Page 85 of Ruled By The Alpha

Chapter 7

Imogen

The heat was slow to release us. We slept in bouts, ate, and drank little, only to answer the urgent demands of our altered biology time and again. Finally, we fell into an exhausted heap, and when I woke, I knew it was over.

Cooper helped me bathe while Rowan and Aiden showered and refreshed the bedding.

We were still buzzing. Not heat, just a low, burning need to be close and touch one another.

We curled up together in the clean nest, where I admired the bites and scratches of possession I left on their skin. The faint nick on Rowan's throat where I had pressed my knife also drew my eye. "You knew I had a knife," I admonished.

He chuckled. "You had a reputation for taking on males much larger than you. I assumed that you would. Hanson wasn't happy with my decision not to check you. How many did you carry? Just the one?"

"She has six," Aiden said. "She threatened to castrate me the day we met. Then she got on her knees and sucked my cock… with a blade against my balls." He shuddered. "Leaves a lasting impression on a male. Pretty sure I loved her then and there. Imogen is a unique omega."

"She has seven," Cooper said confidently.

"Neither of you have a clue how many knives she has," Rowan said. He was right. They must not know, since I actually had eight.

"And you do?" Aiden challenged.

"I don't." Rowan grinned. Tucking me between Cooper and Aiden, he shifted out of the nest and snagged a bottle of water. He offered it to me, and when I shook my head, he gulped the contents down.

I watched him, my eyes greedy for the image of the powerful male that was now mine, of the missing piece that completed us and who had provided the catalyst for me to be claimed at last. The things I'd watch him do with Aiden, and to a lesser extent Cooper, spoke of the deep bond that existed not just between my mates and me, but between the three of them.

It felt good to share, andright.

"And I'm fine with that," Rowan continued. Lowering the bottle, he winked at me. "Leave the omega her secrets. If we piss her off, we deserve the consequence."

I chuckled, but it faded because I could think of one reason that made me itch enough to press my blade against his flesh and demand answers. "Rebecca?"

The bond pulled painfully between us before Rowan carefully forced calm into place. "An omega we were with but not mated to," he said, returning to the nest and slotting in behind Aiden.

I pressed my nose into Cooper's chest and drew in his comforting scent.

Aiden pressed in closer behind me, seeming to know I needed the connection. "It was a long time ago, baby," he said, brushing his lips over the claiming mark. "We were young and stupid. We should have claimed her, but we didn't and another alpha took her. When we found her, she was pregnant with his child."

My heart broke, feeling the muted emotions through the bond, but I also felt a lick of jealousy that made me want to bite and scratch my mates to remind them they were mine. "Did she… did she want to be with you?" I felt nothing through the bond to suggest they still cared for her, but my emotions roiled.

Rowan's hand at the back of my neck, directing my mouth to the claiming mark I'd made on Cooper's chest, had a predictable effect. I bit him hard.

"Little savage," Cooper grumbled. "Going to get yourself knotted, biting me like that."

"I'd say she wants and needs it," Rowan said casually as his strong fingers left the back of my neck.

I glared at him over my shoulder because fucking wasn’t the answer to everything. His face softened, and then he smirked before swiping a thumb over my lips and showing me Cooper’s blood.

"Don't you feel it," he said, and I watched his hand glide down Aiden's chest, breath catching as he fisted the other alpha's fat cock and slowly jacked his hand up and down. "You’re ours, and we’re yours, and each others’ wholly, in a way that cannot be broken. We found her, she was happy, and we recognized we were following a lost dream. It became difficult between us, and we went our separate ways."

Aiden growled softly as Rowan continued to tease him, hips jerking as he thrust his cock into the other alpha's hand.

"That's why you separated," I surmised, but I was only half paying attention now, arching against Cooper, my eyes locked on the plum-colored head of Aiden's cock, mesmerized by how roughly Rowan handled him. The grunts pouring from Aiden's lips told me Rowan was doing it just right.

"Fuck," Aiden grunted.

"Get your lips around him, Imogen," Cooper commanded. "Aiden's going to come, and you're going to suck it all down like the greedy omega slut you are."

He tumbled me over onto my hands and knees, and I all but fell onto Aiden's cock.