15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Per
“ S he’s in the middle of a heat,” Sven reminded us all. “She shouldn’t be walking around.”
“We can’t keep her locked away. If she wants to go, she should go,” I replied, but I understood his feelings. My own protectiveness was screaming at me, pushing me to run and only stop when she was in my arms.
“And she’s not your omega?” Wylder asked.
The visit was ill-timed. Any other time, I'd be more than happy to see Noah, Wylder, and Theo, but with a situation like this on our hands that I could barely understand myself? I shrugged at his question and the arch of his brow.
“No, she’s not. She’s Karl’s kid,” Anders said once again to the room.
Sometimes I wondered if he was just trying to convince himself as much as us. The idea that she wasn’t in heat for us wasn’t making sense to me anymore. The reality was coming together in front of my eyes, even if my packmates weren’t ready to accept it.
“Julia will look after her,” Theo offered with a smile.
The urges inside me were roaring, so I occupied myself making coffee for everyone, ignoring my racing heart trying to claw its way out through my throat.
Having her around was difficult. Her perfume was sweet and maddening.
Anytime she was in the same room, all I could think about was how I wanted to sink my cock inside her and rut.
I wanted her moans in my ear and her wet cunt on my face.
But having her away from me? No, this was torture.
Our guests were good enough to talk about other things and tried to distract us. Even Wylder, who never adhered to any social convention, took pity on us and talked about their trip to Bolivia instead of the elephant in the room.
Eventually, the omegas came back, and I didn’t need the sound of the front door opening or Julia’s tentative hello to let me know.
No. Right on my skin, I knew Isadora was back because all the hairs on my arm stood on alert as she entered the room. She was all I saw—her pretty face and big eyes, the softness of her skin, and that delicious scent.
“That’s our leave,” Noah said, his arms around Julia’s shoulders.
“You should stay,” I offered, not really meaning it. “We have extra rooms.”
Thankfully, our friends had more sense than me because the three of them shook their heads.
Wylder tugged Julia’s hand and headed to the door.
But before the omega left, she ran to Isadora.
They hugged and talked between them low enough that I couldn’t make out what was being said.
Isadora nodded and said a few words louder, but it wasn’t in any language I could understand.
“Good luck,” Theo said, taking my hand. “I hope everything works out.”
“Yeah,” Wylder said with a taunting smile. “I hope Isadora finds her pack and all that.”
Noah slapped Wylder on the back of his head, and the alpha snickered. Julia rolled her eyes, and they all left, finally leaving us alone.
Just us and an omega we were pretending wasn’t ours.
Isadora’s perfume was intoxicating. I couldn’t breathe anymore. My cock was so painfully hard I knew anyone could see the lining on my pants.
“She needs another bath,” I said, trying not to groan as I suggested it.
Sven snorted. “She needs cock.”
Helvete. I wanted to curse him, but before I could, Isadora brought her hands to her waist and arched an eyebrow at him. “Is that your professional opinion, Doctor?”
We all could see her nipples hardening under the thin fabric of her shirt as she challenged the idea. She wanted us as much as we wanted her. The thought wasn’t comforting but wood to the fire growing in my chest.
“One more bratty word and I’ll make you kneel right here,” Sven spat.
Isadora gasped, her eyes shining full of desire, and I knew we couldn’t keep going like this. It was obvious what was happening, and if we kept pretending for much longer, it would only be to torture us all.
Sven and Isadora didn’t seem to be listening to reason.
They stepped closer to each other, and I wish it was my chest grazing her hard nipples and my breath fanning over her pretty face.
My hand balled into a fist, holding myself back, and I did nothing while Anders moved between them and pushed them apart. “Calm down, omega. Easy.”
“Everyone is just fucking assuming I’m an omega!” she complained, turning from us. “I thought there was a test.”
“We all can tell you’re an omega,” I said. “Your perfume is powerful.”
She groaned. “I don’t think I can get used to that.”
“Perfuming?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Everyone smelling me. I’m Brazilian, and we shower three times a day over there. Telling a Brazilian they smell is practically a crime.”
I chuckled, but it was the doctor who replied. “Your perfume is incredible. So sweet my tooth aches, so powerful my jaw hurts from holding myself back.”
Isadora looked at him for a long moment, and surprised us all when she didn’t say anything bratty in response but instead nodded, and sat on the couch with her elbows over her knees.
We all followed. Like magnets, we needed to be in her presence at all times.
That should have been enough to clue us all in, but clearly, no one was ready for that.
“Julia talked to me about a few things. Especially about the pack bond and the offense of breaking it.”
“It’s more than being a family. It’s more than anything I could explain with words,” I told her, eager that she finally understood.
She smiled sadly at me, lifting her shoulder. “I don’t think we’ve been a family since Mom died. If that’s any consolation for you. He was just as miserable as you. The moment she died, he—”
Her words were a dagger to my heart. Karl’s absence was as big as his presence. He was my pack brother. He was part of who I was, and the idea that he not only died but was unhappy amplified the grief inside my chest.
“It doesn’t make me feel better,” I told her. “He might have left us, but I prefer to think he was happy.”
Isadora wiped a tear with the back of her hand. “He was happy for a long time. I was happy too.”
I didn’t miss the past tense. I preferred to think she still was.
I wanted her to be happy and full of life, but I also wanted her to say she was only happy with us.
The conflicting feelings were at war in my chest while a powerful fever took me hostage.
She was mine, I knew with every fiber of my being.
She was ours.
“Is it horrible to say I like the idea that you are grieving him just as I am?” she asked me with a watery smile.
I shook my head. “No. It’s not when it’s true.”
It was the perfect moment between us, the bridge I wanted to build to reach her since she set foot in this house, and of course, it was ruined by the cold words coming from Sven.
“What a bunch of shit,” he sneered.