Page 24 of Big Knot Energy (Shadowverse)

“Then, yes. I’m more than okay with them –uscourting you.”

“Fuck yes,” I said, pumping my fist in the air like a complete douche.

But the smile on Issa’s face made my excitement grow even more. It had taken weeks for her to stop asking permission for simple things like eating food from the fridge or pantry. Weeks for her to stop asking permission to do mundane things. Weeks for her to accept the little gifts we bestowed on her – although to me, they were all necessities. She’d come with nothing but clothes her sister had loaned her. We’d had to buy her a whole new wardrobe, along with all the toiletries and beauty products women loved.

It had taken even longer to get her comfortable with leaving the house and that was only if at least one of us with her, even if she was simply being driven to her sister’s to visit for the day.

But here she was decked out and looking like a fucking goddess, her skin glowing from her time with Amir, and finally allowingherself to admit she was not only a member of our pack but had a say in what happened in our lives.

We’d never sat down and had some heart-to-heart conversation about her place with us; to me, it had all felt natural, from the moment I’d laid eyes on her slumped in her wrecked car to the moment she’d agreed to stay with us. Although, I think in her mind, she’d thought we’d meant temporarily.

We hadn’t had a conversation with her, but the three of us – me, Enzo, and Cyrus – all agreed she belonged in our lives. And my packmates were falling as hard for her as I was. I was sure there were ways we could have won her over, some romantic gestures that would have helped her to see us as her alphas rather than alphas she lived with, but…none of us really had a clue what the fuck we were doing.

Even this whole courting thing with the omega was new to us. We’d wanted an omega, sure. Most packs of alphas wanted an omega in the mix. But we’d wanted things to be right, especially after bringing Issa into our lives. Whoever joined the family had to love her as much as we did. They had to accept her as much as they accepted us, cherish her the way she deserved.

“Now that we got that out of the way, would you prefer to stay at your own home during the process or with us? We have plenty of room. Don’t we, Issa?” Enzo said, turning a flirtatious smirk toward our beta and making her blush again.

Damn. We had seen her in nearly every state except sexual. We’d all seen her naked at one point or another, but none of us had yet to actually touch her. None of us had heard the sounds she would make while being pleasured nor how she would sound when she got off.

Oh, but I absolutely would hear those sounds the moment we got home and I was in my bedroom. And I had every intention of rubbing one off while watching the sexy ass beta fucked by the equally sexy omega right there on Cyrus’s desk.

CHAPTER 9

Issa

There was a part of me that had hoped Amir would agree to stay with us while the alphas…whilewecourted him. But I knew his time would end up being monopolized by the sexy as hell and dominant alphas.

But that also meant if I wanted to see the omega, I either had to get over my fear of leaving the house solo, or he would have to come here. And with him being here, we were right back to that very same problem. Unless he and I scheduled our home dates for when the alphas were away at work.

Amir was an omega. There was zero doubt about his designation, but he was far from some helpless damsel. Had that alpha continued to harass me after Amir had pretended to be my date, I knew he could have held his own in a fight. He wasn’t small, his body was rippling with muscle, and he carried so much power that it was physically palpable. Had I not caught his scent, I would have actually assumed he was like Ax, Enzo, and Cyrus.

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” Cyrus asked as we all walked through the kitchen after coming home from the club.

The cool thing about them owning The Vault was the fact they could hand the closing duties off to their employees. As they had tonight so they could get me home before four in the morning.

“I’m okay with it,” I assured him for the fourth time since we’d left through the employee entrance and climbed into the Land Rover.

“So…” Ax started as we headed up the stairs. “You and the omega on Cyrus’s desk.”

“Seriously, Ax?” I said, swatting at his hands as he ran a finger along the neckline of my dress. My face felt as though it would go into flames.

He held his hands up and followed me into my room instead of retreating to his own. In fact, all three of them had followed me in and were watching me with varying expressions on their stupidly good-looking faces.

“We’re just happy that you’re finally putting all that bullshit behind you. I, for one, was starting to wonder if you no longer had a measurable libido,” Ax said, flopping back onto my bed hard enough to bounce.

“For fuck’s sake,” Enzo said, but I’d noted the increase in his coppery scent. Any time he was in the mood, his signature went from the sweet, tangy scent to more of a burned, frayed wire smell. And I loved it. I wanted to bottle it so I could carry it with me. Or pour it on my bed and roll around in it until every inch of my body was covered in his essence.

Or the scents and release from all three of them.

What the hell was going on with me? The alcohol had left my system, leaving me tired, so I could no longer blame my wanton thoughts on the buzz.

“I have a libido, jerk,” I said, moving to the dresser and rifling through until I found my favorite tank top and shorts combo to change into for bed. But I needed to wash all this makeup off.

I should have probably showered, too, wash off the sweat fromdancing and…other activities. But I wasn’t quite ready to lose the sweetness that clung to me after my time with Amir.

“You could have told me it was a male omega,” I called through the open bathroom door as I pulled out my skin care products and started the process of not only removing the makeup and grime from the night but slathering my skin in oils and serums and moisturizers.

“And ruin the surprise?” Ax said from way too close.

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