Page 84 of Big Knot Energy (Shadowverse)

And we still had a few more days to go before any of us would be able to rest.

CHAPTER 30

Enzo

Irested against the side of the garden tub, Amir’s back against my chest and his head laid on my shoulder. Cyrus was currently rubbing our omega’s feet while Ax held Issa straddled around his lap, her cheek on his shoulder, his arms locked around her waist.

When my brother had made the decision to kidnap the omega princess of Pack Alvarez, I’d thought he was fucking crazy. Not only was he poking a hornet’s nest, but having an omega in your home, in your pack, changed everything. It didn’t matter how often he’d tried to convince me – or himself – that it had been nothing more than business, that the four of them had had no desire to add an omega to their pack, I’d known better. I’d watched as each of them had fallen in love with Issa’s youngest – and only – sister.

Bain’s life might have changed because of that one choice, the decision to kidnap the only omega child of the elder – and nowdead– Alvarez alphas, but my life had been irrevocably altered, as well.Because their bond with Corazon had brought Isabelle into our lives, even if it wasn’t the greatest start of our relationship.

I’d felt a shift in my chest, in my very being at the first sight of her. We’d all convinced her to stay with us until she could get back on her feet, build a life away from that piece of shit alpha who’d disappeared at the first sign of danger, and to let us keep her safe.

Little did any of us know how profoundly her mere presence would alter everything we thought we knew about life, about ourselves, about our pack.

An omega was often the heart of any pack, the center of which every member gravitated toward…except our pack.

Issa was our heart. Issa was our center. Even when one of us had been knot deep inside Amir during his cycle, he’d whined and keened and begged for Issa if she so much as stepped into the bathroom to relieve her bladder.

Tilting my chin down, I smiled at the slack expression on Amir’s face, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. He’d fallen asleep in the warm bubble bath. We’d all piled into the shower first to rid ourselves of days’ worth of cum, slick, sweat, and general body oils, but then had promptly climbed into the tub to let our muscles and joints soak in the heat and steam.

Five days. We’d been locked in that nest for five fucking days. All of us were fairly dehydrated and hadn’t actually had a full meal since the morning before we’d headed for supplies for the nest. Issa had made sure to keep the room stocked with bottled water and snacks, forcing all of us to eat between cycles, holding water bottles to Amir’s lips even when he was lost to his hindbrain and being knotted.

If it weren’t for our sweet beta…

Fuck, she was amazing. Perfect. How anyone could have ever looked at her and seen anything other was a complete and utter mystery to me. How any fucker could look into her beautiful honey brown eyes and intentionally hurt her…that shit sent rage singeing through my veins.

Cyrus and Ax both frowned in my direction as my scent took on that bitter, burned wire smell.

I had to keep my shit in check. There was no reason to dwell on the past. I couldn’t change it for her.

But I would absolutely beat the ever-living fuck out of Antonio if we ever saw him again.

Dude was smart – he’d taken off and stayed off the radar since Issa had shown up at Enzo’s pack’s estate. Almost like he’d known she was officially under our protection.

Or maybe he knew Enzo’s pack planned to end the lives of Cora’s and Issa’s fathers, therefore, there was no longer any reason to stay tied to the beta.

Rubbing my cheek against Amir’s temple, I stared at Issa’s long dark hair hanging in wet tendrils down her back. Either she was asleep, as well, or just seriously comfortable, because the only movement I’d seen from her in the last ten minutes was the soft rise and fall from her deep breaths.

“Grocery delivery or junk food?” Cyrus asked as he gently moved away from Amir, barely disturbing the bubbles, and leaned against Ax’s side. His eyes lowered to Issa’s face and a soft smile tugged up his lips.

“I love you,” she whispered, and Cyrus’s eyes widened the slightest bit before his soft smile grew into a full-blown grin.

“I love you, too,” he whispered back, shifting over a little to press a kiss to her temple before rubbing the underside of his chin along her face to leave his scent.

“Junk food,” she muttered a little louder. “But ask Amir. He might need something– "

“Junk food,” Amir said, his voice little more than a hoarse croak from all the whimpering, whining, begging, and screaming. “Soda. Some sweets.”

My chest shook as I chuckled, then wrapped my arms around his chest and nuzzled his cheek and throat before pressing a kiss to the mark I’d left on the side of his throat, earning a shiver from my sexy omega.

His nipples pebbled where they peeked out just above the waterline, the dark, sienna buds making my mouth water with the urge to flick them with my tongue and nibble them with my teeth.

No matter how hard I fought it, and even after exhausting ourselves over the past few days, my dick instantly hardened and twitched against his back.

His wet curls trailed over my chest as he turned his head to look into my face. “I’m trying to relax and you’re tempting me with more cock. I thoughtIwas the one who was supposed to be sex crazed this week.”

Issa turned her head and smiled at us over her shoulder. “I thought Amir was supposed to be for me,” she teased.

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