4. Bethany
Chapter four
Bethany
I wake up with a start, the cobwebs of a nightmare clinging to me. My mind is unable to supply the location of where I am, even when I scan my surroundings. I go through a dozen different hotels and hostels before I remember the bar and Pack Crow.
Shit, what was I thinking? What even happened last night? They must think I’m an absolute mess.
I rub my face but don’t linger in bed. The sooner I find out what’s going to happen, the better. I find the bathroom, jump in the shower, and a quarter of an hour later, I come out clean and feeling human again.
On the bed, which is suddenly miraculously made, are some clothes, folded and in a neat pile. The pants I can do up with the drawstring, but the t-shirt is so big I need to tie it in a knot. They smell like coffee and licorice. I lift the collar of the shirt and just breathe in the scents of these alphas.
Delicious smells have slipped through the space between the door and the door frame, and my stomach growls, but I hesitate. Which isn’t like me at all. But I’m afraid of what’s going to happen.
What if they send me on my way? What if they don’t? Am I ready for this? My heart pounds. I adjust my top self-consciously and look up at the ceiling.
“Come on, Bethany, you can do this.”
It still takes me another couple of minutes before I find the courage to slip out of the room. I follow the scent straight into a small kitchen, where I find Hunter before a stove.
He’s got no top on. That's all I can think. It’s all I can stare at. Those big muscles stretching and contracting, all tawny and smooth.
I can’t do this! If I run now, I might be able to get away before he sees I’m here.
I drag my eyes down his body, but that’s worse. He’s wearing pajama pants with blue stripes. I inhale as I drag my eyes up from his ass and take in all the drool worthy flesh again.
He turns his head and smiles at me knowingly. I’ve been caught, red-handed. His gaze is wolf-like, and his smile is deadly. But his eyes linger on the clothes, and I shuffle and pull at the top.
“Thanks for the clothes,” I say belatedly.
“You look so much better in them than Saint does,” he says with a wink.
I burst out laughing. “Now, that I don’t believe, Saint is gorgeous.”
“Ah, she’s got good taste! Morning, darling,” Crow says and wraps an arm around my shoulders from behind. I’m trapped by the arm holding my back to this alpha, and I can’t move, and I think I don’t want to ever again.
Even though he was touching me last night, I didn’t really expect it to continue, and Crow is so much more potent when I’ve slept and I’m not completely exhausted. Every inch of him that is touching me is felt with acute sensitivity. Licorice wraps around me and seeps into me. He takes over all my thoughts.
I feel so safe in his arms. What is going on here?
Hunter crooks his finger at me, Crow lifts his arm, freeing me, and I go to the shirtless alpha on stumbling legs. What is it about them? But now, I’m seeing his naked chest up close. He’s got no hair, defined pecs and abs, and small brown nipples. Everything about him makes me want to explore him with my tongue. Repeatedly.
“Try this.”
He holds a spoon to my mouth and feeds it to me.
I’m finding it really hard to meet his eyes, but as the flavour explodes in my mouth, I still.
“Mm, what is that?”
“A whole heap of things, but mainly tuna, tomato, onion, and rice.”
I arch my eyebrow at his smug words. “You don’t want to tell me?”
“If I tell you, I won’t get to make it for you again.” He raises an eyebrow and purses his lips in an effort to hide the smile I know is trying to break free.
He takes my spoon back and, to my absolute shock, slides it between his own lips and sucks on it. I blink several times, but I can’t stop staring at the spoon and his lips.
My heart thunders in my ears, my head feels light. All thoughts are gone as I watch him close his eyes and moan.
“I…”
My mind is completely blank, but my libido flares to life, working overtime as the spoon comes out of his mouth, and he looks at it before tossing it in the sink.
“Delicious,” he murmurs.
I let out a whimper.
He turns away, and now, I get an uninterrupted view of all those back muscles again. His pajama pants are low slung on his hips, but everywhere else are crests and valleys as each defined muscle gives way to the next.
Must look away. I’m flying far too close to the sun here.
I manage to drag myself away and turn to find Saint buttoning up the cuffs on his black shirt. It’s like a second skin.
I wheeze, but that, in turn, gives me a view of Crow, who is dressed in tight black jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. He’s even got black eyeliner on. He is an incredibly beautiful man. They all are.
“I’ll-”
“Sit down, have breakfast, and then order some clothes,” Saint says over the top of my attempt to slither away.
“But-”
“You need help still. Has that changed since last night?” Saint asks, lifting his eyes to mine while he passes a coffee to Crow and another to Hunter, who takes it with a grunt. Both of them are staring at me as Saint grabs the last two mugs, walks slowly towards me, and presses a cup into my hands. “Do you still need help, Omega?”
I shudder, but I can’t look away.
“I don’t want to impose.” It comes out a whisper, which is not at all like me, but I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.
“Taking care of you isn’t going to be an imposition at all,” Saint says in a murmur. He ducks his head down and inhales at my neck. He doesn’t actually touch me, but his powerful body, looming over me, taking in my perfume, is an intoxicating combination. When he adds a low growl, my knickers get instantly soaked.
My cheeks heat, and I stumble back, hissing as hot coffee spills over my fingers.
He takes the coffee out of my hands as Crow moves in, leading me to the kitchen table. He backs me into it, and then lifts me onto the corner. I blink as Saint returns with a wet cloth and bathes my hand.
I watch him do it, feeling all those teenage fantasies burst back to life. Is this real or some poverty-stricken dream? Maybe I got so hungry I fell into a coma?
“You’ve got to be more careful of this beautiful skin, Omega. We don’t want to see you scarred up,” Saint murmurs and brings my fingers to his lips so he can press fervent kisses to my skin.
I swoon.
But then I catch Saint’s scent. He smells like bourbon, deep with sweet notes and layers of scents that I can’t identify. I lean towards him, needing to inhale more. He growls fiercely and leans over me, pushing me back on the table. I find that spot so powerfully drenched in that scent right in front of my nose. I can’t help myself but to cover it with my mouth and suck.
His hands slide up my sides and then back down, dragging me up against the huge bulge hidden in his pants.
I need his knot.
He braces a forearm on the table near my head and pulls away from me. To my dismay, a pathetic whine escapes my throat. It’s needy and seductive, and I don’t know where it even came from.
“Saint, breakfast,” Crow says calmly.
Saint lifts off me but drags me up and sets me on the floor. His hand slides down my back and over the curve of my ass. I shuffle closer to him as he grumbles but pulls out a chair and maneuvers me into it. In seconds, he’s stormed from the kitchen and has gone, leaving me bereft.
“It’s all right, he’s gone to take care of something. He’ll be back,” Crow says and massages my shoulders.
Hunter places the food in front of me and sits down.
I stare at him as he rakes his finger through his brown hair, making it stick up at different angles. And still, it looks incredibly hot. Is finger-combing hair an art form now?
It’s like I’ve fallen into a fairy tale, and these alphas are the Princes Charming. Does that mean I get my wish? My dream?
Do I get a love match? Are they my scent matches? I’ve never reacted to anyone the way I have with them. Surely, that means something. I pick up my spoon under the supervision of the hot alphas and eat my meal, while my heart beats faster than normal, and the scents of bourbon, coffee, and licorice swirl around me.
I’m giddy with the hope that they might be who I’ve been waiting for all this time.
As I finish, Crow takes my plate and cleans up the kitchen, while Hunter leads me into a huge recessed lounge room. The lounges are a charcoal, and the carpet is dark red. It’s very minimalist but still gives off a cold yet cozy feel.
Crow follows us a few minutes later with a tablet and looks me up and down. He mutters under his breath and presses on the screen multiple times.
“What do you like to wear?”
“Oh,” my cheeks burn again. I hate taking charity, and I really don’t want them to think that I’m here for what they can give me, even though that’s exactly why I am here. “Just jeans and a jumper would be fine.”
Crow studies me and nods. “Okay. We’ll do it my way,” and then he turns on his heel and walks out of the room.
I open my mouth to protest, but Hunter sits down and crooks his finger at me. I approach, but as soon as I get close; he drags me down onto his lap. I somehow end up straddling his massive thighs, stretched wide, and I can feel everything.
I curl my fingers around his shoulders and try to meet his gaze, but it’s nearly impossible.
“So, uh, why burgundy?”
Hunter’s lips curl in an amused smile. “Crow would have covered the house in black. Saint would have covered it in red. Burgundy was a middle ground.”
“What colour would you have picked?” I ask in a breathless voice because that lump between my legs, it’s growing, and it’s becoming really difficult to stay still.
“I would have covered everything in metallic silver and dark wood. As you can see, the three of us have appalling taste.”
“I like it,” I murmur as his hands slide up over my thighs. “Are we really doing this?”
“I want you to know that, at any time, you can say stop, and we will absolutely stop. Just because you say yes now doesn’t mean the yes can’t change to a no.” He cups my cheek and runs the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “Tell me you understand me, sweetheart.”
“I understand.”
“You have to be used to our touch, to us, before you go into heat. So we’re going to touch you a lot. If you don’t want us to, what do you say?”
I bite the pad of his thumb.
“Bethany, what do you say?” Hunter growls.
“I say no.”
“And?”
“I say stop. I say I don’t want to. But, Hunter?”
“Yes, Bethany?”
“I really, really want to,” I moan and finally give in, grinding along that hardness between my legs.
“Fuck.” Hunter grips my hips and guides me.
“Tell me something, anything, about you. Please,” I say desperately.
One hand spears into my hair and drags my face down to his. Our kiss is harsh and full of all the need that is thrumming between us, but in the back of my mind, I’m elated. It’s yet another perfect kiss, and another little part of me falls even deeper.
“Saint, Crow, and I met as kids in an orphanage. We’ve been a pack forever. We do everything together.” Hunter pants into my mouth. “Kiss me again, Omega. Let me taste you.”
I angle my head and kiss him, opening my mouth as soon as his tongue touches my lips. His arms band around me and drag me down tighter.
“Oh, baby, where did you even come from? You are perfection,” Hunter moans as he kisses down my jaw and sucks on my throat.
I whimper and wrap my arms around his back, needing to be as close as I can because these alphas are mine.
I can feel it now. I won’t give them up. This is my scent match, my destiny, and my happily ever after.
“Can you come like this?” Hunter grits out. “Is this enough for you to come or do you need more?”
“More?” I ask, confused, because I am so close.
“Yes, like this,” Crow says in a dark voice. He grips my hair, yanks my head back, and bites my earlobe. “Come on my alpha’s cock, Omega.”
I let out a shudder as my body obeys my alpha’s command. The ripples spread, getting stronger, until I reach the edge and fall off. I gasp, my eyes wide. I’ve never felt anything that strong before, but Crow is behind me, and Hunter beneath me, and both are still moving, their hands dragging across the skin of my neck and arms. Mouths peppering kisses to my throat. Hunter grasps one of my hands and kisses my palm.
“Good girl,” Crow purrs. “Very good girl.”
Those words bring a glow of happiness and contentment that’s been missing since I ran away from home. I finally feel safe and hopeful.
I’m so overwhelmed by the sudden completeness, the fissure that’s been broken so long suddenly healed, that I burst into tears.
Crow pulls me off Hunter and carries me to the couch. He lays down beside me and strokes my face.
“I know it was scary. I know it was awful. But we’re here now, and nothing is going to hurt you. Nothing will get past us.”
And I believe him because he smells like mine.