Chapter 5
Five
KAELEN
Fuck. I deserved a medal.
For the last decade, I ensured I was never around an omega in heat. Da drilled it into me and my brothers’ heads that we were never to spend a heat with an omega unless we intended to marry them, bond them.
In our world, the risk of spending a heat with an omega and becoming bonded to the wrong person was too great.
Omegas were sacred, a delicacy to be protected and worshiped. Also, a weakness. One I had to be certain of before I claimed one as my own.
A sweet, honeyed scent invaded all my senses when those crystalline, sapphire eyes blinked back at me, shining with hurt.
This lush omega sat perched in my lap, and here I was pushing her away. Her arse wiggled, grinding into my stiff cock. My alpha thrashed, demanding that I carry the adorable bundle into her nest and care for her.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t mine, and if she were in her right mind, she wouldn’t want me. I may have had a shite moral code, but I didn’t take advantage of an omega who was in heat, no matter how tempting it was.
“Aileen,” I hissed, my teeth grinding so hard they might shatter.
Thank God for her. She swept in, handling Willow as if she were something precious. And help me, she was. Aileen knew how to care for an omega. Despite being a beta, she had two daughters, both omegas who were happily bonded to their alphas with their own children.
While I was busy fighting against my instincts, Aileen escorted Willow back to her room. The panicked omega shot worrying glances back at me while Aileen soothed her.
“Alpha,” she whinged, the sound high-pitched and needy.
Cold sweat dripped from my brow, and I was hard as stone in my joggers.
“It will be okay, Omega,” I said, doing my best to stay calm. “Be a good girl for me and let Aileen get you settled in your nest.”
Wide eyes stared at me, but she nodded, crying quietly as Aileen steered her upstairs.
I stalked down the hall, following the lingering scent of Willow until I found Patrick leaning against the doorframe to my office. He was quiet, but loyal, and most importantly, a beta. Willow’s heat wouldn’t entice him.
Not like me or my brothers or some of the other men on the premises.
I didn’t trust myself not to find my way back to the guestroom. She smelled too good. Dark eyes flicked up to mine. Pat’s face schooled in a neutral expression as he took in what had to be a feral look on my face.
“Everything alright, Boss?” he asked, keeping his distance.
Knuckles cracked as I flexed my fingers, shaking loose some of the tension in my muscles.
“I need you to guard Willow’s room. You don’t let anyone—even me—fucking pass. I mean it, Pat. Shoot ‘em if you have to. Only Aileen is allowed to come and go until I say otherwise.”
“Of course,” he said, rocking off the wall and only too happy to get away from my grouchy arse.
Gaelic curses mumbled past my pursed lips. My fingers knotted in my hair as I stumbled into my bathroom.
Water.
Yes.
That would help.
After my shower, I fell onto the edge of my bed, trying to focus and failing. All I heard were the quiet sniffles of a desperate omega, pleading for an alpha to knot her. I was painfully hard between my legs as my alpha imagined sinking into our omega’s plush pussy and knotting her.
I shot up, nearly running to the kitchen. What a pretty thing she would be, locked on my knot while I filled her: skin glistening, head tilted back, and my name on her lips as she came. Hissing, I tugged at the placket of my trousers, trying to loosen the taut material.
I stared at the overflowing glass of whisky I had poured earlier before draining it in one burning swallow.
I breathed through my teeth, scratching my beard hard enough to draw blood.
It was unacceptable. Willow was alone in a guest room, having her heat.
She deserved a proper nest and an alpha to tend to her.
Not just any alpha. Me. I was her fucking alpha. I knew it. And that would be enough until she figured it out.
Willow Sterling was my scent match.
Even so, I restrained myself from barging into the guestroom, pouring a second glass of Midleton instead.
With my instincts in overdrive, I heard the click of the front door opening, and my head snapped to the source of the sound.
Bags overflowing with blankets dangled from Aileen’s outstretched arms. The unease plaguing me quieted, seeing that she had nesting things for Willow.
I stood, about to offer her help when I thought better of it.
My omega deserved more than sterile blankets.
She needed me.
Needed my scent.
Rougher than I intended, I tore my dress shirt off by the collar, stuffing it in one of the bags.
The lines around Aileen’s eyes crinkled.
“This will help,” she said, patting my biceps and heading upstairs.
Over the next three days, I struggled to function.
Aidan and Liam handled our family business while I was indisposed. I was on the verge of a rut and didn’t trust myself to make any significant decisions.
It had been a mistake putting my sweet omega in the guest room down the hall from my bedroom.
Every night, I heard her pitiful cries, her raw voice begging for an alpha to knot her.
More than once, I nearly tested the limits of what Patrick would do.
If he had the balls to stop even me from entering her makeshift nest. The man was tough. One of the few I trusted at my side.
However, the beta wouldn’t be able to stop a rutting alpha from joining an omega in heat without shooting them.
And despite my order to do that, Pat would never pull that trigger.
Not against me.
I wouldn’t put him in that position.
Instead, I locked myself in my room, pacing and wearing a path in the carpet. Aileen assured me Willow had everything she needed to get through her heat, but that wasn’t true. She didn’t have me. Her alpha.
Naked. I lay down on my bed, my cock slapping against my stomach and leaking. Again, the sound of her muffled cries carried into my room.
“Alpha,” her raw voice moaned.
“Omega,” I panted.
I fisted my dick, stroking it as I closed my eyes. My head fell back into the pillows, and I swore her heady scent filled the room, smelling like sex, spring rain, and honey.
My poor omega. I tightened my grip, slicking pre-cum over my length. I pictured her crystal eyes glazed with pleasure as she bounced on me, taking my knot like the beautiful omega she was.
A minute later, her voice changed, turning high-pitched and frantic until she sobbed as she shattered, coming around some knotting dildo instead of me.
Soon, hot ropes of my spend shot out, coating my fist and stomach as I groaned.
Hopefully, my omega would rest now with my shirt tucked away safely in her nest. I grabbed a tissue from the bedside table, cleaning myself enough, too lazy to shower.
The blankets were like velvet beneath my fingertips as my hands fell back onto the mattress with a dull thud.
Closing my eyes, I envisioned my sweet omega curled up in this massive bed beside me.
That first night, when she spat at her father, flames burned in her eyes, forging those bright blues into glittering sapphires. She wasn’t fearless. She was terrified. But that didn’t stop her; she raised her chin and walked straight into the line of fire like an anchor in the storm.
My omega was a queen, and if I believed in God, I would have dropped to my knees and thanked Him.
I was utterly fucked.
Willow had blown apart every wall I’d spent the last decade building.
When I woke up, there was a text from Liam saying Torin had been released from the hospital. A half-smile tugged on my lips as I texted him back, telling him to send Torin to my office for a meeting at 10:30.
My forearm fell over my eyes, obscuring the late morning sun.
It was quiet. My omega slept, and I exhaled. It had been four days; she was nearing the end of her heat. I sensed it. I shot off another text to Liam, telling him to find me a contractor.
When he poked, I told him to mind his business. I never considered myself impulsive, but my omega would not spend another heat in anything less than the most luxurious nest. Another suite sat unused on the other side of his closet.
No better use for it than her nest.
Warmth spread through me, calming my raging alpha.
Hot water poured off my body as I pressed my forehead to the wall in my shower. Strands of hair fell over my shoulders, and for the first time in days my dick wasn’t heavy between my legs. I dried off, tying my hair back into a neat bun, tugging at the cuffs of my shirt.
As I made my way to my office, I passed Pat, still stationed outside Willow’s room. Purple marks hung under his eyes as I tilted my head in his direction. The tough fucker hadn’t slept, standing like a sentry at the gates of Hell.
He leaned against the wall.
“I’ll have Aileen bring you a coffee,” I said.
“She beat you to it. Already had my first one when she brought your girl breakfast. Should be getting my second here shortly.”
Your girl.
Good.
They should think that. It was only a matter of time before everyone knew. Every fiber urged me to storm into that room and feed her from my fingers. To tuck that precious omega in beside me while she slept.
“Has she been eating?”
“I think so. Aileen’s been dropping off food and water a few times a day.”
Oil slipped across my fingers as I scrubbed a hand through my beard. Had Aileen coaxed her to eat and drink enough?
Stubborn omega probably hadn’t. Not without my alpha to coax her. That wouldn’t do. Next time, I would be there to take care of her.
Reluctantly, I left my private wing and strode into my office, surprised to see Torin already there, perched in my chair like a king lounging over his subjects.
“You think nearly dying means you get to act like a shite?”
A confident grin slid across his lips. Bloody Scotsman pretending to be Irish. He was a pain in the arse at the best of times.
“I figured I’d test my luck. Since you didn’t pull your pistol on me, I’d say it was a win.”
“Get the fuck out of my chair,” I hissed, tapping my waistband in warning.
“Fine, you twitchy-fingered fuck.” Torin snorted, moving to the other side of my desk and collapsing into the oversized armchair.
Bandages poked out from beneath his collar.
After years, the man finally dressed appropriately when coming to work.
Apparently, eight years in the Marines taught him nothing. Or he chose to ignore everything. Aidan finally convinced him that a clean t-shirt was not a dress shirt.
At the bar cart, I poured two glasses of whisky, handing one to Torin, who accepted with a dip of his chin.
“How is it?” I asked, pointing at the covered wound.
“Hurts like a bitch, but liquor helps,” he said, raising his glass in salute and taking a long drag. His eyes widened, holding the glass at a distance to examine the amber liquid. “Shite. You gave me the good stuff. You must want something.”
I put down my glass, crossing my arms over my chest. Noticing the shift in my demeanor, Torin straightened, his expression turning serious as he emptied the last of the whisky.
“I’m assigning you to protect Willow. If I’m not with her, I expect you to be.”
“The senator’s daughter?”
She wasn’t his anything. He didn’t deserve to call her his daughter. She was mine. Torin’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly before a glimmer of understanding flashed across his face.
“Yes. She will be staying here for the foreseeable future, and she will need protection whenever she leaves.”
“Aye. Heard she spit on the senator and slapped you across the face. Ballsy omega. Are you sure she can’t handle herself?”
Aidan didn’t know when to shut up. No doubt that he told Torin everything when the two of them crawled into bed together. Aidan thought that he and Torin were sneaky, but those two were as subtle as a slap to the face.
For the last year, they had danced around each other. I didn’t care who they fucked, as long as they did their jobs.
And they were the best, with Liam and Patrick a close second.
It wouldn’t be long before people realized who Willow was and what she meant to me. When that day came, she would be a target.
Right now, I was certain she could take care of herself. It looked like she had been doing that most of her life. Once the Italians realized she was mine, they would be out for blood. I needed to keep her safe.
I had an inkling that her omega already recognized me as her alpha.
Now, it was a matter of getting Willow to come to the same conclusion.
I was a patient man when I had to be. I would wait at the end of the earth for her, just to burn it to the ground afterwards if those brilliant crystal eyes willed it.
Almost forgetting that Torin was still there, I dropped into the armchair beside him, squeezing his uninjured shoulder.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that pint-sized powerhouse could take down a few of my men, but I won’t take any chances. She’s important to me.”
“Then she’s important to me,” he said, nodding. “I won’t let anything happen to her, Boss.”
“Good. There’s one other thing I need. When you find your way into my brother’s bed tonight, have him help you with it.”
Torin choked on a cough, all the color draining from his face.
“Sir. Kaelen. It’s not true.”
I raised a hand to silence him. No one lied to me, especially not my family, and Torin was family. Kin. Even if he wasn’t blood.
“Don’t lie to me. It’s true, and I don’t care. I won’t tell anyone if you two prefer to keep it quiet. You’ll need Aidan’s hacking skills to help. I want medical records for Isabelle Sterling for the last ten years.”
Torin nodded slowly, still uneasy. Eventually, he would get over it. While watching him and Aidan avoid each other when I knew what was happening behind closed doors had been entertaining for a time, I needed them focused.
Now more than ever.
It didn’t take me long to find out who Willow’s mother was. Isabelle Sterling had been married to William Sterling for thirty years. For decades, she was active in the society pages, her sleek black hair cascading down her back. Willow looked every bit her mother’s daughter.
Then, mysteriously, about eight years ago, she disappeared from social life.
If she had been sick, that made sense, but I hated to see that haunted look in Willow’s eyes when she talked about her mum. I knew some of the best doctors in Boston and was sure one of them could figure out what was wrong with Isabelle.