Page 7 of Jace

A small private dance floor was on the left, while on the right, high stools lined the small bar ringed in low-lit neon blue and pink. Low couches and tables hugged the wall to the side of the entrance in intimate alcoves lit by a subtle version of the neon pink and blue, while opposite was a balcony offering views over the club and an open staircase that led to the main dance floor if they were so inclined. Bright lights rotated through the colour spectrum beyond the balcony, heavy bass vibrating through the soles of my feet. This was a safe environment, one I could control much easier than the wider club. It provided a breathing space into which I could figure out what the fuck to do.

I’d made it to the couch and taken a seat, with Sloane on my lap because my beast wouldn’t have it any other way, when squeals came from behind—her friends arriving. The room could handle a hundred, so the twenty or so who piled out of the elevator wasn’t going to cause an issue. The young beta guy who wished he was an omega had already picked up one of my guys, while the girls also had escorts. Security followed them in, subtly positioning themselves to watch over the goings on. Champagne appeared, and they barely paid any attention to the fact their friend was already sitting on an alpha’s lap. They flopped onto the low seats opposite us, chinking glasses, getting cosy.

Two minutes later, another elevator load arrived.

“It’s my sister’s birthday,” Sloane said with a grimace.

“Not a problem. The staff here will take good care of her. Make sure she has the best time. Security will make sure everyone is safe.”

She settled at hearing this news. Now was the time to put her aside, get her a room maybe, have her sister call her a fucking cab, but fuck, getting her out of the zone wasn’t even a guarantee of success with the Dawn Agency’s bullshit. One look at her sister, and I could see how that would go down. The woman I assumed was her sister, because she was wearing sequinned cat ears and everyone was hugging her and squealing, was already up and on the dance floor, hips swaying, hands up in the air, when a third elevator arrived and yet more revellers entered. How many fucking friends did she have?

I leaned back to talk to one of my guys hovering behind me. “Find out what’s taking Ryder so long and get Dane up here too” I said. I knew the alphas here, but still…it was a matter of instincts versus civility. If things went pear-shaped, if an alpha’s instincts got the better of them…the betas on duty were nowhere near enough.

An alpha who’d come up with the party dared to look our way, and a low growl rumbled in my chest. You know what they say about the road to hell and what it was paved with… I never intended this shit to happen. I’d helped plenty of omegas who’d been thrust in the zone. If I were smart, I would’ve gotten someone I trusted up here, or let the girls guide Sloane through what was happening, because who could help her adjust better than them?

Us. Mine. Mark, breed, claim.

His voice was hypnotic, seductive, battering down my own fucking boundaries and he was a part of me. My teeth locked down, my fangs aching, my cock throbbing with long waves of such an intense pleasure, it had my head spinning, and then she did it. Our fates were sealed. My little omega whimpered, pressing in closer, lips finding the skin at my throat. Mine, my beast purred. That shit went straight to my dick, making it so hard, it damn near burst out of my zipper. I eyeballed the alpha, waiting for him to turn away first, to remember who ruled in this place, letting my sweet prize soothe me and take my aggression down a notch. Sometimes, betas tried to emulate omega behaviour, watching some shit on the internet, thinking they could fake it.

You couldn’t fake instincts. Sloane’s small hands petting my skin, nose tracing the column of my throat, that was natural to an omega.

I jerked my head to a beta waitress. “Get me a bottle of water and a comforter.”

My sister used to love her comforter and would snuggle under it so that she felt safe. A tic thumped in my jaw as I remembered how little safety she’d experienced, and me, too fucking young, too weak to help her then. My arms tightened around the omega nestled on my lap. She felt right there, like she belonged.

Does belong. Mine.

She’s not yours, arsehole. You’re a stand-in until you can figure out what the fuck to do.

Only I didn’t have a fucking clue what to do. I needed someone else to tend to her, someone who was experienced with a new omega. Someone I trusted not to hurt her.

Ryder was experienced, and I loved that fucker like a brother. So why did the thought of passing her over to him make me break out in a cold sweat, my jaw lock up tight, and my fist clench in anticipation of beating him to a bloody pulp should he dare to put his hands upon her?

My beast agreed, showing me exactly what he’d do if Ryder came anywhere near her. He accepted our arrangement most of the time, but this, this omega, out of all the ones we’d found, this was the one to threaten that.

I was so fucked.

A water bottle materialised a moment later, and I snapped off the lid and passed it to my overwhelmed charge.

“Drink some, baby.”

She pushed the bottle back toward me, more interested in burying her nose in the crook of my throat. I tipped her head back, her little gasp went straight to my throbbing cock, and held her eyes as I presented her with the bottle again. “If I tell you to do something, baby, you’re going to do it like a good girl, or you’re going to find yourself over my lap with this cute little schoolmarm dress tugged up and your bare bottom getting acquainted with the palm of my hand.”

Yesss…

This was the point where it all went to hell, where I should’ve found Ryder and shoved her at him with all the force in my body. I had to have known I was standing on a cliff edge, looking down at my destruction, ready to fucking jump off, no matter what my brain screamed. I could see the defiance building, the flash in her eyes. Her body moved like a snake’s, writhing against me, coiling, ready to refuse, to test my resolve.

And me? I just smiled.

“Don’t test me, baby,” I said. “Alphas rarely bluff.”

Peeking at me through her lashes, she accepted the bottle from me and took the tiniest sip.

My lips twitched, despite the pain I was in with my raging hard-on. Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea what I want to do to you. If I gave into the beast inside me, you’d find yourself on your knees in that prim little dress, begging for a taste of my cum.

Fuck, I wanted her to. Fight me, he growled. Fight me, and I’ll show you who’ll win. Defiance was natural to an omega. Only the worthiest male would breed her.

Fuck!