34. Cassius
CHAPTER 34
Cassius
I was the stupidest idiot on the fucking planet, but what else was I supposed to do? Liam was about to bite Lucy and force a bond with her while she was out of her mind. Neither of them really wanted this, no matter how they felt right now.
But the way Liam looked at me…
Today might just be the day I died.
If I couldn’t figure out how to fix this shit, he was going to fucking kill me.
I’d known this was a bad idea, but I’d still gone and gotten the meds from the doc and then rushed back here like I knew what the fuck I was doing when in all honesty I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.
“You called me here, remember?” It took everything I had not to look at Lucy who was writhing under Liam and looking very fucking seductive.
The intensity of her pheromones had felt like walking into a brick wall when I’d first stepped foot in the house, and Liam’s were just as bad, but they were so intertwined it felt like one. His oranges mixed perfectly with her black currant and the vanilla was intense, but there was an edge to both of them that harmonized perfectly until I felt it slice into my skin, making my cock as hard as a rock.
If I hadn’t taken suppressants before speeding across the city like a maniac, I’d probably be just as far gone as Liam.
Bastard didn’t look even remotely sane, and was that blood all over the both of them? Jesus, what the fuck had I missed? All I knew was what the doc had told me, and that wasn’t very much at all. He’d insisted I leave before he could explain anything, sounding absolutely panicked.
Now I know why.
“Don’t make me sedate you,” I warned, feeling the weight of the syringe in my other hand.
Those red eyes flashed at me, furious that I’d dare interfere, but for whatever reason, Liam wasn’t trying to kill me just yet.
Small miracles.
“Liam,” Lucy whimpered, her nails digging into his shoulders as she tried to bring him closer.
But he didn’t look away from me, and I refused to even blink. If I so much as glanced at her right now, he’d rip me apart. There was nothing left of the man I knew, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was in rut right now.
Lucy’s heat was just as bad as Liam’s rut and her pheromones could have easily triggered his cycle into starting early, but it could just be the scent of his unbonded omega all up in his head that was making him feral and unreasonable.
How long had he waited for this moment?
Didn’t matter. She had no idea and I couldn’t let this bond happen. Not yet. Not when neither of them were in any state to make a single rational decision.
Teeth sank deeper into my hand, hitting bone, and I buried down the wince when I felt them creak. Any harder and he’d break my hand, but I still didn’t let go. If I had to bleed to make sure she wasn’t bonded against her will, that would be a small price to pay .
“She doesn’t know,” I reminded him, angling my body so I didn’t have to see so much of her.
Yeah, I took some pretty fucking intense suppressants before coming here, but that didn’t mean I was strong enough to stand here like I couldn’t see just how round and juicy her ass was, or hear those desperate, whimpering moans as she clung to Liam, begging him for more, covered in slick and cum and blood.
If she fucking begged him to bite her…we were all fucked. There was no way I could stop him then. Not without dying.
There was a small snapping sound that told me he’d fractured one of the bones in my hand, and Lucy went completely still at the sound.
It was such a weird fucking reaction for someone in the throes of her heat that both of us turned toward her.
Those grey eyes were lighter than they usually were, looking like mercury. Damn, it looked like she was going to cry, and just the thought of that made my chest ache in a way that took me the fuck out.
I wasn’t ready for such a strong reaction and I instantly released Liam, putting a knee on the bed and reaching for her like I didn’t know any better.
“Lucy…” Her eyes locked onto Liam’s at the sound of his voice, but she didn’t really see him.
She was covered in blood. Whose fucking blood was that?
“Do you want Cassius to leave?”
Liam’s voice felt far away when all I could do was stare at the blood staining her skin from her mouth, down her chin, her throat…
Her breasts were heavy and round, the flat space between them also stained red. It didn’t stop until it hit her navel, trailing off in a strange smear that probably had a matching one on Liam’s front.
The way his hand still held her throat was seriously fucking me up. They looked so fucking good together and I tried to remember if I’d ever felt like this with anyone else we’d ever fucked together. I really didn’t think so, and that should have me turning on my heel and getting the fuck out of here, but I just couldn’t bring myself to move, not when those clear grey eyes turned on me.
“No, I don’t want him to leave.”
Shit, I was really in trouble now.
I was just real fucking lucky there wasn’t enough sanity in her eyes or I’d be a goner. Lucy was looking at me, but she wasn’t really seeing me.
Grabbing her face was instinct, and I couldn’t stop myself even if I tried. “And who exactly am I?”
The way she looked up at me…it made my heart literally freeze in my chest. “Cassius.”
She knew it was me, and still wanted me to stay?
“Please don’t go.” Lucy reached for me with one hand, the other sliding through Liam’s hair, making his eyes close as he leaned into her touch.
The way she could manage him was insane. I’d never seen Liam like this before. His ruts always made him feral and vicious, but Lucy seemed to like that about him—wanted it even.
Before I knew what I was doing, I took the hand that was reaching out for me and stared down at the small delicate nature of it. She held a gun like it was nothing with something like this?
Her hand was trembling, and her eyes were starting to look hazy again, but she didn’t look away from me.
“It’s too much,” she confessed, pulling me toward her.
It was instinct to resist at first, but then I found myself leaning closer, ignoring Liam like I was suicidal because…
What if she really did need me? Was I going to deny her? Such a strong omega who didn’t trust anyone, and yet she was reaching for me , asking me not to leave her.
It was killing me that I couldn’t figure out what it was she wanted from me. Did she just want my company so she wasn’t alone with Liam, or did she need me for something else?
“I need more,” Lucy confessed, those bright grey eyes looking up at me imploringly, almost as if she were ashamed. “Help me.”
Liam buried his face in one side of her neck, giving me the room I needed if just for an instant.
Leaning down, I let my lips hover over hers, watching her face and eyes for anything that might tell me what she was thinking or feeling, but I still had no idea how to read her, even now – even when my alpha instincts should be telling me exactly what to do when there was an omega in heat before us.
What a beautiful mystery.
Lucy moved forward just the littlest bit, but it was enough. I felt her teeth scrape against my flesh as she pulled me down by my bottom lip, holding it captive between her vicious little teeth. “I said help me, Cassius. Do something.”
This fucking omega…
Just as I was about to kiss her, I realized what I was supposed to be doing and it was not this.
My gaze slid to Liam, and he smirked at me.
That fucker was smirking at me.
“But I’m not done yet, Lucy.”
Her gaze turned to him, watching Liam with wide eyes as he moved so his entire body was covering her – a monstrous beast hovering over such a delicate thing. His grin was sharp and his eyes glowed so brightly she was all he could see – all she could want.
Shoving down the hurt that came out of nowhere, trying to choke me as if I were drowning, I took the opportunity to take a step back and try to clear my head.
I wasn’t here to get her through her heat the same way Liam was. I was just here to make sure he didn’t do something he’d regret – something that she’d never forgive him for. My only purpose in his life was to control any damage he may or may not cause.
This was the same thing.
Because Lucy wasn’t just some random omega we’d picked up to try to ease some of our raging alpha instincts. She was his first love – the girl he’d spent more than half his life looking for.
Just because we’ve shared everything else, that didn’t mean he was going to share this – that she would even want to be shared.
I sat in the armchair beside the bed despite the fact that every fucking muscle in my body was so tight it actually hurt. Forcing my arms to drape over the armrests and appear relaxed was almost more than I could handle, but I managed it – the syringe full of the sedative Liam had asked for heavy in my hand.
Watching them was better than nothing, I supposed, but it was also the worst torture I’d ever experienced. This was even more painful than that time my jaw shattered and it had to be wired shut so it would heal right.
Liam yanked Lucy up as he shifted into a kneeling position in the center of the bed, one large hand on her lower back as he held her in place so he could hold her face with the other, staring into her eyes like he could survive on the sight of her alone.
He didn’t need food or sleep or even air if he had Lucy, and for a second, I wondered if he would even need me after he finally got the bond he wanted.
The way I knew there was a difference between Liam and me was because no one else on this fucking planet would have picked up on that tiny feeling I buried down as quickly as I could. His red gaze slid to mine and there was a flicker of something almost apologetic in them.
No other alpha could be this attuned to another alpha – even one they liked enough to occasionally fuck. My instincts were geared towards omegas, but Liam’s? His were geared toward everyone in a way I could never match.
“Let me show you what it means to be with a legacy alpha first,” Liam murmured, his eyes still locked on mine. “Then we can see if you still need Cassius.”