I don’t know how long it takes before my brain comes back online, but we’ve made it to the couch, and she’s collapsed on my chest.
A deep purr rumbles out of my chest as I stroke her hair.
“Thank you.”
For trusting me, for gifting me with that, for coming home and not making me wait forever.
“Devon.”
She says my name, and it’s everything.
I love her, and I think I always have.
She’s asleep when her scent changes again, and she enters a full-blown heat, but I keep purring and stroking.
She nuzzles my throat and stays asleep. An omega who feels safe is one who will sleep, I remember Lorelei Sol telling me one year.
If she trusts you, she can love you.
I can get her to love me again; I know I can.
Chapter 24
Sofia
Iscramble off Devon and dance back, turning and taking in the massive bottom floor. Too big. Far too big, but there’s something. I snatch up the black fabric and bring it to my nose, inhaling the rich and potent scent of my chosen alpha. Low in my stomach, heat pools, drawing my attention to the slick that has made my inner thighs wet. I yank on my clothes, letting out a mewl at the delicious irritating friction against my skin.
I inhale deeply and catch the delicious aroma of my alphas in the room. My core clenches, and my mind floods with images of what I’m going to do with them. But not yet. I need something else right now.
The stairs call to me, so I climb them, heading up and up until I find the door that makes me feel strangely satisfied. The nest. I put my hand on the handle and shove it open with possessive ownership.
I exhale in a rush, unaware I was holding my breath. Yes, it’s perfect. I step inside on my tiptoes, pulling the door closed.
Nothing has changed, but it’s not quite right. I let out a distressed whine. Not right. It’s not right. I grab the material and yank it all off the bed, flinging it to the floor. Once it’s down to the bare mattress, I strip out of my clothes and then start to rebuild it, one layer at a time.
It takes forever, and I have to restart several times to get it just right. The combination of layers, materials, and scents have to be exactly right.
The bed looks good. The room looks almost perfect, there’s just this one thing. What is it?
I spot the armchair that is just slightly in the wrong spot. I go over to it and start shoving. It’s too heavy. No amount of grunting and growling gets it to budge. The door to my nest opens, and I pause, baring my teeth at the intruder.
“It’s just us. Let us move the chair for you so you don’t hurt yourself, Omega. We will move it exactly where you want it.”
Mack’s scent hits me hard. My mouth waters, and my stomach clenches almost painfully. My fingers tingle, and every thought fades in the presence of my alphas. The craving for a knot burns into my mind, obliterating almost everything else, except this chair that is in the wrong spot.
“Please,” I croak out.
Elijah and Mack move the chair to exactly where I want it, but I turn around and find Devon there. He’s so big, and that alpha scent that is so familiar takes on a different tone now, making me want to kneel, to lift my throat, to give up everything and anything.
He’s wearing clothes. I snarl as I glare at them.
“Drink,” he murmurs and holds out a bottle to me.
I growl and fight off the urge to give in, but he presses forward.
“All you need to do is drink a little water. There’s nothing else in it. You’ve been up here for hours.”
Hours? Who cares. My nest is perfect.
