My quiet Alpha’s scent is thick and fresh all around me, and I canfeelhim. His protectiveness and eagerness to please me flow through our newly created connection. He kisses the bite mark along my neck, and I shiver.
Reality is slowly coming back to me, as tears well in my eyes. I’m not ready to have these horrible feelings slam back into me. It’s easier to let my instincts guide me.
I want to stay in heat forever. I’d just live in this bed and never leave, never have to feel real-life problems.
He cups my cheeks, encouraging me to look into his deep brown eyes.
He’s so perfect and big, ready to protect me. He’s also just so fucking handsome, with his beautiful dark skin and the black and gray tattoos that cover it. When that thought flits across my mind, I look down at his forearm which is covered with a bandaid.
Good.
I’ll need to mark him with my name next.
“Hey, sweetheart. You with me?” he asks, and I shake my head in disagreement.
I don’t want to go back to the world fucking me at every turn. I just want to stay cocooned in this bed and to be continuously cherished by these men. It’s easier this way.
“Take your time. We’re not going anywhere,” he promises.
His knot is still locked deep inside of me, and I shift on his lap, making him groan. The door to my left clicking open catches my attention, where my sad Alpha and Beta walk in.
The sad Alpha’s mouth drops, and he points at us. “I know he doesn’t have any hair to grab, but are you going to yell at him too?” he asks my Beta.
“No, they talked about this beforehand. You did not,” my Beta chastises him plainly.
I’m still pissed that he stopped me from bonding with my sad Alpha, so I just narrow my eyes at him.
“Oh, don’t give me that shit. Once you’re back to you, you’ll be thanking me.”
I don’t know about that. I also don’t want to go back to beingme.
Being me means facing everything that’s happened. Being me means I don’t have a home to go back to. Being me means Leon isn’t here anymore.
The thought is like a cold slap to the face from reality, and my mind is no longer foggy with want. I’m me again, sadly.
Cash wipes the tears from my face as the satisfaction from the obscene amount of fucking and my newly formed bond ebbs away from me.
“I’ve got you, let it out, baby girl,” Cash reassures, and I do.
It’s embarrassing, me falling apart with his knot still inside of me. Axel and Tate stare at us from the doorway as I completely crumble against Cash’s shoulder. Every part of my body hurts, and I’m so fucking tired I’m not sure how I’m still able to think.
“It all really happened, didn’t it?” I ask between sobs.
Cash’s sadness for me flows between us, and I can just sense how much he wishes he could make this all go away. I wish I could too.
“It did,” Cash confirms, allowing me to just cry in his arms.
Axel and Tate grab a clean blanket and wrap it around my shoulders as each of them places a hand somewhere on my body. I feel selfish, making this all about me. Axel lost a friend, and Tate lost a stepbrother. I’m not the only one who is experiencing loss, not by a long shot.
“Is Shelby okay?” I ask.
“Doc is takin’ care of her,” Tate tells me while he kneads the back of my neck.
“And all the other Omegas?”
“They’re safe. We didn’t… we didn’t lose anyone else,” Axel confesses.
I’m grateful he doesn’t say my brother’s name. I’m not sure I’m ready to hear it yet. I’m sure as hell not ready to talk about what our plan is, or what exactly went down a few days ago.
