by Viola Grace
He was honest. “Omega in heat. Followed by woman in distress. Followed by omega who wanted us, not just one, but all of us.”
“So, you guys get hit on a lot?”
“Sure. Women. Men. Other packs. We are pretty and talented, so they consider us assets to their unions.”
She looked at him and cocked her head. He was pretty. Stunning. Golden-toned skin, golden eyes, and thick golden hair that didn’t come out no matter how hard she had pulled. “So, you wanted your own pride?”
“Yes. Argus and I are from pack families; Dexter’s parents are an alpha and beta.”
“Oh. Does everyone live nearby?”
He stroked a hand down her back and caressed the bond mark. “Within two hours. Argus’s father is his link to your area. His father and Derek are brothers. He spent every summer over at Henwell House.”
She blinked, and a memory surface from before she had manifested. She had been ten and was doing swim trials with the other kids at the lake. She had been swimming with Paul and the older boys, cutting past them easily through the water. She had loved swimming.
That day she had been getting out of the water when a hand reached down and pulled her out by the left wrist, just lifting her out as if she weighed nothing. Paul muttered, “This is my cousin.”
She had stared up at the man with black hair and icy green eyes.
He smiled. “You kicked his ass. Well done, little miss.”
“Olly.”
He nodded. “Olly.” He turned around and walked off with the older kids and young adults.
Ambrose chuckled. “You met him?”
She looked at her wrist. “Sort of. He fished me out when I was waiting to climb the dock once. It was sixteen years ago, and he was already grown.”
“He was eighteen. You were ten. He has a photo from that summer with you and the younger kids in a cluster in the corner. You were adorable. Do you want kids?”
“Um. Probably? I haven’t had a chance to even think about it yet. They put in birth control during that first surgery just to keep my body from going haywire.”
“I understand, but it is an option. Dexter’s family would have a heart attack, but I think Argus’s would be delighted.”
“What about yours?”
“They would worship the ground you walked on.” He smiled. “You’re hungry. Some lunch?”
She nodded. “Yes, please.”
He paused. “You know that I want to play with you, right?”
She smiled and patted his cheek. “And I think it is unfair that a guy with dark urges like you should have the scent of vanilla. There should be some chili pepper or dark chocolate in there or something... as a warning.”
He grinned and helped her up.
She looked down and blinked. “Did you bathe me?”
“Wiped you down a little.”
She blushed. “I need to get dressed.”
“Fine. It’s ten hours until Argus, by the way.”
Her thighs were gleaming in a few seconds. “That was mean.”
“But funny.” Ambrose smiled. “You like him, huh?”
“He was sweet and funny, and he let me take care of his cats.” She sighed. “It had been quite a while since someone offered me trust and flirted with me. The flirting was funny. I looked like hell. Wait. Maybe I was flirting with him. Oh...”
Her shoulders drooped.
Ambrose hugged her. “What is it?”
“I was flirting with him. He wasn’t flirting with me. So... I am like one of those people chasing you guys. I suck.”
“Aw, Olly. When he heard about you and got your sister drunk to get the truth of your situation out of her, you weren’t there. Not even in the room, but you were on his mind. It could have been the way the boys went to you. They normally avoid strangers and stick to Argus.”
She swallowed. “Oh.”
“And you were the first thing he talked to us about when we got together at the party.”
“Did you guys make the wedding?”
“Yeah. Don’t you remember?”
She blinked. “Um, I don’t remember much from my heats. It is better that way.”
“Ah, well, I hope this next one is memorable.”
Olivia chuckled. “Wait. What happens if it is on a workday? Or week?”
“We take it off. We know your heat is coming, so we are already moving things around and making sure that an hour of work per day will let us keep up with our obligations to you and our jobs.” He hugged her. “Mainly to you. There are all kinds of regulations to allow alphas to be with their omegas. It is considered a medical emergency.”
She exhaled. “Well, that is a relief.”
She tried to get out of his grip, but he lightly purred and inhaled their combined scents for a few moments longer. When he helped her pick out another dress, he graciously allowed her a bra and some panties that were more a theory than a practical item.
“What is the purpose of panties made like this? I mean, seriously, I nearly tore them putting them on.”
He growled. “But it is so much fun tearing them off.”
She gasped. “They look frigging expensive.”
He grinned and shrugged. “Spoiling an omega is the privilege of her alphas. We have enough saved to carry us through retirement and have decades more worth of working time ahead of us.”
“I want to get a job.”
He scowled. “Precious, you don’t need to work.”
“I have worked every day since I was fifteen. I can’t just stop that urge to work because you guys want me to look soft and pretty.”
He blinked. “What do you want to do?”
“I dun no yet, but I am going to figure it out, and you guys are going to have to support me or just catch me when I crash and give me a hug.” She had no idea where the confidence was coming from, but she had a hint that it was the same source that was now feeding her wary encouragement.
She grinned. It seemed you could teach an older cat new tricks.
They walked into the kitchen, and an array of sandwiches, chips, dips, and vegetables were waiting.
She blinked. “Where did that come from?”
Dexter chuckled. “Takeout. Since you two were napping, we decided that we needed a half-decent break when you emerged. So, Argus, are you going to let me watch?”
Argus got him in a headlock, and they grunted and wrestled, dropping to the floor with a thud as Argus got him in a hold and pinned him down. Argus growled, “You have to ask the lady. You are the performer; she’s the stage.”
Dexter huffed and nodded, relaxing. When he was relaxed, Argus stepped off him, and he smiled at her. “That is only going to last for six months more. He’s in his final growth spurt.”
Olivia looked at Dexter and looked up and up. “How much bigger is he gonna get?”
He smiled. “My dad is six-six. He stopped growing at twenty-four.”
She nodded weakly. “Oh, good. Are any other parts of you going to get bigger because it was a pretty snug fit?”
He blushed and reached out to hug her. “I will never do anything that hurts you, but you are an omega, so you are super stretchy. It will be fine, Olivia.”
She grinned and pulled his head down to kiss him. “I am sure it will be. It’s just like seeing one of the giant sundaes on television and then seeing one in person, knowing that you are supposed to eat it because you ordered it. Good thing for you, I have a serious appetite.”
She squealed as he picked her up, and when he cupped her neck to kiss her, he pressed the new bond mark. Lust shot through her, and Ambrose jolted and cursed. The air was heavy with her scent in seconds.
His eyes were wide when he lifted his head. “That was what the marks do?”
“Yeah. I believe modern parlance is either a hot key or a cheat code. Also, touching me there sends a signal to Ambrose, so unless you want him in your ass, be careful where you are touching.”
Dexter didn’t jerk his hand away as fast as Olivia would have thought, and Ambrose snorted. Argus laughed.
There was a lot of sex in the air, and it would have been weird if Dexter hadn’t been curious.
She looked at the food. “Can I eat?”
Argus walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Most omegas don’t ask. They assume that everything is for them, including any other alphas who don’t have pack affiliations.”
She frowned. “Like... predators or bait?” She grabbed a sandwich and put veggies and chips on her plate, kneeling on a chair so that she wouldn’t get the skirt messed up from the slick that had shown up.
Argus asked, “Why are you sitting like that, kitten?”
“So that the slick that just showed up doesn’t mess up another dress before I finish eating. That mark thing is cheating.”
Argus leaned over and tongued the mark.
Ambrose hissed and took a few steps toward them before he stopped. Olivia sent him a sit down and eat message. He blinked in surprise. “Did you just tell me to sit down and shut up?”
She chuckled. “Close enough.” She opened her mouth wide and took a huge bite of the sub. She was halfway through the mouthful when she looked at them staring at her. “If you watch me every time I eat, you are going to have a part-time job of it.”
Ambrose smiled. “You have mayo on your cheek, and it looks like cum.”
“Oh, geez. Considering my morning, I am lucky it isn’t all over me.”
“Naw, baby, you took it all inside you and held it like a good girl.” Argus kissed the top of her head.
She elbowed backward, nearly missing his groin.
He hissed. “I am going to need that in precisely nine hours and forty-two minutes.”
“I am pretty sure that I am going to need it in nine hours and forty-two minutes.”
He threaded his fingers in her hair and tipped her head back, kissing her soundly.
She looked at him and said in a firm voice, “Yes, Dexter. You can do that.”
He laughed. Argus grinned, and Ambrose ate his first sandwich.
They sat and ate, threw the occasional carrot stick, and then Argus said the magic words. “Did you want to go out and meet the boys?”
Olivia perked up. “Yes!”
Ambrose chuckled. “You can meet Caesar.”
Dexter mumbled around his mouthful. “And Hector.”
“More cats?”
Argus grinned. “Yeah.”
They finished their meal, put the leftovers in the fridge for after the event, nine hours and fifteen minutes from then.
They took her out the back, and she saw an open yard that was acres of green space with sparse trees.
There was a jeep waiting near the back door, and they got in, driving down a path and around the corner. Argus was driving, and he filled in, “We started a big cat sanctuary on the property but realized that living too close made the neighbours nervous, so we bought the property nearest the lake and connected them. Technically two lots, but one is commercial, and one is residential.” As they got closer, she could hear growling and roaring. The buildings and large cages became visible, and she smiled softly. Big kitties.
She remained calm when Argus came around to lift her out of the jeep, but she started to perfume as he slid her down his body. Ambrose chuffed and pulled her to him, walking her along the large enclosures and showing her Caesar.
She smiled. “Oh, who’s a big friendly boy.”
The cat walked to her and was rubbing against the heavy chain fencing. Argus was talking to three people who were staring in her direction.
Ambrose smiled. “Did you want to meet him?”
“Yes, please.”
He smiled and went to the front of the cage, stepping in and meeting with the chest-high cat who looked like he was greeting his best friend.
When Ambrose beckoned to her, she stepped in, closing the gate behind her. She walked up to Caesar and Ambrose, standing still and letting the big guy come to her. She was snuffled from head to toe and had a lot of interest around her groin. Ambrose grinned, and then, the huge head pressed against her, and she started to scratch everything she could reach. The thick fur was coarse, but he seemed to enjoy the scratching. There was a lot of chuffing, and then, Caesar pushed her toward Ambrose.
She grinned and then cuddled with Ambrose. “Is this what he was after?”
“Yeah. He was rescued as an adolescent from a breeder. They were planning on having him make more cats, but he has a sperm motility issue. An injury when he was little.” He reached out and rubbed at Caesar’s magnificent mane. “So, he looks amazing, but he doesn’t make cubs. The rescue went in and grabbed the cats marked for death, and he was one of them. They called us when they couldn’t place him. It took a while for him to warm to us, but now, we are buddies.”
Caesar snuffled over her again and then dropped to his belly.
“What is he doing?”
He was trying to keep a straight face. “He wants you to get on his back.”
“You are kidding.”
“No. Not kidding. It’s his way of flirting with pretty girls.”
“Has he gotten any takers?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Well, I do love a trier.”
She walked up to Caesar and massaged his fur. The huge head turned, and he seriously nudged her toward his back. She sighed and hiked up her skirt, climbing onto the back of the lion. Her hair swung forward, and she settled with her legs bent, and her full weight was on the big cat. When he stood up, she yelped, and Ambrose laughed. Caesar walked toward the back of the enclosure, and when he reached the open space, he started running.
Cats were not made for riding. They were too wiggly and slippery.
She buried her fists in his mane, and Caesar bolted to the top of a pile of rocks where she was going to get off the lion when a tiger bounded up to them. When the boys came streaking toward her, she smiled and was going to step toward them. Caesar growled at the others, and she tugged on his mane. “Smarten up.”
He stopped growling and lowered his head. The three human figures paused as she reached out to offer her knuckles to the jaguars, and she held still for the tiger to examine her.
She spoke to the lion. “Caesar. Bring me back to Ambrose, please.”
She didn’t know if it was the tone or the word Ambrose, but he walked down the rocky hill and then paced to Ambrose. Olivia got off and walked into his arms. “You were right; he wanted me on his back.”
The other cats were gathered around and sniffed the spot she had been sitting on. She covered her mouth. “Oh god.”
Ambrose was laughing, and Argus came up to them. “Yeah, the same thing that won the boys’ devotion was sensed by Caesar.”
She looked at him with wide eyes.
“They know a spectacular pussy when they smell it.”
She punched him. “Rude.”
The tiger was looking at her and was getting flirty. “Hector, I presume?”
Dexter grinned. “Yeah. She’s amazing.”
“Hector’s a girl?”
Dexter shrugged. “I liked the name. She looks like a Hector.”
The tiger walked around the other cats and came toward Olivia. Dexter put himself between them, but the tiger pushed him away. She snuffled over Olivia.
Olivia looked at the tiger, and she smiled, extending her hand, but it wasn’t necessary. Hector went straight for her groin.
“She’s just about mature, right?”
Dexter blinked. “Yeah, how did you know?”
She grinned and stroked Hector’s face. “Girl talk is universal.”
Olivia could feel a few things. The primary thing was that Hector was about to go into heat; the next was that she had a thing for Caesar. Olivia looked at her and then asked permission. She was pushed to the back of the tiger, and Olivia extended her hand to Am
brose. “Kiss.”
He kissed her and stroked his fingers across his mark. When it had the desired effect, Olivia dismounted.
The other cats gathered around Hector, and Caesar was obviously aroused. Olivia headed back toward the pens, and the boys came with her. “Guys, it is going to get loud and messy, and she isn’t going to like it.”
Dexter was shocked. “They are going to have sex. Wait, why isn’t she going to like it?”
“You know the sandpaper near your knot? He has barbs. When he goes in, he doesn’t come out without a fight.”
The roaring was starting.
Ambrose asked, “So, what did you do?”
“He has a possessive interest in me via your scent, so when I slicked down her back, it triggered the right impulses in him.”
Dexter frowned. “Why are we leaving?”
“Because if he isn’t fast enough, she is going to beat the shit out of him. He can’t have it if he doesn’t earn it.” She made it out of the enclosure with the boys and her guys.
The enclosure was carefully closed, and she exhaled. “So, that was fun.”
She knelt near the boys, and they pushed their big heads against her. “How are my brave babies? Screaming woman in heat didn’t even phase you.”
They rubbed against her, and she petted them, scratching under the chin and behind the ears.
The three staff in khakis were standing nearby. Argus smiled. “Den, Jerry, Harry, this is our omega, Olivia.”
She got up and walked toward them. “Hi. This place is great, and the animals seem so happy.”
Jerry, a brunette with soft green eyes, smiled. “Hello. Are you really an omega? I thought they were all soft and helpless, and you rode Caesar like a champ.”
She chuckled. “I have very recent experience in clinging to aggressive blondes for dear life.”
Ambrose growled and slid his hand over the mark. She yelped and looked up at him with an annoyingly fascinated expression. She could feel it.
The other guys laughed.
Den grinned. “Can I show you the rest of the animals? We have a hospital, a recovery centre, and also, we do educational shows and interviews. Well, Argus does most of the interviews with Romulus and Remus. They are the most well-behaved.”
