Us. Mine. Mark, breed, claim.

His voice was hypnotic, seductive, battering down my own fucking boundaries and he was a part of me. My teeth locked down, my fangs aching, my cock throbbing with long waves of such an intense pleasure, it had my head spinning, and then she did it. Our fates were sealed. My little omega whimpered, pressing in closer, lips finding the skin at my throat. Mine, my beast purred. That shit went straight to my dick, making it so hard, it damn near bust out of my zipper. I eyeballed the alpha, waiting for him to turn away first, to remember who ruled in this place, letting my sweet prize soothe me and take my aggression down a notch. Sometimes, betas tried to emulate omega behaviour, watching some shit on the internet, thinking they could fake it.

You couldn’t fake instincts. Sloane’s small hands petting my skin, nose tracing the column of my throat, that was natural to an omega.

I jerked my head to a beta waitress. “Get me a bottle of water and a comforter.”

My sister used to love her comforter and would snuggle under it so that she felt safe. A tic thumped in my jaw as I remembered how little safety she’d experienced, and me, too fucking young, too weak to help her then. My arms tightened around the omega nestled on my lap. She felt right there, like she belonged.

Does belong. Mine.

She’s not yours, arsehole. You’re a stand-in until you can figure out what the fuck to do.

Only I didn’t have a fucking clue what to do. I needed someone else to tend to her, someone who was experienced with a new omega. Someone I trusted not to hurt her.

Ryder was experienced, and I loved that fucker like a brother. So why did the thought of passing her over to him make me break out in a cold sweat, my jaw lock up tight, and my fist clench in anticipation of beating him to a bloody pulp should he dare to put his hands upon her?

My beast agreed, showing me exactly what he’d do if Ryder came anywhere near her. He accepted our arrangement most of the time, but this, this omega, out of all the ones we’d found, this was the one to threaten that.

I was so fucked.

A water bottle materialised a moment later, and I snapped off the lid and passed it to my overwhelmed charge.

“Drink some, baby.”

She pushed the bottle back toward me, more interested in burying her nose in the crook of my throat. I tipped her head back, her little gasp went straight to my throbbing cock, and held her eyes as I presented her with the bottle again. “If I tell you to do something, baby, you’re going to do it like a good girl, or you’re going to find yourself over my lap with this cute little schoolmarm dress tugged up and your bare bottom getting acquainted with the palm of my hand.”

Yesss…

This was the point where it all went to hell, where I should’ve found Ryder and shoved her at him with all the force in my body. I had to have known I was standing on a cliff edge, looking down at my destruction, ready to fucking jump off, no matter what my brain screamed. I could see the defiance building, the flash in her eyes. Her body moved like a snake’s, writhing against me, coiling, ready to refuse, to test my resolve.

And me? I just smiled.

“Don’t test me, baby,” I said. “Alphas rarely bluff.”

Peeking at me through her lashes, she accepted the bottle from me and took the tiniest sip.

My lips twitched, despite the pain I was in with my raging hard-on. Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea what I want to do to you. If I gave into the beast inside me, you’d find yourself on your knees in that prim little dress, begging for a taste of my cum.

Fuck, I wanted her to. Fight me, he growled. Fight me, and I’ll show you who’ll win. Defiance was natural to an omega. Only the worthiest male would breed her.

Fuck!

Breeding… How the fuck had my mind digressed to that? That was not on the program. She needed gentling and careful handling. She needed assistance adjusting to her life now, because everything had changed. Her body was in turmoil, sensations, scents, needs, all mixed up into a potent cocktail no drug or alcohol could emulate.

The betas tried to fake that too. There was illegal shit you could take that made their pussy cream and their head a little woozy, like that was all there was to it.

It didn’t interest me.

The little omega sending coy glances my way did.

A beta server approached with a thick, plush comforter in her hands. I took it from her.

Sloane’s nose twitched as it was handed over, her small hand sliding up my chest and a glare shot at the waitress to let the other woman know I was off limits. Instincts she didn’t even understand were kicking in. Damn, it was cute.

“What’s this?” Confusion entered her pretty face as I tucked the comforter around her. Her hand went to it tentatively, giving a little squeeze and test before her sigh said it was to her satisfaction. Fingers stroking the soft pile of the blanket, she was caught up in the sensory banquet of the fabric like any omega would.

I’d always thought my beast driven into rut , that sexual urge so fucking intense, it felt like your balls were boiling, would make me fall. That one day, he’d just fucking snap, collect up the closest omega, and drive himself into her over and over until all that repressed need was exhausted. I hadn’t been prepared for this.

I swear my chest swelled with joy at seeing that I had pleased her. I knew it was just pheromones, instincts, and chemical bullshit that both of us were pumping out, but fuck if that mattered because she did. I watched her spine loosen, her body softening as she tucked herself in tighter against me, and I knew I was in deep fucking shit.

However the hell this came to be, right now, I knew without a doubt that Sloane was mine.

I heard his laugh inside my head, low and dirty, but it didn’t matter. Seeing her curled up against me, so sweet, completely surrendering, that was what it took.

It was her needs that punched into my gut. She needed tending to, and there was no fucking way I could hand her over to anyone else. I’d go on a fucking rampage. I had to accept what was happening to me and that I wouldn’t willingly let her go. I could do this. I could be there for her. I could help her through her change and give her what she craved.

If she chose me. I needed her to choose me, because if she didn’t, someone would need to knock me the fuck out before I could let her go. In my mind, I was already forming a plan if she said no.

“Eyes on me, baby,” I said, cupping her chin, and drew her to face me.

As our eyes met, she twitched, hand going to the comforter over her tummy.

“You feeling needy, omega?” I asked. “You want me to take care of you?”

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“I think you do. I’m here. I’ll take care of you.”

Her small hand tightening into a fist on my T-shirt shredded the last of my control. I growled low but quickly shifted it to a purr, feeling like a fucking king when she softened in response. My hand slid around her throat, resting against the delicate column and feeling the pulse leap under my fingertips. Her pupils seemed to explode so wide, the last of the pretty blue disappeared. Another twitch, another whimper, and her eyes lowered to my lips.

“Please, Jace,” she said.

“Fuck,” I muttered before lowering my lips to hers.

She whimpered into my mouth before her tongue came out to play, tentatively at first, then becoming emboldened as it tangled with mine.

That fast, I was drowning. My purr dropped to a growl again, but I didn’t care that it would be driving her pussy to weep slick, nor did I worry about the potent effect it would have on her rampant, newly awakened emotions. Slanting my mouth over hers, I deepened the kiss, hand slipping under the comforter to cup the gentle swell of her tit. Even through the material, her nipple was hard as stone. I swallowed up her mumbled nonsense as I stroked it with my thumb, feeling it grow fat and engorged, begging for my lips. Pinching it between finger and thumb through the material, I squeezed hard.