Relever (Ironside Academy, #4)

by Jane Washington

“Okay,” he said, kicking his feet back up again. “I get it now. You’re just a … how do I put this politely? A sexually prolific Alpha fangirl like all the rest of them?” “A slut for Alphas?” She deadpanned. “Seriously?” “Your words, not mine.” He grinned at her. She picked up one of her pillows and tossed it at his head.

It made Cian want to pull out the Beta’s intestines and use them to spell out Look at her and die in the dirt.

“Braun Carter has a reckoning coming,” Mikel spoke lowly, the words utterly calm and unbothered, making the threat he had issued all the more sinister.

“I’ll try Teak again,” Elijah promised. “No, I will,” Gabriel groused. “You need to come out of there and eat at some point. Or sleep. Or shower.”

“Say something,” Oscar demanded. “Okay,” she croaked. His firm lips flinched, pressing together tightly as a rumbling sound built up in his throat. His dark eyes were sharp, and … insane. They seemed to promise endless, bloody violence.

“Thank you,” she managed to choke out. “Even if it doesn’t work, thank you for trying.” “It’ll fucking work. I need you to hang up.”

“You’re a dick,” Isobel huffed. “I’m the dick who carries you to bed every night.” “You’re all right, as far as dicks go.” “High praise.” “You’re welcome.”

There was a large, blood-red gem in her palm, dipped in blood at the sharp tip, from where she had apparently gripped it too tightly, digging it into her skin. “Um.” Bellamy stared at the gem. “What … the fuck?” “Yeah,” she croaked. “Yeah?” His gaze snapped to her face. “Not the ‘yeah’ again, Carter. Actually what the fuck?”

Gabriel: Hey, puppy. She dropped her phone, heat flooding into her cheeks. Gabriel had seen her typing and deleting. Moses: What? Theodore: ?? Cian: Did she say something? Gabriel: She was working her way up to it. Kilian: Illy? Isobel: Hey Niko: Hey Theodore: OH MY GOD. Theodore: ARE YOU OKAY? Elijah: According to her chart, she’s fine. Isobel: Do you have cameras inside my room? Elijah: Unfortunately, no. Also, hey. Isobel: Hey. Moses: Jesus Christ with the heys.

Mikel (admin): Send a picture please, Isobel. Isobel: Of what? Moses: Yeah, Mikki, of what? Mikel (admin): Of your face. Shut up, Moses. Isobel: Why? Mikel (admin): I don’t trust you to answer honestly if I ask how you’re doing. Mikel (admin): Picture. Kalen (admin): He means now.

She frowned, pulling the phone up and snapping a quick picture of her face, punching the Send button. Kilian: Oh my godddddd, the little pout. Theodor...

And also, you don’t own me, Oscar. I can have help if I want to have help. Oscar: As your owner, I say otherwise. Kilian: He’s joking. Ignore him. Oscar: I’m really not. Theodore: You really are. Oscar: You need fingers to text.

Cian: Hey, Illy. Isobel: Hey, Cian. Cian: I’ve missed that adorable pout. Her fingers stilled, emotion climbing up her throat. Isobel: I’ve missed you too.

Isobel: Gabriel is going to love it there. Gabriel: Bad puppy. Isobel felt a low laugh trying to bubble in the back of her throat. She pulled her phone up again and snapped a picture of her patting herself on the head. Isobel: Good puppy. Kilian: Dies from cuteness. Cian: Gah. Niko: GOOD PUPPY.

Isobel: Fine, I missed you … all? Kilian: The question mark? Moses: RIP Moses: Here lies all you thirsty bitches. Namely Cian. Cian: Fuck off, namely Moses.

Kilian: Who are you so unsure about, Illy? Isobel: Um, anybody who doesn’t want to be missed, I guess. Kilian: So Niko and Moses, then. Niko: Hey. Isobel: I guess? Niko: Hey! Isobel: No? Niko: No would be correct. Isobel: Aww, miss you too, Niko!

Have you gotten bigger?” He grinned at her, his teeth a flash of brilliant white. “Probably. Have you gotten smaller?” “Probably,” she grumbled, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

fighting the sudden urge to snatch the tablet off the woman and use it to smack her across the face for daring to⁠— To what? To notice the alphas?

His arms wrapped so far around her that his fingers dug into her stomach. He made her feel tiny. “Have you all grown?” she managed to choke out as soon as he set her down, holding her back at arms-length, his fingers curling around her shoulders.

“It’s giving sibling energy,” Moses said dryly, his expression deadpan as he descended the stairs, his stormy eyes dark with scepticism as he eyed Cian and Isobel. “You shut your mouth,” Cian snapped at the other Alpha, though his tone was light. “You can’t be the official surrogate of your sibling.”

She couldn’t help the grin that tugged at her, a sense of strange relief spreading through her at the casual, sarcastic way Moses had greeted her. It was just so … him. And … she supposed she had missed him.

“Hey!” She thumped his back, but she was so weak he likely didn’t even feel it. “Hey back at you, rabbit.” He was taking the steps two at a time, making her head spin dizzily. He turned when he was at the half landing where the steps branched off to either side, spinning around to face the others. “I’m on Sigma surrogate duty.”

It was something Oscar seemed to be particularly skilled in—simultaneously scaring and arousing her.

“You don’t want me to be gentle with you? Aren’t you sick? Weak?” “Desperate,” she countered, heat flooding into her cheeks. She didn’t have the luxury of feeling shy. She was desperate. Her entire body arched toward him, a sob building up in her throat at how close he was, how much his scent dug into her pores, and how much he wasn’t touching her.

“Desperate girls beg.” Lust was making her stupid, convincing her that the darkness in him was everything she needed. “Good Alphas make me.”

“I swore to them I could do this without tearing into you.” “No,” she whimpered, trying to move against him. “Tear into me.” “Carter.” Her name was a sharp warning, his hand flashing to her neck, peeling her off his body and pressing her back to the mirror. “I really need you to not talk like that while I’m this close to the edge.”

“Scrap that,” he grunted. “You don’t get to think about that corpse when I have my hands on you.” His palm slid to the back of her neck, and he hauled her mouth back to his.

She had gone months feeling empty and disconnected, sapped of colour and life, and part of that had been a side effect of being parted from her incomplete bonds, but part of it was just … them, and who she was when she was with them.

Amongst the Alphas, there always seemed to be someone she could trust, someone who would support her, someone who would protect her, someone who was thinking about her best interests, and someone who was challenging her to do better and to be a better version of herself. They formed a safety net around her that allowed her to explore herself and the world around her in a way she never had before.

If they keep growing … Fucking hell. She was going to die a virgin or die in the process of losing it.

He brought his thumb to his mouth, licking the tear he had captured and pushing suddenly to the back of her throat, making her choke on him as he stared down at her calmly.

“Don’t try to tease me again, and I’ll make sure I leave this bathroom with your claim all over me. Nod for me, baby.”

“Fuck … if they find out this is how I settled your bond, there’s going to be a fight.” “Y-you love … fighting.”

“You’re covering me,” his tone was husky, wavering at the point of control. “Is this enough?” She bit her lip, watching as his dusky skin was covered with her glistening essence. Something inside her purred, pleased with the sight,

Yes, that was enough. That was what she wanted to see. He licked his lower lip, a distinctly male satisfaction briefly burning in his eyes

“I can’t …” He considered her, a dark spiral of emotion twisting in the shadows of his eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you. Not when you’re so desperate from the bond that I can’t tell if you’ll regret this later or not.”

“Oscar?” “Mm?” he grunted, lifting his fingertips from her bare hips, one at a time, like he was forcibly removing each one. “Er, I kind of need my clothes back.” “My instinct is to say no.”

“I’m not cut out for this delicate nonsense.” His head lowered, his sharp teeth nipping at her bottom lip. “They’re testing me.” “Did you pass?” she whispered. He groaned, pushing back from her. “For now,” he spat, spinning and fishing her clothes from the floor.

“Extreme restlessness, an increase in aggression and aggressive behaviour, and general moodiness.” He said it all in a robotic, droning voice before poking his dark head out from the cupboard and giving her a bored look. “At least that’s what Elijah and Gabriel put in their report.”

“Thank you for helping me,” she whispered, pressing her cheek to his chest, his oleander scent so strong that she released a ragged breath of relief, her eyes fluttering closed. His fingers threaded in her hair, flexing against the back of her head. “Welcome,” he grunted, back to his monosyllabic self.

the bond meant nothing to them, and it meant nothing to her. It was simply a problem they had decided to tackle as a group, a problem they had decided to share responsibility for. It had no great, magical power to decide their personal and sexual relationships for them. They still had to decide for themselves.

She wasn’t experienced with relationships or harbouring feelings for anyone, but now suddenly it felt like she was growing emotionally attached to more than one of her bond mates. Theodore, certainly. Oscar, surprisingly. Kilian—because how could anyone not? And Cian … who concerned her even more than the others.

She mostly waited for him to come to her, but she couldn’t keep doing that, not if he, Oscar, and Kilian were acting as her surrogates for the cameras. She would need to get comfortable telling him when she needed him—or they would likely all suffer the consequences of her ignoring the bond.

Oscar: I rubbed, but I missed the temples. I used a voice, but it wasn’t soothing. I didn’t make any suspicious scenes. Oscar: Gold star for me.

She froze, and it took her a moment to realise she was pressing his dick right up against her ass, nestling his hardness in the layer of soft cotton wrapping her body, but then her face was blooming with a soft, rosy flush—an adorably stunned expression arresting her features.

“Will you oblige me?” he asked, holding out a large hand. What?

She walked on light feet over to Kalen, placing her hand in his. His rough fingers wrapped around hers, dwarfing her hand as he tugged her a step closer and then turned her so that she was standing between his legs, facing the rest of the room. But that’s all he did. He held her hand and had her stand there, so close but not touching other than their hands.

Mikel leaned against the wall by the window, his eyes narrowing on the way Kalen’s hand enveloped hers for a moment before a mask of indifference fell over his face.

But other than that obvious sign of vitality, they looked … almost haggard. Dark circles were smudged beneath their eyes. Elijah’s pointed, streamlined features were more pronounced, as though he hadn’t been eating properly, despite his swelling size. Gabriel’s hair was more than just messy from the ministrations of his hands—he had outgrown his cut, the strands uneven as they brushed his neck and ears. Cian had fierce frown dimples digging into his cheeks, his brows drawn low, weighed down by his thoughts. Theodore and Moses were twitchy, fidgety, both of their eyes darkening until they began to look more like the twins they were pretending to be. Oscar was rubbing his knuckles, which seemed to be bruised. Kilian looked like he had seen a ghost. Niko had an actual stress ball in his grip, his fingers flexing around it reflexively. Gripping, releasing, gripping … pop.

“No, this is on me. You were out of your mind with panic, utterly traumatised, and the group relies on me to come up with a plan in situations where everyone has lost their head. I failed everyone. I’m sorry.” “Is that why you won’t fucking sleep?” Gabriel snapped, surprising everyone, except for Elijah, who only clenched his jaw tightly, ignoring the other Alpha.