The Night Movers S2 - ep. 3 - Ryker's POV (Patreon)

Unbeta'd/Unedited. This really doesn't contain a shred of plot. Its 90% smut. There will be another plot chapter soon. I wasn't even going to post this one, but I am not finished with my Ranger chapter yet so, here you go. Hopefully 5100 words of fluffy, tooth-rotting filth will tide you over until tomorrow or thursday.

Ryker sank the heels of his palms into his eye sockets, groaning at the relief, shoulders and back aching from hours hunched over. Sparks danced behind his lids before he sighed, stretching his arms overhead. Joints popped, tendons and muscles pulling taut, triggering all those pleasure-pain receptors until another groan tore loose, deeper this time, almost indecent.

When he finished, he let himself collapse flat on his back on the cold van floor, head hanging out the open doors. From his new vantage point, he caught Diesel and Sugar’s upside-down forms.

Diesel leaned over Titus’s cherry-red Toyota Supra, staring into the engine bay with the same grim focus most people reserved for bomb disposal…or math. The muscles in his inked arms bulged as he gripped the frame, gray tank smeared with grime, navy coveralls knotted around his waist. He’d been in that exact position when Ryker had started his task hours ago.

Did Titus’s car actually need maintenance? No. Would Diesel keep at it anyway? Absolutely. Diesel was the restless type, his mind always racing, hands always twitching. He had to stay busy. If he wasn’t buried elbow-deep in Titus’s car or sparring hard enough to leave bruises, he got twitchy. Busy turned into manic real fast with Diesel, whether that meant ten-hour gaming marathons or rewiring half the hotel at six a.m.

Tonight–well, technically morning now–his restlessness was obvious. His ‘princess’ was curled up in bed with their alpha, and Diesel hadn’t figured out how to handle the fact that his world now revolved around a strawberry-scented omega who drove them all insane.

Ryker found their obsession equal parts amusing and disturbing. Their little troublemaker had them acting like lovesick idiots. Ryker less so than the others, but even he couldn’t deny the kid was magnetic. Pretty, reckless, mouthy. He smelled like heat and sugar, and being inside him was addictive in a way Ryker didn’t like to examine too closely.

Maybe Ryker wasn’t as gone for him because he got laid more often than the rest. Unlike Ryker and Jensen, the others avoided sex with alphas. And until Ridley had torn into their carefully built lie of a life, they’d all been morally opposed to fucking omegas.

Ridley had blown that to hell. He’d dragged their repression into the light, Diesel’s most of all. One heat with him and the alpha was hooked for life. Ryker was still adjusting to the new scent in their den, the way it had begun to seep into every inch of their space. And just when he was starting to get used to one omega, somehow they’d ended up with another.

Rain. Sweet, shattered little Rain, plucked straight from the maulers’ claws. The maulers weren’t the type to forgive and forget, and Ryker expected retribution. But his bigger concern came from closer to home. His former home. The Kage Okami. Kento wouldn’t let this slide, not with Orochi convinced Rain belonged to him.

Ryker shook the thoughts away and focused on Sugar. The other alpha lay on the orange creeper–the one they used to slide under cars–feet on the ground, sweatpants hiked at the knees as he rocked back and forth, hair piled into a band to keep it from getting snagged under the chassis.

When Sugar noticed him he asked, “Done?”

Ryker curled into a sitting position and swung up onto the van’s edge, legs dangling. He’d inventoried the med supplies and restocked the kits they kept in the vans for rescued omegas. It could have waited. It wasn’t his favorite job, but Ridley’s meltdown had Titus clinging and jittery, instincts on high alert. When Jensen said he wanted to test whether what Ridley saw was a glitch–or if Ridley was the glitch–Ryker had made himself scarce.

Ridley had been on-edge since he’d sold his soul–no, their souls–to Vesper. He moved like every day might be the one where they marched him to the gallows, hiding in his room for days and keeping his new pet close. He was convinced everyone was angry with him.

It wasn’t ideal. Nobody wanted to owe Vesper anything. The omega was a bigger menace than Ridley. Still, the pack took it in stride. Well, everyone but Steele, he was perpetually pissy. Sour as a lemon. What had finally compelled Ridley to leave his room with his sweet little cupcake in tow earlier? Ryker would kill to know.

“Our alpha still comforting our frantic little omega?” Ryker asked, voice dry.

Diesel snorted, disgruntled. “If we’re not careful, he’ll comfort him right into giving us our first pack baby.”

“First?” Sugar and Ryker said in unison.

Diesel made another annoyed noise. “You know what I mean. He’s not thinking straight. The second he smelled Ridley’s distress, he went full alpha.”

“I heard Shortcake in there begging him to scruff him,” Sugar confirmed. “Then begging him to fuck him.”

“Good thing he didn’t ask for comfort,” Diesel muttered. “That’s never been his strong suit.”

Ryker snickered. “Don’t sulk, baby bear. You’re just upset he woke up on Titus’s watch and not yours. If anyone’s gonna accidentally breed our pack omega, it’s you. You spend more time balls-deep in him than any of us.”

A slow smirk spread across Diesel’s face. “It’s not my fault he prefers me.”

Sugar sat up, still straddling the creeper. “Please. We let him spend his heat with you because we knew you’d pout if you had to share the new toy. It was like watching a baby alpha go through his first rut again. You couldn’t get enough.”

“Fuck you,” Diesel said, but there was no heat behind it. “You could’ve kept him with you, but you handed him over to me because Titus was playing the martyr–” He pointed to Sugar. “–you were afraid of him, Ryker and Jensen were too busy mounting each other, and Steele hates him.”

“I don’t hate him,” a voice grumbled.

They all turned to see Steele stalking toward the garage, boots scuffing over the orange clay. It was still dark out, but the junkyard lights blazed stadium-bright, turning the stacked cars into eerie sculptures, shadows stretching long and sharp. The blond alpha stepped into the garage and dropped onto a spare tire wedged between two rusted iron braces.

“I had real work to do,” Steele muttered. “I can’t spend five days coddling a horny omega with no filter, no shame, and a humiliation kink a mile wide.”

“You sure it’s his humiliation kink and not your degradation kink?” Sugar shot back.

Steele shrugged. “Does it matter? I took care of him the other night. I did my part.”

Ryker rolled his eyes. “Oh, well thank you for your service.” He hopped off the rig. “You’re almost as big a martyr as your bestie. The two of you are so codependent, I’m shocked you didn’t crawl into bed with them just to see if you and our alpha could turn him into Chinese finger cuffs.”

“You’ve got a lotta nerve,” Steele countered. “When’s the last time you fucked an omega without your emotional support alpha? Hmm?”

Ryker didn’t dignify that with an answer. He just tossed a lazy smirk over his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. I’m out.”

“Where you going?” Steele called.

“To fuck my emotional support alpha. Maybe you should try it. Might make you less of a dick.”

“Nah,” Sugar and Diesel said in unison.

Ryker laughed at Steele’s low growl. The blond really was all bark and no bite.

He made his way below ground through the tunnels on autopilot, head already full of Jensen. He checked his watch: a little after two. Jensen would still be awake, likely in the same spot Ryker had left him, glued to his screens, lost in code and ghosts. Their work demanded they keep the hours of criminals and predators–up all night, dead to the world all day–and their bodies had long ago bent to the rhythm.

Ryker pushed open the door of Jensen’s room. “Did you find any–”

“Shh,” Jensen hissed, pressing a finger to his lips, then down to the bundle in his arms.

Ryker stopped short, blinking at the sight. Jensen–and the little omega–looked naked beneath the covers. That small detail sent Ryker’s body tightening before his brain could catch up.

Rain was curled into a ball, little spoon, breathing steady and deep. The picture was so gentle it felt almost obscene in this place built on blood and adrenaline.

Ryker tipped his head back, sniffing the air. Jensen’s alpha pheromones were thick, heavy, but there was no sharp tang of sex. Had he pulled the boy into bed for skin-to-skin comfort…or had Rain simply passed out before Jensen could get further with him?

“Get undressed and come to bed,” Jensen murmured.

Ryker stripped without comment, padding naked across the room. He started to slide in behind Jensen, then changed his mind, circling to the other side. He eased in so he faced both the wide-awake alpha and the sleeping omega. Rain gave a soft little moan and immediately burrowed into him, pressing his face to the scent gland under Ryker’s arm. The brush of fine hair against sensitive skin made Ryker flinch.

“Did you solve your little tech problem?” Ryker whispered, fingers sinking into Rain’s hair on instinct, tugging gently to press the boy closer, letting him huff greedy lungfuls of his scent.

The omega was warm and pliant, his small cock half-hard where it nudged Ryker’s thigh. When Rain molded himself more snugly to Ryker’s front, Jensen slid in tighter behind him, sandwiching the boy between them. His scent bloomed powdery-sweet in the air, and Ryker’s own cock stirred, thickening almost instantly.

“Yes and no,” Jensen murmured, his hand sliding low to rest on Ryker’s hip beneath the sheets, stroking his ass with slow, lazy circles. “I think we might have two gifted omegas in the house. But I don’t want the others to know until I’m certain. I especially don’t want Strawberry to know.”

Ryker frowned. “What do you mean?”

He listened quietly as Jensen explained Rain’s potential gift, not interrupting, though his gaze stayed fixed on the boy’s peaceful face.

“It’s kind of strange, isn’t it?” Ryker said finally. “How Rain and Ridley’s gifts seem to…fit each other.”

Jensen made a noncommittal noise, then asked, “Did you know him?”

Ryker’s brow furrowed. “Him? Him who?”

“Petal. Rain,” Jensen corrected softly. “He grew up in Kenzo’s house. Kenzo’s your cousin. Surely you must have seen him around.”

Ryker gazed down at the boy’s delicate features, his lips parted around quiet breaths. “Yeah. I’d seen him around. I wouldn’t say I knew him. Kenzo was weirdly possessive. Like Rain was some favorite toy he didn’t want to share. When his mom gave him to Hideo, Kenzo lost it. I left the pack shortly after. As soon as I presented.”

“Did you know he can’t read?” Jensen asked, staring down at the sweet little face nestled between them.

“No.” Ryker’s jaw tightened. “But it makes sense. My aunt never allowed omegas an education. She thought it was a waste of time and energy.”

“I’m gonna teach him,” Jensen said, fingertips trailing over Ryker’s hip, raising goosebumps.

Ryker huffed a small laugh. “Of course you are.”

Jensen smiled faintly. “He asked to sleep here tonight. Is…is that okay?”

Ryker tilted his head, bemused. “Why wouldn’t it be? When Strawberry brought him in earlier, I assumed they wanted some play time.” He eased the sheet back just enough to glance at the boy’s bare frame. “But he still looks pretty fragile.”

Rain shifted in his sleep, sighing, and pressed even closer, the scent of him swelling between them until Ryker’s pulse jumped in his throat.

Jensen’s heated gaze raked the boy’s narrow frame. “We’ll just be gentle with him,” he murmured, his fingers trailing over the boy’s side, making him give a tiny whimper and press into the touch. “He’s really pretty. Isn’t he?”

Ryker nodded. “Beyond. So fragile.”

Rain burrowed his face deeper into Ryker’s underarm, making him twitch again.

Ryker seized the moment, gripping Jensen by the back of the neck and hauling him in. “I don’t have to be gentle with you though, right?”

As always, Jensen’s eyes went hazy. “No,” he breathed. “You know I like it rough.”

They crashed their mouths together over the little omega’s sleeping form; the kiss curved filthy fast. They’d been doing this for so long, almost from the day they met. They just…understood each other.

Rain moaned between them, rutting against Ryker’s thigh as the scent of two aroused alphas swept through the fog of his sleep. The slick at his thighs scented the air; even half-asleep, the boy’s instincts stirred.

“He’s rubbing off on my leg,” Ryker said against Jensen’s mouth. “He smells incredible.”

“He’s dripping slick all over my dick,” Jensen said. “Feel.”

He guided Ryker’s hand down until it rested against Jensen’s hard length, pressed between the globes of the omega’s ass. Ryker let his fingers dip between them, coming back slick. Jensen tipped forward, taking the sticky digits into his mouth, moaning around them as Ryker dragged Rain’s slick across his tongue.

“Fuck, he smells like flowers and tastes like mint,” Jensen said thickly. “Taste.”

Their mouths found each other again; Ryker sucked the taste of Rain’s slick from Jensen’s tongue. He did have that cool, minty tang. When Rain whimpered, they broke apart, looking down to find him watching them, eyes huge.

“Hey, petal,” Jensen said. “Did we wake you?”

He nodded, rolling onto his back to look between them. “You smell like me,” he whispered, nostrils flaring as he sniffed them curiously.

Ryker smiled and tipped the boy’s chin up. “He tastes like you, too. Wanna try?”

Rain’s eyes widened, hesitated, then nodded. Ryker pressed Jensen’s head down until he licked across Rain’s lips, groaning when the boy hesitantly sucked at Jensen’s tongue.

“Good boy,” Ryker coaxed. “You want to keep playing with us?”

He nodded.

“I need words, sweet face. I don’t want any misunderstandings.”

“Does this mean I don’t have to pretend you’re mean?” Rain whispered.

“In here–down here–you don’t have to pretend,” Jensen promised. “But topside, that’s a whole different story, petal. Up there, we’re your handlers and you’re our property.”

Rain’s pupils were blown wide, lips wet and parted. “I don’t mind if you treat me like property,” he said, breathless. “Even now.”

This time it was Ryker who stifled a groan. “Well, aren’t you just an angel? The sweet to Ridley’s sour.” He pressed a soft kiss to Rain’s temple, then shifted, the heat of him a steady anchor. “A perfect pair.”

Jensen snickered, then stroked the side of Rain’s face. “What do you think? Can your alphas play with you?”

Rain’s breath hitched, his swallow audible even over the hum of the air conditioner. “Yes, please.”

Ryker drew his thumb slowly across the boy’s lower lip. “Fuck. So polite. Do you ask to come just as sweetly?”

Rain flushed, crimson spreading up his neck. “I–I don’t do that.”

Ryker and Jensen exchanged a look.

“You don’t do what?” Jensen coaxed.

“Come,” he mumbled. “I’m not allowed to do that.”

Ryker’s low growl made the omega shrink. A sharp, ugly pang cut through him at the boy’s fear. “Not you, petal.”

Of course. Hideo had probably spent years conditioning Rain into his perfect sex toy, caring only about his own pleasure.

“Not allowed? You’ve never had an orgasm? Not when you touched yourself? Not even when someone was eating you out?” Jensen asked, blunt as always.

Rain’s embarrassment was a physical thing, cheeks burning. “Nobody’s…ever done that either.”

“Oh,” Ryker said, meeting Jensen’s furious gaze before shifting his attention back to the omega between them, softer when he said, “Well, we’re going to fix that. Slowly. Carefully.”

Jensen’s nostrils flared, his scent flooding the space, eyes glittering in the dim light. “Definitely. Let us take care of you, petal.”

“Petal, huh?” Ryker murmured, watching the boy curl inward. He gave him a small, steadying smile. “It suits you.” 

Rain managed a nervous, barely-there smile but didn’t answer.

“How about you come sit between my legs and let Jensen get a taste of you fresh from the source? Hmm? He seems pretty needy.” Ryker’s voice was playful and gentle at once.

Rain gave a stilted nod. “Whatever alphas’ want.”

“Isn’t he sweet?” Jensen breathed again, gaze bright, a little wild.

He truly was. If they weren’t careful, this little omega would roil Jensen straight into rut. He acted with the same weird intensity that Diesel had with Ridley. Like they recognized something in each other. Ryker found it fascinating. And hot. 

They shifted, Jensen moving to the foot of the bed, Ryker sitting against the headboard so Rain’s back was warm against his chest. From there Ryker could feel the boy’s rapid heartbeat and smell the mingled fear and arousal.

“You know we don’t have to do this,” Ryker murmured. “We could just sleep.”

Rain’s head snapped up in alarm. “You don’t want to?”

“Of course we do,” Jensen replied, exasperation soft in his voice as he leveled an impatient look at Ryker.

Ryker’s tone softened. “You just look small and you smell scared. And you make him a little…irrational. I don’t want to push you if you’re not ready.”

“Sex is always scary,” Rain said. “There’s so many things I could get wrong.”

“Wrong?” Ryker echoed.

Rain nodded. “Hideo was particular. And Rurik and his crew…they were…animals. They only wanted it to hurt. They…got off on my pain more than anything else.”

Ryker’s jaw tightened. “Then why have sex with us? If you’re scared, I mean.”

“’Cause I want to know how it feels,” Rain whispered, heat creeping back across his cheeks. “Is that okay?”

“Of course, it is,” Jensen said, pinning Ryker in place with his sharp stare.

Message received. He wouldn’t try to talk him out of it anymore. Ryker held Jensen’s feverish gaze as he threaded his fingers in Rain’s hair, craning his head back to kiss him, cock throbbing at how easily he submitted, lips parting, letting Ryker dip his tongue inside. He swallowed Rain’s needy little whine, drinking his fill before finally pulling away.

Jensen dragged his gaze downward, between the omega’s long, shapely legs. Ryker decided to help the other alpha out. He planted his feet on the mattress, knees bent, and forced Rain’s legs apart, hooking them over the outside of his so he could control just how open the boy was to Jensen.

Jensen moaned at the view, lying between the omega’s legs. “Fuck, you’re already so wet for us. You excited, petal?”

Rain whimpered, hips shifting restlessly. Ryker bit at his earlobe. “You’re ours now, aren’t you?”

“Yes, alpha,” he said, appearing entranced as he watched Jensen trail his lips along one silky thigh.

He already sounded wrecked and they hadn’t even started.

Ryker cupped the boy’s chest, squeezing, then thumbing softly over his nipples, cock throbbing as Rain jolted, another raw moan escaping. Ryker nipped Rain’s earlobe, his voice a low growl as he whispered, “Submit to your alpha.”

Rain’s head fell to the side, baring his scent gland to Ryker without question.

His cock twitched at the blind obedience. “Good boy.”

Ryker fastened his mouth over the swollen gland, sucking hard while the omega whined, high and desperate, his body not sure if it wanted to push back against Ryker’s cock or forward to Jensen’s exploring mouth.

“What’s wrong, petal?” Jensen taunted. “Need something?”

Rain gave a noise of frustration. “Please, alpha.”

“Please what? What is it you need?” Jensen pressed, dragging his tongue along the inside of one cheek, lapping up slick like it was nectar.

“I-I don’t know?” he panted, squirming in Ryker’s lap.

“I think you do,” Ryker teased, his tone a low growl against Rain’s ear. “You want alpha’s tongue in that pretty little hole, huh?”

“I-I don’t know,” he said again, voice breaking on a sob.

Ryker threaded his fingers into Jensen’s hair and pressed him forward, guiding him between the boy’s cheeks. Rain gave a strangled cry, his thighs trembling, which only seemed to make Jensen more determined. Ryker’s cock throbbed where it was trapped between their bodies.

Jensen flattened his tongue, licking in long, claiming strokes. Rain’s eyes rolled back, hips jerking forward helplessly, another raw cry tearing out as he tried and failed to push down onto Jensen’s tongue.

Then Jensen pulled back, pressing both thumbs to the omega’s rim, watching with reverence as he spread him gently. Rain’s breaths came in short, sharp bursts, all three of them staring down at where Jensen pressed inside slowly.

“So tight here,” Jensen murmured. “Hot. Soft…”

Ryker groaned. “He’s perfect. Fuck, Jen. He’s perfect.”

“It’s like a flood down here,” Jensen said, his voice reverent, like he’d been handed something sacred. “I bet you could just slide right in.”

His eyes flicked up to Ryker’s.

“Yeah?” Ryker asked, trying to read him. “You want that?”

Instead of answering, Jensen kissed Rain, letting the boy suck at his tongue until he moaned. “What do you say, petal? You want alpha’s knot?”

Rain nodded, head falling back against Ryker’s shoulder, eyes hazy, pupils blown wide, saliva glistening at the corner of his mouth. So pliant. So wrecked. So easy to love.

“Words, petal,” Ryker coaxed again.

“Want alpha’s knot,” Rain slurred, lids heavy.

“Lift him up,” Jensen said.

Ryker slid his hands beneath the boy, lifting him with ease. Jensen took his straining cock in hand, stroking it through the omega’s slick until even Ryker bit back a groan. Then he pressed the head to Rain’s rim, holding him steady as Ryker sank into that tight, searing heat.

Rain whimpered, clenching around him so hard Ryker grimaced.

Jensen swallowed Rain’s gasp with another kiss, whispering against his lips, “Relax, petal. Let him in. We’re gonna make you feel so good.”

Ryker’s chest rose and fell as Rain loosened, taking him deeper until he was fully seated. The heat was overwhelming. “Christ,” he panted. “So fucking tight.”

Then Jensen lowered himself again, this time not stopping at Rain’s rim. He licked a hot stripe lower, pressing his tongue against the base of Ryker’s buried cock and the omega’s stretched hole.

Rain gave a broken cry, body arching like he couldn’t decide whether to retreat or beg for more.

“Fuck,” Ryker groaned, dragging his teeth over Rain’s shoulder, holding him open so Jensen could feast. “You feel that, petal? Your alpha’s tongue all over you while I’m buried inside? He’s tasting both of us.”

Jensen hummed against him, hungry, the vibration making Rain jolt and keen. His tongue flicked back and forth, fucking the slick hole, then dragging lower to lave at Ryker’s cock where it split the omega open. The obscene, wet sounds made Ryker’s cock throb inside the boy’s velvet heat.

“Christ, Jen,” Ryker rasped, tangling one hand in Jensen’s hair, the other wrapped firm across Rain’s chest to hold him steady. “You smell like rut, like you’re about to go feral. You love his taste that much?”

Jensen only moaned in answer, lips sealing around the base of Ryker’s cock before sliding back up to tongue Rain’s stretched rim again. Rain’s thighs shook violently, little gasps spilling from his throat as he clutched at Ryker’s forearms.

“Can you feel it, petal?” Ryker coaxed, voice low and rough in his ear. “He’s addicted to your taste.”

Rain’s head tipped back helplessly onto Ryker’s shoulder, tears clinging to his lashes as he sobbed out, “Please…please, alpha…”

“Please what?” Ryker demanded, his grip tightening.

“I don’t know–I can’t–” Rain broke off with another desperate cry when Jensen pushed two fingers in beside Ryker’s cock, stretching him further.

“Good boy,” Jensen rasped, breaking only long enough to praise him before diving back in, lips dragging along Ryker’s growing knot where it disappeared into Rain, swallowing the mess of slick and pre-come like it was honey. “Taking it so well. Maybe one day you’ll take us both at the same time.” 

Rain trembled like a live wire in Ryker’s arms, his whole body caught between desperation and surrender. Ryker ground deeper, slow and relentless, letting Jensen feast on them both.

“Look at him,” Ryker rasped, his voice wrecked. “He doesn’t even know if he’s begging to come or begging us to stop. So fucking sweet, petal. So pretty when you fall apart.”

Jensen moaned into him, licking up the slick where their bodies joined, smearing it over his mouth and chin. Then he surged upward, fisting Ryker’s hair and claiming his mouth in a kiss wet with Rain’s taste. Rain whimpered at the sound, hips jerking erratically as if he didn’t know where he fit in.

“Shh,” Ryker soothed against Jensen’s lips, grinding down into Rain with more force, making him sob. “You’re not left out, baby. You’re the center of this. This is all for you.”

Jensen groaned in agreement, wrapping a hand around Rain’s flushed cock at last. “Let us give it to you, petal. Let us make you come.”

Rain’s eyes flew wide, panic and disbelief warring in them. “I–I’m not supposed–”

“You’re supposed to obey your alphas,” Ryker cut in, growling against his ear as he pistoned harder, his knot swelling thick and urgent, Jensen’s fist matching the rhythm. “That means you come when we say. And we say now.”

The command broke him. Rain wailed, back bowing, body clamping so tight around Ryker that he nearly lost control. Jensen stroked him faster, his lips fastening on the omega’s throat, sucking hard enough to leave his mark.

Rain shattered with a sob, spilling hot over Jensen’s hand, thighs shaking violently as he clung to Ryker’s arms. The sound of him crying through his first orgasm tore through Ryker like barbed wire.

“Fuck–fuck, petal,” Ryker snarled, slamming deep one last time before his knot locked them together, emptying himself in hot, grinding pulses.

Jensen moaned, groaning into Rain’s skin as he came too, rutting against the boy’s trembling thigh, his release hot and messy, smearing them all with heat and slick.

For a long moment, the three of them just panted, tangled together, Rain sobbing quietly against Ryker’s chest, Jensen’s mouth still pressed to his throat, all three of their bodies trembling in the aftermath.

Ryker kissed the damp curls at Rain’s temple, his voice rough but startlingly tender. “That’s it. That’s what it’s supposed to feel like. No pain. No punishment. Just us. Just pleasure.”

Rain let out a broken little sound, too overwhelmed to answer, but the way he burrowed closer to both of them said everything.

Ryker eased them down carefully until they were on their sides. Jensen collapsed on Rain’s other side. The omega was still trembling between them, his body milking Ryker’s knot, sending shards of pleasure spiking through him every few minutes, dragging moan after moan from him. Jensen tugged the sheets over their sweat-slicked bodies, his palm flattening over Rain’s chest, steady as a heartbeat, as if afraid he might slip away.

Rain’s eyes were glassy, lashes clumped with tears, lips swollen from biting down on them. Ryker smoothed the boy’s damp hair back from his forehead and kissed the crown of his head. “You did so good for us, petal. Better than good. You were perfect.”

“I–I came,” Rain whispered, his voice tiny, like he was confessing a crime.

“Yeah,” Jensen said softly, brushing his thumb across the tear track on Rain’s cheek. “That was supposed to happen. That’s what we wanted for you.”

Rain blinked rapidly. “But…Hideo said–”

“Fuck Hideo,” Ryker growled, sharper than he meant to, but the way Rain flinched gutted him. He softened instantly, tilting Rain’s chin so he could meet his gaze. “Listen to me. You don’t belong to him anymore. He’s dead. You don’t belong to Rurik anymore. They’re both dead. You belong to us now. And we want you to feel good.”

Jensen kissed his other cheek, his voice steady and grounding where Ryker’s was rough. “It doesn’t matter what they told you before. They were wrong. This–what we just did–this is how it should be. Safe. Sweet. Yours as much as ours.”

Rain shuddered, like the words themselves were too much, and buried his face in Ryker’s throat. His small voice was muffled against his skin. “It felt…so good. Too good.”

“That’s the point, baby,” Ryker murmured, rubbing circles between his shoulder blades. “You get to have good things now. At least down here.”

Jensen leaned across Rain to steal a slow kiss from Ryker, nothing filthy this time, just warm and deep. Rain peeked up, watching them with wide eyes, and Jensen smiled against Ryker’s lips before pressing a gentle kiss to Rain’s temple.

“Sleep now,” Jensen whispered. “We’ve got you.”

Rain gave a soft, broken sigh, the kind that came from total surrender, and let his body go boneless between them. His breathing evened out quickly, exhaustion pulling him under.

Ryker and Jensen stayed awake a while longer, trading quiet looks over the top of the boy’s head. No words were needed, just the silent recognition that something had shifted tonight. That Rain wasn’t just theirs to protect now. He was theirs, in every way that mattered. At least until he decided otherwise. 

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Jensen said quietly.

“What is?” Ryker asked. 

“It feels like we’re a real pack.”

Ryker studied him. “It didn’t feel real before?” 

Jensen gave him an enigmatic look. “That’s not it. I mean, no. Yes, but no. You guys are family. We have a goal, an agenda. We committed to this mission. But you can’t tell me it didn’t feel like something was missing? Real packs have omegas. They have babies. They’re a family.” 

Ryker’s eyes went wide. “Babies?” 

That was the second time he’d heard the word that day. It was starting to spook him. 

Jensen rolled his eyes. “Not now, not in this world. Hell, maybe not even in this lifetime, but if we ever manage to topple the elites. Doesn’t it sound nice? Ridley, Rain–if he wants–the others, living topside living a real life. No blood, no bodies, no more rescuing traumatized omegas. Racing because we want to and not because we need the money to fund this operation.” 

Ryker sighed. “It just doesn’t seem like…something we should hope for. I grew up in a pack with omegas and even the occasional baby. Those babies grew up to be victims or assailants. There was no in between.” At Jensen’s disappointed look, Ryker’s heart squeezed. He cupped his face. “Yeah, baby, it sounds nice. It sounds amazing, really. You, me, Strawberry, Titus, Steele, Diesel, Sugar…” He dropped  his gaze to the sleeping omega. “Petal. It sounds…perfect.” 

It also sounded impossible. Like a fairy tale. But he didn’t say that. Jensen was an optimist and Ryker would be damned if  he’d strip that away from him. If he wanted to imagine a fairy tale ending for them all, Ryker would pretend to believe in happily ever after. He owed Jensen that much…and more. 

He owed him everything.