Chapter Forty
Halley
When Knox asked for equipment, I didn't expect this.
A truck with full armor plating rolls to a stop at the gates of the fortress.
“This is absolutely overkill for a simple mission,” I say, hands on my hips. “We’re not going anywhere near the front lines.”
Towering over me, Knox arches an accusatory eyebrow.
“Probably, but our Omega is a troublemaker. I ain’t fucking around with her safety,” he says and strides off to bark orders at a Beta he caught staring at me for a second too long.
My arms drop to my sides, and I allow myself to feel the shiver of primal satisfaction curling in my belly. Being cherished is a wonderful feeling.
The truck is loaded with an obscene amount of guns, ammo, refugee relief packs, camping supplies, and surveillance equipment. I've carefully created an extensive supply manifest and checked it thrice. Inventory management is my wheelhouse, and I’ll be damned if I don’t use my skills.
Shade spots a small reconnaissance drone and emits a sound suspiciously like an excited squeal.
'That was cute,' I say down our bond, barely holding back the laugh bubbling in my chest.
'Not a word from you, sweetheart, or I'll have to take you over my knee later,' he replies with a raised brow.
'That's not the threat you think it is.' I bite my lip and hold his gaze as heat blooms between us.
The bond crackles and fizzes. It’s similar to the one I share with Viper, yet somehow different. I’ve had to figure out how to separate our communication channels to talk privately to each of them, but I think I have the knack now.
'Are you sure about that, baby girl?' Shade asks me, his voice deepening as he leans in, his brown eyes flashing with desire and his smile wide.
"You look handsome when you smile, Daddy." I blow him a kiss and wink.
‘Such a brat.’
Viper smacks my ass as he passes. "Don't go riling him up, pretty girl. We've got work to do."
He deposits a heavy-looking cache of camera equipment into the truck, and Shade makes another sound of interest.
I giggle.
This side of my Beta is new, and I find it very endearing. Sometimes I forget he’s a technology nerd underneath all of that well-defined muscle. I lick my lips, scanning him from head to toe. He certainly doesn’t look like a stereotypical geek.
"Okay, yeah, I’m a bit excited. It's been a while since I’ve had proper gear to play with," he explains.
I grin at his excitement. "Well, it's all yours now. Go wild."
Shade's smile broadens as he hoists himself into the back of the truck and starts rifling through the bags, inspecting the equipment inside with an enthusiastic but critical eye.
"Field trip! Woop!" Blaze declares at full volume while skipping towards the vehicle with an armful of suspicious-looking weapons.
I do a double-take.
This is a peacekeeping mission, and... is that a fracking grenade launcher?
I whirl around, anxiously seeking out Knox like a child about to tattle on their sibling.
He's on the other side of the gate, beside the guard tower, talking to another Alpha. I recognize the classic appearance of a Prime Alpha. Stiff posture and an aura of authority. I’ve seen this soldier about before, but kept my distance.
He strikes an intimidating figure with a deep scar bisecting his right cheek and a permanent scowl.
Whatever the two are discussing, it looks serious. They're barely emoting, but it's obviously some kind of dick-measuring contest judging by their puffed-up chests. It ends with Knox pointing at the truck Viper is still loading and then the front gate.
He strides back towards us, his nostrils flared and his jaw set tight.
I peek behind him and squeak as I accidentally make eye contact with the other Prime Alpha.
He’s staring at me. His face is blank, but a pair of searing rust-colored eyes scream anger and something I've become very familiar with. .. lust.
I gulp and take two hurried steps into Knox’s embrace. He doesn’t hesitate to smoothly wrap his arm around my shoulders and pull me into his side, walking us behind the truck, where we’re hidden from view.
"Knox?" I ask, pulling my face out from his delicious smelling uniform. "What did that other Prime want?"
For a moment I think he's going to respond how he used to and tell me it's not any of my business, but he exhales, leans down and plants a kiss on the top of my head.
"He's bitching cause we put his soldier in hospital."
"His?"
"He's the Prime Alpha of the little runt that attacked you."
"Oh."
As a Prime Alpha, shouldn’t he be apologizing to me because he couldn’t keep his soldier in line?
I assumed stiff pride in duty was a Prime Alpha thing, but maybe I had it wrong. Maybe it’s a Knox thing. He has such high expectations of himself, and he expects others to meet their own potential as well. Any failure, and not just his own, hits him harder than anyone else I know.
"And he… fuck, he questioned our ability to protect you."
I lean back and look up at him. Unlike before, when he was talking to the other Prime, Knox's emotions are written all over his face. He’s not hiding his frustration and anger from me and it makes me feel… vindicated?
Victorious?
All of the small steps forward in our relationship have finally blossomed. He trusts me enough to include me in this moment of vulnerability.
I lick my lips and burgundy eyes flick down to follow the sweep of my tongue.
Heat flutters in my belly.
"He also said…” he grits his teeth and scrunches up his face as if he’s tasted something foul. “The motherfucker said that if you were his Omega, you'd never be allowed to wander around so freely, putting yourself at risk."
My eyebrows raise. "Oh really? Well let's thank fate that my Prime Alpha isn't such a ... a..." I think back to the Grand List of Deplorable Name Calling the Omegas and I created from listening to the Alpha drill instructors and pick one. "Douche-canoe!"
It's like magic. The little furrow of anger between his brows melts away with a bark of surprised laughter.
"Douche-canoe?"
"It suits him, don't you think?"
He gives a nod, his thumb idly stroking his lower lip before he shoots me a wicked grin.
"Doesn’t have the same ring to it as Prime Asshole, though does it?” he asks casually.
I splutter.
“How did you? I mean, where did you hear that name?”
He throws his head back, a hearty, booming laugh escaping him, and I can’t help but join in, my own laughter echoing his.
Talking with Knox is like stepping into a boxing ring for a match. To him, every person is prey, every word a weapon, and every conversation an unavoidable duel he is determined to win. His competitiveness used to drive me batty, but now I’ve accepted him as he is — a dominant Alpha.
He can’t help it anymore than I can help craving his attention.
“Princess, you aren’t as slick as you think you are.”
At the mere mention of that word, my pussy clenches and a wet heat blooms.
His laughter cuts short, and he makes a show of lifting his nose and sniffing the air before looking down at me in amusement.
I raise an eyebrow right back at him, bite my lower lip coyly, and softly whisper for only his ears, “Why don’t you come find out just how slick I am?”
His mouth is on me before I can finish speaking.
I win.
Oh, rut-damn, I really, really won.
The combination of another Prime Alpha’s challenge and the subsequent playful banter with his Omega seems to have done something to Knox. He’s forgotten that he’s supposed to be avoiding me.
The sexually repressed Prime Alpha is kissing me like he’s starved.
I’m just along for the ride, and I am very okay with it.
My eyes cross and then close.
He’s a messy kisser, all lips, tongue, and teeth. It's so unlike the rigid Prime Alpha I know… and I love it.
Soft growls and snarls spill from him as his palms move from my shoulders, down my sides, and settle on the curve of my hips, squeezing me tightly.
I finally catch onto some kind of rhythm and entwine my tongue with his, rubbing against it.
His breath catches and his hands flex, squeezing hard.
Before I can stop myself, the smallest squeak slips out.
Knox rips himself away. His back slams into the side of the truck, and Shade shouts from inside as it rocks.
I’m reeling, blinking rapidly in confusion. Why did the kissing stop?
"Ah, fuck. Princess, I hurt you," he says, eyes frantic, wiping the back of his hand over his kiss-swollen lips.
“What? No, you didn’t. I’m fine,” I shake my head, holding out a hand to invite him to keep doing that thing with his tongue.
He recoils back.
“I did. I squeezed you too hard.”
"No, no. I mean, maybe you did, but I liked everything you were doing."
His eyes shutter. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have touched you like that."
"Like what? Firmly? Like an Alpha touches his Omega?"
His eyes flash up to mine, the hunger still simmering there.
“You need to trust me to tell you if it hurts, but I’m tougher than you think. Your touch won’t break me. After all, I'm built to take what you can give, Alpha," I purr, stepping into his space, running my hand over the tense muscles of his chest.
His throat bobs as he swallows.
"I trust you, Halley. I just don't trust myself."
It clicks.
Despite being the most dominant person I've ever met, in this arena, he needs me to take the lead. I need to show him that he doesn’t have to wait until he has figured out how to be soft with me. I don’t need him to be anything but himself.
I can be brave enough for both of us.
I glide my hand down his shirt, enjoying the way his abs jump like my touch is electrified.
"You're so pent up. You're always watching and making sure we're safe, but when do you get to relax?"
I slip a finger beneath his belt buckle and tug.
"Fuck."
“Mhm, yeah, that’s the idea, Prime,” I remark coyly, shooting him a wink.
He gulps. "Halley, we have to leave soon."
I tilt my head to the side and smile. "So let me give you a little relief before we go."
He looks like he's going to say no.