She wiggles out of my arms, and my jacket is the only thing covering her naked body. Her long, bare legs disappear beneath it. She walks around her queen-sized bed and opens a drawer built into the base, pulling out clothes.
“I’m just going to change. I’ll be right back. Make yourselves comfortable,” she says, slipping into the small attached bathroom and closing the door.
“Make yourself comfortable? Is that a joke?” Rafe asks, and Eli elbows him. I notice they’re standing very close together. Good. Those two have danced around each other too much since Nick’s death. It’s time they locked in.
“Stop. She’s nervous enough,” I warn them, feeling her anxiety leak down the bond. Rafe immediately loses the teasing edge.
“Omegas are proud of their nests,” Gage reminds the room. Corbin crawls into the middle of the bed first.
“She’s going here,” he declares, gesturing to the spot beside him. “Plan accordingly.”
He flexes his dominance, and none of us challenges him.
Do I want to say that we were mature and orderly about the whole thing? Yeah, I do. Do I want to say we didn’t wrestle like a bunch of college assholes fighting over the last beer in the fridge? Also yes. Zero for two.
By the time we’re done scuffling, my lip is busted, Rafe’s hair is mussed, there’s a bruise forming under Eli’s eye, and Gage has a ripped shirt.
In the end, Eli and Rafe team up, which is bullshit and unfair, and take the spot across from Corbin. Rafe lets Eli take the place right next to Winnie’s space and takes the outer edge himself. He looks a hair’s breadth from falling off the bed.
Gage sits at the end, positioning himself so he’ll somehow be at Winnie’s middle. That leaves me with very few options that don’t involve spooning another alpha.
I sigh.
Just then, Winnie comes back into the room and pauses when she sees us already arranged. The blush creeping up her face is adorable. An idea sparks.
I help Winnie into bed, and she crawls up between Corbin and Rafe. The sight of her moving on her hands and knees sends blood rushing straight to my groin. The others aren’t much better. We all look half-feral, but I take a steadying breath and join her, laying my head on her right hip and curling around her leg.
It’s not as good as having her whole side, but it’s better than not being here at all.
Winnie
I wake up tangled in a pile of alphas and a puppy at the end of my bed. Thank God I got the window air unit hooked up. It’s blasting cold air over all of us, making this comfortable instead of an oven.
Corbin’s muscled arm bands around me. The ridge of his nose rests against my forehead, and his steady breathing is like a lullaby. Rafe is behind me, and I think I’m clutching his hand, but when I look down, the knuckles have familiar line drawings and they’re paler. I realize Eli is behind Rafe, with an arm slung across him to reach for me. Eli’s face is maskless, and in sleep his features are much more carefree and peaceful than they ever are during the day. His face rests in the crook of Rafe’s neck, and they’re cuddled together, safe.
Gage nuzzles further into my abdomen, and his warm body between my legs sends a beat of heat to my core. Zeke looks back at me from my thigh, and when I catch his eyes, his warm contentment races through the bond, highlighting my own.
“Good morning, Blossom,” he whispers.
The others start to stir around us. I use the hand not in Eli’s to trail through Zeke’s fluffy, disheveled morning hair. His smile is quick, and his lips find my thigh, warm and soft.
“You sleep good, Sweetheart?” Corbin’s dream-thick voice asks against my forehead.
I nuzzle into his chest, scent-marking him, and his answering freight-train purr melts every bone in my body. Soon every alpha in the room joins in, and the acoustics of this little space make it feel like I’m inside a heartbeat.
I slept so well with them last night. I can only imagine that the next time I’m in this room alone, it will feel too big without them crammed into this bed. This room has never felt big before, and the thought sends a small shot of panic racing through me.
The first thing I thought of when I opened my eyes was the conversation with my friends. The one about my heat. The one about bonding.
It’s too early, I chide myself, trying to push the thought down. It’s too early and—
“Blossom.” Zeke’s eyes meet mine near my hip. I can tell he senses the rising tide of anxious emotions swirling inside me.
Eli pulls my hand up, and my knuckles graze Rafe’s lips. “What’s the matter, Softness?” Eli asks.
“What makes you think something’s the matter?” It’s childish. I’m stalling while I get my thoughts together.
“You get a crease between your brows,” Gage says, lifting his hand to drag the pad of his thumb gently between my eyebrows, right where my forehead has likely furrowed. “Just there.”
