I snort but can’t refute her claim.
Red pulls away and leans on the bathroom vanity. “Let me guess. You’re trying to decide if you can get away with breaking the Omega Center rules?”
I hang the towel on the railing. “Actually, I completely forgot about the Omega Center. I was thinking about the influence Zack has on you and Ricky in the bond.”
“Ah.” She goes to nod but winces as her neck reminds her she’s been through hell and back. Instead, she reaches out and grabs my nightshirt, tugging me closer. “You know, Calli, you always impress me in an emergency, staying calm and collected.”
“Yes.” I grin down at her. “I save my meltdowns for camping in tents.”
She chuckles. “Good one. I have a question. When you and Zack fought out at the cabin, he was letting out a pretty ferocious challenge, right?”
I nod, trying to work out where her logic’s headed.
“So, I mean, I’m an omega so I could be wrong, but it’s enough alpha aggression to shut some alphas right down, yeah?”
“Well, yeah,” I answer slowly. She’s right. Back on the courthouse steps that day some alphas didn’t get hit by the alpha bomb but still froze. Those who don’t measure up to Zack generally get out of his way instinctively.
Red walks her fingers up my chest. “But you stepped forward, even with all that pressure.”
My heart jolts as I stare at her. She’s saying she believes in me, that I’m strong enough to handle it. But she doesn’t know the half of it. My voice breaks as I tell her, “That’s because I love you, Red Jones. I couldn’t bear to be apart from you any longer.”
My omega smiles at me, her expression a little sly and full of loaded meanings. Silently, she tugs me closer and drops the sweetest, most sensitive kiss on my mouth. So pure and loving, my knees go weak.
My breath rasps when she pulls back, and I stare at her, awed to know this woman accepts me.
“How about this?” she murmurs. “Let your omega tell you when the time’s right for our bond.”
I gaze into her blue-gray eyes and nod, pulled by the invisible force in my soul that declares this omega my scent-match.
She relaxes and pulls me in for another kiss. I gently fold her into my arms, her scent circling me along with her arms.
Some things in life don’t need reasoning out. I just need to have a little faith.
Like the faith my omega has in me.
Chapter sixty-one
Red
The doorbell rudely digs into my subconscious, yanking me from a delightful dream of Zack fucking me slowly from behind. I groan and roll over only to discover it wasn’t completely a dream. Zack’s fast asleep, but his morning glory pokes my ass cheek.
The doorbell rings again.
“Who the fuck comes to visit at this ungodly hour?” I mutter, sitting up.
Zack grabs me protectively, digging his face into my hip. “Stay,” he orders grumpily.
I chuckle and run my fingers through his hair. On the far side of the mattress, Rickon sprawls half-off the edge of the bed, one hand draping the floor as he snores. Sunlight brushes his naked back, which rises and falls gently. So fucking beautiful.
But one alpha’s missing, and I cock my head to listen as his footsteps tramp down the staircase. The murmur of familiarvoices rises from below as Callisto gets the door, and I shake Rickon awake as recognition hits.
“Babe, your paren—” Well damn. After everything that went down yesterday, I better watch how I phrase this or I’ll shock him. “Lexi Wren’s here.”
“Huh?” my sweetheart alpha lifts his head, drool pooling on one corner of his mouth.
“You’re adorable,” I mutter. “But wake up. Calli’s family is here.” Well, our family now. Excitement burns in my chest as I scoot down the end of the bed only to come up short as Zack grabs my wrist.
I chuckle. It’s like we’ve reverted to the days when he first arrived. “C’mon, Zack.” I whine, shaking his legs. “We’ve got visitors.”
