Resistant Omegas 8
Brody
Brody Fitzgerald is the oldest of the fifteen abused Om egas found by Dewey when they took over the dire wolf pack. Now of age, and already having been activated by his old Alpha’s abuse, life isn’t getting any calm er than it was before…
But at least he’s safe now, or isn’t he?
Beta candidates Lief and Asher feel like they ’re on the edge of happiness, waiting for the rest of the pieces to fall into place so they can have an inner circle of their own, especially now that they ’re rom antically involved.
Love at first sight it m ight not be, but when Jaxon sees Brody for the first tim e, all he can see is his future.
But when Brody refuses to take an inner circle, will they be able to push past his walls or will they take the risk that Brody will never love them and claim him any way s?
Note: This book is written in first-person point of view.
G enre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Vam pires/Werewolves
Length: 35,831 words
BRODY
Resistant Omegas 8
Joyee Flynn
MENAGE AMOUR MANLOVE
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BRODY
Copyright © 2013 by Joyee Flynn E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-491-7
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BRODY
Resistant Omegas 8
JOYEE FLYNN
Copyright © 2013
Wesley’s Prologue
Tristan’s been arrested. They came and they took him, Wesley. I don’t know what to do. Jared’s
words went round and round in my head as they had since I’d first heard them two days ago. I told
him to get Carson and every available friend to Boston, that I would figure something out.
And after lots of finagling and plotting, I had a plan. A very intricate and complicated plan that
hinged on many variables. One of which I was meeting with now.
“Omega Orson to see you, my Lord,” the man announced as I was let into the study of the man I
was hoping to get on my side.
“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Lord Ellys,” I said as I gave a half bow. “You are a
man of your word as my grandfather described you.”
“You are too young to have been alive when your grandfather was,” he hedged, eyeing me over
suspiciously.
“Sadly, that is true. I read about you in his journals. It was the reason I felt I could come to you with
this. My grandfather spoke very highly of you even if some of the details made for uncomfortable
reading for me,” I explained with a nervous chuckle.
Lord Ellys’s face softened into a smile. “Your grandfather was probably the most moral,
tenderhearted, loving man I’ve ever met. I was sad that things didn’t work out for us but what we
shared I think back on fondly.” Then he snickered. “He has set the bar quite high for any man who
came after him.”
“I would love to hear more,” I said wistfully. “Someone who knew my family firsthand when all I’ve
done is read about them.”
Lord Ellys thought about that for a moment and smiled. “I would like that too. It’s always nice to talk
about the old days with a captive audience.”
“But not today,” I replied sadly. “Today I have very limited time and come to you with a
proposition.”
“Yes, I was very intrigued to get a request for a meeting from a wolf,” he said evenly though his eyes
darkened and his fangs slid out. “Normally wolves only want to see us to kill us. The only reason you
were allowed in was the tie with your grandfather and what I have heard from my people at our
storage facility. They speak very highly of you.”
“I’m glad that the news about me is good.” I was choosing my words very carefully, understanding
this was a tricky situation and potentially volatile. The second Lord Ellys’s fangs came out my men
were tense and ready for a fight. I sighed and looked at them over my shoulder. “Seriously, guys.
Chill out. We’re not here to be dinner. Lord Ellys has a reason to be pissed with the wolves, but
we’re both waving white flags. There’s not going to be any fighting.”
“He does have a right to be pissed and he’s even owed revenge or vengeance for what has been done
to his people,” Bay agreed, eyeing over the man. “And as your mates we don’t like you walking right
in front of the potential firing squad. So no, we won’t chill, babe.”
“I’m not after your mate. I was in love with his grandfather once. You asked for this audience and I
swore that no harm will befall any of you as long as nothing is instigated by you.” Lord Ellys gave
them a comforting smile. “I’m very, very old, gentlemen. I don’t jump into fights as younger men
might. I’ve seen too much of the devastation left behind after rash actions.”
“How about we all sit and just have a conversation then?” I suggested as I glanced to the sitting area
in front of the fireplace. Lord Ellys nodded as he stood, leading the way. Once we were all seated,
his butler offered us tea which I gladly accepted. I was wracked with nerves.
“So why are you here, Omega Orson?” he asked after a few moments.
“My friend was arrested for being a powerful Omega basically. Oh sure, our Council has some
bullshit charges but that’s the real reason. They’ve oppressed us for so long that most Omegas are a
mess of trauma and barely hanging on to their sanity. Those of us who have been freed of that and
have become strong they are now scared of.”
“As they became of us and our immortality,” Lord Ellys said with a nod. “Vampires and wolves used
to be allies. That all changed around the time your Omegas started being slaughtered. I was very
concerned for your grandfather. For all of us actually. I lost a lot of friends battling wolves and your
kind still has a kill-on-sight law for vampires. We are in hiding because of it. There aren’t enough of
us left to fight.”
“I know that, you know that, but I bet the Council doesn’t know that. That makes you a powerful ally.”
“You want to bring us out into the light, so to speak?” he asked with wide eyes and then schooled his
features.
“No, I want an alliance,” I answered and then took a deep breath. “I plan to overthrow the High
Council and return things to the way they used to be centuries ago. Corrupt men should not be in
charge. I can see morality and integrity among other things in a person. Omegas should go back to
picking who leads as advisors and keepers of the Council, watch over them and make sure the killing
and the injustice never happen again.”
“And you want the vampires to forget all of what has happened and be your friends?” He gave me a
look that clearly said keep dreaming.
“I want us to be friends and to work on it with the rest of our people. It won’t happen overnight,” I
answered honestly. “Truth be told, most wolves don’t even know you guys exist.”
“I thought vampires were just a legend,” Bay agreed with a nod. “That is what most wolves think.
None of the wolves now were around for what happened. Granted, some might have been told stories
but we can’t live forever like you guys. No one really knows.”
“And you want to change that? Bring this all out into the open?” Lord Ellys asked with a raised brow.
“Yes, that’s been the plan since I started going through the journals,” I answered with a wince. “The
Council making this move has bumped up the timetable. I won’t lose my friend.”
“What is the charge they are making against him and is it true?” I saw the curiosity in Lord Ellys’s
gaze and realized I needed to be very honest with this man. He didn’t get to be in charge without
having a few tricks up his sleeve. And I was sure he didn’t care about what Tristan really did. He
was trying to see how truthful I was willing to be with him. Good man. I would have wanted to know
the same.
“It’s two counts of murder. He killed one of the people, a sadist Alpha, but it wasn’t planned. The
man pointed a shotgun at his mate’s chest and he used the powers we have to kill the man. The other I
killed. She threatened my friend and had lost her mind when her mate was killed. I sought her out and
ended her life with no regrets.”
“So you should be in trouble but he’s taking the fall,” he hedged, eyeing me over. “I saw what your
grandfather was capable of and if you’re here you must be way more powerful than he ever was.”
“Why would you say that?” I asked, just as carefully.
“Your grandfather showed me the prophecy since it involved me. It’s about you, isn’t it?”
“I think so. I’m not sure and while I’ve seen more mysticism and magic with what Omegas and
witches can do, myself having the gift of foresight, I can’t say I’m putting my faith in that. I just know I
have to save my friend and end this. I’m offering you an alliance now so when we put the new
Council members in place, there won’t be any more hunting or hurting of anyone.”
“Then the vampires will have your back, Omega Orson. What do you need from us?”
“You actually, Lord Ellys. You were alive then. I need your testimony of what happened. Journals can
be faked and I have a vested stake in what happens to Tristan. I need your voice. You can bring as
many men as would make you feel comfortable walking into the wolf’s den, so to speak.
“But they need to know the goal is not to fight and they can protect you but if they instigate I will do
what is necessary to keep this from escalating when it doesn’t need to. The goal is to make things
better, not add fuel to the fire. I can and will protect you as well. If you’ve seen what my grandfather
can do then you know you were always safe with him.”
“I’m still bringing two security details,” he said firmly and picked up his phone. “When and where is
this happening?”
I glanced down at the watch my father left me and I always wore now. “Boston in three hours.”
He gave me a shocked look as he got to his feet and went over to his desk. Lord Ellys barked out a
few orders into his phone and turned back to us. “What would you have done if I’d said no?”
“Taken the Council by force because make no mistake, I can and will take them all out to save my
friend if it comes to that. I’d prefer not but I will do whatever is necessary to protect the people I
love.”
“So much like your grandfather,” he whispered as emotion shined in his eyes.
“Wesley’s taken,” Bay said dangerously as he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer.
“He’s ours.”
“He knows, my love,” I chuckled, kissing his cheek. “It’s hot when you get all jealous and stake your
claim though.”
“We’d die if we ever lost you or someone tried to steal you from us,” Levey said quietly as he gave
me a worried look. “It’s taking us everything we have to let you do this today. We love Tristan too
but losing you to try and save him might be too much for us.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got this and we’ve got help,” I assured them as I glanced at Lord Ellys.
“And you aren’t the only ones with claws,” Lord Ellys said, giving me a wink. I smiled widely as his
hands changed into some scary-ass monster-type claws. Oh yeah, we were ready.
* * * *
“Ready for this?” Jared asked me quietly. He looked like shit. All of Tristan’s men did.
“I’ll get him back, Jared. No matter what I won’t leave my best friend when he needs me. We can do
this.”
“Just tell us the plan,” Cameron said nervously.
“We go in and try to talk to them. We try the reasonable card. If it’s not working I’m going to need to
channel every Omega here and we take over the Council.”
“Whatever you need,” Edric Sawyer said with a smile. “I’m done with these assholes being in charge
anyways. Enough with the old ways and let’s get back to the right way for our people.”
“And we’ve got lots of packs on our side,” Lennox Ashton added. “We’ve been making calls. Once
we told people Tristan has been taken like this without reason or proof and we weren’t allowed to
testify on his behalf, they’re on our side.”
I glanced at Carson Evans, Vencentio Benson, and Dewey Seymour, who nodded in agreement. “Then
let’s go save Tristan. The shit hits the fan and all I need is for you guys to touch me so I can channel
you. This ends today.” I smiled when I got several growls of approval. We were ready.
We jogged across the street to the High Council building and I flung open the doors. Carson had been
to their courtroom before and guided me. When I found the doors to their meeting locked I actually
laughed. “Yeah, that would stop us.” I used my power to tear them off their hinges and totaled the
doorframes just for effect.
“You’re not allowed in here,” one man barked at us as we walked right in. I glanced at our allies,
Councilmen Stratts, Reynolds, and Johnson, who looked relieved to see us. That couldn’t be good.
“And Tristan wasn’t to be harmed while he was being held,” Councilman Johnson shot right back.
“But apparently no one’s listening today and things change. And I’m still head of this Council and I
said the Omegas were to be allowed here so they could testify on Tristan’s behalf.”
“You didn’t have majority, old man,” the first sneered.
“Wow, respectful,” I drawled. “New addition?”
“Yes,” Councilman Johnson growled. “His father passed a few months ago and Councilman Absalom
has had a very loud voice against the changes that have been made. He wants to go back to the way
things were.”
“What a coincidence,” I drawled, smiling at Councilman Absalom in a way I knew was evil. “So do
I.”
“You want to go back to Omegas being bought as the possessions they are?” Councilman Absalom
asked with a surprised eyebrow. I waved my friends calm when I heard several growls.
“No, you dense man. I want to go back to when the Omegas were in charge and there was order
among our people and this thing called morals.” I almost laughed when every Council member’s
mouth hung open. “But I’ll get to that and depending on what happens with Tristan, know that we’re
ready to make that happen.”
“We’re not going to listen to threats from a bunch of little bottom boys,” Absalom growled.
“Say that or anything else disparaging again and you won’t be allowed to talk the rest of this
meeting,” I snapped. “And don’t even say I can’t because we both know I could freeze you or stop
your heart from beating with just a look.”
“Which is exactly why our guards had to keep Omega Modeto in line. Bring out the prisoner,”
Absalom called out with a smirk. The side door opened and I had to bite my lip to keep in the gasp of
horror when I saw my friend.
“You bastards!” Jared screamed as he fought to get to his mate, most of the other Alphas and Betas
with us desperately trying to hold him back. “He went with you willingly! There was no need to hurt
him. He wasn’t fighting you.” Then he focused his gaze to the Council members who were our friends.
“He trusted you. How could you do this to him?”
“We didn’t know,” Councilman Reynolds admitted with tears in his eyes. “We failed him.”
“I’m all good,” Tristan joked as the guards dropped him into a chair behind the defense’s table facing
the Council. “I tripped several dozen times.”
“Omega Modeto is a dangerous threat,” Absalom shouted as he slammed his hands on the wood as he
stood. “He’s lucky to be getting a trial at all. He murdered two of our people and could kill many
more.” He pointed at me in disgust. “As could this abomination.”
“You’re lucky I won’t now,” I growled as I froze the man while he stood. “But you’re also done
talking.”
“This is why Tristan’s in custody and we need to fear the Omegas,” another man said nervously. “He
blinks and shuts one of us up. We can’t let them get more powerful.”
“Tristan is in custody because you fear him, not because he’s done anything wrong,” I replied calmly.
“He’s been accused of two murders, one was self-defense and I killed the other person.”
“Wesley,” Tristan groaned as he glanced over to me. “Shut up, you twit. Now we’re both in trouble.”
“The difference between us, my best friend, is I will fight them and I have the power to win,” I said
gently. I moved over to him, freezing the guards where they stood when they went to block him from
me. Touching my friend’s shoulder, I ignored everything else but his injuries and used my power to
heal what I could. “Better?”
“You so have to teach me how to do that,” he chuckled. “I feel great.”
“Found notes on how to channel my power that way in a journal from an Omega who lived five
hundred years ago in Russia. Go to your men and let them see you’re okay.”
“He’s been detained and he’s not leaving,” that same Councilman said.
“He will after we get this all straightened out,” I shot right back. Then I glanced back at Tristan. “We
played fair and your way and this is where we’ve ended up. The time for trying to work within the
system is done.”
“However you call it, I support you,” he sighed as he got to his feet. “I really thought we could do this
by making them see what was really going on in the packs and be willing to do the right thing.”
“That was your mistake, my friend,” I informed him gently. “The good ones who have made the
changes were blind and should have known. The others knew and didn’t care. The Council has mostly
become power-hungry, corrupt individuals whose ancestors slaughtered ours because they could.
They’re not fit to lead.”
“We are right here,” the Councilman drawled. “Are we done with the theatrics and ready to rule on
Omega Modeto before he runs?”
“We’ve not even heard any evidence or his testimony,” Councilman Stratts growled. “We are the
High Council, not murderers of our own people. Hear the man out!”
“Which one because I don’t think Omega Modeto is in charge of this coup,” the guy shot right back.
“This wasn’t a coup until you took my friend unlawfully, without reason, and beat him while in
custody when he didn’t fight you! I came here ready to talk and discuss this like pack. This shit ends. I
have journals showing what this Council once did to the Omegas they were sworn to protect because
of fear and a few people in the right positions who didn’t like the power we have.”
“Why do you deserve it?”
“Okay, seriously, what the fuck is your name even?” I snarled at him. “Why do you think you’re so
goddamn important and know everything?”
“I’m Councilman Secrest’s nephew, Councilman Primo. And I am important because I’m a goddamn
Councilman and you Omegas are murderers and abuse your power. Omega Lennox Ashton killed my
uncle in cold blood.”
“Lennox, was that the guy who kidnapped you to the High Council’s estate, threatened you, came after
you, and tried to kill your pack?” I asked, knowing the answer.
“That’s the short version, yes, though I didn’t know Councilman Douchebag’s real name. But we had
a shoot-on-sight order so I was completely legal in that,” he answered.
“Is that not true, Councilman Stratts?”
“Yes it was,” the man answered me with a sigh. “And you know that, Primo.”
“They should all die. They’re freaks and a threat to us.”
“No, this Council has been a threat to us,” I hissed at him. “I have a witness that was there when your
ancestors tried to wipe out every Omega. They murdered us because of what we could or might do
and I’m not waiting for that to happen. I came here to straighten things out and handle this within our
laws. That’s obviously not going to happen so instead I’m invoking the Correction Clause in our
laws.”
“What’s that?” Councilman Primo asked the guy next to him.
“Seriously? You’re just proving my point of why you shouldn’t be in charge or make decisions about
the rest of us. You don’t even know the rules you’ve sworn to uphold,” I said with a growl. “The
Correction Clause is a failsafe in our laws. It says that if any point in time the Council becomes
tyrants or no longer leads as they should, an Omega of the Orson bloodline or proxy can challenge the
Council and pick a new one.”
“There’s no such law,” Primo snarled. “You’re making that up.”
“Yes, I’m going to walk in here and announce a law that’s not real and hope I just get away with it.
You really are fucking stupid. It’s real and I as the living Omega of the Orson bloodline invoke it.
You are all relieved of your duties until such time I can scan and interview every one of you to see
your sins and determine if you are fit to rule our people.” I smirked at Primo and Absalom. “You
won’t make the cut.”
“You can’t do this!”
“I can and I have unless you want to challenge me? It’s your legal right.”
“What does he mean?” Primo asked around. “Who knows about this law?”
Councilman Stratts explained, looking rather relieved. I read his mind and saw his fear that Tristan
was going to be sentenced to death because of new Council members, namely Absalom, Primo,
Saville, and Madoc. Three had come in the past few months and started an uproar while Madoc was
always on the side of us being under better control.
“Omega Orson has invoked the clause,” Stratts said tiredly. “If any Council member disagrees they
can challenge him but while Omega Orson cannot be gravely injured being he is the only of his
bloodline, he has the right to kill any immoral challengers who wish only to keep their power instead
of abiding by our rules.”
“Explain to us what happens with this clause,” Councilman Madoc said. When I’d picked out Stratts’s
concerns from his mind, I quickly scanned to see who the people were. “And I want to know more
about this slaughtering of Omegas. There’s nothing in our history books about it.”
“Because your ancestors wrote them,” I explained. “I have a witness that was there several hundred
years ago.”
“That would mean vampire,” he hedged. “They are to be killed on sight and I don’t smell one here
anyways.”
“There are dozens here actually,” Lord Ellys said as he stepped forward. “But I’ve been cloaking
them from you. I’m Lord Ellys, leader of the vampires.” I smiled as dozens of men I’d known were
there suddenly became visible to everyone else. “I’ve been asked to come give testament to what I
witnessed from this Council’s ancestors and some of the laws they put in place.”
“Like killing you guys,” Councilman Madoc drawled. “I never understood why that one was still on
the books.” He glanced at Stratts. “Why do we hate them to kill them on sight?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never even seen one so I figured it was just an outdated thing,” Stratts drawled.
“Oh, I assure you there are lots on your Council who actively sought to kill us,” Lord Ellys informed
them. “Councilman Secrest was one of them. Absalom Sr. thought it was a great sport.”
“Well, we’re waiving the law for today and we’re going to discuss this more later,” Councilman
Johnson hedged. “I had no idea this was going on either. Tell us what Omega Orson is talking about.”
For the next hour Lord Ellys told the Council the longer version and what he’d witnessed and
gathered from my grandfather than what I’d told Tristan months ago. The Council at the time had
feared the power of the Omegas, wanting more of their own power, and started slaughtering us in our
sleep. Then they changed the laws for any new ones born that they would become possessions,
servants, and beneath the Council and any inner circles.
When Ellys was done the room was so silent, it was almost eerie.
“You have documented proof of this?” Johnson asked me quietly, looking shaken to his core.
“I do. I have my grandfather’s journal and many, many more journals from Omegas, some of which
I’m sure have entries about what happened. I haven’t gone through them all yet.”
“We’re taking possession of those journals immediately,” Primo ordered me.
“Over my dead mother fucking body,” I snarled. “I will give copies of what I’ve found to
Councilman Johnson. But the originals stay with me and only me as I was charged to be their keeper.
You can’t expect me to give over the only proof of what happened to the Council full of the
descendants who committed the crimes. I’m blond, not stupid.”
“I’m not rolling over and letting some pathetic twerp of an Omega tell me what to do,” Primo
growled. “I don’t care what happened to the Omegas hundreds of years ago. You’re all freaks who
should be killed the instant you’re born because you’re a disgrace to being wolves.”
“Yeah, and we’re the bad guys. We have powers you can’t even imagine and you want us all dead.
Fuck and you.”
Chapter 1
I watched what was going down in the High Council’s courtroom like a tennis match. If I didn’t
know Wesley better I’d be shitting a brick. The man could handle anything… But this, really? Tons of
angry Council members. I just kept trying not to faint.
“I challenge you, Omega,” Councilman Primo bellowed as he got to his feet. “Shift and fight me
like a wolf.”
“Doesn’t say he has to shift and not use his powers in the rules,” Councilman Stratts informed him
with the first smile I’d seen him have all day. “Stupid of you to assume things. Johnson, as head of the
Council you have to acknowledge the official challenge before Omega Orson can kill Primo.”
“Challenge accepted,” Councilman Johnson said with a smirk. “It wasn’t a pleasure knowing you,
Primo.”
I gasped as Councilman Primo leapt out of his seat and towards Wesley almost faster than I could
track with my eyes.
“Don’t worry, Brody,” Dewey whispered easily. “Wesley’s got this.”
“Right, yeah,” I agreed. My eyes just about popped out of my head as Wesley bitch slapped the
Councilman when he was in reach and then froze the man when he landed on the floor in a heap. Wow.
I shifted my weight nervously as I watched Wesley walk over to Councilman Primo. “Shouldn’t we
give him backup while he’s scanning the guy? There’s more than one person on the Council who
doesn’t like this shit and we know they don’t play fair.”
“You’re absolutely right, Brody,” Carson said approvingly. “Spread out and cover Wesley while he
scans Primo.” All of us Omegas who were activated and could use our powers to contribute to a fight
circled around Wesley, facing towards any possible danger.
“I’m proud of you, Brody,” Dewey whispered to me affectionately. “Always you step up to help and
lead when needed. So strong.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, dodging his glance. That wasn’t really true and I’d done more damage than
good but he didn’t know that and I was never going to tell the man who was like an older brother to
me all my sins.
“Really, Primo?” Wesley gasped. “Fuck, you deserve death seventy times over. How many have you
raped?”
“It’s not rape if they want it,” he growled, his words slurred by the fact his lips were frozen.
“The boys and girls I saw in your head did not want it and it wasn’t an act. They were scared out of
their minds. Where are the bodies?” Wesley threw right back. I wanted to turn and look at him but the
Council was getting restless. “You bastard. Councilman Kevin Primo, I sentence you to death for the
rape and murder of thirty-six people, the organization of mass genocide, and I’m sure a list of other
things but if I keep reading your mind I’m going to vomit.”
I flinched as I heard the sickening snap of bones, knowing it was Primo’s neck. Again, wow.
“How many did he rape and kill?” Councilman Madoc whispered in horror.
“At least thirty-six and they’re buried under his shed,” Wesley answered in an emotional voice.
“Apparently he had a thing for human children. Someone has to alert the authorities.”
“We’ll call in a tip but we can’t give them his body. They could study his brain like they do serial
killers,” Councilman Johnson mumbled. Everyone was shocked at the news. I couldn’t imagine why.
Hell, I felt nauseous.
“Anyone else want to challenge me?” Wesley asked loudly. I glanced around and saw the Council all
shaking their heads. “Good. Then under the rules of the Correction Clause, I temporarily assume
leadership of the High Council and you are all to be remanded into custody until such time I can clear
you of any wrongdoing or list your crimes for the rest of the High Council before your death sentence
is carried out.”
“Any crime carries a death sentence?” Madoc asked nervously.
“Speeding and jaywalking don’t count,” Carson drawled, getting an elbow to the ribs from Edric.
“Not helping and I would ask that too,” Edric hissed.
“It is a valid question,” Wesley answered the Councilman. “Cheating on your taxes is okay too.
Making mistakes depending on what they are don’t count either. Murder, genocide, rape are the main
ones really. Disagreeing with us might get you relieved of your duties but it’s not a death sentence.
The ones who pass will decide the fate of those who don’t.”
“We didn’t for Primo,” Madoc hedged.
“Really? You wouldn’t have done what I just did?” Wesley asked in disgust. “You don’t think he
deserved to die?”
“No, he did but you have to remember we don’t see what you do and sitting on this side of what’s
going on makes me nervous.”
“Well I can fix that,” our friend said quietly. He broke our circle and moved over to where Madoc
was sitting on the end. Wesley took the man’s hand and I knew he was showing Madoc what he had
seen.
“Okay, enough, please,” Madoc whispered in horror. “I believe you. I don’t want to see any more.”
“As you wish. I’m fair, Madoc. I don’t want death to anyone who doesn’t deserve it like Primo but I
won’t let a few radicals on the Council sign off on our murders either.”
“You have to admit that you are scary powerful, Omega Orson,” he said quietly as he stared at
Wesley. “Wouldn’t you be afraid if the situation was reversed?”
“Maybe, but killing because we might do something isn’t ever the answer. It’s bullshit and you know
it.”
“Agreed, but Omega Modeto did lie to us and so have you. How can we trust you if you’ve been lying
to us? What else have you done that we should have known about? I wanted him brought in for
questions because of that, not because I want all Omegas dead. I do believe they should be controlled
though. There have to be checks and balances.”
“Which is why though I could order the Correction Clause an Omega can never be on the Council.
That is the balance but we’ve been lied to and treated as property to be controlled so forgive us for
not being honest with you.”
“That’s fair but once this is over, we need honesty and trust on both sides or we will fail as a people
again.”
“Agreed and as a sign of good faith I will show you exactly what happened with the Alpha that
Tristan killed and what I did to the man’s mate,” Wesley said after a moment of thought. “Brody, if
you please?”
“Sure, Wesley,” I answered as I moved over to him.
“Brody was activated before he was twenty-one when his Alpha repeatedly raped him. His power is
uncanny for his age. He can project memories to a whole room. That’s all we’re going to do now,”
Wesley explained when the Council got nervous. He took my hand and I focused on everyone’s mind
in the room, controlling the power as he taught me.
Wesley first replayed in his mind what he’d seen in Tristan’s head about showing up to the Alpha’s
door to save the Omega Gideon and how the Alpha stepped into view with a shotgun pointed at
Jared’s chest. Then it went through Tristan’s power flaring and killing the Alpha.
“That’s why we didn’t tell you,” Wesley said after most of the Council members gasped in fear.
“Because he did it with his power instead of his physical strength, you’re all scared.”
“He beat me by a second. I could have reached over and snapped the Alpha’s neck while knocking
away the shotgun,” Alpha Jared said loudly. “That would never have fazed any of you that I could
move that fast or be that brutal to the man threatening the safety of my mates. Why is there such a
difference to you?”
“Because if you attacked me when I know I didn’t deserve it, I would have a chance of fighting back
or beating you,” Madoc answered after a few moments of silence. “I couldn’t with Tristan. He could
shut off my heart before I could lift a hand to fight him.”
“Isn’t that the same answer humans who know about werewolves and want us dead give?” Wesley
asked them with a raised eyebrow. “That we could kill them before they had a chance to fight back.”
“The point you’re missing is that I wouldn’t do that,” Tristan said quietly. “You don’t know me, so
fine, I get being scared. But I wouldn’t do that. Killing that Alpha still haunts me, okay? Now you’re
probably going to think I’m weak and soft but I still have nightmares. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t
mean to kill him. I just didn’t want him to hurt Jared.”
“That doesn’t make you weak, Omega Modeto,” Councilman Stratts said gently. “It makes you moral.
Doubting what you’ve done is the sign of a man who never wants to become a monster. I just wanted
answers as to why you lied to us and what happened. I never wanted you hurt or thought you were
going on a killing spree. It hurt that you lied to me.”
“It wasn’t you specifically, Stratts,” Tristan replied sadly. “It was Primo and Absalom. We couldn’t
trust them not to do exactly what they did. I didn’t want to give them reason to start a witch hunt that
could get us all killed.”
“I understand.”
Wesley quickly showed me and I projected into the mind of everyone there what had happened with
the woman he’d killed. Personally I thought it was wicked cool that he stood up for his friends like
that and I was glad I was one of them.
“Now, the guards will take you to your designated studies and lock you in. If I can’t get to you today
because it’s draining, you will be escorted to the guest wing and on lockdown for the night. If you
don’t pass, you get locked up until sentencing can be passed. Council seats will not be passed down
to heirs as stated in the laws of the clause I’ve enacted. We will take outside elders of packs we feel
are good role models and will put everyone’s best interests first.
“After that, things will change. You will each be given a copy of the way things used to be run before
all the Omegas were slaughtered. Study them because we will reconvene with who passes and update
the laws as they are needed. Then we induct the new Council members. But I will say that any Alpha
candidates that have been voted on in the past year will be revisited and screened by the Omega
Advisors as of old.”
“And you’re one of those Advisors?” Johnson asked curiously.
“I’m the Advisor but I have picked a team of ten and we work together. Just as you head the Council I
will head the Omega Advisors. We’ll get more into this later but we need to know which Alphas they
need to question.”
“I have a list of those who have been voted on in the last year. I will get it from my study if a guard
will escort me,” Johnson said as he stood.
“Why are you going along with this so easily, Johnson?” Councilman Saville sneered. I saw his
nameplate and already didn’t like the man. “Are you that weak that you just submit?”
“You want to challenge Omega Orson, go right ahead,” Johnson threw right back. “Don’t try to egg
me into it because it won’t work and I don’t fall for peer pressure, asshole. Being a leader doesn’t
mean you follow the laws when they suit you. You follow all of them when it’s the time. The
Correction Clause has been called for because we didn’t do right by our people. It was built in as a
failsafe and to me, we failed then, so do as you’re told and help your people.”
With that, Johnson left the room while two guards trailed after him. I liked that man.
“Okay, I’m going to start with Johnson. You guys go find rooms in the guest wing because we’re
going to be here for a week probably. No one wander off alone. We still might have targets on our
backs,” Wesley told us quietly. “If I need help I’ll text you to come on down to let me channel power.
Tomorrow we start on the Alphas we can get here and make sure they are the right men for the job.
Any questions we can go over at dinner but let’s get this done as fast as we can and get home.”
“We’re with you,” Tristan said with a smile. “Thanks for leading a coup to rescue me.”
“I’m fond of you,” Wesley giggled and hugged his friend. He glanced around when they broke apart
and his eyes landed on me. “I know you’ve been staying with us, but you need guards, Brody. Go talk
with Jared and make sure two are assigned to you and we’ll call you when you’re needed.”
“Okay, bossy,” I chuckled and gave him a wink. “I mean boss. Not bossy, I swear.”
“Smart-ass,” Wesley growled playfully and went to smack me. I darted out of the way and went to
find Jared. It wasn’t hard because he was trying to check out every inch of Tristan to make sure his
mate was okay. I smiled at them. I wanted that one day. Wesley seemed to realize Jared was right
there but had been blocked from his view. “Jared, I need two guards on Brody at all times.”
“On it,” he called back. “Asher and Lief, you’re with Omega Brody.”
“Where is he?” a gorgeous man asked as he faced his Alpha. I was standing to their right and when
Jared pointed to me and both sets of eyes were on me, I felt the need to squirm. “I’m Asher Morrison
and this is Lief Gibson. We’re going to be your guards while we’re staying in Boston. It’s for your
own protection so please don’t try and slip us.”
“You guys get ditched a lot?” I asked curiously.
“Some of the Omegas are nervous about being watched or alone with bigger men after what they’ve
been through. There are a few who make it their life’s purpose to leave us standing there stupid while
they’re on the other side of the estate,” Lief explained, annoyance in his tone.
“I trust Wesley and he trusts Jared so if Jared trusts you with me, I’ll listen.” I shrugged. I didn’t
know all the players and I did know we could still be in danger so protection sounded good to me.
“Hot and smart,” Asher mumbled, probably not having meant for me to hear him. I blushed at the
compliment and turned to leave the chaos of the courtroom. Everyone had their jobs to do but I
wanted to get out of the way.
We found out where all our stuff was and headed to where the guards’ bags were before the room
where mine was stashed. We assumed we’d be staying a while after Wesley invoked his plan but
walking in with suitcases to the Council meeting would have undone part of the effect of crashing the
party. Well, at least in my mind.
“Umm, I’m hungry,” I told them when we were in the room I was going to stay in. “Can we go get
something or is it easier for you guys to guard me here and one go get food? How should we do this?”
“You’re hungry already?” Lief asked as he looked at his watch. “Didn’t you have lunch before we
crashed in?”
“Oh, no, I was too nervous for food. I’ve not eaten in a couple of days really. I was worried about
Tristan,” I rambled, biting my lip to shut up. Hot men made me nervous and the two standing in front
of me were twelves on a scale of ten. Lief had spikey black hair that somehow made his eyes stand
out, which were bright green and sexy as hell. He was at least six five of firm yumminess while Asher
was a few inches taller, light brown hair and hazel eyes that saw way too much.
They were both fine with a capital F.
“Are you always this accommodating to your guards?” Asher asked with a raised brow and half
frown. “Or is it that you’re nervous about what’s going on?”
“Both though I don’t have guards often since I live at the dire wolf pack in Kansas. There are people
everywhere always so it doesn’t matter. I’m not brave though,” I admitted, rambling again. “I’m too
scared most of the time to ever be of much use and while Taggart, Azyle, and Percy have been
teaching me self-defense, I’ll never hurt an attacker. Maybe just get away and run if I’m lucky.
Normally I freeze up in sparring.”
“A lot of people do that after they suffered abuse. At least you’re trying,” Lief said gently. I flinched
at how they felt sorry for me ever having been the victim. I had been but I was the monster too and I
didn’t deserve pity.
“Don’t assume I was always the victim. That would be a mistake,” I grumbled as I headed to the
door. “I’m hungry. I don’t want to talk.”
“Okay, so let’s go find a kitchen in this place and bring food back up here where it’s easier to keep
you safe until Wesley needs you,” Asher agreed as he followed me. I nodded and we headed down to
the first floor and sniffed out food. It seems I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t eat before and was
now starving. The Council estate cooks were putting out quite the spread.
“I’ve always wanted real New England seafood,” I blurted out as I grabbed two plates. I quickly
loaded up with lobster tails, crab, crab cakes, and just about everything else I’d never tried.
“You’re really adventurous,” Lief chuckled as he checked out my plates. “Trying a little of
everything.”
“Yes,” I mumbled and turned away from them.
“Brody Fitzgerald, I’m going to smack you,” Wesley growled as he took my plates and set them on the
table. “We’ve been over this. You aren’t the bad guy. You helped those kids. I’ve seen everything in
your head. Don’t you dare think you don’t deserve these guys being nice to you. You deserve it and so
much more.”
“I can’t help the way I feel no matter how many times you tell me, Wes.” I shrugged and went back for
my plates, hurrying to leave. I didn’t like people staring at me and we were drawing a crowd.
“Jared assigned the right ones for you,” he mumbled cryptically before pulling Asher off to the side. I
didn’t know what that meant but I just wanted some alone time now after all the stress and feelings my
guards had stirred up in me.
“What do you want to drink? Caffeine or no?” Lief asked me, giving me a bright smile as if he hadn’t
seen or heard anything that had happened back there.
“Caffeine gets me all wound up and makes it harder for me to control my power. I should stay away
from it.”
“Live a little,” he chuckled. “You’ve had a lot going on and one Coke won’t make you wig out.”
“I do like Coke,” I hedged and then nodded when I saw his bright smile. “Can you tuck it in my arm?
I’m out of hands.”
“I got it.” He gave me a wink as he grabbed two bottles out of the ice in the bowl set up on the table. I
felt my cheeks heat up at the way he looked and winked at me. Quickly turning away, I rushed back to
my room, feeling Lief’s presence behind me like a caress to my back.
I liked it and that worried me. I couldn’t ever fall for someone or let anyone know besides Wesley
what I’d done. For whatever reason, my friend and mentor could forgive my sins but I knew others
wouldn’t be so kind.
Just as we got back to the room and set up a carpet picnic, Asher entered, not looking at either of us,
before closing and locking the door behind him.
“What’s up, babe?” Lief asked the man between bites and my gaze darted between them. “You look
like someone just told you they were pregnant and you’re the father.”
“No, nothing like that,” he mumbled and shot me a glance. Lief nodded in understanding as if the
unspoken look told him what he needed to know.
“So you guys are together?” I asked as we all started eating when Asher sat down.
“Yes, Lief just got out of the Marines a few months ago and he’s Beta material so he’s been working
security at Tristan’s too,” Asher explained as he glanced at the man. “We had good chemistry and
gave in to it. Now we just hope we can be placed with the same Alpha.”
“It will happen. If not, we don’t have to accept. I’m good with guarding Omegas the rest of my life,
aren’t you?” Lief asked hesitantly.
“Of course. It would just be nice to put down some roots in a pack of our own than always in a
holding pattern while we’re guarding others.” Asher sighed and ran his fingers through his shorter
hair. “We can talk about this later. Let’s just eat. Wesley asked me to come back downstairs in a bit
because I know some of the guards here and they’re restless over what’s going on. He wants me to
talk to them.”
“I think that’s smart. Wesley seems like a good choice to throw the coup.”
“Wesley’s the best,” I said with a fond smile as I kept stuffing my face. “He’s smart, funny, loving,
and his powers are second to none. He’s the strongest Omega in centuries and the one the prophecy
was written about. He’s going to help the wolves get back to where they need to be and flourish,
keeping all the Omegas straight and stopping these fights and battles with other types of
supernaturals.”
“Sounds like you have quite the crush on him,” Asher replied tensely, almost as if he was angry. I
wasn’t good at feeling emotions yet, my powers forming in other ways, so I was at a loss.
“I don’t have crushes. I like Wesley and I respect him. I’ve never had a crush, don’t ever want one,
and I won’t ever be intimate with someone ever again. I can’t,” I rushed out, tears burning in my eyes.
“Excuse me. I’m not hungry anymore.”
I jumped to my feet and raced into the bathroom. The room itself was like a larger hotel room but no
doors besides going in and out and the bathroom.
“What was that all about? Why are you trying to egg him on? He’s sweet, hot, and obviously been
hurt. He needs to trust us as his guards,” Lief chastised his man as I pretended to use the facilities. I
might not be able to feel emotions or read minds, but I could hypersensitize my hearing so I could
hear better than pretty much any other wolf around. Their whispering under their breath didn’t even
faze that I could hear them.
“Wesley told me a vision a while back before he left Tristan’s and today he said he realized Brody
was that one he told me about. That Brody was going to be ours one day. I got jealous I guess when he
was going on and on about how awesome Wesley was. I’m sorry. I’m all jumbled inside.”
“So he’s going to be our Omega when we find an Alpha?” Lief hissed excitedly. “That’s awesome.”
“Yeah but Wesley had told me before that the one would be young and need me more than I know.
And with the red flags Brody’s been giving us, something really bad happened to him. I just don’t
know if I’m the right person to help him. Wesley wouldn’t tell me anything though, saying that it had
to come from Brody.”
“And now you’re frustrated on top of everything.”
“Yeah,” Asher sighed. I heard them kissing and felt butterflies in my stomach. I bet it was hot to see
them making out.
“At least you’re smiling now,” Lief purred. “Go talk to the other guards. I’ll be here with Brody and
keep him safe. We just all need time to get to know each other. I don’t think we should tell him what
Wesley told you yet. He seems to be having a hard enough time with everything going on.”
“Agreed. Wesley also said he was thrilled that Brody finally wanted to eat. Something about the guilt
he feels keeping him from eating much and Brody should be about twenty pounds heavier than he is to
be healthy. So see if you can get him to eat more.”
“He really likes seafood. We’ll remember that. Maybe Wesley could order more for him,” Lief
hedged as if making a mental note. “Will we go with him to Medical Lake or to Kansas when he goes
back there? Now I’m nervous and unsure.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to dump this on you. I don’t know. We’ll figure it out, babe. We’re sticking
together and we’ll keep Brody safe while he gets comfortable enough with us to open up. That’s all
we need to think about right now. The rest will come.”
“Good deal,” Lief said in a relieved voice. I didn’t know if it was really that simple but I also didn’t
want them worried about anything. Now I was tired and wanted a nap.
Chapter 2
When Asher had left I came out of the bathroom and went straight for bed. I went under the covers
before undressing, feeling awkward about being in nothing but boxer briefs around two men I didn’t
know. It seemed something about their conversation or them in general spurred something in my mind
because for the first time ever I had a dirty dream.
Or maybe it was the plate of seafood and full Coke I drank? I never got to my other plate but I did
eat more than normal and rich foods I wasn’t used to.
Either way I decided to enjoy the dream.
Lief slid into bed with me, his hands immediately reaching for me as his lips found my shoulder.
“Baby, I’ve wanted this so fucking badly. Next we’ll put you in between Asher and I.”
“I don’t think he likes me. He wouldn’t be so upset that I was supposed to be your Omega if he liked
me.” I was having trouble keeping my focus enough to make coherent sentences since I’d never been
touched like this before… Well, by someone I wanted to touch me.
“So you heard us in the bathroom? Eavesdropping isn’t nice, sweet thang.”
“Neither is talking about someone when they’re right in the next room.”
He froze in yanking off my boxer briefs and nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry. But I can tell you that
Asher likes you just fine. You couldn’t see the wood he was sporting while we were talking about
you.”
“Okay. Let’s talk about it later if we have to. I just want this to be about us.”
“Gladly,” he growled and mashed his mouth down to mine. It was the best dream ever. Somehow he
got lube from somewhere and started slicking me up after rolling me onto all fours. I had no clue and
didn’t really care, my body on sensation overload.
“Yes, yes, Lief, make me yours,” I moaned as I pushed my hips back on the three fingers he had
buried inside of me.
“Really?” he whispered in hope.
I smiled at him over my shoulder. “I wanted to be yours the moment I saw you. Yours and Asher’s. If
you want me I’m yours.”
“I want,” he panted as he quickly pulled out his fingers. I gasped when he replaced them with his
thick cock and thrust gently forward. “Too much?”
“No, good. Keep going so the burning will pass,” I pleaded. I felt his body move over mine and
moaned at the erotic feeling of his weight and larger frame surrounding me.
“Promise me you’ll love me one day if I do this,” Lief whispered in my ear.
“I can’t see why I wouldn’t but I can’t promise that,” I chuckled. I turned my head for an awkward
kiss and he picked up the pace. Lief growled with each thrust as I switched between gasping and
screaming in pleasure. When I was getting close, I started whimpering and my hot, hot man reached
down and started stroking me fast.
Then he sank his teeth into my shoulder and I thought I was going to die from the bliss of it. I felt our
bond snap into place, grounding my wild powers already in a way I’d never felt. I came so hard that
lights flashed behind my eyes as I heard Lief growl again when he filled me with his release. It went
on forever, in the best kind of ways.
When we were both spent, Lief pulled his teeth out of me and then suddenly was ripped away from
me. I quickly rolled over and saw it was Lief’s man.
“Are you fucking mad?” Asher shouted as he stared at the two of us. Lief just stared at him funny as
was I, and Asher slapped him across the face and I practically felt it.
“It was just a dream, man!” Lief growled as the most horrible thought ever hit me.
“It wasn’t,” I whispered as I felt the blood on my neck from the bite. “I just violated you. I was
projecting my dream and what I wanted to you.”
“Wait, I really just claimed you?” he asked nervously, his eyes filling with fear. “That’s a death
sentence.”
“No, I won’t let that happen. Wesley knows my powers are volatile. He’ll see what happened from
my mind. They’ll kill me for what I did, not you,” I rambled as I quickly tugged on my jeans, forgoing
anything else.
“I don’t want that either!” Lief called out.
I froze as I got to the door and turned, looking at them both. “I can’t put into words how sorry I am
that I did this to you. But you need to know what we shared was the best moments of my life. I’m
sorry you didn’t want to be with me though.”
“Brody, wait!” he shouted as I booked it out of the door, slamming it behind me. I broke the door on
purpose, hoping to slow them down by warping the doorframe so it was stuck. Then I ran faster than I
had ever run before, using my powers the way Wesley had showed me to raise our strength and
speed. I found him sitting in a study with his men, probably taking a break in between scanning
Councilmen.
“I forced Lief,” I sobbed as I fell to my knees before him. “Don’t kill him. It wasn’t his fault. Kill me.
I just took away his choices. I made him claim me in his sleep. I thought it was a dream. I swear I did.
I didn’t mean to.”
“Breathe, Brody,” he whispered gently as he hugged me closely. “Show me what happened.”
I did, opening my mind to him freely. Wesley was powerful enough he could have made me show
him, but unlike other Omegas, it would have hurt me because I had enough juice to fight him.
“This wasn’t your fault either,” he told me softly as he kissed my forehead. “It was an accident.”
“Don’t hurt Brody,” Lief bellowed as he came racing into the room with Asher. “I claimed him of my
own free will. I knew it wasn’t a dream.”
“Liar,” Wesley chuckled as he stood, wrapping his arms around me. “But admirable that you’d take
the blame and protect him. I assume you don’t regret claiming him?”
“No, he’s amazing, but scared and I want to help him, love him,” Lief answered as his eyebrows
scrunched together. “Why are you not furious at me?”
“Because you did it to protect my friend.”
“No, I meant for taking him.”
“I saw what happened in Brody’s mind. You thought it was a dream too. Everything you did and said,
you wanted to do though,” he said, shooting me a glance to let me know it was true. “You wanted
Brody as he wanted you. But you do have the right to call foul now that the power has cleared up. Do
you want to press charges that you were raped or violated?”
“No!” Lief gasped as his eyes practically bugged out of his head. In a flash I was out of Wesley’s
arms and in his. “I claimed him. He didn’t do anything wrong! I’m not pressing charges and you can’t
take him from me.”
“We could actually but I don’t think that’s what my mate has in mind,” Bay said, using his best Alpha
voice.
“He’s mine,” Lief whispered. “Mine and Asher’s. Wesley told him so.”
“I did. Brody is the one I saw in my vision for Asher months ago when I was living with Tristan,”
Wesley confirmed. “I didn’t know Brody was the one until they were in the room for the first time and
I think Lief was the missing piece. He’s opened Asher up to me better since they’ve become
involved.”
“You always were scary powerful, Wes,” Asher chuckled and I shot him a dirty look.
“You might want to choose your words more carefully given where we are and what’s been going on.
You’re scary tall and wide but that’s rude to say, so why do you think it’s okay to talk to Wesley like
that?” Everyone in the room slowly turned so they were looking at me, Bay, Harkin, and Levey with
jaws hanging open and all.
“I’ve never heard you snap at someone like that,” Wes said carefully. “You feeling okay?”
“No, not even close,” I growled, pushing Lief away. “Thinking I’m cute and wanting my ass is not the
same as agreeing to claim me. He doesn’t know me and what I’ve done. I don’t deserve to be with
someone and he really doesn’t deserve getting stuck with me. Undo it or I will. I promised to train
hard and be the obedient solider for whatever you needed.”
“Brody, stop,” Wesley growled, knowing I was close to giving away the secret he’d tried so hard to
keep.
Then I gestured to Asher. “And I don’t even think he likes me and I don’t really even care. If people
would be more careful with what they say and think before they speak they wouldn’t be spreading
this fearmongering. You know how it is. Someone hears him saying that you’re scary powerful, it’s a
joke but it’s not because he had to really feel that way to say it.
“Then the person who heard him tells the next person that Asher’s afraid of you and maybe they
should be too. And then you’ve got a whole Council who’s scared of us and some think it’s best to
kill us off before we might go dark side and do something horrible to them like stick their heads up
their asses even further. All because Asher didn’t think before he spoke and people are jerks.”
“Feel better now?” Wesley asked me calmly. I thought about it and nodded.
“Yes, yes, I do actually.” I stared at my friend with hope. “Will you undo the bonding? He doesn’t
deserve this, Wes. I’m a mess and we both know it.”
“You’re a mess because you feel guilty for something you shouldn’t, tiny,” he said gently. My lips
twitched at the tiny because I was at least three inches taller than Wesley at five six. I got the joke and
knew he was trying to lighten the mood. “You know I never doubt my visions. I saw Asher happy
because you made him happy and you needed him. It’s changed since Lief came into the picture now
but only for the better.”
“It could be years down the road you saw,” I countered, not ready to give up my stance just yet.
“Undo it and in five years I’ll let them claim me.”
“Nice try,” he snickered. “Lief wants you and he at least deserves to know why you feel the way you
do and it’s not him.” I shot the man a look and saw that I’d basically kicked him in the nuts by trying
to get out of this. “One month. You stay and try with them for one month, telling them what’s really
going on, and if it doesn’t work and all parties come to me asking to break the bond, I will.”
“Do you even know how to do that before I agree to this?” I asked hesitantly.
“No, but I know I saw it in the journals. You don’t really have a choice anyways. These are my
terms.”
“Fine. So where do we go? Back with you? I’ve been helping you translate since—” I bit my lip hard
to stop in time.
“For now we stay here and handle what we need to,” Wesley said in that evasive way that he had.
Which meant he had a plan. Great. “And it’s time to tell everyone in this room what we’ve been
hiding.”
“You’ve been hiding something from us?” Bay growled as he shot a glance between the two of us.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because we had some digging to do to confirm what Brody told me,” Wes answered with a sigh.
“He was born from an Omega as I was. He’s one of the other lines my grandfather’s journal talked
about. The Council only knows of the Orson line and we wanted to keep it that way for his safety.
While Brody’s family has been in this country for many centuries, his line is the Irish version of my
French one.
“So his powers started when he was young but his parents were killed and were never able to explain
things to him. He kept it all quiet until we started working together. The name clicked with me
somewhere and we started combing through the journals. He’s like me also in that he picks up
languages at a record pace.
“We found his line and as the Orsons have always been the keepers of the journals and the ones who
could invoke the Correction Clause, the Fitzgeralds are the collectors of the word. Meaning his
ancestors traveled the world collecting journals and bringing them to the Orsons for safekeeping.”
“What did he mean being a good little solider?” Lief asked as he glanced between us.
“No, I’m not ready to discuss that yet,” I answered when I saw Wesley open his mouth. “They don’t
need to know everything about me right up front and I’m still coming to terms with that. But they do
need to think about the fact that you said if I ever had to get an inner circle it would be a floating one.
Asher said he wants to put down roots.”
“What does that mean? What’s a floating inner circle? I won’t share Brody besides with Asher and
whomever we get as Alpha,” Lief said firmly, his hands resting on his hips. It was then that I noticed
he was only wearing his suit pants that weren’t fastened all the way.
“I need chocolate,” I bitched as I drank in his form. I wanted to finish what we started upstairs and go
at it all night. That wasn’t going to happen now that I basically mind raped him. Yeah, he wanted what
we did but he thought it was a dream. If someone came up for a better term for what happened I was
all ears.
“A mistake,” Wesley called out as I stormed out of the study. “It was an accident and a mistake.”
“So was Chernobyl but they made a horror movie out of it for a reason,” I said sadly before leaving
the study, ignoring the shouting that came after me.
“Go with him while I talk to Asher and Lief please,” I heard Wesley say, probably to his mates.
I raced to the kitchen, wanting just a few moments to myself before they found me. It was empty,
everyone probably done for the night after the early dinner spread they put out for us. But they had to
have done dessert too because I found covered trays on the counters. I quickly snatched the smallest
one, went to the fridge and saw they still had eggnog even though the holidays were over, and snagged
that as well.
I couldn’t have caffeine because apparently I try to mind rape people in my sleep but I could make
myself sick on rich food. That seemed to be my plan at least. When I heard heavy footsteps quickly
approaching, probably trying to sniff me out, I decided to hide. They’d want to talk to me but that
didn’t mean I had to see their pitying or disapproving looks. There was a big cabinet off to the side
that was labeled Potatoes that was basically empty.
Quickly hiding in there, I left the door open just a sliver so I had light to see what I was eating. I knew
I was acting like a child but too fucking bad. My childhood was ripped away from me the moment I
was sold by my godparents to a monster when I was way too young. And they knew what that man
would have wanted from me and my body. They were all sick fucks in my mind.
My parents really should have picked better people to put me with in case they died.
“We know you’re in here, Brody,” Bay said gently as he moved closer.
“I know. I just don’t want to have to see you right now,” I mumbled before stuffing a cookie in my
mouth. “Give me the illusion of privacy. Please? I just need some time. This is too much.”
“Only if I can get a brownie,” he answered after a moment.
“Get your own. There’s a whole table full of treats.” I did smile for a second though. Bay had a sweet
tooth like I did. Plus, I knew it was a ploy to get me to open the door so he could see me.
“Stingy little twerp.”
“Bite me,” I shot right back. I knew we were playing and it made the tightness in my chest ease a bit.
“Want to talk about what happened?” Levey asked as he plopped down next to the cabinet.
“Depends if you guys hate me or not,” I answered in a whisper.
“No, never, Brody. You’d never do that kind of thing on purpose. We know you’ve been having
trouble controlling your powers after what you’ve been through. Honestly, Lief wasn’t really the
victim in my mind on this, you both were. You didn’t mean for this to happen either.”
“No, no, I didn’t,” I admitted, thinking long and hard about what he was saying. It eased my guilt a
little too. “Thanks. I didn’t really think about it like that.”
“Was he good to you?” Levey asked so quietly I barely heard him. “Wes said it was what he wanted
but he thought it was a dream too. I know sometimes my dreams get a little out of hand and kinkier
than I roll in real life. I have to know he wasn’t mean or rough with you.”
“No, he was perfect. It was perfect, Levey,” I admitted with a sigh, thunking my head against the
wood as I sat back. “It was magical. That’s why I figured it was a dream really. Nothing in my life
has ever remotely felt like that. It couldn’t be real to my mind. No one would ever want me like that.”
“Glad you enjoyed it,” he replied, clearing his throat nervously. I smiled. Wesley was seven years
older than me but his men were over a decade older so they took their role of older brother seriously.
“Lief and Asher are good-looking men. You could have picked way worse. Wes likes Asher even
though the guy didn’t shield well when Wes stayed with Tristan. It wasn’t intentional but Asher hurt
him a few times by pitying him.”
“Good thing I can’t sense emotions yet then, huh?” I chuckled darkly. “Asher doesn’t like me or want
me. He sounded almost horrified when he was talking to Lief about Wes’s vision. But I do like Lief.”
“Asher wasn’t mean to you, was he?” Bay growled.
“No, he was cranky with me though. Said I had a crush on Wes and just seemed angry with me.”
“I was jealous,” Asher said from across the kitchen. I could tell from the way there was a slight echo
to his words like he was standing by the metal fridges. “You were going on and on about how great
Wesley was and after he just told me you were the Omega he saw that made me happy it was
confusing and I snapped at you. I’m sorry.”
“Whatever. I’m not your Omega. You’ll just want me because Lief’s stuck with me and you love
Lief.”
“You love me?” Lief asked quietly. I thunked my head on the wood on purpose this time. Great, I just
fucking up shit all over the place now.
“Well yeah, don’t you love me?” Asher chuckled nervously.
“I do. I just didn’t want to say anything because I thought it was only me. You don’t exactly scream
tender moments and loving gestures.”
“Well neither do you,” Asher growled. “Don’t put this on me. You could have said it too.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” Lief stuttered.
“Whatever, the moment is ruined,” Asher grumbled as Lief gasped. Oh, what an asshole! I jumped out
of the cabinet, spilling the eggnog and dumping the tray everywhere.
“You apologize!” I yelled as I focused my power like I never had before and froze the man. Wesley
had showed me how to do it but until that moment it hadn’t really clicked in my head. But it seemed it
did when I needed it. I darted around Bay and Harkin and moved right in front of Asher. “Be nice to
Lief! Do you know how hard what I’ve done to him has to be on him? Now he’s claimed me and you
don’t really seem to like anyone not just me and you’re a cranky bastard!”
“He’s not having the best day either with all this going on, Brody. I’m okay,” Lief said quietly as he
hugged me from behind. “It’s not how I pictured us saying the three little words to each other but
nothing ever goes as you dream.”
“You claiming me was my dream,” I mumbled under my breath as I pulled away.
“It was magical,” he whispered in my ear, keeping me against him. “And Asher walked in on that, not
knowing what was going on. I basically cheated on him so maybe we should cut him some slack.”
“Shit, I didn’t think about it that way,” I groaned. “Right. Yeah, now on top of everything else I made
you unfaithful. I’m a horrible, horrible person.”
“No you’re not,” Asher grunted, unable to say much because I froze him. “We just all have to get our
bearings and calm down.”
“Agreed. I just didn’t want you to storm away in a huff when you hurt Lief’s feelings.” I closed my
eyes and focused my energy. I tried three times to let him go but I couldn’t. “Fuck! Why can’t I do
anything right!” I shot Wes an evil look. “There’s no way I’m as powerful as you say I am when I
can’t do any of the normal stuff.”
“You were traumatized, Brody,” he reminded me gently as he did every time I screwed up with my
powers. “After I was my wires were all crossed for a long while. Give yourself more time. It will
come together the more we work together. Your body just exploded with power and skipped several
steps. Once we backtrack and teach you what you need for a good foundation you’ll be fine and just
as powerful as me.”
“That would make him a really big target,” Lief said nervously as he hugged me again.
“Yes, but luckily there are two competent Betas who want him in their lives who are willing to
protect him.” Then he gestured to Asher. “Then again, you can see that Brody can take care of
himself.”
“Show me how to unfreeze him and then I think we all just need to talk and I want more treats,” I
whispered, not sure I’d get what I wanted.
“Deal.” Wes gave me a wink and took my hand. I read his energy as he unfroze Asher, trying really
hard to pay attention. “Just do the opposite basically of what you did to stop him. You threw a blanket
of power around him to keep him where he was and when you’re done just take it back slowly.”
“Okay, I think I get it.”
“Fair warning,” Harkin chuckled as he looked from Lief to Asher. “Being mated to an Omega means
you signed up for guinea pig duty. Wes is always trying stuff out on us.”
“But if it hurts you or is uncomfortable for you I make up for it in the best kind of ways,” Wes purred
as he shot his man a heated look.
“That you do, babe. That you do.”
I smiled at the love between them. It was what I always wanted but knew I didn’t deserve.
Chapter 3
It ended up everyone was too tired and drained from the day’s drama to talk that night. We calmly
sat down and had some dessert as we let the day settle in our minds. After saying good night to my
friends, I headed up to my room with Lief and Asher.
“You guys take the other bed. I’ve already messed this one up,” I mumbled, wincing when I got
close enough to smell sex and our combined cum leftovers. I quickly stripped the sheets and then
darted into the bathroom to take care of my nightly routine, very aware of their eyes on me. It was a
good thing that my toiletry kit was in the bathroom already because I wasn’t going to keep walking
back past them.
Brushing my damn teeth wasn’t worth the scrutiny.
When I was done I yanked off my jeans and hopped into bed, ignoring them.
“Wow, you really don’t want to sleep with me,” Lief whispered in a hurt voice when Asher took his
turn in the bathroom. “Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me? I didn’t mean to molest you in
your sleep, Brody.”
I took a deep breath and rolled to my other side so I was facing him. “It’s not about you, Lief. I feel
horrible for what I did and I need time to think about all this, not be comforted because I used my
power to twist your brain so you cheated on the man you loved and claimed someone you barely
knew. You might have wanted it, but you thought it was a dream. We do things in our dreams that are
very different than how we act in the light of day.”
“I’ll give you that,” he hedged, choosing his words carefully. “I wouldn’t ever have jumped into
claiming someone like that nor would I have ever hurt Asher.”
“And I didn’t want to get involved with anyone ever. Wesley was working on a way to ground me
without having an inner circle for me because I was so adamant on that point. Sure, he thought I would
change my mind one day when I got my powers under control but it was never about that. I hurt
anyone around me and I can’t take the guilt of adding to that list. I just want to be left alone and do my
duty that is my bloodline’s oath.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Maybe tomorrow,” I mumbled, not wanting to bring all this up. “It’s a can of worms that will take a
while to explain and I’m too tired. Let’s just go to sleep. It’s not that I don’t want you, Lief. I don’t
want to want anyone, ever.”
“That sounds really lonely,” he said quietly as Asher came out of the bathroom and got into bed with
Lief.
“But as you can see, better for everyone around me. Being near me or my caring about someone only
brings them pain.”
“Wes loves you and that man has a good heart,” Asher said after a few moments of silence. “We’ll
give you space but don’t think we believe what you’re saying about yourself. We’re always our own
worst judge and jury. Wes wouldn’t have the faith in you that he does if you were such a son of a
bitch. So we’re not giving up.”
I let it go because asking why he cared would mean more talking and all I wanted was sleep and
peace. I only got one though.
* * * *
“Oh excuse me,” I mumbled after bumping into someone. “Mornings are hard when you’re not
allowed caffeine.”
“Try taking a flight out to what might be your new pack only to have to grab a red-eye right back
because they might be taking away your new Alpha title,” the man grumbled. I turned and glanced at
him, blinking up at him when he sucked air through his teeth harshly. I wasn’t sure what that meant.
“But apparently my day is looking up. Are you one of the Omegas who are going to read us? Because,
darling, you can do whatever you want to me.”
“I’ll just mark down that you’ll be scanning this one with me,” Wesley said, popping up out of
nowhere. “Alpha Jaxon Salisbury, I presume?”
“How do you do that?” I asked, eyeing my friend over. “You just always know where to be to find out
everything always. It’s really annoying.”
“It’s not everywhere always,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ve just been paying extra attention to
our surroundings with what’s going on. Lief and Asher were worried because you slipped them again
this morning and then I was because it’s not like you to duck your guards.”
“Yeah well, I’ve never had guards I accidentally used my powers on and mind fucked before,” I
bitched. Then I remembered the hot Alpha and glanced up at him. “Still want to extend that offer to
me?”
“Cranky in the morning, I think it’s endearing,” he said with a sexy Southern drawl. “Everyone makes
mistakes. We all come into our own with some growing pains. I had a dominance fight to work up to
Beta when I was younger but I had a growth spurt. I thought it would weaken my fighting but it had the
opposite effect and I almost killed the guy on accident. Strength and power doesn’t come without
accidents or a price.”
“So you’re excusing my mind fucking my guard?” I asked, eyeing the guy over. No one was that
forgiving.
“Did you make him cut off his own dick or anything extreme?” He raised a sexy eyebrow at me as if
challenging me that what I did wasn’t so bad. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
“No cutting off his dick.” He gave me a nod as if he’d won that round. “I projected my dirty dream
onto him and we had sex in our sleep and he claimed me which could have been a death offense for
him. I’m thinking the dick cutting off would have been less extreme.”
“You need to be grounded and fast,” Jaxon said quietly.
“I’m twenty-one years old. I don’t get grounded and besides, I never did when I was a child because I
was too busy being used as a plaything for a sick fucking Alpha,” I replied under my breath so no one
else could hear. Then I growled at him, baring my teeth and challenging his authority and what he
wanted me to do before turning on my heel and grabbing my plate. Then I ignored him and Wes as I
loaded it up.
“That’s one hell of a man. Does he have an Alpha yet?” Jaxon asked Wes, probably thinking I
couldn’t hear him. Or maybe he wanted me to know he was still interested.
“No, one Beta claimed, but that Beta has a Beta partner so it’s a package deal. Things with Brody are
a little more complicated but I won’t give that away until someone’s confirmed they’ll sign his
contract. Then I’ll spill the beans.”
“Not exactly a fair situation.”
“Probably not but protecting him is more important than being fair. I promise it’s the type of thing that
if you love someone, it won’t matter.”
“I understand. Can I spend the day with him after you guys scan me?”
“Yes, but as you can see, he’s not all about the idea of having an inner circle and that’s for him to tell
you why,” Wes answered. Then someone called his name. “Excuse me. I have to start with the
Council meetings. I’ll try to get into your interview time but right now Carson Evans is scheduled for
it.”
“Whoever you want me to meet with is fine. I have nothing to hide,” Jaxon said with a smile. I
practically melted across the room when I saw it and it wasn’t for me. He was a tall drink of
cowboytype fantasy water. Reddish-brown hair, gray eyes, six six and built like a Greek god. I
wanted.
But that was never going to happen. I wouldn’t let someone so sweet and full of life get saddled with
a mess like me. Now I just had to work on getting Lief to want to get rid of me.
“Ditch me again and I’m going to tie you to the bed and spank you,” Lief growled as he sat next to me
moments later. “I know what you’re trying to do, Brody, and it won’t work.”
“What am I trying to do?” I parroted, ignoring my now-hard cock after hearing his threat.
“You’re trying to be as big of a pain in the ass as you can so I’ll say fuck this and ask Wesley to
unbind us.” I flinched when he nailed it right on the head. I yelped as I was pulled out of my seat,
plates pushed to the side, and laid out on the table as if I was the morning’s feast. “You’re mine,
sweet thang. No amount of pushing my buttons is going to make me walk away from you so you better
start getting with the program.”
I opened my mouth to argue but instead he crushed his mouth down to mine and slid his tongue right in
my mouth. I moaned and grabbed onto his hair as I kissed him back. Hot men kissing me apparently
melted all my resolve. Yeah, yeah, I was weak and sucked. Someone could beat me with a wet
noodle later.
“If I have to kiss you silly all the time so you behave, I’ll more than enjoy it,” he whispered against
my lips before going back for more. I had just enough time to gulp down some air before his tongue
was back in my mouth. I didn’t care where we were or who was watching, but I did flinch when I
heard growling.
Lief yanked me off the table and pushed me behind him as he faced whatever threat was happening.
“I’m not going to steal him,” Jaxon said, his eyes focused on me. “I was asking Wesley about him and
if he had an Alpha and then you guys are making out right in front of me. I couldn’t keep back the
growl, sorry.”
“I don’t want an Alpha or an inner circle,” I reminded everyone there, knowing full well that they
weren’t going to listen.
“Look, think of it this way. You said you weren’t allowed to have caffeine, right? Because you can’t
control your powers and the caffeine makes things worse. But if you’re grounded with an inner circle,
that shit won’t happen. You can work on getting stronger and stretching your powers’ reach, not
fighting constantly to control it like a feral lion. Aren’t you tired of keeping it in check always?”
“Yes,” I admitted without even meaning to. “How do you know all this?”
“My brother’s an Omega. He’s got a great inner circle in our birth pack of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The old
Alpha’s son took over, was in love with my brother, and now that there’s not more of this buying
Omegas shit, they talked to the High Council and Tristan Modeto after the Omega Network started and
signed their contract. But that made it weird since I was a Beta, so I stayed around helping them look
for my replacement and then I applied to be an Alpha.”
“You had to leave your home though,” I said sadly as I moved away from Lief. My man wasn’t having
it and hugged me tightly so my back was against his chest.
“We don’t know him yet. Let’s see if he passes his interview before you go getting attached to him.
There’s too much shit going down and different variables risk complicating things before we know if
he’s clear,” Lief whispered in my ear. “He gets cleared and keeps his Alpha title and I’ll let you
comfort him all you want. Please just let me keep you safe, Brody.”
“You are my Beta,” I sighed, knowing he was right. Something about Jaxon called to me though. And
without meaning to even, I reached out for his hand. He took it and I gasped. I felt my power flare and
in my head I saw something I couldn’t explain. “Your strength will save us from the feral before Lord
Ellys can put him down.”
“What does that mean?” he asked me as I let go of his hand.
“I need to find Wesley,” I whispered, shaking and freaking out. “Something just happened and I don’t
know what to do.” I turned in Lief’s arms and grabbed his shirt tightly. “I have to find Wesley.”
“Okay, let’s sit down and Asher can go find him,” Lief said tenderly as he helped me into my chair
again. Asher nodded and took off in search of Wes. Lief sat on one side as Jaxon took the other chair.
As my mind raced there was suddenly a glass of juice in my hands. “Drink, Brody.”
I nodded and took a sip, sighing in relief as I felt Wesley’s presence approaching me fast. “I don’t
want foresight.”
“Really? This had to happen today?” Wesley growled as he grabbed his hair in frustration. “Okay, I
can’t sit down and walk you through all of this today. Fuck! We need more guards on you.”
“Why?” Jaxon asked as he glanced between us. “He had a vision. Is that a rare Omega power?”
“Like the rarest,” Wesley confirmed. “And if you were a bad guy, how much would you want him
thinking he could see the future instead of visions here and there? Most people don’t listen to what the
power really is. They think we’re some kind of crystal ball.”
“That would make him very valuable to someone psycho and with an agenda,” Asher grumbled. “We
need more guards.”
“I’ve got friends here,” Lief replied. “They’re all guards at Carson’s and Tristan’s places. Let’s see
if they’re guarding anyone already. I’d trust them with my life.”
“Change of plans too,” Wesley said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “All you guys and Jaxon get
to the study for his interview. We’re doing him first because if he passes he can help protect Brody.”
“I don’t want any of this,” I whispered as I met his gaze with tears. “That was horrible. It was like
watching a car accident I couldn’t prevent.”
“I didn’t want that for you either,” he replied sadly, tiredly. “But we both knew it was probably going
to happen. Doesn’t make it any easier. And when it first starts you’re going to get a hell of a lot of
readings from anyone new you meet so let’s get Jaxon cleared and then you can be secluded. Bay will
make sure to get you a sketch pad and pencils, okay?”
“And seafood. Too much drama is making me hungry but I keep missing meals,” I grumbled,
completely pouting.
“You get just about anything you want right now, Brody. We’ll get through this and I’ll help you. I just
have to get through the Council first.”
“Of course. That’s a much bigger priority,” I agreed with Wesley. I saw his shoulders relax in relief
that I could handle this for right now. The truth was that I couldn’t but I didn’t have much of a choice.
I let Lief lead me into the study and he sat down with me as Asher offered me my plate. I was glad he
brought it. I thanked him and started eating one of the pastries, letting out a tortured bark of laughter
when I realized something.
“Care to share with the class?” Jaxon asked as he gave me a wink.
“I just realized if I keep being stressed out in this type of way I’m going to keep eating like crap and I
won’t be twenty pounds underweight much longer. I’ll end up fat and then no one will want me
anyways so that seems to be the way to go to keep everyone safe.”
“Wow, negative Nancy line one,” Asher mumbled.
“You were there for what I did to Lief. I don’t think I’m being negative but logical, thanks,” I snapped
right back.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. You get a pass today to say whatever you want. I just hate seeing you
unhappy and I’m kind of on confused mode since I met you so I never know which way is up.”
I wasn’t sure why but I felt bad for Asher. I mean, it was my crazy life he was talking about but it
affected him too. Then I had a question. “How does all this going on with me really affect you?”
“You might be one of the sharpest men I’ve ever known, Brody, but you are dumb as a box of rocks
when it comes to men. He likes you, that’s why. And the man he loves has claimed you,” Wesley said.
I nodded. Good points. It was nice of him to leave off the duh for me.
“So if I asked you if you wanted to kiss me?” I whispered, glancing at Asher. I watched in shock as he
growled, handed Lief my plate, and pulled me towards him. His lips brushed over mine, slowly and
gently at first but then several of those kisses later and I was under him, my mouth being plundered.
“Okay, he gets the point,” Jaxon growled. “You want him too. As hot as it is to watch you guys make
out it’s mean to tease the other man in the room who wants him.”
“You do like me,” I gasped as Asher pulled his head away. “Why?”
“Because you are sexy, full of fire, and no matter what you say about yourself, not the villain. If you
were a douche you wouldn’t care that Lief or anyone around you could get hurt. A good person
worries about that stuff. And when you stood up to me yesterday, demanding I apologize to Lief, I was
hard as nails. It was so damn hot.”
“Okay then.” I swallowed nervously as he moved off of me, pulling me up so I was sitting between
him and Lief again on the couch.
“He really knows how to kiss a man stupid, doesn’t he?” Lief whispered as he handed me back my
pastry.
“Yeah, he really does. I barely remember my name much less the vampire I saw Jaxon fighting with in
my vision.”
“What?” Several voices bellowed and I just groaned.
“We’ll deal with that later,” Wesley said nervously. “You can draw it out and solidify the vision in
your head because apparently your first one was a doozy. Carson’s coming to clear Jaxon and so are
Lief’s friends to guard you.
“I heard my name,” Carson practically sang out. “I caught we’re screening a potential Alpha for
Brody.”
“Oh, he’s not for me. He was already approved by the Council and Wesley wants to clear him is all,”
I rambled nervously.
“But he wants you,” Carson said in a husky tone. “Holy shit does he want you. I’m feeling it in waves
and I’m across the room. Actually, this room is like one big want Brody hormone. Just what have you
been doing to these guys, kid?”
“Asher kissed me,” I mumbled, my cheeks heating up from the scrutiny. Three tortured groans filled
the room.
“So innocent when you blush I just want to corrupt you,” Lief groaned.
“Okay, so let’s get the job done and you all can make out with Brody the rest of the afternoon in
between feeding him and letting him sketch out his vision,” Carson chuckled as he waved Jaxon and
me over. “You’re going to read my energy and learn how to do this. I’ll walk you through it.”
“Yeah, right,” I said nervously as I stood and moved over to him.
“Come on and spit out whatever’s bugging you,” he snickered. “I think I know but say it anyways.”
“The first time Wesley had me mimic him to learn I zapped him,” I whispered as quietly as I could,
not wanting everyone to hear what I was admitting.
“I know. Your brain and power were scared to be intruded on after what you’d been through. I’ve got
shields up and we’ll go slowly. I’m not a threat to you and you know that,” he explained gently. “You
might shock Jaxon though. I’m sure he can take it.”
“Right, yeah or I’ll just owe him a blow job or something,” I grumbled and then just about passed out
the blood rushed to my face so fast when he was standing right behind me and he moved closer.
“That would be well worth a shock,” he purred as he ran his hands down my arms. “Well worth it.”
“Oh god,” I moaned, my insides melting from just that touch.
“Sorry, guys, but I have a list of people to get through today. Touching can come later,” Carson
chastised lightly. I nodded and we got into position, Jaxon sitting in a chair, Carson touching his
temples, and I was touching Carson’s arm so I could read his power.
And it should have been an easy thing except when I touched Carson our combined powers flared and
all I was thinking about was Jaxon touching me more.
“Mine!” Jaxon snarled, my thoughts being broadcast into his head.
“Shit!” I screeched as he took me down to the carpeting, his teeth elongating as he tried to bite me to
claim me. Except his brain must have been fried because he needed the back of my neck and for it to
be during sex.
“Chill, Jaxon,” Declan shouted as he pulled the guy off me, jaw snapping and all, trying to take a bite
of me. “What happened?”
“He threw me out and basically bitched slapped me with power while focusing on Jaxon and wanting
him,” Carson panted. I glanced over to him, shocked he was on the floor too. “That fucking hurt, dude.
I’m sorry, but you need to be claimed and like now. Your power is too fucking wild. I know Wesley
wants to give you more time but it just won’t work. You have to be grounded and your generator
drained.”
“I don’t know what that last part means,” Lief grunted as he held Jaxon back as well. The man was
almost manic with need to get to me.
“Omegas are like power plants with skin,” Carson explained, groaning when he went to sit up and it
obviously hurt. “We transfer that power during sex which is how the whole ‘buying Omegas to make
the inner circles stronger’ started.”
“But most of the inner circles went mad from that power. How do we stop it from happening all over
again or to us?” Asher asked and I caught his gaze. That was what he was so worried about and his
anxiety with me.
“People are who they were after they become more powerful,” Carson answered softly, realizing as I
did that this was a major issue. “A good person doesn’t go bad because they get a taste of power.
Someone’s normally off their rocker or a few bucks short of a twenty when they go crazed from
power. But that’s also why Wesley is trying to set things right and back to the way they were.
“Fate or the gods, or heaven made Omegas to keep everyone in line and not go crazy. The right
people have to lead with the right inner circles and the right Omegas at their sides. It’s the only way it
works without an abuse of power.” Then he looked back at me. “I’m sorry, Brody. I know you didn’t
want to have an inner circle but there’s no way around this. I think you’ve found yours and you need
to do what’s best for all of us.”
“Let’s scan Jaxon and then I’ll tell them everything when we’re alone,” I said sadly, knowing he was
right. “How do I fix him?”
“He wants to claim you. Tell him you’ll let him later after the scan and he calms down,” Carson
answered with a shrug.
I nodded and got to my feet. I pushed calming thoughts into Jaxon’s mind as I approached him. His
shoulders released some of the tension and his heart rate slowed down somewhat. “You can touch me
but you can’t bite me yet, Jaxon. You wouldn’t want to hurt me, would you? Biting me not during sex
would hurt me.”
“We can have all the sex you want, darling,” he purred, eyeing me over.
“But that would be too fast for me. You want what’s best for me, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Jaxon whimpered, fighting against Lief and Declan. “Just let me hold you. I’ll be good, I
swear.”
“Okay, let him go,” I whispered when I saw his manic-ness had calmed down. The moment they did I
was in his arms as he kissed along my neck. “I’m so sorry, Jaxon. This is my fault.”
“What’s happening to me?” he sighed against my hair. “I’ve never felt so out of control.”
“I was thinking how much I wanted you to touch me, wanted to be with you,” I admitted, blushing
profusely again. “And I let you feel it. Since it was what you wanted too it was like adding gallons of
fuel to your fire and you went crazed.”
“I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“Really? You are a crazy Southern,” I grumbled, hugging him tightly. “I screw with your mind and
you’re apologizing to me. You must have a heart of gold.”
“He does actually,” Carson said quietly, scanning Jaxon. “Well, not literally, but he’s incredibly
moral and would do just about anything for the people he cares about. I think he would make the
perfect floating Alpha. You need to tell them the plan, Brody. It will work.”
“I’ll try. It’s just hard to dredge all this up,” I sighed as my phone vibrated. “Jaxon, you have to put
me down. I need to check my phone.” He nodded and lowered me to my feet and let me go, except to
keep one hand on my arm. I pulled out my phone and sighed. Speaking of my past. “Hey, Gibly. Is
everything okay?”
“No, nothing is okay,” he whispered. “I get why you did it, Brody, I really do but I thought I loved
you.”
“I’m sorry, Gibly. I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.” I swallowed loudly, my eyes
burning with tears. “I know I have no right to ask this but please don’t hate me forever. I really did try
to do my best.”
“I don’t hate you. I hate what happened to all of us. You were just as much of the victim as I was.
Thank you for trying to block me from the truth but I needed to know.”
“I understand. I hope what I did isn’t too painful to undo.”
“No, just troubling,” he mumbled. “I just didn’t want someone else telling you George put me under
hypnosis and I remembered everything. I don’t blame you, Brody. I was just a kid.”
“You still should be a kid and not have to suffer with this,” I whispered as the tears started falling.
“I’m only a year younger than you,” he chuckled darkly. “None of us got to be kids who ended up
here. You know that.” I nodded though he couldn’t see it when he got quiet. “Thank you for making it
so I wouldn’t find all this out until I was old enough to handle it instead of when it happened. No
child should have to deal with that. I’ll talk to you soon.”
He hung up and I stared at the phone for a moment. He was right. No child should have to deal with
what he did. But I did.
Chapter 4
“Carson cleared me and I get to keep my new Alpha title,” Jaxon said quietly as he rubbed his
hands over my arms. “Let’s get you to your room, okay?”
I nodded numbly, feeling cold until Carson reached for me. “No, you don’t get to see this. Only
Wesley gets to know what happened and now the inner circle I guess I have to take. They’re not all
my secrets to keep!”
“I wouldn’t read you without your permission, Brody,” he said, his tone hurt. “I don’t think I
could even if I had wanted to. I just wanted to read if you were going into shock or just sad.”
“Oh, sorry. Both probably,” I replied tiredly. “If you see Wesley just let him know that Gibly has
started remembering. He’d want to know that. I’m going to go lie down for about a week.”
“Okay, buddy. Call us if you need us. We’ll check in on you later,” he said hesitantly. I nodded
again, numb and icy really, before letting Jaxon lead me out of the room. Next thing I knew I was in
Lief’s arms, mine around his neck as he carried me to where we were staying.
“You can be sad and a little out of it but if you start going into shock the ways we have to snap
you out of it aren’t fun,” Lief warned me.
“Right. I just need a bit to let this soak in,” I mumbled. Poor
Gibly. Poor all of us.
“We need to know what happened, Brody,” Jaxon said gently
when we were back at our room. I pulled away from Lief when he set
me on my feet, took my plate from Asher, and sat down in the overstuffed chair making sure to take up
all the room I could so no
one joined me.
“Some of you probably heard what was going on at the dire wolf
pack in Wichita before Percy and Azyle came there,” I explained, my
voice distant. “They, along with Carson, uncovered that the Alpha had
a harem of underage Omegas. I was the first. I had some powers
before I was activated with sex, but not like Wesley since he knew his
lineage and what to expect. I suffered horrors no child should ever
have to.
“But then he brought another boy and I remember thinking I
didn’t want this to happen to anyone else. The Alpha made me watch
what he did to Gibly and somehow I used my powers to shift Gibly’s
mind so he didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t make it so it
was pleasant and he’d seek the Alpha out, but I didn’t want him to go
through what I had, at least mentally. So I made him think that he was
being spanked.
“I did it for all of them as I could when I was with them. I think
they understood even subconsciously that I made things better even if
they didn’t know how because some of them were abused on their
own and I couldn’t hide that from them. So they always stuck by me
which pissed off the Alpha. I took extra beatings and abuse. Hell, I
offered myself up as a replacement when I could, promising him
whatever he wanted all under the guise that I loved him.
“But the more powerful I became, the more I could twist the
Alpha’s mind, thinking he’d got what he wanted already some days.
The days I couldn’t make it work or his appetite was just that big, I
gave him what he wanted. When I was being abused, I couldn’t
shelter the others though so they saw those horrors. I tried, but I just
couldn’t focus when I had to fake that I wanted to be with him.” “And you’re evil in your mind for
keeping that from them?” Asher
asked, his face full of anger and shock.
“I took away their memories!” I bellowed as I jumped to my feet.
“What I did to their minds is no better than what the Alpha did to our bodies. I mind fucked them. I
should have used my powers to kill the Alpha but I was weak and scared. I could have done so much
more
but in the end I abused them just as the Alpha did. I was a monster.” “No, no, you weren’t, darling,”
Jaxon said gently. “You were so
far from being a monster. You were their angel of grace. You saved
them from having to live with what you did.”
“Nothing lasts forever. Gibly’s been working with George the
shrink and Wesley had to tell him what I did so he could work with
Gibly gently. He’s started to remember what really happened and
what I did to him. Don’t tell me I was an angel as I fucked with their
minds and took away their choices. I should have done the right thing
and set us free but I was scared of getting killed in the process.” “You were a child,” Lief shouted as
he grabbed my shoulders.
“No child should have to go through that. You did the best you could
in a horrible situation. You saved them from pain, offering yourself to
keep that sick fuck away from them. That’s a big mother fucking hero
in my mind. Brody, you not only survived the most fucked-up shit
I’ve ever heard, but you saved those kids. They’re alive because of
you.”
“Fine, they might not know what really happened and they’ll have
to deal with it now,” Asher added as he hugged me from behind.
“And I’m sorry for them, I truly am. But dealing with it now as an
adult will suck and be hard, but dealing with it as a child would have
left a stain on their very soul that they couldn’t ever get away from.” I flinched and pulled away from
them. “Like me you mean?” Asher’s face paled as he realized what he’d just said. “I didn’t
mean it—”
“But that’s what you said. That there’s a stain on my soul because
of the abuse I went through, right? I’m tainted, but not because I’m
evil like I thought. Because I was abused for years as a child and even
into becoming an adult. He had me for a decade, Asher. Is that
enough stain for you?”
“We all carry scars, Brody,” he started to defend but I cut him off
again.
“But you said stained my soul. Scars can heal but that’s not
something that will go away. Good to know you feel that way. Now
get the fuck away from me and leave me alone,” I yelled, trying not to
break down crying. “This will never work. Tell Wesley that it won’t
happen. Lief, let him break the bond because I’m not going to break
you and Asher up.”
“No, Brody,” a few of them gasped, which ones I wasn’t sure
because tears filled my eyes.
“Fine, I can’t make you but you can’t force me to spend time with
you either,” I whispered before darting into the bedroom part of the
hotel-like room. I grabbed my bag with the journal I’d been working
on translating and my laptop, and went over to the desk in the living
room area. I sat down, ignoring all of them and setting up my work
station.
“Brody, I know you’re hurting but it’s not fair to punish all of us
for what one said,” Jaxon said quietly as he knelt by me. “Asher’s the
one who said it and I believe he didn’t mean it the way it came out but
Lief and I have been nothing but supportive.”
“You don’t even know all of it yet,” I admitted, pushing him away
when he tried to touch me. “If I tell you the rest will you promise to
keep your hands to yourselves and let me work so I can keep up with
my duties? I need time to let what was said sink in and so do you guys
no matter what you say. Plus with all the Omegas around, each one
has said they’re going to take an hour to work with me tonight.” I’d seen that part on my phone earlier.
With Wesley being the
center of the Council coup-thing, he wouldn’t have time to keep
working with me and obviously I really needed it.
“Fine, but we’re still going to check on you, make you eat, maybe
go for a run too,” Jaxon said with a sigh after both Lief and Asher
nodded their agreement.
“Wesley’s kind of let his heritage out of the bag with all of this. I
won’t tell you where, even if I’m ever your Omega, because it can’t
be tortured out of you if you don’t know the answer, but there’s a safe
place filled with journals from Omegas going centuries back. It’s our
written history without the Council’s influence.” I took a deep breath,
not sure about telling them my part in all of this next. “We found a
book of Omega family trees.
“The Orson line isn’t the only born Omega family. He started to
tell you guys that I was born of Omegas too last night. We found
twenty Omega lines like that so far, all with a specific job. The
Orsons are the keepers of the word, the hiders of the journals, and the
leaders of the families. That’s why only an Orson can enact the
Correction Clause. If there wasn’t one of age, the Fitzgerald line
could call it.
“But otherwise the Fitzgeralds are the finders of the word.
Meaning my ancestors traveled the world to find the journals of
deceased Omegas and hide their journals for future generations.
There’s more but we haven’t uncovered it all yet in the journals.
Wesley has a lead on lineage of the translators of the word but until
then we’re both helping. I guess all the twenty lines of Omegas have
an affinity for languages in case one has to step in for another to help. “The journals call to me though.
I’ve already found one that was
thought to be lost. If I see a family tree, I can focus my powers and
fill in which journal is missing and it’s like a beacon to me. I can’t
really explain it. So my job will be to hunt down the lost journals,
make sure other Omegas tell their stories, and help Wesley translate
what we have. That’s why he and Tristan came up with the idea for
me and my inner circle to be the floating one.”
“What does that mean, floating inner circle? Wesley said that last
night too,” Lief asked carefully as if not sure what would upset me
and what not to say right then.
“A long, long time ago before the Council set out to slaughter all
the Omegas and kill off the bloodlines of the most powerful ones there were a whole shitload of
different rules in place,” I explained as I folded my legs over each other, trying to get comfortable on
the desk chair so they didn’t see how nervous I was. “Wesley talked about that when he invoked the
Correction Clause. One of them was
that each inner circle had to take at least a week off a year. “It was healthy for the inner circles to
have some time off. It was
also a failsafe for a time when packs couldn’t pick up the phone and
communicate like they do now. The floating inner circle would travel
from pack to pack, giving the leadership a week off, but also making
sure that everyone in the pack was happy, taken care of, and no one
was abusing power.
“Think about it. No one would be able to have hidden what was
happening to most of the Omegas if someone stepped in for a week a
year and took over to make sure the pack was all good. Abolishing
that rule was the price the Alphas demanded from the High Council
for killing their Omegas in their sleep. It was a betrayal of epic
proportions. I mean, these inner circles were mated at the time. Those
Omegas chose them to be leaders and they killed them years later. “Some couldn’t do it themselves,
letting the Council do their dirty
work, and some ran as we’re finding in the journals. We don’t know
the extent of what was done but reading about it has affected me
differently than Wesley.”
They all shared a glance but it was Jaxon who asked the question.
“What do you mean?” I couldn’t look at them and answer this one. It
was too hard so I glanced down at my hands as I spoke, twisting them
nervously.
“He’s fighting to make sure nothing like this happens again. He
knows in his heart that his inner circle would have been one of the
ones to run because they loved him instead of killing Wesley in his
sleep. I’m not that trusting after what I’ve been through and read
about. I told him I’d never take an inner circle and give them the
chance to trick me or kill me.
“The Omegas always were told to hide their journals, so the ones
that were killed by the people who supposedly loved them or at least
shared their bed every night still have journals that were never found.
It’s my job to do so as the finder of the word. That’s why Wesley said
he’d find me an inner circle that wouldn’t mind floating. “Every other week we’d take over a pack
while giving that inner
circle a vacation, probably to Medical Lake the first time so they can
meet with Wesley and he can scan them all. And in between that I’d
travel to find the missing journals, hoping to uncover where other
bloodlines of hereditary Omegas are hiding.
“If there was a reason that the journal couldn’t be brought back
because the family didn’t want to part with it or something, I’d take a
copy for our historical library. The goal is to translate, make copies,
and hide them around the world so they can’t be wiped off the face of
the earth like the old history books of the Council, and then upload
them onto the Omega Network. The Omegas have a right to know
where they come from.”
“It sounds like a noble cause to dedicate yourself to,” Jaxon said.
“I’d like to travel and take over packs for a week or so. I think it
would keep things interesting. I’m not sure I’d want to do it
indefinitely though.”
“I don’t know what the future would hold,” I told him honestly. I
nodded at Lief and Asher then. “They want to put down roots though.
They were talking about it last night when I was in the bathroom,
thinking I couldn’t hear them through the door.”
“Well that was stupid,” Jaxon replied firmly before Asher could
open his mouth to bitch about my eavesdropping.
“I wasn’t thinking. I was a little wigged out that Wesley could
finally explain the vision he had of me. It’s not easy to be the person
receiving the vision either, Brody,” Asher defended.
“I can understand that. Carson will probably demand it now to
keep me grounded since my powers are becoming more unstable. I
just get one ability down and another flares up out of control. But even if someone makes me have an
inner circle, I won’t ever love
them.
“I don’t want to. And my job is to travel and find the words of
past Omegas. Asking you guys to deal with that when you want to put
down roots for a man who will never love you isn’t right. So get out
now because I can’t tell you that we’d only do this for ten years and
then have a pack of our own. I don’t even want that. I want to learn
how to control my powers and do this on my own. It’s safer for
everyone that way and for me. I don’t want any of you for more than
a bedmate.”
“Ouch, Brody,” Lief whispered. “So glad I claimed you.” “Would you rather me lie?” I asked as I
narrowed my eyes at him.
“I’ve done nothing since my abuse other than read about the Omegas
slaughtered by their inner circles. Yeah, I’m totally ready to be signed
up as a stupid lamb. I’m more powerful already than most of the
Omegas that were killed. That means I have a special target on my
back. No way I’m falling for bullshit. There are no happily ever
afters, true love, or any other crap Hallmark and love songs try selling
us.”
“Sorry you feel that way, darling,” Jaxon said sadly. “Because I
believe in all of it. I believe in true love and soul mates. I believe love
conquers all and nothing is more important in life.”
“I’m glad for you,” I replied. “I hope you get everything you
believe in and want. It just won’t be from me. When I should have
been reading fairy tales and watching Disney movies so I hoped for
those same things one day, I was living in hell and being abused in the
sickest ways possible. So stop giving me those looks like I’m cold or
you pity me that I don’t have hope. Atheists don’t believe in god and
I’ve seen no proof in life that there’s such a thing as real love.” “Or you can’t see that you’re worth
loving like Wesley’s men love
him and would rather be killed than let something happen to him,”
Asher said as he stood. “I’m sorry you can’t see yourself like that but I don’t know you well enough to
argue over this. I need to take a
walk.”
“Me too. I’ll make sure Ciro and Ollie are posted at the door.
Holler if you need anything,” Lief mumbled as he turned and walked
away. I tried not to notice what was going on as if I didn’t care. But it
was a lie. I did. The further they walked away, the more my heart
hurt. Which was stupid because this was what I wanted. It really was. “I’m exhausted after flying
back and forth from California,” Jaxon
told me with a yawn. “I’m going to crash. If you need me or change
your mind about getting to know me, I’ll be sleeping.”
“I–I—” I started to say and then snapped my mouth shut. “You what, darling?” he asked in that sexy
drawl.
“Nothing. It’s better this way.”
“I don’t think so but I don’t think anything but time will change
your mind.” And then he turned, grabbed his bag from the floor, and
headed into the bedroom area without another word. I sighed and
thunked my head onto the journal in front of me.
If this was what I wanted so bad then why did it hurt like this?
Fuck work, I was going to eat junk food until I exploded. Or maybe
while I did work so my brain didn’t go round and round until it tried
to come out my ears. Yes, time to immerse myself in sugar and work.
That always ended well.
Chapter 5
Lief
“The man I met, the one I claimed, doesn’t really believe what he just told us up in our room,” I
argued, my heart in pain from listening to what Brody had told me. Even knowing he was upstairs
working in our assigned room while the three of us who wanted him cornered Wesley for some
answers didn’t sit right with me. I wanted to be able to discuss this with Brody openly. “He loves you
and Dewey, there’s room for love in his heart.”
“I agree with you completely, Lief,” Wesley sighed, rubbing his temples. “He’s scared and I can’t
really say that I blame him. You have no idea what it’s like to go through what he has and then be
asked to jump right into another inner circle because it’s what’s best for him. Would you believe that?
Marriages end and people take years to recover from it. We get abused, I almost died, and he
suffered for a decade, and sure, let’s believe this one will work out this time.”
“We understand that it’s hard,” Jaxon agreed as he ran his fingers through his hair. “We can’t fully
appreciate what you guys go through as Omegas much less the abuse Brody suffered. We’re not saying
he should be handling this better. Hell, I don’t know how he’s even moving forward. We just wanted
to talk all this out with you since you seem to know him best.”
“And figure out what we should do,” Asher added, giving my hand a squeeze. “We like him but I
love Lief. I won’t see one hurt the other.”
“Then you better invest in blinders because it will happen,” Levey snickered. “Bay’s hurt Wesley
and I love them both. You can’t have a relationship with four people and not have issues between just
two here and there. It’s not realistic.”
“Right, yeah, good point,” Asher sighed as he plopped down on the couch behind us. “This all just
sucks. I like Brody. He’s gorgeous, does that cute rambling thing, is a total spitfire, and good to the
people he cares about. And something about him just calls to me. I want to protect him and make all
his old wounds go away. I just don’t know that I’m going to try and fight a losing battle. How can we
help if he doesn’t want to be helped?”
“Well, don’t leave things to simmer too long,” Bay answered as he wrapped his arm around
Wesley’s shoulders. “We made that mistake and I’ll never forgive myself for it. We’ve got at least a
week that we’re all going to be in Boston, so use the time. Seduce him. Go see a movie or take him
shopping. Get to know him. Break down his walls.”
“But I’m also giving you his contract,” Wesley said quietly as he snuggled against Bay. “If you
want it.” I glanced at Asher and Jaxon, who swallowed loudly and looked nervous. “His powers are
out of control and he more than any Omega I’ve ever worked with or heard about needs to be
grounded. The trauma he suffered makes him pretty much a nuclear plant just waiting to blow.”
“He’s not going to like that you’re doing this,” Harkin said gently. “Are you willing to risk your
friendship and his help?”
“Yes,” Wesley whispered as tears filled his eyes. “This is the only way I know how to help him as he
needs most. If he hates me for it, then I’ll have to accept that, but at least he’ll be alive and maybe
happy one day. His power could start eating him alive.”
“Could it be already?” Asher asked, his eyes going wide. “Look, just hear me out. He kept going on
and on about everything he was reading. Tristan’s gotten depressed if there’s a lot of drama he’s
feeling from people in the house or distress. What if Brody is picking up vibes from the books or
getting into the writers of those journals’ heads? Could he be feeling more than what I would if I was
to read them?”
“I think he would be no matter his powers because he is an Omega,” Wesley answered hesitantly.
“It’s a good theory and I’d have to scan him to see what he feels when he looks at the journals. I can’t
answer you otherwise.”
“What happens if we sign the contract and in two years he still doesn’t love us or want something real
with us? Then the three of us travel around with him constantly, and just fuck?” Jaxon looked
heartbroken at the idea and I felt butterflies in my stomach again.
“I know we like you,” I admitted nervously. “Asher and I could have room for you.”
“I like you guys too already,” he said with a soft smile. “But even if we all fell in love and were
together, then Brody would be on the outside. Could you really be okay with watching that day in and
day out?”
“No, we can break down his walls,” Asher said with more conviction than I felt. “Between the three
of us there has to be a way to get through to him and let him see we’d never hurt him. For all we know
those inner circles who killed their Omegas in the past were bespelled. We know there are powerful
witches out there.”
“Now that’s something I really want to look into,” Wesley replied, his eyes wide with shock. “Edric
knows a coven and I bet they’d keep records better than the Council has. I wonder if the Council paid
for a witch’s help somewhere along the way.”
“It would explain how so many inner circles could all kill their Omegas,” Bay agreed. “Even before
we were in love with you the idea that any of us could kill you because you were so powerful just
never sat right with me. And I know we’re not the bad guys who are crazy and all but there would
have had to be a lot of bad guys in power for this to have gone down. And since the Omegas scanned
everyone who was put into power, I never saw how it happened.”
“You’re right. I’ll get Edric on this immediately after we’re done here in Boston. I have a few more
Council members to scan and then hopefully the day after tomorrow we can work on putting
everything back together,” Wesley informed us. “It’s looking to be about half that will stay. The
others I will push for death for their crimes, others, I just don’t know but I can’t see them sitting down
to take this.”
“Whatever you need, we’re here to help,” I told him. I couldn’t even imagine the pressure Wesley had
to be under. I was glad I wasn’t in his shoes.
“Thank you. I just need you guys to help Brody. Let me get the contract for you to sign if you’re in
agreement and hopefully the rest of you claiming him will ground him.”
“Yeah, he’s worth the risk of him never loving us,” Jaxon sighed. “I accept his contract.”
“Me too,” Asher agreed.
“I’ve already claimed him so yeah, I’ll make it legal,” I joked nervously.
“I’m so glad you all agree to this without even discussing it with me,” Brody growled from behind us.
Oh shit! “And to think my friends are the ones setting this all up.”
“Take a deep breath and let us explain, Brody,” Wesley said calmly as he got to his feet.
“Fuck you, Wes. I trusted you!” The air around Brody crackled and I felt a pit forming in my stomach.
Oh crap. The shit was really going to hit the fan now.
* * * *
Brody
I was shaking with rage I wasn’t sure I ever felt before. All the abuse, all the anguish I’d suffered
instead of growing up a normal kid or having what others had in their teen years, and none of it pissed
me off as much as this moment did. Or maybe it was that they’d just proved my point when I’d been
upstairs sulking that I needed to let things go and try to have a normal life.
Apparently I’d been right to doubt them.
“What was my price? What did you get for me?” I seethed, focused mostly on Wes because I
thought he was my friend.
“This wasn’t about getting something other than getting you grounded, Brody. You need them and I’m
sorry you don’t want them and you might hate me for this but I’m giving them your contract as
temporary head of the Council,” Wes said quietly, tears running down his cheeks. “You hurt Carson
today. The abuse you suffered was too much for your powers. We have to realign them and the only
way I know how is to have an inner circle claim you.”
“And get me out of your hair,” I countered. “You know I can’t find more journals until I’m grounded
and under control better. So this is the fastest way to get what you want.”
“Fuck the journals!” Wes bellowed as he jumped to his feet. “Part of me wishes I never remembered
them so we wouldn’t all have to be going through this right now. But it’s the right thing to have done. I
want this for you. Stay in our pack with them and fuck traveling. I want you safe.”
“Liar!” I screamed and my power lashed out at my distress. I watched in horror as every person on
the room screamed and dropped to their knees before going into convulsions… Even Wesley. And if
that wasn’t my worst nightmare already, I did something to the fireplace and it shot out flames. The
nearest couch caught on fire and so did the drapes. “Help! Someone help us!”
I raced to the hallway and screamed for help, relieved when I saw people running towards us right
away.
“What happened?” Lennox asked me as he came racing into the room, Hugo, Blair, and Falcon right
on his heels.
“I didn’t meant to do it,” I answered instead as I ran to the pitcher of water that was on the coffee
table and dumped it on the couch. Then I yanked down the drapes, ignoring the burning of my skin as I
put out the fire. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
Suddenly I was covered with cold. It took me a few moments of beating the drapes that were already
out for my head to clear and see the fire was out… And someone had sprayed me with a fire
extinguisher to help.
“You okay, darling?” Jaxon asked as he reached for me.
“Don’t touch me,” I hissed, crab walking away even though my arms and legs were in extreme pain.
“I could have just killed you. I was angry at all of you and I didn’t even mean to do it but I could have
just killed you all. I’m like a rabid dog that needs to be put down.”
“That’s what you really think, isn’t it?” Wesley growled as he stormed over to us. “ That’s the true
root of all of this. You don’t think you deserve to live after what you’ve done.” Jaxon started to move
in front of me but with a flick of Wesley’s hand, Jaxon was on the other side of the room immobile. I
was scared. I’d never seen Wesley like this before. “It wasn’t your fault, Brody! Alpha Marcus was a
monster. He is to blame, not you. Get that through your head.”
“Stop yelling at him,” Jaxon growled, fighting against Wesley’s hold. I focused on him and freed him,
not liking that Wesley was trapping him.
“Nicely done,” Wesley said with a smile, but I could still see the anger in his eyes. “My men got hurt
so just give me a few moments to calm down and we’ll talk rationally, okay?”
“Yeah, okay, right,” I mumbled, still staring at the wall that Jaxon was no longer held to. Had I really
just gone up against Wesley and won?
“The things we do for the men we care about and what we’re capable of when we need to will never
stop surprising me,” Wes said quietly as if answering my unasked question.
“I need a drink or seven,” I muttered, my mind in a haze. I went over to the sideboard, ignoring Jaxon,
and opened the first bottle there before downing what I could before I started choking.
“Feel better?” he chuckled.
“No, that shit tastes like ass,” I sputtered. “Why do people drink that stuff?”
“You’re almost twenty-two and never had a drink?” I nodded and he snickered. “Then let’s not start
you off with whiskey so strong it would knock me on my ass.”
“Yeah, I feel weird,” I replied, my lip going numb as my head swirled a bit. Wow. That shit worked
fast. “At least my burns don’t hurt anymore.”
“Oh hell,” he growled as he gently lifted me into his arms. “Someone meet me in the kitchen with a
first-aid kit!” He ran with me and it seemed I had absolutely no tolerance to alcohol.
“Weee!” I giggled as he raced along. “Okay, next time I start with wine coolers. Who gets drunk this
fast?”
Jaxon rolled his eyes as he set me down on the kitchen island counter. “People who have adrenaline
pumping through their bodies in large doses,” Jaxon answered as he carefully cut off my shirt with a
pocket knife he got from somewhere. “Shit, you’re covered in burns. Where’s that first-aid kit?”
“I’m right here,” Tristan said with a yawn. “Wesley’s too tired to heal him but I know how.” He
blinked at me several times as his eyes went wide, completely awake now. “What happened, Brody?”
“It seems when I get angry I electrocute everyone and set the room on fire,” I drawled with a wave of
my hand. “Rabid dogs bite everyone after all.”
“Ignore him,” Jaxon growled and gestured to my burns. “Please heal him and I’ll spank him later for
the rest. We’ll handle this once we get him grounded.”
“You can’t possibly still want my contract after this,” I gasped, staring at him like he was nuts.
“He’s got it bad for you,” Tristan mumbled as I felt his hands touch my arm. Almost instantly my skin
changed from burned and blistering to red and then back to normal. “A blind man could see that the
three of them have it bad for you. You should have seen them at dinner talking about you when you
were pouting in your room.”
“They don’t know me. They can’t like someone they don’t know.”
“Sometimes all it takes is a look or a conversation to do someone in,” Tristan argued as he moved to
my leg and healed me there too. “That’s all it took for Jared the one quick time we met. He moved
mountains to get me after meeting me at a football game. Taggart took the job as Alpha so he could be
with Lennox and Lennox barely even spoke to him when he was healing. Sometimes we just know.”
I swallowed and nodded, not willing to look at Jaxon. I knew the feeling Tristan was talking about.
One look from Jaxon, one smile, and I had been scared shitless because I had seen my future with
him. All three of them actually. And now I would get it not because I fought for it or tried to win them
over, but because my powers were so volatile and they were crazy enough to want me.
“I’m going to get him cleaned up and sobered up if I can,” Jaxon said a few minutes later when I was
done being healed. “We’ll meet you back here because he didn’t touch his dinner I’m sure and he
needs to eat.”
“Why would you risk being alone with me after what I just did?” I whispered as he lifted me back
into his arms.
“I believe Tristan already answered that for you, darling,” he chuckled. “But let me add to what he
said. From the moment I laid eyes on you I saw my future. I looked at you and saw tomorrow and the
day after that, and years down the road being at your side.”
“I saw the same thing,” I admitted before shutting my mouth back up… And then letting out a drunken
hiccup.
“Is there anything you do that’s not sexy?” Jaxon purred as he eyed me over. “Damn, and you’re half
naked too now that I cut those burnt clothes off of you.”
I glanced down in confusion and realized I was only in boxer briefs. He must have cut off my jeans
and I didn’t even notice it. “Oh. I thought there was a draft.”
“Okay, time to sober someone up.” He laughed as we reached our room, carrying me into the
bathroom and turning on the shower. He put me on my feet under the water and I sputtered and shouted
profanities at him.
“What the fuck? Why is it freezing?” I pushed against him but we both knew I wasn’t physically
stronger than him.
“Helps sober you up if you have another adrenaline rush to work the alcohol out of your system,” he
explained. Once I calmed down he turned the knob to a normal temperature. “Better?”
“Yeah, my head’s clear, thanks,” I mumbled before closing the door in his face. “I got this.”
“Yeah, I know but I should have at least gotten to wash your back for being nice,” he bitched quietly
as he left the bathroom. Wow. He really did like me. And he was right. He should have gotten that at
least. But I really did need a few moments to myself. Selfish after I just shocked everyone and just set
them on fire but I really couldn’t process right then.
I slumped to the tiles as I soaped myself up. Fuck. I really could have set my friends and my lover on
fire if I hadn’t been paying attention. I already electrocuted them. Things couldn’t continue like this. I
had to get grounded or I would set the world on fire.
Okay, slightly dramatic but it was how I was feeling, very life or death right then.
I took so long in the shower, scrubbing as I was thinking that I was so clean, I was like brand-new I’d
washed away so much anguish… And layers of skin. Yeah, went a little overboard on that.
After drying off I walked out of the bathroom and bent over my suitcase to open it up and find
something to wear. I heard a tortured groan and glanced in the direction of it. It was just enough time
to see Jaxon moving towards me looking like a man on a mission. “What did I do?” I squeaked as I
went to stand up.
“Your towel’s slipping,” he growled as he dropped to his knees behind me. Then it was gone and his
face was buried in my most intimate places. “Please, darling.” Lick, nip. “Please let me show you
that there can be true love”—lick—“there are white knights who want to save the day”—lick and
fondling of my sac—“and that sometimes fairy tales don’t hold a candle to the way real life can be.”
I just moaned as he kept teasing my hole. Never, ever had I experienced anything like it. My knees
shook as my whole body practically vibrated.
“Has anyone eaten out this sweet ass before, darling?” he asked in that sweet drawl, knowing full
well the answer.
“No, never been about me except with Lief,” I admitted, glad my skin was probably still pink enough
to hide the blush.
“Say yes and I’ll finish my meal here and show you more passion than you’ve dreamed of.”
What was there to say? I wanted what he was offering, it was just falling in love I couldn’t promise.
But then who really could when they first started and they wanted me and I needed to be grounded…
Oh fuck it. It felt fantastic. “Yes!”
“Good.” Jaxon buried his tongue in my ass and I couldn’t stay standing it felt so good. He caught me
before I fell and turned us so that my upper body was lying on one of the beds, all the while never
stopping his attentions. He was that strong. He slipped a finger inside of me and then growled in
frustration.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, worried that I tasted gross or something. I just showered so the only thing I
should taste or smell like was my bodywash.
“I don’t have lube. There’s got to be slick somewhere in this room with four gay men sharing it.” He
pulled his finger free and stood. I went to roll over and he smacked my ass hard. “You stay right there
waiting for me or I won’t finish.”
“Okay, but I want a damn kiss too if I’m going to get bossed around like this,” I mumbled as he
walked away. I didn’t have any reason to complain, I knew that. It was almost comical that I was but I
was self-conscious to have my ass on display like that and I was nervous I’d made the right decision.
Plus there was no blood in my brain at the moment.
“Ah-ha!” I heard Jaxon exclaim and then his heavy footsteps rushing back to me. He rolled me over
and I gave out a startled yelp as I blinked up at him. The man was stripping faster than I’d ever seen
someone get out of their clothes short of shredding them when he shifted. Then he was on me. “I never
thought you’d ask, darling.”
“Ask what?” I breathed as his large frame surrounded me.
“To kiss you.” His mouth found mine and I moaned as his tongue pushed into my mouth as he spread
my legs wider for him. It was a flurry of movement and sensations I couldn’t keep up with all while
enjoying what he was doing to me.
“Gonna come!” I screamed minutes later as he pumped four fingers deep in my ass. Jaxon instantly
pulled them out of me. “What the fuck?”
“Not until I’m inside of you. I want to feel your body squeezing my cock. And I promised you
something new. You’ve had sex on a bed.” I didn’t get to ask what he meant. He lifted me up off the
bed and wrapped my legs around his hips. Then he took a few steps over to the living room area and
looked up with a smile. “Lift your arms and hold on.”
I glanced up as well and sputtered. “Seriously? You want me to hold on to the light fixture? I’ll pull it
out and that looks expensive.”
“Do you really care? It’s not a chandelier but it will work for our purposes. I mean, you’ve heard the
phrase having sex while swinging from the chandelier, right?” I nodded, not thinking that people
really did that though. “This is close as we’ll get to that today. So hang on or you’re just going to
bounce all around.”
As if to prove the point, he lowered me onto his cock and started moving me faster than I would have
thought a person could even if I was smaller than him. I reached up to grab the hanging light fixture to
balance my weight.
“Good little mate,” he said approvingly as he moved faster. Now that the ornate metal held some of
my weight he could thrust into me more instead of lifting me up fully. “Shit, you’re perfect, Brody.”
I just grunted, not wanting to tell him I was far from it and enjoying the kinkiest sex I could ever have
imagined too much to have ruined it by saying the wrong thing. Jaxon plowed into my body over and
over again until I thought I was going to melt into goo.
“Come.” That one word from his lips and I screamed out my release. Who knew I could be so
submissive? I kept screaming as wave after wave hit me, seconds before Jaxon howled out my name
and filled my ass with his seed. He kept thrusting into me until he was completely spent and my whole
body was exhausted in the best ways. “Let go, darling, and we’re going to have another round in the
cold.”
“What?” I gasped, doing as he asked as my eyes popped open to stare at him like he was nuts. “You
want to go outside? It’s February in Boston! We’ll freeze.”
“You going to keep doubting me our entire mating or just in the beginning?” he asked me calmly,
raising an eyebrow at me. I shook my head. He was right. I didn’t think swinging from the light fixture
would work either but I thoroughly enjoyed that so he had my vote to take the lead.
Jaxon pulled out of me and carried me over to the double doors to the balcony. Then he set me on my
feet, grabbed one of the comforters off the bed, opened the doors, and laid it down folded a few
times.
“Hands and knees, darling,” he ordered as he eyed me over like his favorite meal. I hurried into
position, not needing to be told twice. After round one, Jaxon got me however he wanted… As often
as he wanted and the idea made me smile. Maybe I could have an inner circle and be normal after all.
Chapter 6
“I reckon the snow will soak through the comforter and our knees might get wet but I think it will
be worth it,” he whispered tenderly in my ear as he moved over my back to surround me. “The cold
blowing on our faces as the heat from the fireplaces on our backsides as we make our own heat
should add to the sensations.”
“You’re very sensual and tactile, aren’t you?” I asked as I turned my neck to the side so I could
see him.
“I like experiencing everything in every way,” he answered and then something flashed in his eyes.
Doubt. “Too much?”
“No, it’s so sexy,” I admitted. “So caring and different than what I’ve had before coming to Boston. I
could get addicted to being treated like this.”
He gave me a wolfish grin. “That’s the idea, darling.” Then he pulled the cheeks of my ass apart and
thrust into me again all in one shot. I gasped at that invasion, my body melting when it was connected
to his again. “Best ass ever, Brody. I’ve never felt like I belonged to someone like I do now. You
better have decided to keep us because I’m biting you when it’s time, darling.”
“Okay, yes,” I whispered as I closed my eyes. “I can’t promise you lo—”
“No one can,” he grunted as he started moving his hips. “There are no guarantees in life besides
death, taxes, heartbreak, and pain. You can promise to try and that’s all I ask.”
“I’ll try and let you in.” I got a kiss on the shoulder for that and his cock twitched inside of me so I
guess he was really excited to hear that from my mouth. Jaxon moved a little slower this time and then
would pick up the pace, rotating between speeds for the contrast just like the cold air on my face with
snowflakes falling in front of it, and the heat coming from the other end of me.
It was amazing in a strange way I would never have guessed. When it was time he sank his elongated
teeth into the nape of my neck. I cried out his name as I came hard enough to see lights flashing. Jaxon
followed me right over, filling my hole till it overflowed with his cum. I moaned as he wrapped his
arms around my chest and licked the bite closed.
“Mine. Always mine. Mine forever. Mine,” he chanted under his breath. “I’ve mated.”
“You want to mate me and not just be my Alpha?” I whispered as I wiggled in his arms until I could
see him.
“Yes,” he answered with a bright smile. “I’m claiming you now to help ground you and so I can get
your contract but the moment we love each other you are going to bite me right back.”
I blinked up at him in shock, his utter faith that it would happen shining through and warming me down
to my soul even though I should have been freezing. “Okay, we’ll go with your plan.”
“Good. Now let’s get cleaned up and back downstairs. You need to eat and discuss what happened
with your friends.” He grabbed my wrists and rolled to his feet in one smooth motion, taking me with
him. “Mmm, darling, I’m telling you, best ass ever. I feel years younger.”
“Glad to help,” I giggled. He was adorable after sex! Jaxon closed the balcony door after bringing in
the comforter and hanging it over the couch by the fireplace. Then he sauntered naked into the
bathroom to get cleaned up. I pulled out some lounge clothes to wear after I washed up and realized
he was whistling. It took me a moment to place the song but when I did I just stared at him in the
bathroom.
Big, bad Alpha Jaxon was whistling “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Disney’s
Cinderella. I loved it. It was priceless. Talk about being brave enough to be who someone really was
and not caring what others would think. It was brave, amazing, and endearing all in one.
“Sorry, I don’t normally go around whistling Disney tunes,” he said nervously when he realized I was
staring at him. “I’m just really happy. I knew we would fit and that was amazing.”
“No, it’s sexy,” I admitted as I blushed until my ears felt warm. “It’s impressive that you are who you
are. I’d watch Disney movies with you if you wanted one day. I’ve never seen any of them but I
recognized the song because it’s in more than the movie, tons of Disney commercials even.”
“Yeah, I’d like that. To me fairy tales aren’t just for kids and sometimes even adults need to feel that
all can be right in the world.” He gave me a wink and leaned in to whisper in a conspiratorial voice.
“Doesn’t mean I don’t hide them under my bed though. Not everyone understands.”
I went with my gut and kissed his cheek. “We’ll always make sure to pack a few when we travel. Or
we can download them onto my laptop so we always have the library.”
“Yeah?” he asked, his eyes shining with kindness and mirth that I was trying.
“Sure.” I gave him a wink of my own as I walked past him into the bathroom.
“What a man,” he growled but let me go. I laughed at his antics and quickly got cleaned up. Jaxon
looked great in his older-looking jeans and T-shirt. How something so simple could look so sexy on a
guy was beyond me. But he was mine now and I felt a thrill go through me when I thought about that.
I smiled shyly as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. When had anyone ever wanted to show
that I was theirs before in the noncreepy kind of way? The answer was never, but since I was going to
do my best to move on from my past it was better not to dwell on that.
Apparently word had gotten out about what happened in the study earlier because everyone’s eyes
were on me as we descended the stairs to the kitchen.
“So what else should we show you besides dirty positions for sex and movies you never got to see?”
he asked as we walked down the hallway, probably feeling my nerves.
“Whatever,” I mumbled and went to pull away from him. He shouldn’t have to deal with being
associated with me right then when everyone was staring.
“Don’t,” he chastised as he kept his arm around me. “I’m not ashamed and neither should you be.
You’re powerful and as I told you before, power comes with bumps in the road.”
“Yeah, you said you really hurt someone when you didn’t mean to.” I was poking him to elaborate. I
wasn’t sure if he really knew what I was feeling or if he just said it because it was a kind thing to say
to me right then and he wanted to get in good with me.
“Guy took a cheap shot when we were fighting to see who would be Beta of my pack,” he explained
as we walked into the kitchen. “He started before the whistle and decked me so hard my teeth rattled.
I got pissed and hit him back, full strength, and after the growth spurt I’d had, I guess I got stronger. I
shattered his jaw and was lucky I didn’t snap his neck. I was horrified at what I did but it was legal in
the fight so I didn’t get in trouble. Felt like I should have though.”
“Accidents happen,” I reminded him, trying to ease his guilt.
“Yes, yes they do,” he agreed firmly and I got the implication.
“Hey, so you let him claim you,” Wesley said with a smile as he paused in what he was eating. “So
you’re okay with what happened now?”
“No, but I want to discuss it calmly,” I hedged. “Were you really just going to force me into this
contract?”
“No, but I was going to use all my friendly advice and encouragement so you’d do it,” he admitted
with a shrug. “They’re good men, Brody, and they care for you. What’s so bad about that? You’ve
seen what you can do not being grounded. You need them or at least some inner circle if not them.”
He smiled when there were a few low growls of argument on me finding a different inner circle.
“And you want them. Great relationships have been started out on much, much less.”
“I get that but walking in on you all plotting what was going to happen when it was about me just felt
way too much like what I had to deal with before,” I explained, leaving off the gorier details. “And
from the moment I met Dewey he’s promised me that I’d never be forced into anything I didn’t want.”
“Yes, I did,” the man in question said from across the room. I hadn’t even realized he was there I was
so distracted by Wesley bringing up my being claimed. “How are you holding up?”
“Me? I’m the one who hurt all of them,” I whispered sadly, lowering my head in defeat.
“Oh, Brody,” he whispered and almost immediately I was in his arms. “This wasn’t your fault. We’ve
all had growing pains and the pain isn’t always ours. I accidently froze Taggart for six hours once.”
“I had to pee like you wouldn’t believe,” Taggart chuckled, shaking his head. “It sucked but I lived
and we have a funny story to tell. Just like what happened earlier. No harm, no foul, little bro.”
“I shocked everyone and set the room on fire,” I countered, meeting his gaze. “Not quite the same.”
“The only thing we were thinking was how scared we were when we saw you trying to put out the
fire and we couldn’t help,” Asher said quietly. “I saw you get burned and you didn’t even seem to
realize it. It was killing me that I couldn’t move and help you.”
“You wanted to help me after what I did to you?” I asked as I pulled away from Dewey. “Why?”
“I’m going to smack you,” Dewey growled as he cuffed me upside the head. “Because they care about
you, twit.” He winced when he saw how confused and messed up I was feeling. “Okay, no more talk
about tonight. You’re getting an inner circle and getting grounded so you don’t have any more power
flare-ups. We’re going to sign your contract and eat these awesome brownie creations Asher came up
with and just relax.”
“We need to discuss your vision first,” Wesley hedged.
I sighed, yeah, I could quickly tell them. “I saw Lord Ellys, we were at a party. Some freaky-ass,
drugged-up-looking vamp went to jump him, fangs out and all, obviously attacking. Jaxon pushed
Lord Ellys out of the way, grabbed the vamp, and tore out his throat. It’s in the future though. I don’t
know how I know that, I just do.”
“How far into the future?” Jaxon asked gently as everyone stared at me.
“I don’t know. I just know it’s not soon.” I shrugged. It was a feeling, not something I could explain or
put my finger on.
“Well at least it was a good vision of someone saving a friend’s life,” Wesley replied with a smile.
“I can’t say they’ll always be easy to handle, but you won’t get them often.”
“That looks good,” Jaxon said to Asher when the silence dragged on. I was grateful he changed the
topic because I couldn’t take everyone staring at me much longer.
“You made this?” I asked Asher, nodding to the tray of food I saw on the counter. He nodded and I
eyed it over as I got closer. “What is it? It looks delicious.”
“I cook or bake when I’m jumbled inside,” Asher admitted with a shrug. “You said you liked dessert
so I figured we had enough food for dinner to reheat, but who doesn’t like freshly made dessert?”
“If you won’t keep him I’m stealing him because this is fucking fantastic,” Wesley moaned as he
shoveled more in his face. His men all growled softly. “Seriously, he’s good to look at and he cooks
way better than any of us can. We can add a fifth for this kind of food.”
“No, we’re good,” Bay drawled. “And he’s kind of spoken for.”
“Fine, but I’m glad I made our pack their home pack for when they start being the floating inner
circle,” Wesley said with a playful pout.
“Seriously, what is it?” I asked again as I sniffed it.
“It’s a brownie torte with strawberries and homemade ice cream,” Asher answered.
“It’s not just his sexy body I love,” Lief chuckled as he stuck his fork into his piece. “Asher has many
endearing qualities but his cooking is one of my favorites. The Denver pack has a cook so he doesn’t
do it there unless it’s after hours and I’ve made him really, really happy. But he always shows his
appreciation with food.” He eyed Asher over and licked his lips. “And then makes sure I don’t get fat
from the calories.”
“Sounds nice,” Jaxon said, clearing his throat as he looked at Asher as well. “Does this extend to all
of us or just Lief?”
“I did it for Brody now, but yeah, I’d share with you,” Asher replied carefully. Everyone in the room
knew they weren’t talking about food anymore. Well it was food but the sharing was about the sex
after the food was eaten. We got that. “I’ll serve you a piece but Brody has to eat a real dinner before
he gets dessert.”
“Yes, Dad,” I teased, ducking so he didn’t see my smile. It made me feel good that he cared enough to
make sure I had a real meal.
“Yeah, poor you, there’s more lobster tails Asher broiled up for you,” Lief teased.
“Oh my gods, I love lobster,” I gushed as I quickly sat at the counter, assuming the place setting there
was for me. “And any more of those crab cakes? Those were so good too.”
“No, but I’ll learn how to make them if you groan for me like that again,” Asher said, licking his lips
as I met his gaze.
“You still have to claim me tonight if you are agreeing to all of this and I’ll do more than groan then,”
I replied saucily, trying to flirt for the first time. It must have worked because I saw his running pants
tent. Nice!
“Okay, so let’s everyone sign the contract I backdated and pretend it was all done before anyone
claimed anyone and then you guys can get all down and dirty with the brownies,” Wesley said, trying
not to laugh. We all nodded and Jaxon looked it over first while Asher fed me and I practically
shoveled the lobster in my mouth… Well, after I dipped it in butter of course.
“So good. Yummy seafood needs to be in daddy’s mouth all the time,” I moaned as I kept stuffing my
face. “We so have to rotate for the New England packs or anywhere I get seafood.”
“Actually, a Florida pack asked to come visit ours and get a chance to meet some of the Omegas,”
Wesley hedged. “You could get a tan and I’ve heard there’s shrimp as big as your head down there.
Do you guys think you’ll mostly want to fly or drive for all your trips?”
“Flying if we’re tracking down a journal overseas,” I answered as they stared at me in question. “But
I don’t know, I guess it depends, right?” I glanced at Jaxon since he was going to be our Alpha.
“I hate flying personally. I’d rather road-trip it no matter how far it is. We can bring more stuff if
we’re going to be somewhere for a week and we’ve got enough drivers old enough. I’ve got a truck
with an extended cab.”
“Works for us. We hate flying in those cramped-ass seats,” Lief agreed.
“I don’t get carsick so I can work on the road and I can fall asleep just about anywhere if I’m tired,” I
offered. “We can get those plastic trunks that water can’t get into—”
“The bed of my truck has a lid,” Jaxon said with a smile, cutting me off. “We can put whatever we
want in there and it’s sealed up tight. Might be good to pack extra too because I bet there will be a lot
of inner circles who want some time off after everything that’s been going on.” I bit my lip as he
signed and initialed where he needed to on the contract.
“I do like road trips and it would be nice to feel like we’re checking up on other packs to make sure
no one is ever abused again,” Asher added as he took the pen from Jaxon.
“You wanted to set down roots though, Asher,” I whispered as I covered his hand with mine so he
couldn’t sign. “I don’t want to but I’ll break the bond with Lief if this isn’t what you want.”
“Do I get a say in this?” Lief growled. I ignored him and stared at Asher.
“It’s not roots so much but it was the best analogy I had right then,” he explained as he moved his
other hand over mine, his thumb rubbing in circles. “It was hard for me to be on the cusp of where I
was meant to be. Being a guard at Tristan’s is like waiting in line in a lot of ways. You know you’re
qualified to be a Beta but you’re in like hover mode until one is found for you or like Galvin and
Marlow that an Omega picked them. That’s what I didn’t like.”
“So you felt like you’ve been reading the story long enough and wanted to know what happens
already?” I asked, not sure I understood what he was saying. But then again I was distracted by all the
food he made for me.
“Yeah, exactly,” he agreed, giving me a big smile for helping him so we all understood. “I was a
guard waiting to be a Beta for a lot longer than most of the other guys and I just wanted to know
where I was going to be instead of treading water.”
“Do a lot of the guards feel this way?” Dewey asked hesitantly as he stared at Asher. “I never thought
about it like that but that’s just mean of us then.”
“No, some like being guards and they have no problem with it,” Asher answered as he busied his
hands with putting together a plate for someone of his dessert. It was a cute idiosyncrasy he had. “It’s
their home pack or they’re just glad to get away from the pack they had and work for people who are
stable. But I was granted Beta of my pack and was about to step into the role when the shit hit the fan
and the Council’s coming in with Tristan to rescue Baptista.”
“The Omegas weren’t the only ones who were being lied to and not used as they should is what he’s
saying,” Lief added.
“We know but when all this went down we went for who was hurt worst,” Tristan said as he walked
into the kitchen with his men, Carson, and Carson’s inner circle. “We smelled fresh chocolate
something and diverted over this way.” He smiled at Wesley, walking right over to him. “And I
needed to talk to my little coup-starter.”
“Seriously, we can lose that nickname at any time,” Wesley teased. I was only half listening because
Asher signed his name to the contract while everyone else was talking and then Lief did that same.
Then I did and it felt right, shockingly. But then all three of them just stared at me like so what now?
“They’ve got a lot to talk about and that wasn’t enough brownies for everyone,” I suggested as I
gestured to the empty baking pan. “We could help and talk. Kick everyone else out?”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Asher agreed.
“Wesley, we need a list of the packs you want us to hit in the next few months, a map, and then get out
to talk and we’ll bring more brownie tortes when they’re ready,” I said in my loudest voice. “We
have plans to make and worlds to take over and journals to find.”
“A man of action is so hot, darling,” Jaxon chuckled, giving me a wink.
“Yes, but you have somewhere you have to check and see if you have an account,” Wesley implied
cryptically. “Lord Ellys seemed to believe every Omega line would have one as a last-resort escape
plan.”
“Right so I’ll need to borrow a car in the morning,” I agreed. I wanted to know if I had a unit at the
vampires’ storage facility too. Hopefully mine would be filled with gold like Wes’s had been. That
would be wicked cool.
“And we’re going with you to wherever you’re planning,” Jaxon said slowly as he glanced between
us. “No secrets.”
“That’s fine but you have to keep it secret from everyone else,” Wesley replied firmly. “Even Tristan
and them don’t know.”
“Can’t be forced to tell something we don’t know,” Tristan agreed with a nod. “I’ve got the list of
packs who want to take the week vacation option. Maybe you could set up a path so you can
investigate the leads you have on the missing journals and so you’re not going east to west to east
coast again.”
“And Brody is an excellent driver,” Taggart bragged, rubbing his hand over my hair. “You’ll need
that for road trips. He can parallel park my truck better than I can.”
“I’m also better at evasive maneuvers than you are,” I chuckled. “I got a higher grade in the class we
took.”
“Working on your wheel man profile?” Jaxon asked with a raised brow.
“No, nothing like that,” I answered, swallowing loudly. “After they took over the pack I had some
issues leaving the house. I hadn’t for so long that I’d freak out. Taggart got me to go out by promising
to teach me to drive so I’d have an escape if someone ever tried to hurt me again.”
“I would have given you anything you wanted to help,” he said tenderly and then cleared his throat. “It
broke my heart to see you have a chance to leave but unable to. We tried movies and shopping and
just about everything but it took the chance for you to make your own escape if shit ever went down
again to get you out of that house.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Lief hedged. “Why wouldn’t you want to leave a house you were trapped
and abused in for over a decade?”
“Fear isn’t always rational,” I answered, repeating what George had told me so many times. “The
therapist I worked with said a lot of times trauma victims have problems facing the devil they don’t
know versus the devil they do. Alpha Marcus was gone but Taggart and all them were great. The
house was the only one I remembered and when they took over, I was safe. The outside world meant
someone could take me again and my mind couldn’t risk that.”
“I think it’s amazingly brave of you to have gotten over that,” Lief whispered as he leaned over and
kissed my cheek. “It’s hard to change from what we know even if we haven’t suffered. I was scared
to leave the Marines after being in with them for so long. People don’t realize that it’s hard to try
again or make your life turn off the path you were on. And it’s all on you because you made the
decision.”
I shared a glance with Lief that told me a lot. He completely understood what I felt signing the
contract. It was like taking a leap of faith off the highest mountain. Glad I wasn’t alone in my fears.
Tristan got us the list, someone found us a map, and I had the leads on the possible journals. Jaxon
was a great navigator and completely excited about seeing the country. Asher worked on making more
brownie tortes as he threw in suggestions. Lief was busy doing searches on his tablet, saying we had
to do one crazy thing each trip, starting with Gatorland in Florida when we gave that inner circle a
break.
“Awesome,” I giggled. “I think we should set it up to start in two weeks. Things are going good in
Boston and we all need to meet in Medical Lake anyways because that’s going to be our new home
pack. Most of my stuff is there but the rest I can have shipped from Wichita.”
“Better make it three weeks,” Jaxon said with a chuckle at my excitement. “We need to get settled at
Medical Lake and get a home set up first. And then we’re going cross country for a month or so at
least and we need to make sure we’ve got all our bases covered.”
“Yes, my Alpha,” I purred, loving that he was so organized and authoritative.
“Oh gods, you’re getting me hard. Say it again,” he groaned. Everyone had a good laugh but I knew
Jaxon was serious too and with the looks Asher was giving me, he wanted to claim me as soon as
possible.
I was good with that except I ate too much and practically dove into a nice food coma. After all the
plotting we did I couldn’t even remember the trip up to our room before I passed out in bed. But at
least I woke up with Jaxon wrapped around me!
Chapter 7
“I heard you’re a fan of kinky,” Asher whispered in my ear the next morning.
“I’m not dreaming, right?” I moaned as he kissed along my naked shoulder.
“No, but I’d like to be,” Jaxon complained. “It’s too early to be up or if you’re waking me up it better
be for sex and I don’t think I’m invited this time.”
“No, I’m claiming my mate,” Asher chuckled. I bit my lip to keep in the yelp as he pulled me out of
bed and into his arms. “I couldn’t wait to claim you last night but you ate all my food and then went to
bed. I wasn’t feeling very desirable or sexy when you did that. You didn’t change your mind, right?”
“No, never,” I answered immediately, rubbing my eyes as I tried to wake up for this conversation.
“Take it as a compliment that your cooking is so good that I’m getting caught up on all the months and
years I should have been eating better.” I winced when I realized how depressing that sounded.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I like that I’m providing what you need and making you healthy,” he admitted as he nuzzled
my neck. “Please let me play out my fantasy with you? I’ve always wanted to do this since the first
time I was at the Council’s estate.”
“Of course.” I gave him a smile. “I’m always willing to play.” I blinked up at him a few times. Had
that really just come out of my mouth?
“I’m glad you’re coming out of your shell,” he chuckled. “And that you’re feisty when you wake up.”
“I aim to please.” We quickly threw on a couple of guest robes and he led me downstairs. I flinched
when we passed a clock and I saw it was five in the morning. What did he have in mind that we had
to be up so early for?
I totally understood when he opened the door to the Council’s courtroom. Oh, my man was kinky
alright… And liked danger because I was pretty sure there had to be some law that made fucking in
the courtroom illegal.
“Now how old were you when you came up with this?”
“Last year,” he snickered. “I was testifying about what I knew of Baptista’s abuse. Unfortunately I
didn’t know anything, but I still had to come and tell them. All I kept thinking about was the dirty fun
that could be had in this formal, stuffy room.”
“Talented mind you have there,” I breathed when he pulled the bottle of lube out of his pocket. “I take
it you want to claim me here.”
“Yes,” he admitted, his cheeks heating up as I hopped up on the defense table.
I realized he was embarrassed and reached for him. He came willingly and I moved him between my
legs as I ran my hands over his massive chest. “I’m not a judgmental kind of guy, Asher. If there’s
something you want I promise I’ll always be up for listening. I can’t say I’ll always agree to it but I
won’t laugh at you.”
He nodded and took in a shaky breath. “It’s just, I’ve built up this like role-playing fantasy in my head
about doing it here and with you it would be crude actually.”
“Well, tell me the fantasy and I’ll know it wasn’t meant to be hurtful,” I pushed, hoping he’d relax
enough with me to be honest.
“I’m the lawyer,” he mumbled, trying to duck his head so I couldn’t see his face. Instead, I pulled on
his robe as I lay back, making him come down with me onto the table. “And I defended my client to
the High Council and he’s so grateful that he wants to show me while yelling that I got him off and
he’s free because of me.”
“That’s not crude because it’s me. It’s role-playing,” I whispered as I kissed along his neck. “I think
it’s hot. I’d be your client any day, Asher.”
“Really? You don’t think I’m weird?” His tone was hesitant and I couldn’t have that.
“You’re the best lawyer ever,” I moaned as I rubbed myself against him, giving him my answer in a
different way. “Take me. Oh gods, take me. Get me off the way you got me off with the Council.”
Okay, so I needed to work on my cringe-worthy dialogue but it was a joke and supposed to be cheesy
after all.
“I can’t. It wouldn’t be moral sleeping with my client,” he groaned, getting right into character as he
undid my robe. “Fuck, you’re so hot though.”
“I’m not your client anymore now that the case is over,” I reminded him, batting my eyelashes at him.
“You freed me so feel free to feel me.”
Asher bit his lip to keep from laughing at the pun as he poured slick on his fingers. “I accept.”
“Good, because I’m out of lines,” I snickered quietly. “Claim me, Asher. I want to be yours.”
“Best line ever,” he said with a bright smile. I moaned as he moved his fingers between my legs and
pushed two in to start. I planted my feet on the table and lifted my hips to help stretch me out faster.
“You’re so damn pretty, baby. I love the way you respond to my touch.”
“Honestly, I was thinking of more lobster and that’s why I got excited,” I teased. He slapped my ass
hard and I moaned as my cock twitched. “Your client needs a good spanking for not listening to his
lawyer’s advice.”
“Yeah he does.” Asher smacked my ass over and over again as he stretched me out. Then he quickly
pulled his fingers free and slammed his cock into me. Both our robes were still on but just open and it
was sinfully fun to fuck that way.
“You won the case and you won me!” I screamed as he pounded into me so hard the table was moving
across the floor.
“Damn right I did,” he snarled as he leaned over me and licked my neck. “I’m claiming what’s mine.”
“Yes, yes, do it,” I egged him on, fisting his hair in my hands tightly. “Oh fuck, huge cock pummeling
my ass is fantastic!”
“Like a little pain, baby?”
“When it’s with you guys and not Daddy,” I answered as I kept moving. Asher froze and it sank in
what I said. “Oh gods, I’m sorry.” I tried to push him off of me but Asher wouldn’t budge, grabbing
my wrists when I tried to thump his chest. “Let me go.”
“No, Brody, I can’t do that,” he whispered as he used his body to keep me where I was. “I won’t let
that asshole ruin this for us.”
“He didn’t. I did. I brought it up and—” I cried, biting my lip before taking in a shaky breath. “I didn’t
want you guys to ever know he made me call him that. I haven’t in so long but it just came out. I don’t
know why and I’m sorry.”
“You’re doing great after what you’ve been through. I’m amazed by you, Brody. But you’re not just
all better after suffering years of abuse,” he explained gently. “There will be certain triggers and slips
for the rest of your life. The challenge is acknowledging that and moving on so he doesn’t rule your
life anymore.”
I blinked up at him, feeling his emotions as if they were my own. Already being claimed by two of
three grounded me enough that I could start using my powers in the basic ways. “You know
firsthand.”
“I do,” he admitted with a nod. “My father died when I was very young, I don’t even remember him.
Another wolf liked my mother and claimed her. I’m not even sure if she agreed to it or not to be
honest. But he was abusive to both of us and that’s how I grew up. An Alpha who didn’t care what
went on as long as it wasn’t in his house and stood by his wolves over a human woman and child.”
“I’m so sorry. What happened to him?”
“He’s dead. I challenged him when I was of age. He died in the fight though that wasn’t my intention.”
“Your mom?” I asked, swallowing loudly. Sometimes those claimed followed right after their mate
when they died, even if his mother hadn’t wanted to be mated to the man.
“She knew it was a possibility and asked me to do it anyways. She wanted me free and she stayed for
me after my dad died but I know a big part of her wanted to follow him into the afterlife. She died a
week after my stepfather did. Her body couldn’t take losing two people who claimed her.”
“I’m sorry. You freed her though, Asher. I hope you know that,” I whispered.
He nodded as he stared down at me with watery eyes. “It’s still hard to deal with though. No one
likes to be responsible for their mother’s death basically.” He cleared his throat and shook his head.
“Wow, great claiming seductive talk, huh?”
“No, but I started it and I’m glad you told me,” I answered honestly. “Did I ruin your fantasy?”
Asher thought about that a few moments and then shook his head, smiling widely. “No. I like the
reality better than the fantasy. I hate that you were hurt but you opened up to me and let me help. I feel
closer to you and that has nothing to do with sex though I’m a fan of us doing that too.”
“Me too,” I whispered as I started to get hard again, having lost my erection with my earlier faux pas.
“I’m changing the angle though,” he growled as he climbed up on the table with me. I moaned as he
rutted his hips against mine and spread my legs wider. “Yeah, better than the fantasy.”
“Shut up and fuck me,” I bitched playfully. His eyes lit up with the challenge and he started pounding
into me. I seriously started to wonder if the table could hold us with the way he was moving. When it
was time, he sank his teeth into my neck and I screamed out in bliss as I came all over both of us.
“Fuck!” Asher bellowed as he plowed into me one last time and came. That apparently was the last
straw for the table. He had just enough time to roll us off as he was still coming, his teeth in my neck,
so I landed on him when we hit the floor. I moaned in a little pain but mostly from the feeling of his
seed in shooting in my hole.
“You okay?” I asked when we were sated and only shaking from aftershocks.
“Best claiming in history,” he chuckled, blinking up at me. “But I’m not sure how we’re going to
explain the table.”
“People are coming,” I gasped when I felt different energies approaching. “Wow, being grounded
with an inner circle seems to help right after the claiming.”
“I guess so.” I moved off his lap and we quickly scrambled to try and cover up what we were doing
as best we could. I closed my robe and grabbed my elbow I banged when we fell. When the doors
opened I opened my mouth and blurted out the first thing that came in my head. “I went to sit on it
when we were talking and I guess I was too fat because it broke.”
“Or it’s old,” the guy chuckled as he eyed me over. “Because you’re so no fat.”
“Sorry about that,” I said as my cheeks heated up.
“It happens,” the other guard drawled after sniffing the air. “You aren’t the first couple to want to sit
on the Council’s table. Just get gone before people start waking up and we have more to explain.”
“Deal, thanks,” I giggled as I grabbed Asher’s hand and raced past them.
“Lief is going to die of laughter when he hears this,” Asher snickered when we were far enough away
from the guards. “He’s seriously never going to stop teasing us.”
“He’ll just be jealous that we were so kinky,” I chuckled and then frowned. “Actually, that’s not
funny. Lief claimed me in his dreams basically. I feel like I cheated us and we didn’t get a real
moment with each other.”
“Hey, none of that,” Asher said gently. “We all signed the contract so we’ve got the rest of our lives
to make more moments. You guys could fuck and have him bite you at Gatorland. Or be the first to
christen our new bed when we get to Medical Lake. There’s all kinds of fun to be had. There’s never
just one moment that defines a relationship.”
“Smart is so sexy,” I purred as we got to our room. “Smart is so fucking sexy.”
“Glad you think so. Now let’s get a nap in before we’re going on your mystery adventure because I
bet Lief and Jaxon are still asleep.”
“Yes we are,” Jaxon bitched. It seemed our Alpha really liked his sleep and to not be woken up.
Good mental note to make. I gave Asher a wink as he crawled back into bed with Lief as I did with
Jaxon. He reached for me while starting to snore softly and pulled me back against him. It worked for
me.
* * * *
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I whispered again as I stared into the storage unit. It turned out I
did have one and there was more to the Fitzgeralds than being the finder of the word for the Omegas.
“I had relatives that were pirates? That’s so fucking cool!”
“This says that there was a pack of wolves that were pirates, a few actually. I guess it was a good
way to hide what we were,” Jaxon answered as he read through a shortened version of what the
stacks of my family journals would say. “This was written by your grandfather as like a CliffsNotes
for your father I guess. Your parents died suddenly, right?”
“Yeah, a ferry crash. Wesley and I found out that he was going after a journal thought to be lost
but it really was an accident. Bad weather and a fishing boat hit the ferry. Lots of people died,” I told
them sadly. “They never got to tell me anything about this but I was really young when it happened
and then the godparents they named for me sold me when I wasn’t much older.”
“Fuck me sideways,” Lief gasped and I glanced over at him. “I know you were sad that you didn’t
have a pallet of gold bars like Wesley did, baby, but I found something you’re going to want to see.” I
jumped off the trunk I’d been sitting on as I looked over one of the journals, set it down, and went by
Lief. He could have pushed me over with a feather at what I saw.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I parroted when I saw the chest of stones. It was an honest-to-
goodness pirate booty chest full of gems that had to be worth millions of dollars.
“According to what it says on the chest, it’s from your great-greatgreat-grandfather’s private
booty that he saved. They robbed slave ships and set people free. Some of this was what they stole
and others is what villages gave them for returning children and loved ones,” Lief explained as he
kept reading. “It says Brian Fitzgerald, the relative who got all this, wanted to have enough where
each descendent of his could take what he could carry in his hands for himself and leave the rest for
the next in line.
“He figured that would cover at least twenty generations and hopefully someone might add to it so
that the Fitzgerald Omegas would never go hungry.”
“So, basically because he stole from bad guys and was rewarded for good deeds and didn’t like
steal from the British Crown I get to keep it, right?” I hedged, staring at the treasure.
“‘Pirates’ is such an ugly word. They were, um, well, vigilantes?”
Jaxon tried.
“Yeah, not much better of a connotation,” Asher chuckled. “Either
way, yes, you get to keep it. There’s no way someone could have a
claim on this from centuries and centuries ago.”
“Smart lawyer Beta,” I whispered under my breath so only he
could hear me. I saw his cheeks heat up as he cleared his throat. Good
to know he wouldn’t be forgetting the hot sex we had that morning anytime soon either. I stared at the
treasure and knew what I wanted to do with it. “I know Wesley’s using his to help Omegas and fund
what’s needed to keep the Omega Network going.
“Though I’m not sure how that’s going to work now that he
invoked the Correction Clause but I want to be more selfish than that.
And this is going to sound horrible but I’m not ready to tell you until I
know without a doubt I can trust you all and we’re all in love like
Wes and his inner circle.”
“That’s fair and understandable after what you’ve been through,”
Jaxon agreed quickly before anyone else could get upset with me. I
smiled when Lief and Asher nodded. They understood why I needed
to do this too. Cool.
It just might take more than my two handfuls of the treasure to
accomplish. But then again, that wasn’t all we found.
“Um, there’s another treasure chest over here,” Asher said after a
few minutes of us searching the unit.
“And I’ve got one over here,” Jaxon chuckled. “Plus there’s one
here labeled Vatican Raid so, um, they might have stolen shit after
all.”
“Oh, we can’t keep holy stuff,” I groaned. “There might be a
finder’s fee for its return though, right?”
“Let’s worry about that later,” Lief snickered. “For now, let’s
work on getting a few of these journals sent by courier and whatever
you want to plot. We don’t have to deal with this all today.” “Right, good, okay, I’m going to make a
quick, private phone
call,” I agreed as I stepped out of the unit. I trusted them not to steal
from my family… That and there were cameras everywhere. I jogged
down the end of the hall and stepped into the stairwell where I knew
I’d be alone. Then I called Wesley, conferencing in Dewey. “Hey, how did it go?” Wes asked as
Dewey came on the line. “Is everything okay? I didn’t expect you to call.”
“I needed advice and I had an idea,” I said cryptically. “I had what
Wesley had in his secret place and then some. And I decided I want to
institute a plan B.”
“An escape plan in case something ever starts happening to
Omegas again,” Dewey surmised.
“Yeah. We give every Omega some form of instructions, maybe
as simple as getting to the nearest coven, and we pay the vampires to
get them out from there if it goes down. But we need somewhere safe.
So, I had an idea and don’t laugh, but can you really like buy an
island? Maybe somewhere that Council members who are hooked in
with human authorities can’t extradite us from.”
“That’s a scary but good idea,” Wesley said after a moment.
“You’re right. It would need to be somewhere that we couldn’t just be
pulled right back out of because the Council’s always connected. I’d
talk to the vampire in charge of where you’re at. He seemed to be
connected. He might be able to give us a lead on how to go about this.
We’d also need to set up like housing there because I’m not getting
stranded on a deserted island.”
“Though it would be fun to watch my men walk around naked,”
Dewey chuckled. “Yeah, and we’d need supplies. We’d have to be
smart about this. But I’d want to tell my men.”
“Right, but when does it stop? Those Omegas before thought their
men loved them. I know yours do but where is the line we draw? I say
only a select few know about this and if the shit hits the fan, the
Omegas all have a vampire contact to get them out.”
“Which means we’d have to tell Ellys about where it is,” Dewey
hedged.
“I’m okay with that. The man had proven trustworthy and hell, put
it in there that if we do this right, and things go bad, we’d take his
people too. Because if they ever come after us for real again, you can
bet they’d go after the vampires,” Wesley said with an edge to his
voice. “I’ll talk to him today. He’s still staying here while things get sorted out and Carson can take
his history of what happened so we
have records of it.”
“Good, I’ll talk to the guy here,” I agreed.
“And I’ll…” Dewey started to say and trailed off. “Yeah, I got
nothing on how to help until we know more. Once we do I can start
figuring out ways to get extra supplies to the location in case we ever
have to run with just the shirts on our backs.”
“Then we have a plan.” And I was glad for that and that they
didn’t just laugh at me. I might have experienced more than I should
have by twenty-one but in lots of ways I was still naïve to the world.
We quickly said our good-byes and I jogged down the stairs to the
lobby. The guy smiled when I approached and I rolled my eyes. “You
heard everything. Duh, of course you did.”
“Sorry, sweet cheeks. It was just too juicy not to listen in,” he
chuckled. “I can tell you that we have something set up already like
you’re planning. I’ll talk to Lord Ellys about the practically adjoining
island we own and the few for sale in the area. There were some
humans who just couldn’t afford them anymore or were persuaded
they didn’t want to live around us.”
I instantly got that message and while it was kind of creepy, I
understood and was grateful for it right then. “That would be great
and something to only be discussed with Wesley Orson or myself for
now.”
“I hear you loud and clear. You want me to look into getting that
stuff to the Vatican and what your take would be?”
“Yeah, that would be cool as long as I don’t get arrested because I
have it in my possession,” I answered with a snicker. “And I want to
take two handfuls of what’s in the treasure chests, and get it put into
some off, off-shore accounts.”
“Very smart,” he agreed as he jotted down notes. “Always wise to
have a rainy day on the tornado size plan ready. Might I suggest a
smaller handful to take with you or have sent to you? Cash is great, credit cards can be traced, but
rocks very rarely don’t get the door
open when you need it to, if you get my drift.”
“I really, really like you,” I giggled, shaking my head. “Okay, I’ll
bring down handfuls to deposit and a pocketful to have couriered to
my address.”
“And what are you going to tell those sexy men while we do
this?” he asked delicately.
“They know this is new and I’m trusting them with a lot so to give
me space with a rest.”
“Honey cheeks, you need to keep those men. I’ve never heard of
big bad wolves being that patient or understanding. If you don’t treat
them right they can have me all they want,” he said with over-the-top
flair.
“What is your name?” I chuckled, dying to know.
“Meredith,” he answered with a snicker, handing me his card.
“Yeah, I know, hilarious. My parents thought I was going to be a girl
so they still gave me the name. Ha, ha. Whatever, I got turned and
never looked back on my past life except for keeping the name. I was
born to be a vampire.”
“It’s a good look on you,” I agreed with a wink. He laughed and
shooed me away. I headed back up to the unit, smiling as my new
men were sitting on the ground as they sifted through another crate. “I’m waiting for one of us to find
the Holy Grail,” Jaxon mumbled
as he held up some golden, gaudy-ass goblet.
“Or those creepy scarabs like in The Mummy that are going to eat
us all,” Lief added.
“You think this is what Wesley found in his too or was it just
gold, journals, and paintings?” Asher asked. “This is a lot to take in,
guys.” I froze, worried suddenly as I backed into the shadows. “You getting caught up by the fact
Brody is rich?” Jaxon asked
darkly, eyeing over Asher as if seeing the man in a new light. “No, no, nothing like that,” he swore as
he shook his head. “I just
keep thinking what happened to those Omegas centuries ago. And now Brody’s part of a bloodline
that would be one of the first targets because he’s powerful.” He spread his arms wide as he looked
around
the room. “Maybe this is the answer.”
“Babe, I don’t get what you mean and you’re starting to worry
me,” Lief whispered as he rubbed his arms. “Please tell me that
you’re not talking about taking this from Brody or something.” “No! Never!” he growled in
frustration. “I’d never hurt Brody and
there’s not enough money or jewels in the world that would make me
want to hurt him. I’m saying there’s more than we could ever spend in
our lifetime, even our longer version because we claimed an Omega.
Let’s take it and run with him. We can hide him and he won’t ever be
in danger then.”
“You want to get out now in case things get worse and not better,”
Jaxon surmised.
“Don’t you? Tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind since you’ve
claimed him to pack a bag, change your names, and run,” Asher shot
right back.
“Yeah, it’s crossed my mind,” Lief agreed. “There’s going to be
backlash from what Wesley, Tristan, Carson, and the whole gang has
done. I’m not saying they were wrong but there will be fallout from
Council members, relatives, and packs. Brody will have a very big
target on his back right after the others. I thought about telling you we
should run this morning after you got back into bed.”
“The question is would we be willing to run and risk jail, death, or
worse if we got caught by the Council,” Jaxon whispered as he
glanced between them. “Because let’s be clear that that’s what we’re
talking about here. So is Brody worth those potential consequences
for a man we barely know?”
“You wouldn’t even be entertaining the idea if you didn’t know
the answer to that, Jaxon,” Lief said quietly after a moment. “Yes, he
is.”
“Yeah, he is,” Asher agreed.
“He totally is,” Jaxon said with a soft smile. “I love him already I
think. We have to keep him safe.”
“I have a plan to do that but give me time to work out some kinks
and then I’ll bring you in on it,” I whispered as I stepped into the unit.
“But it means more than I can say that you’d risk it all to keep me
safe.” I wiped my teary eyes and was suddenly in a group hug.
“Thank you.”
Chapter 8
A week later it was like I was living someone else’s life and in a good way. Having an inner
circle really did ground me and I hadn’t had any accidents and moreover I could do things I never
could before. It was awesome and almost overwhelming at the same time.
We were all at the Medical Lake pack now, moved in and getting settled in the cabin we bought
from the pack. It wasn’t big, but we weren’t going to be here most of the time so we didn’t need much
space. Besides, there was a huge loft for storage off the main bedroom so that worked for us.
“Enough practicing,” Lief said gently as he reached his hand out to me. “You’re going to wear
yourself out and then you won’t have energy for fun we have planned tonight.”
“You just don’t want me to read your thoughts and see what this big surprise is,” I accused him.
“Yeah, totally and you’re going to need energy for it so quit now,” he threw right back. I laughed as I
got to my feet. Things were great with all three of them and the four of us as a couple really. We
meshed so well I found myself pinching my arm every so often throughout the day.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I pulled down his head to mine. Lief, the most of my men, was
supportive of my stretching my power out and flexing what I could do. He said it was important for
me to understand that I was complete and just as much a fabulous Omega as Dewey and Wesley. Plus
he liked when I accidently zapped him and kissed it better or used my telekinesis to strip him. Well,
they all really liked that.
“We leave in a week and a half, guys,” Asher reminded us as we walked into the kitchen. Jaxon was
our Alpha and the boss but he was flexible so there was never any pressure or growing pains since
we were all learning this together. Asher, on the other hand, had filled the role of keeping us all in
line quite nicely. Well, at least for calendars, schedules, and jobs so we didn’t just explore our new
sexual relationships all the time.
Though we still did a lot of that.
“Yes, and I got the oil changed on the truck and a new filter. Our ride is ready when we are. Oh, and I
got the big-ass cooler you wanted so we can always have healthy snacks and meat to grill when we
stop for the night,” Jaxon said as he helped us set the table.
“And you’ve got your new tablet and all the scans on there that you want to translate ready to go?”
Asher asked me as he flipped something in the skillet like a pro.
“Wesley and I prioritized which ones we thought would give us leads to other journals. Carson has
wrapped up a map of Omegas who were killed when the Council pulled that shit and journals I might
be able to find. There is one missing from the Orlando Omega,” I answered, clearing my throat
nervously. It was always a really sensitive topic to bring up the Omegas that were slaughtered
centuries ago. But at least I had stopped letting it affect me so.
Wesley had worked with me in Boston when I had been translating a journal and realized that my
power had been working as an empathizer recycler thingy. I would read what was going on and
empathize, being an Omega, but instead of moving on, those feelings were churning inside of me until
it was almost a panic of what happened to them was going to happen to me.
It was a bitch to learn how to break that cycle because it was a legitimate fear every Omega should
have. But it was the past and so long ago that I had to believe we wouldn’t all get slaughtered without
someone sounding the alarms and calling each other. I had to.
It helped having a plan B that I was working on. The details were still sketchy but there was a plot
afoot to keep us safe if the time came.
“I’ve been working on a project in my spare time that I thought might help with the feelings discussing
that brings up,” Lief said quietly as he grabbed a notebook off the counter. “Don’t get mad because I
know you have a right to be worried but I wanted to see for myself really too. I just didn’t know how
to bring up what I found without sounding like a tool—”
“Just spit it out, Lief,” I giggled as I brought the salad to the table. “You’re allowed to have questions
or do your own research. Not everything has to be all about me and the Omegas’ projects.”
“I traced back our family trees and none of our ancestors killed Omegas,” he blurted out. I jumped at
that one and focused on him. “I wanted to see if any of our family had Omegas back then who were
killed. We didn’t. Asher’s had some family that have been Betas but none back then. I’m the first of
my family and Jaxon has had a few Omegas in his tree but no one in leadership until him. I checked.”
“You thought it would help set my mind at ease if I knew that none of your ancestors killed mine or
Omegas,” I said, needing to repeat what was going on for whatever reason. Maybe to help it sink in.
“Okay. Good to know. Thank you for sharing that with all of us and caring enough that it was
important to research.”
“That’s it?” he asked quietly as we all sat down for dinner. “What are you feeling about what I did
and what I found?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly as I poured dressing over my bowl of salad. “It’s all like what I
imagine a roller coaster is like. One minute you’re going up and then suddenly you drop to the right. I
just need each new development like this to go through a cycle of the ride before I can tell you how it
makes me feel.”
“I get all of that and that’s cool, but it brought up something else,” he said easily, giving me a smile
that he was backing off for now. “We need to take Brody to an amusement park or carnival before we
take over the Orlando pack for the week. Disney’s going to be right there.”
I bit my lip when Jaxon’s eyes flashed with joy at the mention of going to Disney. “Yeah, we should
totally do that. I want to see all the rides and get my picture taken with as many characters as I can.”
Thank you, Jaxon mouthed as he gave me a wink. Hey, it was the least I could do. They’d all been so
good to me. I knew I was still holding back until more time passed between us all and we knew each
other better before saying the three little words and claiming them so we were all mates, but
everything would come in due time. And at the rate I was falling for them, it would really be in no
time at all.
We discussed the possible parks and added to the list of things we’d need for the trip. Once we left
we were going to be gone for a month at least. We would drive down to Florida and take over for the
Orlando pack before giving the Ft. Myers pack a break, then on to Daytona, and lastly Key West.
It seemed that the word was out that there was a floating inner circle and the packs were jumping on
it. Plus, there was a lot of unrest after the Correction Clause took place and everyone seemed to want
to meet in person with Wesley to get scanned and ask questions. I thought it was great because that
meant maybe we would all start being on the same page as a people.
But it also worried the Medical Lake inner circle because they could be wolves in sheep’s clothing
and really they just wanted to take Wesley out… And maybe me. So we were going to be on high alert
and keep to the job of making sure every pack we ran for the week at a time was good to go.
“Eat up or you won’t get dessert,” Asher threatened. I smiled at him before blowing air kisses in his
direction too. He really was all about keeping us in line and making sure we would live long, healthy
lives. He took care of us.
“Okay, what’s for dessert?” I asked when I had finished dinner, eating my entire steak and everything
he’d loaded on the plate. “You are,” Lief growled next to me.
“Huh?” I gasped as I was yanked out of my chair. For a split second I was afraid… They were all
ganging up on me after all. But then I realized, I knew them. They wouldn’t hurt me. And the looks I
got of lust were a big clue too.
They dragged me to the floor and I almost laughed when I saw the contraband they must have been
hiding. There was chocolate and caramel sauce along with marshmallow and whipped cream. Hello!
My clothes were ripped off of me and minutes later I felt like the ice cream in a sundae. Jaxon was
eating my ass out with some marshmallow cream while I was sucking off Lief’s caramel-covered
cock, and Asher was stretching Jaxon out in an interesting way if the moaning that was vibrating
against my ass was any indication.
“Oh shit, babe, yeah, lick his chocolate-covered ass,” Lief groaned. Well that explained it. Of all of
us, Lief was the most vocal in bed and dirty. It was great. “I need ass now. I want sweet Omega ass to
fuck all night long or my balls fall off.”
I pulled off his cock with a loud pop. “Interesting visual,” I drawled.
“He’s ready and so am I,” Jaxon moaned. They flipped me around and Lief lowered me onto his
caramel-covered cock, which was the most interesting lube ever used in my opinion. Then I got a
front-row seat to Asher thrusting into our Alpha before Jaxon fed me his dick. “Yeah, darling, love on
my cock.”
I moaned, adoring his sweet talk when I pleased him. It was so different from the dirty way Lief
talked that it always left me surprised as to what was going to happen next. Lief wasn’t kidding when
he said he wanted ass and all night. He started hard and fast, plundering my body in the best way. I
sucked on Jaxon with all the enthusiasm I had for him… Which was a lot.
“Whoever blows first does the dishes,” Asher grunted as a challenge a few minutes later. I was going
to lose and I was okay with that.
“Fuck!” Jaxon screamed, coming down my throat. Or maybe I wasn’t. I followed him right over when
Lief started jacking me off. Asher was next and then Lief filled my ass after bellowing out my name.
When we were all spent we flopped to the floor in a pile. I was gasping for air while the others were
doing the same, chests heaving, and all of us covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
“Fuck the dishes,” I panted when I could get enough air. “They’ll keep until tomorrow. I’m more
concerned about the energy to get all the way to bed.”
“We could sleep on the floor,” Lief offered with a chuckle. “But it gets cold up here at night.”
“Crawl to in front of the fireplace at least?” Asher joked. We all glanced at each other and burst out
laughing. This was what I always wanted. Passion that could burn but fun that was okay to have no
matter the situation because we all belonged together.
And we did make it to bed that night but the dishes waited until the morning. The fun we had was well
worth soaking them the next day. As was the sticky mess we had to clean up from the Brody sundae
that was made. It was my favorite flavor now.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joyee dreams of one day living on enough land to have a few horses, and find a couple of
cowboys or pool boys of her own. A lover of men, Joyee is all about them in any form in her books;
vampire, werewolf, shape-shifter, military . . . It’s all good! She loves to get lost in fantasy that only
books can bring. Her wide interest in reading is reflected in her writings, whether short stories,
romance, or mystical. Currently Joyee lives with her dog, Marius, named after a vampire from Anne
Rice’s Interview with the Vampire series.
For all titles by Joyee Flynn, please visit www.bookstrand.com/joyee-flynn
Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com