Even now. Even with my scent screaming at them. Even with every instinct in their bodies telling them to take.
They’re waiting for me to choose.
I look at Nate first. My bonded alpha. Through our connection, I feel his complete lack of jealousy—just anticipation, eagerness, a fierce joy at watching his pack finally become whole.
I look at Theo. Golden and gorgeous, eyes dark with want.
Then I turn my head. My eyes find Lucas.
Steady, controlled Lucas. Who’s loved me quietly for a decade. Who left pressed flowers in my locker and memorized my coffee order and never asked for anything in return. Who’s spent the last hour pressing cool hands to my fevered skin and kissing my forehead like I’m something precious.
Who’s looking at me now like I’m the answer to every question he’s ever asked.
He’s the one who’s waited longest in some ways. Theo kissed me first, all those years ago. Nate claimed me first, just days ago. But Lucas has been patient through all of it, always holding back, always letting others take the lead.
Not anymore.
“Lucas.” My voice cracks on his name. “Please. I need you.”
His control shatters.
I watch it happen. The careful mask cracking. Something primal and hungry rising up underneath. His scent goes dark—darker than I’ve ever smelled it, clinical burning away to something raw and demanding.
“Cara.” Just my name. But it sounds like a vow.
Through the bond, Nate’s satisfaction crashes into me. No jealousy. No hesitation.
Just yes.
Him.
Yours.
Ours.
Pack.
Lucas moves over me, and everything else falls away.
Chapter 22
Lucas
“Lucas.” Her voice cracks on my name. “Please. I need you.”
I’ve imagined this moment for a decade. Dreamed about it, fantasized about it, written it off as something that would never happen. Cara Donovan, in heat, choosing me to bond her.
And now she’s here. In the nest we built for her. Flushed and trembling, slick soaking the blankets beneath her, her scent screaming at every instinct I have. Honey and citrus gone sharp and demanding, unmistakably omega-in-heat.
Unmistakably about to be mine.
My control doesn’t shatter. It disintegrates.
I move over her and she arches up to meet me, her hands fisting in my shirt, pulling me down. Her mouth finds mine, hot and eager, and the taste of her short-circuits something in my brain. I kiss her back just as hard, one hand sliding into her hair, the other bracing beside her head.
She tastes like heat and honey and home. I angle her head, deepen the contact, and she whimpers against my mouth. A needy omega sound that goes straight to my cock.
Behind us, I feel Nate’s satisfaction pulse through his bond with Cara. No jealousy. No hesitation. Just fierce, possessive joy that his pack is finally becoming whole. Theo shifts beside us, his hand finding my shoulder, grounding and supportive.
