Chapter 8
Alec
“Pssst, you awake?” Nathan whispers, careful not to rouse the pretty omega sleeping pressed against us. After nearly six rounds back-to-back, the sweet thing is finally sleeping. Honestly, he and I should also be sleeping while we can.
“Mmm. I might be dead, actually,” I reply quietly, wincing as I shift slightly, careful not to bump my arm against anything.
He snorts. “If we’re dead, then this is heaven.” His teasing tone is laced with worry, though. He knows he fucked up.
“Shh, you’ll wake her,” I murmur, trying to keep my left arm, the one Nath bit, elevated above my head. Thankfully, there was a first aid kit tucked into a cubby in the wall. I was able to wrap up the bite on my arm while Nath was locked inside Bell.
Once I was sure he wouldn’t try to bite her again, that is.
“I’m sorry,” he eventually says, and through our bond I can sense how guilty he feels. Nathan is a good man. The best man I’ve ever known, in fact. But no one is perfect. Especially not an alpha who’s knot-deep in an omega as she begs him to fucking bond with her.
If I didn’t have such strong protective instincts, I might have failed them both today.
“I know,” I say simply, not opening my eyes.
It’s not that I don’t care or that I don’t want to be here for my mate. I’m just exceptionally exhausted. Bell has the stamina of a fucking race horse. The woman can fuck for hours. Though, I’m sure the fact that it was her first heat in years didn’t help.
Good thing Nath was here with me; I don’t think I would’ve been able to meet her needs on my own. Fortunately, my mate also has a sex drive similar to that of an omega in heat. I snort to myself at the thought. They’re a match made in heaven.
It’s like Bell was made just for us.
That’s a dangerous thought, because Bell isn’t ours. That bite could have cost us everything. This could have caused problems for all three of us.
But what would we gain in return?
I can’t stop the rogue thoughts, no matter how hard I try to shake them off.
“She feels like ours.” Nathan says the words I’ve been too scared to face. I hate that he’s right. She does feel like ours.
“She’s vulnerable, Nath. She needs us to be strong so she has a safe place to fall apart,” I warn. She deserves that. To be treated like the incredible omega she is, with respect and care. I can give her that, even if I can’t offer more.
“I want to be her safe place…now, and maybe alw—”
“Nath.” I cut him off. If we go down that road, there’s no turning back, and this omega isn’t ours.
She’s not ours.
If she’d been thinking clearly, she would’ve never asked for that.
The knowledge that she's not ours, that she wouldn't really want this, was the only reason I moved my arm quickly enough to stop him. Bonding with an omega who doesn’t truly want it, who doesn’t want us, would be hell to endure, especially when she rightfully tells us to fuck off once her heat is over.
“Alpha?” a quiet whimper shoots straight to my heart, and I sit up, glancing down at Bell. She’s sweating again, her fever spiking. Bell clutches at her abdomen, her brows furrowed in pain. Thank fuck for omega slick because one deep breath has my cock hard and my knot ready.
“Fuck, she’s so beautiful,” Nathan murmurs, pulling the distressed omega into his arms. She wraps herself around him, wiggling her hips in an attempt to get him inside her.
“She’s more than beautiful,” I reply as I watch my mate fuck the pretty omega.
I’ve watched Nath fuck a lot of omegas over our many years together, but there’s something about Bell that’s different. I try to enjoy the view, but there’s a sinking feeling in my gut as I think about what will happen once her heat is over.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to life before Bell.