The Human Omega

by J. L. Wilder

  Axe’s body came up off the bed. “Jesus!”

  “What? Was that bad?”

  “No. No. Not bad. But...”

  “No one’s ever done that for you before?”

  “Never.”

  Kiedra grinned, a confident, sexy spread of her lips. “Want me to do it again?”

  “Hell yes!”

  She latched her lips over his nipple again and his body vibrated under her. She switched to the other nipple and rubbed her body over his. Desire swirled in an ever rising tide in her belly. She writhed on his body, stroking herself with the tip of his penis and moaning under her breath.

  “I...Kiki, please....” Axe tossed his head from side to side.

  “Please?” She ground her pelvis against his and he moaned.

  “I want you. Please. Let me...or put me...something!”

  Kiedra slid her body up his until she could position herself over his cock. She moved back and gasped as the head pierced her opening. Axe growled and grasped Kiedra’s hips. His eyes asked and her body answered. She dropped down on him as he thrust up. The resulting explosion left them both breathless.

  A thudding pulse rocked Kiedra’s head back. She could feel his heartbeat inside her own body. She’d never felt closer to anyone in her life. Her heartbeat matched his as they thrust against each other. Each thrust seemed to forge new pathways in her nerves as the pleasure built and their hearts thundered together.

  “Kiki,” Axe kissed her lips, thrusting his tongue into her mouth in time with other thrusts.

  She closed her eyes and fell into the sensations. It took several moments before she realized Axe was calling her name again.

  “What?”

  “I don’t have...Do you have a...”

  “A what?”

  “A condom? I don’t. I didn’t plan for this.”

  Kiedra shook her head. “I’m on the pill.”

  Axe grinned and twisted his body. Before she could breathe, they had reversed positions and Kiedra lay on her back under Axe. He balanced over her, stroking in and out as deeply and slowly as he could. She watched his body move over her, reveling in the feeling of his strength and muscles on her.

  Her back arched suddenly as a spear of pleasure thrust itself into her core with Axe’s body. He withdrew and thrust again and again, his hips pumping ever faster as they climbed their orgasms together. With a final, forceful thrust, Axe moaned and bit Kiedra’s neck.

  Fireworks exploded behind her lids. Her breath stopped, caught in her chest beside the heart that threatened to beat out of her chest. The colors burst and swirled, and a roaring wave of sound pulsed in her ears. Kiedra gasped, sucking in a breath that sounded like a scream, and then the real world faded away.

  “Are you in there, yet?” Axe’s voice contained a mixture of worry and amusement.

  Kiedra opened her eyes and found him leaning over her wearing a huge shit-eating grin. She groaned and lay her arm over her face.

  “Do I have to ask how it was for you?” Axe snickered when she groaned again.

  “Don’t look at me,” she said, trying to turn on her side.

  Axe was having none of it and pulled her back to face him. “What’s wrong?”

  She covered her face with her hands while peering through them at his face. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just...I feel weird being naked.”

  “We were more than just naked a few minutes ago.”

  “I know. In the moment is one thing, but I need to brush my teeth and my hair and...”

  Axe kissed her, pushing her hands away from her face to kiss her eyelids and forehead after her lips. Kiedra returned the kiss, then pushed herself to her knees to look down at Axe.

  “It was amazing, and you know it. But I’m gonna brush my teeth, and you should too.” She rolled to the side and moved to the edge of the bed. Axe slapped her bottom.

  “Cheeky!”

  “If you wanted a meek and mild miss, you’re going to be disappointed. That’s not me.”

  “Heaven forbid!”

  Kiedra handed Axe a new toothbrush from a basket in her bathroom before putting paste on her toothbrush. They stared at each other in the mirror as they brushed. Kiedra wanted to smile and shout how happy she was, but she couldn’t. There was too much that could go wrong with their future for her to hope they’d have one. Better to play the fun friend he had sex with than admit she wanted to scream that she loved him.

  “What are you thinking?” Axe asked. “You just got serious.”

  She spit her toothpaste into the sink and turned a brilliant smile his way in the mirror. “I was thinking we should go finish dinner and watch the movie I rented.”

  Axe spit into the sink, rinsed his mouth and kissed her. “Sounds perfect.”

  Chapter Five

  Heavy metal music pushed out of the bar door, smacking Kiedra in the face and pressing her back as the door closed behind her. She gave herself a minute for her eyes to adjust to the dimly lit entry hall. She took a deep breath and pushed forward into the bar.

  Every head in the place turned as she crossed the threshold. Two concentric circles of people—the contestants and the twenty-something Pack women—surrounded Hawk. He sat amid his supporters and scowled at Kiedra. Leslie stepped between Thorn and Decker to stop behind Hawk. She lay her hands on his shoulders and massaged his neck.

  Kiedra ignored them all, angling to the bar to take a seat with her back to the room. After a moment, the conversations struck up again and the noise swelled toward her. The bartender stopped in front her.

  “You want a drink, Kiki?”

  She smiled at the bartender. “Sure. How about a coke?”

  “Coming up.”

  Kiedra watched the hall entrance. Axe was meeting her there before the Pack meeting. Roland wanted everyone to be prepared for the Contest the next night, so he commanded the Pack to meet at the bar.

  The weeks since Mamma’s funeral had been busy. It had taken a couple of days for Kiedra to even want to start going through everything in Mamma’s house. Then there had been the memory land-mines she’d come across.

  The photo album she’d never seen before that contained photographs of her from the age of five on. Every important event in her life had been memorialized by Mamma, but she’d never shared the photos with Kiedra.

  The toys she’d believed she’d lost or that Mamma had given away, all tucked into a trunk in the back of the hall closet. Each toy had had a note with a date and some personal information written on it in Mamma’s handwriting.

  The silver service hidden in the sidebar Kiedra had been forbidden to open, matched the fancy china tucked out of sight in the bottom of the china cabinet. Both were gorgeous and likely would have brought enough to pay the property taxes for five years.

  Kiedra had sat on the floor in the living room with the photo album, crying and flipping the pages. She’d relived a lifetime of birthdays, Christmases, and school graduations. The fact that Mamma had taken the photos and then spent the time to put the photos in an album. Each photo was carefully labeled with the date and the event, proving Mamma had taken even more time to memorialize Kiedra’s life.

  Lost in thought, she screamed when Hawk put his hot, heavy hand on her shoulder.

  “Jeez, Kiki. Why are you wound so tight?”

  “Please don’t touch me, Hawk. We’re not that kind of friends.”

  Hawk lifted his hands and backed away. “Hey, no harm, no foul, right?”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Whatever.”

  The bartender set Kiedra’s drink in front of her and then backed off. She caught the look he shot Hawk and something clenched tight and hard in her chest.

  Hawk sat on the stool next to Kiedra. “So what have you been up to since the funeral?”

  “Are we really going to do this?”

  “Yes, we are. We’re going to observe the niceties. Then I’m going to ask you uncomfortable questions and you’re going to answer them for the good of the Pack.”<
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  “The hell I am.” Kiedra swung her legs down from her bar stool. “I’ll wait for Axe in the car.”

  Hawk’s hand snapped out and grabbed her arm before she could do more than put both feet on the floor. “Sit down!”

  “Hawk Lane, you are not Alpha, and even if you were, I’m not Pack—as you are so fond of reminding me. Get your hand off me and stick whatever questions you have up your ass.”

  Hawk pulled Kiedra close and lowered his voice. “You will listen. You will answer. And you will not speak to me like that.”

  He pulled Kiedra into the entry hall, out of sight of everyone in the bar. Hawk jerked her arm and she found herself pressed between Hawk’s body and the wall. His insistent lips sought hers, shocking her into inaction. Taking her confusion for compliance, he pressed his tongue into her mouth. Her brain reconnected in a rush and she bit down on the invader.

  Hawk screamed and jerked back. His hand lashed out and Kiedra’s head connected with the wall behind her.

  “Bitch!”

  Kiedra, dazed from the blow to the head, said nothing. She rubbed the back of her head and tried to refocus her scrambled brain. A solid thought finally settled in and she turned on Hawk.

  “Did you just hit me?” She leaned in and poked a finger into his chest. “Did you really just hit me?”

  Hawk looked at his hand and held it out to Kiedra. “I’m bleeding, bitch!”

  “Good!”

  “I ought to teach you a lesson. Show you how a good little wolf bitch should behave.”

  Kiedra, arms akimbo, came off the wall and walked up to Hawk until her toes touched the tips of his boots. “I’d like to see you try.”

  In the next moment, three things happened. Hawk reached for Kiedra, who sidestepped and brought her knee up between his legs as Axe opened the outside door. Hawk let out a startled squawk and fell to his knees. Kiedra wobbled and stepped to the side to lean on the wall. Axe rushed in and grabbed the front of Hawk’s shirt. Axe jerked the moaning man to his feet.

  “You’ve lost your damn mind, Hawk,” Axe snarled.

  “It’s okay, Axe. I’m not hurt.” Kiedra winced as her head gave a particularly brutal throb.

  Axe drew back his fist and was about to let his fury fly when the outside door opened.

  “Hold!” Roland bellowed.

  AXE, Kiedra, and Hawk froze. Roland stalked forward.

  “What in the name of our Holy Father’s hairy left nut do you three think you’re doing?” He stopped between Axe and Hawk. Axe dropped his hand from Hawk’s shirt.

  “She kneed me in the nuts,” Hawk gasped.

  Roland eyed Kiedra. She could feel her face swelling where Hawk had hit her and knew Roland would see it. She turned away, but Roland’s hand snapped out and caught her chin.

  “Did he do this?” he asked, notching his head toward Hawk.

  “Yes. He hit me.”

  “She drew first blood!” Hawk forced his body upright. “I was within my right.”

  “Is that right?” Roland looked Hawk over. “I don’t see any blood.”

  “Well...”

  “He stuck his tongue in my mouth and I bit him!” Kiedra spat. “I’d do it again and I wish I’d bit it off.”

  Axe’s growl erupted from his chest, ceding in a snarl that bared his teeth.

  “Enough!” Roland snatched Hawk’s shirt in one hand and Axe’s in the other. He dragged the two men into the bar area and pushed them into chairs at the table where Hawk had been holding court earlier. “Sit. Don’t talk. Kiedra, get your ass in here.”

  Kiedra’s heart stuttered at the sound of her full name on Roland’s lips. She made her way into the bar area and stood on the edge of the circle. Her shoulders hunched, she tried to be invisible, but Roland wasn’t having it.

  He beckoned her forward and she moved into reach. Roland took her hand before turning to address the Pack.

  “Did I not make myself clear? Has there been a time in the past few weeks when I have been less that clear in my orders?”

  The Pack chorused, “No, Alpha!”

  “You see, that’s what I thought, but then I come in here tonight. I expected a quick meeting with some instructions for the contestants and the Pack and then a couple of beers before putting my old ass to bed, but obviously, that’s not what I’m getting.”

  Roland put Kiedra in front of him, forcing her to stand in front of and between Axe and Hawk.

  “Did you or did you not all make the oath of friendship to Kiedra in the Greensward?”

  “We did, Alpha,” the Pack responded.

  “And do we assault our friends?” Roland paced the width of the semi-circle formed by the Pack members.

  “No, Alpha.”

  “Because I thought the Whiteridge Clan members were men and women of their word. That they would protect and love the friends of the Pack as though they had been born to it.”

  The Pack remained silent. Alice and Leslie squirmed a little. Roland skewered them with his eyes and both dropped their gazes to the floor.

  “I thought I could trust my Pack to follow orders.” Here, he stopped directly behind Kiedra and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked over her to stare down Axe and Hawk.

  “You two are hours away from the Contest. You should be focusing on your strategies and your mental state. Instead, I arrive to find you about to come to blows in the entrance hall. What were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t thinking, Alpha,” Axe said.

  “I’m aware of that, Axe.” Roland turned his gaze to Hawk. “What about you, son? Were you thinking when you assaulted Kiedra?”

  “I didn’t assault her. I kissed her. Is that so bad?”

  “You kissed her?” Leslie screamed. Her hand lashed out to twist in his hair and jerk Hawk’s head back. “You fucking kissed her? I ought to kick your ass right now, you son of a bitch!”

  Roland’s hand on hers brought Leslie’s gaze up to meet his. She released Hawk’s hair and dropped her arms to her side.

  “I’m sorry, Alpha.”

  “Get back, Leslie. And don’t let me see you behave like that again. Ever.”

  “Yes, Alpha.” Leslie backed up to the outer wall of the bar, out of the semicircle of Pack members.

  Kiedra wobbled and her hand shot up to her head where the lump gave a hard thump. Axe was up in a flash and put her into his chair before Roland could respond.

  “I’m okay. I hit my head when Hawk hit me.”

  “Damn it, Kiki. Why didn’t you say something?” Roland asked.

  “I’m fine. Can we move this along, though? I think I need to lay down soon.”

  “Right.” Roland stepped in front of the Pack again. “First, Hawk will be punished by the Pack after the contest, regardless of the outcome. He will pay a penalty to Kiedra for the assault.”

  “But...”

  “There are no buts, Hawk. You were wrong and I hope you know that. If not, the punishment and penalty will be reminders. You don’t kiss women against their will. You don’t touch women without permission. I raised you better than that.”

  “But...” Hawk caught the look Roland shot him and stammered a bit before spitting out, “Yes, Alpha.”

  “Good. Now on to the Contest. You will all be in the Greensward at full dark. Contestants, bring at least two changes of clothes or a robe. All decisions are final. Period. If I tell you to sit down, sit your ass down. Once you’re eliminated, move to the outside of the circle with the rest of the Pack.”

  Roland crossed his arms over his chest. He took a deep breath. “Most of you are too young to remember the last Contest. Hell, most of you weren’t born then. Once the Alpha is declared, he will choose the Omega and they will mate in the Greensward. The Pack will remain, but you will turn your backs. That’s enough witness for me, so it’s enough witness for the Pack.”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  “Now get out of here. No drinking the night before the Contest.” Roland turned to the bartender. “Sorry, man.�
�

  “No worries, Roland.”

  The sound of chairs scraping the floor overpowered Roland’s, “Come with me,” but Hawk, Axe and Kiedra caught the look he shot them and followed him to a back corner of the bar.

  “Sit,” Roland spat.

  Axe pulled out a chair for Kiedra and sat beside her, putting a table between them and the next available chair. Hawk scowled and sat, arms folded over his chest.

  Roland stood in front of the three, staring them down. “What am I going to do with you three?”

  “It was just an innocent kiss,” Hawk said.

  “Don’t make excuses,” Roland snapped. “You know how Kiki feels about you. She’s never hidden it. This isn’t even the first time she kneed your nads, boy.”

  Kiedra’s snorted laugh brought a smile to Axe’s face. “Her thirteenth birthday party at the YMCA,” he sniggered.

  “He fell in the pool. I thought he might drown,” Kiedra hid her smile with her hand.

  “It wasn’t funny!” Hawk snarled.

  “Neither is this,” Roland’s tone shut down any giggles Kiedra had left. Roland turned his laser gaze on Axe.

  “I’m not going to ask and you’re not going to tell, but if what I think is going on is going on, knock it off until after the Contest.”

  “Yes, Alpha.” Axe shot him a hang-dog look.

  “That means if I drive by the house, I won’t see your truck out there, right?”

  “Yes, sir,” Kiedra answered.

  “Good. Now take her home and get yourself to your house, boy. You don’t want to be tired in the Greensward.”

  Axe stood and held his hand out to Kiedra. She took it and let Axe walk her toward the bar. Behind them, they heard Roland take a deep breath and let it out before speaking.

  “You’re a dumb ass, son. I wish I knew what was wrong with you.”

  Kiedra stifled a laugh, waved to the bartender, and followed Axe out to the parking lot. They stopped at Kiedra’s car. She leaned on the hood and Axe joined her.

  “That was interesting,” she said.