Alpha's Bond: A Reverse Harem Omegaverse Story (The Clarity Series Book 3)

by Ivana B. Kinkee

  “He called you babe,” she interrupted, refusing to drop it.

  “Yeah, he does that.” Jaw clenched, he leaned back on the sink.

  “So… what’s wrong with calling him your boyfriend? He’s hot, he’s clearly head over heels for you, and—”

  “And there’s no labels on it, okay?”

  Staring at the other Omega, she wanted to push. Wanted to have something else to think about, but she also didn’t want to damage what seemed to be a fragile friendship with the only male in the building she felt completely safe around. “Alright. I liked the darvik beast they fed me, and fruit is always nice. More of that pink juice would be good too.”

  “We’ve got all that in the kitchen. I’ll grab it—” A rapid triple knock came at the door, and Alishair smiled as he walked to it. When he opened the door, there was no one there, just the small cell phone on the floor and it didn’t take a genius to see he was disappointed.

  “Is it the Alphas? Is that why you guys can’t be together?” she asked, and Alishair sighed as he closed the door again.

  “No. We’re in the same pack, that wouldn’t bother Corist.”

  Trying to be delicate, but also desperate to understand, Karissa asked, “Okay, but would the Alphas have cared if you guys claimed each other?”

  Alishair flinched and she felt her stomach flip. “I’m going to get your food. Please don’t leave the room.”

  “I’m sorry, Alishair, I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s fine,” he said as he set the phone on one of his science-filled tables and promptly left.

  Fuck.

  “Great job, Karissa. The first male that’s not trying to turn you into a sex puppet and you insult his relationship. Smooth fucking move.” Muttering under her breath, she eased herself off the bed to retrieve the phone. Trying to ignore how everything between her thighs burned and ached, she typed in her mom’s phone number first and settled back on Alishair’s bed.

  If she tried really hard, maybe she wouldn’t fuck up one of the conversations she had today.

  Chapter Five

  Fortunately, it seemed her mom hadn’t been concerned by the lack of communication. Just a few days since they’d last spoken, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. Karissa kept having to swallow and clear her throat to keep the tears out of her voice, even as they rolled down her cheeks.

  “They’re adding another set of parent-teacher conferences this semester, and I’ve been preparing for them all week. I honestly don’t understand why once a semester isn’t enough!” Her mom huffed, and the familiar complaints about the school made Karissa smile a little. “I swear, some of these parents are just too involved. How do they expect their children to flourish if they never have a chance to stand on their own?”

  “I don’t know, mom. That sounds stupid.”

  “It is! But, of course, no one asked my opinion. Still, you turned out perfectly fine without all this, but the way they act you’d think me not meeting with your teachers every six weeks would have made you some kind of criminal!” More muttering as her mom messed with something on her end of the phone. Probably reorganizing again. Whether it was her classroom at the local primary school, or their house, her mom had a place for everything. Organization was her drug of choice.

  “How’s dad?” she asked, the sound of her mom’s voice comforting and familiar.

  “Oh, he’s off-world again for some new mineral they’ve identified. I swear, if someone finds a rock with a unique color your dad is at the transport queue before he even finishes reading the communication.” Sighing, she ran water on the other end of the line. “Supposedly he’ll be back home next week, but who knows with him! It could turn into another one of his research trips.”

  “Is this one at least funded?” Karissa asked, leaning back on the wall and sipping the water that seemed to be helping a little, but not enough. The pain pulsed under her skin, hurting in too many places, but centered between her thighs.

  “Yes, thank the gods. You know I told him I’d skin him alive if he tried to go on another one without approval from his company.” Her mom seemed irritated anyway, but it was that kind of irritation between people who loved each other. Annoyed, but accepting. “Now, we’ll have to see if he asks Prixa Corp for the bonus I told him to, because they can’t just keep taking him away from his family for weeks at a time — even if he does volunteer.”

  “I know, mom.” Smiling, she plucked at the blanket draped over her lap, leaning her head down to breathe deeply of the strangely comforting scent on all of Alishair’s things.

  “He deserves it, you know? They’re always saying how smart he is, how he’s the best one they have for finding profitable new lumps of rock, and they need to compensate him for it!”

  “You’re right,” Karissa agreed, relaxing into the normalcy of her mom’s complaints. The same old issues with her dad’s occupation that had allowed them to live well and brought them to Cenairiss V in the first place. Still, listening to her mom rant was a welcome escape from her new reality. “They should treat him better, mom.”

  “That’s what I tell him all the time!” Sighing heavily, the irritation seemed to fade from her mom’s voice. “Well, when he finally gets back from this new adventure you should come by for dinner again. Bring Tawny too! Oh, how did her birthday party go, honey?”

  Tension crept back into her sore muscles, and Karissa shifted on the bed, avoiding the invitation to dinner as she lied. “It was really fun, we went to the club district and danced all night.”

  “I don’t know how you girls do it. Especially with your new job!” Chuckling, her mom continued. “But, then again, I was always the girl who stayed home to read.”

  Her job. Fuck.

  “Well, mom, I should go—”

  “Of course, of course. I’m sure you’re busy, just be sure to get your phone replaced! I’ll save this number in the meantime, but really, Karissa, you have to take better care of your things. Phones are too expensive to just lose one at some dance club.”

  “You’re right, mom. I’m sorry.” She swallowed, the guilt at lying to her mom making the acid in her stomach roil. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Talk to you later, honey!”

  “Bye, mom,” Karissa answered, biting back the emotion as she ended the call and dialed Tawny next. She didn’t answer the first time, so she hung up and called back.

  “Who is this?” Tawny finally answered, wary irritation threaded in her tone.

  “It’s Karissa.”

  “Holy shit! Where the hell have you been?” Tawny shouted, high-pitched and frantic. “It’s fucking Karissa,” she said to someone else.

  “Who’s with you?”

  “Alecia is here, I was just asking her what the fuck I should do. I was about to call your parents and see if they’ve heard from you! What fucking number are you calling me from, and why haven’t you answered my calls? I’ve left you like a billion voicemails and texts!”

  Karissa flinched, trying not to lose it on the phone with Tawny. “I just talked to mom, and I’m sorry. I lost my phone on the way home after your party.”

  Another lie. To her best friend.

  “And you couldn’t swing by and tell me you’re fucking alive? Not cool, Karissa!” A grumble as Alecia said something that she couldn’t make out. “Oh, yeah, I hope you have a good excuse for not being at work because I dropped by yesterday afternoon trying to find you and they said you hadn’t gone in. So... what the fuck?”

  “I’ve — um…” Karissa fumbled for an excuse, giving Tawny an opening to jump on her again.

  “Karissa! Seriously, this isn’t like you at all. You’re always the responsible one, and you were so fucking happy to get that job at the marketing place.” Her friend sighed, the lecture winding down as she blew out a breath. “I’ve been really worried about you.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Tawny,” she answered, looking up as the door opened and Alishair stepped inside. His cheeks were flushed, his
lips reddened, and she had a pretty good idea what had made him take so long bringing back the plate of food in his hand.

  “So, what the fuck have you been doing that kept you from calling me or going in to work?”

  “I met someone,” she blurted out, her tongue taking on a life of its own as Alishair closed the door.

  “You met someone? Who? Where?”

  “His name is Alishair.” As Karissa said his name, he whipped his head around, brown eyes wide as he stared at her in shock. “He, um, took care of me after your party.”

  “Is this his phone?” Tawny asked, just as surprised as she was by the insanity coming out of her mouth. Alishair started to shake his head, waving his free hand at her to get her to stop.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “He must be fucking hot for you to skip work.” Tawny repeated what she’d said to Alecia before coming back to the phone. “So, where did you even meet him? I thought you said you felt sick after the stuff we took and left.”

  “Right, I did. I… met him on the train back to my place.” She swallowed, trying to think of how she’d sound if any of this shit was true. “He ended up taking care of me, and we’ve been hanging out.”

  “Hanging out,” Tawny repeated, doubt tainting her voice.

  “Yeah, in Torbai.”

  “WHAT?” The shout made her lean the phone away from her ear for a second, as Tawny rapidly repeated the words to Alecia. “Fuck this, I’m putting you on speaker phone. Why the hell are you in Torbai with this guy?”

  “He lives here. Invited me to come, and I’ve only been here once before so I did. I, uh, didn’t think I’d still be here today.”

  “Shit, this Alishair guy must be rich and fucking amazing in bed to have you this caught up in him. What the fuck does he do to live in Torbai? Is he Cenairiss government?” Tawny asked.

  “Or is he one of those independently wealthy kids of the planet settlers?” Alecia shouted into the speaker phone.

  “Alishair is… really nice,” Karissa answered, and Alishair gave her a pained look as he abandoned her plate next to a strangely colored glass container and sank into his chair against the opposite wall. “And he works for some company. A financial analyst.”

  So. Many. Lies.

  “I cannot believe this!” Tawny laughed. “This is something I would do. Maybe it took twenty years for my bad behavior to finally rub off on you!”

  “He probably just has a huge dick,” Alecia said, and Karissa felt a blush burning her cheeks as flashes of the Alphas raced through her head. Those massive males with carved muscles, and very large endowments.

  She almost laughed at the idea that if she were to share the truth, there might be a bit of envy in her friends if they saw what the males looked like. It was just everything else that was so fucking wrong.

  “I’ll be back soon, I’m sure. Just…” Making eye contact with Alishair, she swallowed down the truth and dug herself even deeper into the lie. “Just enjoying myself. I’ll text you when I get my phone replaced, okay?”

  Tawny and Alecia made a few more dirty jokes, laughing the whole time as Karissa tried to fake her way through it. Trying to sound like she was happy, with someone she liked, in the beautiful capital of Cenairiss V. Torbai. City of the ultra-wealthy.

  It was so much different than being taken in an alley, turned into someone completely new, and imprisoned in a warehouse somewhere in New Paraja.

  A much better version of reality.

  Her stomach turned just as Alecia made a joke about her finding a sugar daddy with a big dick. “I should call the office, guys. But I promise I’ll call you back soon, okay?”

  “Sure thing, I promise I won’t interrupt your sex-cation.” Tawny was laughing, all the worry gone from her tone, which was a good thing. Even if it felt terrible.

  “Thanks, girl. I love you forever.”

  “Forever and ever,” Tawny answered.

  “Go have fun, bitch! Tell us everything the next time we have drinks!” Alecia chimed in and Karissa agreed just before they all said their goodbyes.

  Hanging up, she held the tiny, disposable phone in her lap, fighting the nausea and the tears.

  “Why the hell did you tell them my name?” Alishair demanded, standing up from the chair to walk towards her. “Are you trying to get me in trouble?”

  Confused, she looked up at him, swiping at her eyes before the tears could spill over. “What? No, I just needed an excuse and you were there.”

  “You told them you were in Torbai with me!”

  “Right, which means they aren’t expecting to find me at my apartment. Or my job, which I need to call so they don’t fire me and—”

  “Karissa…” Alishair groaned, grabbing the sides of his head as he turned his back on her.

  “What!” she yelled, leaning forward before the ache between her thighs had her hissing breath between clenched teeth. “Fuck, everything hurts, and I just kept my best friend from calling my mom and starting a fucking manhunt for me all across New Paraja. You should be thanking me, not saying my name like I’m in trouble.”

  “You’re not in trouble,” he answered softly. Leaning against the bit of wall by the door, he stared at the floor. “It’s just… it might be easier if you just quit your job.”

  “Why the hell would I do that? Do you know how hard I worked to even get an interview at ADM? They’re the largest marketing firm in this sector, and I only got hired on by their New Paraja office four months ago! I’m not fucking up this—”

  “You’re not listening!” Alishair shouted, burying his face in his hands for a moment. “Has anything I’ve said sunk in with you?”

  This universe isn’t kind to Omegas.

  You will never be safe out there.

  She hadn’t forgotten his words. They rattled around inside her like sharp things, somewhere amidst the fear and the pain was the looming loss of the life she’d lived before Friday night. Her friends, her family. It was overwhelming. Too much to process without coming apart at the seams, and she still had one more call to make.

  Dialing the phone without responding to Alishair, she held it to her ear as it rang. According to the phone it was only a little after lunch, which explained the rumble in her stomach.

  “ADM, how can I help you today?” the peppy girl from the front desk answered.

  “Hi, it’s Karissa Enled. Can you put me through to Feran?”

  “Absolutely, Ms. Enled. A moment.” There was a click in the line, absent of any kind of holding music until the trill of the ringing came on. She tensed, preparing a story in her head to explain on his voicemail, when he answered.

  “This is Feran.”

  “Hey, it’s Karissa—”

  “Shit, Karissa, where have you been? You missed two meetings yesterday and one this morning! Someone better be dead.” The irritation in his voice made her sick, and she fought the urge to scream that she’d been taken by seven males and kept as a prisoner.

  Instead, she just muttered, “I’m sorry, Feran. I’ve had a family emergency and I won’t be in for a while.”

  Alishair’s stare was burning holes in her skin, but it softened when the first tears fell.

  “Won’t be in… what? You’ve got to be kidding me, Karissa. We just put you on the Loriclet account!”

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “How long is a while? I need to know if I should—”

  “You should give the Loriclet account to Bartlet, he helped me do the research. He knows what they’re looking for.” Sniffling, she tried to keep her voice steady, but it cracked anyway. “I’m sorry, Feran. I’ll update you later.”

  Hanging up before she made a fool of herself in front of her new boss, she started crying. Hating everything, and hating even more that even with her eyes closed she still knew Alishair had come closer. She could smell him. That comforting scent that was familiar on some base level of her newly-wired Omega brain.

  “Karissa.”

  “Don’t, Alish
air. Can you just— I just want to be alone for a while. I know this is your room, but…”

  “Sure, I’ll go to Corist’s room. I’ll come back and check on you in an hour or so, alright?” His voice was soft, filled with understanding even though he was just another male telling her that her whole fucking life was over. “I’m leaving your food here, try and eat.”

  “Thank you.”

  She heard him walk to the door, but he paused after it opened. “I’m going to have Parel guard the door, but he won’t come in. Okay?”

  There was no need to answer, Parel would be outside no matter what she said, and she didn’t have the energy to try and run again. Everything ached, and seemed to be getting worse.

  She just needed to sleep.

  Alishair turned off the light as she curled up on her side, facing the wall, and then he was gone. Phone tucked against her bandaged stomach, she tried to block out everything. To block out her new reality.

  But it was impossible.

  Chapter Six

  Jolting awake, Karissa felt panic taking over. Heart racing, skin hot and sticky, she only realized she was trapped in a blanket when she tried to turn over.

  “Karissa, shh… it’s me. It’s Alishair. You’re okay.” His voice was soothing, gentle, but it wasn’t impacting her pulse at all. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she managed to unwind the blanket until it draped over her lap, wincing as pain shot through her side.

  “Why the fuck does everything hurt so much?” Karissa growled as he sat back on his heels beside the bed. She felt even worse than when she’d fallen asleep, which was complete bullshit. “I thought you said I healed faster? Isn’t that supposed to be the upside to this mess?”

  “You do, it’s just…” He cleared his throat. “Listen, I can give you something to make it hurt less.”

  It was tempting. Her skin was coated in sweat, and every shift on the bed made her flinch. Joints, muscles, the space between her thighs — it all hurt. Still, she shook her head. “I don’t want more fucking drugs, Alishair. Don’t you just have a regular pain reliever?”