12. Merle
Merle
Kestrel surrenders, and I rise in her wake.
Blaze is buried inside me, I’m sitting on his lap, bouncing on his cock, my body keeps moving, even when my mind stumbles over the shock of the transition.
It’s disconcerting, but the heat rips through us with an intensity that has me clutching at him tighter, moving faster, tossing my head back so he can drag his teeth down my throat.
His hot mouth and tongue licking the sweat and scent off my skin.
He pauses, narrows his eyes, and leans in and inhales.
“Merle, hello, princess. Did Kest run away?”
I nod while I bite my lower lip, squirming on the thick length buried deep inside me.
He feels so good. With a rough growl, he thrusts hard, I gasp and shift my weight, clawing at his shoulders when his cock presses against a sensitive spot deep inside me.
I am coiled to exploding. I just need a spark, and I will go off.
He laughs and then sweeps his arms up, pulling me down so he can kiss me. If there was even a second that I had a doubt that he was unhappy to have me here, it’s swept away by that kiss.
His hands move over me, drawing me back into the fire that Kestrel was dying in. He slows our movements and makes them longer and more intense. His hands crawl over my body, everywhere, touching, stroking, pleasing me, and I do the same, loving the massive shape and size of this alpha.
I grab his hair and kiss him with everything in me, then pull free, tilting my head back, panting, while he kisses down my throat.
He doesn’t force his knot into me, it’s a slow working.
Shoving, grinding, teasing until we’re locked together, shuddering.
He’s bellowing my name, his tendons standing out, his eyes locking on mine, almost entirely black, no hint of that silver grey.
I squeeze around him, impossibly tight, and when he comes inside me, the ache and heat fever fades, just slightly, just enough to give me a reprieve, but I don’t pull away. I stay wrapped around this alpha, stroking his back and hair.
“Where is my Rose?” Pix snarls.
I glance over and see Pix throw Rolly out of the tent. Blaze sighs heavily and lifts me off him, setting me down. Rolly laughs and launches back in, tackling the omega who strains and spits out foul taunts and words that inflame the alphas into a frenzy.
“Daega!”
The omega looks up, fury in his eyes. “My alphas.”
“We’re here.”
“MINE!” he bellows. “ALL OF MINE!”
I stand up and edge out unnoticed while they get into a massive fight with the out-of-his-mind omega. It’s funny, I feel almost clearheaded. Except for the want and need that is like a throbbing wound, I don’t feel crazy.
Not like it has been in the past.
Kestrel snickers, and I get the impression whatever game she was playing with Blaze is going to backfire, but I’m not going to be the one to burst her bubble.
I go searching, following the scent of roses. He’s not far, just sitting on the ground with his arms wrapped around his legs, staring at the web in front of him.
Roseland and I aren’t as close as the others, but I would like to be. I sit down beside him.
“Merle,” he whispers.
I wait. Sometimes people just need to know there is someone listening.
“I’m scared. Of what this will mean afterward, of what it will feel like if things…what if someone comes while we’re in the nest, what if we get hurt, what if-”
I get on my knees and spin in front of him. This alpha saved me on the side of the road. He was kind. He was gentle. Aaron Roseland has been the kind of alpha that every omega dreams of having.
He killed to keep Dove safe.
I gently pull at his arms and legs. He could stop me, it wouldn’t be hard, but he doesn’t. He gives in, and I crawl into the space, curling up against his chest.
And then I do something I have rarely done. I purr. Giving this alpha, who probably deserves kindness more than any other, this small branch.
His arms come around me, inch by inch, tightening until I couldn’t get away, even if I wanted to. He lifts me up and carries me back towards the nest. He doesn’t say the words or admit he was wrong, he just gathers his courage, hides his faltering fears, and takes us back.
King steps off the path where he was watching and follows us, just a step behind.
“For what it’s worth, Rose. We are all scared and worried, but that’s why there are so many of us. And good luck getting to Daega. He just kicked everyone out of the nest.”
I whip my head towards King.
We get closer, and I hear the growling, feral sounds of Pix losing his mind. I don’t want to go in there, so I look at Roseland and shake my head. He stops and carefully sets me down.
“We won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
When I look up, Pix is standing in the doorway of the tent, only half his face exposed.
He watches us intently.
“Daega!” Rose growls. “What are you doing?”
He explodes out of the tent and slams into Roseland, taking them both to the ground.
Roseland doesn’t fight, he just lies there while Pix rips his clothes off him, shredding them.
By the time he’s at Roseland’s underwear, he’s sobbing.
Tears dripping off his cheeks. Every attempt at an alpha approaching sends him absolutely feral.
Raptor pushes through, coming to the front with me. She clucks her tongue.
“What the hell are you doing, O’Connell?”
Daega snaps his head towards us and growls.
Raptor growls back.
I’m shoved into the dark. When I come back, I’m lying on Pix, who is sucking my nipple, while King is fucking me.
It takes me a moment to work out the tangle of limbs and realise that Pix is sitting on Roseland.
Who is moaning, his face transformed with ecstatic joy. We are one big connection of limbs.
King growls and tightens his grip. “Merle.”
How does he even know?
I let out a breathy gasp, but his mouth finds my neck. Oh, I want that bond. I want it so bad.
He doesn’t magically hear my thoughts, and his mouth moves away, leaving me disappointed and feeling like I’ve had ice drops of rain drip onto my face.
It doesn’t stop my body from reaching when he ghosts his hand over my spine and fists a handful of hair. My mouth gapes open even as I clench my fingernails in Pix’s shoulder as he switches from one breast to the other, moaning into my flesh and growling.
I am so overwhelmed, but for the first time, it’s not in a bad way. And I cope with it. When I think it’s getting too much, King is there, whispering in my ear, telling me how pretty I am. Stroking me.
He knots me. I know what to expect, but in a heat, it feels different.
I’m so wet that it’s easier for him to push into me, but I’m so much more sensitive. I thrust back, rocking my hips in tiny movements, milking his knot, squeezing around it.
Feeling like the most powerful person in the world as the alpha that is mine falls apart simply by being with me.
Even if I’m broken.
I don’t feel broken right now, though. I feel whole and perfect.
I open my eyes and find Pix staring up at me. I duck my head down and kiss him. He tastes of heat and molten jam. I can’t stop kissing him, it’s only when I reach down between us and grab his cock that he pulls back, looking between us to where my hand is stroking his length.
“Oh, god,” he pants. “Just like that. My pretty omega.”
My whole self melts when he claims me as his.
Rose snarls and knots him. I feel the way his whole body responds, the way he arches up, the cum that gushes out of his cock, coating him and me. I moan and continue stroking, using the liquid as lube.
King pulls me upright and grabs my breasts, squeezing them and teasing my oversensitive nipples.
“Rolly is dying to say hello to you,” King whispers in my ear.
I gasp when he flexes his cock inside me.
“But first, you’re going to eat, drink, and sleep.”
I shake my head, absolutely refusing to do that.
“No, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Food, liquid, cuddles.”
I snarl, but he reaches down, slipping his fingers between my legs and circling my clit with his fingers.
My body responds instantly, too overstimulated by his knot still. I arch, growling as I come again, my whole body tightening until I’m suddenly released.
I collapse forwards, but he catches me and lifts me up, carrying me away. He lays us down, and I blink open tired eyes, finding Rolly there with a bottle. His alpha bark has me eating and drinking, and then I’m under a blanket, wrapped in alphas, falling into an exhausted sleep.
The last thing I think is to wonder when it got dark.
Flashes of the heat become tangled and messed up in my mind. We can’t stop it. It’s like we’ve got no control over who is fronting. Mid-knotting, someone else will slip in.
Kestrel, Raptor, and I circle so rapidly, the alphas can’t even tell.
I open my eyes to Rolly’s cock buried deep in my throat and only the look of devoted awe stops me from panicking.
He comes hard, and I swallow everything, my lips pressed against the engorged knot.
He fucks me after that. It’s just like Rolly, hard, fast, full of teasing remarks and sass that has it being a whole heap of fun.
“You take my cock so well, Omega,” he purrs, stroking my cheek. He pulls back and wipes my lips before hauling me up and onto his lap. I’m impaled on his hard cock all the way down to his knot.
I scream, arching my back.
He doesn’t let go, he pulls me down, giving me more, taking more. Thrusting, rolling his hips, he doesn’t blink, those eyes, blue like sapphire's, stare into my soul, demanding everything, and I give him everything.
“I don’t know where I prefer you more. We’ve got so many positions to explore,” he murmurs into my elbow, dragging his teeth over the spot. For a second, he pauses, and I can almost see the thought. He’s going to bond me, but he turns away, nipping my nipple, leaving dark bruises over my chest.
Marking me.
“Beautiful omega,” he purrs. “So lovely. You feel so good.”
He keeps me on his knot until I’m sobbing, making me come again and again, refusing to release me until I collapse.
And then he pulls out, so gently, and cleans me while I lay bonelessly, watching him with not even the strength to lift my head. Rolly cleans my whole body.
“You are perfect, Merle. Absolutely perfect. Don’t worry, we’re going to make sure you are looked after. Everything you need.”
He cradles me, gives me water, and barks me into eating, and then he just holds me. It must be uncomfortable, but he doesn’t put me down, not once.
I wonder if he’s scared I will disappear. But then that thought isn’t funny because it might very well be true, so I reach out and wrap my arms around him and hold him right back.
I wake up again, and I’ve got Roseland and Sage in me. One of them is in my ass, the other is in my pussy. I think I have a couple of seconds of absolute panic and meltdown before I suddenly realise how good it feels and collapse into a ball of melted putty between them.
Raptor and Pix were fighting. I hear the whispered conversation between the alphas. Apparently, Sage got hurt trying to break them apart.
King feeds me tiny mouthfuls of porridge. Water is always at my lips. I never sleep alone. Arms hold me, waking or sleeping. I never wake up alone. There are always familiar faces. I know their smells. I know their tastes.
It starts to blur.
Confusion and uncertainty starting to make it feel not real.
Who is here? Who is not?
I wipe the sweat from my face as Pix fucks my ass. He’s draped over me, his arms wrapped possessively around me. He’s moaning and whining. The omega needs a knot. But I’m clear. Crystal clear.
I blink, trying to figure out how I got here or how much time has passed.
The panic is only tempered by the alphas and their presence.
Roseland lays next to us, asleep. I turn my head, watching him. He looks exhausted. Pix hooks my knee up, drawing it up to his shoulder, giving him more room and a different angle.
My body reacts.
But my head is floating in a different part of me. It’s like I’m inside but outside my body. This is weird. I know it’s not good, and I feel a little bit guilty, but I can’t come back.
Pix murmurs something and leans down to kiss me. I stare at him, even though his eyes are closed. He’s got black bags under his eyes. His cheeks are hollowed out. He looks driven and exhausted.
He sobs into me.
Actually sobs, but he can’t stop moving.
I descend into the chamber and walk straight to the one alter I have never called on willingly.
I take her wrist, the feathers on her skin tickle but feel soft as satin. Her smile is cold and cruel, but her eyes are hesitant.
“Are you sure?”
I nod frantically.
I wipe the tears on my cheeks, looking up. He can’t hear us, but I’m going to help my omega. I have to.