“Knock it off.” I step between them. “It wasn’t him. And I don’t want to talk about this right now.” I stumble to the couch and lie down. It smells like butterscotch. Mmm, Vann. Yes, this is what I need. Not accusations and speculations, just my pack scents and sleep. I burrow into the cushions and sigh.
From the other side of the room, I can hear Foster and Tanner whispering angrily, but I can’t tell what they’re saying. It doesn’t matter.
Eventually, Tanner walks over to the couch, looming over me. “You can’t sleep here.”
I roll onto my back and scowl up at him. “Are you seriously kicking me out right now?”
“No, sweetheart. I just mean on the couch.” He takes my hand like he’s going to pull me up, but I shake him off and roll to my side. He huffs and crosses his arms. “We’re supposed to be taking care of you.”
“Then leave me the fuck alone so I can sleep.”
Tanner looks over his shoulder at Foster, who’s smiling from ear to ear.
“She gets grumpy when she’s tired,” Foster says as if he knows everything about me. I can’t decide if it’s endearing or irritating.
“Come to bed, sweetheart.” Tanner holds out his hand, this time simply offering.
“We may be pack, by the strictest technical definition, but I’m not sleeping with you.” I roll over, facing the back of the couch where the scents are strongest. There’s something more subtle mixed with Vann’s sweetness. The familiar scent of ice and winter cold. Frost and fresh snow. It’s like all my favorite ice skating memories, like coming home.
“I’m not letting you sleep on the couch,” Tannergrumbles. “Orion and I will sleep out here, and you can have our bed.”
The bed I slept in last night. The bed I bonded Orion in. “Nope. No, thank you.”
Tanner grumbles in frustration, but Foster steps in and tells him to let me be. To my surprise, Tanner agrees, and a few minutes later, a soft blanket falls over me. It smells like cherry and vanilla, spiced by cardamom.
I turn around just in time to see Tanner retreating back down the hall and Foster making himself comfortable with a pillow on the floor. He’s too far away. An omega whine slips out of me before I can stop it.
“What’s wrong,cucciola?” Foster asks, knee walking toward me.
“It’s just… would you…” I’m too embarrassed to ask for what I want, but he told me before that he would help with the bonding sickness, so I grab his hand and tug while scooting as far as I can on the couch.
He understands. Of course, he understands. Foster has always seen what I need better than I have.
He climbs onto the couch, scooping me up in the process and positioning me over him as he lays down.
Unable to control myself, I nuzzle my nose along the scent gland at his neck and lazily stroke his short beard. “I wish I could scent you.”
“You will,principessa” he whispers into my hair. “You will.”
46
FOSTER
Iwake up with my omega in my arms and four men sleeping on the floor around the couch. I get it. If I had just bonded her, I wouldn’t want to be away from her either. As it is, I want to be as close to her as possible.
Orion’s the first to stir, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn that shows his back teeth. He’s the shortest of the alphas, but that doesn’t take away from his physique. His back arches so his shirt rides up, giving me a glimpse of toned abs and a defined Adonis belt. A trail of black hair decorates his dark skin before disappearing below the waistband of his athletic shorts.
Since Tanner’s stretched half over Orion, he’s the next to wake, eyes immediately coming up to meet mine before dropping to where Raven’s spread across my chest. That panicked look he woke up with turns into something gentler, but no less wary.
Orion and Tanner stand up, give me a silent nod, and head to the bathroom together. Tanner told me last nightthat they have an early practice today before their game this afternoon. The one that will determine who takes bronze and who moves on for a chance at the gold.
Vann and Rhodes wake up once the shower starts. Rhodes looks around like he’s not sure where he is for a minute, then gets up and walks off without a word. Vann bounces over to the couch, and I tense, not knowing what to expect and not wanting him to wake Raven. She doesn’t move as he kisses the top of her head before disappearing into one of the bedrooms.
I doze off again, content with my omega in my arms, until I hear the soft click of the door. I open my eyes just in time to see the four men file out of the room carrying their brooms and practice gear.
“Take care of her,” Orion says before closing the door behind them.
Raven adjusts in my arms, making a soft humming noise in her throat. Her body wiggles against mine, scent blossoming into something much stronger than before. I know she’s still taking her scent blockers, but it seems like they’re not working as well as they were before. It probably has something to do with being around her scent matches and her messed up meds. I still can’t understand how someone could switch them out, or who, but I have my suspicions.
