And my real mother, the Omega, was happily mated to a clan in another pack—the Black Mountain Pack.
Which is how I ended up on Alpha Umber’s doorstep. His Omega wasn’t my mother, but she lived in his pack. He took me in as his own, raised me with Tieran, and I maintained a very distant relationship with the female who birthed me.
A fucked up history of injustice, one that’s tainting my clan circle now.
“I’ll be fine, T,” I tell him, holding his gaze. It’s a slight change in the subject of conversation, but it’s one he immediately understands. “Clove isn’t the bitch who raised me. She’s strong. And she’s ours.”
He swallows, his gaze going to the sleeping Omega on the bed. She hasn’t stirred once during our conversation, probably because Caius and I have kept up a steady stream of purring for her. Mine faltered a bit in the last few minutes, but his didn’t.
It’s enough to keep her comfortable.
To ensure she knows she’s protected.
In a den that facilitates sleep.
The only thing missing is a nest—something she hasn’t started creating despite the ample sheets and clothes strewn around the room. We even brought her the sheets her wolf slept on in Tieran’s room. Nothing.
I brush my fingers through her hair and kiss the back of her head again. “Maybe you should try talking to her about it,” I suggest softly, my purr starting up again. “Tell her the concern and see how she reacts.”
“No Omega is going to be okay with her Alpha taking another female,” Tieran replies, a hint of pain in his voice. “And I would never want to hurt her in that way. Once I make her ours, she’ll be it for us.”
Which yields to the real issue at hand. “Your wolf won’t let you take another Omega.”
“No, he won’t,” he admits. “So I need to make sure she’s the right one.”
“She is,” Caius says, his voice certain. “She just needs a little more time to embrace her Omega wolf.”
Tieran studies her, silent once more. Then he stands and shucks off his pants. “We should sleep. I’ll make the preparations for her to join us on the mainland later this week. Until then, keep helping her accept her wolf.”
My lips quirk up. “Such a hard task.”
“So fucking difficult,” Caius echoes.
“You have no idea,” Tieran mutters, shifting in the next second to curl up against her legs.
“Try having her blow you,” I tell him, aware that he can’t reply now that he’s in wolf form. “It helps take the edge off.”
He grunts.
Caius grins. “It’s pretty fucking amazing. She’s a natural at it.”
“Because she’s ours,” I say.
“Yep,” Caius agrees, settling into the pillow and staring at the female between us. “Good night, beautiful.”
“Night,” I say, smirking since the words were for Clove and not for me. But we’re a clan for a reason. We have our shared interests and while we may not be physical with each other, we’re still intimately connected.
And soon, we’ll be mentally linked as well.
Via the bond to our Omega.
Our Clove.
Tieran may have reservations about her, but I don’t. She’s our future. And I’ll do everything I can to prove it.
22
CLOVE
My wolf is agitated.
I can feel her stirring beneath my skin, her fur rubbing against my nerves and demanding an outlet.
I just can’t figure out if the outlet she craves is a shift or a good knotting. Maybe both.
I’ve dreamt about Caius, Volt, and Tieran every night since going into heat. Each dream is progressively sexier, driving me mad with need.
A need that Caius and Volt have both seen to several mornings this week.
Just without their knots.
Which seems to only make my dreams that much more sensual.
I want them inside me, and not just in my mouth.
My wolf hums in agreement before irritating my skin once more.
“You’re in need of a shift,” Volt says as he enters the room with a towel wrapped around his hips. We just finished playing in the shower.
Without the knot, I think irritably.
None of them have properly fucked me since my estrus and that was several days ago. No, wait, a week ago.
My sense of time here is slipping.
It’s been a while. That’s what matters. And I want more than just a tongue between my legs.
Which makes me sound like a horny brat.
So I keep my mouth shut and just nod at Volt, agreeing with him regarding the shift. “I can feel her pressing against my skin.”
“I can taste that need in the air,” he says, and I wonder if he means my arousal or my wolf’s desire to be released.
Perhaps both.
Volt is all about word play, something I’m very much enjoying about him.
“How about we go for a run outside?” he suggests. “It’ll be a good way to burn off some energy before we leave.”
Right. Today’s the day we venture off the island, I remind myself. Volt told me the other morning that Tieran agreed to let me go with them, something that surprised me. I was both nervous and excited about it, a joint sentiment that hasn’t changed.
“Come on, I’ll show you how to navigate the corridor,” he says, leading the way with that towel still wrapped around his waist. I have one as well that I keep on, padding barefoot behind him.
“Umm, what if I can’t?” I ask, voicing a concern I’ve had since initially shifting back into human form. “Or what if she won’t let me shift back again?”
“Then I’ll growl,” he answers, adding a slight rumble to his words. “Tieran’s not the only one who can tame your animal, sweetheart.”
I swallow, because yeah, that sounded like a threat and a promise all wrapped up into a pretty Volt-sized bow.
Making him a present I want to unwrap.
With my teeth.
Just to see if he fulfills the vow in those words.
Yes, I have definitely lost my mind to this need to be knotted, I decide, trying to keep pace with him. But it’s really not my fault, it’s theirs. They’re the ones who introduced me to the pleasure of their knots.
My thighs clench at the memory of it.
The way they dominated me.
The sensation of fullness.