Raging Heat (Her Vicious Pack #2)

1. Caleb

1

Caleb

I keep Vera against me as tightly as possible, my pheromones flowing out, a low growl in my chest.

Nobody is going to hurt her.

Nobody.

I’ll give my life before any harm comes to her.

For the last six years, the fucker Vera was supposed to marry has been sending people after us, trying to get her back. But their methods were never lethal. They wanted to capture us alive.

Mathew was the first one to succeed. Only, since the bastard didn’t want to properly pay Mathew, he’s now dead.

Which the people from the fucker’s pack clearly don’t appreciate, and they now want the three of us dead too.

Shit escalated really quickly.

Mathew steps between us and Derrick, his voice controlled. “Check the perimeter and all the cameras. Replace them if there’s even a chance that they’ve been accessed by anyone but us. After that, return with Timothy.”

From the corner of my eyes I notice the way he keeps glancing our way, torn between wanting to be with us and taking charge of the situation.

“Will do.” Derrick leaves the office, already barking orders at his people, and as soon as the door closes behind him, Mathew puts his gun aside and comes over to us, wrapping his arms around us.

“I won’t let them hurt you.” His voice is rough and his pheromones are flowing from him, strong enough that I notice them mixing with ours, creating a cocoon of safety. “I won’t.”

“I don’t want to have to run again.” Vera moves slightly, looking up at Mathew, tears in her eyes.

“You won’t. You’re not going anywhere.” He looks at me. “Neither of you are.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “You can’t keep us locked up in here all the time either. This place might be very fancy, but even a fancy prison is still a prison.”

That makes him smile slightly. “I won’t. While I’d love to, I’m not like that. Not usually, anyway.” He lets out a long breath. “What would you think of becoming my personal security team?”

“What?” Vera steps from between us, seemingly back to herself now, as she looks up at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I can’t keep you locked up in here. And I won’t let you leave my side. So, what better way to make sure that you’re safe while also always within view?” He smiles at her more and then glances at me, questioning.

I pull up my shoulders. “Seeing as we agreed to do whatever you asked of us, if you want us to be your bodyguards, that’s what we’ll be. I don’t see why that would be a problem.”

It’s not like we’ve got much of a choice. We either do what he wants or we’re going to have a really rough time trying to repay him a million quid…

Mathew’s face falls and he takes a step back, looking away from us as emotions flash over his features. “It’s not a command. I wouldn’t command you to put your life in danger for me. I just… It’s the best way to keep you safe, and you’ve got a somewhat vested interest in keeping me alive too.”

He goes over to his desk and sits down in the chair, typing something on the keyboard and the pale light of the screen illuminates his face. He stares at the screen intently, like he’s purposefully not looking at us.

Vera glances my way, troubled, then takes my hand and pulls me along to the other side of the desk.

“If it’s not a command, what is it?” Her voice is soft, but firm.

“A request.” Mathew clicks on a few things and a new set of live feeds from the security cameras show up, giving us a good view of his teams checking each of them and also the rest of the property. The place really is massive.

Then he turns to us, not looking so sure. “It’s a request as your mate . Since I’m the one who got you into this mess, this is the best way I know how to protect you.” He shakes his head, glancing down, not meeting our eyes, and my heart hurts seeing him so dejected.

“You didn’t get us into this mess, Hubert Russell did. You know that.” Vera’s voice is stronger now. “If you want us with you at all times because we’re your mates, just say so. Don’t hide it behind ‘security threats’ or ‘keeping us safe’.”

Whoo. She’s not holding back, at all.

And she’s right.

Wanting us at his side because we’re his mates and wanting to keep us safe can look the same from the outside, but they’re not the same intention. And using one intention to get the results of the other one isn’t fair, on anyone.

“What else am I supposed to do? I can’t bond.” He balls his hands into fists on his lap, staring at them. “I can’t bond with you because I don’t go into heat. If you’re my ‘security team’, there’s at least a reason why you’re always with me. There’s at least a reason for you to always be at my side.”

Oh, no. Not that.

That’s not how we’re going to do things.

I slide my hand into his long hair, and turn his face so he’s looking my way properly. After I meet his surprised gaze, I kiss him, hard, letting him know that he’s mine. He’s my Omega, no matter what.

Mathew’s pheromones flare and, once again, they’re stronger than they were a couple of hours ago. Not as strong as Vera’s baseline levels, but still clearer than before.

When I break the kiss, we’re both out of breath. “If you’re worried about a bond mark, I’ll mark you when Vera goes into heat. If it doesn’t take the first time, I’ll mark you over and over, until it does. Do you hear me? I’ll mark you, and I’ll make sure it sticks.”

He nods slowly, his breath ragged, his eyes wide as he looks at me, his mouth ajar, showing off his lip piercings and the one in his tongue. Tempting me to play with all of them, curious how he’ll react.

Then he lets out a surprised gasp and when we both glance down, he’s got a red circle around one of his nipples and Vera is grinning up at us.

“I’ll mark you too, if you want to.” Her smile is bright and she looks so satisfied.

I can’t help my own grin. She’s so very possessive, has always been. My cute possessive Omega.

“I’d be honoured to wear your mark.” Mathew smiles at her and pulls her into his lap. “I’ll have it tattooed anywhere you’d like.”

Vera’s eyes shoot down and she raises an eyebrow as she looks up at him. “I think I know the perfect place.”

He lets out a sound between a moan and a groan. “I did say anywhere.” Then he kisses the side of her head, pulling her against him more. “I’d do anything for you. Anything.” He looks up at me. “For both of you.”

“Make sure you stay alive and protect our feisty little Omega at all cost.” I run my fingers over Vera’s cheek and she leans her head into my palm, looking up at me with absolute trust and love.

She’s the centre of my universe. Without her, I’m nothing. I love her more than anything in the world.

“If we become your ‘security team’, what would you want us to do?” I lean against the desk, my eyes on my two Omegas.

All my Alpha instincts scream at me to never let them out of my sight, to lock them up somewhere safe until the danger is gone. But if we stay in Mathew’s world, that danger will never be gone, that danger will forever exist…

“You’d join me wherever I go. Always stay at my side, keeping an eye out for things happening in our surroundings. Derrick and the others can’t follow me everywhere, they always have to stay at a distance, but you two won’t have to.”

Vera lets out a soft laugh. “That doesn’t sound like a security team, that sounds like we’re your dates.”

He pulls on one of his lip piercings with his teeth, glancing away. “I wish you could be, officially. But people will notice that you’ve only got one mark. And they’ll know it’s not mine, because it’s too old for that. They’ll figure out…”

Nobody but his closest team seem to be aware that he’s an Omega, and they’re doing everything possible to keep it that way. So, if we’d introduce ourselves as his mates but people notice that Vera only has one mark, they’ll know he’s not an Alpha or a Beta.

Mathew would be able to keep my mark hidden with the collar of his shirts and all, but for Vera to only have one mark would be suspicious.

“Of course, Derrick and the others will protect you. You won’t be my shields or anything like that…” His words falter and become less and less sure. “It’s just so I can keep you at my side.”

“What about the people after us because of the bounties?” I glance over to the screen, which has just jumped to a new set of cameras.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened. Usually, not much comes of it once they realise who I am. But it’s always a good idea to keep security sharp, especially in the first couple of days and weeks.”

I nod. “What about us?”

He smiles slightly. “I think it’s a good idea if someone lets slip how dangerous you two are. That should keep you safer. But…” He lets out a long breath.

“I think it’s a good idea for Derrick to give you some training.” He quickly continues. “Not because you’re no good, because you’re plenty dangerous as you are. But I don’t know if you’ve got experience with guns or anything other than knives?”

I shake my head and when he looks at Vera she also shakes her head.

“Caleb trained me, so anything he knows, I know too. But I’ve never shot a gun or anything like that.”

“It’s probably good to get some training, then.” Mathew lets out a soft laugh. “Plus, it’ll get Derrick off my back, since I’ve been neglecting my training lately.”

Combat training, actual training and not just whatever I’ve picked up over the years, that does sound interesting. And knowing that Vera will be able to protect herself better will hopefully help me to stress less about her safety all the time.

Not that she’s helpless, far from it, but I can’t help but feel nervous when she’s out of my sight. She’s short and cute and people tend to think they can bully her around, sometimes physically, which is why I taught her everything I know. But the fear that people might hurt her never goes away.

And posing as Mathew’s bodyguards doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Not if it lets us be at his side without drawing too much suspicion…