Page 101 of Bound By Pain
“I’m glad you did it,” she admits. “I enjoy feeling you here.” One finger taps against the skin over my heart, a shy smile stretching over her face. My lips press to hers, pouring all my love into her mouth.
“Can’t promise I won’t be an asshole, but I’m in this forever. I’m yours, and you, my little brat, are mine.”
Bea hums. Eyes fluttering shut as her body relaxes. Sleep claims her before the rest of her mates have settled for the night. My beautiful, worn-out Omega.
A phone ringing wakes me as dawn crawls over the horizon. Shit, did we really sleep for eighteen hours?
Turning to my left, I see Bea has migrated across the bed to curl up between Orion and Ridley. Her slack jaw and messy hair make me smile. She’s so beautiful like this. Relaxed and at peace. Content.
Creed shifts down the bed and swipes the phone from the dresser, pressing it to his ear as he leaves the room. I stretch my arms, enjoying the burn in my limbs from a week of debauched sex with my mate, then follow him. Bea will want coffee when she wakes up.
“Yeah, thanks, Mr. Devore. I’ll head your way soon to check it out.”
I catch the last of Creed’s conversation as I make my way into the kitchen. His brows are furrowed, lips turned down as he stares out at the city.
“Everything good?”
His head slowly turns to the side to look at me, frown deepening. “I don’t know. That was the Devores. The family who took me in after my parents passed. Someone left a letter addressed to me on their porch.”
A sense of wrongness has an alarm blaring to life in my mind. If someone wanted to reach Creed, why would they hand-deliver a letter to an address he hasn’t called his own in over ten years?
“I’m going with you,” I tell him, setting aside the mug I was going to brew Bea’s coffee in. One of her other mates will have to take care of this task for her. My instincts are telling me not to let Creed go to his hometown alone.
Shiloh is awake when we poke our heads into Bea’s bedroom twenty minutes later. Our mate is still passed out, so we leave him a message to relay about our departure.
Leaving when her heat just ended, and we recently bonded, is difficult. My heart aches, and my skin crawls with the need to get back to her. Creed must feel the same, because his foot is pressed to the floor as soon as we hit the highway.
Three and a half hours later, we pull up to a quaint, white-sided family home. Lights decorate the roof, matching the blow-up holiday decor on the lawn.
I follow Creed to the front door, waiting on the steps while he knocks. An older Beta man answers, beaming when he sees who is outside.
“Creed! Come on in! It’s nice to see you!”
“Mr. Devore, this is my pack mate Lex Ferguson.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Lex. Would you boys like anything to drink?”
We both decline, letting him lead us to his dining room. He pads over to a buffet table he’s using for storage and returns with an envelope in his hands. “Here you go.” He passes it to Creed, who immediately flips it over and opens it.
We both watch as Creed’s face tightens with anger. Faintly through my bond with Bea, I can feel his rising aggression and pain. He shuts his bond down quickly, likely to spare our mate from worrying over his emotions.
“Thank you, Mr. Devore. I would love to stay to visit, but-”
The older man waves us off. “Go. Seems you have things to take care of. Come back soon, though. And bring your mate. Penelope would love to meet her.”
With a quick hug, Creed storms back to the car. He tosses the letter onto my lap as he shifts into gear and drives us out of the neighborhood. Scanning its contents, fury boils through me.
You can hide your pretty flower behind steel walls
But she isn’t the only way to hurt you.
I’ve had my eye on the clean-up efforts in Alabama.
There’s this little Beta who looks just like your flower.
It would be a shame if something happened to her.
Fucking hell. Marcus is targeting Bea’s parents.
