Page 18 of The Omega Trials: Part Two

“I’m proud of you,” I admit almost bashfully before giving in to the burning desire to kiss him. His skilled mouth consumes me with even the lightest pressure, his tongue gently parting the seam of my lips.

I tangle my fingers deeper into his hair. I could just melt into him—

“I suppose congratulations are in order.” Yves’s snobby voice is worse than nails on a chalkboard, dousing the moment with ice water.

“What do you want, Cyan?” Ecker growls, clearly annoyed at the interruption, his erection already digging into my bottom.

“Like I said, to congratulate you three.” None of us respond, knowing there’s a punch line coming. “Though, I’m surprised you fought so hard to get that gutter rat back.”Aaand there it is.

Bishop’s on his feet in less than a second, and I hold Ecker back with a hand on his arm, his grip on the chair whitening.

“You want to say that again?” Bishop snarls in a clear threat, and I get a small thrill when Yves can’t help but flinch back the smallest bit.

“I’m just saying, seemed like a good opportunity.”

“Yeah? A good opportunity for what?” Titus slowly stands, flexing the inches he has on the tallest Cyan alpha.

Stefan swallows then says with a forced laugh, “Oh, you know.” I can see regret and the desire to backpedal wheel in his eyes.

“No. I don’t.” Titus’s cold, flat voice feels like the sharpening of a blade, the readying to fight. “Why don’t you spell it out for me?”

“Having someone else take out the trash for you,” Yves spits out.

Bishop steps up, shoulder to shoulder with Titus, and flicks his chin at Merigold standing behind them. I notice the bruise on her cheekbone and slightly swollen eye when she tries to cover it with her long hair. “At least we can keep our omega safe.”

“A bad protector and a sore loser.” I feign a mocking wince and tsk. “Not a good look, Yves.”

He snarls in response. “If you were my omega—”

“But she isn’t, is she?” Ecker cuts him off with a taunting drawl. “She’sours,” he says in a velvety purr, then lasciviously drags his tongue over Bishop’s claiming mark on my neck, making my eyelids grow heavy and my stomach sink with want.

I resist the urge to shut everyone out and fall into his heated touch, giving Yves one last sickly sweet smile. “I’d rather be gutter trash than your omega any day.”

The need for retaliation flares in his eyes and his jaw ticks, but one of his fellow alphas grabs his shoulder. “They’re not worth ruining the night over.” He urges him back.

Reluctantly, Yves allows his brother to turn him around. I catch a flitting smirk on Titus’s face as they walk away, and he sits back down.

“Having fun, Titty?” I ask coyly, leaning back into Ecker’s chest. His partial smile quickly fades as he looks up at me. “You seem to be enjoying yourself more than last time.”

“Yeah,” he says, just as dry and flat as usual. “It’s a fucking riot.”

Then he lifts the empty beer bottle and pretends to take a swig to cover the undeniable crack of a smile on his lips.

Chapter 7

Spilling Blood

Ecker

Bishop and I stumbled upon the old blacksmith shop on a run. Tucked behind the decommissioned horse stables on the Estate, the forge was full of the junk when we found it. But I’ve spent the last few days clearing out broken lawn equipment, wood pallets, and various other garbage. I gathered firewood by stealing from the piles in the Estate’s many salons and dens that no one uses.

Now, the shop is back to its former glory with glowing coals in the forge fire, anvils dusted off, and a row of hammers and tongs neatly lined up and ready for use.

Hell, I even swept the damn thing—anything for my girl.

Who, right now, is standing outside the barn doors of the shop with a blindfold on.

“Is that smoke?” she asks, her nose wiggling as she tries to suss out our location. “Is something on fire? Is it supposed to be on fire?”

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