Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Easton
T he thought of one day being forced to share did not feel nearly as overwhelming as actually having to experience it.
To make matters worse, I’ve just realized that I can no longer kill Calder.
Even if I become highly annoyed with him and his stupid glasses. I’m now stuck with him indefinitely. To lose a bond is unbearable, and from what I’ve heard, the omega side of that equation is worse than the alpha side.
I dislike the feeling that fills my gut when I watch Briar smile bashfully at Calder as she pulls him until he’s standing. With her on my lap, she hits about mid-abdomen.
“Lie on the table and let your legs hang off,” she says, shoving his sweats down. He’s still covered in scratches from the last time he joined us.
Calder pulls the table closer to Briar’s front, and he scrambles up on the giant thing.
“You had better start bouncing on my cock and keep me good and distracted,” I growl, biting her throat.
She moans, wrapping her hand around Calder’s shaft. “I’ll do my best.” She stretches forward, guides him to her lips, and based on the faces he makes, she’s doing a solid job of sucking his soul out through his dick.
This cannot be what my life has come to.
Calder and Keir prepare to head into Blacksburg with Arden. I greatly despise the way Briar grins as she gives them goodbye kisses.
Lincoln comes over soon after they leave. He provides us breakfast, since there’s nothing to be had here, but I also don’t like the way he smiles slyly when he says, “You smell like Briar. That’s her name, right? The pretty assistant.”
I snarl, grabbing the trays of food from his outstretched hands. “Get the fuck out.”
His laughter follows him down the porch stairs, and that causes me even worse indigestion.
After a quick breakfast, I bring Briar into the living room and have her sit at my side on the couch. Snagging the blanket off the back of the sofa, I wrap it around her and stretch my arm over the back of her seat.
She scoots closer, placing her face on my chest. “I’m not going to let you hurt Calder. Or Keir, for that matter. So, maladaptive daydream about murdering them all you’d like, but if you actually try to hurt them, I will kill you.”
My head tilts.
God help me…
I smile.
I’ve always been a bit of a cliché alpha. I don’t enjoy being challenged, but coming from Briar, I can apparently overlook a lot of attitude.
It also pleases me greatly to see she’s growing braver and no longer seems to be afraid of me.
This is either a great sign or it will end up being inconvenient. I suppose time will tell.
There’s every possibility that I should be offended that she thinks so little of me. Keir and Calder are the closest things I have to best friends. Sure, I consider a few of the guys on the teams to be colleagues, bordering on friends, but Keir lives with me. I allow Calder over whenever he’d like.
My home is my sanctuary.
That should say everything.
Occasionally, I might visualize ways to make them suffer, but I rarely follow through.
“Understood,” I finally say to put the matter to rest.
“And you what? Sent a team to Boston?” she asks, tilting her face up to meet my eyes.
Pulling my arm off the back of the couch, I wrap it around her side and palm her ass. “I sent a team I trust to begin reconnaissance on your brother.”
“Why now?”
“Why not now?” I counter and grimace. Exhaling heavily, I run my hand over her hip. “The pregnant woman whose house we’re currently occupying has some very loose tie to your family.” I frown. “Would you prefer I refer to Titus as Bianca’s family?”
Briar snorts, shaking her head. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I think that would get confusing. Oh my god. Tell me she’s not pregnant with my brother’s baby…”
“No.” I chuckle. “She’s not. However, her ex-boyfriend did some work for one of your family’s underlings. Sammy Stannis is a bookie that Chelsea’s ex got tangled up with through his brother. Apparently, the older brother tried to pay off the younger brother’s debts before his death by way of creating several computer software programs that could be used to track risk versus win statistics and more.”
“Did they kill him? Oh God, poor Chelsea.”
“They did not. He died of health complications, but Calder has reason to believe that he copied the data he had access to just before he passed away.” I shrug. “We believe Sammy Stannis is aware of the double cross. He’s trying to get the files back, but we’re unsure if he has kept that information quiet in hopes of having it fly under the radar. Or he could have informed the chain of command, which currently ends with your brother.”
Briar’s breathing hitches. “Titus is like my father. He won’t get his hands dirty personally. He’ll send a hit squad.”
“I agree.” I squeeze her hip in hopes of letting her know I value her opinion. I may have a general idea of how the mob works, but she’s lived it, and that information is invaluable. “Arden, Lincoln, and Kase are a more than capable team on their own. They’ve also got Sky. That German shepherd is combat trained and vetted for personal protection. But we’re here to add an additional safety net.”
“We’re here in case my brother sends a kill squad to murder that poor pregnant woman?” Briar asks, pushing herself up with a hand on my abs.
I bring my free hand to caress her cheek. “I have no plans to allow that to happen, and truly, I believe it’s unlikely that she’s even on Titus’s radar. There is a slim possibility that Sammy might be able to follow her trail here, but that would indicate he’s acting without clueing in the higher-ups and thus won’t have much backup.”
Briar studies my face and finally nods. “You know, I think you actually do care about other people. You’re just good at hiding it.”
Yeah, that’s me—a regular bleeding heart.
In reality, we needed an excuse to leave Vermont, so I weighed the pros and cons and decided it wouldn’t hurt, but I don’t correct her. I like the idea of her thinking I’m better than I truly am.
“Now, are you feeling up to a bit of self-defense training?” I ask, studying her huge bluish-gray eyes. “Or should we check the holiday romance channel and snuggle until the furniture arrives?”
Her lower lip pokes out, and she frowns. “My instincts want to stay here and cuddle, but my brain says not to pass up an opportunity to learn how to defend myself.”
I snort, thumbing that puffy lip of hers. “There will be plenty of chances to learn how to cause pain and suffering, but I want you to see that I’m honoring the promises I made to you.”
Her eyes sparkle as her face breaks into an easy grin. “I guess we might as well see what you can teach me.”
My forearm wraps around Briar’s neck from behind. “Dip your chin, dig it in, drop your weight, and once you’re low, grab this hand.” I pull hers up, patting the one she needs to aim for, but Briar struggles, clawing at my forearm. I move close to her ear and repeat my instructions. “You’re doing great. You managed it once, but you have to do it again.”
Her shoulders rise and fall like she took a centering breath. She follows through the steps, snags my hand, and pulls my arm behind me.
“Perfect, now twist my wrist up and back, which locks the appendage in place. And what do you do next?” I ask.
Briar doesn’t answer, but she kicks the hell out of the back of my knee while twisting my fingers at an unnatural angle.
I fall to one knee, chuckling good-naturedly. “That was great. You’re getting the hang of it. We just need to prevent that freeze that comes when you’re grabbed from behind.”
“It’s easier when we’re face-to-face because I remember it’s you.” She shrugs, offering me a hand.
I take it but use my own strength to get back to my feet. The hair on the back of my neck stands up because her words indicate that she’s been in such a position before.
“Okay,” I say, trying to shake away my anger. “We’re going to work on pressure points. These are highly sensitive areas of the body that, if you apply acute pressure to, you will cause something between discomfort and extreme pain. Raise your hand like mine. With these, we’ll be working with the fifth metacarpal.” I bring my other hand up, running my pointer finger over the area under where my pinky ends on the side of my palm. “This area has no give, unlike if you connect with your fingers, so you want to aim with this region.”
She twists her hand to the side and says, “Got it.”
“Good.” I drop my hands and move in front of her. “You can spot my Adam’s apple with no problem. I want you to raise two fingers on each hand and push gently on either side of it.” I give her a quick demonstration. “See how my voice changes when I apply even moderate pressure? That’s the ST-9 pressure point. It runs adjacent to the carotid artery.”
Briar follows my instruction, pushing her fingers in on either side of my Adam’s apple. I wrap my hands around hers, showing her that she can go a little deeper without causing injury. Once she’s got the idea, I pull her hands down.
“Now, face me and put your hands up like you’re going to take a swing at me. Thumbs on the outside, this time, love.” I chuckle, recalling that debacle. It was the first tidbit of information I bestowed on her.
“I remember,” she says, licking her lips.
“Perfect, now throw a punch at me. I’m going to go in slow motion, but I want you to study my movements, because next, we swap positions.”
“Okay.” She nods.
She bounces on her toes and throws a solid punch with decent follow-through.
My left hand lands on her wrist, pulling her arm down, and my right hand lands against the side of her throat, using the flat side of my palm.
I barely apply any pressure, but I want her to see the chopping motion and where it should land. “Depending on your level of force, you can disrupt blood flow and make your opponent woozy to send them flat on their back. It will also cause a radiating ache that can be felt in the jaw and temples, even though you haven’t connected there.”
“Damn,” she whispers with wide eyes. “I get the idea, but I’m not sure I could ever stop a real punch from someone your size.”
I wrap my hand around her neck and bury my fingers at the base of her skull. “You will be able to with enough practice, but all of this is last-resort training. For an enemy to get as close to you as I am now”—I bend, brushing my lips over hers—“I’d have to be dead to allow that to happen. Not to mention Keir.”
Her eyes clench closed, and she nods as her sadness floods the bond.
“No, love. Don’t even allow that thought to cross your mind. I’m very hard to kill.”
The furniture delivery arrives a short while after Keir and Calder get back. Keir is busy feeding Briar at the table in the kitchen, so I help Calder lug in the massive thing.
“You should have sprung for setup,” I grumble as we lean the king-size mattress against the wall upstairs. “How much is left?”
“It’s just this, the bed frame, and a couch.” Calder shoves up his glasses.
“You only got one bed?” I growl.
In no way do I want to spend a second night on that fucking couch.
“Yeah, we really only need one,” he says, shrugging. “We’re both bonded to Briar. Omegas like to have their pack safe and together in one place.” He snorts. “We’ll all be moving into the pack bedroom when we get back to Vermont. What did you think was going to happen?”
My head tilts.
I never gave it much thought. My family pack sleeps together in their pack bedroom and each of my fathers has their own bedroom they can retreat to if they need some space.
Christ.
I really should have put more thought into what it would be like blending into one big happy pack.
I need to find someone to murder. Having someone to take my anxiety out on will help reset my energy.
Briar is perfect, and she has to be on the verge of loving me by now…right? I’ve been obsessed with her since day one. I’m convinced obsession and possession are how I express my love.
“Once this is done, I want you on your computer,” I tell Calder. “It’s time we set up a completely new identity for Briar. Keep her first name and birthday the same, but I want a fully fabricated identity that won’t be questioned when you move to your next step.”
“What is my next step?” he asks, blinking profusely.
“I want my marriage certificate in hand by the time we make it back to Vermont. You’ve got a bond with Briar, and it’s only a matter of time before Keir does too. Whatever. I’ve accepted reality, but I want my marriage to Briar legalized now. Pack commitment licenses take three members outside of the omega. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which option you prefer.”