We stood there for a while longer and I reveled in his scent, in the feel of his warm chest against mine, only pulling away slightly when Ben walked into the room.
“Everything alright?” Ben asked, coming up behind me and placing a kiss on my cheek. “We’re waiting on both of you before we start.”
“Our omega is a badass,” Cam said proudly. My insides melted at the smile on his face.
“Already knew that,” Ben said, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
Cam framed my face with his hands and kissed me. I licked into his mouth, craving his sweet taste. With a groan, Cam forced himself to pull away, but not before he placed a hot kiss on his bond mark high on my neck.
“You can have a gun if you want to, sweetheart.”
Ben choked on a laugh. “She can?”
I elbowed him disapprovingly. He grunted even though I knew I’d probably hurt my elbow more than his side.
“Thanks, alpha,” I said to Cam. “I’ll just do a taser if we have one.” The thought of picking up a gun again gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.
He nodded and picked out a taser and a stun gun from the shelf, showing me how to use each of them before strapping the taser to my waist and the stun gun to a holster on my thigh. His hands lingered much longer than they needed to as he adjusted the thigh holster, his fingers brushing against my mound. A gush of slick soaked my thick, scent-canceling underwear and my hips jerked towards his hand.
Ben buried his face in my neck and let out a frustrated huff when the bulletproof vest prevented him from grabbing my tits.
Cam stood, running his hand over his face.
“You’re too fucking hot for your own good,” he growled at me. “Get anything else you need quickly, and then join us.”
He stomped out of the room and if I hadn’t been able to feel his sexual frustration through the bond, I would have been concerned I had made him angry. But now, I just smirked. It was a heady feeling to torment my alphas just with my presence.
Ben spun me around to face him. “What did you do to convince him to give you a gun? Blow job?”
I snorted. “I told him I shot one of Glen’s guards.”
Ben’s teasing smile dropped from his face, but I had reached my limit for emotional moments, so I decided to confess. “I might not have quite done it on purpose.”
Ben’s mouth twitched, his eyes dancing with laughter.
“Don’t tell Cam, though,” I said sternly. “I still want him to think I’m a badass.”
“Well, that’s easily done, because you are, precious.”
He pulled me in for a kiss, his hand moving automatically to cup the bond mark on my breast before scowling at the vest again.
“I think your bond mark was all a ploy for you to have an excuse to cop a feel anytime you want,” I muttered in between kisses.
“Never needed an excuse,” Ben responded cheekily, planting one more kiss on my lips before taking a handgun off the table and holstering it at his side. “You ready to kick some ass, Ms. Badass?”
“Yes,” I said, bouncing up on the balls of my feet, bolstered by his confidence in me.
ChapterFifty-Three
Cam
Ishifted my hard-on in my tight tactical pants as I left Josie with Ben in the weapons room. It was making more sense to me why the military had a no bonded alpha policy. The usual thrill I felt before a high-risk mission was absent. All I wanted was to get Josie into a nest—a real fucking nest, not that shitty bed in the safe house—and do anything and everything to make her happy.
I gritted my teeth as I leaned over the table, gripping the metal edge. I needed to focus. Everyone I loved in the world was about to be in danger. This time, though, we were one step ahead of the enemy. It wasn’t going to be like Ellie, wouldn’t be like when Josie was taken from us. I would ensure this ended differently.
The weight of my weapons and the press of the vest against my chest brought back memories of my time in the military. The feeling was as familiar as it was unsettling. Fuck, I’d hated it there. Hated being screamed at, treated like shit, and forced to follow the commands of alphas I despised. But it had also given me a purpose, something I was good at: protecting, fighting, killing. I cringed at that last one, hating myself for being good at something so fucking awful. I hadn’t told Josie details about my time in the military because I was terrified it would change how she saw me. I had never wanted to be that kind of alpha who needed control through violence.
Theo joined me at the table, clasping me on the shoulder. The three young alphas joined us, looking to me for guidance. My alpha bristled at having them so close to my bonded, but I had to admit they seemed fine. Eager and inexperienced, but willing to take orders and do what needed to be done. But if they so much as looked at Josie wrong…
