Page 157 of Feral Alphas

I reach for him and cup his face between my hands. “I love you, Kye Nesters. You’re going to be great.”

He leans in to kiss me and I giggle as I wipe red lipstick off the corner of his mouth. Luka claps him on the shoulder and Colt pullshim in for a hug and whispers something in his ear, fingers massaging across the mate bond hidden under his jacket sleeve.

Zane grips the armrests with trembling fingers, so I drop onto his lap and his hands come around my waist. Luka and Colt pull their chairs closer, shutting him in with safety. “Is it too much, Zane?” I ask.

He dips his nose into the curve of my neck, bared from my one-sleeved dress. “No, Roz. I go anywhere you are.”

I kiss him, my love spilling out as I tell him how proud of him I am.

He murmurs against me, then adds, “This feels like the nest.” His lips turn up in a cheeky smile under my kisses.

I lean back and raise my brows. “Don’t give me naughty ideas.”

His shoulders quiver with laughter. A year of love and patience has transformed him, or rather it’s given opportunity for the tender man who was buried within to surface. He’s a real cuddle bear these days.

Uno, not so much. He doesn’t speak, and he doesn’t look anyone but me and Colt in the eye. I don’t think he’ll ever come out in public; some wounds run too deep. I miss him already, but Liam’s at the house keeping him company so he won’t be too lonely. Liam’s basically part of the furniture by now.

The house lights dim and the crowd settles. A moment later, the master of ceremonies gets up to announce the show’s start. Neither Colt nor Kye wanted to do the task, so they approached the local music association and it turns out people trip over their feet to be involved with anything to do with Rephnelium Nesters. The memorial concerts have sold out in every state, meaning Kye has a busy year ahead.

He lost his apartment to his father’s lawsuit, but he took a teaching job at the local conservatorium and didn’t look back. He hasn’t had time, between teaching, finishing the Rephnelium compositions, planning and rehearsing for this tour, and keeping his needy omega satisfied. Oh, and acting on his obsession with Luka which he shyly admitted to during my superheat. Thinking about the two of them together is enough to make my slick run.

I shift on Zane’s lap, hoping that the faint flush of warmth and ache I feel turns into a regular heat, not one that will consume our lives for three weeks. I think I’ll need to take the emergency heat delay medicine I smuggled into my purse—but for the first time in my life, it will be my own choice. The feral alphas aren’t the only ones who’ve come a long way since Colt freed us from the Grom Kennels.

I snap alert as the MC introduces Kye, and the curtains slide open. Poised and calm, he stands at the front of the stage before bowing, indicating the orchestra and then taking his seat. His strong arm lifts with that practiced grace, and the conductor behind him begins, the melding of instruments falling over a hushed, expectant crowd.

Then his bow falls.

We’ve heard the memorial piece practiced at home many times, but here in this regal setting with the orchestra accompaniment, it’s elevated to something heavenly that shoots straight to my DNA and makes the hair on my arms stand on end.

I sink back against Zane’s chest, rocking side to side along with Kye’s faint movements as he makes love to his instrument by caressing the song out of the strings, vibrating them like soft growls and nesting it between his legs like a lover.

Then he looks up at our box and smiles, white teeth flashing in his dark face, and everything else in the building fades away. Kye Romdine Nesters was born to play music, and he was born to be mine.

The melodies still sing in my heart hours later as we drive through the rain-flecked streets, my body quivering with the first hot flushes of heat. But instead of heading to the outskirts of town, the driver takes our rented limousine into the city.

“Where are we going?” I ask, pressing a hand to my pulsing throat.

“You’ll see,” Colt replies with a smirk. A few minutes later, the car slows, and he points out the window.

I lean across Luka’s lap and gasp. The huge billboard above the main CBD intersection carries an advertisement for my soon-to-be-released scent. The magenta-hued image shows part of my face as I look back over my shoulder, all shadowed. Rose petals and smoke wrap around me. The bottle of pink perfume with the label I designed sits underneath it, my brand in beautiful white lettering:Up, She Rose.

“I guess I photograph not so bad,” I murmur, staring at the billboard no one in the entire city could miss seeing. I laughed during the photoshoot, thinking it was all too silly, but what they’ve captured is a serious moment turned sensuous between the smoke, my exposed shoulder, and the tamed locks of my hair.

The men snort in amusement. “That’s putting it lightly, Rosie,” Colt says with a growl. “You’re irresistible, in photos and in person.”

I look at the giant 2D bottle of scent and smile. “So long as it helps the alphas.” The truth is, with only a few pre-samples out on the market, we already have a waiting list requiring a years’ worth of heats to fulfil.

“Let’s auction off the next batch,” I suggest, leaning back against the leather seats.

“Not a bad idea,” Colt murmurs. “Who knew you were such a businesswoman?”

I smile, my eyes sliding closed. “Better get the syringe out then, Luka.”

Their presences all sharpen, and I don’t have to see them to know they’re all staring at me. Luka taught me a little about how he suppresses his scent, and I think it’s working. It also helps I absolutely marked myself with all their scents before we left.

Colt groans. “Shit, are you saying what I think you’re saying, Rosie?”

I pluck at my dress, feeling too hot. “I think you better take me home now.” I flop my head over and reach for Luka’s hand, flashing him a conspiratorial wink. “You’ll have to tell your viewers there’ll be a delay.”

---