I know it’s Sloane.
Part of me feels guilty about getting Bram’s bond first.
“No,” the Alpha rumbles, kissing the bond mark that is plain as day on my wrist. “This is what you wanted, wasn’t it,liefje?”
She moans. I was so lost in my own pleasure I didn’t realize Bram is knotted to her.
Sloane licks her lips and nods. I lean forward and kiss her, and she grabs my wrist and kisses the spot where Bram just bonded with me.
“This is exactly what I wanted,” she says dreamily as Bram tucks her tighter into his arms.
Max pulls out of me, and I wince.
“I’ll be right back,” he says.
He has to run upstairs completely butt ass naked but comes back with multiple warm washcloths, handing a few to Bram before coming over to me. He doesn’t even ask. He just cleans me and himself up before plopping down on the mattress next to me.
I turn in the bed so we’re facing each other.
He’s always been handsome, always been fun. But when I look at him right now, I see the real Max. The Max he always wanted to be but just didn’t realize.
“Did you think this is where we’d end up when I asked you to move my dad’s couch?” I ask.
“No, but I wanted it to.”
My brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
“I had a crush on you and Sloane since that first night at the diner. I just knew I didn’t deserve either of you then.”
“And now?” I ask, rubbing the bond mark.
Fuck, it feels weird. It’s definitely going to take some getting used to.
“Sometimes this all doesn’t feel real to me. Like one day you and Sloane will realize I’m a fraud,” he whispers it so Sloane and Bram can’t hear.
Though they may be asleep and knotted, I’m not going to risk turning around and finding out.
I grab the back of his neck, rubbing my thumb against the muscle there.
“Secret?”
“Hmm?”
“I had a crush on you then too. You’re not a fraud, and none of us are going anywhere. I’m pretty sure my and Sloane’s matching bond marks more than prove that. You’re a good man, Max. Sloane loves you. I love you. This is forever.”
His pretty blue eyes get glossy for a moment as he searches my face.
“I’m going to try really hard to be a good partner to you,” he says.
“You already do,” I promise him, leaning forward and kissing him tenderly.
When I pull back, he’s smiling, and it’s contagious as I smile back. Sloane may be the center of this pack, and the one we all give a little more to, but at the end of the day, we’re a pack who all have affections and feelings for one another. How it looks between each of us is different but treasured.
When I look at Max now, he’s well beyond the cocky asshole I gave advice to at the diner. He’s someone I trust, respect, and I’ve tied my life to.
I never thought about what it would look like to create my own family or forge my own bonds. But if I told twelve-year-old me where I would end up, I never would have believed it.
“Can you feel her?” he asks in a whisper, glancing over my shoulder. Sloane must be passed out. Pregnancy has made her tired.
