Chapter 42
Forty-Two
WILLOW
For hours, I slipped in and out of sleep. Kaelen stayed close, tending to his mark. The bond thrummed with his attention, my heat done and my omega content. I wanted to spend every heat like this, curled up with my alpha, safe in our nest.
A sleepy smile crinkled my eyes, knowing that was exactly what every heat would be like.
Once the sun set, my stomach grumbled. Kaelen rose from the bed, pulling on a pair of sweatpants. The lines of his muscles and tattoos disappeared under the waistband.
It was unfair how gorgeous he looked.
My omega whined, the sound reedy and high-pitched.
Despite my heat being over, our bond was still fresh, and neither me nor my omega wanted our alpha to leave.
“Alpha. No,” I pleaded, reaching for him. “Don’t.”
I hated the neediness in my tone, but it was too soon for him to go. A warm palm slid along my face. I leaned into the touch, holding his hand in place.
“Shhh, sweet omega. I’ll be right back. I’m getting more food for us. Ten minutes. I promise. Can you be my good girl and wait here for me?”
I nodded, my eyes still wide as my fingers clutched the nearest blanket. He pressed a reassuring kiss on my forehead, saying so many unspoken things.
At that moment, he wasn’t Kaelen Finnegan, head of one of the most feared families in Boston. He was my husband, my alpha. The man I loved, who loved me. Someone fiercely dedicated to my protection, his devotion clear in the brush of his lips.
His retreating form moved, and I stared a little too long at his firm ass as he walked away. It was like he had been poured into his clothing. Sweatpants, suit pants, jeans… it didn’t matter. Anything he wore highlighted how stunning my alpha was.
True to his word, Kaelen returned a few minutes later, carrying a tray filled with fresh fruit, buttered toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and something else I didn’t recognize. My mouth watered, and my stomach lurched again.
During my heat, Kaelen tried to keep me fed, but it proved to be an impossible task. Now that I was lucid again, my body reminded me how hungry I was.
“Breakfast? Isn’t that a bit odd for nighttime?” I asked.
“Nonsense,” he scoffed, placing the platter on the edge of the bed and sitting behind me.
He positioned me on his lap, feeding me a piece of bacon followed by a few blueberries. I licked his fingers, smirking at his unhinged noises. His desire flared in our bond and I shimmied in his lap, grinding on his dick.
A sting radiated over my thigh as he swatted me, making me squeak.
“Be good, Omega,” he said, his voice almost a bark. “You need to eat.”
I huffed, but he wasn’t wrong.
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to a blackish cake in the corner.
“Black pudding. My favorite. Try it.”
Those large fingers broke off a piece, bringing it to my lips. My nose twitched, unsure about the coppery scent. Tentatively, I closed my lips around it, taking a small bite that I immediately regretted.
An earthy nuttiness tainted with the tart tang of blood lingered on my tongue even after I swallowed it. Spinning in his lap, I glared at him as if he had betrayed me. This was supposed to be his favorite.
I felt as though I had licked sausage off a lamppost.
“You like this?”
“It’s an Irish delicacy. We had this every Saturday morning growing up.”
“You must have ruined your tastebuds,” I said, finding the water bottle on the table and draining it to rid the taste lingering there.
“You’ll learn to love it.”
“Doubt it,” I grumbled, scarfing down all the strawberries to make the taste disappear.
After spending hours lecturing me on the importance of black and white pudding in an Irish diet, Kaelen pulled me down onto his chest. A fondness hung around his words as he told me more about what it had been like to grow up in Ireland.
They’d lived in a quiet village surrounded by rolling valleys. Every year, they celebrated Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane—something Kaelen missed. His mother had been the one to organize all the holiday events when they moved to Boston.
After she passed, no one else took up the mantle to continue with their traditions. I made a mental note to poke Liam about it. I had a feeling he’d be more than willing to help his new sister breathe some life back into their home.
While I didn’t see myself ever enjoying black pudding, I was willing to try the white one. Everything else sounded lovely. I’d never traveled overseas before. Ireland sounded like a beautiful place, and I wanted to know everything about Kaelen.
Where he’d grown up was a big part of him. Of his family. My family now.
“Maybe you can take me there someday to visit? I’d like to experience those things with you.”
Flecks of silver moonlight glittered in his green eyes, his hands bracketing my face.
“I would love nothing more,” he said.
At some point, I fell asleep, drifting off to the steady sound of Kaelen’s decadent purr. Bright morning sun spilled in, pushing against my eyes. I grumbled, burrowing further into my alpha, wiggling when I scented him.
“Grumpy, omega,” he said, his voice thick with sleep. “You’re cute when you’re still tired.”
“And you’re brave to poke a testy omega.”
“If I die, tell my men I fought valiantly,” he said, his smirk narrowing his eyes.
I shoved at him, annoyed when he didn’t budge.
That stupid, strong, handsome, immovable wall of alpha. His fingers curled around my wrist, keeping my hand anchored to the spot.
“I can think of no better way to go than in the arms of my beautiful omega.”
His tongue swept along the seam of my lips lazily. I opened for him, sighing into the tender press of his lips to mine.
This was my future.
Quiet mornings with my alpha. Passionate, satisfying heats. Protection. Love. Adoration.
I don’t know how long we lay like that, holding, kissing, and petting each other. Long enough for the sun to rise high in the sky, the bright light showering the room. The glazed softness on Kaelen’s face shifted, contorting into that mask he wore so frequently.
Sitting up, the blankets pooled around my waist and I stiffened. He ran his fingers through my hair, the gentle touch sending a tingle over my arms. He palmed the back of my head, holding me close.
The quick change in his demeanor set me on edge, my entire body rigid.
“Before we found you, Liam secured your mother. She is safe and staying in the guest house on the property. She is doing well.”
All the worry of a few seconds ago melted away. My cheeks hurt from how happy I was. I wanted to see her. See her healthy and happy like she used to be.
“And we have William Sterling. I want to be sure, my love. So I will ask you one more time. Do you want this? Do I have your permission?”
He stroked over the burn marks near my collarbone, a snarl hissing through his teeth.
At the mention of my father, everything that happened before my heat came rushing back, the assault of it dizzying. I sucked in a rattling breath, rubbing a hand over my chest.
I raised my hands between us, rotating them to see them clean and unblemished. Visions of the blood that had stained them kept flashing, reminding me of the life I took with these same hands.
Something close to grief blossomed in my belly.
Not for Rossi, but for myself.
That one moment had changed me. Hardened me.
I wasn’t weak. I was strong. While I didn’t enjoy the idea of ending a life, it was a necessity. I grieved the person who I thought I was. A version of myself that never truly existed. There had always been sparks of my true self, even if they were muted.
In a place where it was me or my alpha or someone else. I would always choose me. Him. Us. Family. Every time.
William Sterling fell victim to his alpha, allowing his instincts to corrupt him. When I was younger, I tried to rationalize his behavior, not wanting to accept that my dad didn’t love me like he once had. I framed it as him trying to protect us.
But no, he tortured and abused us. William always craved power, and that power clung to all the worst parts of him, infesting him before twisting him into something grotesque.
He took pleasure in controlling his omega, suppressing her. My mom deserved to be free. I’d suffer a thousand lifetimes as long as she was happy. If he continued to live, she would always be beholden to him, to their bond.
I knew what we had to do.
And I would feel as much remorse for it as William Sterling felt for everything he did to his wife and his daughter.
“Willow,” he whispered, tracing the apples of my cheeks. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Truly,” I added at his pinched expression. “End it, Kaelen.”
His forehead rested against mine, his large hand collaring the side of my throat.
“With pleasure, mo chroí.”