I moaned as I stretched out my aching limbs. Apparently, I’d been run over by a car, then tortured while I slept.
Every single cell throbbed with pain.
Also, why was my bed so hard?
Pulling open crusted eyes, it took me a long moment to realize I wasn’t in pain because Aran had snapped and beaten me in my sleep.
Nope.
Fire crackled and snow swirled in a dark room, but it was the stench of cinnamon and sex that had my eyes widening and memories crashing into me.
A fluffy white kitten was curled in the nook of my arm.
I remembered Xerxes saying that he was ashamed of his kitten form, and that alphas taunted him for it.
The little fluff purred against me, and my heart broke into a million pieces.
My chest twisted as I drowned in the waves of foreign emotions.
For the longest moment, I closed my eyes and pretended the footsteps crunching through snow were Lucinda’s and we were exploring through the forest of the shifter realm. Life wasn’t easy, but we were young and filled with children’s naïveté that everything would be okay.
Instead of crisp forest air, musky sweat and coppery blood hung heavy.
I sighed heavily as the mirage broke. Buck naked in an omega’s nest, I debated my options.
- I could start screaming and cause a scene (extremely gratifying but emotionally exhausting).
- I could play it cool and pretend I was a sexual goddess who regularly fucked men violently (appealing but hard to pull off).
- I could find Walter and ask if he knew a therapist, because my mental issues extended to sexual issues (boring and predictable; no one was surprised).
- I could go brag to Aran that I’d lost my virginity before her, so she was officially the crusty prude between the two of us (very enticing, but Aran would probably attack me, and my body was on its last leg).
- I could just act normal (like a loser).
Evidently, having my hymen brutally removed had shifted something inside me, because I wanted to choose the fifth option.
I was turning into a proper lady.
Just kidding. My aches throbbed in tune to my heartbeat, and I was in too much pain to do anything other than kiss Xerxes’s kitten head.
Denial was my bestie.
“You’re so cute,” I cooed and ran my fingers gingerly across his fluffy white ears.
Kitten Xerxes rolled over and showed off his tiny belly.
I reached forward and gave his fur a gentle kiss. His miniature paws clawed at the strands of my hair that fell around him.
My heart melted, and I held my hair in front of his paws like a string. “Little kitty wants to play?”
Xerxes batted at the strands and kicked his back legs adorably.
After ten minutes of play time, Xerxes sat up and ignored my attempts to throw my hair into his face. His purple cat eyes went from sleepy and playful to unamused.
He haughtily sniffed the air and licked a paw.
My omega had regained control, and he was over my antics.
Too bad for him, because I was still amused. “Wittle itty bitty cute kitty.” I scratched under his chin until he trembled and closed his eyes. I peppered his head with kisses as I scratched. “Sadie’s wittle baby.”
Xerxes bit my finger with his incisors. Poor thing put his whole body into it, but he was so small he didn’t even break the skin.
I giggled. “Who knew you had such a biting problem?”
Suddenly, as if my words had shaken him out of a trance, the kitten scrambled backward off my lap.
Before I could toss my hair at him again, a very naked six-foot-five male was crouched on the rug.
His olive skin shone in the firelight, but it wasn’t smooth and unblemished with its usual shine.
The air left my lungs, and I choked in shock.
Xerxes’s neck, and both pecs, were covered in bruises and welts with hundreds of small, round indents.
I’d bitten every square inch of his skin.
With his lean muscles, long hair, deep V lines, and daggers glowing with enchantment as they returned, strapped to his thighs, he looked like a wild warrior of lore.
As I appreciated my work, Xerxes scrambled backward.
His face contorted with horror.
I grumbled and covered my naked bits with my hands. “Well, that’s comforting.” What woman didn’t want her love to scramble away from her in disgust after taking her virginity and telling her he loved her?
It was not good for my lady ego.
Xerxes spoke, and his voice was no longer the guttural growl from the day before. His honeyed accent was back. “Baby girl, I’m so fucking sorry. I can’t believe…”
He covered his mouth with a shaking hand and moved further away from me.
I ignored the way my heart melted when he said “baby girl.”
But now he was apologizing.
The romance books I’d loved to read growing up had made men sound way less dramatic than they really were.
Highly upsetting and unfortunate for women everywhere.
The beginning of a tension headache pounded through my skull. “Dude. Don’t make it weird.”
Xerxes opened and closed his cut jaw, dragging lean fingers across his stubble. “Weird?”
My core clenched at the scratchy noise as my nipples remembered the rough abrasion dragging across. Was it too soon to bring up that we’d said, “I love you”?
His nostrils flared, and his eyes began to glow.
I squeezed my legs together and debated trying to crawl toward him sexily.
From the ache pounding through my kneecaps, I’d probably collapse like I was geriatric.
Still, I squinted and debated it.
I wasn’t a coward.
Before I could plot my path, Xerxes shoved his palms into his face and turned away. He muttered to himself, “What the fuck is wrong with you? Stop it.”
Sun god, he had a nice ass.
I would have risked the kneecap pain and crawled toward him—his thick butt cheeks were beacons of light in a dark world—but I got distracted by the gouge marks that covered his back.
Dried blood streaked across his skin, and the marks were so deep it looked like he’d been whipped.
Suddenly, I felt like utter shit.
Nausea churned my stomach, and I scurried backward away from him. “I’m so sorry about your back.”
He didn’t turn around.
Just hunched his shoulders further downward and muttered expletives under his breath.
He seemed distraught.
I shoved my knuckles into my mouth as it dawned on me.
Holy sun god, I was a man-eater.
Fuck.
Before I could gain the confidence to report myself to the appropriate authorities, there was a loud banging on the door.
Cobra yelled, “Xerxes, what the fuck are you doing? We can feel your pain.”
Oh great, now they were going to see what I’d done to him and I’d be carted off to the don for punishment.
My brain churned as I struggled to remember the consequences for abusing an omega.
Something about disembowelment, but I couldn’t remember if I was also going to be set on fire or just shot with a bullet through the brain.
Xerxes hunched even lower until he was crouching with his arms around his legs. He didn’t answer, but his entire body trembled.
I deserved the fire.
“Fuck, Xerxes. Are you okay, man?” Ascher’s fist joined Cobra’s.
Jax’s voice was much calmer than the other two’s. “Stop banging and shouting. That’s not going to help him. You’re making it worse. He’s probably just having a nightmare. You know how it’s been for him. He’s okay.”
“He’s not okay,” I responded instinctually, then slapped my hand over my mouth.
Xerxes hunched deeper into himself.
There was silence in the hall.
I grimaced as Xerxes’s hairy crack was clearly on display. Not a pretty position.
After five minutes of nothing happening, I wondered if the alphas had gone somewhere else, and debated informing Xerxes that I could see his butthole and he should probably put on pants.
I opened my mouth to apologize again but was cut off by the metal door creaking.
Suddenly, it was pulled off its hinges and tossed into the hall by a snarling bear that let loose a bone-chilling roar.
In a blink, the bear retreated as Jax shifted back.
I opened my mouth to admonish him for breaking the no-shifting rule, although I didn’t think the don knew what we did in our own house, but I stopped because of the intense expression on his face.
Ascher and Cobra flanked him on both sides as they stalked into the nest like avenging warriors.
Xerxes whimpered, and my instincts screamed at me to protect my omega.
I dragged myself off the floor, my joints creaking and popping, and I flung myself in front of his naked, crouched form.
“You’re scaring him,” I snarled at the alphas as I tried not to notice how pine, chestnuts, and frost mixed deliciously with cinnamon and sex.
They stopped moving, jaws falling open as they stared at us.
I covered my bits with my hands and tried to sound authoritative. “I’m sorry for what happened to him, but it was the heat, although I know that is no excuse for my actions. But you need to give him some space. He’s clearly hurting.”
My face burned with shame, and I looked away. “I hurt him.”
Three pairs of alpha eyes glowed with fury.
I deserved it.
No one moved.
The violence and tension ratcheted up.
A callused hand gently touched the back of my shoulder, and I turned around in surprise.
Long, patrician fingers—that had choked me mercilessly as I screamed, sobbed, and came—gently traced across my neck.
I swallowed thickly.
Xerxes whispered, “I’m not upset because you hurt me. I’m fucking gutted because of what I did to you.” The fingers on my neck trembled, and a lone tear trailed down his face.
My brow furrowed as I stared up at my dark prince. “But I loved it.”
I love you, hung heavy in the silence between us.
Xerxes shuddered and whispered, “Are you sure?”
I stepped closer.
My head was level with his chest, so I gently kissed a pair of deep teeth marks that dragged downward from where I’d scraped across his flesh.
“Yes. But are you sure?”
Callused fingers gently traced my jaw, and I moaned at the memory of what those fingers had done to me.
We both knew what we were talking about.
Xerxes bent down so his lips traced softly over mine. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.” He kissed me gently and pulled back with an arched brow. “Are you really okay, baby girl?”
I shivered and nodded.
Sure, there were a million issues we had to work through, and I still couldn’t bond with him, but I understood what he was asking.
A smile split my face, and I nodded. “My omega.”
Xerxes groaned and pulled me close, engulfing my lips in a proper kiss.
I melted against him, his fingers tangling in my hair as he kissed me reverently. With his lips, he told me what I meant to him, and I told him back.
It was bliss.
A low hissing noise interrupted the moment, and I pulled away from Xerxes, who apparently was not going to report me to the authorities.
Turning back around to the three alphas, I parted my legs in a power stance, protecting Xerxes with my body.
He was my omega, and I didn’t like other alphas being hostile around him.
They were ruining our moment.
Classic men, making everything about themselves.
Xerxes pulled me behind him and shielded me with his larger body.
Up close, I stared at the strips of bloody flesh I’d left across his back. Sun god, it looked like I’d been trying to dig his skin off.
Abruptly, the low hiss became louder and mingled with a roar and loud bleat.
I peeked around Xerxes’s arm.
The three alphas’ faces were contorted in fury, eyes glowing brighter than I’d ever seen as they looked at Xerxes’s waist.
Looked like I wasn’t the only alpha stunned by his unique penis.
It really was revolutionary. I couldn’t wait to see Aran’s face when I told her. She was going to be so jealous.
Ascher’s hand visibly shook as he dragged it roughly over his horns.
Jax’s golden chains tinkled as he looked away, like he was going to be sick.
Cobra’s jewels turned into shadow snakes that roamed across his flesh. He stood still, like a statue.
Sun god, I knew Xerxes’s knot was groundbreaking, but they were being a tad dramatic about it.
Not like they had clits to stimulate anyways.
Xerxes flexed his muscles like he was preparing to fight, and he shifted to block me completely.
The silence expanded.
Cobra was the first to break it, his words a deadly hiss. “Issss that what I think it issss?”
I peeked over Xerxes bicep. Cobra was still staring at his omega knot.
“Yeah, and it vibrates,” I said tentatively, trying to diffuse the awkward tension that had paralyzed the men.
My tone was meant to be blasé, but I couldn’t hide my excitement.
Jax roared to the ceiling. The sound vibrated through the small room, and I collapsed, my hands over my ears.
I rolled my eyes.
Ascher’s horns lengthened on his head, and his tattoos jumped as he tensed and stepped forward.
He snarled at Xerxes, “How fucking dare you,” hands fisted and shaking with rage.
Cobra hissed, “You took what wassss mine. I will ssssslowly remove your sssskin from bonessss.”
Jax growled softly, “Are you okay, my love?”
“Wait, are we not talking about his vibrating knot?” I was confused.
Jax looked away again, like he couldn’t speak because he was desperately trying to stop himself from violence.
Ascher’s hands shook harder as he clenched and unclenched his fingers. He opened his mouth and closed it, like he couldn’t find the words.
It was Cobra who snarled back, “The fucker hassss your virgin blood coating hissss dick.”
“Oh.”
Suddenly, I got it.
