OmegaMine (28 page)

Nathan started the car. “Where do you want to go?”

Although wary of returning to his residence, it was the
safest place. The security system would prevent anyone from getting inside, and
with the recent activity the police would be all over the city.

“Home.”

He cradled Ava is his arms as Trey pulled the car on the
road and tried not to think about what was yet to come.

Chapter Nineteen

Trey was waiting outside the firehouse, his face dark and
unreadable, when Nathan pulled in front of Diskant’s home. The remaining pack
members were there as well, and Diskant was certain that the lone Shepherd and
tattooed asshole who’d managed to survive were on lockdown in the basement.

Diskant climbed from the back of the car, walked past the
somber faces that stared at the bundle in his arms, and strode to his room. Now
wasn’t the time to talk about strategy, revenge or the inevitable rebuilding
that would occur as a consequence of the Shepherds. He couldn’t take a moment
to console Trey or the rest of the pack and express that he, too, felt the
substantial emptiness of their loss.

Ava couldn’t wait any longer.

She was stable but had yet to regain consciousness. That
alone terrified him more than he cared to admit. He had to complete the
bloodbond—
now
.

More shifters stood just inside, Kinsley amongst them. He
was on the phone, likely contacting the prides to reveal everything that had
transpired. He glanced up when Diskant moved past the entranceway and his
emerald gaze rested on Ava. His eyes narrowed and he snarled something into the
phone as he turned away.

The stairs were empty and Diskant took them two at a time.
When he made it to the bedroom he closed the door and carried Ava to the bed.
She needed a shower, to have her skin cleansed of the smoke, blood and filth.
Slowly he stripped away her clothing, revealing her bruised and battered body.

He wanted to tear something apart when he saw the thin
sliver of hollowed flesh missing from her thigh, recognizing the grazing of a
bullet. Fear assailed him, tightening his chest. She could have died tonight,
killed for nothing more than an association with him and his kind.

Once she was nude he left her on the bed and rushed into the
bathroom to start the shower. The water would be harsh against her skin, but it
would only be one discomfort among many.

Steeling himself to remain calm and levelheaded, he returned
for his mate and remembered that no matter how this occurred, he was the
fortunate one. Once done, it was done. He would never leave her again, never
entrust her care to another. She would always be safe, always be close. Many of
the pack had lost mates tonight. Some would survive the loss, others wouldn’t.
The full extent of the damage wouldn’t be known for a couple of months.

Cradling Ava in his arms, he walked into the bathroom,
opened the stall and stepped into the warm stream. He used his free hand to
wipe the blood away from her face, taking blackened portions of soot along with
it. The ache in his chest grew heavier, nearly suffocating in its intensity. No
matter how bad the situation, he had been spared the greatest loss a shifter
could ever experience.

His lips trembled as kissed her, opened his heart and soul
to her completely, and started the final stage of the bloodbond. The first two
stages were physical, requiring his seed and blood, but the final one was
something that couldn’t explained under any normal context.

He reclined against the wall of the shower to remain upright
as he willed his bestial halves forward and the process started. He buried his
face in the softness of her shoulder and throat, breathing her in, wishing like
hell this could have happened at a different time, under different
circumstances.

She whimpered when the first and most powerful animal he
possessed slid from his body and entered hers, leaving a portion of itself
behind so that they were connected, two halves of one whole. The wolf rubbed
against her skin before delving beneath, brushing against soft flesh and solid
bone. She cried out as the mark was initiated, forced through her and finally
settled. She shivered in his arms, her breathing shallow.

He was overwhelmed by anger, regret and despair as the
second beast arose and started the process over. Ava started thrashing,
stronger from the wolf that was a part of her now. The cat quickly squelched
the canine—leopard becoming cheetah, then cougar, then lion. By the time all of
the feline breeds left part of their essence she was no longer unconscious but
fighting him, her eyes opened, lips pulled back. The pain and confusion she was
experiencing were also enhanced by lust, something that was entirely expected.
This was why he was the dominant of the two, and he quickly took control,
enforcing his will, ensuring the primal urges within his female answered to one
man and one man only—
him
.

He ran his fingers along the back of her head. The wound was
closed and nearly healed. When the grizzly arose, he swung her around, pressed
her against the wall, moved between her thighs and thrust his rock-hard cock
into her. The bonding had brought his urge to mate to the surface as well as
hers. There was no need for preparation. She was drenched with cream, slick and
pooling. As he buried his length into her cunt, she welcomed him—hot, wet flesh
hugging every inch.

“Diskant.” There was agony and fear in her voice, and when
he lifted his head he saw it mirrored in her eyes.

“Feel me, Ava.” He withdrew and thrust back into her
harshly, keeping his gaze on her face. “Only me.”

The pain in her expression was laced with pleasure, her eyes
becoming dark. She brought her hands up, clutched his arms until her
fingernails broke skin, and ground her pussy against him. They began to move
together and the remaining beasts took their turns claiming her as their own,
leaving behind a piece of themselves so that she would always share a bond with
them, would always be able to reach out to, comfort, nurture and soothe them.

Her soft, muted cries tore at his heart, the pain of the
bond lessened only by the violence of their union. In order to keep her mind
off the misery, he forced her to focus on the feel of him pumping in and out of
her. He pinched and teased her clit, nipped and suckled at her breasts. When he
felt her quicken he increased the pace, pounding into her hard and fast until
she climaxed.

The sound of her release was one he never wanted to hear
again.

She screamed in agony yet wailed in relief, her soft vaginal
walls tightening around him as she shattered in his arms.

“Can’t…take…more,” she sobbed, clinging to his shoulders,
her face buried in his neck.

“It’s almost over,” he whispered, voice clogged with tears
as he witnessed the pain he was forcing on her. “Stay with me, Pinkie. Please,
stay with me.”

When he felt her slight nod he started thrusting again,
gently this time. Her skin would be so sensitive his touch would burn, leaving
behind impressions even as he let her go, but not for long. A portion of his
soul took root in hers, and he felt the final connection being established. The
moment it was completed a window opened between them, more powerful than he had
ever anticipated. As it occurred he slid to the floor, shouting as his own
orgasm thundered through him.

Even as he came he continued thrusting, caught in the throes
of their first mating heat. The bloodbonding was done. Now it was about
establishing a connection, branding her as his female and mate just as she’d
once claimed she wished to be.

Mine.

“More,” Ava demanded and wrapped her fingers in his hair,
forcing him to look into her face.

Her eyes shifted color—changing from sapphire blue to
emerald green to liquid silver, to flashing gold—the only outward sign she
would ever have that indicated she carried the essence of multiple shifting
beasts inside of her. She started riding him, rotating her pelvis as she
plunged down, stirring his cock to life.

The scent of sex was overpowering, the cream of her cunt
mixed with the pungent odor of his seed. His feral instincts reacted to the
heady fragrance as the wolf growled in satisfaction. Raking his fingers into
her hips, he looked into her face. There was a touch of the wild that wasn’t
there before and it made him hotter than hell.

“You feel so good,” she purred, staring at him through her
lashes. “So. Damned. Good.”

“So do you, baby.” He let go of her waist to touch her face.
Bringing her upright to kiss him, he brushed his lips against hers. “So do
you.”

He roared when she opened the mental connection between
them, stunned by how much stronger it was. She was entirely open to him,
allowing him to hear her thoughts and sense her emotions. She basked in their
union, their shared bond and her ability to finally understand the animals that
made the man.

“Ava,” he moaned into her mouth.

Diskant,
she whispered in his mind.
My lover, my
mate. Omega mine.

Her fingers tugged at his hair and he turned his head to the
side, revealing the vulnerable hollow of his throat. She scraped her teeth
along his jugular, back and forth, and followed it with laps of her tongue.
Then she bit down, staking her claim, making her mark. She growled around the
skin, released her hold and bit down once more. He groaned, remaining still
when all he wanted to do was to flip her over, pin her in place and force her
compliance.

“Want you inside me.” She lifted her head and panted, riding
him hard, up and down, fast then slow. “Need to feel you come.”

Her motions were frantic, the woman and newfound creatures
within struggling to find a singular balance. He heard the chaotic thoughts in
her mind, the logical portion of her combating the new, feral part that
demanded this mating leave an impression he would never shake, never forget and
never escape.

Bringing his hand down to her enlarged clit, he stroked and
petted and growled in turn, “You first, mate. I want to feel you shatter.”

Her motions became wild, rough and desperate. He felt the
orgasm building in her and met her thrusts, positioning his hips to match them.
Nothing else mattered in that moment. This was their pairing, the beginning of
the rest of their lives together. No matter the tragedy that marred it, it was
meant to be, something that was fated the moment they were born. Their cries
carried through the bathroom, echoing off the walls.

“Oh god.”

“I’m here. Come for me.”

Her pussy went taut around him, holding him close, keeping
him deep inside as she lost control and wept her release. He held her as she
cried against his shoulder, the shudders of her body stronger than a mortal’s
but weak in comparison to a shifter’s. That was what she was now, a combination
of both, with the same needs, desires and compulsions.

Only when she was spent did he allow his own climax to claim
him. His seed shot into her womb and he wondered if she’d conceive in that
moment, creating a new life that would be a mixture of the two of them. Shifters
could breed with those they weren’t bloodbonded with but usually the
pregnancies terminated early in the term. He hadn’t concerned himself with that
fact, since he’d planned to fully bloodbond his mate as soon as possible.
Knowing the danger to his unborn children was gone, he allowed himself to
consider the future.

His heart swelled when he pictured Ava swollen with his
child, her small frame rounded in an obvious display of their affection and
desire for each other. If it was a girl she’d have his mate’s blonde hair, big
blue eyes and gorgeous smile. If it was a boy he would look like him, tall,
dark and tanned.

A family of his own.

A new beginning
.

He held her in his arms as the final throes of climax
subsided, nuzzling her with his chin. Her mind was blank now, his head echoing
nothing more than his own thoughts and concerns. As he’d expected, she went
limp against him. He stroked her back and rested against the wall of the
shower, allowing the slowly cooling water to cascade over their skin. They sat
entwined for several minutes until she dozed peacefully. He stroked her hair
and pressed his lips to the top of her head.

Her body needed time to recuperate and heal. After he put
her in bed she’d sleep the rest of the night, as well as a solid portion of the
morning. When she woke she would discover a lot of things had changed. While
she wasn’t a shifter, she was no longer wholly human. With all the changes in
her perception she was bound to experience the enormity of the loss the pack
had suffered, as well as understand the impact of what rebuilding their ranks
would entail.

A pang of dread squeezed his heart, the result of something
he couldn’t control.

So much had changed in the course of a few hours. Shifters
didn’t willingly hunt Shepherds, choosing to leave them alone. This, however,
raised the stakes. There was no way their arrogance and destruction would be
allowed to go unchallenged.

They had thrown the gauntlet and, in the doing, started a
war.

Chapter Twenty

Craig knew he wasn’t alone the instant he sat at his desk.
The room, though silent, carried a heaviness that wasn’t present before, as if
the air were charged by some power he could perceive but couldn’t see. He
remained frozen in his seat, a lamb waiting for the lion.

“Craig Newlander,” a soft, feminine voice said from behind
him as a hand rested on his shoulder.

His first instinct was to reach for the Glock holstered
under his desk but he remained as he was. This wasn’t the first time his office
had been invaded by someone with a grudge, vendetta or need of a favor. It came
with the territory when you were the gatekeeper to secrets people didn’t wish
to share. Although he paid top dollar for the best security in the world,
humans were only capable of so much.