Page 23 of Deadly Ties

Arben gives me one of those gentle smiles he reserves just for me, and then he’s pulling a soft blanket across us. We don’t get undressed; I’m too tired and he’s still on guard. But we sink into a kind of half-sleep until there’s a shout from across the hall. I want to spring up and run to the door, but Arben grips the back of my neck. “Give them a moment,” he says. “They might just be… working out their tension.”

I close my mouth with a snap. He means fucking, but he’s too worried about my feelings to say it. “It didn’t sound like a happy yell.”

He gives another low, dark laugh. “There are lots of different ways to turn tension into pleasure, my love.”

I just cock a brow at him, even though my perfume is a dead giveaway to where my thoughts have strayed. “I still think we should go check on them…”

But before I can coax him off the bed, there’s another angry shout from the hallway and our bedroom door flies open.

Kelly is stark naked and dripping wet, although he’s got a pair of ragged shorts pressed to his groin. His chest is heaving, every rib and muscle on stark display. “They just told me everything!” Shaking his head, he storms further into our room, kicking the door shut behind him. “Stupid assholes,” he fumes, grabbing his hair with a hand and tugging as he paces at the end of our bed. I try not to ogle his rock-hard ass, especially because when he looks at me, his eyes are bright with shame. “Shit, I’m so sorry, Angel. About your mom, and your heat, and the auction house. And dragging you into that whole bullshit plan they cooked up to get me back.”

“Oh.” I look at Arben, who’s up on an elbow and watching us both with a gleam in his eyes. The omega in me wants to soothe the problem away, to tell Kelly all is forgiven. But maybe it’s because of that instinct we end up dealing with this shit in the first place. We need to remind the jerks of the world that messing with us has repercussions. “I won’t say I’m okay about it, Kelly, because I’m still working on that. But I want you to know I don’t hold you responsible in any way.”

The bond hums with Arben’s approval, but Kelly huffs and starts picking at the edge of his bond mark. I notice it’s red and a little inflamed, like he’s been scratching at it for a while. “Well, you should! You went into that shithole of a basement and risked your neck to get me out. How many people would do that? Not many! And after the way my pack of wankers treated you, I don’t know why you bothered.”

He’s gnawing on his lip and looks close to falling over, even while he keeps up his angry pacing. But it’s the lost look in his eyes that gets me the most. How would it feel to finally get back to your mates, only to find they’re tangled up with another omega? “We didn’t do it for them, Kelly. Arben has been looking for you for a while, and we went to that party because he’d narrowed it down to Crouch. Knowing your pack wasn’t why we went there. And I still would have done it even if I’d never heard your name before. Omegas have to stick together.”

He hums at that, some of the tension draining from his shoulders. But he sends Arben an uneasy glance before he asks me, “Would it be okay if I stay in here? I mean, I’ll just sleep on the carpet. I’m fucking knackered, but if I go back into that room with those knobheads…”

I bite my lip, not totally hating that Kelly is angry at his mates. But all this stress can’t be good for his healing, so I wave him towards us. His eyes are still locked on Arben, but then my mate drops a kiss on my head and climbs off the bed. “I need to go check in with Lucas and see if there’s any blowback from tonight.” He gives Kelly one of his bossy looks. “You both need to sleep, so lie down before you fall down.”

He doesn’t wait for Kelly to respond, leaving the room with a faint, amused hum down the bond. I would roll my eyes at him if he was around to see it, but instead, I scooch over to his side of the bed. Kelly immediately crawls up beside me, but it’s only then he seems to notice he’s dripping wet and mostly naked. “Crap. You must think I’m a complete savage.”

I just smile and go into the bathroom, coming back with a towel and tossing it to him. There’s a bureau full of clothes for the visiting omegas, and I pull out a soft white tee and some sleep shorts. I go to fill some water glasses while he changes, trying not to notice how they hug him like a second skin as I climb back into bed. My mate’s scent swirls around me as we both get settled, and I wince. If being near Arben is making him uncomfortable, there are plenty of other bedrooms he could use, but Ilikehim being here… “I know you have history with Arben from the Tower, but he’s done a lot of good for omegas, too. I mean, just don’t believe all the horror stories, okay?”

He gets comfy on the pillow, his face turned my way. It’s a big bed, but we’re only a foot apart, and I can smell his minty breath and coconut shampoo. His long, golden-red hair is starting to dry, and I think of the photograph in Cam’s loft, back when Kelly was still a mystery girl to me. It had looked silky soft and full of sunlight in that picture, and my fingers had itched to touch it. Seeing it spread on my pillow – and attached to a guy I fantasized about for years – is definitely surreal.

“Yeah, Cam and Rory said the same thing,” he surprises me by saying, tracing the broken skin of his bottom lip. I follow the sweep of his thumb, almost hypnotized, until his mouth curves into a grin. “They also told me the four of you were together for your heat.”

“Oh.” I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling, my cheeks suddenly burning. Here I amoglinghim, and he’s thinking about me fucking his guys. “I’m sorry you didn’t get a say in that, Kelly. I mean, it was just a convenience thing, but it still must have hurt to hear about it.”

Instead of agreeing, he snorts, like I’m way off base. “Ah, the only jealousy I feel is because I wasn’t there, too, Angel.”

I roll my head and gape at him. “Really?”

“Of course.” He’s still playing with his lip, but now he taps it, his gaze curious. “Although, I’m still trying to wrap my head around Arben Marku being in the mix. I mean, he’s hot as hell. But he’s also… kinda terrifying. What’s it like being his mate?”

I shouldn’t be surprised by the question, but I am. I guess I just can’t see Arben that way anymore, especially now we share so much of ourselves through the bond. I can see the real man behind the reputation – his emotions, his reactions, and even what he thinks sometimes, raw and unfiltered. He doesn’t try to hide anything from me and I appreciate that more than I can say. Not that I have to find the words, since he has exactly the same window into my soul. “Well, it’s still really new, but we’ve known each other for a while. He was my first, and even though the circumstances weren’t great, he took really good care of me. I didn’t see him much afterwards, but I thought about him all the time.” I try not to remember lying on my dorm bed at boarding school, pining for Arben and staring at the picture of Kelly on the wall. “Um. I guess now… we fit together. It just feels right.”

Shadows flit through Kelly’s whiskey eyes, but then he props himself up on an elbow and gives me a slight smile. It’s not like the one from his picture; it’s tired and a little strained, like he’s out of practice. But it’s still Kellman Prior. And he’s smiling atme. “I guess that makes sense. I’ve seen you shift, gut a bastard, and carry my weak ass through the woods, after all. You’re one badass omega.”

I try not to preen too much, but his approval still makes me giddy. And it’s been a long time since anyone other than my mom or Arben gave me a compliment I could take to heart. “Thanks. But this is kind of a new thing. It took me a while to remember omegas have claws, too.”

“Yeah,” he murmurs, his gaze growing distant as he swipes his thumb over his torn bottom lip. “You’re right. And that’s something I’m gonna have to work on. The guys… well, before I was sold to that wanker Crouch, I was never really the center of our pack. Sometimes I don’t think they even remember I’m an omega.”

That lost look is back, and I don’t like it at all. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I grew up thinking I was an alpha. When my dad shipped me out here, I was pissed at the world, hating the way other guys – bastards just like me – could now control me with an alpha command. Rory, Cam, and Link were wild kids, savages who’d grown up fighting for their lives. I thought they were thugs, and they thought I was a cocky shit who didn’t know his place. Those first years together were brutal, until one day we just decided to be friends.” He stops playing with his lip and huffs out a breath. “Well, friends who like to fuck, in the case of Link and me. Rory and Cam help me out sometimes, but that’s what it feels like. Help.”

Help? The word sounds bitter, and I wonder if he means tending, like alphas seeing female omegas through their heat. I don’t know how to ask without making it even more awkward, but clearly, biology is a bitch, no matter your gender. “I don’t really know many male omegas…” I tell him. “In fact, you’re my first.”

He pulls a rueful face. “Not to freak you out, given our current circumstances, but there’s only one thing to know about male omegas. We’re one hundred percent, twenty-four-seven, horny as a fucking demon army.” My eyes must pop wide because he laughs. “Yep, the slightest thing makes us want to fuck. There’s no need for a sex heat, because we’re down to go all the damn time. Brush up against something soft?Hard.Fingers grip my arm while we’re mucking around with a football.Pre-cum. Link cocks one of those silky eyebrows at me like a wanker.I’m on my knees.” He’s still smirking, but now it definitely has a bitter edge. “I’m basically a dick with a heartbeat. It’s why when we go into our version of a heat, we get so violent. I mean, we have a predator inside us, right? I think our wolves try to make up for how weak and out of control we feel the rest of the time.”

I reach out and grab his hand, giving it a tight squeeze. “I’m sorry it’s like that for you. But I get it. There are plenty of alphas who just see female omegas as a thing to knot and breed.”

“Yeah, but they forgot about the badass claws,” he says softly, running his fingers over the tips of mine. It sends a shiver through me, especially when I see the warmth in his gaze. I can’t quite believe this is Kellman Prior playing with my hand and looking at me with stars in his eyes. The guy belongs in magazines – and on dorm room walls – but instead, he’s here in bed withme.

I’m fangirling big time. I know it, but I can’t seem to stop myself. It’s like having a dream about your celebrity crush, then waking up next to them in bed…

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