“No. They’re not pack animals. He’ll be mine, and only mine. I’ll share him sometimes, but it will mostly be Eos and me. You’ll be busy anyway.”
I look down at her. “Why?”
She cups my face and leaves her hand on there as she looks at all of us.
“I want babies.”
Three words that echo in my head. I look to Gabe to see if I heard right, and he’s smiling like a fucking crocodile. Noah is standing there in awe and shock. Lincoln looks like a hungry shark, his body shaking like he’s about to pounce on her.
“Hey?” I stammer eloquently.
Gabe laughs. The clap of his hands scaring the birds around the lake. “You already decided that before we got here. That’s why we all dropped into a rut. You sly little omega, your body is like a fucking snake charmer. You can switch on your fertility and switch it off. Can’t you?”
“Maybe,” she says, dropping her eyes.
“Pet, keeping secrets from your alphas is not what good girls do.”
She closes her eyes and smiles. Her scent wafting off her skin, so she’s all I can smell. Then she coos softly, teasing us like the seductress she is. “We’ll need to practise. It’s not going to happen overnight.”
“Bull-fucking-shit. Have you seen us? I agree though, we need to spend a lot of time trying to breed you.”
Lennon smirks. “I can’t wait to see you try, Gabe.”
“Oh, you know, that’s a fucking challenge right there.”
“HOLD THE FUCK UP!” I yell, silencing everyone. “Say again, Lennon. Please.”
She pins those eyes on me, owning every part of me like always. She makes my whole world spin, and she knows it. Today her small smile is like a beacon of light in the storm. She cups my face, and it’s like a grounding touch.
“I want us to have a family. As soon as this trial is done, I want one from each of you too. I trust you’ll be able to protect our daughters until they find their own pack, Val.”
I drop my omega in the mud. Her joyous laughter is all I hear as I start hyper-fucking-ventilating.
EPILOGUE
LENNON
14 months later
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” I whisper against Lincoln’s ear. Honestly, my words are so soft they’re like an exhale. And that’s because our son is as obsessed with me as all my mates are. If he hears my voice, even when he’s snoozing, he’s flailing those pudgy arms up for me to pick him up and hold him tight.
Lincoln’s hand cups my face, and he quietly guides it down to his lips, and then he kisses me with his usual blistering passion and savage need.
Motherhood hasn’t dampened any of that side of our relationship.
My fingers run absently over his naked chest, god if I had time, I’d put Blaine in his crib and ride Lincoln. Seeing my oldest lover, wearing nothing but sweats, holding our child to his bare chest fills me with a deep primal satisfaction that resonates with my omega side, leaving me with a throbbing need for him to own me.
As I twist around, the small clock shows me I do have time.
Lifting Blaine out of Lincoln’s arms and spoiling my son with a million kisses on his small, chubby cheeks, I settle him with his favourite bunny blanket and rub his back until he drops back in a deeper sleep. And then with my back to Lincoln, I slowly lift my skirt high enough so he catches a glimpse of the underwear I’m wearing for him. My jasmine scent thickens with my arousal, the small warm nursery making it even headier.
In the next moment, Lincoln is up next to me, his hands fisting my ass while he drops his chin on my head to check Blaine.
His own botanicals make it hard for me to breathe, leaving me panting. “Pet, don’t tease me like that in our child’s room,” he groans, biting along the edge of my jaw.
So I walk us both backwards straight out of the nursery. Eos moving silently on dangerous feet, assessing me, watching for any sign of distress or danger, but he drops when I point to where he needs to be. “Sit and wait, Eos.”
And then I don’t stop walking Lincoln backwards until we’re in the dining room, the lights of the dawning sky a beautiful backdrop for our love. I pull out the first chair I manage to get my hand on. “I’d never tease you. Ineedyou to stretch me,” I say softly, turning to hover over his lap, my words searing over his lips.
