by Lizzy Bequin
Exhausted, my head lolls against the soft carpet of moss. I don’t even try to resist when Hasker and Kadmon put their teeth on me in turn, puncturing my sweating skin and leaving their marks on either side of the scar that Addom already placed on my skin at the waterfall.
The marking burns deliciously, but soon the pain subsides, and I find myself unable to keep my eyes open, drifting off to sleep still knotted and surrounded by the Alphas to whom I am now bound.
CHAPTER 26: LILY
When I wake up the next day, I finally see all of the ballroom for the first time. sunlight is poking in through small windows around the perimeter of the ceiling and striking the chandeliers overhead, making the crystal wink and the twisting, leafy vines glow green.
I’m so warm. My naked body absorbs the warmth of the three big Alphas who are lounging around me protectively. Their warm breath ghosts across my bare skin.
They are all awake and watching me. It’s a slightly disconcerting way to wake up.
“How do you feel, little one?” Addom purrs.
I stretch and squint against the sunlight as my eyes adjust to being awake.
“Sore,” I chuckle.
That’s an understatement. My muscles ache like I’ve had the workout of my life, and between my legs feels tender.
“Come on,” Addom says. “We will bathe you.”
He gathers me up in his arms like a child, and I hug his neck. He carries me back to the hot baths, Hasker and Kadmon following close behind.
When Addom lowers me into the water, I can feel the heat relaxing and unwinding all of the tension in my muscles. The Alphas gather the soap and wash me thoroughly. They pass me around, each of them cleaning every recess and crevice.
Their gentleness is a total contrast to the rough way they shared and used my body last night.
After I am clean three times over, we get out and they dry my body. It feels funny being treated this way. I can’t tell if they are like servants serving their queen or men caring for a prized possession.
“Good,” Addom says at last as he plucks a damp curl dangling down my shoulder and drapes it down my back. “Now we will go to the Source, to complete the binding.”
“Wait, what?” I gasp. “I don’t think I can take any more sex right now. I need to rest.”
Addom shakes his head and smiles.
“We are not going there to mate,” he says. “The final part of the binding should be done at the Source so that your body may heal more quickly.”
“Heal?”
These guys were pretty rough with me last night, but not that rough. Sure, they marked me with their teeth, but they didn’t injure me or anything.
When I glance at Kadmon, I see that he is touching his lip ring.
“Oh,” I gasp, my fingers going to my own lip as a reflex.
Now I understand. They are going to pierce me.
CHAPTER 27: LILY
“Oh fuck me!” I bark.
Exquisite pain explodes through my right breast as Hasker’s long thin needle pierces my nipple. As a reflex, my body tries to jerk away from the pain, but Addom’s powerful arms clamp tightly around me in a marble-statue embrace. I squeeze Kadmon’s hand so tightly his fingers turn purple.
The sound of my shouted curse echoes through the Temple of the Source, bouncing around the cavernous, domed space. A few worshipers who are making slow laps around the Source raise their heads at my outburst.
I think, under the circumstances, I can be forgiven for sullying this sacred place with my profanity.
“Shh. Good omega,” Addom purrs in my ear. “You’re doing great.”
I’ve already gotten two other piercings today—one through my eyebrow to match Hasker’s, and one through my nostril to match Addom’s septum piercing. The idea is that the matched piercings will bind me to each of the Alpha’s individually.
And by doing the procedure in such close proximity to the Source, the wounds heal almost instantaneously.
The first two piercings didn’t hurt too badly, but this third one was a doozy, given to match Kadmon’s nipple ring.
It was a team effort too. Addom hugged me tightly from behind to keep me from flinching. Then Kadmon pinched my nipple and pulled it to a taut peak. And last, Hasker handled the thin needle, using a cork on the other side to catch the sharp point as it came through.
Before today, the prospect of mean old Hasker being the one to do the piercing would have terrified me. But ever since last night, his attitude toward me has changed, and I can’t deny that I feel a strange connection to him now.
In some ways, it is as if our bond is the strongest of all.
When I asked why Hasker would be the one to give me the piercings, Addom simply said that Hasker had “the nimblest fingers.”
Without missing a beat, I replied, “Oh yes, I remember that from the cave.”
When I said that, Hasker blushed. That rough, grizzled, scarred Alpha actually blushed. I could hardly believe it, but it happened. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle, well…
Through my nipple apparently.
As the sting subsides, I glance down at my chest, blinking away the tears of pain from my eyes. Addom eases his hug, and Kadmon lets go of my nipple, which springs back into place, impaled all the way through by the long thin piece of steel.
“Wow,” I gasp in amazement.
As Hasker slides the steel ring through the freshly made hole, I know right away that this was totally worth it. A kiss of pure pleasure tingles through that sensitive nub of flesh, and for a moment I think I might actually come just from that.
“Looking good,” a feminine voice giggles.
It’s Hannah. She and her Alphas are standing nearby, along with a few other random Alphas and omegas who stopped to check out the show. Hardly the audience that we had last night though.
“You were right,” I tell her. “It wasn’t that bad at all. In fact, I might have to think about getting the other side done too.”
I look at her body, covered in three or four times as many piercings as I’ve got, and I feel a little envious. This could get addictive.
Addom chuckles behind me.
“We can do that if you want.” His warm breath tickling my ear makes me hot, and I can feel my slick beginning to flow again. “But first, there is one last thing we must do.”
When I glance back at Hasker, I see that he is retrieving a fresh, sterile needle from a satchel.
“What do you mean?” I whisper.
Kadmon squeezes my hand reassuringly.
“These three piercings you’ve received have bound you to each of us individually,” Addom explains. “But there is one more that is required to bind you to us all as a pack.”
His lips brush the shell of my ear, sending a sexy, scary chill up my spine.
“Where?”
Addom presses his lips to my ear and whispers the answer.
I repeat my one word question, not because I didn’t hear him, but because I can hardly believe what he just said. And this time it comes out not as a whisper, but as a loud shout. Once more the other occupants of this massive, dark room raise their heads in brief annoyance at my outburst.
“Your clitoris,” he says firmly.
“Nope,” I blurt and try to struggle away. “Sorry, no way.”
But Addom’s arms hold me tightly in place, and it’s like trying to squirm away from a bronze statue. After a moment I stop.
“Seriously, are you just making up these rules as you go along?” I ask angrily.
Then I glance at Hannah, and I remember that glint of steel that I saw between her legs yesterday at the baths, and I realize it’s all too real.
Hannah squats down so she’s at eye level with me, and she gestures to my Alphas to let her speak to me. She places her hand on my shoulder.
“It’s really not that bad,” she says.
“I find that hard to believe,” I mutter. “I mean my nipple is one thing, but my…”
As my
voice trails off, I dart my eyes down toward my crotch, silently finishing my sentence.
“It’s not really through your clitoris,” Hannah says. “Look.”
Without the slightest hint of shame or bashfulness, she lifts her leather loincloth and spreads her crouching knees wide to give me a full view.
“See,” she says. “It just goes through the hood, so it doesn’t hurt too much.”
She leans in closer.
“And later it feels good,” she adds.
I blush again at what she’s suggesting. Even though I just had very public sex with three men last night, I’m still getting used to how open things are here in the zone.
“It’s important,” Addom says. His voice is deep and rumbly, and I feel it vibrate from his chest through my back.
My eyes dart from Hannah to Kadmon, who nods reassuringly, and then to Hasker, who is holding the needle and cork.
I sigh as I realize that I have to go through with this.
“Okay,” I say, “let’s fucking do this.”
I pull up my own loincloth and spread my legs wide, exposing every inch of my tender sensitive skin.
Hasker nods approvingly.
“Boy,” is all he says to Kadmon.
The younger Alpha reaches down and plucks the skin of my hood, stretching it out. Hasker meanwhile, moves into position with the needle on one side of my fold of skin and the cork on the other.
“The omega is right,” he says to me. “This won’t hurt much.”
“How would you know?” I grumble.
Hasker just smirks and then I remember that piercing running through the top of his cock’s plump head.
“Deep breath,” he says softly.
I hesitate for a moment. All around us are the hushed sounds of the others who have come to this cavernous temple to meditate or heal. I inhale deeply.
“Out.”
I exhale slowly, pushing every last bit of air from my lungs. Addom’s arms constrict around my body, and I feel a bit like a rabbit caught by a python. Kadmon gives me his free hand, and I squeeze it until I think he will break. He doesn’t.
The needle stings me as it passes through my flesh. I hiss a sharp intake through my clenched teeth. My hips reflexively try to jerk back, but Addom’s legs hold me steady.
“See?” Hasker says.
He was right, and so was Hannah. That one hurt far less than some of the others, surprisingly. And as Hasker puts the steel ring into place, I can tell that Hannah was definitely right about something else.
It does feel good.
Hasker gently rolls his thumb against my tender bud, and I moan. Addom claps a hand over my mouth. Just two more skillful strokes from Hasker’s thumb, and my body is shuddering hard as I come. Addom’s palm stifles my whines of ecstasy.
I glare at Hasker, slightly pissed that he just did that to me in front of Hannah, which is a bit awkward. The bearded Alpha just shrugs.
“The orgasm will help with the healing.”
Now I know he’s just making shit up. But I kinda like this tall tale.
“Let’s go home,” I say in a hushed voice when Addom finally takes his hand from my mouth.
I glance around at my three Alphas, to whom I am now permanently bound. They are smiling approvingly. I want to be with them again. I want to feel their strong hands and insistent mouths on my skin, playing with my new decorations and taking my pleasure to new heights.
I shouldn’t need it so soon after last night. But I’m already hungry for them again.
“Soon,” Addom says. “But we must stay here for a time so that the Source can complete your healing.”
He tenderly kisses the crook of my neck where he and his pack mates branded me with their teeth.
CHAPTER 28: HASKER
Whenever I sleep inside the chamber of the Source, I always dream about Talia and how she died. Today is no exception.
This time, however, the dream is different.
She is running through the forest, dappled sunlight rushing over her bare skin, piercings glinting. Her eyes are wide and her pupils dilated. Her breath comes in ragged gasps. She is not panicked, but she is afraid.
I cry out, as I always do, when I hear the crack of the outsider’s rifle, and I see the red wound blossom on her chest.
She is dead before she even hits the ground.
I rush to my fallen mate, gathering her limp body in my arms. I repeat her name over and over, but she doesn’t respond.
All of these details of the recurring dream are the same as they are every time. The part that is different is the end.
When I look down into the face of the dead omega cradled in my arms, I see that it’s not Talia at all.
It is Lily.
I wake with a start, cold sweat prickling along my brow and across my neck. My chest is tight, my breathing shallow and labored, my muscles tense.
I flinch as a hand touches my shoulder.
“Easy.” It’s Kadmon. He is crouching beside me. “No need to worry, Hasker. She’s right there.”
Kadmon gestures across the vast chamber toward the base of the Source where Lily is standing with Addom and the other omega, her friend, Hannah.
But how did Kadmon know that I was worried about her? It occurs to me that I may have been calling her name in my sleep.
I sit up and take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves and get my bearings.
“How’s your pecker?” I ask Kadmon.
The young Alpha shrugs. He got pierced today too. It’s customary for one his age to get his member enhanced with a piercing after he has shed his virginity. I remember how bad mine stung when I got it.
Kadmon took his like a man.
To my surprise, our little omega took hers well too. Much better than I expected. She is tough and courageous. Full of surprises.
With the ceremony complete, we remained here in the chamber to let the Source work its magic and heal their pierced skins. By tradition, we should use this time for meditation and prayer, but I’ve never been much good at either of those practices, and so I dozed off. Hence the dream.
With a grunt, I rise to my feet and stretch my back. Then I cross the floor to the base of the Source where Addom, Lily, and Hannah are standing.
As I get closer, I realize that they are gathered around a screen set into the base of the Source. Lily is tapping away at a small set of keys.
“I already tried that,” Hannah says. “But this thing’s operating system is ancient.”
Lily snorts.
“Yeah, it literally hasn’t been updated in over a century,” she chuckles. “Luckily, I paid attention in my History of Computation class back at the university. I think I recognize this computer architecture. If I can just access the operating system’s kernel…”
I sidle up beside Addom.
“What are they doing?” I ask him.
He shakes his head.
“I’m not sure.”
“Is the council okay with them interacting with the Source like this.”
He shrugs.
“Probably not. But I’m curious.”
So am I. Lily is so deeply concentrated on the machine that she doesn’t even seem to notice me leaning over her shoulder as she works. Her fingers are so nimble that they are little more than a blur over the clattering keys. Arcane symbols scroll across the glassy screen. I have no understanding of their meaning, but I assume that they must be some kind of incantations or spells written in a holy language.
Alphas and omegas are drawing near wearing inquisitive expressions.
Suddenly, the frequency of the Source’s vibration changes. It grows deeper and stronger. Everyone steps back from the Source in anticipation. Everyone except Lily. She just keeps tapping away.
“I think I’ve almost got it,” she says. “I just need to—”
A boom and crackle of static makes everyone in the chamber jump with fright. A film of eerie light, like the blue part of a dying flame flickers around the surface of th
e massive sphere. Gradually, the plasma congeals into a giant, ghostly face.
We all stand in awe, mouths gaping.
Then it speaks.
“Hello. I am the Sentient Evolving Recursive Algorithmic Population Heuristic version 6.7, or S.E.R.A.P.H. 6.7 for short. How may I serve you?”
CHAPTER 29: LILY
“Seraph 6.7?” Hannah whispers. “Is this some kind of AI?”
“Correct,” Seraph 6.7 answers. “I am an artificial intelligence.”
The face is blank, sexless, and cybernetic. It’s cold voice stutters and speaks with unusual fluctuations of pitch and timbre. Sometimes it sounds like more than one voice is speaking in unison.
The Alphas are muttering behind us. They have no idea what the hell is going on. And to be honest, I’m not that far ahead of them.
I give Hannah a quizzical glance and she just shrugs.
Okay, it looks like it’s up to me to talk to this thing.
“Seraph,” I ask, squaring my shoulders and trying my best to sound bold. “Who created you?”
The AI answers without missing a beat.
“I was constructed under the auspices of the SynerGen Corporation by a team of programmers comprising Dr. Rudiger Dorn, Dr. Uli Roth, Dr. Jaeyung Yoon, Dr. Sriraman Radhakrishnan…”
Seraph rattles off about fifteen more names that I don’t recognize. Once it is done, the AI simply becomes silent, apparently awaiting further questions.
“Why were you created?” I ask. “What is your function?”
The face flickers and glitches briefly.
“My primary function is to manage the suppression field generator to ensure optimum human population density.”
Hannah stands by my shoulder and leans over to whisper to me.
“Suppression field generator?” Hannah asks. “What is the suppression field generator?”
She was asking me, but Seraph answers anyway.
“The suppression field generator is the device you see directly in front of you.”
So what the Alphas have been calling the Source all these years is really a suppression field generator? But what does that even mean?
“Seraph, what is the suppression field generator supposed to do? What is it supposed to suppress?”