Fuckingwonderful.
Nik’s hand comes up to cup my face worriedly. “If you regret it—,”
“No,” I rasp, my hand coming up to cover his. “God, Nikolai, I canfeelyou inside me. It’s incredible.”
Bastien shifts and I bite my lip, a pang of regret echoing through me that I’ll never have this with my beta. He clearly picks up on my sudden tension as he curves himself around me to whisper in my ear.
“We don’t need a fancy bond, cupcake,” he whispers. “I’ll tell you how much you mean to me every day for the rest of our lives.”
My eyes dampen, and I lean back against him with a sniffle. “Gonna hold you to that.”
His body shakes a little against my back. “Also, since I don’t get a bitemark, can I tattoo my name on your ass?”
I slap weakly at his arm as his laughter shakes the bed. Nik shakes his head at Bastien, a playful glint in his eye. “Say yes, little bird,” he murmurs. “Then you can do the same to him.”
Bastien lets out a surprised laugh. “I’d wear it proudly,” he teases. “You’d all get sick of my ass prancing around.”
“Mmmm,” I make a considering sound as Nik opens his arms and carefully lifts me, his knot still nestled inside me as I sink my face into his neck, breathing in his skin. “I think I’d like to see my name on all of you, actually. Property of Ava Stone.”
Nik stills. “AvaGrey,” he snarls. “You’re ours, little bird. Not theirs. Especially now that you’re bitemarked.”
Bastien grunts in agreement. “Damn straight.”
I look between them wonderingly. “Ava Grey it is, then.”
God knows I’ve never had any attachment to my family surname. Taking their surname feels permanent. Binding, just like Nik’s mark on my neck. My fingers lift up to trace it, and I look into Nik’s eyes.
“No regrets?” I smile teasingly, and he mock growls, nuzzling at the mark with his stubble.
“None.”
ChapterSixty-Eight
Ava
Four very determined men stand in front of me, arms crossed in identical frustrated poses as we square off. Leah sits on the couch, her eyes swiveling between us as she tucks her hands into her lap.
I try again. “Luc, this ishuge. They’re asking me to give evidence in a televised court appearance to support a vote to remove the Omega Creed. Toget rid of it!How can I not go?”
Luc’s chest heaves as he takes an angry breath. “It could be a trap.”
Throwing up my hands, I look to Nik, then Max and Bastien, all of them mirroring Luc’s expression. “This is not a trap, Luc. They’ve invited us on national television and promised a seven-day amnesty to attend. If anything goes wrong, the public will rip them apart. Look!”
I throw my hand out to the screen behind them, scenes of the growing protests front and center of every news channel. In the six weeks since Leo and Emery arrived, the number of people and the number of angry voices have only grown.
“We finally have a chance,” I plead. Dampness pricks at my eyes. “I can do something to help, Luc!”
Now Max steps forward, his face tight. “Sweetheart,” he says firmly. “Your father will not pay attention to any government amnesty. You might be safe from the compound, but you will not be safe fromhim.”
His voice gentles. “I know you want to do this. But this isn’t just about you.” He points to Leo and Emery, asleep in tiny rocking chairs on the other side of the room. Nash sits between them, using his feet to carefully bounce the chairs as he watches his turtles on a screen, his mouth open in concentration and a pair of headphones slipped over his ears.
My anger spikes. “I’m doing thisforthem, Max.”
“You can’t have it both ways, love, no matter how much we wish that wasn’t the case.” Even Bastien’s voice is hard, my normally open-minded beta firmly alongside the alphas in this debate. “We’re not going to sit on our asses and let you put yourself at risk.”
My shoulders drop, and I turn away from them, unable to hide the shaking of my shoulders as I clasp my elbows tightly. “This is my choice,” I whisper, my throat burning. “You can’t just decide that I’m going to stay out of it. That’s not how this works.”
A hand cups my elbow, Luc drawing me around to face him. His green eyes watch me carefully as he steps forward, tugging me into his arms until my face is pressed against his chest, my arms closing as I breathe in the musk of his sandalwood scent, letting it calm me.
