Knot Your Damn Omega (Slate City Omegaverse)

I opened my eyes to morning light, aching. Like I’d had the worst and best week at the gym in my entire life. “Fuck,” I rolled over and came face to face with Kade, who was already awake, and looking at me like he was unsure. It was just him now.

When we’d gotten back to the house he’d brought me straight here and fucked me again. Twice. I’d fallen asleep from exhaustion still knotted. But he wasn’t inside me now. “Morning.”

“Hey.” He reached out to touch me hesitantly. “Are you all right?”

“A little sore, but I kind of expected that. You don’t volunteer to have some feral chase sex without getting bruises.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Esme.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“I lost control. When you ran, the rut snapped into me, and I couldn’t break it.”

“Kade.” I slid across the sheets to him. We were both still covered in dirt and sweat. “You didn’t hurt me. You listened to me, even while you were in rut. I’m fine, and I’m very happy.”

He searched my face, looking for any sign of the lie that wasn’t there. Finally, he closed his eyes and reached for me. “God, you’re perfect.”

“You were worried?”

A kiss warmed my forehead. “You haven’t seen your bruises. And I remember what happened after the rut kicked in, but it’s different. Like it was a dream. Yes, I was worried.”

“Don’t be. It was incredible.”

He held me close, and I took the time to breathe him in. This was the real Kade. The one who was soft and loving. Letting the beast inside him out was just a small fraction of this man.

“It’s your turn,” I told him.

“My turn for what?”

“I’m hearing everyone’s stories about how they came to the pack, and now I want to hear yours.”

A soft purr rose in his chest. “It’s a pretty average story, baby. I’m a kid from the suburbs. Normal, nice family. Rebellious teen decided to get a tattoo and fell in love with it. I dropped out my senior year and never looked back. Worked my way from studio to studio getting better until Ben and the others walked in, and it clicked.”

“That quickly, huh?”

“That quickly.”

Slowly, I sat up, wincing. “I’m sure there are details there you’re not telling me. I’ll get them out of you, eventually.”

“All right, little one. You can try. But I promise it’s boring as shit.”

I made a face telling him I didn’t believe it even for a second. “Take a shower with me? I still have you all over me. And dirt.”

“If we have to.” His purr got louder as he grinned. “Can’t say I mind you being covered in my scent.”

Rolling my eyes, I headed to his bathroom. “Given we’re having dinner with my mom tonight, maybe I shouldn’t smell this intense.”

“Fair point.”

Kade took care of turning on the water, and I looked at myself in the mirror. He wasn’t wrong. There were darkening bruises on my arms and stomach. There was even one on my neck, likely from his hands. He turned me to see my back, where there was a black and blue splotch growing. “Okay,” I admitted. “I see why you were worried. But I promise I’m good. I like my battle scars.”

He dropped a kiss on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around me, sneaking his fingers between my legs. “And here?”

I gasped, going up on my toes. “Funnily enough, it’s one of the few places not sore. Ass, too.”

Fucking Omega biology. Even when we weren’t in heat our bodies were ready to go, prepared to take knots and all. Rut was a part of life as much as heat. If rutting behavior harmed the Omega, it would be monumentally shitty.

“I’m glad,” Kade said.

Stepping under the spray of water, I let him take care of me. He washed my hair and body, and I didn’t interrupt him, because I knew he needed it. But when he was finished, I kissed him. “Thank you for chasing me.”

“I’ll chase you anytime, baby. I loved every fucking second. Just seeing you banged up is harder than I expected.”

After he washed himself, we stood under the water until it started to go cold. And then he carried me up to my bedroom where there were clean sheets so we could sleep some more before we had to face the collective horror which was dinner with my mother.

I found a shirt that covered almost all the bruises. If I was going to do this, I wasn’t going to have my mom wondering why I was covered in them, and I certainly wasn’t going to tell her it was because I got ruthlessly fucked in the woods.

The one visible bruise was on my wrist, and I could say I got it because I fell down while running.

Which wasn’t exactly a lie.

I was keeping it casual, but all the guys looked nice. Not suits, but button-downs or henleys, almost all of them wearing dark jeans. They weren’t a tuxedo wearing pack, and we weren’t going to pretend they were simply for my mother.

We were pulling up to her house, and though I wished Eva were here as a buffer between me and her, it was my saving grace no photographers were waiting outside the gate.

“Baby girl, you are going to chew through your lip at this rate.”

Avery took my hand in his and laced our fingers together. I hadn’t even realized I’d been biting it. “I’m nervous.”

“We know,” Luke said with a laugh. “And it’s going to be okay. No matter what your mother thinks of us, it’s not going to change what we think of you.”

“It might,” I muttered.

“Stop,” Avery commanded.

Ben met my eyes in the rear-view mirror. “I think I might be able to smooth some feathers with who my parents were. It shouldn’t have to come to that, but we’ve got that in our back pocket just in case.”

The gate closed behind us and he parked the car. “We can still get out of it,” I said as Avery was pulling me out of the car. “We can say I got food poisoning.”

“Food poisoning never works,” Rylan said. “Trust me.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What’s the story there?”

“I’ll tell you once we get through tonight.”

He laughed when I cursed under my breath. “Let’s get this over with.”

Kade caught my arm and Luke stepped in, back and front, just like they had before my heat. Overwhelming and Alpha. It wasn’t fair, the way the sudden purrs and scents made me calm against my will.

“That’s a dirty trick.”

“Is it?” Luke asked. “Or do Alphas have the ability for a reason?”

Kade’s hands were on my hips, gently squeezing and massaging, soothing me with his hands while he wasn’t with words.

Luke tilted my chin up. “Tell me why you’re so nervous.”

It wasn’t a request.

I blinked back emotion unexpectedly. “I just really want her to like you, and I don’t know if she will.”

“Are you still going to love your mom even if she doesn’t like us?”

“Yes.” Of course I would. Though I wasn’t going to pretend it would make our relationship easier.

His eyes crinkled with a smile. “Are you going to stop courting us if she doesn’t like us?”

“No.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about, because no matter how dinner goes, nothing is going to change.”

“So fucking reasonable,” I said quietly, and Kade burst out with a laugh.

“All right, fine. Let’s go.”

They let me free, and I led the way up the stairs to the door. I wasn’t even at the top of the stairs when the door opened and Mom stood there. She out dressed all of us in a deep blue pantsuit, but I knew she loved this color, and it felt like a nod to me. Wearing something she loved.

A tiny peace offering, just between us.

She was looking behind me, but her eyes finally landed on mine, and she gave me a strained smile.

“Hi, Mom.”