Chapter 24
Zed was a genius.
The collar meant we could keep her. Like—properly, actually keep her as we should. Locking her in a room was doing none of us any good.
After dinner, I had to go up to my room to make sure we were still safe. I had a pretty good grip on Brotherhood movements, but I had a few blind spots.
Ace hadn’t been on my radar until Glade had chosen him, but ever since I’d watched closely. Taking the lead of the Brotherhood had shown a side of him I’d never seen before, and for so long, I’d believed it had been what drew Glade to him.
She was an Omega; it was in her nature to select a partner that could protect her. If she’d seen, before we had, the Alpha he’d revealed himself to be after he became head of the Brotherhood, it wasn’t inconceivable that she’d chosen him. Scent match or not, he was one of the most predatory Alphas I had ever witnessed, and she had been raised the same way we had.
Merciless and cruel were the traits we were taught, and that Omegas were taught to seek. When we’d fallen for her, we’d shown a softer side to us than we’d ever shown anyone, and for a long time, I’d grappled with if it was the right choice.
I knew I was drawn to her far more than I should be, but I was never normal… I’d convinced myself it meant more to me than it had to her.
When I’d gone through my list of checks, satisfied we were safe, I reappeared to find she’d fallen asleep on the couch. Naturally, I went to find her blankets from all of our rooms so she could sleep in our scents—as she should.
Knight caught me and tried to refuse, which made him more of a fool. I waited until he was asleep, then snuck into his room with the blanket she’d been buried in (after swapping them for mine and Zed’s), and held it near his face.
Even deep asleep, he frowned, reaching out and drawing it close. I only meant to get him to hold it for a while, but a rare purr had rumbled to life in his chest, and the next thing I knew, he’d scent-marked it.
Ha.
And the idiot thought we were going to be able to get rid of her? Not a goddamned chance. I hadn’t heard Knight purr since she’d left.
I was rewarded by the most beautiful smile on Glade’s face when I tucked her in with the last of the three blankets.
“What are you doing?” Zed’s voice drew me up, right as I was lifting my foot to clamber in behind her.
He was staring at us both.
“Tucking her in,” I said, like that was obvious.
“Are you giving her our scents?”
“She likes them.” I glanced down at her, then did a double take. She more than liked them, she’d almost vanished, the sweetest little hum of contentment sounding from the pile. I scrambled in behind her. She was burrowing without me?
Absolutely not.
I heard Zed’s footsteps approaching.
“You’re getting too close.”
“Uh… no. I’m not close enough.” That was obvious. Glade really liked it when our skin touched—I’d cottoned onto that when she was sleeping up in my bunk with me. Before I’d been tasered, she had snuggled close, breath hitching if contact between us ended for even a second.
To prove my point, I slipped beneath the first blanket.
Glade’s dainty hand surfaced from her burrow, finding my face, then my neck, and drawing me closer.
I smiled smugly.
Of course I was right.
“I’m coming, Oasis,” I told her, slipping beneath the blankets further and letting out a breath of relief as I felt her palms drop to my chest. I drew her into my arms, feeling her breathing slow as she curled up into my embrace.
“Her heat can’t be far,” I murmured, popping my head up and over the blankets to check Zed’s expression. He looked appropriately stunned as he watched us, and through the bond, I could feel his frustration keep cresting pitifully before it drowned to the much more potent envy that was eating him alive.
“She’s ours,” I said.
“She left us.”
“And now, she can’t.” What was hard about this?
We were Alphas, she was our Omega. We’d claimed her. Like I’d said, the collar was genius. They could stop being butthurt about the whole rejection thing.
Bump in the road, really.
“We can’t keep her collared forever.”
“Why not?” I asked. “It stops you and Knight from panicking every time she glances at the door—and she wants it.”
“Wants it?” Zed spluttered, loud enough that Glade visibly stirred, eyes blinking for a moment as she tilted her head toward the gap in the blankets around us. We both froze, keeping silent until she settled, relaxing back against me. Zed lowered his voice. “She does not.”
“Are you blind?”
Earlier I’d noticed she’d been unable to stop looking at my silver bracelet decorated with little leaves. There was such intensity in her gaze, pupils expanding, scent shifting to something possessive.
I tested my theory as we sat on the couch, flicking through channels, and tucked my hand in my pocket. The little growl she let out was swiftly covered with a cough, and Lucy, who was curled up on her lap, startled awake.
So, next I went to the bathroom and scent-marked in private. To my delight, she snuggled next to me on the couch when I’d returned.
She didn’t think I noticed as she slowly eased it off my wrist and stuffed it into her bra.
Bless.
After, she’d darted back to the cell under the guise of using the bathroom, and was almost glowing when she returned to burrow under my arm.
That was definitely nesting…
“Kyan.” Zed dragged me out of the pleasant memory. “She doesn’t want us.”
“She fucking well does,” I snorted.
I dared tug the top blanket down a little as I cupped her neck and collar from behind, thumb stroking her jaw. She whined, arms circling my chest and drawing me closer. “Good girl,” I murmured. “You’re ours, Baby, we’re not letting you go.”
I thought, if Omegas could purr, she would have—I mean, it was stupid they couldn’t. It would be so cute. But her beautiful stormy scent hit the air like a lightning strike, and she nuzzled closer to me, a very out of character whine slipping from her chest.
I brushed a knuckle along her cheek, my own purr rumbling to life. With each breath, I inhaled fresh rain, cool billowing wind, and my skin on hers was a spark of electricity. “You want us, don’t you, Oasis?” I whispered. “You just don’t know how to say it.”
I was missing a piece of the puzzle, still. I thought… Well, I had believed she’d chosen to leave us behind, but that was making less and less sense by the day.
Something was wrong… I had to find out what it was.
“You’re fucking delusional.” Zed’s tight expression was offset by the fact that his snow santal scent was almost as thick as hers.
I just flipped him off, though that made Glade whine, because it meant taking my hand from her neck. I replaced it, then tugged the blankets back over us so my fool of a pack leader didn’t get any more visual gifts he was yet to deserve.
Tonight was ours.
My purr began again as she nuzzled her head beneath my chin, and I felt the way she melted against me.
“No nightmares tonight, beautiful,” I whispered, closing my eyes in the darkness of the blankets.
He was wrong, it wasn’t me. Not this time.
Zed was the delusional one.