“Read a book, and I’ll bring you some juice.” Viper motioned for me to relax in the living room, which was a nice change from my bedroom.
I had woken up in his bed, plastered to his body, and I decided that was my new favorite way to get up in the morning. I still had to process everything we discussed up on the terrace, but Viper had shown me a different side to him I hadn’t expected. And for once, he hadn’t growled at me. I also started to better understand the reason for his growly attitude toward me. I wouldn’t say it was vanishing, and he’d get over it, or that I had a clue what I’d do with this pack, but for now, I appreciated the small gain that Viper actually opened up to me about something.
An abrupt pounding on the front door, and I flinched. Viper turned his attention away from me.
“Who the fuck is that?” he barked.
Clearly, he wasn’t asking me. Pulling out a walkie-talkie from the back pocket of his dark-blue jeans, he started toward the hallway that would take him down to the door. “Mike, who is that at the door? Who let them past the main gate?”
“It’s Roman. Said he had some business to take care of with you.” A crackly voice came over the speaker. The words made Viper look up with a flash of worry that was quickly hidden, then glared my way.
“Go to your room. Now. Lock the door.” His voice grew dark, then he spun on his heels and marched to the door. A sense of urgency thickened the air, and considering my recent discovery of who owned the Institute, my thoughts flew to panic that someone from the Institute had found me. So, of course, I jolted down the hall and upstairs… pausing breathless at the next floor and glancing down where I had a narrow view of the main foyer, curious who it was.
My pulse was thumping in my veins, my hands gripping the railing tightly as I leaned forward, listening, needing to know who it was.
The creak of the door sounded, then there was a rush of light over the foyer, which I could see from my vantage point.
A smell akin to burned coffee wafted up the stairs. What the hell was that? I put my hand under my nose to stop the stink. It was awful, and I cringed.
“Why haven’t you bought anything this week, Viper?” a guttural male voice said, followed by loud footfalls entering the house.
“Because we have other sellers to buy from, Roman. You aren’t the only supplier. Now, how about you pull your fucking self together and tell me why you’re charging in here like a bull?” Viper’s voice was brimming with fury.
“My merch is the best on the market, and you know it,” the man responded. “I want to find out why I’m playing second fiddle to some of the synthetic pills out there.”
I stiffened.
Pills?
The coffee fragrance grew darker, more bitter, and it became apparent. I smelled the intruder’s scent, growing stronger, overpoweringly so.
“What’s that?” the man asked brusquely.
“What’s what?” Viper asked, irritated.
Someone inhaling deeply filled the silence.
“There’s an unmarked Omega in this house. Did you buy one at last? How did you bastards get so lucky?” Footsteps grew louder, and I practically threw myself back against the wall to avoid being seen. “Can I see her? She smells so sweet.”
“Don’t worry about the Omega,” Viper growled. “Now, how about you head off? When we need something, we’ll contact you.”
Someone was coming up the steps. My pulse charged as I ran to my room, where I shut the door and locked it behind me.
Pressing my ear to it, my whole body shook, and I bit down on the corner of my lip nervously. The irony of the situation wasn’t wasted on me. When I first arrived, I attempted to escape the compound, and now look at me, hiding to keep anyone from finding out I lived with this pack… to protect them and myself.
When had I grown so close to them that the thought of being dragged away terrified me?
A fist suddenly pounded on my door, and I jumped back, my heart hitting the back of my throat. Dust flew from the hinges at how hard it slammed into the door. What the fuck was his problem? At this rate, he was going to break down the door.
“I can smell you, Omega. Don’t you worry. If these idiots haven’t marked you, I’ll be happy to do it. Let me in, little pig.”
What the hell was wrong with this guy? I glanced around the room, desperately trying to find a weapon, but the only thing that looked remotely heavy was the small lamp on my nightstand. I pulled it loose from the power supply and held it over my head, ready to bash him over the head if he burst through the door.
“Get away from her, fuckhead,” Viper growled, and the pounding on the door ended.
“She’s unclaimed, Viper. I can claim her if you’re not man enough to do it. Or have you gotten yourself an illegal acquisition you’re storing away to sell? By the sweetness of her slick in the air, she’ll fetch a high price, and I’m willing to pay anything to take her off your hands.”
Someone snarled, then loud slammed into the door, shaking it on its hinges.
I screamed, dropping the lamp, which smashed onto the wooden floorboards, cracking in half and barely missing my toes.
Jerking my head up, I stared at the door. My ears perked, and my knees trembled.
“She’s a fucking illegal Omega, isn’t she? Let me fuck her, Viper, and no one needs to know.” I heard what sounded like a fist meeting flesh, then the man grunted, followed by another thump against the door.
“You fucking piece of scum, talking about her like that,” Viper snarled, and all I could hear were the thundering sounds of a fight, the thumps of hitting the walls, the wet squelching sounds from being punched over and over.
Gripping my middle, the dull throb of my pulse banged inside my skull. When everything fell silent, I moved from my frozen spot, shaking so hard, even my teeth chattered.
I wanted to open the door and find out what had happened, but I wasn’t an idiot. When Daniel’s voice streamed from the hallway outside my room, I closed the distance to the door.
“He’s not a threat anymore, Viper. Let him go. Fuck man, he looks blue,” Daniel cried out.
A chill ran down my spine. Was the guy dead?
Reaching for the doorknob, I couldn’t bring myself to open the door with my trembling fingers. Dread flashed in my mind—blood, a dead body—carving through me and leaving me on the verge of breaking down and crying.
Daniel was saying something, but I couldn’t make it out.
“Grow some fucking balls and help me,” Viper snapped. “We need to get him out of here now, then I’ll dispose of him.”
Hearing the tap of footsteps fading away from my door, I twisted the knob.
There was no sign of Viper or Daniel, only the light from downstairs bouncing off the trail of blood drops following a path down the stairs.
Crimson stained my door and the wall, there were bloody handprints and chunks of what looked like hair were on the wood floorboards, and the stale smell of coffee that stunk of death.
My throat trembled, my muscles shivering as I fought the urge to scream.
Viper had killed the man to shut him up, and it scared the hell out of me, but what worried me worse was that I fucking adored Viper for doing that for me… for us. If he hadn’t, the guy would have raped me, then told everyone I was here. Then they, the authorities, would come for me, and I’d be returned to Bakewell.
Fuck that. And fuck that asshole who smelled like bitter coffee.
My stomach clenched.
The destruction, the devastation I’d have caused left me shuddering on the inside.
There was no turning back. My fate was entwined with this pack, and until we came up with a solution to avoid all of us completely fucked up, I had to work with them to keep us all protected and concealed.
I lifted my head to look at the bloody aftermath and knew what I had to do. Sprinting downstairs, I raced into the kitchen, where I’d seen a bucket and cleaning chemicals. Thelma wasn’t around. I hurried back to my floor and began scrubbing the blood off my door, the walls, and the floorboards.
What Viper did was for all of us, and we were all responsible for keeping ourselves protected. I didn’t know how long I’d been at it when the creak of the floorboards behind me alerted me to someone’s presence. I glanced over my shoulder at Daniel coming up to join me. His eyes grew wide as orbs.
“Trinity, you don’t need to do that.” He threw himself at me, grabbing me by my arm and lifting me to my feet.
“No, I do. We’re all in this together. Viper protected us, and I’m not above cleaning spilled blood.”
“You’re not afraid of what he did?”
“Of course I am.” My laughter was strained. “But I’m more scared of what would happen if that jerk had gotten his hands on me or told the authorities you had me living here.”
“Leave this.” Daniel wrangled the bloody rag from my hand and dumped it into the red water in the bucket. “I’ll have the maids clean this up in no time. You need to rest.”
“What about Viper?” I glanced downstairs.
“He’s gone to get rid of the evidence.”
Ice filled my veins, though it shouldn’t have since I knew what he was going to do. I’d heard their conversation, yet I felt like I was living an episode of Dexter.
“You’re very brave and smart to know this wasn’t your fault,” Daniel said softly, running his hand along my cheek and staring into my eyes. “I can see why Shadow is so smitten with you.”
Lifting me into his arms with ease, his touch was so calming, so soothing, I melted against him.
“I’ve missed you,” I whispered. “I’m sorry for whatever I did to make you upset with me.” He pressed my face back against the wall of his chest. I lingered there, letting his gentle breaths soothe me. Daniel was so good at this.
“You don’t owe me an apology.” He carried me upstairs to the next level, where I’d found the Alphas’ bedrooms, then set me down in the hallway. “I want to apologize to you.”
“You do?” That was the last thing I expected. My thoughts went back to the day he helped me to orgasm, then practically laughed at me, then ignored me ever since.
A blush on his cheeks, he looked as though he was in pain.
“I’m sorry I let jealousy take me too far. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I hope you can find a way to forgive me because, believe it or not, I like you. I meant to talk to you about it but struggled to make the first move. Then I saw you scrubbing blood, and I felt like a bastard for treating you so shitty when I’m the one with the issue.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“My whole life, I’ve been afraid of losing the one person who brought me happiness when I had lost so much. I knew Shadow was going to get an Omega, had mentally prepared myself, but when you finally arrived, and I saw you with him, I felt like I was losing my mind, and it went too far. That voice inside me was driving me crazy, and I was so angry, so needy.”
Wincing at the agony in his words, I touched his arm. His apology was consuming me. My mind was still caught up in the incident back in my room, but this was steamrolling over me.
“I’m working at taming my jealousy. I don’t want to lose my family. I’ve known Shadow for so long, I don’t know how to be without him. Will you help me? I don’t want to leave.”
My heart broke for him, and at that moment, I hated myself. I’d been so caught up in my problems, I didn’t stop for a moment to think of what impact my arrival would have on the others. I squeezed his arm.
“Daniel, I never wanted you to leave Shadow. I accept that you’re with me, and you’re part of this pack. I’m the lucky one if the four of you would ever accept me.”
There was a quiver in his arm beneath my touch. His pain was my pain.
“I could help you with your pain,” he offered.
“And maybe you, me, and Shadow can talk about this together, so you know I have no problems with you and him still having a relationship. It would kill me if I ruined it. I see how much he adores you.” I’d never felt an inch of jealousy of what Shadow and Daniel had, but I felt blessed I could be part of it.
“You have no idea how good it feels to have talked to you about this.” Daniel smiled, and the heaviness in his shoulders eased. He dragged me into an embrace.
I held onto him as he embraced me in his strong arms, the heat he radiated calming my frantic heart rate and earlier panic. If anything, it felt like a part of my life was closing, and the unease from the tension Daniel had caused me became smaller.
“I have something for you,” he whispered.
I pulled away, smiling that I had my friend back.
“What is it?”
He took my hand in his and pushed open the door, revealing a smaller room where a huge king bed took up most of the space. Pillows of every size lined the top and edges, and fur blankets of varying hues of oranges, burnt yellows, and dusty pinks covered the mattress. A netting that was so thin, it looked like it might be made of fairy wings was hanging from a loop dangling right over the bed. Every wall in the room was covered in shelves of books, vases of flowers, some with bowls of fruit, and pineapple decorations were everywhere. Some pillows were shaped in that form, and the lamp threw out light from its pineapple-shaped body. A two-person beanbag also resembled the blown- fruit. And did I mention there were two bedside tables with stacks of chocolate blocks?
I burst into tears, my heart unsure it could take such kindness.
“You made me a nest,” I whispered between sobs.
“Oh, Trinity, the room was meant to make you laugh, not cry,” he said cheerfully as he led me into the room by my hand. I twirled on the spot, sobbing, staring at the beautiful room that was a dream come true.
“I’ve never had anything that was new or just mine, and you’re saying this is all mine?”
“Get into bed.” Daniel chuckled, and I loved hearing him sound so happy. “It’s the softest thing you’ll ever feel.”
I didn’t know where to look first. Part of me wanted to run and check all the books, but I threw myself onto the bed and moaned.
“OMG, it’s like I’m floating on a cloud.”
Collapsing onto my back, my arms and legs spread out, I wasn’t close to touching the edges… it was that huge. A thought came to mind about how I could fit on there with all three Alphas. With that came a tingle deep in my core, the flare of arousal that didn’t need much more than a thought sometimes.
Daniel crawled into bed with me, then flopped down next to me.
“Will you accept my peace offering?” he asked coyly, twisting his head to face me, his eyes glistening.
“Are you kidding?” I teased. Rolling over to him, he collected me into his arms. “I was never angry with you. Well, except for the smartass trick you pulled in my room when you pretended to help me orgasm. You made me so embarrassed.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice pinched with pain. “I have an idea. Let’s pretend that never happened, please.”
I glanced up at him and smirked. “Deal.”
Just then, the door swung open so abruptly, Daniel and I both jolted up to a sitting position.
Shadow and Aspen walked into the room, taking everything in.
“Gorgeous nest,” Aspen purred. “I can’t wait to test it out.”
“Where’s Viper?” A furrow creased Shadow’s forehead. “And whose blood is all over the walls and floor outside your room, Trinity?”
