Chapter 23 #2
“Well, that’s clearly not the case since you are his mate, so what else could it be?” Caspian continues to stroke his hands over my fur almost like he’s reluctant to remove them. I preen, knowing how soft and silky my pelt is.
“Shift, Echo.”
I can hear the confusion and anger in my mate’s voice as he orders me to shift.
He must be really mad to do that, because an ordered shift is painful.
I yowl and roll off Caspian, my body contorting and bones cracking as they reshape into my bipedal form.
I’m panting with exhaustion by the time it finishes, and I stumble slightly as I get to my feet.
Caspian kindly puts out a hand to steady me.
I stare up at my alpha, feeling mixed emotions—anger that he commanded me to shift in a painful way instead of just asking, and guilt because now I have to explain my predicament.
If we were back home on Iceen, it wouldn’t be unheard of for us to take a few more into our streak if we found someone appealing, but it never would have been another omega.
We wouldn’t be able to share with one another.
It would cause continuous infighting until one took out the other, so it would have only been betas or another alpha, and only then if Maxsim okayed it.
“What are you doing?” he asks, crossing his arms and still looking down at us.
I feel the kraken get to his feet behind me, and with one quick movement, he leaps back up next to my alpha. I stubbornly shake my head, refusing to answer. Maxsim growls, but Caspian just holds out a hand, offering to help me up.
“It’s okay, Echo. I’m not upset, you just surprised me.
” I take the proffered hand, even though I don’t need it, and allow him to pull me up and out.
To my disappointment, I wasn’t very successful in transferring her scent from him to my nest. It mostly smells like an ocean breeze, which is what the kraken smells like.
Unashamed of my nakedness in front of our guest, I turn my back and walk away from Maxsim, still hurt that he ordered me to shift.
“Can I get you something to drink?” I ask the kraken, heading over to our replicator.
I press a button and order my favorite Iceen freezie.
This conversation is definitely going to require some alcohol.
When I turn back, Caspian is glancing awkwardly between Maxsim and me, and he shakes his head.
“No, but thank you. Maybe another time. Look, I’m going to leave the two of you alone. Just let one of the Adams brothers or Lila know what you decide to do.”
Caspian leaves without an explanation for my weird behavior, but Maxsim hasn’t stopped staring at me with his lip peeled back in a snarl.
“What was that?” he demands again, and this time he puts the alpha command behind his words.
“Fuck you, Maxsim,” I manage to snarl back before my omega compulsion kicks in and I have to answer him. “He smelled like the Earth girl. I want that smell in my nest.”
He snarls and leaps toward me, grabbing my mane.
“Why would you want that? She is a pathetic human. She cannot be anything to you.”
Wow! I’m not sure he even realizes how much he sounds like Natalia now.
“Why not?” I’m stubborn, and I refuse to give in to his jealousy.
“Because she is not a lightning cat, and she is not an alpha. She can’t give you what you need. How empty would you feel without a knot stuffing you full?” His voice has dropped to a low rumble, and he mutters all of this into my ear, knowing it will trigger something inside me.
Sure enough, my cock, which has been semi-hard since I shifted, hardens even further.
He pulls my head back and bites into my neck over his claiming mark.
He is not gentle, his jealousy insisting he reassert his dominance over me, and I shiver with excitement as all thoughts of the Earth girl float away.
I whimper, and I feel his lips turn up into a smirk against my neck as his own cock hardens against my back.
“I think we need to finish what was interrupted before. I think you need to be reminded of who your alpha is.” He tightens his grip on my mane and drags me over to my nest before shoving me into it.
I allow him to manhandle me and fall into it, excited and breathing heavily in anticipation.
Suddenly, Lila’s scent hits my nose, overpowering the previous scent of the kraken, and I almost come in my nest. Maxsim jumps down into it and wrinkles his nose at the smell, growling angrily.
“I’m going to fuck you and fill you with so much cum that you will never smell her in our nest again. I will paint your body with it if I have to and remind you whom you belong to. Now present for me.”
The last words are laced with alpha command, and I roll over, giving him my ass. He leans in and bites down on my neck again, wrapping one of his big hands around my weeping cock. He drags a claw along it, and I grunt in pain as he uses his other hand to probe my entrance.