by Nora Phoenix
“Palani?” Lidon asked, his voice raw with emotion.
Only then did Enar realize he’d made it about himself when Palani had been there as well. Lidon hadn’t only asked him, he wanted both of them, and Enar had selfishly claimed his attention for minutes.
But Palani stepped in, grabbing Enar’s hand and squeezing it, before offering his mouth to Lidon. “I want nothing more, my alpha.”
Vieno squeezed in between them, claiming his spot in Lidon’s long arms and for a full minute they stood, hearts and bodies pressed together as one.
“Bedroom, now,” Lidon ordered, and they broke apart, almost racing each other to their bedroom, leaving a trail of discarded clothes behind them.
They hurried onto the bed, four naked bodies and four hungry hearts, all desiring to be truly one. Enar saw the hunger he experienced reflected on his mates' faces, and he knew the order in which it would happen. Lidon sought his eyes, the unasked question crystal clear.
“Palani goes first,” Enar said the words for him. “He’s your beta, your second in command.”
Lidon cupped his cheek. “It doesn’t make you last…or less.”
Enar nodded. “It makes me the luckiest man on earth, to have this with you. I belong with you, alpha, with all of you.”
Lidon nodded back and let go of Enar, his mouth curving in a satisfied smile. “Palani,” he said. “Present yourself to your alpha.”
Palani sat on his knees in front of Lidon and the alpha grabbed his head with both hands. “You haven’t asked for the words, but you’ll get them nonetheless. I love you, Palani, more than I ever thought possible. Vieno is my heart’s mate and Enar is my childhood’s mate, my best friend, but you…you earned my love with your character. It’s impossible not to love you, since your heart is so big… Our foursome wouldn’t function without you.”
God, Enar felt himself get mushy all over again at that declaration of love. It seemed Lidon could find the words when it mattered. And Palani, sweet Palani, he lit up like a Christmas tree, his entire face beaming as he radiated the love he felt for Lidon. Enar had known he loved the alpha, but never had it been more clear.
And then he bowed, kissing Lidon’s hands in a gesture of sweet submission. “You know I love you,” he simply said. “How could I not?”
“You ready?” Lidon asked after kissing him until both their lips were swollen and red.
“Yes, alpha.”
Lidon positioned himself on his back and Vieno scrambled over to lube his cock, then crawled behind Palani to prep him with sweet, soft moves, every caress showing his love. Palani kissed him when he was done and kneeled with his knees on both sides of Lidon.
“Take me in,” the alpha ordered.
Palani did as he was told, his face tight with concentration. Enar knew how big that alpha cock was, and how it always hurt so good when you took it in. The beta winced, then visibly relaxed and Lidon’s cock disappeared inside him. He did a few careful thrusts until Enar could see him relax.
Lidon sat up, holding Palani and looking at him with love. Vieno found a spot between Enar’s legs and he held him close, feeling privileged he could watch this special moment.
“Do you accept my alpha as your mate for life, sealing our unbreakable bond as long as we both shall live?” Lidon asked, repeating the words he’d once asked Vieno.
“Yes, alpha.” Palani’s voice rang out confident and steady, not a trace of nerves audible. “Do you accept my beta as your mate for life, sealing our unbreakable bond as long as we both shall live?”
“Yes, beta.”
This time, Lidon didn’t ask for permission to claim him. His hips flexed and he thrust deep inside Palani. The beta groaned as the alpha roar filled the room, Lidon claiming every cell of them. He thrust deep inside Palani again with an aggressive move and came at his neck with his teeth.
Enar froze as he noticed his eyes… They were gleaming, shining unnaturally, much like an animal, like a… Enar gasped. A wolf. He was looking at the eyes of a wolf as Lidon sank his teeth deep inside Palani’s neck.
In that moment, Enar realized that everything Grayson had told them was true. Lidon was so much more than a mere man… He was not only their alpha, but the true alpha, and he’d bring change. A peace settled in Enar’s heart at the knowledge that he was a part of this, that he would not only witness history being made but would help shape it himself.
A little trail of blood trickled down Palani’s neck and Lidon licked it up, moaning low and deep. Without saying a word, he rolled Palani on his back and slammed inside him, forcing the air out of his lungs with an audible swoosh. He repeated the move as Palani held on to his shoulders for dear life.
“Mine,” Lidon snarled. “You’re mine.”
The possessiveness was unlike anything Enar had seen from him before, and it showed the alpha-claim had taken root.
“Yours, alpha,” Palani repeated, his voice raw.
Lidon fucked him harder than Enar had ever seen him do before, but Palani took it, encouraging Lidon with grunts and moans. “I’m yours,” he kept repeating until Lidon sped up and came inside him, throwing his head back and letting out another alpha roar.
He collapsed on top of Palani, whose arms came around him as he nuzzled his neck, mumbling things too soft for Enar to hear. Enar smiled. Even Lidon couldn’t resist Palani’s cuddles. The man was too damn inviting to not seek shelter in his arms. He was their safe spot, the place they could be themselves, vulnerable.
He held Vieno as they watched in silence how Lidon returned to earth, finally pulling out of Palani, kissing him before rolling off him.
“It’s your turn,” Vieno said softly but with excitement in his voice.
“Thank you for sharing him with us, little one,” Enar said.
Vieno turned around in his arms. “He was never only mine… He always was ours, just like you’re ours.”
Enar nodded, finally feeling the truth as much as he believed it and knew it in his head. “Will you prep me?” he asked Palani. The mark on his shoulder was furiously red, but Enar looked at it with longing. A few minutes more and he’d have one of his own.
“Gladly.”
Palani took his time, stretching him with slow, sweet gestures, kissing him until he was a writhing mess, dying to be filled. “I love it when you get all needy,” the beta whispered against his lips. “My beautiful, strong man… I’m so proud of you.”
“I love you,” Enar said, his throat constricted. He’d never thought he’d ever be in this position, to be claimed. For so long he’d believed he should do the claiming, even though it had felt ten kinds of wrong. The freedom of this moment, it was indescribable.
“He’s ready for you, alpha,” Palani said.
Enar expected Lidon to take position on his back again, but the alpha hesitated. “This one is different,” he said. “He completes us, so it should be all of us, united.”
Enar frowned. What did Lidon mean?
“Enar, on your knees, your ass toward me,” Lidon commanded. “Palani, take position in front of him and Vieno, you’re in front of Palani. All four of us, connected.”
Only then did Enar understand. Vieno and Palani took position, Palani sinking deep inside the omega without a problem. No wonder, Vieno had to be horny as fuck after what he’d witnessed. Enar positioned himself behind Palani and entered him, his hole still slick and stretched from Lidon’s not-too-gentle claiming.
Lidon’s head pressed against him and he opened up, spreading his legs as wide as they would go and pushing his ass back. Palani and Vieno moved with him, never losing their connection.
“My man,” Lidon said, pushing inside with one steady move. “My men.”
“Yours, alpha,” Palani mumbled, echoed by Vieno.
“How about you, my beta?” Lidon asked, wrapping his strong arms around Enar. “You ready to accept my claim?”
Enar raised his head. “I’m yours, alpha.”
“Do you accept my alpha as your mate for
life, sealing our unbreakable bond as long as we both shall live?” Lidon asked again.
“Yes, alpha.” Enar’s eyes filled and his voice broke as he spoke the words he never thought he’d utter. “Do you accept my beta as your mate for life, sealing our unbreakable bond as long as we both shall live?”
“Yes, beta.”
Lidon was quiet for a second, but then he continued, his voice ringing out.
“We are four and we are one, alpha, beta, beta, and omega. Four hearts, one soul. Four bodies, one mind. What we bind together, no man will ever break apart. I am the alpha and I claim these men for life!”
Lidon roared and Enar’s ears rung with the force. He roared again, and the power would have knocked Enar over if Lidon hadn’t held him. On the third roar, Lidon snapped his hips back and drove deep inside Enar, making him dizzy with the force. Once more he roared, and then his mouth descended on Enar’s shoulder and his vision went white hot, then black. He was split in two, made whole again, and he cried as he came, as they all came.
A haze settled over him, over them all, and he was hard, so hard, so hungry for sex, for cock, for his men. Was this how Vieno felt during his heat? Like a hot, throbbing ball of need, that wanted to come, then come again, and then again until he was full and empty at the same time?
He took, and he was taken, again and again and again, until he went limp, and he slept in his men’s arms.
22
Palani couldn’t explain it, but when Franken called him into his office a week after the alpha-claiming, he knew it was bad. Franken hadn’t said anything, but Palani had sensed it. Maybe it was because he’d seen the big brass who owned his paper come in yesterday and talk to Franken, he wasn’t sure, but something was going on and it had to do with him.
When he walked into Franken’s office, his boss’s face was tight. “Have a seat,” he told Palani, and his friendly tone affirmed something was up.
Franken leaned forward in his chair. “There have been complaints from the cops since you started your investigation into corruption,” he began. Palani nodded, since he was well aware. “And we’ve always supported you, since you could back up your findings with evidence.”
Palani nodded again, and Franken sighed as he dragged a hand through his receding hairline. “Your last piece, about the corruption in the white-collar division did not go over well.”
Palani had debated hard whether he should write the piece, scared he would trigger Ryland into more violence like the attack on the ranch. In the end, he’d decided to not name him by name, but paint a bigger picture of incompetence and corruption in his division. He’d also omitted any mention of Excellon, since he felt it was too soon to go public since he still didn’t have all the facts. If the conspiracy was as massive as he feared, showing how much he knew could prove catastrophic.
“I’m guessing that’s an understatement?” Palani asked with feigned indifference, since he knew all too well the absolute chaos and fury his piece had caused at police headquarters, courtesy of Lidon.
“The chief of police was livid, but…” Franken hesitated. “Look, there’s been a ton of pressure from high-ranking officials on me and the paper to make your investigations stop. The reasoning is that people are losing trust in cops, and that’s a bad thing for all of us, since it erodes trust in government.”
“The truth gets too painful, huh?” Palani said with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew where this was headed. Dammit.
“Well, they’re claiming it’s not the truth, but that the evidence you showed was fabricated by an inside source…”
Palani’s hands started to sweat. This was worse than he had expected. “An inside source, sir?”
“Yes, a cop. They’re saying he helped you fabricate this evidence to further your career.”
“What cop, sir?” He knew, but he had to ask.
“Palani, is it true you are involved in a clandestine four-way relationship with three other men, one of whom is a cop?”
His heart dropped out, but he looked Franken straight in the eyes as he answered. “Yes, sir. But there’s nothing clandestine about it. Our alpha alpha-claimed all three of us and none of us are hiding it.”
“What you do in your home and especially in your bedroom is none of my concern, but—”
“No,” Palani interrupted him. “It’s not. We are four legal adults in a committed, consensual relationship. That is no one’s business but ours.”
“It is if the cop you’re sleeping with is accused of doctoring evidence for you, so you could write flashy pieces and get famous.”
“You don’t seriously believe that, sir.”
Franken’s body language was contradictory. His stern face and tone seemed to say he was upset with Palani, but the hesitance in the rest of his body, the slight twitching of his fingers, told Palani there was more to this.
“I don’t know what to believe…”
“Sir, my first articles came out before I even met Lidon. And I showed you how I collected evidence, every step of the way.”
Franken’s face softened. “You did, and I gave the okay, but now I’m telling you that we can no longer support you in this. You’ve gone too far, pissed off the wrong people.”
Ah, now they were getting to the real issue. “What people would that be, sir?”
Franken leaned back in his chair. “My hands are tied, I hope you realize that. I’ve stood by you, but I’m not willing to lose my job over you.”
“Am I…am I being fired, sir?” Palani asked.
“You’re suspended without pay…for now. The board wants a full investigation into your sources and methods.”
Palani shook his head. “I won’t give up my sources, sir.”
“No, I didn’t think you would. But it’s what they’re demanding, so you need to ask yourself how much you’re willing to lose over your ethics.”
“If I don’t give up my sources, they’ll fire me?”
“Count on it,” Franken said. “For now, you’re suspended, which will give you a little time to figure out your strategy, but if you don’t cooperate, they will boot you.”
Regret colored the man’s voice, and Palani took comfort in that. “I appreciate the heads up, sir,” he said. He rose from his chair.
“Palani,” Franken said, using his first name since he’d started working for the paper. “For what it’s worth, I’m truly sad to see it play out like this. You deserve better.”
He nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
He walked over to his desk to grab his bag and discovered two security guards waiting for him. “We’re here to escort you out. You can take personal items only,” one of the guards said.
Palani nodded. Good thing he always scanned his notes into his own laptop and then destroyed the paper copies. He never stored any privacy sensitive information on his work laptop, knowing it wasn’t safe. Journalism 101, always protect your sources.
He slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and walked out, sending Adar a quick text he was already on his way. He waited outside the office till Adar had shown up.
“I thought you were staying in all day,” the bulky alpha greeted him.
“So did I. I got suspended.”
Adar’s eyes widened. “Interesting timing. Isam just called me, said something was going down at the clinic.”
“What’s happening? Is Enar okay?” Isam was Enar’s security guard. Enar had left early that morning because he had a full day of procedures at the clinic he rented an OR from.
“The Health Department is raiding the clinic, from what I understand.”
“Oh, shit,” Palani said. If they discovered the illegal procedures Enar did, the meds he gave patients without prescriptions, he could not only lose his medical license but go to jail. That in itself was worrisome enough, but the timing was conspicuous, the fact that it happened on the same day as Palani getting suspended.
“Have you checked in with Bray? Is Vieno okay at the ranch?” He hadn’t felt a
nything from Vieno, but he couldn’t rely on that, since they still weren't sure how that connection with the omega worked.
“Yeah, everything is fine, but Bray is on high alert.”
“Can we go to Enar? Is he still there?”
“Yes. They told him he couldn’t leave until they’d concluded their on-site investigation.” Adar looked as worried as Palani felt. “Will they find anything?” he asked Palani. “Does he keep any proof there of what he does?”
Palani’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know what he does?”
Adar’s strong hand landed on his shoulder. “He helped my youngest sister when she was pregnant at eighteen. I took her and he took care of it, of her. She’d been foolish and careless, but her life would’ve been over had she kept it, so he helped her. He’s a good man.”
Palani’s face softened. “Yes, he is. And no, they won’t find much. He keeps records of his legal patients only, the rest is in his head. He’s as careful as he can be.”
“Good,” Adar relaxed a bit, though he was always on alert, constantly checking his surroundings. “And you showing up won’t complicate things?”
Palani smiled. “I always complicate things, but that’s what makes life interesting. No, he needs me, even if he doesn’t know it yet.”
The men had shown up midway through a surgery. Enar had been tying his patient’s tubes—a perfectly legal procedure, thank fuck—when he’d heard the commotion outside his OR. Loud voices, lots of footsteps. His stomach sank. He’d feared this day would come.
“What the hell is going on?” Nancy, his OR assistant, asked.
“I don’t know, but can you find out, please?” Enar asked. “And make sure they don’t step foot inside, because we can’t contaminate the OR.”
Nancy walked out, leaving Enar with Jaser, the anesthesiologist, and Maz, an OB/gyn resident who volunteered with Enar as much as he could. He was a fourth-year resident and a gifted one who shared Enar’s passion to better to health and lives of omegas. He’d done countless procedures with Enar, knowing damn well at least half of them weren’t legal.