I make my way back to our bedroom to bury myself under the blankets.
“Hey, Daddy,” I manage to get out through a whimper. Which is embarrassing, but it’s Dad, so it’s not like he hasn’t seen me lose it before.
“Raney, you’re okay, darling. All the guys are here with me, everyone misses you like crazy, but we’re good. Twinkles and Joker will be fine. What’s got you crying? Do I need to come and crack some fucking heads already? Because you know I’ll roll out in five if I do.”
“Just miss you, is all. When are you coming to visit?”
A restless energy that was building dissipates as I snuggle deeper in my bed that smells like my alphas, listening to my dad’s voice.
“You know I’d be there tomorrow. But it’s not right for us to be intruding yet. This is your time. I’m a phone call away until I come stay with you guys… or maybe I might stay at a hotel. I think Koz and the boys are organising a surprise, but they’ve probably told you already. You have them wrapped around your finger already, right?”
I answer with a stupid grin, despite him not being able to see it. “Sure do.”
Dad gets all serious. “Are they treating you how they should be?”
“Yeah. It’s overwhelming how right everything feels. I kind of feel whole again. I’m super tired and I am sure I probably need to talk to a therapist about Reid, but I’m happy.”
“Raney, you’re the strongest person I know. You let your head settle without getting lost in what happened by focusing on you being okay and your pack being fine. For a little while, you need to be a bit fucking selfish and just be with them,” King says in his no-nonsense tone that I love and need.
I take a deep breath and get hit again by how insightful my dad is, telling me what I need to hear. “I want to see everyone.”
He laughs. “Well, everyone will wait. And don’t fucking let those Scorned Girls boss you around. Being packed is real fucking important.”
I stop talking and look over my swath of blankets. But I’d felt him coming, then I inhaled his petrichor until all I could taste was him.
“I know it is,” I say belatedly as I wiggle over, making space for Puck to climb in behind me. He curls around me, his strong touches like aloe on a burn, soothing. I don’t need him, but goddamn I love wanting him.
In the background, I hear the dulcet tones of the other Fallen with him. All of them laughing and carrying on. Dad comes back on after a slight pause. “Well, shit, I’ve got to go. The nurse is here and wants to give Twinkles a sponge bath. I do not need to see his nuts getting fondled. Give me a call tomorrow.”
“Will do, Dad.”
“And don’t you ever forget how much I love you, kid. Yeah?”
He hangs up. Puck takes the phone out of my hand and drops it on his side of the bed.
“Go to sleep, Raney. I’ll text Simona and let them know you’ll talk to them later. Or tomorrow. They can wait, us being like this can’t, besides we’re going slow, remember?”
A soft kiss and a brush of an alpha command makes it impossible not to sink back into his arm, and I think I’m asleep before I hear ten beats of his heart.
ChapterForty-Six
TALON
Koz talks quietly to Puck, showing him how the security system and the duress alarm works, and it’s a strange sight. Despite the late hour, Koz’s dressed in black dress pants and a black business suit with a shoulder holster over the top, his hair slicked back. His trademark chocolate-cherry scent seems even stronger now he’s packed, but it might also have to do with the hot shower he just had, the heat amplifying it.
Puck leans casually against the wall in a pair of grey sweats hanging loose off his waist, his hair every possible which way. And he smells like sex, and Raney.
Watching them, they act and talk differently, yet they’ve got such a similar presence it keeps throwing me. I’ll fast get used to it, considering we’re pack and we’ll be with each other pretty much 24/7, but it still blows my mind.
Growing up, Puck’s emerging designation was in everything he did. All this shit might have started because Reid knew then how strong his brother’s alpha would be and couldn’t cope with the thought. But in a way that makes what Reid said about never clicking with her make more sense.
That’s yesterday’s issue. I don’t think we’re in for any problems having two similarly powered alphas. Out in the real world both of them would be poised to lead a pack of their own. I couldn’t imagine them being in any other pack besides ours, but because of their very nature, we might see more push and pull between the two. Not necessarily man to man, not from their designations because much like Koz is designed to lead, so is Puck. And there will come a day where Puck’s going to surpass Koz’s alpha strength.
The both of them stop talking when the only person in the world with the ability to keep them both in check rolls over in her sleep, whispering something in her dream.
We all hover. I go to make a step to snuggle against her while we wait, but Puck throws his thumb up in Koz’s direction then drops his sweats and climbs bare-assed straight back into bed, spooning behind her. She settles as quickly as she stirred, her scent leaking her happiness.
Hayes flicks off the bathroom light, his hair wet and unkempt, wearing his trademark jeans and a long black sleeve t-shirt. He doesn’t hesitate; he kneels on the bed and presses a soft kiss against her temple.
