“What do you think?” Maverick smiles sweetly. “We wearing PJ’s?”
“What do you think?” I repeat back to him, although my smile is definitely more dirty than sweet.
“How is this going to work?”
I shrug. “Apparently, we’re having a nest meeting in the morning. I need to sleep though and it’s not going to happen until you three are in there.”
“Steel too, huh?”
“Do you think he’ll come in?”
“He’s just freaked, Tristan. He’s got lots going on in his head, but he’ll come.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’ll choke him out and carry him myself if needs be.”
“Oh my god. Really?”
“Sure. You’re my girl… I get to bring you anything you want. If I need to get a little violent, it’s not a hard stretch of the imagination, is it?”
“Do I need a leash for you?”
He smirks, rolling up to sitting. “I’m pretty sure we’re both aware that if you told me to bark, I would.” He stops talking and looks at me seriously, “Well, shit maybe you aren’t aware, but you should be. Tristan, I don’t know what we’re looking at as a group, but I’m in.”
“Even with King?”
He laughs. “He’s surprisingly okay. Not sure I want to push his buttons too often because he scares the shit out of me, the way he’s so calm one minute and… anyway, we can make it work.”
“Good. Get your tight ass in my nest then,” I lean down to kiss him chastely before pulling away and climbing to my feet. Anything more than a brush of our lips and I won’t be able to stop.
“I like that you think I’ve got a tight ass.” He smirks as he stands up, walking straight inside the door without a backwards glance.
And while Tyson stacks the fire and sets the screen in place, I make my way over to Steel.
“Steel?” I call out because I don’t want to startle him.
But he was more than aware. He turns to face me, his face blank even though his butterscotch scent is full of his sadness.
“Hey,” I mumble, “I umm…” I take a big breath; this won’t work if I’m shy or overly cautious. “You are my scent-matched Alpha. I’ve got no idea what is going to happen outside of these walls, honestly, I really don’t. But I do know I won’t be able to rest without you.”
“Everyone else is in there.”
“I’m a complete novice when it comes to how packs work, but I do know I need you, Maverick, and Tyson in with me and King. It’s not one or the other, it’s not just him or him. I need everyone in the cabin in there because to me you are my pack. Does that make sense?”
“About as much sense as everything else going on today.”
“So that’s a yes?” I can’t help but hold my breath, and Steel stops talking and starts thinking. The grey in his eyes becomes darker as he stares for a few long-drawn-out minutes. I stay still and let him sort out whatever he has going on in his head.
“What do you want me to say yes to?”
“Coming into my nest. Sleeping in there with me. Being an active participant in my heat.”
He looks again at me, studies me and the both of us ignore Tyson when he walks into the room and doesn’t come back out.
“I’m not sure about the pack thing. Honestly, I’m not being a dead weight, but I don’t see what I bring to the dynamic.”
“That’s fine, the pack thing I mean. I can’t twist your arm and I wouldn’t want anyone to not be here who doesn’t want to be here. But the other side of what you said, Steel, is I want you to know what you bring to me is a sense of completeness,” I say, desperate to reach out to hold his hand. The scent of sadness isn’t going away but it’s not as prominent as it was when I first started talking with him.
