by Nora Phoenix
He stepped back and turned toward Lidon. “I can detect all your scents on him, and I can smell he’s about to start his heat. It has the usual effect on me of making me horny, but other than that, there’s nothing extraordinary. He smells like a claimed omega.”
Vieno blushed at his candor, then gasped as it hit him. “You can’t smell anything special on me? I smell just like other omegas?”
Adar raised his eyebrows. “Should I?” He looked from Lidon to Palani. “Did I miss something?”
Vieno couldn’t help it, he had to ask. “You don’t want to fuck me?” he blurted out.
Adar took a step back. “No! God, no. You’re with… You’re the alpha’s. You’re claimed. I would never… Did I say or do something wrong?”
Palani slapped him on his shoulder. “No, man. You did everything right. Vieno meant no offense, and I’ll explain later, okay? It’s good news, trust me.”
Adar left the kitchen with a last glance at Vieno, then Lidon, his befuddled expression showing he trusted Palani but still wasn’t sure what had happened.
Vieno found a safe spot in Palani’s arms. “He can’t smell me,” he whispered. “He really can’t smell me…”
“I know, baby. I’m so happy for you. You’re free.”
The tears came fast, but they didn’t hurt this time. They brought release, a sense of freedom and relief unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. He no longer had to fear strangers sexually assaulting him, raping him, because of how he smelled. It was freedom. How was this even possible? What had changed that his smell had disappeared?
He tilted his head back to kiss Palani, a frantic kiss that had to express all the swirling emotions inside him he couldn’t put into words. And it had to be Palani, the man who’d stood by him all that time, who had slain dragons for Vieno and had come out a victor. Palani kissed him back, all tongue and heat and wetness, pushing Vieno until his back was against the kitchen counter.
“I love you,” Palani gasped into his mouth. “God, I love you.”
Vieno couldn’t find words, his brain turning foggy at the same time his body went into overdrive. “I need…” was all he could bring out. “Please, I need…”
“I know, baby. We’ve got you.”
He was lifted onto the counter, his mouth never leaving Palani’s, though it had to have at some point because he was naked, his nipples stiff and demanding touch, his skin feverish and sensitive. Strong hands lifted him, carried him, as his mouth was fucked expertly by…Enar’s tongue? When had he…?
They were in bed, the sheets cool against his overheated body, his hole so empty and twitching until he was lifted again, then lowered onto that glorious cock, that alpha cock he needed more than he needed air. He whimpered as it filled him, leaned back against Lidon’s warm body behind him.
Enar’s strong hands held him as he nibbled Vieno’s neck, his stubble rasping his sensitive skin. Palani kissed him, rubbing Vieno’s nipples as only he could, playing with the swollen buds until Vieno’s face was wet with tears.
Hands and mouths touched him everywhere, stroking, caressing, pinching, licking, biting. He was the center of their universe, the one who united them. Lidon fucked him hard and fast until he came, his alpha roar rattling the windows.
“More,” Vieno managed, and he was turned around so he faced his alpha.
His alpha mark burned as Lidon licked it, still hard and deep inside him, and when he opened his eyes, Lidon’s eyes glowed. He’d never witnessed anything like it. They were…feral, demanding yet kind at the same time.
“Knot me,” Vieno demanded, his voice crystal clear. “Fill me with your seed, my alpha. Breed me.”
Lidon’s eyes shone so bright Vieno couldn’t look away, and he knew. This wasn’t a mere man breeding him. This was the True Alpha, the alpha who would bring change, the alpha who would return to the old ways like they couldn’t even dream of right now. This was the father of his child, the next alpha heir. And as Lidon’s knot swelled, filling him with that torturous mix of pain and pleasure, he grabbed Enar’s hand with his left hand and Palani’s with his right, bringing them to his belly.
“It’s happening,” he whispered. “And you’re a part of this. I’m his but yours as well. We’re four, and we’re one, and we’re unbreakable together.”
It took an hour for Lidon’s knot to come down, and all that time they stayed interlinked, whispering sweet words to each other in between lingering kisses, time passing without them noticing.
They were four, and they were one…and they were unbreakable together.
And inside Vieno, new life began to form.
Beta’s Surrender
Publisher’s Note
This novel depicts mature situations and themes that are not suitable for underage readers. Reader discretion is advised.
Please note there’s a trigger warning for mentions of rape, sexual assault, miscarriages, and depression (all off-page). There’s a brief case of sexual violence on page, but with a positive outcome.
1
Grayson Whitefield let his eyes wander over the beta in front of him, who had his chin raised defiantly. Lars’s usually disheveled hair was an utter mess, and his cheeks were flushed, as were his brother Sven’s. Sven wouldn’t meet Grayson’s eyes, the omega’s shoulders hunched as he stared at the floor of the gym room in the ranch. Shame was dripping off him tangibly.
Grayson had no trouble concluding what had happened. These two had been messing around, maybe even fucking, and Enar had caught them. Grayson had picked up on sexual tension between the two brothers before. First, it had been long looks and little touches that had felt out of place, considering they were brothers. Then he’d heard some noises from their room, and he’d wondered about them, his fertile imagination having no issue providing alluring scenarios and projecting them in his mind, those limber, sweaty bodies. They’d look so pretty on their knees, and…
Nope, he wasn’t going there. He had to focus on Lars, whose whole expression taunted Grayson to say something. He would—and Lars wasn’t going to like it.
Enar’s face, as he’d blindly stumbled out of the gym room, had told Grayson everything he needed to know. The man had been wounded deeply—by his own brother, who undoubtedly had lashed out in anger. Again.
Grayson had scolded Lars before about his disrespectful attitude—in that case toward Lidon, which was even worse, considering he was pack alpha—but apparently, he hadn’t made enough of an impression. He’d have to do better, then.
“We have a problem,” he said, keeping his voice level.
“What, you object to me fucking my adopted brother?” Lars snapped.
Ah. He’d been right, then, though the adopted part was new. “I do, actually, but that’s not your biggest problem.”
Lars crossed his arms, lifting his chin even higher. His body language was the complete opposite of Sven’s, who now lowered himself on a sweaty bench—undoubtedly the one they’d just been fucking on. Stress and shame radiated from the omega in big waves, and combined with the pheromones he was throwing off, it put Grayson’s body on full alert.
You’d think that at forty-three he’d be past that hormonal shit, but apparently, his alpha didn’t feel that way. Oh no, it wanted Sven something fierce. Fucking traitor.
“Ask me what your biggest problem is, Lars,” Grayson said, his voice not betraying the anger that simmered inside.
Lars shrugged. “Like I care.”
Grayson’s eyes narrowed. “You should care because it’s what’s gonna get you booted from the ranch.”
For the first time, Grayson spotted something on the boy’s face other than anger and defiance. Fear. “Lidon promised we could stay. I took the fucking job he offered me, like you told me to.”
Oh yes, that encounter had been unpleasant as well, Grayson impressing upon Lars in crystal clear terms that Lidon’s job offer was the best opportunity he would ever get. In the end, the beta had seen reason, or maybe Grayson had scared h
im into falling in line. It seemed they were back at square one, however.
“That promise was contingent on you obeying his commands as pack alpha, if you recall. One of the pack laws is that you can’t have a sexual relationship with an omega without the alpha’s permission.”
Lars’s eyes widened. “You suggested that rule! You fucking set me up,” he accused Grayson.
“No, though I did suspect something was going on between you. The walls inside the main house aren’t that thick. You should know because I overheard you complain to Sven about hearing the alpha fuck his men. If you can hear them, we can hear you too, you know.”
“Why did you propose that rule?” Sven asked timidly. “If it wasn’t to spite Lars and me, I mean.”
“Because you’re vulnerable, Sven, as are many omegas. Ask your brother sometime what heartbreaking stories he’s encountered with omegas who were taken advantage of.”
“Enar is not his brother,” Lars snapped.
Grayson took a step closer to him, raising himself to his full height, which meant he had a good three inches on the beta. “No, but he is yours. Moreover, he’s the alpha’s claimed mate, which makes him someone you should respect the hell out of, if only out of self-preservation.”
“S-self-preservation?” Sven asked.
“What did you say to him?” Grayson asked.
Lars shrunk a little, his eyes dropping to the floor, but he didn’t answer.
“What did you say to Enar, Lars? I won’t ask again.” He bit back on his alpha, who was getting impatient with the boy’s insolence.
“Lars, you need to tell him,” Sven said. “He’ll compel it out of you, and it will be twice as bad.”
At least one of them was using his brain.
Lars shuffled his feet, still avoiding Grayson’s gaze. “I…I said he was an alpha who wanted to be treated like a beta…and that Lidon didn’t even choose him as his second-in-command.”
Grayson closed his eyes for a second. No wonder Enar had looked like he’d been stabbed in his heart. He had been, figuratively speaking…by his own brother.
“Even after witnessing how you’ve treated him ever since you arrived here, I still find myself disappointed you would sink that low. You deliberately hit him where you knew it’d hurt the most. You should be deeply ashamed of that, Lars.”
His words hung heavy in the air, and Lars’s shoulders dropped even lower.
“He didn’t mean it like that,” Sven offered.
Grayson forced himself to stay calm. “That’s not something you should decide for him, Sven. If he feels that way, he should have the guts to say so.”
Lars raised his head, a spark of fire back in his eyes. “He left us with him,” he said, his voice thick. “He knew what a massive asshole he was, and he left us with him.”
Grayson didn’t need to guess who the “he” was in both cases. The little he’d surmised about Enar’s father had made it clear the man lacked redeeming qualities.
“Let’s assume for a second what you’re saying is true and that Enar did that willfully. Does that justify your remarks to him?”
Lars clenched his fists. “You don’t understand! I’ve had to watch my own father try and seduce Sven, and when that didn’t work, he tried to force himself on him. And you’re saying that I should be all brotherly warm toward the one guy who could’ve prevented it? Fuck you!”
Grayson’s alpha had reached his limit. “On your knees!” he commanded, his voice booming through the gym.
Both boys dropped to their knees immediately…and fuck if that wasn’t a satisfying sight. Grayson bit back the mix of anger and lust that thundered through his veins.
“You two need to get through your thick skulls how things work around here. This is a pack, and that means you will damn well respect how things work around here. You do not tell someone to go fuck himself. Do you hear me? Not me, not anyone. You show your fellow pack members some fucking respect. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, alpha.”
Their responses were instantaneous, and sweet contentment at their submission filled Grayson. He’d never been one to insist on much etiquette as an alpha, but making Lars yield to him pleased him. Very much so, in fact.
“Get up,” he told them. “Sit down on that bench and listen.”
He waited till they were both seated, Lars sporting a look of begrudging respect.
“We’ll continue this conversation at a later time because don’t think for a minute that we’re done.”
“Who made you our boss?” Lars said, and Grayson smiled.
The boy still wouldn’t back down, would he? His stubbornness was as infuriating as it was arousing, Grayson’s cock still invested in what was happening.
“I did, and I’m gonna love every second of it. You’d better pay attention, boy, because things will not end well if you don’t. All I have to do is tell Palani what you said to Enar. He’ll kick you out faster than you can pack up your shit.”
Lars paled, shooting a nervous look sideways at Sven, who was on the verge of tears. “Sven’s heat is coming.”
“I know, which is why we’ll allow him to stay. Besides, he’s not the one who verbally attacked the alpha’s mate…you were. This is your second warning, Lars, and it will be the last one. You may be pissed at your brother, and you may even have reason to be, I don’t know, but you will treat him with the respect he deserves as the alpha’s mate. If you can’t bring yourself to do that, you have no place in this pack.”
He waited till Lars met his eyes, satisfied when he saw his message had landed.
“You’ll go out of your way to avoid Enar for now until you’re convinced you can treat him with respect. Understood?”
“Yes, alpha.”
Lars would never admit it, but Grayson’s little speech had scared the shit out of him. The idea of being kicked out of the ranch was frightening, but the thought of being separated from Sven was terrifying. Sven needed him, and if Lars was honest with himself, he needed him right back. He might be the stronger of the two of them, or so he’d always thought, but he’d be lost without his lover, his best friend. It had been the two of them against the world for a long time now, and he couldn’t fight that battle alone.
So he’d done as Grayson had told him the last two days, and he’d stayed out of the way of not just Enar but his three mates as well. There was no way he was risking his position here at the ranch. Sven needed to ride out his heat here, though Lars still wasn’t sure how much of what Enar had told them was true. Would Sven’s heat really be that much different from that of other omegas, or had Enar merely tried to scare them?
But Enar didn’t have a reason to scare them, though, did he? Lars had to be honest that he couldn’t think of a motive for his brother to fuck them over. He’d never cared about them, so why would he care either way now?
Lars pondered it as he tilled the plot he was working on with a rototiller, preparing it so they could start sowing zucchini, melons, and pumpkins. It was heavy work, especially this time of day, when the sun was burning on his back. He had to wipe the sweat off his face with a bandana after every row of tilling. The music he was listening to with his earbuds did improve his mood somewhat, but he knew it would take him at least two hours to finish this—if he didn’t die from a heat stroke first.
Still, it was the perfect time since the soil was dry and easier to move around than when it was saturated with rain. They were expecting rain in two days, so he would make sure the plot was ready by then and distribute fertilizer before the rain hit. That way, it could soak into the soil, priming it for these vegetables, which needed fertile soil to grow.
By the time he was done, he was drenched with sweat, his throat parched. He’d brought a large bottle of water, but clearly, he should have brought more. He emptied it, taking out his earbuds.
“I brought you some more water,” Grayson said behind him, making him spin around.
A strong hand steadied Lars as he almost tripped
over his own feet. “I didn’t see you,” he said. “Or hear you.”
Grayson studied him with an amused look, holding out the jug of water. “Clearly.”
Lars took it after a slight hesitation, then proceeded to gulp down almost half of it. “Thank you,” he said after finishing.
Grayson surveyed the plot Lars had been working on. “What were you doing?”
Why was he asking this? Was he checking up on him again, making sure he was staying busy or something? The man had popped up constantly the last two days. “Prepping this plot for planting,” he said. “It’s what Jawon and Vieno asked me to do,” he added.
“I wasn’t attacking you,” Grayson said. “Merely curious. I don’t know much about gardening in general, let alone agriculture.”
“Oh.” Lars debated with himself for a second, then said, “You can’t just sow veggies, especially the ones we want to plant here. They need fertile, loose soil if you want them to grow, so you need to prep beforehand. Like, loosening the soil, removing all big lumps and rocks, and then spreading and mixing in fertilizer.”
“Huh,” Grayson said, studying the plot again. “That sounds like a lot of work. What made you choose this area to study?”
Damn, what was up with the twenty questions today? Didn’t this guy have something better to do than play Spanish Inquisition with him? Still, he’d better answer and not show his feelings.
“I like being outside, and I like working with my hands. This was something that seemed to fit my requirements and that was suitable for a beta career.”
Grayson smiled at him unexpectedly. “You don’t like me asking all these questions, do you?”
Apparently, he hadn’t been able to conceal his frustration. As usual. “Not really, no. Why the sudden interest in me?”
Grayson took a step closer, and even though there was still a yard or so between them, Lars felt his presence. “I told you. I’ve made myself the boss of you. I volunteered to Palani to make sure you stay out of trouble. And in case you were wondering, I always take my promises seriously.”