12. Opal
Chapter twelve
Opal
“R eed!”
The voice comes from up the basement stairs, and my heart rate picks up speed when I recognize who it belongs to.
Zayden.
Reed sits on the bottom step, squeezing a knuckle press in his large hand. He bares his teeth when he hears the Omega calling his name, remaining stalwart as usual as he blocks the way to the stairs.
Even if I wanted to escape, I couldn’t. I’m still handcuffed to the bed.
A thump sounds on the door up the stairs, and Zayden cries out yet again. “Reed! I know you’re down there, asshole! I want to see her!”
My eyes widen, locking with Reed’s for a moment. The Alpha inhales a few times, nostrils flaring as he takes a moment to assess the situation. But then he snarls, tossing his knuckle press on the step beside him as he marches up the stairs.
“Wait here,” he barks at me.
Where else would I go?
Reed reaches the top of the stairs, and I hear Zayden's voice as it pours in through the door. “Get out of my way, Reed!”
Reed snaps his teeth. “No. You are forbidden from seeing her.”
“You can’t stop me. In the end, Reed, I’m the center of this pack. The Omega. My word goes.”
Reed’s back goes ramrod straight, and I bite my tongue in anticipation, hoping he doesn’t rip Zayden’s head off.
“You know I’m right," Zayden says. "I have all the authority.”
“But… the governor…”
“Never mind the governor. And I’m sure he would agree, too, that Oliver makes all the rules in his pack, just as I make all the rules in mine.”
Damn. He really does mean to go up against Reed, and I bow my head, stopping the tears before they fall down my cheeks.
Even if Reed lets him pass, I can’t see him.
I betrayed him.
Betrayed them all…
“I’m giving you a count to three, Reed. One, two…”
Reed roars in anger, then steps aside. An awkward pause follows for a few moments before Zayden speaks again.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Reed.”
The Omega comes down the stairs, and my heart races again as the familiar scent of hazelnut reaches my nose.
No, no, no…
I can’t see him again. I am not worthy of Zayden.
When the Omega steps into view, I face away from him, closing my eyes. I even shuffle up further along the bed, any way to get away from him.
“Opal,” the Omega breathes, and I squeeze my eyes shut, cursing the tears that track down my cheeks.
“No… don’t cry…” The Omega comes closer, but I whimper, shuffling back as far as the bed will allow.
The stupid wall gets in my way, though. And curse that wall. Curse the entire world.
They should have just killed me…
“Please, I… don’t want to see anyone. Just… leave me…”
I don’t have to have my eyes open to see Zayden visibly flinch at the rejection, and I hurt him.
I hurt everyone.
“Opal, I don’t give a shit about your past. Or what you tried to do. You. Are. Innocent.”
But I shake my head, wobbling my brain around, which is pretty much mush at this point.
My mind is scrambled. My body is.
I don’t even know who are what I am anymore.
I’m not even a puppet anymore, and a part of me wishes that I could still be attached to the warden in some way.
Just so I would feel something. Some sustenance to my soul.
I am empty now.
“Opal…”
Zayden growls the last, and one of my eyes betrays me at last as I steal a glance at the Omega.
His eyes glow, and the sight of him takes my breath away.
Even in the short time we've been away, I forgot how breathtaking he is.
Tawny skin with its matte texture, round hazelnut brown eyes, and messy black hair.
That hair falls into his eyes, and I resist the need to move my hand across and brush it from his face.
The Omega is down on his knee before the bed, and instinctively, I move closer, slipping one leg over the mattress.
The Omega seizes my foot, brushing his thumb across my ankle, and I sigh at the touch.
Damn. I never realized how hungry I was for his touch until I felt his fingers on me again.
Zayden gives me a sweet Omega purr as he runs that hand up my leg, stopping at my thigh, and I whimper in need at his touch.
Somewhere in the room, I sense Reed.
His eyes are on us. Or on me.
He studies me for any fluctuations in my demeanour, any sign that I may lash out and attack Zayden with my sharp claws.
I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t dream of hurting him. Nor would I dream of using my claws on Reed.
No. These claws I am saving for a special occasion, and that’s when the warden’s face flashes up before me.
Could I hurt my old Alpha? It’s unthinkable. Taboo.
But he did hurt he…
No, he destroyed me.
He's the reason I am this way. Why I can barely connect with the girl I was that cold night he found me on the highway.
“Opal,” Zayden whispers below me, and my eyes find his again.
They burn for me, and my breath seizes.
“You are mine .”
That’s it. That word alone turns me into putty, and then I melt beneath his touch, pulling at my handcuffs in a bid to get closer to him.
I need him. Now. Fuck everyone else.
Reed especially.
“Get these cuffs off her. Now. That is an order, Alpha, ” Zayden demands.
There comes a growl from the stairs, and then the shuffling of feet, and then Reed looms into view, eyes pinned on me.
The threat in his eyes is evident.
If I hurt his Omega, then I'm dead.
“Reed…” Zayden warns when the big Alpha takes his time, and then, with a baring of his teeth, Reed concedes, pulling a key out from his pocket.
Once I’m free of those awful handcuffs, Zayden swoops me up in his arms, and I close my eyes against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
This is where I belong; I will feel guilty later.
For now, I will enjoy my Omega.
Zayden rushes us up the stairs, and Reed is hot on our tail. “Zayden!”
But Zayden ignores him, carrying me through the kitchen stark naked and up the stairs to wait…
My nest?
My heart thumps.
Could this be real?
Any moment, I expect to wake up on the bed down in the basement with my arm propped up and handcuffed above me.
But I don't. I remain in Zayden's arms.
He pushes through the door of my nest and throws me down onto the mattress, stealing the air from my lungs as he bruises my lips with a passionate kiss.
I'm already naked, and his mouth seizes one of my pebbled breasts.
A gasp of pleasure escapes me when his teeth graze the needy flesh, and I really was starved of his touch.
“Zayden!”
The voice comes from Reed, but the Omega growls, jumping up to his feet to shut the door on his Alpha.
“You are forbidden from entering her nest, Reed.”
The Alpha growls on the other side of the door, but Zayden is adamant. He is not allowed into the nest.
His gaze finds mine. “Unless you want him inside?”
While the thought of that big bear of an Alpha pleasuring me in my own nest alights my nerves, I shake my head, keeping my eyes on Zayden.
“No. I only want you right now, Zayden.”
Zayden turns the lock on the door, a smirk on his face as he steps closer. “Same here.”
Now he’s on top of me again, exploring my mouth once again with his tongue. All the while, Reed bangs on the door outside, demanding entry.
Too bad Zayden only has eyes for me as he tugs off his cute turtle pajamas, entering me again at long last.
A moan releases from my mouth when he scrapes my walls with his thick cock, and I can’t believe I had been denied this before…
When I come back to my senses, I will probably distance myself from the Omega again, but for now, Zayden is mine.
Mine.
I just hope we don’t lose ourselves too much.