I blush because I really think that's on purpose. Auryn makes her presence known. She’s a little hurricane, and her impact is something that can be felt hard and for miles.
Which is why I can’t help but feel tears prickling the edge of my eyes. Because even in a sea of alphas, my alpha makes me feel like I’m special. Like there’s onlyus.
And my pack, surrounding me right now, makes me feel stronger than I’ve ever felt.
“Aww, he’s blushing,” Emmett teases, and just like that the moment is over, and Auryn giggles. I curl into her, pulling her against me, nuzzling my face into her neck. I don’t want to let her go, and no one fights me for her. That itself is a huge victory, an enigma. It’s almost like I’m an equal, even though I know I’ll never be on the same level because it’s just nature’s order.
But maybe, just maybe some things don’t need explanations. Not everything needs to make sense, sometimes. Sometimes, things can just be as they are and that’s good.
This…this is good.
Auryn’s scent hits me like a balm. The sweet scent of cinnamon that makes my mouth water also warms me, and her peppercorn spice is just as warm mixed with lemongrass and sunshine.
I wrinkle my nose as I realize that the sunshine scent is…gone, though. She smells a bit different. The scent I’ve learned to love and look forward to is different. There’s a hint of lavender that wasn’t there before, but Emmett took her shopping, so maybe she bought some perfume.
All at once exhaustion hits me, and I sigh, my bones going limp. My dick seems to have settled down, and I’m no longer hard, which is good. I hadn’t planned on coming down Auryn’s throat, and though I liked the surprise—and I didn’t hate how it felt at all even though I didn’t know what to expect—but I’m not entirely sure I could go again, and I don’t know that I want to. I just want to be here, like this, wrapped up in my alpha, in my pack, sated on the feeling in my heart right now.
Auryn loves me.
My pack loves me.
What more could I possibly want?
When I wake, it’s surrounded by warmth. My body is tightly pressed against Auryn’s, but I’m acutely aware of someone’s dick poking me in the ass. I grumble as my senses try to wake up, but whoever it is seems to think I’m Auryn because they growl and thrust their dick against me, and I tense. It’s not a horrible feeling, but it’s definitely making me anxious. Then I feel a hand on my hip, sliding over my stomach, and the tart scent of cherries and smoke hits me like a freight train.
“Back to hating me now, are you?” Emmett grumbles behind me.
Emmett’s dick is touching my ass. I relax, if only because I don’t want to offend him or hurt his feelings. I know how difficult things have been for him since he came back from the Orions’ cell.
And I know how sensitive things have been for Em on an intimate level. I’ve touched his dick already. Brought him to release even, so this shouldn’t feel so intimate. But it does. Because Emmett isn’t just grinding his dick against my bare ass cheek, he’s…holding me. Like I’m holding Auryn. Auryn, who is still purring away in her sleep as she nuzzles her face into my chest. I get the heaviest scent of lemongrass and lavender that hits me.
Is her scent…changing? Because we’re bonded?
My brain reminds me that omegas can take on the scents of their scent match alphas, but none of us smell like lavender…
Still, it’s the only thing that makes sense. Our bond is changing her.
And I guess it’s changing me, too.
I look over my shoulder at Em, and his hand squeezes my stomach almost as if he is afraid to let go of me. Sandwiched between him and Auryn, between smoke and lavender, something in me settles. Being between my alphas…it’s…
Comforting.
“I don’t hate you,” I murmur. I don’t move, because I’m afraid if I do it’ll offset some weird balance. Emmett must pick up on my apprehension, and he sighs, sliding his hand back just a fraction to remove it, but I grab his wrist. Without thinking, I hold it in place and shift my body so I back into him only slightly. “I distinctly remember saying I loveallof you.”
Emmett’s hand trembles beneath mine for a moment, and I realize he’s just as nervous as I am. This alpha—this strong, resilient, pain in the ass alpha— is nervous I will reject him and his advances. Me! A beta!
I realize this moment is a turning point. Not just for me, but…for Emmett, too.
Forus.
“Yeah but—”
“No buts,” I say, sliding my fingers between his. I squeeze his hand. “I don’t say anything I don’t mean. You know, autistic and all.”
Emmett relaxes, squeezing my hand back. I can feel his dick against my ass, hard and wet. I wish I could say I was hard too, but I’m not. Which makes me feel self-conscious.
“So you’ll always tell the truth, right?” Emmett asks as he cuddles me. My cheeks heat, and I nod as Auryn’s lips grace my neck in her sleep, right over the spot she bit me. I feel my body relax, and a whine escapes my throat as her lavender lemon scent fills my lungs.
