I was in love with them too. It had grown over the time I lived here. All my walls were officially crumbled.
They would never do anything to hurt me. Despite my promises to myself to never trust an alpha or let one in, I had. Three of them. Their warmth and love had melted all the ice I’d built up trying to protect myself.
“I have already decided,” I blurted.
Lev turned green. “Tell us. Please.”
“I accept your courtship and, for the record, you aren’t the only ones who have fallen in love. I tried to keep my distance, convincing myself that all alphas were like my last ones, but you have proven that they were a nasty exception—not the rule.”
“You’ll accept us?” Rowan asked. “Truly?”
I nodded. “Yes.” They all embraced me one by one and then as a pack. I’d never felt so safe.
Miles broke free first. “We’re taking you to lunch and then the surprise courting gift.”
“I hope you didn’t spend too much on me.”
Lev shook his head. “Why? You only get one omega in this life. Let us spoil you.”
That afternoon, the boys took me on a date. Getting dressed, I’d made up my mind once again. My wolf knew they were mine. I knew they were mine.
The only thing missing was their mark.
I wanted it so badly. To belong to them. There was nothing else to prove.
We went to lunch and came back home where they promised my courting gift would be. I had no idea what kind of gift needed to be worked on for weeks, but it warmed my heart for them to think of me.
I’d never received a courting gift before.
Just lingerie.
Miles took my hand once we were home and ticked his head down the hallway. “Come with me, omega mine.”
Mine. That was the first time he’d called me his. The others followed behind us and we stopped at the end of the hall, in the guest room that was never used.
“Keep in mind that you can change anything you like. We intended to take you shopping after you saw it to buy more things and, of course, you can add our stuff in with it.”
“What is it?” I asked. My patience was zero since we’d committed to me being courted. They were lucky I let them take me to lunch. I wanted them so badly. To make us whole as a pack. For their bites to mark my skin.
“Come in, Harper. We made this for you.”
Miles opened the door, and inside was like a fantasy. A small machine projected castle windows on the wall on one side. In the middle was a huge circular mattress covered in all kinds of blankets, pillows, and cushions of all shapes and sizes. There was an electric fireplace on the opposite wall glowing like a real fire. In the corner was a bookshelf and a chair. A reading nook of my own.
“Is it…is it a nest?” I asked, feeling naive and a bit silly. “For me?”
Lev stood behind me and encircled me in his beefy arms. He rested his chin on my shoulder. “It’s a nest for you, omega. You mean so much to us, Harper. It’s not fancy like some nests but we thought you would love it. What do you think?”
Tears flowed down my face. This pack had given me so many things that were triple the value of anything my old, rich pack gave me. Belonging. Safety. Security. Adoration. Care. Love. And now, a nest of my own.
“It’s the most beautiful nest I’ve ever seen.”
“That was the reaction we hoped for.” Rowan stood next to me and took my hand in his. “How about you spend some time in your new nest while we get the dessert out. I had to make a cake for the occasion. Store bought seemed too…removed.”
They started to leave but I whirled around, trusting my gut and my wolf before my anxiety and catastrophizing. “Wait. How about you stay?”
“Stay with you?” Lev asked. “Are you sure? This is your room. Don’t feel obligated because…”
“There’s no obligation, alpha.” I reached for my shirt and pulled it off. “There’s only need. Your omega needs her pack.”
