The bed was big enough to hold several people, and it had a lovely white wooden frame with pastel-pink bedding and overhanging sheer curtains and ribbons to make it extra cozy, as well as a mountain of pillows ranging from cream to raspberry. Sparkles danced on the walls as light refracted through the crystal chandelier overhead, and both sheer and room-darkening curtains were layered in front of the two windows that flanked the bed, the sequins woven into them catching the light.
The vanity in the corner had a softly glowing mirror sitting in the center. A brush, a jewelry box, and little decor pieces—one a tiny sign that read “Angel’s Private Palace”—were scattered over the vanity, which also had a deeper pink, tufted chair right in front of it.
It was so utterly girly, pink, and clearlymine.
“This looks…” Hunter trailed off, his voice awestruck.
“Amazing!” I squealed, turning to Avery and wrapping my arms around him to squeeze tightly, breathing in that salt air scent of his. “How did you do this?”
His grin somehow widened, making him look like the proudest alpha on the block. “Well, it’s not hard to discern that you love pink.”
“How the fuck did you get this all done without us knowing?” Logan asked.
“I’ve been secretly working on it since the first day I met Clover,” Avery explained. “Scheduled painters when you guys were out, cleaned out the nesting stores whenever I had a spare hour. I wanted it to be ready when we convinced her to move in.”
“It’sperfect, Avery. Thank you.”
“I wanted you to have a space here. I built it all on hope. I didn’t want to presume you were ready to move in, no matter how much I wanted it, but I needed to be prepared so you would have something just for you and not have to wait for it to be pulled together. It felt twice as important now that you’re the mother of our child and bonded to this dummy.” He jerked his head in Logan’s direction with a grin. The alpha in question laughed. “So,” Avery continued, “you’ll be around a lot, all things considered, and I thought it best you had a spot of your own. Somewhere you can have your space from us if need be.”
“You’re amazing. I’m truly grateful, Avery.”
Was it a lot? Yeah.
Excessive? Maybe, but I fuckinglovedit.
It was so wonderfully Avery to have thought this big and gone all out. That was the energy I needed right now—action paired with the words—and damn if Avery hadn’t pulled that off spectacularly.
Chapter 35
Logan
“Beyond being a dick move, Clover ismybondmate, not yours.”
Parker wilted. I’d cornered him when he tried to sneak home in silence after spending the previous night at his mother’s. “I know.”
“You had no right to try forcing her into a contract. If she wanted every dollar I’d ever made, I’d give it to her with a smile.”
“I know that too.” Parker sighed and gave me the same spiel he’d apparently given her, explaining what had led him to such bullshit ideas.
“She’s agreed to stay, and after what you did, that’s more than we deserve. I need to make some things clear so you don’t fuck this up for all of us.”
He wilted further, sinking deeper in his chair, his fingers clutching his cup. “I’m all ears.”
“I don’t want us to fight, Parker, but I know three things for certain. The first is that Clover couldn’t have controlled her heat flare”—and that was what made the most sense for me to have gotten so lost in lust that our first time was fuzzy in my memory—“even if she was on regular suppressants. Scent matches dostrange things to biology, so I don’t blame her one bit for not being prepared when it came to our pack.”
“Scent match?” Parker lifted his head, staring wide-eyed. “When was that decided?”
“What else fits when we were all obsessed with her from our first meeting? I know she’s incredible, but this was…”
“More?”
“Yeah.” At least he seemed to understand.
“What’s the second thing?”
“You grew up in privilege and are used to protecting your fortune. You never said as much out loud when we met, but I knew you didn’t understand the connection I had with Avery and Hunter when we were financially worlds apart. I remember how reluctant you were about allowing me access to pack finances.”
“I—” He blinked back tears.
