I gasped as Liam’s arms surrounded me. He pulled me into his lap and Bear curled around me. Henry and Gray joined us on the couch. All of them were touching me—brushing their handsthrough my still-damp hair, pressing soft kisses to my skin, stroking my arms. A purr started in Liam’s chest, and I melted into him.
“I’m so sorry you went through all that, sweetheart,” he said. “So fucking sorry you’ve been so alone.”
A sob hitched in my throat, and I tried to swallow it down.
“You haven’t deceived any of us,” Gray said, caressing my leg. “As if any of us would want to stay away.”
“But…” I started.
“Westin,” Bear growled. “Why the fuck would we care about what some stupid government assholes say about our girl?”
His eyes were blazing, and a steady growl emanated from his chest. My heart skipped a beat at hearing him sayour girl.
“I should have pushed back more on those policies,” Henry said, running his hand through his hair. “There might still be time to oppose them.”
I reached out to squeeze his hand. “It’s not your fault.”
“Well, it certainly isn’t yours,” he said vehemently.
“Why on earth do you think we wouldn’t want you, sweetheart?” Liam asked, tipping my face up to meet his gaze. He looked around at the rest of the guys. “Safe to say, we’re all fucking obsessed with you.”
I blinked quickly, trying to protect my heart from the hopefulness filling my chest.
“But we could never be a pack. And I’m all… defective.”
“Okay, that’s it,” Bear said, plucking me from Liam’s lap and standing with me in his arms.
I held on to him as he started pacing the room. “What are you doing?” I asked softly, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“I don’t know.” He circled the room, three pairs of amused eyes following us from the couch as Bear weaved around the glass coffee table. “I need to do something or take you somewhere to get some sense knocked into you.”
His fingers dug into my skin as he pressed me closer to his chest. I looked at the other guys with bewilderment.
A small smile tugged at Liam’s lips. “Sounds like he’s not accepting that we can’t be together.” He leaned back on the couch.
“No, I’m fuckingnotaccepting that. This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to find a doctor who’s not a fucking crackpot and get you the care you need. You’re going to get better and we’re all going to be a pack.” He looked furious as he met my gaze. “That is, if you’re sure about the preppy, suit-wearing beta and the old asshole.”
A choked giggle escaped me. The only thing I could think to ask was, “So you approve of Liam?”
“Well, we’ve been roommates for the past eight years, so I guess he can stay.”
“Wait, oh my god,” I said, looking between them. Now I remembered Bear saying his roommate was a nurse and that he was the one who called Liam to come over. With everything that’d followed, it had totally slipped my mind. “How did you two meet? Wait, no, that’s not the most important part of all this.” My brain whirred as I tried to piece together everything that was happening. “Bear, put me down.” I pushed at his chest.
He growled, holding me closer.
“Please.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek.
He did what I asked with a heavy sigh.
“How can we be together if we can never bond?” I asked weakly. I doubted they wanted an agreement like Pack Cross had proposed, and if we didn’t bond, we wouldn’t have the recognition and protection as a pack.
Gray snorted. “I’m not scared of the government.”
“As if they can stop us from bonding anyway,” Bear said, pressing his chest to my back.
“But they could arrest us,” I said, chewing my lip.
“We could register as a pack in Sol,” Henry said, pulling out his phone. “Luna recognizes packs that bond in Sol. And we can get your medical care there. My mom is a doctor and has connections. We’ll find the right doctors for you.”
