“He’ll tell you when he’s ready. He went through things, however, when he was at the Idol camp at the hands of sadistic Alpha instructors that he will always have to live with. It’s just that he pushes it all down during the day, and it finds him at night. Things that I am sure your Hotel Omegas would understand.”
My eyes prick with tears. “Is there anything that I can do?”
“Don’t you understand how much you are already doing by being here in this nest, tesoro? By wanting him? By treating him like he’s a normal Beta and not someobjectto be possessed or used? By helping us show him what healthy love feels like?”
My voice is thick with tears. “I want that for all of us.”
Suddenly, Zero twists his head side to side more violently.
“Please,please…” Zero’s voice sounds horrifyingly like he’s barely high school aged in his nightmare. “I’m sorry, sir. I’ll try it again. Do better. I’ll get it right, I promise.”
To my shock, Lionzio tightens his hold on Zero, before his pheromones become chokingly dominant.
I drag my sleeve to cover my nose.
Lionzio grabs Zero by the hair to hold him still and hisses into his ear, “Do it again. Get it right this time, Immortal. No excuses.”
Outraged, I glare at Lionzio.
What. The. Fuck?
“How can you talk to him like that?” I try to shove Lionzio away, but he’s too strong.
“Because the Alphas who trained him in singing and dancing did more thantalkwhen he made a mistake. And right now, I am replacing his teenage dream self’s terror of blows with harsh words. I’ve tried everything during these nightmares, including soft words and gentleness. But in these nightmares, I need to at least play the part of his demons, as much as I hate it. But I’d do anything for him.” Lionzio’s expression gentles. “Trust me.”
I relax back into the nest.
Trust means a lot to Lionzio. It’s not easy for me, after what has happened in my life with Alphas.
But I can start here.
“Yes, sir.” With a final whine, Zero settles back into Lionzio’s arms.
Tremors are still wracking him, but his breathing has steadied, and his expression is once more peaceful.
“This must be hard on you.” I slip my hand over Zero for Lionzio to take. He entwines his fingers with mine, giving me a surprised but pleased smile. “I have a fourteen month old, after all. I know what it’s like to have interrupted sleep most nights but still have to struggle through functioning the next day with a smile.”
“I’m not sure that I always smile.” Lionzio plays with my fingers. “It’s harder for Zero. I’m happy that I can do this for him. As much as I don’t have any idea how to handle him during the day, at least at night I’ve worked it out.”
“I think that you have a better idea than you know.”
“Icarus and you are serious about wanting to be with us, right?” In the early hours, Lionzio is stripped back and raw. He searches out my gaze in a startlingly vulnerable way that makes my stomach twist that I am hiding the secret of the heist. “Even if I wasn’t wealthy? Even if we weren’t anything special or elite? Just some normal, hardworking pack? You would want to be with us because ofus…? It’s just that Zero has been through sucha lot of shit, only wanted for his fake celebrity image, and Pip has been bullied for most of his life because of his Wolf name. And I…I’ve been alone, thinking that I would never have a pack of my own. It would break me, mio tesoro, to be treated as worthless by you like I was by my own biological family. So, if it’s going to happen, then please, just let it happen now.”
I can’t hold back any longer.
I push myself up onto my elbow, leaning over Zero and capturing Lionzio’s lips.
I kiss the Alpha, soft and tender and long enough for him to understand that I will not reject him.
I am not going anywhere.
He is not worthless.
Slowly, I pull back.
Lionzio looks like I have kissed every thought out of his mind, as he struggles for a moment to do anything but blink at me.
I smirk, rubbing my cheek against his. “Answer your question?”
