if she goes into heat. We can’t actually keep her in that cell.”
Silence followed, and Zed stepped toward me, reaching up and unhooking the rope that was keeping me here. I tugged it free around the cuffs, still looking at Knight, whose jaw was firmly clenched.
Zed nodded his head in a ‘follow me’ motion and stepped away.
Right. Okay, I guess I was just expected to do what I was told at this point.
With a scowl, I listened because the alternative was him dragging me by the damned cuffs.
He led me back to the room, grabbing something black and small from the counter on the way, but I couldn’t see what it was.
“Here’s the deal,” he said once we were in. He tossed the black thing at me, then dug in his pocket and produced a key. “You can come out of this room, but only if you wear this.” I frowned, trying to understand what I was looking at as he undid my cuffs at last.
“A… collar?”
“Perimeter spans the warehouse.”
“Perimeter?” I asked. Like a… I blinked, mouth going dry. “A shock collar?”
Zed shrugged. “We use it for Kyan’s ruts if we have to be out. If it works for him, I can be damned sure you won’t be going anywhere.”
“Is this a joke?”
“You can always stay in here.” He shrugged, folding his arms as he watched my expression with a little too much satisfaction. “I’m not forcing you.”
I stared at him, entirely lost for words. “You’re just trapping me in a tiny room?—”
“Nope.” He snorted. “We’re not doing this whole thing where you pretend you didn’t get us involved with Brotherhood shit without telling us. Pout all you want. That”—he pointed at the collar—“is your call. Knock on this door if you decide you want out.” With that, he vanished, shutting the door behind him.
I looked down at the collar in my hands. It was black, and made of leather, with a little device attached at the front. It looked like as soon as it closed it would need a key to undo it.
This was… well, it was madness.
I touched my neck, trying to unclench my jaw as I stared at it.
It wasn’t just madness… It was kind of… a claim, as twisted as that was.
Oh.
I needed to get a grip. So did my body. At the thought of it, slick was pooling between my thighs.
I really needed help.
It took her less than a day.
Less than a fucking day for her to knock on that door to be let out.
It was midmorning when it happened, and I glared at Zed as he crossed toward it, wanting to stab him for the little spike of smugness that shot through the pack bond.
When she stepped out, I couldn’t help but stare, every Alpha instinct going rabid.
Our house. Our collar. Our fucking Omega.
Zed knew I had a thing for collars, dammit. It’s why Kyan wore the golden choker everywhere—and I always had a chain on my belt.
Fuck.
Me.
She looked nervous as she stepped out, as if she were looking at a whole new home.
I found it endlessly frustrating that despite her spiky exterior, I would occasionally catch glimpses of vulnerability that looked so real. Like there was another person beneath the crazy Omega cunt who’d left us in the dust.
I didn’t just hate that I sometimes—for the slightest flicker—believed in that side of her. I hated that I wanted to.
Her eyes found mine, and she examined me. I was frozen, a spoon of cereal halfway to my mouth. She was so stupidly pretty, even in black sweatpants, a simple tank top and hoodie, sleeves to her knuckles, and thick hair tied up in a messy bun.
Great.
What was there to worry about? It was only the hottest Omega on the whole fucking planet, wearing our collar, about to flit around our home and make it hers.
Would she start nesting?
I mean, if she did, I had a lot of pillows—not like Zed. Maybe, would she want?—?
No.
Goddammit.
I torched the thought with a flamethrower.
If Glade started nesting in our home, I would lose all of my self-control. Even now, as she stepped out in her fluffy socks covered in… I squinted… was that a bunny pattern? How infuriatingly cute. I just wanted to scoop her up and cuddle her. Or bend her over the table. It was really hard to decide which called to me more, actually.
She wasn’t nearly as innocent as her bunny socks would let on, not inside the bedroom or out. Half my dreams were filled with memories of banging her, and damn if she didn’t like it rough with my teeth at her neck while I made her beg for me… She liked that, too… being made to beg while I held out…
Real-life collar-and-bunny-socks Glade, cocked an eyebrow.
I lowered my spoon to my bowl, scowling as I realised I’d been staring at her like a maniac for fuck knew how long. My pupils were probably blown, my scent giving me away.
I cleared my throat. “The collar’s a fucking stupid plan,” I muttered, mostly to Zed, who was also staring like an idiot from the kitchen where he’d returned to his eggs.
They were burning by the smell of it.
Glade’s smile was dazzling, her fingers trailing the stupid black piece on her neck.
Lovely.
I’d forgotten what a brat she was, too. Almost as bad as Kyan. The plan was to ignore her. No nesting. No pillows. No nothing. She wasn’t here to stay.
How long was she going to be here?
If this was a Brotherhood issue? Well, there wasn’t a clock on that… We were pretty well hidden from them. We’d worked hard to keep our heads low.
But things were different. She all but had a bounty on her head.
“Oasis?”Kyan’s voice carried from up in his pad. He was staring down at her, eyes wide.
Fuck.
It took him seconds to slip down and hurry over to her.
“You tasered me,” he said, hands weaving around her waist as he drew her close.
She shifted uncomfortably, meeting my eyes for a moment like she wasn’t sure what to say.
“You’re so fucking perfect,” he breathed, nudging her chin up. I found myself irritated that she didn’t fight him, letting him draw her into an intense kiss which ended with his hand cupping her throat. “You’re wearing our collar?” he asked when he drew away. “That’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
I swear her pupils blew as she looked up at him.
Nope, scratch that, they definitely did, because her cream cardamon scent hit the air like a sex drug.
I got to my feet, scowling, but Kyan didn’t seem to notice. He’d picked her up, getting a cute little squeak from her, and then dropped them both onto the couch. Kyan was beneath her, and lifting her easily until?—
“Fuck, dude,” I growled, stepping back.
I met Zed’s eyes, but he winced, looking back at them.
Could Kyan give us a break?
Apparently not, because he was tugging her sweatpants down and dragging her hips right over his face.
I groaned for a very different reason than she did, backing toward the outer room. It was hard—the hardest thing I’d ever done—shutting the door on her desperate little whines as Kyan dragged that all-too-sexy tongue ring of his across her centre.
I hated them all.
A very odd day went by in which I lived in the home of my mates. Not locked in a room, but… with them?
Despite Kyan’s penchant for dispelling my nerves via rather pushy orgasms at random times of the day, I was an anxious bundle, constantly torn between curling up on the couch with Lucy and trying to pretend I wasn’t there, and attempting to start normal(ish) conversations with my mates.
I dared edge over to Knight while he was cooking that evening, silently joining him in the kitchen as he made mac and cheese.
That was my favourite. He… he knew that, didn’t he?
Why was he making it?
Maybe he just had a craving.
Plus, I wasn’t expecting them to cook for me, so I’d begun my own meal. The plan, awkwardly, had been Kraft Dinner…
I stirred my pot, dissolving powder in butter rather nervously, trying not to glance up at the hulking Alpha to my left as he checked on his real-pasta-mac-and-cheese.
It looked and smelled delicious. Like, I wasn’t one to turn my nose up at Kraft Dinner, but Knight could make a good fucking mac and cheese.
Lucy wound around our legs as we cooked, seeming to have taken to all of my Alphas—the Alphas—quickly, which was surprising because she was a nervous thing.
I served myself up my Kraft and made for my table. Before I could take a step, though, Knight had plucked the bowl from my hand, opened the garbage with his foot and dumped my whole meal in there.
I stared at it, lips parted in shock.
I was really fucking hungry.
A little hiss of fury rose in my throat before I saw him set the bowl down beside the three others he was serving into.
He didn’t look at me once, but my bowl did end up on the table with a really tasty meal in it—and he gave me an extra large portion, which I was really ashamed to admit, made me tear up as I stared at it.
I didn’t look at any of them while I ate, knowing I might crack if I did. Kyan’s arm was around my waist, though, a slight joyful edge to his lightning storm scent as we all ate in silence.
After we were done, I washed my dish, trying and failing to fight my instincts. Carefully, I snuck it into my room and tucked it inside the cupboard in the bathroom.
Knighthad given me that bowl and spoon. And made me food. I stared at the objects for a long time, pleading with myself to just take it back to the fucking kitchen like a normal person. Instead, when I picked it up to do just that, I found myself nuzzling it with a scent mark instead.
Fuck me.
I had to close the door on it after that. No choice. But if they went looking, then they’d find it, and then what?
They’d make fun of me.
My lip trembled. I didn’t know if I could handle that. But I was nearing heat, and my nesting instincts were getting out of hand, so I shut it away, my heart settling as I returned to the living room.
They’d given me a collar. Twisted as that was, it was a claim, and it was making me possessive over this place.
That was all.
Nothing else.
Over the next few hours I slipped one of Kyan’s bracelets off his wrist without him noticing, and snuck into Zed’s room to grab a ring from his drawer. He loved his rings so much.
I placed them beneath the sink in the bathroom with the bowl, something loosening in my chest as I closed the door on them once more.
It was balanced and even. All of them were in there. Safe and mine.