As I watch two of my Alphas disappear into the hallway, I look back over at my other one. Knox, whose smile is bright and whose eyes seem a little brighter than before. A little lighter, like he isn’t so weighed down by his past life.
In that moment, I know I’m exactly where I need to be.
And for once, things in my life finally feel right.
Walker
Ican’t remember the last time I laughed while this exhausted. But it slips out of me anyway, low and helpless, as Eli reaches for the handle.
“Brace yourself,” I mutter. “There’s no telling what they’ve been doing behind the scenes.”
Eli snorts. “How bad can it?—”
He swings the door open and my mother trudges through, her heels clicking and her dress wafting in the wind that pours in behind her.
“Hello!” she chirps, stepping inside like she owns the place. Which, to be fair, she tends to do anywhere she goes. A large basket hangs from her arm, filled to the brim with fruit, bottles, and God knows what else. “Where is she? Where is that poor, exhausted Omega?”
My father steps in behind her at a much more reasonable pace, shutting the door with a quiet click. “We brought protein waters in case she isn’t holding down solid food yet,” he says, holding up a bag like that explains everything.
Mom turns her full attention on me and her eyes narrow. “Well? Are you going to show me where she is?”
I gesture vaguely toward the hallway. “Bedroom.”
She doesn’t wait.
Mom’s never been particularly good at waiting.
She breezes right past us, already talking. “A five-day heat. My goodness, the poor thing. You should have called me the instant she was done, Walker. I had to hear it from Eli’s parents! They said they got a text from him, letting them know that Lia’s heat broke. Why didn’t we get a text like that? I could have been here sooner.”
“You would have camped on the porch,” I point out, following behind her.
“And?” she shoots back over her shoulder. “I would have brought soup.”
Eli coughs beside me, clearly trying not to laugh.
We step into the bedroom, and everything shifts because Lia is upright and alert. She’s propped up in the nest Knox rebuilt while Eli was cleaning her up, and he’s got one arm curled protectively around her. The arm she marked.
She leans into him while wearing his flannel shirt like it’s the most natural thing in the world, and a thought races through my mind.
She’s ours.
My mother stops short of the door frame the instant she sees her. She looks back at me with a knowing look, and I know she’s remembering Lia from our conversation weeks ago in the kitchen back at the vineyard.
That feels like such a lifetime ago.
My mother’s little “I told you so” smirk doesn’t go unnoticed, however.
“Oh,” she breathes. And just like that, all the chaos drains out of my mother. Like she’s finally at peace because she was proven right when she called me out in that kitchen. “There you are, sweetheart,” she says, her voice going all warm and gentle as she crosses the room. “Look at you. You must be exhausted.”
Lia blinks at her, clearly still piecing things together.
“Hi, Mrs. Boone,” she murmurs. “Good to see you again.”
My mother sets the basket down immediately and moves to her side, not hesitating for even a second before brushing Lia’s hair back from her face. “I talked with Eli’s mother. She says your heat broke here only recently. I bet you did so well. How are you feeling?”
Lia’s eyes go a little wide, like she wasn’t expecting that. Like she doesn’t quite know what to do with the doting and the caring.
That tight feeling hits my chest again because I know why. Every single time something like this happens, we’re proving to her that she’s?—
