I glance toward the door automatically, even though I know Mason is still at the office. “He called Amy twice,” I say. “Checked on you. He pretended it was about the contractor, but it was definitely you.”
Hudson’s fingers pause in Alex’s hair. “He could have just called me.”
“He will,” Alex says quietly. “He’s trying to figure out how not to sound like an ass.”
“That ship sailed,” Hudson mutters.
My chest tightens. “He knows that.”
Hudson looks down at the sonogram photo tucked into the book on his lap. The black and white shapes stare back, tiny and unreal and incredibly important. His thumb rubs the edge of the paper until it bends slightly.
“I’m trying,” he says. “I know he panicked. I know this wasn’t the plan. I just…” He swallows. “It’s hard to forget hearing someone talk about erasing you out of their life.”
Alex sits up, expression serious now. “He was wrong. He knows it. You don’t have to forgive him tonight. Or ever if you don’t want to. But he is trying.”
Hudson’s gaze flicks between us. “And you? You two sure you won’t wake up one day and decide this is too much?”
“What?” My voice comes out sharper than I intend.
“Three babies. An omega who cries at commercials and pukes at the smell of coffee. My whole messy past. I was supposed to be a temporary solution. You keep acting like I’m…” He trails off, then forces a crooked smile. “Like I’m not temporary.”
“You’renottemporary,” I say. The words leave me before I can second-guess them. My heart beats hard against my ribs. “Hudson, I cannot picture my life without you in it. I don’t want to.”
Alex nods firmly. “Same. You’re it for me, omega.”
Hudson huffs, but his eyes shine. “You say that now.”
“I’ll say it when you’re yelling at me in the middle of the night because I loaded the dishwasher wrong,” Alex says. “I’ll say it when the triplets are teenagers and we’re all losing our minds.”
I take Hudson’s hand and bring his knuckles to my lips. “I need you to hear this. The only thing that scared me about you being pregnant was the possibility of losing you. Not the commitment. Not the work.You.”
His breath shudders out. “Des…”
I keep going before I lose my nerve. “I love you. I am completely in love with you. If you decide you want to stay here with us, as our omega, as part of Pack Anders, I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never doubt that choice. If youdecide you can’t, I’ll respect it, but it won’t change the way I feel.”
The room is quiet. Even Alex stops fidgeting. My confession sits between us like something fragile and blazing.
Hudson stares at me, eyes wide and wet. The bond hums again, stronger this time, like something waking up.
“Desmond,” he whispers. “You can’t just drop that on me while I’m in my pajamas in a pile of blankets.”
Alex snorts softly. “Seems like the perfect time, actually.”
I manage a small smile. “I can get on one knee if you’d prefer.”
“Don’t you dare propose in bed,” he says, voice wobbling. “I’ll cry and then you’ll feel all smug about it.”
“Since when do I act smug about anything?” I ask with wide eyes.
“I feel smug,” Alex says. “Look at him. He loves us.”
Hudson swats his arm, then draws a shaky breath and looks back at me. “I do.” The words are barely audible, but they’re there. “I tried not to. I really did. But I do.”
Something loosens inside my chest, something that’s been wound tight since the day he walked into our house. My vision blurs for a second and I blink hard.
“Then maybe,” I say slowly, “we can start talking about something other than endings.”
His fingers tighten around mine. “You want me to stay. Permanently,” he says. It’s not a question.
