13. Melanie
Melanie
H ours and multiple orgasms later, I lay on top of Sin, focusing on his beating heart, rather than the frustration and guilt burning through me.
My body still wanted him, even when I was worn out and fully sated. But that didn’t make it okay.
His aura and scent had blown my mind, and it was only when we’d settled down from the frenzy did I fully realise what we’d done.
As soon as Caspian threw the first punch, my memory had become hazy with lust. And by the time he grabbed my throat, I’d been so turned on that I was ready to do whatever they wanted.
So I didn’t remember if there was ever a point where Sin’s mates had told him it was okay for him to fuck me.
And I was scared to ask because Kai’s twisted snarl and pain before I’d bitten him weeks ago was still so clear to me.
Sin weaved his fingers through my hair. And, in the silence of Zania’s living room, we rested quietly together.
Until his lips brushed the top of my head and he spoke. “I want you to come home with me,” he said softly.
I stilled against his chest, sucking in a quick breath as his heartbeat sped up.
“W-what?” I asked, shifting my weight so I could bring myself onto all fours over him. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly that, Melanie. You are our mate. We can’t leave you alone in that flat. You belong with us.”
He looked so sincere that my omega instincts were instantly begging me to say yes. That part of me knew how right it was, that I had to be with them. But a feeling of wrongness also sunk through me as I met his sure gaze.
“It’s not just a flat, Sin. It’s my nest. I won’t leave it to move in with people I don’t know.”
“Of course, I’m not asking you to abandon it. But your life will be more secure if you live with us. Caspian and I can bite you, and once we’ve sealed our bond we can—”
I pressed my fingers against his lips.
“Wait, hang on.” I leaned back on my heels, my ass on his thighs as I tried to catch up. “Sin, you’re going too fast. I need a moment.”
It was so obvious he didn’t fully understand what my nest meant to me. Even before I’d presented, my home was my special place. Even if they were the most perfect pack in the world, I wasn’t leaving my nest.
Sin lifted his hands, feeding them up my waist, trailing his soft touch along my arm to ring my wrist. He held me there as he tenderly kissed my fingers.
A thought crossed my mind, and I flinched back from him with a small gasp, horrified at myself.
“What’s wrong?” he asked with a slight tilt of his head, confusion crossing his face.
Zania was so obsessed about bloodline and keeping everything pure. So, what if I bonded with Sin and Caspian to keep them trapped in a relationship where they couldn’t have children? That would be the ultimate way to get back at her.
Shame filled me that the idea had even crossed my mind.
It was awful, disgusting, and I never wanted to think about anyone that way.
The fact I couldn’t have children was even more of a reason to turn Sin down.
I wished he hadn’t brought it up, but I guessed we had to have this conversation now.
“Sin, I know we said a lot of things when we were fucking, but I can’t be part of your pack. Not yet, anyway.”
His brow furrowed and I wanted to kiss away the creases, but I had to stay strong.
“But we’re mates,” he said. “We’re scent matches. It’s only right you stay with us.”
I shook my head, pulling in another shuddering breath as he continued to stroke my arms. I couldn’t tell if that made it better or worse. Were his strokes distracting me, or making it easier to approach him calmly?
I dropped my gaze to his chest. “Have any of you done anything to make me want to be your mate?” I asked quietly, nerves bursting at the question.
“Excuse me?” He sat up, his shoulders pressing against the arm of the sofa.
I couldn’t move as I waited for a proper answer.
“Then what did we just do?” He cupped my cheek, asking me to look at him.
“I thought you felt it, too. Did we not just make love? Didn’t you feel that too?
” His pained expression clenched my heart.
“Melanie, I already know deep inside my body. You are my omega. And there’s nothing I won’t do for you now. ”
I watched him closely, and it didn’t seem he was lying. But he wasn’t thinking about anyone except himself.
“You have two mates who hate me. And we’ve only fucked once. That doesn’t mean I want to be bonded with you. I won’t be with a pack that treats me like dirt for the rest of my life.”
His face fell and his disappointment was thick in his scent, but I couldn’t waver.
It didn’t matter how turned on I got when Caspian and Kai were rough with me and they spat and snarled.
Or how deeply my instincts craved them. I wanted mates who loved me and acted like they loved me.
Even in the chaos of my new situation, where the most security I had was in Sin’s arms, I wasn’t going to enter a pack who couldn’t respect me enough to even talk to me like a real person.
“But I want to help you,” he said simply, like uprooting me from my nest was exactly what I needed after everything that had happened since I met them.
“Sin, you can help me by sticking to your original offer. It was supposed to be three parties and the Selection Ceremony, nothing more than that.” Even though it shook me to think I might not see them again after that.
“Are you saying this is still pretend for you?” he asked, the seriousness in his eyes stealing my breath. “Did the fact we made love really mean nothing to you?”
I leaned backwards, climbing off of him. I didn’t want to keep having this conversation when my aching pussy was hovering near his cock.
I sat on the edge of the sofa, my back to him, my hands curled into fists. “Sin, I’m really grateful you rescued me back there, and this night was amazing. But I think it’s better for both of us if we don’t expect anything more than that.”
“Please don’t minimise my feelings with excuses, Melanie. You already know how I feel about you. Don’t treat this as a transaction.”
“You started it, Sin. You’re the one who made our relationship like a business deal. And you didn’t need to. Not once. So don’t get upset just because I won’t do what you want.”
Even though it was breaking my heart to say it. Because if he even put his lips against my neck again, I’d probably beg him to bite me. It was taking everything I had not to jump on him again. And forget about the omega who had warned me over and over to stay away from his alphas.
A heavy silence hung between us, so suffocating that I had to move. I couldn’t sit there as darkness swirled out from him through his aura.
I always assumed he was the calmest of the three of them, but his aura was tightening, suffocating, pinning me in place, and I had to do something.
I quickly grabbed my dress, pretending not to notice the cloying energy as I put on a joking smile.
“So, now you’ve finished distracting me with sex, are you going to tell me who Camille really is?”
The energy suddenly vanished like I’d thrown him off, and I spun around to face him again.
“Excuse me?” he said, raising a brow as I stepped into my dress.
“I know she’s not just your sister, Sin. Even when I’ve been sure Caspian is ready to kill me, he’s never actually hurt me. But I thought he was really going to strangle me with an audience because of her.”
“How did you know it wasn’t because he was worried about you?” he asked.
“This is exactly what I mean. What kind of person shows someone they are worried by strangling them?” I sighed as I pulled up the straps. “Do you think I missed the way he looked at her? I didn’t even know he could be so gentle.”
Because how Caspian had held her and how his entire body softened for her, and the passion and pain in his gaze—that was how my future alphas should treat me.
Sin took my cue and reached for his clothes, watching me closely as he pulled his gloves over scarred hands, weighing up whether he should share whatever secret they were hiding.
And he sighed as he made his decision.
He swiped his shirt from the floor, slipping it on and buttoning it up as he spoke.
“Caspian and my sister have a complex relationship. It’s not as strenuous as it used to be. Personally, they made it more of a struggle than necessary, though I believe they have found their way with it.”
My heart fluttered with tension as I barely understood. Even though Sin’s way of talking could sound really smart and fancy, sometimes he said things that meant nothing at all.
“You’re just using empty words. Tell me plainly.” Though, from the way he sighed, I thought I could tell what was coming next, and I didn’t want to hear it. I was sure it was better if I didn’t.
“Caspian and my sister have been in love since they were teenagers. I believe they liked to think of themselves as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, except our parents were thrilled by the match. It was all very dramatic in the beginning.”
I tried to keep my expression neutral as the words sank in, but too much was happening.
He’d asked me to join his pack when Caspian was in love with someone they weren’t even bonded to?
Suddenly, all of Kai’s pain and jealousy and the pure fury at how I’d appeared during his heat made even more sense.
My shoulders dropped, my hands shaking so hard I could barely fix the straps of my shoes.
My hair covered my face as pain and sickness curled through me.
Kai had been distraught as I lay cuddled between them, so wrecked that he choked me, and so much deep sadness which flew through me after I bit him. The aching betrayal, and how furious he was when Sin and I kissed as we curled up in his nest.
And now that the madness of my need had passed, I could actually look at Sin and what we had done.
I was so focused on fucking and ruining Zania’s office that it was only when the haze of pleasure cleared did I realise I’d done the same thing to Kai again.