Chapter 28
Opal
My wolf napped in a field of wildflowers under the afternoon sun next to a white picket fence, feeling the warmth of her mates beside her. I knew she was dreaming of her happy-ever-after, so I gave her a minute more of that bliss before I allowed my consciousness to return.
There was a kink in my neck and I rolled my head to the side, hitting a piece of wood behind it. Leather straps dug into my wrists and held my arms upright.
My heart kicked into overdrive when I realized where I was. I kept my eyes closed tight, anticipation and excitement building. My ankles were strapped with padded leather cuffs too, keeping my legs spread open and leaving me exposed to whatever was coming next.
I couldn’t wait to find out.
Every inch of my bare skin was on display. I tried to keep my breathing steady so as not to give away that I was fully awake and ready for what my boys wanted to play. Dirty thoughts filled my mind. Delicious, tantalizing things. Need coiled deep in me again.
I hadn’t gotten enough of Dorian and Atlas yet, and I wasn’t sure I ever would.
Gently, I tried to test my weak mate bonds. My wolf was still a little bitter that they hadn’t returned our marks, but I was glad I’d done it. Otherwise, I would’ve been stressing out the whole time that history would repeat itself. That I’d be a mateless and unmarked Omega like my mother was.
Marking them had given me deeper insight into their emotions. I knew they wanted me for more than my body. That they planned to mark me in return someday. But I couldn’t see how to hurry things along.
Thankfully, I had no problem waiting.
Speak for yourself.
You’ll see.
There was silence of held breath and I felt them close by. I wondered if they were watching me. What they planned to do. A shiver ran through my body. It took an excessive amount of willpower not to open my eyes and look.
Especially when Atlas coughed.
I kept as still as I could, waiting for their next move.
“Opal, princess,” Dorian’s voice drawled from somewhere beside me. “Did you think we wouldn’t catch on?”
I told you this was a bad idea…
No, you didn’t.
I’m telling you now.
I said nothing. They couldn’t incriminate me if they didn’t catch me in a lie.
“What do you think?” Dorian asked Atlas. “What should we do with her?”
I held my breath despite my core throbbing. The threat of their attention was almost as good as the sound of them getting along.
“Maybe we should leave her tied up longer,” Atlas’s deep voice rumbled.
He’d come out of his shell these past few days. I’d known there was a kinky Alpha behind his gentlemanly ways.
I kept my whimper of disapproval to myself. If they chose to leave me here aching and wanting, then I deserved it. It’d be worth it as long as my boys kept working together.
“Open your eyes, Omega,” Dorian growled his command from right beside me.
My heart jumped and my body was screaming for his touch as I slowly rolled my head to the side, blinking my eyes open to the soft glow of daylight filtering through the doorway of my nest.
“There she is,” Atlas praised, standing at my other side. The two of them were so close I could feel their warm breath on my skin.
My wolf hummed her approval as she settled down to wait.
Then Dorian stepped away. “Enough of this game.”
A whine got stuck in my throat. I looked at Atlas, knowing he wouldn’t abandon me. The cold set of his jaw made my bottom lip tremble.
“How long?” Atlas asked, folding his arms over his chest.
I turned back to Dorian, not expecting the distant look of amusement on his face.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered. My voice was hoarse from disuse other than screaming for the past week or so. Honestly, I’d lost count of the days.
Dorian smirked. “How long has it been since your heat ended?”
Told you they would figure it out.
But you didn’t say it was a bad idea.
“Oh, that,” I admitted as I licked my dry lips. “Not long. Just a day or two.”
Atlas growled his frustration as Dorian started laughing. “What are we going to do with you?”
I tugged on my restraints, offering a sly smile. “How about one more round and then I’ll put on some clothes?”
*
My body ached in all the right places. I admired the love bites and marks on it as I took my time dressing, then tidying up my nest. Out there was reality and I wasn’t really ready to face it just yet.
As I fixed up the bed, I caught snippets of Atlas and Dorian arguing. Over the past few weeks, I’d picked up the gist of their rivalry. Atlas thought he needed to protect his pack from Dorian, and Dorian thought Atlas was an uptight prick, but I still had no clue how to fix it.
From the sounds of their stalemate, I had my work cut out for me. I thought about what Penelope had said—that I could call any time for help from the Omegas. But I wasn’t sure there was anything they could do.
We were in uncharted territory here. Even my mom, for all her faults, hadn’t ended up in a situation like this. Her three mates couldn’t stop fighting long enough to mark her, and they hadn’t wanted to be chained together, so they didn’t let her claim them either.
I may have acted out of fear in binding my mates to me, but I refused to be someone’s sad love story.
So that meant I was on my own to figure the rest of it out.
No time like the present. My wolf urged me to let go of the nest, sounding braver than she’d ever been. Let’s get our Prince Charmings to agree to our H.E.A.
Dorian’s and Atlas’s heated conversation died at my approach. The two of them stood on either side of a dying firepit.
“Everything alright?” I smiled, aching to feel their arms around me again in the safety and quiet of my nest where I could pretend it was just the three of us against the world.
“Everything is fine.” Dorian smiled his handsome grin that made me weak in the knees.
Atlas stood taller, broadening his shoulders with the stance. “We need to know what you want to do next. Do you want to stay here? We can build you a more permanent structure. Something with more space.”
He'd thought this through and was so worried about what I’d say. Even Dorian’s eyes tightened as he waited for my response. My heart ached for them. This strain would be the cleaver that tore us apart.
When I couldn’t stand the distance anymore, I reached for both of their hands, drawing them closer to me as they relaxed under my touch.
I know what we need to do.
I gave Atlas and Dorian each an encouraging smile even as the dread of the situation twisted in my stomach. “It’s time for me to meet both of my new packs.”