19. King
King
Sage walks up and down the line of us, blistering us with words that make me feel like I’m about five years old and really naughty.
I cock my head to the side and look at the body and the damage she’s done while I take in the much-deserved lecture.
Her violence is ruthless and so full of rage.
For someone as cheerful as Raptor is, she sure is internalizing a lot.
“Go clean it up,” Sage snaps, pointing at the body.
“I really hate brain matter.”
I glance at Rolly. “You kill people all the time.”
“I know, but it’s all gross. Just makes me queasy. Reminds me of the rissoles they used to feed us at the institution, all under cooked and soft.”
My stomach jolts, and I decide I don’t like rissoles or brain matter anymore either.
I roll my eyes and grab the idiot who tried to kill my omega by his boots. I drag him into the forest. It’s going to take us a bit of a hike to get rid of all these bodies, but Roseland suggested a spot that would actually be perfect.
Speaking of Roseland, I watch him carefully. He looks sick, conflicted.
I look down, returning to my task, but when I head back, I go in the direction of the ex-detective. He looks up at me with eyes that hold too much emotion.
“Want to help me get rid of bodies?” I ask.
I almost laugh, but he surprises me and stands up, nodding.
Okay, this is strange.
“Roseland, you don’t have to. I was just trying to break the ice.”
He glances back at me. “I know. Thank you for trying.”
I grab a body, watching Roseland grab one with his jaw flexing. We get to the spot he suggested, and he’s not even out of breath.
“I don’t condemn you all for what you do. I’ve killed people, and I’m sure I’ll do it again; it’s just…I had ideas and a plan. A life with a dream. I wanted to save people. I wanted to stop bad guys. Now I am the bad guy.”
“But you’re still saving people,” I point out.
He’s hurting. I can see that clear as day.
“What are you so worried about?” I ask when he stays silent.
It takes him five minutes to find his voice. “I fail. It’s all I do. What if I fail to save them?”
Oh. Well, that isn’t what I thought this was going to be about.
I finish dropping rocks and branches on the bodies and come to stand beside him.
I weigh the atmosphere for a moment, and then I turn and pull him into a hug.
He struggles for a minute and then goes limp.
I count in my head; I get to thirty, and then he suddenly hugs me back.
Tight, as if he’s drowning, like I’m the only thing keeping him afloat.
“We’ll keep them safe together. You won’t fail, Aaron. We won’t.”
A few months ago, if someone had told me I’d be consoling and hugging an alpha and have not one but two omegas I’m completely devoted to, I would have laughed hysterically. But now, it feels natural. It feels right to be offering the alpha I care about solace.
He sniffles, and I stroke his back. I can see our future. This alpha could be one of my best friends. He could be a lover, someone I trust. He could be family.
“We’ll find you new dreams. Probably herding-Rolly-into-not-being-so-impulsive dreams.” His laugh makes my stomach flutter.
We stay that way until he stops crying, and then he steps back and, to my utter consternation, the alpha who held me at gunpoint can't even lift his eyes and look at me.
I press into his space, sidestepping with him and staying in front of him until he looks up, then I lean forward and kiss him.
He kisses me back hard enough that it surprises me, but then I lose time, all that matters is the taste and feel of him. I pull his hard body up against mine and groan into his mouth.
Aaron is the one who breaks the kiss, pulling back, gasping and looking at me like I’ve just blown his mind.
“We have to go back, there might be more.”
I can’t argue with that.
He’s confident, and he moves easily. He’s fit and watchful, noticing everything. Roseland’s beyond compare and incredibly deadly.
Worse yet, he has conviction, and his convictions all seem to center around a certain omega.
“How did you meet Merle?”
“Merle? I didn’t meet Merle until the cabin.” He climbs a series of rocks. “I met Dove. She was found on the street, and someone brought her into the station covered in blood. It took me weeks to get her to speak.”
“So, you gained Dove’s trust?” My mind boggles at the concept.
“Yes, she was very scared, but it was obvious something terrible had happened to her. I found her a safe place, and I would come and sit with her, talking at first. Her first words to me were, ‘Mr Rose, could we get something to eat?’ I made sure I brought food for her after that, every time we visited.”
He stops and looks up at the treetops.
“Then, she disappeared. For two long, painful weeks, I couldn’t find her. I was frantic. It was clear that she was traumatised, that she needed help.”
I stay silent but move to where I can see his face. He looks agonised, but his expression clears to one of wonder.
“That’s when I met Raven.”
“So, you only ever knew Dove and Raven?” I try to imagine that and how difficult the situation would have been.
“Yes. Raven, Dove, and I worked together for a long time. But she would disappear. At first, I wanted to get them help, but they showed so many signs of trauma that I eventually shut down that idea. I didn’t know she had more than two alters, but I knew it was a possibility.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
He looks at me, and his expression is open and honest. “I didn’t trust you.”
So simple. So obvious. If it were me, would I risk her life by telling strangers about her potential weakness?
Not a chance in hell.
Even if he didn’t have feelings for her, which he clear as day did, his reaction the day they brought her to the cabin was clear enough.
Aaron Roseland belongs to that omega, no matter which alter is fronting.
He will be whatever she or he needs. Family, protector, murderer, lover, confidant, alpha.
He just accepted the new alters, gaining their trust and learning them, figuring out how he fits into their life. It must have been excruciating.
“Did it hurt that Merle came to me?”
His eyes flicker with pain, but he looks down. “It was strange, I was surprised, and she clearly felt safe with you. My theory on it is that all of us will resonate with different alters as long as she has them.”
“As long as she has them?”
“There’s a therapy that can help integrate them or fuse them. Fusion is not what Raven wants, but the alters have discussed integration before as a possible future.”
I try to imagine her without her alters and feel an almost violent urge to panic.
“It takes a long time, and she’d have to be safe and secure. It’s not an option now, and it might not work for her, or they might decide they don’t want to.”
My stomach feels queasy.
“It’s a future. An option, if we can survive.”
That brings me back to the here and now, and I walk past him. He falls in behind me, keeping up as I pick up the pace. My thoughts are roiling, but when we get back to the river, I stalk straight over to our omega and bend down so we’re at eye level.
She doesn’t speak but reaches up and rests her cold hand on my cheek, smiling. Merle. It’s my Merle. I pull her into my arms, hugging her tightly. She smiles widely, my gentle soul.
I bury my face in the spot between her neck and shoulder, inhaling the iris and tonka beans. I swear, it’s my favourite smell in the whole world. My own wintergreen and alcohol scent strengthens, mixing with hers.
Her thin and delicate fingers run through my hair, scraping over my scalp. I shiver and hug her tighter, swinging her around so she giggles.
God, I want to make this omega happy. More than anything else.
I groan. “You are temptation.”
When I set her down, she bounces up on her tiptoes, kissing my cheek before pulling back. That wide, innocent, happy smile lights up all the parts of me I thought didn’t work anymore.
“Aaron was worried about you.”
Her eyes flicker to Roseland and back to me with caution in them. Merle has never been truly comfortable with him, and we never pressed it.
“He has been taking care of Dove all these years.”
Her eyes widen, and now she turns and stares at him. There’s a softness and wonder on her face that makes me think that I’ve done something good. It might be the best good thing I’ve ever done. Sign me up for sainthood.
She takes a hesitant step towards him, and he turns, catching sight of her. I think for the first time, she sees the way his eyes soften, how his lips pull into a tiny smile, his shoulders relax. To Aaron Roseland, Merle Kestrel, and whichever alter is fronting, is home.
It’s time all the alters know what he gave up for her.
She takes a few steps towards him, staring hesitantly up at him.
He reaches out and brushes her hair behind her ears.
And suddenly, he pulls out a beautiful feather, one with iridescent green and purple feathers, and he touches the tip of it to her nose.
The interaction is so innocent, so small. It could be nothing.
It’s a bridge.
A moment that will become a day that something changed. He passes her the feather, and she takes it, twirling it in her fingers, her eyes still on his face.
“You are such a big softie,” Rolly teases. “That was so sweet. Where’s mine?”
“Fuck off.”
“Aw, come on, Kingy, let’s have a sweet moment, and you can bend over and let me-”
I grab his throat and hold him still. “Finish what you’re saying, Rolly.”
“When are you going to let me bond Pix?” he whines.
I drop him too quickly, he responds with a vicious uppercut to my jaw. “Asshole.”
“Honestly, I want his bond, King. We’ve known each other a long time, and I can feel how much you yearn for it.
We’re best friends, lovers, family. I know all your crazy, and you know mine, and he is ours, he can handle it.
Let’s bond him. Make it official. I’m sick of seeing Blaze and Sage walk around with all those pretty teeth marks on their skin, and it’s just not fair. I want one.”
I grab his throat, dragging him close. “Don’t tempt me.”
Before I can stop him, Rolly breaks free and pins Pix to the dirt, laying on his back and pressing him down into the grass.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Pix snarls.
“I want to bite you.”
Pix goes completely still. He looks up, and I see him looking at Sage and Blaze. They shrug. It’s his decision. My mouth waters, but I look for Merle. Roseland has taken her away.
I’m liking him more and more.
Rolly leans down, licks the spot on the back of Pix’s neck, and then bites.
I watch with my cock aching, my mouth watering. My heart thudding in my chest. When Rolly receives Pix’s bond. I almost whine. But then the omega is up, his violent and vicious eyes fixed on me. He stares up at me.
“Do you want it?”
“Yes.”
He lunges and catches my upper arm. I groan.
The intentional bite goes through all my layers of skin and then stops.
The pain hits a second later, but a wash of heat seeps out before it burns into me.
Right into the heart of me. A bond. It’s nothing like what I thought it would feel like.
It’s warm and cheeky, dark and tantalizing, just like the omega himself.
He pulls back, but the bite mark still throbs.
Our eyes meet and hold. I stare at him.
I lean in and gently sink my teeth into him, taking it slow, not rushing.
Lingering over the building of the connection between us.
This time, it’s like hot and cold weaving together inside me.
Pain, pleasure, tingling, delicate threads sewing his soul to mine.
That link between the three of us. I look up and find Rolly staring at us.
This is the person who understood me when I was at my worst, who cleaned my wounds and sat with me through my rages, who refused to give up, refused to walk away.
Rolly gave me a life back, and now he’s giving me a future in the arms of this omega.
“I am yours,” I say to both of them.
His eyes widen in surprise.
I can feel them inside me, and I am suddenly exposed and vulnerable. But I’m not scared. It feels vindicating. It feels like I’ve just made one of those moves that will change my life for the better.
A right move.
One I will never regret.
“We’re going to be okay,” I murmur and grab the back of his neck, towing him in so I can kiss his forehead, before turning back and claiming Pix’s lips in a punishingly violent kiss.
We turn and find the rest of our pack staring at us.
“Aww, our babies are all grown up,” Sage says and pretends to cry.
“I’m such a proud daddy,” Blaze murmurs in happiness.
“Are you done, my pedantic little flower?” Sage asks Pix. “Give him a hug and say ‘thank you, Alpha’.”
Pix snaps his head up and glowers. “I have a knife you can sit on, Sage.”
Blaze just winks at me and turns back to the riled omega who moves away from us, his cheeks burning as he glances back at me.
“Would you like an assist?” Blaze asks politely. “We can show you how to do it if you need.”
Pix throws a clump of dirt at his head.