The poor man is swaying on his feet, just as exhausted as I am. I shake my head against his chest, my stomach rather empty, but the idea of eating doesn’t seem pleasant.
“I think some sleep would be good,” I tell him.
He kisses the top of my head as he washes himself quickly before taking care of me. He kneads my muscles as he washes me and there’s no way I can hold back the moans that slip out as he works out the tension from my limbs.
My hair takes longer, but he’s patient, combing gently through all the knots.
We dry off and he supplies me with a new shirt. He doesn’t ask me where I want to go, he just pulls back the covers and I crawl in next to him.
He wraps me in his arms and I don’t even have time to question everything going on in my life; pure exhaustion claims me as I sleep in my mom’s ex-boyfriend’s arms, and I’m pretty sure I’m already in love with him.
When I wake up, it’s to an empty bed, which is dangerous, because it gives me too long to think about my situation. The embarrassment of my mom’s pack showing up at Lavender Moon, the despair I felt in their words, and then there’s everything that happened during my heat.
My skin is flaming hot red when I think about it all. It comes in little flashes. The way I’d beg Nate and Sterling to bond me, and the way they would be tased so that they wouldn’t.
They tortured themselves because they didn’t want to bond with me without my consent—I know that. There was a moment with Sterling where he told me outright that my next heat would be less complicated because we’d be bonded.
When I think about Sterling, my heart aches. We planned to take things slow-ish. He’d never been with an Omega before, never knotted someone, and his first time was with me in heat.
I don’t know why I feel like I robbed him of something.
Then there’s fucking Hayes. The man got my name tattooed across his chest, for fuck’s sake.
My mom’s pack’s words slowly disappear when I think about these men’s actions. They want me. They’ve said it repeatedly.I’m not sure what it is about them tending to me during my heat, but it solidified everything.
I want to bond with this pack; I want to forget every vile and hurtful thing my mother or her pack has said to me.
My life, my future, is mine, and I think it could be a quite beautiful life if I let it.
My stomach obnoxiously groans and it’s my cue to head to the kitchen. It’s time to deal with everything that happened at Lavender Moon and the past few days of my heat.
I roll out of Nate’s bed, finger brushing my hair to the best of my ability as I head downstairs. The sun is up, but I truly have no clue what time or day it is. The men are talking low and I take a deep breath before letting my presence be known.
“Hi,” I say quietly as I approach the island.
They each say good morning in their own way and all of them are cautious as I pull back a stool and sit down.
The back of Sterling’s hand touches my forehead, and he hums in approval. “Hungry?” he asks.
“Very,” I reply, wondering where do I start with everything I need to say? I guess I’ll just blurt it all out, put it all out there. So that’s exactly what I do.
“I was going to take a leave of absence after that night. Mr. Martinez said he would’ve held my job. I didn’t like the way it felt dancing for other Alphas when I had you all, when I had my beautiful nest. I-I don’t know why that’s so important for me to tell you, but I wanted you to know that I already made my choice before everything happened.”
I clear my throat, still looking down at the granite countertop. “I don’t know if maybe my heat was already on its way or the high emotion of seeing my mom’s pack brought it on, but I’m sorry for being irrational and kicking you all out of the nest. I’m very grateful that you all were there, and that you took care of me.”
I tap the countertop a few times before looking up. The first person I see is Sterling, and his grin is undeniable and infectious as I smile back.
“Then it’s settled. You live here, we’re your pack and when you’re ready, we’ll bond and make it official,” he says.
He’s so confident with his words, so assured. The idea of bonding with this pack is heady, but I think I need to recover from my heat before taking that step.
“It’s settled,” I repeat.
The large Alpha gets out of his seat, wrapping his muscular arms around me and squeezing before peppering kisses against my cheek. His relief is palpable, and it puts me at ease.
I take a deep breath, glancing over at Hayes, who just points at his chest.
“You already know where I stand,” my Beta says easily.
