Chapter 19 Cade
Killian carried a contented, boneless, and clearly post-climax Rowan in his arms. Alphas had heightened hearing, as well as scent, so it had been obvious to us all what was going on in his bedroom.
I visually catalogued her body, looking for any more bites, bruises, or other injuries, and was happy to see Killian had been on good behavior.
Accidentally hurting women was not completely out of his M.O. but it was in contrast to Talon, who had a fetish for inflicting pain on his partners. We had had plenty of pissed-off beta women storm out of the barracks, but not before screaming that Talon was “a fucking psycho” or “sick-fuck.”
“Rowan, go freshen up. Put on actual clothing. Specifically, the pair of dark jeans, and white v-neck t-shirt in the closet. Also, the light blue underwear. As much as we all love the easy access, it’s distracting, and I have important things to talk to you about.
Do it quickly; we are eating in precisely seven minutes,” I ordered, tapping my watch.
She responded, “Yes, sir,” but I heard her mutter, “Captain Control Freak,” under her breath just as she slipped into her bedroom.
I would remember that and be sure to come up with a creative punishment for the comment later on.
Normally we ate in the dining hall, but we kept some items in the fridge for when Talon or I felt like cooking.
There was also no way Rowan was going near the dining hall or any space with other alphas until the entire pack fully marked and mated her.
Her scent was way too much of a temptation, and I didn’t feel like having to kill any soldiers if they tried to act on it.
I doubted anyone would so much as even look her way, given our unit’s reputation, but there was always a chance another pack could attempt to challenge us.
Our unit was the topic of many hushed conversations among our peers.
There were very few special ops units that engaged in missions north of the border.
Not to mention, we had a rare shifter packmate and Killian the giant, who was rabid during combat.
His near-death experience largely dispelled the long-standing rumors that he wasn’t fully human.
For dinner, I cooked a simple and hearty meal.
Unlike Cade and Killian, who would literally shovel any processed crap into their mouths, Talon and I preferred to eat clean, high-protein food.
He encouraged us all to broaden our tastes, often stopping at an Oriental market in the East District to grab groceries.
While we both enjoyed cooking healthy meals, I hadn’t learned how to use many of the ingredients that he brought home, so he recently started teaching me new recipes incorporating ingredients such as gochujang, kimchi, and doenjang into my cooking.
Talon was well versed in recipes from every culture, but his recent interest in Korean food had been delicious.
A few months prior, he had been obsessed with German recipes.
He loved cooking and trying recipes from all different cultures.
I had opted to make gochujang-marinated steak with white sticky rice and charred greens for dinner tonight. Our groceries were running low because of Talon’s isolation in the Science Department for the past few days, and I needed to use the namul greens before they wilted and spoiled.
I was sure Ryker would pick around the greens like the child he was, so I put only a small serving on his plate, not wanting them to go to waste. Killian would just mash his dinner all together and shovel it into his mouth. He ate so fast I wasn’t even sure he tasted his food.
We all were sitting around the table, waiting patiently when Rowan emerged from her room. She was wearing dark jeans and a navy V-neck shirt.
“I distinctly remember telling you to wear the white shirt, Rowan,” I said, rubbing my temples, as she sat down in the mismatched chair I had stolen from the dining hall.
“Sorry, sir, I thought you said blue,” she lied, shrugging her shoulders.
The lie rolled off her tongue easily. I knew she had intentionally worn a blue shirt to be defiant. I added that to the list of reasons I would punish her for later.
“This actually looks… delicious. Thank you, Cade, uh, I mean… sir.”
She didn't wait for anyone else to eat; she just dove right in, spearing a piece of steak, a few greens, and filling her mouth. Once she started chewing, she groaned exaggeratedly, and the sound made my dick respond. Killian chuckled and started his own assault on the food.
“I’m assuming the sounds you are making mean you like the meal. I’m glad. Make sure you eat everything. You need the nutrients. We can start discussing a few items once you have cleaned your plate.”
Halfway through her plate, however, she started complaining that she was full, so I moved her onto my lap and force-fed her the rest of the meal. She glared at me the whole time.
“Once again, I can feed myself, Cade. I’m a grown woman who can also sit in her own chair. Let me go and I will finish my meal!”
I could always tell when she was having difficulty feigning submission, because she called me Cade instead of sir.
“Clearly not Rowan considering you would not finish your meal until I put you on my lap. Now you can eat it here, and I will feed it to you. You’ve barely eaten anything since you first woke up.
These nutrients are important for omegas, especially considering you are still recovering from your first heat.
Open,” I said, holding the fork with a few speared greens in front of her lips.
She begrudgingly parted them and started chewing. The mention of her heat turned her face beat-red. I had caught her off guard and maybe even embarrassed her. Clearly, she did not like my talking about it one bit and gave up the fight abruptly, taking another bite that I offered her.
“Good girl.”
I know part of her, an instinctual part, loved pleasing me. Her expression read pissed, but I felt the subtle way she squeezed her thighs together when I praised her. She wanted to give in. It would feel like relief once she finally accepted her instincts and submitted fully and willingly to us.
“Um, Cade?” she asked, turning to look up at me.
“Yes, Rowan?”
“Do my friends know what happened to me? Do they know I am here and that I'm, you know… an omega? Are they mad at me?”
Her eyes were on her lap, and she was fiddling with her hands, avoiding eye contact as she asked the question.
“Yes, Ryker spoke to them when he detained you at that bar. I have also spoken with Alex on two separate occasions.”
“Your friend Hadley is a bitch with a capital B,” Ryker chimed in, always astute in his observations.
“Her name is Harper, and yes, she is. She also hates me, especially now. I’m sure they all do. Alex isn’t in trouble, right? I promise he didn’t know. I didn’t tell any of them!”
Panic and worry filled her voice. She was genuinely concerned, especially for Alex.
“We interrogated him on base shortly after they brought you in, but found no reason to believe he was being untruthful or had any sign that you were anything other than a beta. He was helpful, telling us what little he knew about you. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to satisfy Arca Command.
They will not prosecute him. Do you realize you put all of your friends at risk?
If any of them found out or even suspected, and didn’t report you, Arca would have sent them to the colonies.
We almost recommended sending your friend, Alex. He begged us not to go.”
“If it were up to me, he would be there right now,” Ryker mumbled with a mouth full of food. I glanced at his plate to see the greens sitting in a little pile, untouched.
Rowan had her face downcast, so I couldn’t see her expression, but I could tell she was feeling shame and guilt.
Alex was lucky. Ryker had wanted the kid to go to the colonies. He absolutely believed Alex was her boyfriend, claiming to have seen them touching many times. The thought of her with any man other than us sent a surge of fury and jealousy coursing through me.
I was close to siding with Ryker, until Alex started pleading, his voice shaking as he swore he was gay.
He said could never see Rowan in a romantic light.
And I believed him. I’d seen how he looked at us when we brought him in for questioning.
His eyes lingered on our bodies, and his heart raced with heavy thuds.
He had shown traces of desire for us, despite how afraid he was.
“Is there any way I can see him and talk to him? Tell him I'm sorry…”
She paused mid-sentence, breaking into a full-on sob, choking on air with fat tears spilling down her cheeks. Her emotions were so chaotic, oscillating between fury, outrage, quiet sadness, and despair.
She needed tighter control.
“I don’t know Rowan. It’s possible that we could schedule a civilian visit, if he wants to see you too, of course…
But then again, I'm not so sure you deserve a reward right now. After all, you called me ‘Captain Control Freak’ earlier and intentionally wore the blue shirt, when I specifically told you to wear the white.”
A defiant scowl moved across her face. She was not happy that I was leveraging visits with her friend to encourage compliant behavior. I’m sure it felt manipulative, because it was. I would teach her that submission won rewards, and defiance earned punishment.
She sat on my lap, wringing her hands together and chewing on her lip, debating what to say next. She finally chose wisely and squeaked out, “I’m sorry, sir. I’ll be better for you.”
“You could suck my dick to make it up to Cade. He loves watching,” Ryker suggested, throwing her his signature wink. I rolled my eyes, rubbing my temples. He tested me every minute he was breathing.
“Or better yet, you’ll sleep in my bed tonight. To make it up to me, of course.”
Rowan scoffed and tried to squirm out of my grip. A protest formed, but it died on her lips when she weighed the pros and cons of arguing, clearly wanting to win points for compliance so I would allow her friend to visit.
“Need to go, checkpoint duty,” Killian grunted, getting up from the table, leaving his dirty dish for someone other than himself to clean.
He winced as he stood, and I could tell the particularly deep wound near his shoulder was causing him pain.
I had unsucessfully tried to avoid re-injuring it during our scuffle earlier.
After his last medical appointment, Dr. Michaels had cleared him for light active duty, although I argued it was way too soon.
He was still busting open his stitches from just about everything.
Arca didn’t care though. They grew impatient waiting for Killian to recover.
He was too valuable to be wasted “healing”.
Arca wanted him and the rest of our unit back in the field for special-op assignments.
I suspected we had only another month or two in Falcon City.
Hopefully, it would be enough time to get Rowan adjusted.
I know I had assured her she was safe near the Northern Borderlands, but that wasn’t entirely true.
Killian had proved that when he nearly died a few months ago.
She would need to be constantly vigilant and follow our precise instructions always, without question.
There couldn’t be any acts of defiance, or it could spell death for her or one of us.
The direwog horde that had nearly killed my brother, were on our side of the wall and no one knew how or why.
Only a month prior, we had killed a wraith while patrolling.
Creatures were slipping through the wall, desperate to get into New Arca.
Command had tasked our unit with finding out how and why, before Killian’s injury.
Killian changed quickly, returning to the dining area in full uniform attire. He leaned down, scenting Rowan, before grunting and heading to the door.
“Later, Little Bird,” he said on his way out.
Rowan slipped off my lap, stopping him in the doorway and wrapping her arms around him.
“Bye, Killian. See you later,” she said as she hugged him.
They embraced for a long moment, until she looked up at him, smiling.
Her willingly hugging my brother certainly shocked me.
Maybe Killian had made some headway with Rowan during their time spent alone today, or maybe after seeing his injuries she felt sympathy for him.
Whatever the reason, I took it as a positive sign she might actually try to find her place in our unit.