“Oh, we know. But you won. You got away from us. So now it’s time to get your prize.” Cannon took a step closer and the other two did in time with him. Had they planned this? How hot was that if they did.
“And what prize is that, exactly?”
“Orgasms, obviously.” This time, it was Felix.
I needed to up my game if that was the prize, because I planned to never lose again.
“Mates, I’m here to collect my prize.”
And what a prize it was.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cannon
It was my turn to clean the house. Millie decided to tag-team with me, but she was uncharacteristically quiet that whole morning. She chose to dust the living room while I swept and mopped but kept stopping and staring into space.
Something was on our omega’s mind. She would tell me when she was ready.
I turned off the vacuum and stopped moving, simply observing her. She was going to rub one of our lamps to death.
“Millie,” I called out. Usually, when any of us called her name, she was quick to respond. Not that we expected it. Today, and, if I thought it over, yesterday, she was thinking hard about something. I had to know. “Millie.”
Again. Nothing.
I approached her and touched her arm. “Omega mine.”
She snapped back to the present. “What? Were you talking to me?” Laughing, she leaned her head against my chest. “I was in my own world.”
Hugging her tight against me, I laughed along with her. “Want to tell me why?”
“I’ve been thinking about something, but it makes me feel like a brat.”
Oh, not this again. I supposed it would take her a long time to get away from the brat narrative she’d been brainwashed with.
“Speaking your needs doesn’t make you a brat. It makes you an omega who trusts her pack enough to be honest.”
She sighed. “Stop making so much sense. Before I tell you, I want one of those muffins you made yesterday.”
That lit me up. I still had a lot to learn about cooking, but yesterday was my first attempt at muffins. Felix taught me a base recipe and said I could test combos out and see what worked as far as mix-ins. My first try was apples and pecans with maple sugar on top for crunch.
“Good thing I hid one for you. The rest somehow disappeared in the night.”
Millie liked coffee now, a small cup in the afternoon. She still didn’t like it in the morning but knew it was okay to have it—refuting what her father said it was. A stimulant that made fussy omegas.
There had been a lightness about her since her father was arrested and remanded to prison. She knew we would protect her no matter what, but the relief she must’ve felt knowing there was no more threat, showed on her face.
“Hey, I thought all those muffins were gone. I looked for one earlier.” Tyrone came in, wiping his face. He was working tirelessly on the winter garden, determined to grow something despite the cold. We were also building a greenhouse. Some of the other packs had offered to help, and it was coming along fast. In no time, we would be able to grow most of our crops to feed ourselves and put some away for next winter.
Millie blushed. “Cannon saved me one.”
Tyrone groaned. “That’s fair. If I’d made them, I would save you one too.” He bent down to press a kiss on her head, and she pretended not to love it while swatting him away and complaining about his sweat.
“Millie has something she wants to tell us or ask for, but she’s procrastinating.”
Our omega scoffed and nailed me with a look. I’d betrayed her. Worth it.
“I’ll get Felix.”
