Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
It doesn’t take long for Hannah to cave and change into shorts and a t-shirt so she can sit in the water with Kaitlin.
Shepherd hovers behind her as she slowly sits against the edge of the pool, afraid she will lose her balance despite her careful movements.
His Alpha is fretting, and I absolutely adore him for it.
I am losing my damn mind. The entire safe house holds an undercurrent of sweet cherries and nutty almonds.
Her scent. My Beta. Walking near her room is enough to make my dick hard.
If Shepherd and I weren’t taking scent cancelers, I would at least have his woodsy, masculine smell to center me. But I don’t, and it freaking sucks.
I need a knot so fucking badly, but my logical brain warns me how thin the walls are. We can’t afford to scar Kaitlin with the sounds of Shepherd fucking me the way I need. Not if we want her and Hannah to join our pack, which we abso-fucking-lutely do.
I’m fairly certain I will die if these two gorgeous girls walk out of my life after this is all over.
My Alpha must sense the need raging in our bond because he drags me inside late in the afternoon, telling Hannah to relax and play with Kaitlin while we make dinner. She tries to argue, but it’s weaker than it would have been earlier in the day. Progress, as little as it is.
“You’re needy, Omega,” Shepherd growls in my ear, pinning me against the counter. We’re out of view of the windows and door, but we can hear everything happening outside. My mate is still alert in case something goes wrong, but damn, he is a good multitasker.
“Fuck me, Alpha,” I whine, grinding my ass back against his very hard cock.
“Knot me so deep I’ll feel you inside of me for days.
” His groan kicks the corners of my lips up.
When he bites down on our bond mark, I nearly come in my pants.
Lust fireworks through our bond, ricocheting around my body until it lands in my weeping cock.
I whimper, hips jerking, searching for relief he hasn’t offered yet.
“Think you can be quiet? Or do I need to gag you?”
He steps back a little, giving me room to push my pants and underwear down to the floor.
“Gag me. I’m too pent up to even try to hold back.
” A deep chuckle sends shivers up my spine.
He leans around me to grab a clean dish towel from the drawer, grinding himself against my hip.
The material is uncomfortable as he pushes it into my mouth and ties it behind my head, but I’ll suffer through anything as long as he gets inside me.
Palms grip my ass, spreading me apart, then his tongue is there.
My groan is muffled, but the thump of my head against the counter is loud.
It feels amazing. The pressure as he laps at my hole.
His fingers dimpling the skin of my cheeks.
When he tracks downward, taking one of my balls into his mouth, I whimper.
“I’ve got you, baby. Gonna take care of my needy boy.
” Shep stands, dropping his shorts to the floor.
I can hear the slick sound of him fisting his cock.
If we had more time, I would drop to my knees and take him into my mouth, taste his cum on my tongue.
But we’re on a time limit. Hannah and Kaitlin could decide to return to the house any minute.
His tip bumps against my hole, grinding against me and soaking in my slick.
My hands scramble for grip, finding the edge of the counter and squeezing as he slowly works his way inside.
Inch by glorious inch, he fills me. I can barely keep my eyes open as exquisite bliss floods my veins.
And when he starts to move? I’m toast. So lost in the pleasure, the world around us ceases to exist. All that remains is the feel of his cock, the tease of his knot with each thrust against me, and my burning need to come.
“Please,” I beg, the words muffled behind the rag, but my Alpha understands them. Can feel how close I am through our bond.
He grips the back of my neck, thumb rubbing over his bite mark.
“Such. A. Good. Fucking. Omega.” Hard thrusts accompany each word, making his cock rub against all my pleasure spots.
Stars burst behind my closed eyes as I drop a hand to stroke my cock in time with his movements.
“Telling your Alpha what you need. Helping me take care of our Beta and our kids.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Hearing him call them ours is too much.
I explode, cum coating my hand and the floor.
A scream gets buried in the rag as his knot pushes inside of me, locking us together when it expands.
I can feel each kick as he comes. The warmth of his release settles a primal need I hadn’t voiced aloud.
To be marked, bred by my mate. Even if I can’t get pregnant, the desire is there.
I would bathe in his cum if I could. Hell, sometimes during my heats, I do.
“Shit, I didn’t think this through.” A chuckle slips through my lips as he pulls me back and cradles me against his chest. We sink to the floor, careful not to sit in the spill of my release. “Now behave, so my knot will go down.”
While I would love to torment him and stay locked together all day, I don’t want to miss spending time with our girls. They need our attention right now. Our love. Even if neither of them will admit it out loud.
“What are we going to make for dinner?” I ask after I catch my breath.
I’m a terrible cook. At the Omega Academy, I was banned from the communal kitchens after I ruined an oven in our home economics class.
Something about being a walking fire hazard.
No complaints from me, though; it isn’t something I’ve ever enjoyed.
Shepherd, however, loves to be in the kitchen.
He says it is his primal need to care for his mate, but the man is always tinkering with new recipes, so I think it goes beyond his instincts.
As long as I am fed, I don’t care why he does it. I would survive on takeout if he didn’t want to cook ever again.
He hums, breath tickling my neck where he leans his head on my shoulder. “Steak salads?”
“Sounds perfect.” And simple, which means it won’t take us long to make. After his knot goes down, anyway.
I can’t sleep. Since Shepherd knotted me in the kitchen yesterday, my body has been humming with pleasure. And with the desire for more. Convincing my sky-high libido to take a chill pill isn’t easy. Omegas tend to be sexual people. Our bodies literally built to fuck for days on end.
Living in this safe house, surrounded by the scent of a mate I cannot have, is torture for my cock.
Giving up on resting, I carefully slide from beneath Shep’s arm and leave the bedroom. A drink and a snack might help settle me. I’m rustling around in the kitchen, looking for something salty and easy to munch on, when I hear a sniffle. I still, ears straining, and then it comes again.
Setting my bottle of water aside, I slowly make my way down the hall.
It’s dark, but there is enough light from the living room for me to see Kaitlin standing outside the bathroom.
Tears line her cheeks, and her hands are fisted into the bottom of her sleep shirt.
She glances up when she hears me step on a creaky floorboard.
Wide hazel eyes fill with fear before she ducks her head.
“What’s wrong, princess?” I drop to my knees and brush some hair behind her ear to get her to look at me.
“I-” A hiccuped sob interrupts her. “I has an accident. D-didn’t make it to the potty in time.”
Glancing down, I see the wet spot beneath her feet. “Hey-”
“I sorry!” Her quiet cries grow louder, her tiny chest heaving with them.
“Princess, it’s okay! Accidents happen. Messes can be cleaned up.
I promise you aren’t in trouble.” Gently cupping her cheek, I tilt her head up so she meets my eyes.
My heart shatters seeing the devastation in her eyes.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Without thinking, I pull her into my arms. Her sleep shorts are wet, but I couldn’t care less.
Clothes can easily be washed, but tiny hearts cannot be so easily healed.
Both bedroom doors swing open within seconds of each other.
Shepherd is on alert, his Alpha close to the surface as he senses a member of his pack in distress.
Hannah looks around frantically, searching for a threat that isn’t here.
Cupping the back of Kaitlin’s head, I point to the small puddle.
Her shoulders fall, and she drops to the floor beside us, earning a huff and a glare from Shepherd.
“Little Bug.” Her voice is soft as she rubs her daughter’s back.
I expect Kait to want to go to her mother, but she clings to me instead.
Tiny fists digging into my shirt. “It’s okay.
You aren’t in trouble.” I repeat this over and over, rocking her gently while Shepherd silently cleans up the mess and grabs her clean clothes from their bedroom.
Our princess’s sobs slowly turn to sniffles, her body relaxing until she’s resting against me.
“How about we get a quick bath to wash you off?” Hannah suggests, brushing Kaitlin’s hair away from her face when she turns to look at her.
I stand with her in my arms when she nods, watching Shepherd help pull Hannah to her feet.
She groans in discomfort, but doesn’t complain about sitting on the hard floor for so long.
Walking into the bathroom, I start the water so it can warm up.
While it heats, I sit Kaitlin on her feet, crouching so she can see my face.
“Look at that, Princess, the mess is all cleaned up. Shep brought you clean clothes, and Mommy is going to help you take a bath. That’s what I want you to remember, okay?
You’ll never be in trouble for having an accident or making a mess. We’re all here to help.”
“O-okay.” Her voice is still shaky, but she doesn’t seem as upset as she was a few moments ago.
Smiling, I ruffle her hair and leave them to their bath.
My clothes are wet, so I head into the bedroom to change.
My movements are rough, angry. It’s bothering me.
Her reaction. Is she afraid of being noisy and making messes because her asshole father hit her?
We know so little about their life in New Hampshire that it’s hard to know how to handle situations like this when they arise.
But I cannot bring myself to ask Hannah to rehash any abuse she’s faced just to sate my need to know about it.
“Foster?”
Shepherd’s presence does little to settle me.
I’m a mess. The drawer slams as I shut it, my fingers biting into the top of the dresser.
“Do you think he hit them?” I ask, spinning around to face him.
“Or was his abuse emotional? Because both our girls are traumatized, and I. Don’t. Know. How. To. Fix. It!”
His arms wrap around me, pressing my face into his chest. Small hints of his scent leak through now that he’s stopped taking his scent cancellers. The barest notes of bergamot and sandalwood, not enough to take the edge off my tumultuous emotions.
“Kaitlin’s response could stem from abuse, or it could be the stress of fleeing her home and moving into a new house with strangers. We won’t know until they tell us. All we can do is love them, support them as best as we can, and help them move forward.”
I deflate, collapsing against him as tears build in my eyes. He’s right. No matter how her husband justified his actions, they would never be forgivable. And I can’t go back in time to pull them out earlier.
“Okay. Doesn’t make this any easier, but I get it. I need to be patient.”
Shepherd holds me tighter, pressing his lips to the top of my head.
“I know patience is difficult for you, Baby. Being yourself will help more than you think. There will be triggers, bad days that leave us all a wreck. But whatever they’ve been through, we will protect them.
Make sure those assholes never have the chance to hurt them again. ”
Clinging to him, we listen as Hannah sings to Kaitlin while she bathes. The soft lull of her voice does wonders to calm all of us, even when it’s dulled by the closed bathroom door.
We will get through this. Help them heal. Then we can be the pack we were always meant to be.