I’m not saying I’m a super omega, but even as the words fall from my lips, they find their own way back from losing control. Well, that’s what it feels like. Koz is first; his hands wrap around my waist as he holds me to his chest, a deep purr rumbling from his chest filling my ear and soothing me. Puck’s scent drenches over me, and my eyes close in sheer relief, and because I get a little turned on. I’m not sure the drugs are to blame for that though.
Hayes shuffles up close enough to lay his head on my back, one hand wraps around me as he becomes an anchor in my chemical activated storm, while Talon’s voice as he talks about nothing at all, ties us together.
I sink into Koz and Hayes and surrender, needing this moment. It takes a few minutes until I remember to talk. “What was in the needle?”
Talon answers. “Heat stimulant. I’m so sorry, Lolli.”
And I get he’s apologising for more than the current state of my mind. When I’m feeling a little more stable, I’m pretty sure I’ll wind him up enough for us to argue with each other knowing Tal needs that flash in the pan release of his emotions before he’ll be able to even think about forgiving himself.
We’ve got some heavy shit to sort out. Tal being in that car is one, another is Hayes’s devastating and shocking news. But equally important is the fact that three of my alphas killed a man. What they did was completely justified but that does not detract from the fact they ended a man’s life. And we will be talking about it because I’m not desperately devoted to psychopathic monsters. Each of them has an emotional depth and complexity at the core of who they are, irrespective of how strong they are, they will be processing. Even drugged off my tits, I know I have to be a part of that process, to see for myself what happened hasn’t changed who they are, or changed who we will be. It makes so much sense to me in my psychedelic state.
“My body is buzzing and my head is a mess. I’m hungry and confused about things but not us. Not our pack,” I say quietly. And my alphas perfume for me; they send a cloud of chocolate sweetened cherries, a shower of fresh rain, and hot cinnamon donuts my way.
“Tal,” I growl impatiently when he holds out on me.
“So impatient, Lolli,” he answers, and without looking I know he’s smiling. A moment later, he scents up like a perfume shop, making sure his distinctive leather and campfire scent clogs my lungs.
The four of them working together pull me back to centre when I’m a little off alignment.
“Better. We’re okay, and we should focus on that,” I stay cuddling against both Hayes and Koz, and luxuriate in their scents, and the strong crush of their alpha presence.
We’re quieter, I’m less freaked out. I’m still off with the fairies and surfing through a couple of floaty troughs and peaks, but we really are okay.
Koz swoops in and kisses my forehead, talking privately to me. “Irrespective of how, what, where, and when, I have to say I’m completely smitten and blown away by how it feels to have you as mine now. Omega Siderno has such a beautiful ring to it.”
“I like it too, alpha,” I offer, and by god, I mean it. I wish we could celebrate it properly, by consummating our packing. Being covered in them and knotted was a given, and still will be.
There’s another lull in the spinning of my thoughts as the drugs give me freedom to act more like myself again. “Do you know what brand it was, Tal?”
Being an omega, you’re aware of the heat stimulants on the market. People use them for a whole range of reasons, breeding mostly.
“Igniscaldex,” rolls off his tongue like a dirty word.
“Tal, lock that shit up. You did the best in a fucking horrid situation. One that will no longer come and hunt or haunt me again. The world is better off without Reid, so let’s leave it at that.”
And since I’m on a roll of coherent sensibility, I keep going. “If I remember correctly, Igniscaldex is a slow-release stimulant but generally after a few hours, I’ll be one slicked up omega. And it’s highly probable I’ll be walking away from wherever it happens, pregnant.”
A pin could drop. Unsurprisingly, there’s suddenly a whole lot of strong masculine energy pressing down on me, which does a lot for a girl's confidence and confirms, despite my influenced state and that being a mom is a dream of mine, I’m on the right path even if it’s a skewed one.
“I want Lew to arrange for the doctor to also bring Somniosus. Not because I don’t want your babies, Koz, but I want to remember the exact moment in time you plant your seed. And I also want to remember everything we do during our first night together as a pack.”
Much like I expected after saying what I said, their scents get even more intense and their presence pushes against me suggestively. Do I whine and slick up my panties? Of fucking course I do—I’m off my head, not dead.
ChapterForty-Three
HAYES
Tal drops onto the plush leather seat of Koz’s private plane opposite me without saying a word. And I keep staring out the window as we bank through the clouds into the darkening sky.
“Hey,” he calls softly. Careful not to wake the others since the doors are open to the cabin where she’s sleeping. She’s out cold, cuddled between Koz and Puck. Koz somehow managing to hold her bruised wrist, even while he’s asleep.
Thank god they cut off the handcuff. It was a beacon of our failure and the instant it was gone; we collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hey,” Talon says again.
When I don’t answer, he reaches for my hand making it near impossible for me to ignore this conversation as opposed to maintaining my vigil of looking at the stars.
Talon looks fresher after his shower and seeing him in casual sweats and a long-sleeved Henley eases the pinch in my chest but adds to the heavy pit in my stomach.
