“Lay down, Tessa,” Dixon commanded. I did, no hesitation though my brain was screaming at me that pain was only a heartbeat away. What had they said before?It can hurt. But it’s a beautiful hurt.
Tray pushed the vibrator between my folds, securing it against the still swollen mound of my clit. He pressed the top twice to adjust the intensity. Instantly, tremors of pleasure coursed through my lower regions, blooming upward to warm my stomach.
My eyes widened as each of my Alphas took position. Ryder and Dixon were aiming for my maximus neck glands. Tray and Mac were going for the minora wrist glands.
When they sank their teeth into my flesh, I screamed against the impossible, rapturous torture.
49
TESSA.
OVER A MONTH LATER…
My birthday was onlya few days away. The third one I’d spend without my parents and brothers and everyone else I’d once loved. I couldn’t even remember the day I’d turned nineteen. Had that been the day I’d stumbled into the offices of Johnas, Bridgers, and Burr? So desperate, so alone. I’d left with five hundred dollars and a never-ending supply of hopelessness. No, that was the day after my birthday. The day after I’d walked out of my family home for the last time, with no idea how to function.
The Fortune Pack ended that day for me. It wasn’t the day the plane crashed and I got the life-shifting, terrible news. It was the day that the last connection I had to them failed me. The Oblivion Haze Pack was my today, my tomorrow, my everything.
The guys had peppered me with questions, trying to suss out what I wanted to do for the milestone twenty-first. I’d disappointed them saying I wanted to stay home, keep it low key. They really wanted to make it a big celebration. I was just content not to spend it in endless deliberation like I had the last two birthdays—my mind going over what Ishould have, could have, would havedone if I’d only known my family’s tragic fate.
Lounging on the sectional, an old western playing on the television, Ipet Josie absentmindedly. She’d grown a little chubby over the last month, and I was seriously debating getting her a kitty treadmill. Heaven knows she wouldn’t allow me to curb her diet. She was nonstop spoiled by Tray, who seemed to come home every other day with some new delicacy for her feline pleasure. He was still doing the college thing, though he whined about it often. I could tell he loved it deep down though. He was smart. The entire package. Handsome enough to model. Talented enough to be famous. Intelligent enough that he couldn’t understand why other people thought differential equations were challenging.
“I love this movie,” Mac’s steady voice called my attention as he strode into the room from the kitchen wearing a vintage, ruffle-edge apron. He placed a serving tray overflowing with pinwheel sandwiches down on the coffee table. He kept offering me different food, worried because I wasn’t eating much lately. I just couldn’t stomach much, especially so close to my birthday. Mac didn’t outwardly make a big deal of it; he didn’t push me to eat. He just appeared with appetizing provisions at different intervals, leaving them in my sight lines and hoping to pique my interest.
“Those look good,” I offered, not wanting to take his effort for granted.
“I believe you’d enjoy the cream cheese, turkey, and cranberry preserve ones,” he spoke matter-of-factly, still shying away from outright telling me to eat.
“It does sound good.” I changed the subject. “The framer did a beautiful job on the news article.”
After the concert at The Vault, pictures of our pack had appeared in several local and national papers. The guys had told me to pick out my favorite of the photos and they’d taken it to be custom mounted in a sleek, obsidian frame.
“It did come out well,” he agreed, though I could tell by his tone he was more than a little disappointed I hadn’t snagged one of the sandwiches.
The mansion’s phone rang, which it rarely did. Though once some weirdo had called looking for Tray. Todd… something or other. Mac and I exchanged a curious look, but before he could get up to answer it, the front door opened, and we heard someone pad to the foyer table.
“Tray Rivers speaking.”
I smiled at the sound of my playful Alpha’s voice.
“Um… yeah. She lives here. What’s this about?”
I sat up a little straighter. Someone had called looking for a ‘she’? After a millisecond, I settled back against the cushion. Catalina. They were probably looking for Cat. Duh. I felt a little stupid. Everyone I knew and cared about that was left on the planet, was here in the mansion. Dixon was hitting a second work out, something about his quads looking flaccid. I don’t know what he said actually; he started getting technical per usual and my brain drifted into la-la land. Ryder was downstairs, determined to get the lyrics of a new song right. Catalina was on her sixth date with the mystery man we’d not met yet. We did know his name now though. She’d winked at me last Saturday and said Hank was the kind of man a woman could spend her menopausal golden years with—super, duper hot. With a capital H.
We heard the distinct, sharp clink of the receiver being placed back into its cradle. Not long after, Tray came into view, hopping down into the living room rather than descending the stairs.
“Who was on the phone?” Mac beat me to the question.
“Well,” Tray was doing his bouncing thing, manic energy flaring. “I don’t know how to say this, Tessa.” He paused, screwing up his face as his brain searched for the right wording.
“Don’t know how to say what?” Dixon’s voice preceded his arrival. He held an empty water jug in one hand, and a half-eaten protein bar in the other.
“I think Ryder should be here too,” Tray said, “Let me holler at him.”
Ten minutes later, I was still rooted to the same spot on the couch. Josie had left, waltzing her way into the kitchen where she now had an automatic feeder and bubbling water fountain. Dixon and Mac sat on my right, Ryder on my left. I held a half-eaten pinwheel sandwich. Mac had finally insisted I put something on my empty stomach.
“Okay, Tray. We’re all here. What the hell’s going on?” Dixon sounded a little annoyed.
“So, we just got this call.” My youthful, vibrant mate started pacing, talking with his hands.
