Page 32 of The Alpha: Part One
"I can feel you, too. You're going to feel Michael soon."
She purrs, reaching for him, and I stay right where I am. He can take her without me moving. I want her to stay between us, Michael won't mind. He likes having her between us as much as I do, whether we're fucking her or not.
"You want my mark, too, Des?" Michael quietly teases her. "Did it feel good when Benny bit you?"
"So good," she sighs. She hitches her leg over his hip. "Now you."
"Now me," he repeats, bending his head to kiss her. That's another thing I'm glad for. Desie still likes kisses when she's in heat. Amber doesn't. I'm not supposed to know that, but it's information Desie let slip when her brothers first claimed Amber and brought her home. Desie spent two weeks at our house doing not much more than going to school and bitching about the interruption in her routine and how offensive it was that Amber refused to let Mateo kiss her during her heat. I think she might kiss us extra purely on principle.
It isn't awkward to lay next to Desie while she's with Michael. It isn't awkward when I drag my fingertips down her spine or across her hip, and it isn't awkward when I grab her thigh to help give Michael more room when he finally thrusts inside her. If anything, it makes it better for her. She loves for us to touch her at the same time. I can help hold her steady while he pleasures her, and it isn't even a little uncomfortable.
"I'm going to put my mark on you, baby," Michael rasps. "Right above Benny's. And everyone will know you're ours. Everyone will see our bites. Everyone will know you belong to us."
Desie lets out a breathy moan and offers him her neck while she reaches back to dig her nails into my hip. I have a moment to wonder if I'll be able to feel Michael through my bond with her before her body rocks as he thrusts one last time before he places his bite above mine. Her body spasms and Michael's fingers tighten in her hair to keep his teeth from tearing her skin as she moves.
When he releases her, he meets my eyes over her shoulder. "I didn't know it would feel like this. I can feel you through her, more than the twins thing."
I just grin at him. I'm sure I look drunk. Maybe I am, but this is the most whole I've ever felt in my entire life.
Chapter sixteen
Desie
Even the bliss of coming out of my heat tucked between the twins with their fresh marks on my neck isn't enough to drown out the horrible emotions seeping in from the front of the house. I vaguely remember Michael and Ben talking about it when Seth got here and off and on while I was in the middle, but they didn't say anything that might have prepared me for this.
Something is very wrong with Seth. I hope he hasn't been like this the entire time. I'll never be able to live with myself if he's been in this amount of distress for however many days it's been. A few hours would be too much.
Michael stirs when I get up from the nest. There's blood in it. I've never had blood in my nest before, not even the first one. I know the reason it's there, and I'll never complain, not ever, but I don't think I like blood in my nest.
"Where are you going?" Michael whispers groggily.
"To check on Seth. Something's wrong."
He groans into one of the pillows. "Hang on a second. We'll come with you. Ben," he nudges his brother's shoulder, "come on. Desie needs to check on Seth."
They can drag their feet as much as they want, I'm not waiting. It's actually hurting me to stay in this room while Seth is in there in this much pain. I pull on the tank top I was wearing when I got here and grab a pair of panties from the dresser. That's all the clothes I'm willing to put on. I'm still too hot and sensitive to wear much more than that.
The sight that greets me when I emerge from the hall into the living room stops me mid-step. Seth is broken. He's sitting on the chair beside the front door hunched over his thighs, his elbows propped on his knees and his head held up by the grip his fists have on his hair. His eye is wide open, but he isn't seeing anything but the floor; and his breaths are coming much too rapidly. His normal scent is buried under layers of what feels like horror and regret. His mouth is moving, but I can't make out what he's saying. The only word I can understand issorry, and he whispers it sporadically and frequently.
The twins come up behind me, each putting a hand on my waist. "How long has he been like this?" I ask them.
Michael answers. "He wasn't this bad last night when I checked on him. He wasn't great, but he said he wasn't leaving until it was over. He hasn't been like this or I would have got him out of here."
"What's wrong with him? Did he say anything before?"
"No," Ben says. "We just knew he didn't want to come in, but then those cars drove by and he wouldn't leave from by the door. All he said was to take care of you, and that he'd be fine."
Fine. Nobody who has ever said they were fine was fine. Nobody. Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, emotional, maybe, but never, ever fine.
I take a step into the living room, but Michael grabs my shirt, keeping me from going farther. "Desie."
"Let go, Michael. He needs help." He lets me go, but worry and frustration trickle through my new bond with him. That brings a smile regardless of the situation in front of me. I've wanted a bond with him and Ben for so long, I can't help the little jolt of joy that comes with feeling something through it.
The closer I get to where Seth is sitting, the deeper the feel and scent of sorrow becomes. I move slowly, I want to give him plenty of time and opportunity to recognise that I'm coming. But he doesn't move. Not even when I'm standing right in front of him, my toes almost in-line with his.
"Seth," I say softly, like I'm trying to coax a terrified, wild animal.
He doesn't answer, his only response is to move his lips faster.
