Vieno had never felt more confused in his life. When Lidon had called him, he’d wanted to come, but he hadn’t been able to. He’d been so happy to see Palani again, to feel him, touch him, smell him…he hadn’t been able to let go. It was like his body had been tied to Palani somehow, like invisible threads had kept him where he was.

And now that Lidon was close too, his smell tickling Vieno’s nose, he felt somehow…different. Like something inside him had clicked. He had no idea what this meant, but for now, he was happy to stay where he was, his face still tucked against Palani’s shoulder and Lidon’s big hand on the small of his back.

“Yes, I think that’s what happened,” Enar said. What was he talking about? Vieno frowned, his tears subsiding.

“But…how? I never claimed him… Plus, I’m a beta. I wasn't even aware it was possible.”

Vieno lifted his head and wiped the wetness from his eyes and cheeks. “What’s possible?” he asked, clearing his throat when it came out hoarse. “What are you guys talking about?”

Palani made a gesture at Enar, who walked over to a chair across from them and sat down. “My theory is that somehow, you and Palani bonded,” he said to Vieno.

“Bonded? Like, we’re super close? I mean, we are, but that’s not new… I don’t understand.”

“More than that. My theory is that somewhere, somehow you two mated, even without the claiming. It’s why it’s been so brutal for you both to be apart. You both looked like crap and had trouble eating, sleeping… And the fact that you were unable to tear yourself away from Palani, even when your alpha told you to, sealed it for me.”

Vieno’s mouth dropped open. He had what? How was this even possible? “I’ve mated with two men?” he asked, his voice breaking.

How badly had he fucked all of this up? Lidon wouldn’t want him if he was mated with Palani as well, but he couldn’t break his alpha claim. They were stuck, the three of them, and it was all his fault.

“First Palani, then Lidon. I think Lidon knows it too, as his alpha is okay with letting you sit where you are…on another man’s lap.”

Vieno slowly turned around, still on Palani’s lap, but facing Lidon. Enar was right, his alpha didn’t look angry or even upset. Still, Vieno couldn’t be sure until he asked.

Vieno swallowed. “Are you upset with me?” he asked.

Lidon’s lips showed a hint of smile, his eyes kind. “No, sweetheart. None of this is your fault.”

“And your alpha, he’s okay with this?

“You should see yourself, Vieno. Even the little time you’ve been close to Palani just now has brought color back to your face… I’ve been worried about you this whole week, because I knew something was wrong. My instinct is to give you whatever you need to be happy and healthy, and I think my alpha recognized you needed Palani even before I did.”

“I didn’t quite understand how Palani could encourage you to marry Lidon,” Enar spoke. “I figured it either meant that you were more friends than lovers, though there was plenty of evidence to the contrary, or that he wasn’t jealous because he’s a beta and wired differently.”

Next to Vieno, Palani gasped. “You’re saying it’s because…”

Enar nodded. “Yes. Your beta recognized Lidon as Vieno’s other mate.”

Vieno tried to let that sink in, that he was now linked to two men, and that they were supposed to be together. With the three of them. One alpha, one beta, one omega. It felt right, and yet, something was still missing. Maybe because Lidon hadn’t said he was okay with this? He’d have to accept Palani as a mate too, right? Was that even legal, an alpha claiming two men?

He met Lidon’s eyes, which showed nothing but calm acceptance. “You’re okay with all this?” Vieno asked.

“We’ll have to talk about the details, but yes.”

“What about Enar?” Vieno asked. There was something inherently wrong about the three of them sitting here together, while Enar was all by himself across from them.

Enar sent him a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m fine, little one. Don’t worry about me.”

“You’re not fine,” Palani scoffed. “You can’t tell me this doesn’t affect you.”

Enar’s smile cracked a little. “Of course, it affects me. Lidon is my best friend and you and I are… I don’t know what we are, but that’s over, too.”

Vieno frowned. “What do you mean, that’s over, too? Your friendship with Lidon isn’t over just because he’s married.”

Palani froze and Enar looked like a deer in the headlights, while Lidon shook his head at Enar.

“You hadn’t told him?” Enar finally said to Lidon.

“I would never violate your privacy like that.”

“I thought since he’s your claimed mate and all… I’m sorry.”

“Tell me what?” Vieno asked, looking from Enar to Lidon and back, but neither man spoke.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Palani said. “No need to make such a big deal out of it. Lidon fucked Enar, okay? The man likes to bottom occasionally. Nothing wrong with that.”

Vieno couldn’t explain how he knew, maybe because of the casual way Palani had said it, but he realized his reaction right now mattered a lot to Enar. He had one chance to get this right. “Oh, okay,” he said, forcing his voice to be level. “That’s no biggie.”

The gentle squeeze from Lidon’s hand on his leg told him he’d done well.

“But…it really is a biggie,” Enar said, looking flustered. “As an alpha, I’m not supposed to want that.”

Vieno shrugged. “Who cares? You’re not hurting anyone and it’s all consensual, so what business is it really of anyone else’s?”

“You mean that?”

“You’re talking to the guy who gets crazy during his heat and does all kinds of things he’s not supposed to. Pretty sure I can relate.”

“That’s… Thank you,” Enar said. “I’ve never told anyone, so this matters a lot to me.”

Vieno cocked his head. “How did Palani know?”

Palani shrugged. “I figured it out. He never told me it was Lidon, but I assumed considering how close you guys are.”

“Anyway,” Enar said, then cleared his throat. “All I meant to say is that I understand that your…union means the sex for me with both Lidon and Palani is over.”

Vieno's mind jumped to the question that had popped into his head earlier. “Is it even legal, a three-way claiming?”

“Yes,” Lidon said. “A marriage can only be between two people, but an alpha-claiming is not defined since it’s still such an instinctual thing. I’ve heard of alphas claiming two or more mates, male or female, or a combination. It’s fully legal.”

Two or more. Lidon had said two or more. That meant… Vieno looked at Enar again, who sat so separated from them, an aura of loneliness surrounding him. He was a good man. Hell, they had considered him even before Lidon, hadn’t they? He’d wanted him before he’d gotten Lidon. Sure, he’d been in a daze because of his heat, but the attraction had been there. It had always been there.

And Palani sure liked him. He’d never admit it, but his thing with Enar was about way more than sex. They got each other somehow, the alpha appreciating Palani’s snark and sassiness. They couldn’t leave him out. It would be cruel and it made no sense when he was already very much a part of this.

Now that Vieno thought about it, hadn’t they been a foursome from the start, in some way? It had looked like two pairings, him and Lidon and Palani and Enar, but it had always been more. He and Palani were inextricably linked, Palani was connected to Enar and Lidon to Enar. The only connection missing was between Vieno and Enar and that would be easy to fix.

“Four-way,” Vieno said. Three heads switched to look at him. “It should be four of us in this, not three. Enar belongs with us.”

* * *

Vieno’s words hung in the room, only their breathing audible. Vieno’s eyes shone with quiet confidence, even with three pairs of eyes trained on him.

“Enar is a part of us,” Vieno repeated. “I feel it.”

Lidon couldn’t explain it, but he felt the deep conviction in Vieno’s statement. He wasn’t merely saying this out of some sense of obligation or politeness. He wholeheartedly meant it. 

“I agree,” Palani said with equal self-assurance.

“But how…” Enar sputtered. “It’s impossible. There can’t be two alphas in a relationship. Lidon and I would constantly fight for dominance…”

“Would you?” Palani asked in a tone that made Lidon sit up and take notice. “Think about it, Enar…would you really?”

“I don’t know what you’re—”

“You do, doc. You don’t have to say anything else, but you do realize why I’m saying this.”

Lidon watched the struggle on his best friend’s face at those words. He wasn’t entirely sure what Palani was referring to, but his guess was it had to do something with Enar bottoming and liking to surrender control. He’d never been that dominant of an alpha anyway, so Palani had a point, but Lidon wondered if it would be that easy. What would happen if Vieno wanted sex and they both wanted to…

Lightning struck.

His alpha was already accepting Enar. He didn’t see the other alpha as a threat, not even with his mate about to enter heat, because deep down, Lidon’s alpha knew he came first. And what’s more, Enar’s alpha knew, too.

“Enar,” he said and all three heads turned toward him. “They are right. You do belong with us.”

Enar’s face turned white but Lidon saw the flicker of hope in his eyes as well. 

“Ask me how I know.” His alpha compulsion rolled softly through him into Enar.

“Fuck, Lidon, don’t do this to me. I can’t…”

Lidon kissed Vieno’s head, then Palani’s and rose to his feet. “I’m not doing anything to you. Ask me how I know you belong with us.”

“I would lose everything…”

“Ask me how I know!”

His words thundered through the room, causing Palani and Vieno to wince. Enar let his head fall on his knees, a sob escaping him. “How do you know?”

Lidon walked toward him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Because you’re here while Vieno is about to start his heat, radiating the most delicious smells we’ve both ever detected… And you were off today, so you didn’t use your suppressants, which means you have got to be as horny as can be. I know you are, because I can hear your heartbeat, I can smell your arousal, and your cock has been hard since you stepped out of that car.  Yet you have not touched him, Enar, you have not even made a move.”

“Because he’s your mate. I would never attack someone else’s mate.” Desperation seeped through Enar’s voice as he looked up with tear-filled eyes.

“Bullshit. With that gene in play, those rules are out the window.”

“I don’t understand. What are you getting at?”

“Why hasn’t my alpha attacked you? It should go crazy with possessiveness right now with my mate about to enter heat, but it’s okay with the presence of not only a beta, but another alpha as well. Which means it knows, Enar. My alpha knows that neither of you is a threat to its claim and the reason it knows is that it recognizes your position. You are part of us, Enar. If you weren’t, you’d been kicked out a long time ago. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. Hell, I wasn’t even upset when you were here earlier this week.”

“You knew he was here?” Vieno asked, his voice filled with guilt. 

“I could smell him walking in, but I assumed either you or Palani had called him because you were worried about what was going on with you. I wasn’t upset, sweetheart, just happy Enar was looking after you. That alone should have been all the confirmation we needed…the fact that you touched my mate, without me present…and are alive to tell the tale.”

“I didn’t even think about it when I called him,” Palani said in shock. “You’re right. How come we never saw it?”

“Because from the start, the dynamics were fucked up,” Lidon said. “You and Vieno, Vieno and me, me and Enar, Enar and you, all these lines and connections and relationships, they clouded what was happening.”

“We belong together, all four of us. In a relationship,” Vieno stated again. “Not two couples, or a threesome, or whatever, but all four of us. It feels right.”

“It does,” Palani confirmed. “I can’t explain it, but it’s what’s meant to be. And that’s coming from someone who deals in facts for a living.”

“It can’t be. You three belong together, yes, but not me. I’ve never been part of what you have,” Enar said, desperation lacing his voice.

“You have,” Palani insisted. “We never realized it, but that very first night when Vieno’s heat started, how were you able to walk away? Even with the suppressants in your system, you shouldn’t have been able to. But you left him with Lidon and you walked out of that room, because you knew deep down he had first rights. Your alpha recognized them as mates, but also instinctively acknowledged your own position. You’re part of us, Doc. Don’t walk out on this, on us.”

Enar’s breathing came fast, his body trembling under Lidon’s hand.

Lidon said, “The choice is yours, Enar. It has always been your choice. I have never forced you or tried to persuade you. It was always you who came to me, who asked me. You chose to trust me a long time ago, and every time I’ve given you the opportunity to change your mind, you haven’t. Now I’m asking you…and I’m telling you that what you always wanted, it’s here with us.”

Enar scoffed. “In exchange for what, giving up my identity by kneeling for you and calling you alpha?”

Lidon shook his head. “You’re still missing the point. You don’t have to kneel for me and call me alpha. I already know I am…and so do you. My alpha knows and has accepted your submission to me. All you have to do is say you’re in.”

The room was quiet again until Vieno let out a soft moan. Lidon’s cock swelled even harder than it had been and a tingle danced over his spine. “I know sweetheart,” he said. “It’s starting and you need us.”

“Us?” Palani asked.

Lidon’s alpha signaled its approval. “Yes, us. You, me, Enar…if he chooses to accept us.”

Vieno climbed off Palani’s lap and pulled his T-shirt over his head. His eyes were already glazed over, and he let out another moan as he walked over to Lidon. “I need you…” he pleaded. 

His fingers started unbuttoning Lidon’s jeans and he let him. Whatever his mate needed and wanted, he would get. He put his hand on Vieno’s head. “You have me, sweetheart. As often as you need. We’ll fuck you through this, I promise.”

Palani rose from the couch and walked over, his eyes hungry as he watched Vieno undress Lidon. “I’ll follow your lead, alpha,” he said without a trace of mockery. 

Lidon reached out to grab his head, then brought him in for a short, hard kiss. “Thank you.”

He turned toward Enar one last time, the struggle on his best friend’s face hitting him hard. 

“For fuck’s sake, Doc, this is not a pity offer. We need you as much as you need us,” Palani snapped, extending his hand toward Enar.

Something changed on Enar’s face. He slowly rose to his feet and accepted Palani’s hand. Lidon saw him swallow before he spoke, but his voice was clear. 

“I’ll follow your lead, alpha.”

* * *

(To be Continued in Alpha’s Surrender: Irresistible Omegas Book Two. Coming Soon!)