“No,” I shake my head. “But they’re warm. And when I touch them, it feels... good?” I look to her for confirmation I’m not going crazy.
“That’s the bond,” Leah says, nodding. “It’s forming. Strengthening.”
“But itcan’tbe,” I protest.
“Well,” she gestures at my neck, “clearly something is happening.”
“Will they fade?” I ask, voicing my greatest hope and, strangely, my greatest fear. “They have to fade, right? It was just one night.”
Leah examines the marks more closely. “They look pretty in there to me. Have they gotten any lighter since this morning?”
I touch my neck again, feeling the slightly raised skin. “No,” I admit reluctantly. “If anything, they seem more... defined.”
Leah nods, her tone getting softer. “So what happened this morning? Why did you leave?”
I drop my hands to my lap. “I panicked. I woke up, saw the marks, realized what had happened, and just... ran.”
Leah’s forehead furrows with a concerned frown. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
I shake my head at the memory. “It was pure fight-or-flight. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“And they just let you go?”
“They were asleep,” I explain. “But they found me just as I was getting into a cab. The way they looked at me, Leah... it wasn’t possessive or angry. They looked...” I search for the right word. “Desperate.”
“Because you’re their mate now,” Leah says simply. “Whether any of you planned it or not.”
“It wasonenight.” I swallow hard. “A mistake. An accident.”
“Was it, though?” Leah challenges. “Did they force you? Trick you?”
I shake my head. “No. They asked for permission. Explicitly. And I... I said yes.” I close my eyes, remembering the moment. Rett’s mouth at my throat, his voice rough as he asked to claim me. My breathless, eager consent. “I wanted it. In that moment, I wanted it more than anything.”
“And now?”
“Now…to be honest, Leah…I’m terrified,” I admit.
Leah nods. It must be strange for her to see me like this. I’ve always lived life with my head on my shoulders. The one with all the answers.
“Of them?” she whispers carefully.
“Not of them.” I shake my head. The thought is surprising but true; in all my panic, I haven’t once been afraid of the men themselves. “Of... this.” I gesture weakly at the marks on my neck, then around my apartment, encompassing the entire impossible situation. “My life was mapped out, Leah. I had plans. Goals. None of which included being claimed by anyone before I’m thirty.”
Leah huffs a laugh through her nose. “Trust me, I had my five-year plan all set when Liam, Caleb, Mason, and Jude crashed into my life. You remember. I was fucking scared of it all. Now look at me.” She gestures to herself and the sleeping babies.
I start pacing, the nervous energy too much to contain. “It’s biology 101, the stuff they teach you in high school health class.”
Leah sighs, adjusting one of the sleeping twins. “Look, I know you’re freaking out, but beta claims aren’t unheard of. Mason’s cousin is bonded to an alpha.”
“A whole pack?”
Leah grimaces, and I know her answer even before she says it out loud. “Just one.”
I stop pacing and throw my hands up in the air. “Okay, let’s just game this out for a second. Let’s pretend this isn’t somebizarre, champagne-fueled hallucination and these... these bite marks are legit.”
I turn to face her, my voice dropping. “Packs like that—alphaslike that—are wired for anomega. For the whole nine yards. The heats, the biological compatibility, the... you know.” I make a vague, awkward gesture towards my lower half. “The anatomical ‘Ta-Da!’” I pause, taking a deep breath. “So what am I in this scenario? The appetizer? The fun little beta amuse-bouche before the main course arrives? What happens in a year? Or five?”
I start ticking points off on my fingers. “One: their instincts are eventually going to start screaming for something I physically can’t provide. Two: they’re the Sterling frickin’ pack. That whole fucking name is built on producing the next generation of powerful alpha heirs, a biological feat for which I am, you know, probably unequipped. Three: what then?”
