Over the next week, I adjust to being bonded. My life has shifted into something I didn't know was possible. I wake up with three alphas. I go to work at the wedding planning office.
Then, I come home to a house that smells like all of us mixed together. The scents have become so intertwined that I can't separate them anymore. Pine's sandalwood is mixed with Jett's cedar, which is mixed with Cassian's smoke, which is all mixed with my strawberry and honey. We smell like pack. We smell like home.
The bonding marks fade to silvery scars over the week. I wear them proudly. They're evidence that I belong to someone. That I'm loved. That I'm no longer alone.
Tangle Peak's wedding is only one week away now. The flowers are finalized. The cake is ordered. The seating arrangements are perfect. Jessica and I have worked through every detail, and everything is on track for the wedding of the year.
And I'm happy. Because this happiness isn't dependent on one person's presence or absence. It's dependent on three people who chose me. Three people who love me.
Thank you, universe for the peace in my heart, for the first time in my life.
25
SHARON
Iwake up in the middle of the night, and I don't know why at first.
The room is dark except for the faint glow of moonlight coming through the curtains. Cassian is on my left, one heavy arm draped across my stomach. Jett is on my right, his leg tangled with mine, his breath warm and steady against my shoulder. Pine is at the foot of the bed, his hand wrapped loosely around my ankle even in sleep.
I should go back to sleep, but my skin feels warm. Not feverish, just aware. Like every place they're touching me is lit up and glowing. My heart is beating faster than it should be for someone who's just lying in bed doing nothing.
I shift slightly, trying to get comfortable, and the movement makes Cassian's hand slide lower on my stomach. Just that small change in pressure makes my breath catch.
Oh.
That's what this is.
I'm not sick, nor going into heat. I'm just so fucking horny while lying in bed with three sleeping alphas who would probably be very interested in helping with this problem if they were awake.
My scent shifts without me meaning it to. I can smell it myself, the way the strawberry and honey notes go richer, deeper. Less like a bakery and more like something you'd taste on someone's skin.
Cassian stirs first. His breathing changes, going from the deep rhythm of sleep to something shorter, more alert. His hand flexes against my stomach and I feel his fingers spread wider, like he's trying to touch more of me at once.
"Sharon?" His voice is rough from sleep, barely above a whisper.
"Sorry," I breathe. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"Don't be sorry." He shifts up onto his elbow so he can look down at me. His gray eyes are dark in the dim light, pupils blown wide. "Your scent changed."
"I know. I'm sorry, I just woke up and I..." I trail off because I don't know how to finish that sentence without sounding desperate.
"And you what?" His thumb strokes a slow line just above the waistband of my sleep shorts and I have to bite my lip to keep from making an embarrassing sound.
"I woke up wanting you," I admit quietly. "All of you. I know that sounds greedy."
"It sounds perfect," he says, then leans down to kiss me.
It's slow at first. Just his lips on mine, gentle and exploring, like he's giving me time to change my mind. But I don't want slow right now. I thread my fingers through his hair and pull him closer, kissing him harder, and I feel him smile against my mouth before he gives me what I'm asking for.
His tongue slides against mine and I taste mint toothpaste from hours ago and something that's just him. His hand moves up from my stomach to cup my breast through the thin t-shirt I borrowed from Pine, and when his thumb brushes over mynipple, I make a sound that's probably too loud for three in the morning.
Jett wakes up with a sharp inhale. "What's going on?"
I break away from Cassian's kiss to look at him. His brown eyes are alert now, tracking between my face and where Cassian's hand is still on my breast. His scent spikes immediately, cedar and smoke mixing with the strawberry and honey until the air feels thick with it.
"She woke up wanting us," Cassian explains, his voice low and smug.
"Oh," Jett says, and that one word is loaded with about seventeen different emotions. He shifts closer, propping himself up on his elbow so he's mirroring Cassian's position on my other side. "And what do you want us to do about that?"
