“You’re stuck with us for a while longer,” Jalen says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.
“At least until the storm clears,” Dax says, his arms adjusting to hold me more securely against his chest. And then, so quietly I might have imagined it. “Longer if you’ll let us.”
“Okay,” I breathe. “Okay.”
There’s movement around me. Blankets being adjusted. Pillows being positioned. And through it all, I’m wrapped in warmth and the combined scents of all four of them.
Pack scent, some distant part of my brain supplies.
“Rest,” Dax murmurs, his hand stroking gentle patterns on my arm. “We’ve got you.”
We’ve got you.
The words make something in my chest squeeze tight. Make that fear from earlier resurface. The fear that they’ll leave, that this will end, that I’ll open my eyes and find myself alone.
“You’ll stay?” The words slip out before I can stop them.
“Yes,” all four of them answer at once.
And I believe them.
Protected.
Safe.
Safe in the quiet sound of their voices as they talk among themselves. Low, soothing, and constant.
They’re still arguing about movies, I think. Something about whetherDie Hardcounts as a Christmas movie.
The normalcy of it makes me smile.
Here.
They’re here.
And they’re staying.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dax
I’ve been awake for hours, watching her sleep.
It should probably feel creepy, all four of us surrounding one omega in her nest, all of us awake at various points through the night, taking turns keeping watch even though there’s nothing to watch for. But it doesn’t feel creepy. It feels right in a way that settles deep in my bones.
The emergency lights cast soft shadows across Sierra’s face where she’s curled on her side between Jalen and me, one hand tucked under her cheek, the other resting against Cole’s arm that’s thrown over Jalen’s, reaching for her even while he rests. Malik is at my back, close enough that I can sense the rise and fall of his chest matching the rhythm of her breathing.
We fit together as if we were designed for exactly this configuration.
I’ve never spent this much time in an omega’s nest before. None of us have. In past relationships, the few that got serious enough to involve heats, it was never like this. Never so comfortable. Neverso…right.
But Sierra asked us to stay. When her mind was clearer and she could have sent us away, she wanted us here.
That knowledge sits warm and heavy in my chest.
I study her face in the dim light, noting the small changes from two days ago. The tension that was carved into her features during heat has smoothed away. Her lips are slightly parted, breathing deep and even. There are faint shadows under her eyes, but the desperate edge is gone.
She looks peaceful.
