Gage rests between her legs, his head on her pelvis like it’s always been when we sleep. Eli and Rafe are curled nearby, close enough that she could reach them without moving. They untangle and sit up. Rafe crawls closer, gently moving her hair so it doesn’t fall into her face.
“Hello, Dulzura,” he says, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She smiles.
Eli still wears his mask and noise-canceling headphones. Winnie couldn’t help the sounds she made in the throes of heat, and honestly, neither could the rest of us. She sits up and leans forward, scent-marking into his bare chest. We’ve all been naked these last three days.
“You ready to face the world, Princess?” Gage asks, turning to kiss into her pelvis just above her mound.
She bites her bottom lip, glancing around uncertainly. My alpha surges, sensing her hesitation. “What’s the matter, Sweetheart?” I ask, scanning her from head to toe.
She takes a deep, steadying breath. Every ounce of attention snaps to her. “I—I know we didn’t talk about bonding,” she says, and my heart slams to a halt in a way words can’t touch. “Maybe it’s too soon for you all, but—it’s not too soon for me. If you want to—”
She’s cut off as every alpha in the room moves at once. A chaotic, instinctive puppy pile. Gage surges forward, grabbing her by the waist, kissing at her neck. Eli nuzzles into her side beside Rafe. Zeke laughs and settles behind her, pulling her back into his lap with the rest of us.
“Look what you did, Blossom,” Zeke murmurs. “You sent them into a whirlwind.”
She giggles, somehow wrapping herself around all of us at once.
“Is that a yes?” she asks, still laughing—but I hear the nerves underneath.
“Sweetheart,” I say, my voice rough, “bonding with you is everything I want. It would make everything we’ve been through worth it. To be yours like that.”
My purr rises deep in my chest, joined by the rest of the pack.
“We all want that, Dulzura,” Rafe says, and the agreement is immediate, absolute.
Winnie flushes.
“Will you bond with me?” She asks softly.
I’m instantly ready for her.
I push her back gently into the pillows, settling between her legs and thrusting in, unable to wait for her claim on me. Zeke’s healed bite still gleams at the base of her throat. As the dominant alpha, it chafes that I wasn’t first but looking at her beneath me, open and offering, I don’t care if I’m second or fiftieth. I’d do anything to be bonded to her.
Her hands slide up my forearms, pulling me down. My nose buries into her neck, inhaling her floral scent. Sweet and heady. She's home.
My mouth closes over her throat, my tongue tracing her skin once, twice, before my teeth sink in. She gasps, arching beneath me, fingers tangling in my hair. I thrust, pull back, thrust again, her tight heat gripping me each time. Something inside me reaches. My alpha.
I bite as I spill deep inside her, claiming her inside and out.
When I release her throat, she surges up, biting into my shoulder. The pain is sharp and brief—and then she’s there. In my mind.
A soft spring wind brushes my soul, carrying the scent of flowers and the flutter of hummingbird wings. The peace of it nearly breaks me open.
Winnie smiles, glassy-eyed, a single tear slipping free. I kiss it away, flooded with the same emotion echoing across the tether. Love. Deep and certain.
Another bond hums beside hers. It's eager and aching with longing. I look to Zeke. He smiles, just as raw as our omega.
“I’m home,” I say, not meaning to speak it aloud.
“Yes,” Winnie whispers. “We are.”
Winnie
Having my dominant alphas bond beside Zeke anchors something feral and aching in my core. Heat curls tight, a low purr pressed straight into my bones. It’s safety that hums with dominance, comfort edged with possession. It steadies Zeke’s bond too. That restless energy tightens into something sharp and alive, no longer scattered, no longer frayed.
After Corbin moves away, he taps Gage’s shoulder.
Gage’s eyes drag over me like hands that already know where to press. Even with Corbin reclaiming the dominant pack role, Gage stays coiled and relentless. Every ounce of that focus locks onto me.
