24. Arlo
Chapter 24
Arlo
T hat lucky fucker.
When Hendrix came crawling out of the nest, he wasn’t drunk off the mini-bar booze. He was drunk off glorious omega mate pussy. He practically strutted out of the nest, a smug grin on his face, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.
Even though I was greedy as hell and wanted to keep Meadow close, her getting freaky with my pack mates was promising for our future. Banging Hendrix had gotten her into this situation, but it also created some delightful possibilities for the rest of us if she was interested.
Maybe, next time, they’d let me watch?
I did love a good show.
“I see that look on your face.” Hendrix smirked at me, heading over to the fridge to get himself a bottle of water. “Jealous?”
“Hardly. You should put some clothing on, though. My eyeballs don’t need to be subjected to that much of you.” I pouted, throwing my phone to the side and standing up to join him.
“Nah, my skin smells like Meadow. I’m not covering that up. Also, I’m going back in there for however long she lets me stay, so no omega cuddles for you tonight.”
“Fuck off!” I growled, but it was playful. Kind of. I was possessive of my omega cuddles. I launched forward, landing a quick jab to Hendrix’s chest. Sore pregnancy titties made for easy targets, and it was a good punishment when he was being an ass. It had the desired effect—he bent over in pain, clutching his chest and grumbling.
“Ow!” Meadow’s shout came from her nest. Had my pretty girl fallen over?
“Are you okay, princess?” I headed in the direction of the nest, but before I could enter, she stumbled out, clutching her own chest, a frown on her face. She was wearing one of Hendrix’s T-shirts and looked deliciously rumpled and sexed up.
“My boob just hurt . It’s happened a few times now, and it really stings. I know pregnancy is weird, but sudden boob pain? Surely biology isn’t that mean?” She stamped her foot like a petulant child and turned to Hendrix, her grumbling halting when she noticed he was also clutching his chest. “Did you feel that pain as well?”
I looked between her and Hendrix with wide eyes. “Uh…princess, I may have just punched him in the chest because he was being an ass. Are you telling me you felt that?”
My stomach sank. Had I been hurting my omega while torturing Hendrix with titty twisters? That was the last thing I wanted.
Meadow’s eyes narrowed at me. “Have you been punching him in the chest this whole time?” Her voice was carefully measured with an undertone of anger.
“Um…kind of?” I admitted.
“So, let me get this straight, because on top of all the nasty pregnancy symptoms I’ve been having, the random stabbing chest pain is because you’ve been punching Hendrix?”
“I didn’t know you could feel it too!” I said, trying to pull her into my arms.
“You ass!” She launched forward and nailed me right in the nip with her fist, sending a little lightning bolt of agony zinging through me.
“Motherfuckity fuck!” I clutched my chest and dodged when she went for the other one. “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again.”
Then again…an angry omega could be potentially amazing in bed. Who didn’t love a little angry sex?
“You know the reason it hurts him is because I’m pregnant?” Meadow growled. “Sore breasts are part of pregnancy!”
“I’m so sorry, princess,” I cooed, using her proximity to wrap my arms around her and crush her to my chest so she couldn’t use those wicked knuckles on me again. She tried to wriggle out of my grip, but she had all the strength of a cranky kitten. It was adorable. She was absolutely covered in Hendrix’s scent, and instead of making me unhappy, it made my already stiffening cock go rock hard.
I slid down to my knees without letting go until I was eye-level with her glorious chest. Cupping those gorgeous titties, I spoke directly to them. “I am so sorry, you beautiful, precious, amazing boobies. I swear, I will forever use my powers for good and protect your jiggly mounds!”
A smile tugged on the corners of Meadow’s mouth as she desperately tried to remain serious. “You’re ridiculous.”
The effort was futile. No one could resist my charm for long.
“And you love it.”
“No more titty punching!” She poked my forehead and grumbled as I righted myself, pulling her back into a crushing hug.
“Never again!” I declared loudly, before adding an amendment. “Well, never again while you’re pregnant. Once you’re not all hormonally linked so much and Hendrix can take a titty punch like he deserves, I will exercise my right as pack mate and bandmate and titty tap away!”
“You’re a truly insufferable alpha, you know that?” she mumbled into my chest.
“I know, but I’m your insufferable alpha.”
“Maybe so, but you still have to tone it down while I’m trying to sleep.” She turned to Hendrix. “You better have a good reason for leaving the nest while I slept.”
He held up his water bottle in defense. “Just getting us a drink. I was coming right back.”
“Can I join?” I asked.
“Titty punchers lose cuddle privileges,” Meadow replied. “Maybe tomorrow.”
I let Hendrix scoop her out of my arms. I could respect a boundary, even if I didn’t like it very much. He was already looking a million times better just having Meadow around, and now he was practically fucking glowing after all that nest time with her. I could sacrifice for the greater good if it meant one of my best friends was living his best life.
They couldn’t stay in there all day when we had a show tonight, but hopefully by the time that was over, Meadow would restore nest privileges.
My phone buzzed, and I made the mistake of checking it.
Fucking Gary.
Gary:
You’re needed in sound check. One of your guitars got dinged during transit and you need to check it and the backup.
Now.
I wanted to ignore the text, but a potentially damaged instrument was a serious thing. With a groan, I dragged my ass inside.
“About fucking time.” Gary was already waiting and directed me to the stage where the instruments were laid out. “I need to fire the transport guys.”
“It was probably just a mistake. Shit happens,” I countered, picking up my guitar to look it over. There was a pretty hefty scuff, but the sound was still smooth.
“Things around here are getting lax. You guys are too focused on your new piece of ass to think straight,” he grumbled.
My entire body stilled. The overwhelming urge to punch Gary was all I could think about. What ego trip was this asshole on?
“ Don’t call her a piece of ass.” I slowly turned and advanced on Gary.
He immediately realized his mistake when faced with a pissed-off alpha who could throw him through a window without breaking a sweat. Holding his hands up in surrender, he rushed to speak. “Hey, you can do what you want. The tour just has to come first.”
“Listen, Gary.” My usual friendliness evaporated, and I let every ounce of my alpha energy seep into my voice, letting him know who was in charge. “Meadow is our mate. I know a limp-dick little beta like you who doesn’t possess the instincts to fight their way out of a paper bag wouldn’t understand, but she is ours. If you keep talking about her that way, I will happily give you a broken nose to match those black eyes Hendrix gave you. Do you understand?”
Our manager shrank backward, his eyes bulging in fear. “S-she’s a distraction!”
I laughed. “Gary, if you don’t shut the fuck up and stop calling our mate a distraction, I will take her and leave. Fuck the tour, fuck the albums, fuck the fucking press. And you know if I walk away, my pack will follow. I don’t give a fuck if you took a chance on us when we were kids; that doesn’t give you the right to mistreat a member of our pack,” I snarled, my voice low and dangerous.
Without giving Gary a chance to reply, I turned and stalked out of the room.
That fucker needed to do some soul searching, or I was going to be searching for a lake to “accidentally” throw him into.