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Chapter 4: Mate

After Santiago disappeared into the crowd, I needed a moment to collect myself. My skin was still tingling where he'd touched me, and my wolf was restless, confused by the multiple mate bonds pulling at me.

"I need another drink," I told Sienna, fanning my flushed face.

"Good idea. I'll come with." She linked her arm through mine, steering us toward the bar.

As we approached, I spotted Marco immediately. He was serving someone else, but his eyes tracked my movement across the room like a predator watching prey. When the customer left, he made his way over to us, his full attention focused on me.

"Back for another round, Callista?" His voice was rougher than before, edged with something dark and possessive.

"Yes, please." I slid onto a bar stool, hyperaware of how my dress rode up my thighs. Marco's eyes followed the movement before snapping back to my face.

"Same thing? Or you want to try something different?" The way he said 'different' made heat pool in my belly.

"Surprise me," I said, then immediately regretted it when his eyes flashed that bright wolf green again.

"I can do that." He leaned forward on the bar, bringing his face closer to mine. "You smell incredible, by the way. Like cherries and something sweeter. Drives me crazy."

My breath hitched. The mate bond was pulling tighter, making me want to lean in, to close the distance between us.

"Marco." A deep voice cut through the moment. "You working or flirting?"

I turned to find Santiago standing beside my bar stool, his jaw tight with irritation. Behind him, Mateo approached with that same predatory grace, his amber eyes fixed on me with unsettling intensity.

Marco straightened but didn't back down. "Can't I do both?"

"Not when she's with me." Santiago's hand found the small of my back, warm and possessive.

"Funny," Marco said, his smile sharp. "I don't see your name on her."

The tension between them crackled like electricity. My wolf was caught between wanting to submit to their dominance and wanting to snap at them both for acting like I was property.

"Guys," I started, but Mateo interrupted.

"She's not with anyone yet." His voice was cold, controlled. "Which means she's free to choose."

Choose? My head was spinning. This morning, I'd been in a relationship with Luca. Now I had three gorgeous men acting like they wanted to claim me.

"I need a drink," I said firmly, looking at Marco. "Please."

He held my gaze for a long moment, then nodded. "Coming right up, sweetheart."

Santiago's hand tightened on my back as Marco turned away. "You don't have to choose him."

"I'm not choosing anyone right now," I said, trying to sound confident even though my heart was racing. "I just broke up with my boyfriend today. This is all... a lot."

Mateo pulled up the bar stool next to mine, sitting close enough that our knees almost touched. "The one from the live stream? Luca Rodriguez?"

"You saw that too?" God, everyone had seen my meltdown.

"The whole campus saw it." Mateo's lips curved slightly—not quite a smile, but close. "You handled yourself well. Most Omegas would have cried and run. You fought back."

"I'm not most Omegas." The words came out fiercer than I intended.

"No," Santiago agreed, his thumb stroking circles on my lower back. "You're definitely not."

Marco returned with a drink—something pink and fruity with a cherry on top. "Amaretto sour. Sweet with a bite. Thought it suited you."

I picked up the glass, acutely aware of all three men watching me. The first sip was perfect—sweet amaretto balanced with tart lemon, smooth and dangerous.

"Good?" Marco asked.

"Really good." I popped the cherry in my mouth, and Marco's eyes darkened.

"I bet you taste just as sweet," he murmured. "Cherry-sweet with that Omega spice underneath."

Heat flooded through me at his words. My nipples tightened against the thin fabric of my dress, and I knew they could all see it. Could smell my arousal mixing with my cherry scent.

Santiago's hand slid higher on my back, his fingers tracing my spine through the dress. "Careful, Marco. You're making our girl uncomfortable."

Our girl. The possessive claim in those words made my wolf purr even as my brain screamed that this was insane.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, Callista?" Marco leaned across the bar, close enough that I could see the silver flecks in his green eyes. "Because your scent says otherwise."

"I..." Words failed me. Because he was right. I wasn't uncomfortable—I was aroused. Confused, overwhelmed, but definitely not uncomfortable.

Mateo's hand rested on my knee, the touch light but deliberate. "You're allowed to want this. Want us."

"I don't even know you," I protested weakly.

"Then let us fix that." Santiago's lips brushed the shell of my ear, making me shiver. "Dance with me again. Let me show you I'm more than just the bad boy basketball player."

"And I'll make you another drink," Marco added. "On the house. Give you something to think about."

"And I'll make sure no one bothers you while you figure this out," Mateo finished, his hand squeezing my knee gently.

They were tag-teaming me, and my traitorous body was responding to all of it. Every touch sent sparks through my skin. Every word made my heart race faster. The mate bond—or bonds, plural—was pulling me in three different directions at once.

This shouldn't be possible. You were supposed to have one mate. One person who completed you. Not three devastatingly attractive men who all seemed determined to claim me.

"This drink isn't on the house," Marco said suddenly, his voice dropping to something darker, more intimate. "It's on me. Personal gift from me to you, sweetheart."

His sharp canines flashed when he smiled, and I couldn't help but imagine those teeth scraping down my neck, marking me—

No. Stop. I couldn't think like that.

"I need to use the bathroom," I blurted out, sliding off the bar stool. All three hands fell away from me, leaving cold spots where warmth had been.

"We'll be here," Santiago promised, his dark eyes intense. "Waiting for you."

"Take your time, Callista," Mateo added, though his expression said he didn't want me to take any time at all.

"Come back soon, sweetheart," Marco called as I grabbed my purse and practically fled.

The bathroom was brighter, quieter—a refuge from the overwhelming male attention. I leaned against the sink, staring at my reflection.

My cheeks were flushed, my eyes bright. My lips were swollen from biting them, and my hair was slightly mussed from dancing. I looked... alive. More alive than I'd felt in years.

Luca had never made me feel like this. He'd never looked at me with that hungry intensity, never touched me like he was afraid I'd disappear. He'd been content to keep me at arm's length, to play his games and make his bets.

But these three men—Marco, Santiago, Mateo—they looked at me like I was something precious and dangerous at the same time. Like they wanted to worship me and devour me in equal measure.

Was this what it felt like to be truly desired? Not just wanted, but needed?

I pulled out my lip gloss, hands shaking slightly as I reapplied it. The girl in the mirror looked different from the one who'd stood in Luca's apartment hours ago. That girl had been broken, hurt, ready to cry.

This girl was fierce. Powerful. Ready to take what she wanted.

And what did I want?

The answer scared me because it was all three of them. I wanted Marco's rough voice and silver piercings. I wanted Santiago's bad boy charm and protective touch. I wanted Mateo's cold control and the promise of darkness in his eyes.

I wanted to stop being the good girl who did what she was told. I wanted to be the Omega who made alphas compete for her attention.

My phone buzzed. A text from Sienna: "Where are you? The tension at this bar could cut glass. These boys are ready to fight over you!”