The panic I expected to feel isn’t there. Instead, there’s something warm and settled, like a knot in my chest finally loosening after being pulled tight for years.
I feel… safe, calm in a way I can’t remember feeling since my parents moved away and I had to fend for myself. I love my independence, but having that family vibe and support is everything.
The Alphas’ scents surround me, and I grin each time I inhale them deeply. I lie there for a long moment, just letting myself exist in this strange new reality. Three Alphas. All of them wrapped around me.
My bladder, unfortunately, doesn’t care about emotional revelations.
Moving carefully, I start the delicate process of extracting myself from the tangle of limbs. Seth’s arm tightens briefly when I shift, but I pause, holding my breath, and after a moment, he relaxes again with a soft exhale.
Kai doesn’t stir when I ease out from under his outstretched arm. Carter mumbles something and releases my ankle, rolling slightly to one side.
I slip out of the sheets, pulling myself up over the pillows and off the bed, then pad to the bathroom on silent feet, easing the door closed behind me before I dare to turn on the light. The sudden brightness makes me squint.
I use the bathroom quickly in the moonlight from the window, deliberately not flushing to avoid waking them. Then I crack the door open.
They haven’t moved. Three large men sprawled across my bed, taking up most of the mattress, leaving a June-sized gap in the middle where I’d been sleeping.
It looks like a nest.
The images have my heart fluttering in my chest, a distinctly Omega sensation that I’ve spent years suppressing. And now I crave my nest, built from Alpha bodies and warmth and the mingled scents of the men who are apparently mine now.
I climb back into bed because I’m tired and cold, trying to find my spot in the tangle of limbs.
The moment I’m close enough, Kai moves.
His arm shoots out, wrapping around my waist, and suddenly I’m being pulled down to him. My body lies against hischest, hip to hip, and his eyes are still closed, his breathing still deep and even, but his grip is firm and sure.
“Sleep now,” he mumbles, the words barely audible.
My head settles onto his outstretched arm, my face pressing into the warm skin of his bare chest. His scent floods my senses. I breathe him in, and my whole body relaxes.
His leg slides over mine, heavy and possessive, pinning me in place.
Before I can even process that, Seth shifts closer behind me. At my feet, Carter repositions, his hand finding my ankle again. He’s completely unconscious, but even in sleep, he’s reaching for me.
I’m surrounded. Cocooned. Trapped in the best possible way.
Never in my life have I felt so complete, safe, and utterly, perfectly comfortable.
I close my eyes, letting their warmth seep into my bones. The fear and uncertainty are still there, waiting at the edges, but right now, they feel far away.
Sleep comes quickly, pulling me under like a gentle tide.
18
JUNE
“Oh, meant to tell you, I spotted her,” Hazel says.
I glance up from my phone, where I’ve been pretending to scroll through emails while actually staring at a photo of Carter, Seth, and Kai from yesterday’s grand entry inside the rodeo arena. “Who?”
Hazel finishes snapping the lid onto her takeaway coffee and turns to face me, her dark eyes gleaming with the particular intensity she gets when she’s onto something good. “The chick from the video. The one who spiked Seth’s drink at the Spur. She’s here. At the rodeo.”
My stomach drops. “Wait—she’s here? Right now?”
“Saw her about fifteen minutes ago near the food stands when I went to get my phone I left in the car.” Hazel takes a sip of her coffee, casual as anything, like she hasn’t just dropped a bomb in my lap. “Figured maybe we could chat with her. See if she says anything about that night.”
I glance around the arena automatically, as if the mystery woman might materialize out of thin air. Day two of the rodeo is gearing up to be busier than day one, the stands are already filling with early birds claiming the best seats, and the smell ofcoffee and breakfast burritos drifts from the vendor stalls set up along the perimeter.
