The Guest Room
Grason
Alpha pressure slams into me, thick and brutal, making my instincts spike in response. But I force myself to stay still, planting my feet. I don’t dare move. I don’t dare even breathe.
Whatever punishment Cass decides to dish out, I deserve it.
“I don’t give a shit what pathetic excuse you’ve come up with.
” Cass sits on the edge of the bed, his bad leg stretched out in front of him.
The knee is freshly drained and wrapped tight, white bandages stark against his skin.
“You crossed a line,” he snarls, his voice low and venomous.
“You made a decision you had no authority to make.”
I take a deep, silent breath, trying to calm the aggression humming right beneath my skin.
The room still smells faintly of her. Sweet honey and earthy tea leaves. I focus on the intoxicating aroma, trying to force it to settle my nerves, but all it does is make me want to rut.
Cass continues to yell as memories of fucking Warren against the side of the car rush into my mind. My body hums for a whole new reason.
All I can think about is the way I pinned Warren’s strong body down with his pants around his ankles, my hand fisted in his hair as I drove into him.
I kept my eyes locked on Tansy’s beautiful body the whole time.
The way her breasts were pushed up and out from that tight corset, and the soft, parted pout of her lips as she slept.
The mixture of her scent, Warren’s desperate groans, and the possessive rage that burned through me all at once was like a fucking drug.
I don’t remember ever coming that hard.
“Cass, please,” Warren pleads, snapping me back to the present. “You have to understand,” he says softly. “We didn’t have the luxury of waiting for you to wake up. You needed—”
“You didn’t know what the fuck I needed!
” Cass growls once again. His dark eyes flash as he bares his teeth.
“You saw an opportunity to fuck an omega and took it.” He pauses, his gaze sweeping over us with a new kind of contempt.
“And did you even think about Beck? Did you stop for one second to ask him if he even wanted an omega?”
I freeze as I realize that we didn’t.
“An omega is a massive responsibility for a beta,” Cass continues, voice cold and sharp, “Beck has never trained to care for one or expressed any interest in even having one. His whole life will change with her in the house.”
His words hit my chest like a physical blow.
We didn’t ask Beck.
We never stopped to make sure he was okay with any of this. We were so focused on the crisis breathing down our necks that we steamrolled right over the one person who would be expected to care for her.
Cass lets out a harsh breath. “Un-fucking-believable.” His dark eyes cut between the two of us, our silence answering the question for him. “I guess you decided what Beck wanted didn’t matter either.”
Guilt coils low in my gut, ugly and heavy.
“It wasn't like that at all.” A rough sound jerks from Warren’s throat, his composure finally shattering. “We were trying to save your life, you stubborn bastard!” he snaps, his voice low and dangerous. “Pace told us you were dying. What the fuck were we supposed to do?”
Cass’s jaw tightens. “You were supposed to have faith in me,” he says hoarsely. “Faith that I was strong enough to get through this.” His eyes narrow. “You had no right to claim that girl without me.”
He’s right. We had no right.
But still—Cass is better. He’s already stronger after one night sleeping with Tansy’s scent in the room. He’s sitting up. Yelling at us. Alive.
And Beck…
He seems happy. Or at least lighter. I hope he is. I hope we didn’t make the wrong choice for him.
“Grason?” Cass studies me for a long moment, eyes sharp and searching. “Do you have anything to say in your defense?”
I don’t.
I hold his gaze and give a slow shake of my head. No excuses. No justifications.
Whatever’s coming, I’ve earned it.
“No, sir.”
Cass nods once, like he expected that. “Fine,” he finally says, his voice calmer, ready to hand down our punishment. “You two want to make important decisions for our pack, then you’ll live with the fucking consequences.” His gaze shifts from me to Warren, pinning us both in place.
I swallow hard, bracing myself for my punishment.
“Warren,” Cass’s voice rises with authority, “you want to be a leader so badly? Fine. You get to lead.” He leans forward, hands gripping the edge of the mattress.
“You’re responsible for our home. The business.
Incorporating Tansy into this pack. And making damn sure Beck doesn’t feel even a second of neglect.
” His eyes lock onto Warren’s. “I want you to feel exactly how hard it is to be the pack alpha.”
Then he turns his attention to me, and my stomach drops.
“You want to make decisions without any thought for how they might affect Beck?”
I grit my teeth as his words cut me once again.
“You’re taking on all of Beck’s beta duties,” Cass says simply.
“You will feed Tansy. You will run her bathwater. You will prepare her room and fluff her fucking nest.” His voice drops, cold and final.
“But your alpha rights end there.” His dark eyes cut to Warren, then back to me.
“You do not get to make the first move on her. You do not get to stake your claim or fulfill your needs. She’s in control. ”
I see Warren tilt his head out of the corner of my eye, clearly not understanding. “How are we supposed to bond with her?” he asks, his tone soft and respectful. “Omegas need touch.”
“Let me spell it out for you.” Cass’s voice is a low, dangerous rumble that vibrates through the floor.
He looks back at me, making sure I feel the full weight of his next words.
“Your alpha instincts no longer fucking matter.” His eyes flash with authority.
“You will not touch Tansy unless she puts your hands on her. You will not speak to her unless she speaks first. You will not so much as look at her cunt like it’s a meal waiting to be eaten unless she spreads her legs and invites you to the fucking table. ”
My own alpha instincts bristle at his command, a visceral, offended recoil.
Omegas aren’t built to make the first move. It’s not in their nature. They’re meant to be courted, to respond to an alpha’s pursuit, not initiate it. Forcing her to do so feels like asking a flame to burn cold.
It’s wrong on an instinctual level.
Cass must see the rebellion in my eyes because he leans forward, curling his hands around the edge of the mattress, the scent of his fury sharp and electric.
“You will bow to her. Both of you,” he snarls at Warren.
“You will wait for her to decide when and if you get to breathe the same air. Your needs, your urges, your pride—it all means less than nothing. Her comfort, safety, and desire are the only thing that matters anymore. If she wants you to sit in the corner and watch another alpha fuck her for six hours, you will sit there and thank her for the view. If she wants you to prepare her nest and then leave without laying a finger on her, you will walk out with a hard-on and deal with it. If she wants to tell you both to get on your knees and beg for a taste of her slick, you will get on your fucking knees.”
He straightens up, his posture rigid with finality. “She is in complete control. Your alpha rights aren’t just suspended, they’re erased. You exist to serve her pleasure, not to take your own. And you won’t forget it for a fucking second. Do you understand?”
My alpha snarls inside my chest, enraged at being stripped of my right to claim her.
And as if that wasn’t enough, I’ve also been reduced to a neutered servant on top of everything else.
Suck it up, I silently tell myself. Take your goddamn punishment. I pull in a deep breath, then close my eyes, trying to convince myself it won’t be so bad. I'll get to be with her all day. Day in and day out.
And maybe I’ll get lucky, and she’ll let me touch those pretty lips.
“Grason?”
I snap my eyes open in time to see Cass’s gaze harden.
“Do you understand?” he asks again.
I immediately nod. “Understood.”
“Good.” He jerks his chin toward the door. “Now both of you get the fuck out.”
The command snaps through the room, and my feet start to move.
The door clicks shut behind us, and I scrub a hand over my face and into my hair, trying to tamp down the excitement fluttering in my chest.
I hope I don’t fuck this up…
Warren’s pace slows, and I realize he’s looking at me. His eyes narrow curiously. “Why do you look so fucking happy?”
“Because we get to keep her,” I say simply.
He blinks, then he actually stops walking for a second. “You really thought Cass would get rid of her?”
I shrug. “I didn’t know what the hell Cass was gonna do. All I knew was that he was pissed, and whatever punishment he handed down was going to suck.”
That gets a smile out of Warren, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. It looks off.
I frown. “What’s wrong?”
He lets out a long, pained sigh, staring at his feet. “Cass thinks I’d muscle him out.” His brow furrows. “I can’t fucking believe he’d think that about me. That I’d use this—” He gestures back toward the guest room. “—as a chance to become pack alpha.”
I step closer as we step into the living room, lowering my voice. “You know he doesn’t actually believe that,” I say quietly. “He’s scared. He woke up with a raging fever to find control ripped out of his hands. That’s not logic talking. That’s pain.”
“I guess.” Warren exhales slowly, shoulders sagging a fraction. “I hate all of this. Cass’s getting shot, Beck’s broken heart, even the fact that we had to claim Tansy without—”
A strangled, pained sound cuts him off from the direction of the kitchen.
It’s Tansy.
Without a word, Warren and I are moving, racing across the room and down the short hall.
We burst into the kitchen to find Beck trying to physically hold Tansy back, his face a mask of shock and confusion.
She’s wild-eyed, snarling, her hands clawed as she tries to lunge past him at Dr. Pace.
The doctor is backed against the counter with his hands raised.
My eyes drop to her bare legs, and my stomach clenches. Clear, slick fluid drips, glistening on her inner thighs.
“Tansy, stop!” Beck grunts, struggling to hold her.
Her whole body goes rigid for a second, then her legs start to shake violently. Her eyes roll back, and with a choked cry, she crumples. Beck tries to catch her, but she’s dead weight, and they both collapse to the floor in a heap.
Before Beck can even scramble off her, Tansy lets out a violent, guttural cry that’s pure agony and raw need. The air in the kitchen instantly thickens, the sweet scent of honey and chamomile exploding into a tidal wave of omega pheromones.
It’s so potent it hits me like a physical blow.
My cock goes rock hard in an instant, a painful, demanding throb that steals the air from my lungs. Beside me, Warren stumbles back a step, his face pale with shock, his hands held up as if to ward off the scent itself.
He chokes out, his voice strained and thin, “We need to get her to Cassian. Now.”
Cass’s command echoes in my head, a vicious loop. You will not touch Tansy unless she puts your hands on her.
My body is locked in a war with itself, every alpha instinct screaming at me to go to her, to touch her, to fuck her. While Cass’s order holds me back like a physical chain.
I can’t touch her.
I won’t.
But then Tansy screams again, a sound of such pure, unadulterated pain that it shatters something inside me. The command evaporates, and I move, picking up her limp, trembling body off the floor.
The moment I have her in my arms, her scent slams into me like a physical assault.
It’s a primal roar in my blood, demanding I drop to the floor, tear her clothes away, and fuck the life out of her right here in the hallway. Every muscle in my body locks in a violent struggle, my cock a steel rod of agony inside my slacks.
But my feet keep moving, one agonizing step after another.
Fuck her.
I have to get her to Cass.
Rut her.
I have to prove my loyalty.
Claim her.
Cradling the screaming omega against my chest, I ignore every instinct beating down on me and run, racing through the house toward the guest room.