Vengeful Bonds, page 8
“So, omegas only, huh?” Seth laughed.
Fen shrugged. “It seemed better than telling him that Ollie’s at a ten and might spontaneously combust if we don’t talk him off a ledge immediately,” Fen admitted. “You know how they gossip. Loch will tell Binnie and Binnie will accidentally blab it to Deke and then Deke will be the one on the ledge. Yet, we’re the ones who are dramatic.”
Seth nodded. He’d seen Ollie’s impending meltdown from a mile away. They both had. Omegas really could communicate through chemo signals, even if the omega in question didn’t know they were doing it. Ollie’s signals had been flashing big, red warning lights.
Fen glanced at the door. “Mm. Shouldn’t he be here by now? He’s the one who asked for this…meeting.”
“He’s probably trying to extricate himself from one very needy baby alpha,” Seth said, flopping back on the pillows.
They both startled as the door flew open and Ollie swept inside, closing the door behind him and leaning against it as if he was being chased. Wolf opened his eyes and glowered at him for disturbing his nap, then closed his eyes, dismissing him once more.”
“Who ya running from?” Fen asked around a handful of M&Ms.
Ollie sighed deeply, giving him a baleful look. “Guess.”
“Deke being extra clingy?” Fen asked, beckoning Ollie into the nest. He sighed again, then crawled carefully onto the mattress, flopping onto his back between the two.
Seth gently rested his hand on Ollie’s belly. “That’s ‘cause he thinks you’ve got his baby in there. He’s newly presented and newly mated and found out he may be some kind of mythological creature who gender swapped the love of his life. That’s a lot for any alpha.”
Ollie looked at him, expression pained. “I know. Believe me, I know. I am not mad at him. I don’t blame him…like at all. He couldn’t have known this would happen. Nobody could have predicted this. Literally nobody.”
“But?” Fen prompted.
Ollie shook his head. “But…I don’t think I can do this.”
“This?” Seth parroted.
“This,” Ollie said, waving a vague hand around. “I can’t be an omega. I can’t have a baby. Oh, my God. I can’t even believe those words just left my mouth. A baby? Me? Do you know how many plants I’ve murdered in my life through sheer neglect? Succulents, even. They barely need anything and I still managed to kill them. How am I supposed to keep a whole ass baby alive? A teeny tiny creature that has to rely on me—Me!—for its survival. That’s insane. The universe made me a beta for a reason.”
Seth exchanged a look with Fen before saying, “Ollie—”
Ollie cut him off. “I can’t do this. I need a plan. That’s what I do. I plan. I am the one everyone turns to because I always have the answer. I always know the fastest, smartest, most efficient way to do everything.”
“Ollie,” Fen interjected.
Ollie shook his head, too far gone to hear anyone but himself. “I can’t plan for this. My body wasn’t made for this. I wasn’t made to birth a baby. I can’t make a plan without knowing where it will lead, and every road leads to horrible things. Best case scenario, I give birth in a hospital and they turn my child and my mate into lab rats. Worst case scenario, I give birth here and die from some unforeseen complication because—as previously stated—my body wasn’t made for this.”
By the time he finished, he was breathing hard, his eyes a little wild. Seth’s heart ached for him. He and Fen curled around him.
“Feel better?” Seth asked.
Ollie huffed. “A little, yeah.”
“Have a gummy bear,” Fen said, setting the bag on Ollie’s tummy before dropping one into his open mouth.
Ollie chewed thoughtfully. “I’m…scared.”
That was an understatement. The panic rolling off Ollie was thick and cloying; it filled the room and raised Seth’s heart rate just by association.
“Who wouldn’t be?” Fen asked.
Seth nodded. “That’s totally normal. Even without all the gender stuff. If I found out I was pregnant, even as a plain ol’ omega, I would be freaking out. And I want a baby.”
Same,” Fen said, painstakingly deconstructing a new Twizzler, coiling each piece into his mouth one at a time. “Having a baby is scary as fuck, bro. It’s totally okay to freak out. “
Ollie was shaking his head before Fen even stopped speaking. “But that’s just it. I don’t freak out. I’m the calm one. That’s my role as a beta. That’s my role as Deke’s mate. It’s my whole personality.”
Seth thought about interrupting, but then decided against it. Ollie needed to get this off his chest.
Once more, the former beta’s voice grew panicked. “I can’t afford to have a breakdown. I have to keep being the calm, stable one because the barely legal alpha I mated with in some sex-crazed rut is having his own downward spiral. We can’t both freak out at the same time. Someone has to drive this struggle bus.” He looked at each of them, his voice an octave higher as he shouted, “And he doesn’t even know how to drive!”
All three of them fell silent, his words lingering in the air for a full minute before Seth tried and failed to stifle a laugh. “Does Deke know how to drive?” he pondered.
Ollie and Fen joined in, just a little at first. But the more they looked at each other, the harder they laughed until it was so contagious they were tearing up. They couldn’t seem to stop. Each time one would get it under control, another would start up again.
By the time they managed to stop the feedback loop of their laughter, Seth’s ribs hurt. Of course, that could have been from the tickling he’d received from his alpha prior to their little meeting. He flushed, receiving a knowing look from Fen.
They laid there, sucking in much-needed breaths until Seth realized Ollie was actually crying. At first, they were just slow tears leaking from his eyes into his hairline, but soon, he was fighting back full-on sobs.
Ollie covered his face, skin hot. “Ugh, what is wrong with me? Why is this happening? I’m not a crier. Why is my body betraying me like this?”
Fen stroked Ollie’s sweaty hair from his forehead. “Breathe.”
“You can cry if you want to,” Seth said, tugging Ollie’s hands from his face. “But your heart rate is through the roof. You need to just take a couple of deep breaths. This stress isn’t good for you or the baby…if there is one,” Seth tacked on quickly, bringing his wrist to Ollie’s nose.
Ollie took in deep gulping breaths of Seth’s scent. After a minute, he took his hand back and let Fen press his wrist to Ollie’s nose. They took turns until Ollie’s heartbeat was slow and steady. He still looked a little chalky for Seth’s peace of mind but it was a start.
Fen fed Ollie a handful of gummy bears and half a bag of M&Ms before he carefully said, “If you are pregnant…there are ways to…make it go away. Ways that don’t leave a paper trail. Herbs, natural remedies.” Seth’s startled gaze jerked to Fen. “What? He has a right to know his options.”
Fen was right. It had just never occurred to him that Ollie might not want to go through with it, even though it most definitely should have. In his position, Seth had no idea what decision he might make. There were so many extenuating circumstances.
Seth nodded. “If that’s what you wanted, we could help. Deke understands the danger…the risk to you and the baby if you go through with it. He’d understand this. He’d understand your decision. He loved you the second he saw you. He still can’t believe you let him claim you. None of us can, really.”
“It’s true. He thinks he won the lottery, “ Fen agreed. He took a deep breath and let it out, snuggling closer. “We will back you. It’s your body. I can see not wanting to risk your life like that.”
Ollie’s hand floated to his stomach. “I…” he started, then drifted off, swallowing audibly. “I don’t want him to become some monster’s science project,” Ollie said. “He’d be so little. So helpless. ” His face crumpled, tears welling once more. “The idea of anyone hurting him…it makes me sick. Like I want to puke until there’s nothing left. Deke and I can take whatever they do to us but he—or she—would be a baby. But would some lab even see them that way? Would they care if they were hurting or hungry or scared?”
Seth’s own tears spilled over. “We will never let anyone take him…or her…away from us. Ever.”
Fen nodded, his voice thick. “Yeah, Binnie is loaded. We can run if we have to. To the other side of the world if necessary. As a pack. I can create a whole new identity for you, one where the world thinks you were born an omega.”
Seth’s eyes went wide and he jerked into a sitting position, wiping his tears. “Wait. Say that again.”
Fen frowned. “Uh, which part?”
How could he have not thought of this earlier? How could Fen have not thought of this earlier? He was supposed to be the smart one. “The new identity part.”
“What about it?” Fen asked.
Seth widened his eyes at him, waiting for him to follow the same trail of logic Seth had so he could come to the same conclusion. “You’re a hacker…” he said slowly.
Fen’s brows came together. “ I’m aware?” he countered, equally slow.
Seth sighed. “How does anyone know our secondary genders?”
“The DNA test they give us after presentation,” Fen answered.
“Right. And if anyone wants to know our secondary gender, where do they look?” Seth asked.
“The National Registry,” Fen said, still looking lost.
“Oh, my God, Fenny,” Seth groaned, exasperated. “Just hack the National Registry and change Ollie’s secondary gender results.”
“Oh.” Fen’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Oh, right. Yeah, I could probably do that.”
Ollie’s eyes brightened briefly, then dulled. “Yeah, but that’s not the only place my secondary gender is documented. It’s on my military records, my driver’s license.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “Okay, well A. an obstetrician won’t look further than the registry, and 2. your military records could be chalked up to a clerical error.”
“Except, omegas can’t join the military,” Ollie reminded.
“Stop poking holes in my theory. We’re not really trying to change your whole identity. We’re trying to get you to a doctor who won’t report you and our baby,” Seth said. “Nobody knows you here, right? If we get you a doctor in Maryland, they’ll never know you were in the military or that you were ever once a beta.”
“But it says beta on my license,” Ollie countered.
“That’s easy. Once Fenny hacks the National Registry, you go to the DMV and say you lost your New York license and need a new one because you’ve relocated here. They’ll have no choice but to look you up on the National Registry because the DMV’s computer systems aren’t synced nationwide. Only within the state. They’ll list you as an omega on your license and then your paperwork will match,” Seth said. “Problem solved.”
“Your plan is still contingent on me being able to hack the National Registry,” Fen said, peeling off the wrapper of an apple-flavored Blow Pop, then popping it in his mouth, sucking on it loudly before saying, “Hey, this tastes just like you.”
“Which tastes better, though?” Seth teased.
“You, obviously.” Fen rolled his eyes.
“That’s what I thought,” Seth said, preening.
“Seems that’s what Saint thought, too,” Ollie said. “You stink like sex.”
“We didn’t have sex. He just came on my face,” Seth retorted.
Ollie gave him a pleading look. “You know, we don’t have to share everything.”
“You didn’t seem to mind three alphas sharing you in front of us a few hours ago,” Fen pointed out in a sing-song voice. “We didn’t mind it either. You sound so pretty when you get off. You both do.”
Ollie groaned. “Enough. Change the subject.”
“Fine,” Fen huffed. “Any thoughts about baby names?”
Ollie choked on his gummy bear. “I hate you both.”
Binnie laid on his bed, fingers threaded behind his head, hair dry but still messy from his shower. He probably should have tried to comb it into submission but he had too much on his mind.
He and San had parted ways to shower away the sex smell and “cool off.” San said he didn’t want them making any rash decisions all because they got caught up in the pheromones of their pack.
Binnie understood San’s logic—he did—but his disappointment lingered. If San hesitated for himself, Binnie could totally understand it, but the truth was, San was holding off for him. Because he didn’t think he’d done enough to “earn” Binnie. He had no idea where he’d gotten this notion that Binnie needed all of these old-fashioned gestures, but he was digging his heels in, and if San was anything, it was stubborn.
Logically, he knew that, in the grand scheme of things, he and San had spent very little time together. Before they’d met, Binnie would have laughed if anyone had told him he’d be head over heels for another alpha just weeks after meeting him. He’d never really considered himself an impulsive guy. Sure, his flavor of kink was a little niche and that often led to some risky one-night stands, but he wasn’t usually one to make life-altering choices without first weighing the outcomes.
But San was the exception. Binnie didn’t know if it was fate, kismet, biology, God, or the universe, but something had led the eight of them to each other and someone had made San just for Binnie. He knew that deep down in his soul. When it came to San, Binnie had no hesitation. He was all in. Hearing San talk about babies…their potential babies…had made him feel almost feral. He’d never been one to top, but if it meant breeding his mate, he’d do it until it took.
Fuck, he was just getting himself worked up again.
There was a soft knock on his door, then San popped his head in. He looked daisy fresh, cheeks pink and hair flowing over his broad shoulders. He looked as ethereal as always, in flowy black pants, a white tank top, and a slouchy gray cardigan that looked like something Binnie’s grandfather might have worn at their lake house. He looked cozy and he smelled like a forest and Binnie was already half-hard from his own dirty thoughts.
San gave him an almost shy smile, hesitating for only a moment or so before he climbed onto the bed to sprawl on top of Binnie, burying his nose in his neck and burrowing his hands under Binnie’s shoulders. His arms closed around him on instinct, eyelids floating shut. This was nice. This was good. Binnie would be content with just this, forever if necessary.
“Are you mad at me?” San asked, voice muffled against his skin.
“Do I smell mad at you?” Binnie countered, frowning.
San shook his head. “No.”
Binnie chuckled softly. “Then why would you even ask?”
San shifted so his thigh was pressed against Binnie’s semi-hard cock. “This,” he said.
“You can’t lie on top of me with your nose all in my scent gland and not expect me to be hard. Have you seen you?” Binnie teased.
“This was here before I arrived so don’t blame me,” San countered, nuzzling deeper.
Binnie pressed himself into the hard muscle of San’s thigh, electricity sparking along his spine at the friction. “I assure you, you’re still to blame for this and every other hard-on I’ve sported since we met. Take responsibility.”
San flexed his thigh, pulling a groan from him, desire pulsing through him as San licked over his scent gland then sucked at the spot. “So needy.”
“You have no idea,” Binnie managed, breathless, rocking himself against San’s thigh shamelessly.
Heat throbbed through him as San dragged his teeth over the spot where a mating mark would go, biting down until Binnie gasped, his hand shooting to the back of San’s head to hold him there. San kitten licked over the indentations he left.
“Tease,” Binnie muttered.
San pulled back, searching his face. “You know it’s not that I didn’t want to.”
“Didn’t want to…” Binnie prompted, too horny for any conversation that required more than him begging.
San’s elegant fingers stroked his cheek. “Didn’t want to claim you. I do. I want us…to claim each other.”
Binnie’s heart rate shot up so fast it had his chest heaving like he’d run a marathon. “Oh?” he asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.
“Mm,” San said, his gaze dropping to Binnie’s lips. “Just not like that. Not the first time.”
Binnie nodded, unable to keep the disappointment from his tone. “I get it.”
San rocked upwards until he hovered over Binnie, his forearms braced on either side of his head. Binnie’s insides shook as San looked at him like he was something…precious, something loved. It was almost too much.
But then San’s expression changed, morphing into something darker, hungrier. Binnie’s heart tripped as he dipped his head, wet tongue sliding along the seam of his lips. The blood in his head rushed south so fast it made him dizzy. The way San looked at him made him ache.
Binnie swallowed loudly, his hands spasming on San’s waist as he took Binnie’s bottom lip between his teeth and sucked at it. When San pulled away, his pupils were blown and his breaths seemed equally shaky. “I’m allowed to be selfish with you, right, puppy?”
Another shock of electricity shot through his core at the name. Binnie gave a jerky nod, transfixed. “You can be anything you want with me.”
San’s thumb dragged across his chin. “Because you’re mine, right?”
Binnie nodded. “Yes.”
“Say it.”
Binnie’s cock drooled at the hard edge in his tone.
“I’m yours.”
San’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “You wanna play with me, puppy?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?” San snapped.
“Yes, alpha.”
“You want me to claim you?”
Binnie’s heart tripped in his chest. “Yes, alpha.”
“Want me to bury my teeth right here…” San pressed into Binnie’s scent gland, right over the indentations he’d left. “...so everyone knows who you belong to?”
