Chapter 16
I wandered back to the apartments with a nasty taste in my mouth. Worth it, though. I’d done my job—a job I owed my pack after how far Dusk and Umbra had brought us while I was sick.
Flynn was appeased. He believed he had a mole working for him, and we could only hope that would slow him down.
But I’d also seen the other side of him. The arrogant monster who saw Shatter—who saw my wife—as nothing more than a means to an end.
As his property.
A notification popped up on my phone, and rage dissolved for surprise. ‘Shatter Kingsman tagged you in a post.’ I tapped on it, frowning.
Last I checked, she could barely make her phone function, let alone figure out social media posts. Not that it mattered; she only had Dusk, Umbra, Decebal, Roxy, and me added and her profile was set to private.
‘Ransom. Can you come to my nest tonight, please?’
I read it a few times, frowning as a comment popped up on it.
‘Just you,’she added.
Ah.
I think my sweet omega thought this was the group chat.
Grinning, I tapped out a reply. ‘Yes ma’am,’ just as a crying emoji popped up from Umbra on the ‘just you’ comment. As I watched, a laughing emoji joined it with Decebal’s name attached. My phone buzzed, and I saw the old group chat we had with Decebal that didn’t involve Shatter.
Dusk: mute her, prick
Decebal: Nah.
Decebal: This is hilarious.
Decebal: watching your omega cock block you in real time
Snorting, I shut my phone off, hurrying up the stairs to the apartment. I loved how even just knowing she wanted me around could shift my mood.
When I entered the nest, it was to find the lights dimmed and Shatter waiting on her bed, legs crossed as she picked through a textbook by the warm light.
“It worked.” Her eyes were bright as she looked up at me. “I’m getting the hang of the group chat thing.”
“Uhh…” Right. I opened my mouth to explain it to her, but she was barrelling on, a smile on her face.
“I thought we could have some, us time.”
“I would like that,” I said, sitting down beside her as she closed the textbook and shifted to place it on her bedside table.
I froze, all intentions of group chat discussions vanishing from my brain as I got a flash of lace beneath her gown as she shifted closer.
“Ransom,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“You’re going to tell me everything he said, right?” she asked.
“He?” I asked, a little dazed.
“Flynn.”
“Oh…” Shit. “Little Reaper, I can promise you don’t want all the details…” I trailed off as she shrugged the silken robe from her shoulders and settled at my side, wild hair framing pretty golden eyes that blinked up at me expectantly.
“I know you want to protect me,” she said. “But I can handle it. I promise. I need to know everything.”
I sighed, mind trying to fully process the request as she fiddled with her gown. It kept flashing open, giving me glimpses of that beautiful body beneath. I saw the way black lace pressed against her breasts, and the way her nightshade scent spiked with lust in the air around her was sinful.
“I could…” I suppose. I knew she was strong. “After? I want to enjoy an evening with my wife first,” I said.
She beamed, eyes bright as she straddled me, drawing her lips to mine as the silk parted for me completely.
“God, I love you, Shatter,” I breathed.
She was my angel, turning darkness to light in the blink of an eye. Her delicate hands wove around my waist as she kissed down my neck, to my chest, something insistent in the way she tugged on my belt.
But then she went absolutely still in my arms. Through the bond, terror spiked and all my instincts went on full alert.
“What?”I growled.
“Ransom!” Her voice was weak.
“What, Shatter?”
She was still gripping me, face ashen, but her hand was still at my waist, she was tugging?—
Her sharp whine of shock sent my aura flaring, and she was in my arms in a second as I jumped to my feet, holding her close, eyes sweeping the room.
“What is it?”
She clutched me like a koala, eyes wide and fixed on the bed. My blood pounded in my ears as I stepped back.
Holy hell, what was it?
“What’s happening?” Umbra and Dusk piled in at the doorway. Shatter was shaking, crumpling against me with a wail.
Then I saw it.
“Oh.”
Shit.
“No, no. It was Flynn—” I made for the little card that was lying on the covers—a business card marked with a dozen scents of unbonded omegas; but Shatter’s nails dug in and her wail of distress rose in the air.
I’d brought it into her nest.
Into her fucking nest—totally blinded by the idea that she wanted me in here alone.
“I need it gone!” I’d never heard her more panicked. “Get rid of it.”
“What?” Dusk sounded urgent as he stared at the bed, but it was Umbra who caught on quickest.
“Don’t worry, Nightshade, I’ve got it.” He was tugging off his shirt and edging toward the blankets. Shatter wailed again, clutching me tighter.
As if he was going for a spider, Umbra dove for it, scooping it up in his shirt and hurrying it from the room without another word.
Dusk cleared his throat, blinking and clearly trying to conjure the level of seriousness Umbra had just managed. “I will, uh… burn the sheets,” he said. “You should probably?—”
We all jumped at a loud bang! Again, instincts flared at the gunshot from the hallway.
Wait.
Had Umbra just?—?
With a groan, Dusk buried his head in his hands. Shatter, on the other hand, relaxed instantly, clambering down from where I held her, her breathing easing like the threat had passed.
“Thank God for Umbra,” she muttered, nodding to herself, now looking extremely pleased.
Dusk stared at her in a moment of incredulity, then fixed his face. “I will deal with the people about to appear at our door asking why we discharged a firearm in student apartments.” He glared at me. “You go shower.”
He grabbed the duvet with unnecessary aggression and stalked from the nest.
“Shower…?”Shatter repeated it like a question. “Yes. Yes.” She was already shoving me desperately toward the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes, I was instructed to stand beneath scalding water, until Shatter nodded approvingly and allowed me out. I wrapped a towel around myself as my clothing was now gone—likely in the same bonfire Dusk was setting for the blankets.
“I’m so sorry,” I breathed, drawing her close.
She sank against me, now in only lace, since the silk she’d been wearing over the top had been contaminated.
“It’s okay. I know you only had it because you were out with Flynn.” She nodded. “You were protecting me.” She drew me into a kiss. “I know you didn’t mean it.”
“You’re going to have to, uh… get Umbra in here. He was the heroic one and all?—”
“I can see Umbra tomorrow,” she said. “I want a night with you.”
“O-okay.”
She was so fucking beautiful and mesmerising…
I set us back down on the bed (Dusk had replaced the sheets), and drew her close. She did seem to have moved past it.
“And uh… do you think you can do something else for me?” she asked. “But you can’t tell Dusk.”
I dragged my gaze back up to her eyes. “What’s that?”
“I need new clothes.”
“New clothes?” I asked.
“Dusk got me all of mine.” She pouted. “I want some from you.”
I grinned, grip digging into her hips and teeth drawing along her neck to the sexiest little moan. “Are you asking me to help you be more of a brat?”
Her golden eyes flashed in the dim light as she peered at me up through thick lashes. “If I was?”
I snorted. “If it gets me shows like the other morning, I’ll help you be the biggest brat in the world.”
Her touch was enough to unwind all the stress that had been pulled tight in the last few hours. I let out a low, possessive growl at the feeling of her soft lips against my skin.
If she wanted clothes, I’d buy her an entire store.
“And Ransom?” she asked.
“Yes, Little Reaper?” Her hand was trailing lower, easily finding how hard I was beneath the covers.
“A new pair of shoes?” she said.
“Shoes?”
“Mhmm.”
“Is there a particular shoe type you want?”
“No. But I do like the boots. They’re comfy.”
“Alright. I’ll get you boots,” I growled. “Anything my sweet wife wants.” I flipped us, so I was over her, already dreaming of all the ways I was about to claim her as a delighted purr rumbled to life in her chest.