18. Drifting

Seff had no choice but to sit in the empty chair. She turned her head so she couldn’t see, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hear.
Kiran and Allium were far too vocal. Each moan, pant, curse, or *sucking* sound made her flinch. They remained sitting even as they reclothed each other. Kiran easily ripped her panties and untied her belt with a simple yank, her silks sliding off her shoulders and onto the floor. Allium grabbed the collar of his shirt and used her werewolf strength to tear it down to its hem. She flung her arm back to throw it—right at Seff.
Kiran rumbled with laughter.
He nibbled Allium’s ear as she turned her head for him, and she met Seff’s gaze after Seff scrambled to get the shirt off. It was warm and wet and *ugh*, it smelled like many more things Seff didn’t feel like picking apart. “Aren’t you happy for me, Seff? I’m getting what I’ve always wanted. As my friend, you should be happy.”
How fucked up was this?
“You two want to talk? How about we flip?”
Seff’s hand flew to cover her eyes. She’d seen Allium’s bare body many times, but she did not need to see all of her bouncing as Kiran entered her from behind. They both roared and free-fell into pain and bliss.
The knotting began, and it would be at least a half-hour before it was complete.
“Go on,” Kiran growled, grunting as he—so Seff’s ears told her—thrust particularly harshly, jerking Allium’s body, making her gasp in discomfort. “Talk it out.”
Seff dropped her hand to see if her friend was okay. Bad move.
The scene she saw would be forever ingrained in her memories. Gross.
She covered her eyes again. “Just let me leave, Kiran.”
Allium’s next gasp was offended. “How dare you call him that!”
“No, no,” Kiran soothed, “it’s alright, my sugared dear. I won’t let her get away with her brusqueness. Let’s just enjoy *us*.”
So they did for the next forty-five minutes. Seff sank into the armchair and pretended that their sex noises were her and Hawthorn, and though it made her feel the things she was trying to avoid in Kiran’s presence, it brought her a piece of odd comfort that let her escape from reality.
Their finishing sounds were exaggerated wolf’s howls that brought Seff back to that reality with a jolt. What made her open her eyes was a hearty smack to Allium’s backside.
“Get on out of here, ladies,” Kiran said lazily, limp in his armchair, looking dazed. “Ren, get my Delta Sienna to write your name down.”
The Alphas each had two lists. One for the Omegas’ names and dates they sexed; the other of all the pups born.
Allium smiled deliriously, struggling to stand upright. Seff jumped up to grab her elbows and steady her. That was like ice water thrown in her face. Allium yanked away and, after shooting Seff a venomous glare, looked at Kiran. “Sienna? I thought Aiden August was your Delta—”
Kiran jolted to his feet and pointed to the door. “Out. Now. Sol!”
The door opened. Seff couldn’t get either of them out fast enough. When Kiran slammed the door behind him, Allium ripped free and took the robe Sol offered, the Beta holding open a binder with an inch-thick stack of paper. *Just how many Omegas did Kiran fuck?*
Allium stabbed a claw at Seff’s collarbone, nails Shifted to be long and sharp enough to draw a prick of blood. “Don’t you dare say anything about how vanilla that was.”
Seff admitted it was, but she said, “Why do you think I would say that?”
“Because you’re mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad at you?”
“Because *I’m* mad at *you*.”
It was like a physical jab. But she wasn’t wholly mad at Allium, just hurt. She told her so. “I could never be mad at you, Alli. I just don’t want him to hurt you.”
At that moment they both noticed the rapidly-forming bruises on Allium’s thighs. She pulled her robe closed and glared more fiercely. “Well, he did, and he’s going to do it tomorrow because it’s the last day of my heat cycle. I’ll see you later, Seff.”
He stormed—limped, rather, her body raw—out of the living space. Seff released a breath and carried her heavy heart in the same direction. Sol grabbed her upper arm first, however.
“Allium Ren, July fifteenth, the second-to-last day of her five-day heat cycle, finishing at, rounded up, nine at night. Correct?”
Sol made it seem like asking the time, not marking her best friend’s moment where she lost her last shred of free will.
“Yes. Isn’t Sienna supposed to do this?”
The Beta scrawled it all down and slammed the binder shut, ignoring the question entirely. Like all Sun pack, she had gold eyes and gold hair, but her features were much less vibrant and powerful, though she was no less striking. She had to be at least in her fifties, but wolves—even though she Presented “human”—tended to be ageless.
Seff couldn’t seem to bring herself to move after meeting Sol’s gaze.
As stony as the female seemed, mouth perpetually in a frown, she knitted her brows. “What’s wrong, child?”
Seff’s throat tightened and she managed to confess, “You’re nothing like her…but you remind me of my mother.”
Linden Bleize was astute. She raised her pups to be aware of their ability to control their own fates. She loved them more than anything, and in turn, they loved her back unconditionally. As did her husband and mate for life, Alarik Bleize, who always looked at her as if she was his entire universe.
Sol blinked. “Oh. Sweet, you won’t find one of those here.”