“But Len, he needs one. Always has, always will.”
Jackson’s voice died away, and Len, his fingers clenched perilously tight around the glass bottle before he shoved it away.
“It’s been good to see you, Jackson. Let me fix you up for the meals—”
The man got to his feet in response, shaking his head.
“Your money’s no good here, you know that. Whatever I have to give…”
Jesus, it was almost painful to watch as Jacks’ longing rose, only to be roughly smothered.
“I’ll just give you a discount on your next order then,” Len said, looking up at him, just seeing Jackson’s easy smile now.
“Of course, mate. I’ll leave you to your date.”
With that, he up and left, but not before putting his hand on Len’s shoulder. I watched it, the way Jackson’s hand, his fingers, spanned the broad lump of muscle, giving a squeeze before pulling away.
Len got up with him, and for a moment, both Jackson and I thought it was to say or do something, maybe giving him a quick hug or something, but the big alpha settled into Jackson’s spot, giving us the space of the table between us. Both Tristan and I were treated to the sight of those massive arms resting against the tabletop, the plaid shirt straining, but not Jackson. He shot me one last look, one that seemed to try to communicate a million things, but even my omega senses couldn’t decode it before he turned and ambled back to the bar.
“To say this hasn’t gone the way I expected is a fucking understatement,” the big alpha said, rubbing his hand across his face, but a wry smile followed. “But I can’t fucking bring myself to regret it. I figured we’d have a few drinks, play some pool, get to know each other…”
“We still can,” Tristan replied, my eyes jerking sideways in surprise. “You want to take both of us on a date. Not just Kit, not just me.”
“You’re a package deal, right? The two of you are mated in every way you can be, but you bring alphas in the mix, to give you what you need. I want that, to be that for you.” His voice grew lower, more growly, making me restless. “After last night, part of me wants to be the only one that does that.” We grew very still at
that, as alpha possessiveness was legendary and sometimes lethal. “But that’s not on the table right now. I just wanted to declare myself.”
There was no way this could happen. Anyone I mated needed to bring some sort of advantage to the family. It was just the way it was. Cress had brought Kent, who came from a family of high-flying lawyers that owned the largest legal firm in the country. His breeding was impeccable, and Dad would be proud to have him standing beside us in family photos. But Len…
My family, my social circle’s snotty bullshit, had been revealed to me at a young age, because I saw how they treated Tristan. I could never invest in the endless season rituals with anything other than resignation and scorn, but that was the way we lived. By turning my back on them, the only family omega, I would compound what my mother had already started—the steady decline of the Greyson family fortunes. I needed to find a mate that was suitable, prove that omegas from our family could be perfect, just like the others were, or…
My jaw tightened as I considered my fate, the one I’d been running from my whole life. I looked at Tristan, studying the curve of his neck, imagining a bite mark there, left by the alpha that claimed him—if Tris found an alpha, one that loved him and would look after him, who was willing to accept who he was, that he was no compliant omega. That maybe he wasn’t an omega at all, but something else, something new and brilliant, all on his own. My eyes raked over Len’s massive form. I’d check out his credentials, do a background check, but he seemed exactly as Jackson said—solid. Tris would be safe with someone like him, away from my family and my father’s plan.
“Well,” I said as I twirled my fingers through Tristan’s hair, his eyes falling half closed in response, Len following my every move, “I admit, I’m intrigued. You seem willing to step into a ménage situation without a second thought.”
“I’m willing to step into whatever this is without a second thought,” Len shot back. “You two…” He shook his head slowly. “I feel like I’m staring into the sun with you, but there’s more.” His brow creased slightly. “Pretty omegas are a dime a dozen, even hot little kinky ones. I’ll find myself drifting closer because that’s what my designation demands. Instincts shout claim, bite, rut! but once they’re satisfied, then what? I don’t know the two of you, don’t know your story, but fuck, I want to. No one’s ever touched you like that, have they?”
He didn’t specify Tristan, but we all knew what he meant. Tristan’s long fingers traced the grain of the wooden tabletop before he looked up.
“No.” Silence, just the sound of him breathing. “Never wanted to.” When his eyes whipped up, when they met Len’s, there was something hard and honest there. “This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. I’m not who I’m supposed to be. I was going to be a beta like my parents, or better, an alpha for Kit. But then one day, I woke up with bloodied slick all over my sheets and I knew, I fucking knew what had happened. Instincts that I’d never felt a hint of hit me like a ton of bricks. Blokes I’d stand nose to nose with could bark at me, force me to be compliant, and worse?”
His brows wrinkled, his lips curling.
“I start leaking, getting all shivery and hot, my body readying itself to mate with some stupid fuck, not because I like him or am attracted to him, but because he’s an alpha and I’m an omega. What I think, who I am, it doesn’t matter, only designation.”
“Have you ever tried things with a female alpha?” Len asked.
“There are no other women for me other than Kit. Academically, I know women are hot, that maybe if we hadn’t met, I’d be into them, but we did.” His arm wrapped around me tight, his lips pressing to the crown of my head. “There’s only Kit.”
Just for a second, I let myself feel it—that sensation of shock and awe I always felt when I knew I had his heart. I’d been schooled to be a princess in her tower, not deigning to bestow her attentions on the unworthy, but really, I was just a messed up girl with an achy heart and a wet pussy. A bad omega. I just ran my fingers over Tristan’s, tracing the shape of the way he held me as I watched Len soak every damn thing we said up.
Solid—it wasn’t exactly a compliment, yet somehow with Len, it was. There was something so damn…still about him. Like he was a rock in a stream, everyone else burbling around him, but he remained. Rather than being a butterfly, pinned to the display board of societal expectations, he just was. Would he help ground Tris, while also letting him fly free to do whatever the hell he needed to? He hadn’t pulled a lot of alpha bullshit on us yet, but just how flexible was he? For a second, I could see the two of them together, Tris pushing Len down, bending him over the bench in the playroom, moving between his legs and—
“What are you thinking about, princess?” Len rumbled, his eyes burning bright.
I probably should’ve been coy with it, but y’know, fuck that noise.
“You bent over, naked, and Tris behind you, ready to mount you.” My words were coming out short and sharp, cutting through the quiet. I turned to see how Tristan was taking my fantasy and watched his eyes glitter, his grin sharp. “He’d have to lube you up. No slick to ease his passage, but he’d do it.”