Page 83 of Mercy & Her Devils

He’s staring at me, expectantly.

“Are you going to prepare an actual Omega Chamber?” I say in a small voice. I’ve never had an entire room dedicated to my heat before. It would be a dream come true. “And do I get to choose what goes in it?”

Kai clasps my hand tenderly between his. “Aye, beloved. If you’ll let me, I’m going to make it so that you never need to ask questions like that again.”

My throat feels thick with tears.

To my shock, Lark slams down his coffee, and the dark liquid sloshes over the side of the mug. “Would you have us pliant underneath your knot then, Alpha? Mindless in your nest? Sweet holes to rut? That way, we won’t want to leave. Of course, we won’t be able to, once you’ve bred us.”

Panicked, I try to hush him, but Lark ignores me.

Instead, Lark’s blazing gaze is locked with Kai’s, when it’s not darting to glare at the way that Kai’s hand is clasping mine.

“Do you want to leave?” Kai asks.

“So, that’s our choice, is it?” Lark demands.

Antonio straightens, vibrating with tension, before waving his hands in alarm. “Hey, hang on. You’re on the run, remember? I only broke you out yesterday. I know that you’re like almost middle aged…” Lark growls. “…But you can’t have forgotten that already. You have no money, bond bite, or documents. The cops would pick you up within hours and then—”

“Of course they can leave.” Kai’s heavy gaze never leaves Lark’s. I understand Lark’s fear of being trapped by his dynamic just like he was by the birth of his daughter in the Blades pack. But this new pack is different because from the start, they’ve told us that everything that happens is our choice. Fuck, does Lark want to leave? Please say no. “I would never keep an Omega prisoner. They’re guests.”

This appears to send Antonio into a worse panic. “But they know—”

“It doesn’t matter.” Kai adjusts his tie. “I’m not the sort of Alpha who would do anything to take away an Omega’s right to choose. My brother would kick my behind, and rightly so, if I did. But I am offering my home as a refuge.”

Lark still doesn’t drop his gaze. “You’re outlaws.”

“So are you.”

I have to admit that this battle of wills is thrilling.

I can’t work out who’s strongest mentally between these men.

Finally, Lark huffs. “So, we’re free, and you’re pampering us with nests, Omega Chambers, and treats like this breakfast out of what, the kindness of your Alpha heart…?”

He says it like he doesn’t believe that’s possible from any Alpha.

I wince at the same time as Kai does.

Yet I understand.

I have the example of good Alphas, before my last year with Fletcher. But Lark was raised by cruel Alphas and then matched to one.

This isn’t an easy concept for him. At least this pack consists of all men. It was female Alphas who traumatized Lark.

Kai appears to realize it too because his expression gentles. “You’re a real fighter, aren’t you? I respect that, lad. Don’t worry, I’d feel just as protective of my lovers. Here’s the thing, I’ve wanted to help you from the moment that the foolish Beta who I love began to send me reports back about you both. I could see how much life you were bringing to my sunshine Beta. Then as he began to fall for you, and I knew that it’d break his heart, if you didn’t decide to join our pack. But still, I made it clear to him that it has to be your decision. Now that I’ve met you too, smelled your delicious scents mingled, and seen you wearing my clothes, I understand how he feels. Like you’re already pack.”

Lark looks as winded by that as I feel.

“If we’re pack,” I say, quietly, “tell us why Antonio was pretending to be a guard in the first place.”

Lark shoots me an approving look.

Kai pushes a strand of hair back from my face. “So, I have two smart beloveds. I’m surrounded.”

Pleasure at his praise makes me glow. “Guess that makes you our prisoner. So, you’d better talk.”

Kai reaches across me to tap at the stack of papers. “I’m an investigative journalist. I’ve been desperate to find ways to uncover the oppressions against Omegas for years. When this viral video surfaced, which showed a brutal, public breaking of a bond, it brought into focus my next project. Antonio (in one of this typical, risky schemes), came up with the idea of mixing his genuine documents that were always kept clean by his family and fake ones in order to get himself employed at the Institute to find out what was happening to the Brok. He was only meant to be observing. Then I’d expose the truth as an anonymous journalist. We didn’t know what he’d discover hidden away in that basement.”

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