Chapter 25
Nova
“Did you kill him?” Ian asks.
“I don’t think so,” I say, kicking Nick with my foot. “Shit, maybe I did.” The bat clatters to the floor as I bend down to check his pulse. I let out a breath of relief when I feel it thudding against my fingers. “He’s alive. We’re okay.”
“Fucking hell, Little Doe,” Ian mutters. “I don’t know if I should be turned on watching you go all crazy bitch, or pissed off you nearly offed my brother.”
“You’re being dramatic.” I stand up, waving him off. “He’s fine. Might have a killer headache when he wakes up, but I’m sure worse has happened to him. He is a big boy. He can suck it up.”
“He’s not bleeding or anything, is he?” Tucker asks.
“Ah, I don’t think so.” I check his head. “Nope. All good for that too.” I stare down at Nick. “I like him like this.”
“What?Knocked out cold?” Will comes to stand by his brother's unconscious body. “Little Rabbit, was it really necessary to do that?”
“Yes.” I cross my arms and raise a brow. “It really was. He’s lucky I don’t cut his dick off for what he just did.”
“We did warn you he wasn't going to take the news of Tucker well,” Ian says.
“And we did tell you to tell him sooner rather than later. Because shit like this would happen,” Ian adds.
“You two are not helping.” I narrow my eyes. “Be helpful and carry him inside for me, please.”
“What are you going to do with him?” Ian asks, eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Remember that gag gift we bought when doom scrolling on the internet?”
“Yes!” Ian fist pumps. “I’m going to get it.” Ian takes off, leaving Will grumbling as he throws Nick over his shoulder with a grunt.
“Guess I’ll handle this myself,” he mutters. “Fucking heavy bastard.”
“Nova, what are you doing?” Tucker asks, running a hand through his hair, looking panicked as he watches Will take Nick into the house.
“Hey.” I step in front of him and reach up, cupping his face. “Forget about that for a moment. Look at me.”
He looks down at me and my heart breaks to see the tears welling in his eyes.
I’ve come to care about Tucker real damn fast, so seeing him hurt because of what Nick did pisses me the fuck off.
Was it right that we kept it from him for the last week?
No, but Tucker had the right to have time to process his emotions and feelings before we added another wave of complications to his plate.
“Hey, baby.” I brush the tears away with my thumb. “Talk to me. Tell me how you’re feeling.” I don’t ask him if he’s okay, of course he’s not. He was just knotted and marked seconds after his Alpha finding out about him. He looks hurt and in pain.
“I’m sorry.” He takes a deep breath. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Fuck,” he growls through gritted teeth.
“Tell me from the beginning.”
He swallows hard and nods. “You left your sweater at the cafe, I tried to let you know, but you already left. So I was going to bring it back to you before I headed home. I was just about to knock when Nick pressed a gun to the back of my head.”
“He what!?” I shout. “That fucking asshole!”
“He made it very clear he didn’t like me before he scented me. Then... he, well... I’m sure you could guess how he reacted.” He rubs the back of his neck. “He didn’t take it very well.”
“So what, he shoved you into the garage and fucked you?” I ask, raising a brow.
“Yes and no. I think he was really planning on killing me, and that fucking hurts more than I thought it would.” He rubs at his chest. “But I think the scent bond started to heavily affect his instincts. It sure as hell was for me.” I lower my hands and step back giving him some space, while he scrubs his face with his hands and let’s out a harsh breath.
“I wasn’t in my right mind. I was around my Alpha, my scent match.
I went full Omega and well... I asked for it.
All of it. For him to fuck me, knot me, bite me.
” His cheeks grow pink. “And he did it. Mind you, not nicely.”
“Did he use lots of dirty talk?” I can’t help but bite my lip. “Like, some degradation?”
“Yeah.” He blinks.
“Yeah, he wasn’t being mean to be mean, it’s how he is. It’s hot a fuck, honestly. If you’re expecting anything else, you’re out of luck with that one. Anyways, continue.”
“One moment he was choking me out–” My eyes widen and Tucker looks away. “And the next moment... he just snapped and we started kissing. One thing led to another and, yeah.”
“I mean, apart from how it ended, it sounds kind of hot. I wish I was there to see it.” I grin.
He groans, tossing his head back with his eyes closed. “That’s the fucked up part. It was. It was so fucking hot. The best sex of my life, and I’ve had a lot of it.” He lowers his head and looks at me. “But he bit me, then acted like it was the worst thing in the world. That’s what fucking hurts.”
“Don’t be too hard on him. I only say this because he was blindsided.
And well, before you, he was very straight.
He didn’t get the chance to process being scent matched to another Omega, who happens to be a man.
As someone who’s been around their scent match for months, I can tell you the bond fixes almost anything. ”
“Just what I wanted. A man who only wants me because I’m his scent match,” Tucker sighs.
“Don’t be like that.” I squeeze his arms. “That's how our world works. We don’t have control over who, or what gender we’re scent matched to.
I’m not into women, but if a female Alpha was scent matched to me, I’d be on my knees begging for her to let me please her.
” I shrug. “I’m also a big believer that love is love, gender shouldn’t matter.
The scent bond might be what brought you two together, but it’s you, Tucker Davis, that will make him stay. ”
“I don’t know.” He leans against the car and sighs. “He hates me. Not just because I’m the Omega he doesn’t want, but because he truly believes that I’m a bad guy. I told him I dropped the case, that I wasn’t going to keep digging, but he doesn’t believe me.”
“And he won’t, for probably a long time. Hell, I’m still getting to know Nick and as you know, our start wasn’t any better.”
“How did you get to where you are with him now?”
“Time? I don’t know. I guess the more time I spent with him, the more we started to accept one another.
The biggest reason he didn’t want an Omega was because he was afraid his father was going to use me against them or harm me in some way.
I’m not really sure what the story is there, but when they found out their dad died, a lot of the worry about me being in their lives died with him.
Then he took on getting the club back in shape, and we kind of just slipped into this pack dynamic.
I think if you give him some time to process not only that he's mated to a man, but to trust you’re not a bad guy, everything will be okay.
Plus, you have the rest of us on your side, so that will help. ”
“I hope so.” He smiles. “Thank you for being so amazing, Nova. I don’t deserve any of this. Or you. I came into your life and turned it upside down.”
“Good thing I love excitement in my life.” I wink.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“That he marked me before you.”
“I am a little sour about that.” I shrug, reaching up to brush my thumb over his mate mark.
He shivers, sucking in a breath, and I smirk.
“But I don’t want to force things with him.
He will bite me when he can pull his head out of his ass and tell me he loves me.
Because I know that fucker does, he’s just too stubborn to admit it. ”
“So what do we do now? Why did you knock him out?”
“Well, my sweet boy.” I grin, grabbing his hand. “There's no way in hell I’m going to let him disrespect you like he just did. Our big bad Alpha needs a little punishment.”
“Do I want to know what you're going to do?” Tucker looks at me warily.
I bite my lower lip, grinning with excitement. “It’s going to be fun, I promise. Well, for me at least.”
***
“Okay, I’m recording,” Ian confirms.
“Put the damn phone away,” Will sighs.
“Fuck no. I want to watch this over and over again for the rest of my life,” Ian chuckles gleefully.
“Is that normal?” Tucker asks me, eyeing Petunia.
“Yup. Nick is her favorite person. It’s adorable,” I tell him, leaning forward to pet her on the head. She growls, but lets me give her some chin scratches. “You’re such a good girl, aren't you?” I coo. “Don’t worry, we’re not hurting Daddy. He’s been a very bad boy and needs to learn his lesson.”
“Is it just me, or is it really weird to see this big, tattooed massive man with this cute little old lady opossum?”
“He fucking hates it,” Ian chuckles.
“Lies, he loves it. He just won’t ever admit it,” I say.
“I think she’s plotting my murder.” Tucker watches her. “Look at those beady little eyes. She hates me.”
“No, she doesn’t.” I pat his thigh.
Petunia lets out a long, loud hiss at Tucker, making him flinch back.
“You sure about that?” He frowns at me. “She’s going to smother me in my sleep, I just know it.”
“No, she won’t,” I laugh.
Nick groans, getting our attention. “Oh, I think he’s waking up!” Ian says.
His eyes flutter open and he blinks, frowning as he takes us all in.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, big guy,” I chuckle. “How’s the head feeling?”
Nick’s eyes flick over to mine. “What did you do to me?” he groans.
“Hit you over the head with a baseball bat.” I shrug.
“Crazy fucking bitch,” he growls.
“I wouldn’t have to be crazy, if you weren’t a raging asshole.
I wasn’t going to let you do what you did, then run off with your tail tucked between your legs because you feel unwanted shame or embarrassment.
So you’re scent matched to a man? It’s not the end of the world.
I’m scent matched to a serial killer and you don’t see me crying about it.
We don’t always get what we want, that’s a part of life. ”
“I can’t believe this is my life,” Tucker whispers.