Chapter 24
Kaiden
When Sylvan finally finds me, I don’t look up from my laptop.
After we discovered he’d left the house this morning, I was furious. We make decisions as a pack. He knows that. Out of all my packmates, I’ve never had to worry about Sylvan forgetting that rule. Until now.
Because of Revea.
He could have squandered every bit of progress we’d made, all because he couldn’t control himself. Another issue I’ve never known my second-in-command to have. He is always in control, sometimes too much. Which is why he often struggles to connect with others.
With women.
Until Revea.
So even after reading his messages about her perfect scent, I decided to distance myself for both our sakes.
It’s evening now. Luciano has confirmed Sylvan didn’t ruin our chances with Revea, and I’ve had all day to contemplate what I’ll say to him.
Doesn’t mean I’m ready to look at him.
“You almost fucked this up for us, Syl,” I murmur, typing harder than necessary.
The door closes softly as he steps further inside. “But I didn’t.”
I take a slow breath through my nose, biting my tongue. “No. You didn’t.”
And then, completely serious, he says, “I think you’re mad because I got her first.”
My hands still on the keyboard. Blood thumping in my veins.
Slowly, finally, I look at him over my screen. “Sylvan. Back down.”
My gaze bores into his wary one.
He frowns. “Why?” He moves towards me. “You’re pack alpha. Research states it should be you who initiates sexual intimacy in terms of hierarchy.” My fingers clench. “Although I only discovered that after Revea and I…”
He has enough sense not to complete that thought.
“Sorry,” Sylvan says, almost automatically. “But at least the outcome was positive.”
I hardly hear the second part of his sentence, because I’m still hooked on the first.
I hate when Sylvan apologises.
It was all he ever did during our early years of training. When we first met, to our superiors, to any cadet who called him weird. It’s a defence mechanism, something he’d learnt to say in reaction to certain emotions or expressions.
Eventually, he just stopped talking unless he had to. Because he always thought it would end in an apology.
And now I’ve made him apologise to me.
I sigh. “Sit down, Syl.”
He does, and I close my laptop.
“I’m sorry.” He looks confused by my apology, and that just makes me feel worse.
“I’m being a prick. You didn’t ruin anything.
From what Luc’s said, you’ve actually helped.
” I hold his furrowed gaze. “I’m not mad you’ve been with her first. I’m really glad you’ve finally found someone you like. I just don’t—”
“I do like her,” he confirms with a nod, almost to himself.
My mouth twitches as I lean back in my chair, rubbing my jaw. “That’s what worries me, Syl.”
His posture stiffens. “What worries you?”
“What might happen… after.”
“After what?” He frowns, voice sharper. Angrier.
I think about my next words carefully. “If this doesn’t last.”
He chews over those words, his pale eyes darting between mine. “But we’re having her next heat together, as a pack.”
“Yes, at the moment. But people can change their minds, Syl. And they do. All the time.”
“I don’t think Revea does.” He shakes his head, adamant. “She knows what she wants and gets it.” Then he places a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. “Don’t worry, Kaiden. I feel really good about this. I won’t let it end.”
I have to smile, because that’s how Sylvan’s mind works. He thinks he somehow has the power to make promises like that. But when I find him smiling, all I can do is nod and pray that Revea doesn’t change her mind, because I don’t know how I’ll handle a heartbroken Sylvan.
I’ve never had to.
My phone buzzes, and his hand falls.
I catch Luc’s name on screen as I quickly answer, “Everything okay—”
“Revea’s having a heat spike.”
For fuck’s sake.
“Don’t go near her, you might tip into a rut—”
“Too late,” he grits out. There’s a shuffling sound. “She’s on me, and she’s… fuck, baby.” There’s more movement. “I’m not strong enough to bark her off, I can’t…”
“Put the phone to her ear.” I wait a second, and there’s a quiet whimper. “Revea,” I purr gently.
A pause, some shifts, then the sweetest, softest: “Alpha?”
We all groan.
“Yes, omega.”
She whines, and my pants are suddenly too tight.
“Do you want Luc and Val to help you through your spike?”
“Yes, alpha.” She doesn’t even pause.
My god, this is... Fuck. My fingers curl into a fist over the desk.
“Okay, they can do that. But first, I need to bark. You’re lost to the heat, and we need to know you want this, okay?”
“She’s nodding,” Luc murmurs.
“Revea,” I bark, “you want my men?”
“Yes.” There’s still a rasp, but her tone is firmer. “I want them.”
“Protection—”
“Birth control,” she cuts in, then whines, “Raw. Please.”
Luc murmurs something strained in Spanish. “I’m clean,” he manages to grit out. “So’s Val. We good?”
“Keep me on the phone, Luc. I can bark if needed—”
Syl suddenly slides his tablet under my nose, and I nearly have a stroke.
It’s live footage from the office, showing Luc and Revea. He’s sat in her chair, and she’s straddling him, her nose against his throat, hands in his hair.
“Revea, Syl has a link to your office CCTV. If you want, we can...” I swallow. “Watch.”
She moans so loud I swear I almost come. “Yes, alphas, watch, pleaseee.”
I don’t know how Luc hasn’t finished already because we watch her slowly grind over him, hearing his pitiful moan that I know he can’t hold back.
“Kaiden… are we good?” he pants, tapping the phone on speaker and chucking it onto the desk.
Then Val steps into the shot.
“What the fuck…” he murmurs from a distance, striding up to Luc and Revea.
She twists at his approach, eyes locked on him. “Alpha,” she whines, still grinding over Luc.
Val freezes in place.
“Heat spike,” I say.
In the footage, Val’s jaw cuts sharp. “Protocol?” he asks, hardly legible through the grit coating his words.
“No knots,” I almost growl the order.
Revea can have any of my men in any order, but when it comes to knotting—if she can take it—I’ll be her first.
“Syl and I will monitor. We’ll make sure you don’t tip into rut. I’ll bark if necessary.” The orders come out rushed, because I know they’re both waiting. Both desperate.
And so am I.
“She’s yours.”
I’ve never seen Val and Luc move so fast.
Luc stands with her in his arms, devouring her mouth hard and fast; Val’s behind, pulling off her dress in one go, running his tongue along her throat in one long lick.
My cock twitches.
When you’re on an army base, you get used to the fact that there’s always someone masturbating in a bunk near you. Most times, it’s obvious, but we all pretend it’s not happening.
Which is why when I’m unbuckling my pants and slipping my hand inside, Sylvan doesn’t say a word, and the clinking beside me confirms we’ve both made the same decision.
There’s no way we’re not going to come, and if we’re going to share Revea during her heat, we’ve got to get used to seeing and hearing the things we used to pretend weren’t happening in the night.
And I can’t fucking wait.