Beta’s Surrender: Irresistible Omegas Book Three Read online

  “I’m…I’m sorry,” he offered, his insides churning with shame.

  Vieno was right. He should have said something. He always let Lars say things he knew weren’t right. It wasn’t that he was scared of saying something. Lars was a softie underneath, and he’d never hurt him in any way. No, it was because he loved Lars so much. He understood where it was coming from, felt the pain behind it. It was hard to condemn the results when you had so much empathy for the cause.

  You’re hurt, too, and you don’t lash out, he told himself. They’d gone through the same thing, hadn’t they? Hell, it had arguably been even worse for him—not that it was a competition. After all, their father had pursued him, not Lars. Why didn’t he feel this rage, this furious wrath that stormed inside Lars?

  Maybe it was different for him because he was adopted. Maybe it hurt less, or differently, because it wasn’t his real dad or his real brother. He wasn’t sure. Or maybe it was simply because they were poles apart, he and Lars.

  “So, to answer your question… No, it doesn’t physically hurt, but it drains you nonetheless. Before I met Lidon, my heats were hard on me, both emotionally and physically.”

  “Enar said something like that…that the gene makes our heats worse?”

  Vieno went back to cutting chicken into small pieces while Sven focused on slicing red bell peppers into strips.

  “I have nothing to compare it to, obviously, but from what I understand our sex drive is much stronger. It’s like this…this hunger, this craving deep inside you. Like you feel empty inside and hurting and needy until you get that knot. Trust me, Sven. When you’re in heat, all you want is to be fucked. You’ll crave cock like you crave oxygen.”

  “Knotting helps?” Sven asked.

  Even the word sent a flash of heat through his system. God, he loved it when Lars fucked him, went wild when he filled him. But Lars was a beta, not an alpha, and the idea of something even bigger inside him… Somehow, he knew he needed that, that Lars alone wouldn’t be enough. He bit his lip.

  Would Lars understand? Sven thought he might after all the talks they’d had. And Lars had gone experimenting as well, hadn’t he? That had been for the both of them, but he’d also done some stuff for himself, like getting fucked for the first time by an alpha. Sven hadn’t been angry about that, had understood, so he kind of counted on Lars feeling the same.

  “It’s the only thing that helps. Look, I tried to ride it out for years with heat blockers and Palani helping me, but by the time Lidon took pity on me, I was dying. Not emotionally, but literally. My body was giving up because it needed an alpha. One round with Lidon was enough to boost my health back to normal. Enar explained it’s something about our bodies needing the alpha proteins and hormones or something, I don’t know. But Sven, I know it’s hard to consider asking an alpha for help, what with Lars, but you have to. Enar can explain it to Lars if need be, or someone else if he’s too stubborn to listen to him, but he has to understand that this is not something you do for fun. Your life depends on it.”

  Wasn’t this what Grayson had told them as well? Lars understood, right? He’d looked like he’d taken Grayson seriously, at least when the alpha had explained it. But then he’d tried to reason it away later on, arguing Grayson was maybe overreacting. Would Lars get upset with him? His throat got tight at the thought. A barrage of thoughts assailed him, one even more stressful than the next. He had so many questions, but where to start? And they were all so…intimate.

  “How many times…” Sven couldn’t finish the sentence, too embarrassed to even say it.

  “How many times do you need to be fucked? Probably as long as your heat lasts, which is usually thirty-six hours, sometimes more. My last heat, I had Lidon and Enar knotting me multiple times, sometimes as long as half an hour at a time. Your body will tell you.”

  “O-okay.”

  Thirty-six hours. Holy crap. Thirty-six hours of sex. His throat got even tighter, even as his cock hardened at the thought.

  “Who do I ask?” he asked Vieno.

  “Whoever you want to. I’m sure any of the unmated alphas here would be happy to help you, so who would you prefer?”

  Until the conversation with Grayson a few days ago, he hadn’t even considered anyone else but Lars helping him. Ever since, he’d thought about little else, but it wasn’t that easy. He had plenty of men to choose from, for lack of a better term. Bray was super hot and definitely a classic alpha with his bossy attitude, so he could work. Isam was gorgeous, but in a completely different way. He was an introvert, with a quiet dominance. That could be a good match, Sven mused. Then there were men like Adar and Ori, or any of Bray’s men.

  It was like picking someone from a catalog, though, much like choosing a sperm donor. He didn’t know any of them beyond a formal introduction—and not even that with some of them. How would he know who to choose? Who would be the best match considering it wasn’t merely Sven, but Lars as well? He wanted Lars there. He needed him there. The alpha helping him would have to accept that.

  He was just about to say something when the door to the kitchen opened. Sven looked up from his cutting board. It was Bray, dressed in his usual attire of a tight black shirt and black cargo pants. The man was massive, and his cock would be, too, Sven considered. God, he couldn’t wait to feel an alpha cock inside him. It would fill him up so good. And the knotting, oh fuck, the knotting…

  Sven blushed deeply at his own thoughts. Why the hell was he thinking of that?

  “Vieno, can I get your opinion on something?” Bray asked, stepping farther into the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks and raised his chin, sniffing the air. His eyes trailed to Sven, then widened as he took a step forward.

  “Oh, fuck,” Vieno said. His knife fell down on the counter with a clunk as the omega stepped in front of Sven, physically shielding him. “Bray, you need to leave. Now.”

  Sven stood still as if his feet were glued to the floor, his knees shaky and his breaths bursting out of him as he took in the alpha, whose whole body had gone on high alert. Bray’s breathing sped up, his cheeks flushed, and even from where he stood, Sven could smell him, the arousal heavy in the air.

  Oh god.

  He needed to run, yet his body refused to move, paralyzed by a mix of terror and want.

  Bray jerked forward toward Sven, stopping when Vieno’s hand shot out. “Bray, stop. Dammit Sven, run! Right fucking now!”

  Finally, Sven’s body responded, and he took two wobbly steps in the direction of the kitchen door. Then Bray let out a low growl, and all hell broke loose.

  Bray pushed Vieno aside, causing him to trip and fall to the floor. Bray never looked at the omega he’d pushed to the ground but stalked toward Sven with big strides, growling again, and Sven’s stomach revolted in fear.

  They screamed at the same time, he and Vieno, their voices piercing the air. It didn’t deter the big alpha coming at Sven, and his body shook with terror, even as he tried to get away.

  Bray’s hand shot out, grabbing Sven’s wrist and yanking him toward him. Big hands touched him, came for him, making his mouth fill with acid.

  It was happening again. Only this time, Lars wasn’t there to save him.

  Sven screamed again until his voice broke into a sob when Bray pinned him against the wall, reaching for his pants. In the hallway, footsteps came running. Sven jerked his wrist from Bray’s hand, but the alpha’s hold on him was too strong. Vieno scrambled to his feet and latched on to Bray’s other hand, dragging with his full weight.

  “Bray, stop… Please, you have to stop,” Vieno begged him.

  “What the hell?” Grayson called out.

  Bray growled at his father, intimidating and low. “He’s mine!”

  “Bray, no! Get away from him!” Grayson yelled, then again, his alpha power rolling through the kitchen so strong it hit Sven like a punch. “Brayden Whitefield! Let the omega go!”

  Bray staggered back, dropping Sven’s wrist as if it were burning him.

  “On your knees,” Grayson ordered him, his voice more powerful than Sven had ever heard him speak, even when he’d been so angry with Lars. The words boomed through the room, filling every fiber of Sven’s being, even though they weren’t directed at him. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, could barely see because of the violent tremors that wrecked his body.

  More people came running into the kitchen. Palani, frantically touching Vieno everywhere to make sure the omega was okay. Enar, looking like he’d just stumbled out of bed, wearing only boxer shorts. Lidon, all sweaty and dirty from working outside, showing the same care for Vieno, then focusing on the others. They were yelling at each other, reaching for Sven, who stood with his back against the wall, trembling.

  It was pandemonium until Lidon called out, “Silence!”

  The power in his voice knocked Sven back, and he would’ve fallen, had Grayson not caught him. He sagged against him, grateful for the strong body that held him.

  “Vieno, are you okay?” Lidon asked, and despite his heart beating like he’d just sprinted a hundred-meter dash, Sven’s stomach swirled. The love this alpha had for his mate was so sweet.

  “Yeah. Bray attacked Sven… I think his smell got to him,” Vieno said, his voice hoarse and emotional.

  “All alphas outside,” Palani ordered. “Now.”

  Grayson gently set him on his feet, and Sven leaned against the wall for support, feeling strangely bereft. The kitchen emptied quickly, leaving Sven with Vieno, Palani, and…Enar. Why was he still here? He was an alpha, so why hadn’t he left?

  “You’re…” Sven began, then thought better of it. He wasn’t a real alpha, was he?

  “He’s a beta,” Palani snapped, then seemed to calm himself. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Ena
r is a beta. Please try to remember that.”

  Sven nodded. ‘I didn’t mean to…” he said to his adopted brother.

  “I know,” Enar said, his voice warm. “Do you need me to leave?”

  Sven shook his head. “No. It’s… No.”

  “Okay,” Enar said, using a tone like you would address a scared child, Sven thought. It worked in calming him just a little. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. No. I don’t know. He… Bray, he walked in and he attacked me.”

  Enar cringed. “God, I’m so sorry. It’s the gene, Sven. He must’ve smelled you and since he hasn’t been around you much, it must’ve hit him hard.”

  Tears pressed against Sven’s eyelids and he released them, shuddering when they silently tracked down his cheeks. “It was my fault. Grayson told me I should sequester myself, and I didn’t. I wanted to talk to Vieno.”

  Enar put both hands on Sven’s shoulders. “It’s not your fault, Sven. It’s never the victim’s fault. With this gene…you didn’t know.”

  Tears streamed down now, and before he realized it, Sven had taken a step toward Enar. He opened his arms and Sven stepped in, relieved to find comfort when he was so confused. Was he in shock? His body felt strange, off, like it was someone else’s body. Enar held him and he put his face against the man’s chest, his head feeling like cotton balls. Why was he so slow?

  He froze as it sunk in, this strange sensation in his head that was spreading to his entire body. Oh, hell no. It was starting.

  He let go of Enar and stepped back, shaking himself to stay alert. “I’m…it’s starting,” he said, noting how odd his voice sounded, warbled and distorted.

  “I know,” Enar said, his voice calm. “You have a little time before you can’t think anymore. What do you need?”

  “Lars.” The answer came automatically.

  “He’s in the back fields, but someone’s getting him, and he’ll be here in a minute,” Palani assured him. “Who do you want helping you?”

  Fear flooded his system all over again. If Bray had reacted that strongly when merely smelling him and his heat had just started, how bad would it get when it was in full swing? An alpha that size would maul him.

  “I can’t,” he said. “They’ll be unstoppable.”

  “You can’t do it alone, Sven,” Enar said. “Not even with Lars. It’s too dangerous. You need an alpha.”

  “Give him a minute,” Vieno said. “He has time. It’s all new to him, and what just happened was scary as fuck. Hell, I’m still shaking.”

  Sven lowered himself on a kitchen chair, closing his eyes as he tried to think. It was so hard with his mind shutting down and his body taking over. He wanted sex. He needed it. When Vieno had spoken about craving cock, he hadn’t understood. Sex with Lars was great, but the need he felt building up inside him now was different. His hole twitched, and he felt himself get slick inside, even as his skin heated up.

  They were right. He needed an alpha. He needed to be fucked. He needed that knot. But how could he trust any of them? Lidon, yes, but he was mated. The others had all been affected…

  Not all of them. One alpha had kept his cool. He’d stepped in and made Bray obey him. Just like he’d intervened before with Lars. He’d be able to keep Lars in check as well, during his heat.

  He took a deep breath. “I’ve made my choice.”

  4

  Grayson rushed out of the kitchen with the other alphas, dragging Bray by his neck. They’d been damn lucky it had been Bray and not one of the other alphas. As his son, Bray couldn’t ignore Grayson’s alpha, but had it been anyone else, they’d have been fucked.

  “Dad, I’m so sorry…” The anguish in Bray’s voice was palpable. “I don’t know what happened. He just… God, he smelled so good, and I wanted him.”

  Grayson gave him a last shake before he let him go. He shouldn’t be upset with him, not after what he’d heard from Enar and Palani about that gene. And yet, an unreasonable anger simmered inside him. It didn’t make sense and it wasn’t fair, but he wanted to smack Bray for even touching Sven.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Lidon said, his rich voice uncharacteristically emotional and cracking. “We weren’t sure when his heat was going to hit, and the four of us can’t smell him the way you can. You didn’t know he was there, Bray, didn’t know he would affect you this much.”

  “I deeply apologize, alpha.” Bray’s remorse as he kneeled in front of Lidon was real, Grayson couldn’t deny that. “I’ll accept whatever punishment you feel is fair.”

  Lidon’s hand came down on Bray’s shoulder. “You’re forgiven, Bray. By me. You’ll have to work things out with Sven at a later date.”

  Bray stayed on the ground, transitioning from his kneeling position into a cross-legged sit, and he buried his head in his hands. His alpha’s forgiveness had come quick, but it would take his son a while to forgive himself, Grayson realized. Bray set high standards for himself, and he’d failed them spectacularly.

  Lidon gestured Grayson to step aside, away from everyone else. “How were you able to get him to stop?” he asked.

  “Alpha compulsion. It worked ‘cause he’s my son. Vieno probably could’ve gotten him off, had he stayed calm enough to use your powers, but he panicked like Sven himself did. That’s not a criticism, alpha,” he added. “Merely an observation.”

  Lidon nodded. “I know. How were you able to stay calm, though? Why doesn’t his smell affect you as much?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Lidon’s eyebrows rose. “That was a quick answer. Wanna try that again?”

  Grayson smiled despite himself. He respected the hell out of Lidon. The man was sharp as a knife when it came to being lied to. So was Palani, by the way. The two of them made a formidable combination.

  “I do smell him. I told Palani as much, after informing him he was right that Sven’s heat would start soon. But it’s not overwhelming for me, maybe because I’ve been around him more?” Grayson offered.

  “Could be,” Lidon said.

  Grayson frowned. “What other reason could there be?”

  “I was able to control myself when I met Vieno. I didn’t realize how extraordinary that was till afterward, and for a long time, I thought it was because he’d been so weakened physically that his smell must have been less. And the fact that Enar wasn’t affected was because of the same reason, plus he took blockers, or so I thought.”

  Grayson swallowed. He didn’t like where this was going. At all. “You have a different theory now?”

  Lidon’s lips curved up in a smile. “I do. And you’re damn smart, Grayson, not to mention the fact that you know more about this than anyone else, what with all your research. Tell me what my theory is.”

  “Fated mates,” Grayson said through clenched teeth. “You think it’s because you and Vieno were fated mates.”

  “They’re drawn to you,” Lidon said. “And you to them.”

  There was no doubt as to who the “they” and “them” the alpha was referring to. “They’re twenty years younger than me, younger than my own kids. I’m way too old for them,” he resisted.

  “You’re not denying it.”

  “It’s impossible, alpha. I’m forty-three, with three grown kids. I can’t do this shit again. They need someone young and virile, Sven especially. That boy will have excessive heats for years to come. He needs a young alpha to fuck him through those.”

  “A young alpha like your son?” Lidon said.

  Grayson fought back the fresh wave of anger inside him. “Yes,” he said, forcing himself to stay calm. “Like Bray.”

  Lidon clamped a hand on his shoulder. “You keep telling yourself that. It’s Sven’s choice, but I’m pretty sure what he’ll do. Will you help him?”

  “He’s not going to choose me,” Grayson protested. “I respect your opinion, alpha, but he won’t.”

  Lidon hmmed. “We’ll see about that.”

  Grayson hesitated but then spoke up. He could not keep this from his alpha. “Also, I suspect Lars and Sven have mated. Lars can’t smell him, not like others do. It reminded me of Vieno and Palani.”

  Lidon’s eyebrows went up again. “Huh. Interesting,” the alpha said. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out with you in the picture.”