Chapter Text
In the end, it was Karlach who offered the answer, spoken almost absentmindedly while she played with Kethrynne in the sunlit gardens. The air was warm, filled with the gentle rustling of leaves and the faint hum of insects that had finally returned.
"She's so cute!" Karlach beamed, cuddling Kethrynne in her arms and thankful now, more than ever, to have a stable heart and a flame-free body, if only to hold her god-daughter in the crook of her arms. "Just look at those dimples! She gets those from Mama K, y'know?"
Kethrynne giggled happily, her tiny hands reaching for Karlach’s red fingers. "Actually, I'd say she gets them from me," Wyll interjected with a playful grin, tilting his head towards them. "Say, Halsin, will Shepherd be joining us this morning?"
Halsin’s usual smile faltered, a touch of concern clouding his eyes. "He's... still not feeling well." The fever worried him the most, persistent and with very little reprieve between climaxes, as if Shepherd's body was stuck at the peak of his cycle.
"Oh." Karlach’s cheer dimmed a bit. "Is he sick?"
"Yes. No. Well...sort of. He's—"
Ketheric cut in, his gaze fixed firmly on the others as they continued fawning over his child. He had the tendency to hover whenever Kethrynne was involved. Lately, he had been attempting to relax a little bit, for Shepherd's sake but still, a father could only do so much. "His heat hasn’t subsided," he said bluntly. "Might as well come right out and say it."
Halsin sighed. "Yes. Well," He cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, it's been getting worse."
"Sounds like Heat Sick to me," Karlach mused, shaking Kethrynne's little rattle.
"Heat Sick?"
"I saw it a few times back in Avernus during the Blood War." She frowned a bit, lost in the bitter memories of Hell. "It can be rough, especially when Omegas have to manage their heats alone while fighting on the frontlines. Zariel liked separating mates up into different platoons, said it made them fight better. Poor buggers." She shrugged. "Besides, the first heat after a pregnancy is always the hardest, or so I hear."
"Shepherd has not been alone." Halsin said.
Karlach tilted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied the two men before her. “Yeah, but he hasn’t been with both of his mates now, has he?” She gave Ketheric a pointed look. “Far as I can tell, you’re always with Kethrynne, but lucky for you, you've got a couple of trustworthy babysitters now to keep this little one out of the way!"
Karlach tossed Kethrynne into the air, the child giggled in delight as Karlach caught her in the last possible second.
“Careful!” Ketheric barked, his hand twitching toward the hilt of his blade.
Karlach snorted. "Relax, old man. I've got her. You think I'd let anything happen to this little darling?" She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Go to Shepherd, both of you." She glanced at Wyll, who nodded with a reassuring smile, stepping close to join her. “We’ll take this little tyke for a stroll through Reithwin. I’ve been meaning to check out the place now that it’s finally fixed up. She’ll be safe with us.”
Ketheric’s eyes narrowed. His fingers still twitching as they rested on the hilt of his sword. "Don’t go too far," he warned. "Be back before sunset, or I'll send you both back to Avernus myself."
Karlach raised a brow, unfazed. “Sunset, got it.” She smiled down at Kethrynne, who was now reaching for Wyll with wide-eyed curiosity. “Hear that, kiddo? We’ve got an adventure ahead of us!”
*
Back home in their little cabin near town, Ketheric turned his attention to Halsin, watching as the larger man moved throughout the kitchen with quiet efficiency. The scent of steeping herbs filled the air, mingling with the cabin's earthy warmth, but the tension between them hung heavier still.
"If what Karlach says is true—and I don’t doubt her experience," Halsin sighed, "then Shepherd needs you just as much as they need me. I failed him by not realizing that sooner."
Ketheric scoffed, crossing his arms. “Oh? And how do you suggest this goes then? Will you happily play the cuck and stand aside?”
Halsin’s jaw tightened, his calm wavering. "Ketheric," he warned. "Take this seriously."
A soft creak of wood interrupted them, pulling their attention toward the bedroom door. Shepherd stood there, leaning heavily against the doorframe. His fever-flushed face was framed by damp, tangled hair that clung to his skin and curled around his horns. He blinked at them, his blue eyes glassy from sleep.
“Did I miss Wyll and Karlach?” His voice was faint and a little rough around the edges. The scent of his heat hung heavy in the air, the sweetness tipping over into something overripe and sickly.
Ketheric’s gaze tightened with concern. Halsin stepped forward instinctively, worry flickering across his face. “Shepherd,” Halsin said gently, “you should be resting."
"They’re taking Kethrynne for a walk around Reithwin," Ketheric added.
"Ah." Shepherd leaned against the doorframe, growing weary. "I'm surprised you let her out of your sight That's awfully big of you."
Ketheric let out a huff, his gaze lingering on Shepherd’s flushed face. “Well,” he replied, “there are more pressing matters to attend to.”
“Me?” Shepherd gave a weak scoff. “I’m fine.”
“Not in the slightest,” Ketheric growled. “The bear is right. Get back to bed.”
"I'm not a child, Ketheric."
"And I won't repeat myself again."
There was a fight to be had, venom brewing at the tip of Shepherd's tongue, but the energy left him as quickly as it had come. He looked to Halsin for support, but he solemnly nodded.
"To bed, my heart. We'll join you shortly."
"Fine." Shepherd pauses, frowning in confusion. "Both of you? Together?"
Halsin met Ketheric's gaze. After a beat, he received a reluctant nod.
"Yes."
*
A cry startles through Shepherd, sharp and high-pitched in the quiet of their cabin as Ketheric presses deep inside of him, pushing past the initial resistance, carving a place for himself inside of the swollen, spasming, fever-hot tissues of Shepherd's insides until his hips are flush with his ass. Shepherd rests against Ketheric's chest as he sits with his back to the headboard and it's a tight fit, made worse by the stretch of Halsin's cock as it presses against the tight passage of his cunt.
"Alright, my heart?"
Shepherd full body spasms, shaking from the strain of it. His pussy clenches down as if torn between sucking him in or pushing him out. Slick gushes, dripping between his thighs, but the stretch is still too much to take.
"Shepherd?"
The Tiefling's little cock is swollen, flush with blood, and standing at attention, seemingly painful to the touch but still yearning for it. Halsin angles Shepherd's face away from where he's been hiding it in the curve of Ketheric's neck. His cock weeps at the sight of Shepherd all red-faced and open, the dark of his lashes clinging together with unshed tears. He's bitten clean through his bottom lip, bloodying the plush curve of his mouth. Halsin wipes the blood clean, bringing the copper taste to his lips to sate the desire of the bear inside of him.
"Lamb?"
Shepherd whimpers something unintelligible.
Ketheric watches him intently with narrow eyes, taking in every twitch and gasp as the younger man slowly adjusts to the stretch of them both, pussy lips mouthing tightly around the head of Halsin's cock.
"He is dull-witted," Ketheric observes.
Halsin's frown deepens, a spark of disapproval in his gaze. "Shepherd is anything but."
"I don't mean to say that they are," Ketheric snaps, irritation creeping into his tone. Being this close to the Druid is incredibly grating. "I only meant that his heat has made him-"
"Vulnerable," Halsin interjects. "I understand what you mean, but mind how you speak of him, Ketheric."
Ketheric bristles. “I will speak however I wish-"
"Shut up," Shepherd groans, "Both of you." He cracks an eye open before sliding it closed as another shudder wracks through him. His tail slaps against the bed like a whip. A few tears slip free from the corner of his eyes unwittingly. After a moment, Shepherd opens them again, drunk with desire, glassy and bluer than Halsin has ever seen them. "To answer your question, I am fine, Halsin." The Tiefling reaches for him, arms wrapping around Halsin's thick waist, hoping to bring the Druid closer but unable to do so while speared on Ketheric's cock.
The older man's grip tightens, possessive as he keeps Shepherd flat against his chest. Halsin sends a brief frown Ketheric's way before shuffling closer on the mattress. He presses a kiss to Shepherd's sweaty brow, bringing himself uncomfortably close to Ketheric's harshly-lined face. They make eye contact over Shepherd's horns for a brief and slightly awkward, moment.
"Move," Shepherd says breathlessly, cutting through the tension, hands gripping the bedsheets tight enough to tear them. Ketheric grinds his hips into Shepherd, drawing a sharp hiss from him. "I meant Halsin."
Ketheric stills with a frown and Halsin tries not to feel too smug as he presses a few more inches inside of Shepherd's warmth, watching his face for the barest hints of pain. It's a slow process full of stops and starts, agonizing for all three of them really, until finally, Halsin is pressed flush against Shepherd's cunt with nowhere else to go and nothing more to give. The internal pressure is strong, as if Shepherd's walls were vacuum sealed to Halsin's cock, the meaty head pressing uncomfortably against the swell of Shepherd's cervix, dropped low and swollen from his heat.
A deep moan rumbles through Halsin's chest as he fights the urge to fuck into Shepherd, keeping his hips still and his hands firmly grasping Shepherd's thighs, propping them up for ease. Inside, Halsin can feel the pressure of Ketheric's cock in Shepherd's ass, a solid distension pushing against him from the other side, cramping up the already limited space of Shepherd's guts.
"Ah!" Shepherd curses, loose-limbed, head falling back to rest against Ketheric's shoulder, neck bared and vulnerable. He can't keep still, can't keep quiet either, whimpering pathetic little groans like he's been mortally wounded, trapped between the bulk of his two lovers' weights, speared from both ends, and for the first time since this terrible heat started, he feels the clench in his belly begin to unfurl. A gush of slick squelches from the taut seam where Halsin's cock is buried. It takes several minutes for him to adjust, but eventually he feels his walls begin to relax, loosening around the bulk of their cocks. Soft and pliable, ready to take a vicious pounding until his heat subsides, which begs the question-
"Why aren't you two moving?"
It comes out weak and breathy, his voice catching in his chest with every breath as if their cocks were pushing the air out from his lungs. Truthfully, it wouldn't be a surprise if they were, Shepherd can certainly feel them in his throat.
"We're waiting on you, Lamb."
"Oh." Shepherd palms over his belly, feeling the distension there from being stuffed full. If he pushes down a little bit harder, Shepherd swears that he can feel them beneath his palm. "Move."
Ketheric goes first, gently rocking in and out of Shepherd's ass, not pulling out completely, just pressing against him, enjoying the feel of his slick walls relaxing and welcoming him in. Inadvertently, he's pushing Shepherd onto Halsin's cock with every grind. Eventually they build up a steady rhythm, shifting Shepherd between them, angling him this way and that, bouncing him between their cocks as though he were a toy, and Shepherd doesn't mind it, not at all. He doesn't think he can do much else besides take what they give him, his body overworked and overtired, relying on Ketheric to keep him upright and Halsin to keep his hips steady between them.
Stuck between a cock and a hard place flitters across his brain, and Shepherd starts to laugh, just a tad bit delirious. "I-I want you to-" His voice is unsteady, words dissolving into a punched out grown with every thrust. "-Bite me, both of you." Shepherd whimpers. "Fuck," He pants, clenching down, cheeks reddening at the sound of his slick squelching loudly. "M-mark me like an Alpha."
Halsin's hips stutter in surprise. Ketheric, who had remained stoic up until this moment, moans sharply from behind Shepherd, thrusting harder with renewed interest, sucking in air from between his teeth like a hiss in Shepherd's ear.
Halsin was not a possessive man by any means, far from it, but he would be lying if he were to say that the thought has never crossed his mind. As he understood it, it was a Tiefling custom for some, and the animal inside of him was deeply pleased by it, rearing its head up in interest from behind his eyelids, threatening to reveal itself in the heat of the moment. Even so, this was not the type of decision to be made in the heat of the moment. They could revisit the topic again, once Shepherd was of clearer mind.
"We shouldn't-"
But Halsin did not get the chance to finish his sentence. Ketheric bit into the junction between Shepherd's neck and shoulder; flat elven teeth gnawing at the skin, bruising and tenderizing until it broke, the flesh having no choice but to split beneath the force of his bite, filling the air with the copper and smoky tang of Tiefling blood. He fucked harder, pistoning in and out of Shepherd's ass with renewed interest. The Tiefling shouted in pain, face scrunching up and tail wrapping tightly around Halsin's leg, cutting the circulation. Shepherd gushed slick, moaning and wincing as the bite wept rivulets of blood down his chest. Ketheric came with a grunt, filling him up before leaning back against the headboard looking euphoric and smug, bloodied as the day he bathed in the Holyphant's blood.
"Druid," Ketheric spoke, his eyes catching Halsin's gaze as if to dare him into action. He clutched Shepherd close to himself, possessive, petting a soothing hand up and down Shepherd's heaving sides. Licking the blood from his lips he said, "Your omega is asking something of you. Are you going to deny them?"
Shepherd was a lost cause, a slave to the sensations running through his body. The blue of his eyes were now a thin ring, the black of his pupils' large as a cat's. The Tiefling shivered as if cold before tilting his head back, exposing the unmarked side for Halsin. "Please?" He whimpered, his face a mess of tears and snot. "Please, Alpha?" Shepherd reached for Halsin and tugged a loose strand of hair back behind his ear. "Please, Halsin?"
The bite that Halsin gives is far more gentle and precise. Canines elongating into sharp edges to pierce Shepherd's flesh as cleanly and exactly as possible. Blood coats his tongue and Halsin laps greedily at the wound until it slows, kissing softly around the tenderized flesh. When he leans back on his haunches Shepherd is a bloodied, cum-covered, mess.
"Oh, my heart." Halsin cups Shepherd's face, thumbing away the tears and mucus. He leans their foreheads together, pressing a series of soft kisses to the sides of Shepherd's face, waiting for them to catch their breath. "I'm not finished with you yet."