His throat moves with his swallow.
“When I went out on that balcony, when I left the event? It was because it felt like I was missing something, that something was ready to tear out of my chest. I couldn’t understand it. I’d never felt it like that, not since having to help a friend get to a Haven during college when her heat started unexpectedly. But when I saw you? When you were so damn bold and confident? It settled down. It was like the instincts—the primal drive—knew they were looking for you.”
With a deep breath, I pull the ring box from my pocket and flip it open, holding it out to him, my Omega.
“Being matched with you is a blessing. But being bonded to you? It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Cole. I love you. I’ll love you for the rest of our lives if you’ll let me.”
Tears line his lashes, and his hand trembles as he takes the ring box in his hands. He traces the small band of metal for a moment before pulling it from the plush velvet. It’s a simple gold, thin enough to layer between the rings the girls picked, understated but ever present. Just like the two of us, like our bond. I take it from him, easing it onto his finger, and then kiss him.
When I pull away, his laugh bubbles up, light and happy, just like the emotion coursing between us. Charlotte takes his hand and slowly slides a second ring onto his finger. Hers has small diamonds embedded in it all the way around, and they catch the sun, sparkling.
“They’re like you,” she says after a minute. “Beautiful and radiant, shining light on everyone they meet.”
His lip curves.
“I didn’t know anything about you,” she says. “I never asked. Not because I was jealous, but because I didn’t want to have anything built up in my head for when we finally found you. And I knew we would. Something in my bones told me that we would when we filled out the paperwork with the Council. And I’m glad I never asked. Because nothing he said would have been enough to capture who you are. Your kindness, your humility, your compassion. You’re the missing piece between the three of us.”
Their kiss is softer, a reflection of the two of them and their own dynamic. When they part, Cole automatically turns to Megan, his heart in his eyes.
She smiles and cups his cheek.
“I know the Council doesn’t always get it right,” she starts. His shoulders tense, but he doesn’t pull away. “When we got the initial notice that we hadn’t been shortlisted for you, I was so shocked. When Marcus told us you’d been there, we’d already accepted that we would be matched, that we’d get to meet you and know the Omega that had captured his mind. Because you had. Accidental bonds aren’t always romantic. But for him? You were it for him the moment it happened.” She runs her thumb over his lips. Apple explodes out from him. “I don’t know what made the Council change its decision, but I’ll always be grateful to it, to them.”
She pulls her own ring from the pocket of her dress. It’s slightly larger than mine with a hammered finish. Instead of putting it on his finger, though, she offers it to him.
“Two weeks should be way too short a time to know if you really love someone,” she says as he quietly takes the ring. He adjusts them, arranging them the way we had in the store, withCharlotte’s on top and hers closest to his knuckle. Mine wedges perfectly between them. “But I’ve learned since my parents died to not question it. To take every moment you can because you don’t know if it’ll be the last. I love you, Cole.”
His smile is shaky, and tears silently fall down his cheeks. They’re happy tears, though, the wash of awe and wonder in the bond soothing me, so I don’t brush them away. He glances down at the rings, his eyebrows furrowed. And then he takes in a shuddering breath.
“Thank you,” he says, looking between the three of us. “You know my parents weren’t a happy match. Most of that era weren’t, really. My dads love each other, love each of us kids. But I never thought I’d get what I saw in the movies, in the media the Council put out to encourage more large packs to form. And then… then the bond happened, and I…” He swallows and blows out a breath. “You’re more than I thought I would get,” he whispers fervently. “More than I thought would be in the cards for me.”
He looks at Charlotte and Megan, grabbing their hands.
“Thank you for being willing to take a risk on me, on being willing to get to know me even though I was bonded to Marcus. You didn’t have to, and I’ll always love and appreciate you both for it.”
Then his gaze falls back on me. Joy bursts across the bond, stealing my breath.
“I love you,” he whispers.
And it might only be three words, might be less than he told the others or we told him, but it’s all I need. Love burns across the bond, lighting up my veins. I cup his cheeks and kiss him, hard and deep.
“I love you, too, Omega.”
Thirty-Three
COLE
My signature flashes under the sun as the ink dries, just beside their own signatures. Officially Pack Harper. I can’t help but pull Marcus back to me the moment I’ve set the pen down, wanting his lips on mine first as the moment really sinks in. He comes willingly, his tongue as desperate as my own. Need lights through my veins, sudden and all consuming. Marcus grunts as the impact reaches him through the bond. I need the three of them, and I need themnow. It doesn’t matter that I’m on a stranger’s private yacht. It doesn’t matter that we’re in the middle of the ocean, slowly heading back toward New York and our life there.
“I need you,” I whisper as I break the kiss. “All of you.”
Megan clasps the nape of my neck and runs her lips down my throat. Apple explodes from me.
“Whatever you want,” she whispers. “Up here? Or do you want to find a bed?”
Just the question has me groaning. “A… a bed. So you can sit on my face.”
Her answering wave of raspberry is almost as delicious as her growl of excitement. Charlotte disappears from my other side, her movement stirring the air around us, mixing all of our scents together. God, they smell divine. Even better now than all the clothing I’ve been smuggling into my bed over the last week. The real thing is always better, though.
