Chapter Eight

Lexa walked next to them, and Delun sat on the couch and pulled her into his lap. To her surprise, he gave her a sudden and deep kiss. Her heart pounded, and her body relaxed. Something about his kiss made her want more... immediately.

She felt his hand stroke down her arm, and he shivered as her shrug and the dress tugged to one side. He paused in his kiss. “What’s this?”

Grigory chuckled, lounging on a loveseat. “A gift from Aunt Natalya. Apparently, my letting my omega out in those raggedy clothes was a deep embarrassment to the family. So, Aunt Anya provided something a little more appropriate for a new member of the family.”

Delun chuckled. “Golden girl, can we see what Grigory’s family gave you?”

She blinked and nodded. There was no sense in being shy. She already wanted to jump all three of them. She eased to her feet and removed the shrug completely by rolling both shoulders out of it and sliding it down her back and away. The jersey dress went off one shoulder, then the other, and then, she pushed it down off her hips.

Delun sat back, and he smiled. “Turn?”

She did a slow turn with a rock of her hips, and then, she returned to her starting point with her hands folded in front of her. The chemise and panties didn’t feel like nearly enough covering.

“I had no idea you had such hair, little flower. Come back to me. I will keep you warm.”

She blushed and crawled back onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and kept one hand on her thigh.

“Right, now down to sloth business. Arthur has sent me that file, and you are an amazing young woman to keep going that way, primrose.”

She blinked. “You are trying to settle on an endearment for me.”

Arthur chuckled. “He is, Rose.”

“Indeed, treasure.” Grigory grinned.

She smiled. “If you need one, it might come to you... later.”

His hands tightened on her. “Hmm. I will seek your assistance for inspiration.”

She leaned against him as they discussed the ramifications of her situation with Hailey. Ostensibly, she was legally Hailey’s mother and only relative, but if Arthur’s family decided to reverse the denial with a blood test, that would change things. An omega was not a financially stable parent.

Lexa listened, but it wasn’t until Delun kissed and licked her cheek that she realized she was crying. She swallowed. “Uh, which one of you would want to be Hailey’s dad legally?”

Arthur smiled. “I am already her uncle.”

Grigory nodded. “It should be Delun. His status as a judge will scare her. I would love a little golden daughter, but I am practical.”

Delun chuckled. “I would love to have her as my daughter. It will shut my mother up for a while.”

“Just like that?” Her eyes were wide.

He stroked her cheek. “No, this was always a possibility. We discussed it when Arthur spoke to us weeks ago. The lifestyle change for you is extreme. You were keeping yours and Hailey’s heads above water, which is definitely an achievement considering your education level and lack of family support.”

“I had a bit of support.”

Delun pressed a kiss to her other cheek. “Your aunt and uncle are both quite old. They cannot deal with the needs of a growing little girl. And her last name will be Hall and not Petrov or Grigorovich.”

She huffed and then slumped. Being surrounded by folks who had actually done the research before they opened their mouths was rare. She didn’t have a leg to stand on. Legally, an omega’s children belonged to the fathers. The disavowal and stack of witnesses were all that stood between Hailey and the threat of her grandmother.

“Why did everybody laugh at dinner?”

Grigory smiled softly. “Because you are a little chicken, and you were letting your alphas get you ready for your heat. It showed you have accepted us.”

“Ohh.”

Arthur chuckled. “The playground gets installed tomorrow. And the wrestling pit and boxing ring.”

Grigory clapped his hands, and Lexa jumped a little. Delun soothed her with his hand to the outside of her hip.

“Oh, sorry, treasure. This means that the yard will be ready for the party after your heat.”

She blinked. “Wrestling?”

The guys all chuckled. “It is an instinct with us. We have already wrestled a few times, so we thought we would add it to the backyard along with the boxing ring. Keep all the alphas busy. There will be at least three omegas, so the alphas will need to keep distracted.”

She blinked. “Oh. I am guessing that Olivia and Ford will be there as well.”

Grigory shrugged. “Plenty of the male cousins aren’t fussy.”

“Ford is. He prefers females in general and a mixed group for his heat.” She chuckled. “Fortunately, he isn’t due again for another six months. He just had one.”

“How do you know that?” Arthur frowned.

“Um, I was invited to the last one? I didn’t go. But I was rather flattered. He’s pretty.” She chuckled. “He wanted me to play domme beta, but I politely refused. I couldn’t be away from Hailey for that long.”

Arthur growled.

She looked at him and stared.

“So, you would have had sex with him if babysitting wasn’t a factor?”

“He knows what he’s doing, according to Olivia, and she said it would be nice to have a break. It would not have caused me injury; it would have been a favour for a friend, and I would have gotten off my feet for a day or two and gotten to skip the gym.”

Delun blinked. “So, you would have gone to a male omega’s heat as a favour to a friend?”

“Yes.” She shrugged.

Arthur rubbed his face. “Right. So, Delun, you will prep the paperwork for Hailey?”

“I will. When the first heat is over, we will all sign an order of guardianship, and that should zip the legalities tight.”

Lexa bit her thumbnail, and Delun pulled her thumb from her mouth. “If I have time tomorrow, we will get you a manicure.”

“I use press-ons when I need nails.”

“We will get you a manicure and maybe get those split ends attended to.” He smiled. “Though your hair is lovely.”

“Illyana did it. She seemed to have fun.”

She bit her lip, and Delun used his thumb to free her lower lip. He kissed it softly and stroked his tongue over the part she bit. The wound went warm, and then, the slight burn was gone.

Lexa squirmed against him, and the scar on the back of her neck throbbed. That was weird. That hadn’t happened in half a decade, not since that first night. She never got to experience the caring and passion of having a mate. She blinked rapidly.

“Aw, petals, what made you so sad?”

“The scar felt funny and burny, and I remembered that I never got to be a bonded mate.” She swallowed.

Delun’s head turned toward Arthur. “Your scar has feeling?”

“Yeah. It gets hot and swollen sometimes. The Omega Centre has checked it, but they keep telling me it’s just dead. I get some antibiotics and am shown the door.”

“Hm. Is it hot now?”

“No.” She breathed a relieved sigh. “It faded.”

Arthur stared. “So it was hot and calmed down?”

“Yeah.”

There was a flicker of something in his gaze.

“So, what was the agreement that you guys entered into for me?”

Delun smiled. “We agreed to share a home.”

Grigory nodded. “We agreed to share family. All my family is theirs and vice versa.”

Arthur nodded. “If you decided to mate us and have children, the children will bear their genetic father’s last name.”

“That’s fair.” She nodded.

“During your heats, Delun and Grigory will be your primary lovers, and I am relegated to wait.”

She blinked and looked at Delun and then Grigory. “You guys are good with this?”

“He made the rules. We don’t care as long as we can be there.”

It was at that moment that she realized neither had been at a heat before, and that was because her kind was jealously guarded.

“It isn’t a short thing. I am going to need all of you.” She smiled. “And based on the supplies I was running during Olivia’s last heat, you are going to need a lot of electrolyte drinks. Y’all are going to be all fucked out.”

Purring started around the room, and she jumped. “Oh. Right. You already knew that.”

Delun purred against her ear. “We know, but it is wonderful to hear you say it.”

One of the cousins came in, bowed, and spoke to Grigory. He smiled. “I will be right back. A proper suit has been crafted for our little chicken.” He nodded to Delun. “I made the fabric choice that you wanted.”

Delun purred heavily.

The cousin, Piotr, came in and held up the garment bag. Grigory opened the bag and pulled out a suit in hot rod red. The skirt was only two inches below the jacket.

Delun’s hands clenched on her, and he murmured, “That will look so good on you.”

She shivered. “So, is that a skirt or a belt?”

Grigory said, “Put it on, treasure.”

“You do realize that if I gain any weight, it is going to mean more clothes? You might want to wait on that.”

Delun nipped her ear. “Put it on, petal.”

She looked at him. “You are not going to give me a nickname that is a vag reference.”

He grinned. “Yeah, that is exactly what I am going to do. Now, put on the pretty clothes so I can see a preview of tomorrow.”

She got up off his lap and took the clothes. The cousin left with a grin and a nod.

“This would be easier with a bra.”

Delun cocked his head. “You are not so busty that you need one every day. With the bandage tomorrow, you will enjoy the lack of straps, I think.”

She took the suit, got the components off their hangers, and she pulled off the chemise, pulled on the black silk shell, and then the skirt went on. The length of the skirt was mid-thigh. If she didn’t keep her thighs together, she would catch a serious breeze. The jacket was the same red silk as the skirt, and the fabric made her nervous.

Delun nodded. “I think I want you to meet my family in red. My mother will consider it lucky.”

She pulled her hair out, and it settled down her back.

Grigory was smiling with his fingers over his lips. “Shoes in the bottom of the bag.”

She checked the bottom and cursed.

Arthur grinned. “What’s the problem?”

“Grigory didn’t mention that there was underwear in here as well.”

He shrugged. “I thought you would want to save it to wear tomorrow. And it was fun to watch you bend over to look for them.”

She put on the dagger-sharp heels and braced on the edge of the couch for a while with her thighs parted.

Grigory gasped.

She turned around and snickered. “Hah!”

His eyes lit with fire, and he lunged for her. She squeaked and jumped into Delun’s arms. Delun was laughing. “So, a bit of a tease.”

She was straddling him and looked down. “Oops. Very sorry.” She went to back off him, and he let her.

“Show me, Lexa.”

She smoothed her hands down the suit and skirt. The heels were four inches, which put her over six feet tall.

He stood and ran a hand down her shoulder and then flattened a hand to her back, pushing her forward. He tilted his head and grinned. “I like these heels.”

His kiss was soft and then got intense when he slid a hand under her hair. His purr rattled her bones, and since her breasts were loose, her tight nipples were moving against the silk.

He lifted his head, grinned, and Grigory laughed. “I want to see if the shoes make a difference.”

She turned, and the huge expanse of his neck and shoulders was next to her. Her eyes were near his chin.

Grigory grabbed her and pulled her to him. “Oh, this is wonderful. You are comfortable in the heels?”

“For about six hours. Yes. After that, I would need to switch out for a different configuration, but I could still deal with the heels.”

He smiled warmly and angled his head. He didn’t need to hunch his back at all. He laughed and pulled her up high. “Wonderful.”

There was a click, and Arthur was grinning.

Grigory slowly slid her down, and she kissed him on the way down, standing and leaning against him. She was most comfortable with his body as he was the only lover she’d had for quite some time.

They kissed slowly, leisurely, and she pulled away when she felt her body react. He chuckled. “That can’t still be surprising you, treasure.”

“It can, and it is. It’s just been a day after all.”

He grinned. “And how far you have come.”

“It’s easy when you keep carrying me around.”

“You will be able to walk on your own soon enough. For now, take the help.” He rubbed his nose to hers.

“I am taking whatever I am given.”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you flirting with me, treasure?”

Hands grabbed her from behind. “Oh, no, you polar goof. You have already had her once today. I need to mate with her so that my family can be introduced.” Delun chuckled and pulled her away.

She let out a whine, and he turned her to him so she could snuggle against him. She looked at him seriously. “I hate it when that happens.”

“The whine? I took you from a place where you were comfortable and you felt safe. That sound is normal.”

She held the front of his shirt, pushing against him. She nuzzled at his neck and let the small, eager sounds come from her throat. “What about these sounds?”

She took in the cardamom scent and started to lick and kiss at his neck as she unbuttoned his shirt and loosened his tie. Her soft whimpers caused his body to go rigid. All of it.

She looked over to Arthur and saw that he was stiff as well. Grigory could be used as a ceiling support. “So, that noise did something.”

Delun looked down at her in amused amazement. “Are you experimenting on us?”

“I haven’t been able to show this side to any alphas, so I don’t know what the sounds do, what the scents do, what any of my reactions do.” She paused. “So... yes?”

He growled, but it wasn’t an angry growl. “That little sound says you are aroused, the licking says that you are trying to memorize me, and the cool breeze on my chest says that you are good at undressing people one-handed.”

She smiled and nuzzled his neck, making that sound and licking at him. One hand slid into his shirt, and she stroked the broad expanse of his chest. She continued to open his shirt, and she pulled it loose from his trousers. She rubbed herself against his skin. She was making happy sounds as she ran her hands over his skin, and he groaned and flexed at her touch.

He threaded a hand behind her head. “Lexa. Lexa, we need to go somewhere a little more private.”

She whimpered and nodded. “Now, yes?”

“Yes, petal. Now.”

He picked her up and carried her out of the living room.

* * * *

Arthur watched the love of his life being carried off by one of the two men he trusted to watch over her. It wasn’t until she had given him hope that he had begun to believe he had a chance with her again.

His family had taken everything good and pure in his life and torn it to hell. Now, he had a window into his past, and she was willing to reach through it, so he was going to meet her anywhere she wanted. She still wanted him. That stunned him. Right now, she wanted Delun, but he was magnetic, strong, calm, and could help with all the legal issues. Judges were good that way. He was also an ursa, so that meant he understood how Arthur thought.

Arthur was trying to get her somewhere safe so the battle could rage around her but not touch her.

It was what she deserved and what Hailey deserved. When he read the financial torture that his mother had exposed her to, he was enraged. She had lost all funds from insurance that her family had passed along, had lost two houses, three cars, and had eight thousand dollars in the bank. The one hundred and fifty thousand in the locked account was sealed behind so many wills and trusts, no one was getting to them.

He smiled at how she had managed, but his heart ached at the five missing years.

Grigory grinned. “I like our mate.”

Arthur laughed ruefully. “I like her, too. She was sweet and gentle and had something dark riding her when I met her. All I wanted to do was take that burden off her shoulders. We dated for three months when I knew I wanted to mark her. We talked about it, we had our first night together, and I marked her.” He ran his hand over his hair. “The marks were healing better than I thought they should for a beta. They were closing over well, and we could feel the thin thread of connection wavering... and then I got the text.”

He grimaced.

“They lured you away.”

“Yeah, kept me busy for hours, cleaned the scene where they had slashed her, and dumped her in the alley near the hospital. I just felt our link fade.”

Grigory nodded. “You think she rejected your mark.”

“That was what I thought, yeah. I got back to the hotel, she was gone, and there was a note.”

“And you were younger, gullible, and had just marked your first beta, the woman you were in love with.”

“Yup. Twenty-six, and I thought I knew everything.”

“How old was Lexa?”

“Eighteen. She was going to turn nineteen in a few days.”

“Oh god. Our little treasure is just twenty-four?” Grigory snorted. “Make me feel like an old man.”

“Really, when she turns to you and looks up at you through her lashes?”

He snickered. “Makes me feel like a young buck.”

“Dude, you are only in your early thirties.”

“Forties. Almost. Thirty-nine.”

“Really? You don’t look...”

He chuckled. “Clean living. Lots of laughter, family around me all the time.”

Arthur blinked. “Well, thanks for agreeing to this. I always had just wanted to tuck my sweet little beta away in a nice house somewhere and live with her as much as I could. Now, knowing that she was an omega all this time... We could have had a family.” He looked at Grigory. “I offered her the chance to not have my bloodline through her.”

Grigory whistled softly. “That is caring.”

“That is when she reminded me that Hailey already carries our mixed bloodlines. My family is there already. So, she said she would welcome me.” He rubbed his face with his hand. “I thought I was going to cum right there. She was hot as a beta, but as an omega, she is learning to just let the instinct out, and it is amazing to watch.”

Grigory laughed. “It feels amazing, too, but you will have to remember the condom. She won’t.”

Arthur groaned as his cock throbbed. “You are killing me.”

“Yeah, but it is a sweet pain. Her heat is coming, and we all have to be on alert. She will take it all before we know it, and then, we will have to baby her through a pregnancy.”

Grigory cocked his head. “Did you try to knot her that first time?”

Arthur ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t want to, but she took it. After that, we just clung together, kissing and talking softly about the future.” He sighed. “It was such a pretty mark.”

Grigory spoke softly. “Delun and I will put our marks to either side of her neck when she takes them. The scar tissue starts getting worked on tomorrow. Our golden princess will walk with her head high.” He chuckled. “And about three million dollars worth of gems on her. That will be fun to slip past her.”

“Why does your family go so crazy over omegas?”

“Ah, because they choose. They bring the strong ones and the soft ones into the world. They keep their alphas calm, give the family a focal point, and every alpha giving something to an omega feels like a hero. It is good for the family to have the duty of care circulating. My mother had three other mates, no one wanted my father in the mix, but when he showed up and flattered her, snuck his mark in, she wailed for him until her mates gave up and accepted him. Then came me, two sisters, and another brother.”

“I have seen your mother. No way is she sixty.”

“You are right. She is seventy. Her family took care of her, and she has lived a bright and active life.” He grinned. “She will tell Lexa what she needs to know, so I hope to get her marked and bound to me before my mother tells her about me.”

“So, right after her heat.”

“Yes.” Grigory chuckled. “I will need to turn on the charm.”

Arthur stared at him. “What the hell have you been doing until now?”

The room filled with laughter.