“As expected?” I laughed. That wasn’t quite the compliment I usually heard.
“It was perfect, as expected,” Lukas elaborated, kissing me.
Waving at the five of us, Millie stepped forward with a big smile on her face as I glanced around the stage.
“I can take a picture with all five of you if you want,” she offered, gesturing to Lukas’s camera.
“Absolutely!” Lukas handed over his camera as he ushered us into a group pose. It might actually have been the first picture the five of us had taken together.
I smiled for the camera as each boy surrounded me, their hands brushing my back, my arms, my waist. I felt so happy for my pack and the show’s conclusion. It seemed like an eternity to get to this moment, but here I was now, posing onstage after a successful run of shows with my pack. My heart couldn’t be fuller at this moment.
Chapter thirty-one
On the Edge
Isaac
I wasn’t quite sure why, but here I was, standing outside Ivy’s door for some reason. It was the middle of the night, and I should have been in bed, but I couldn’t clear her out of my head.
After the shows, we celebrated with dinner, followed by stories of Ivy growing up from her parents, with Ivy being sufficiently embarrassed. We all crashed early, exhausted from this long week and ready for a few days off, finally.
So why was I up in the middle of the night, standing outside her door? What if I went in and just checked on her? Would she be angry if I went into her room? Would I be able to leave if I went in there? My skin felt like it was crawling around again, the same feeling I'd had before we’d become physical together.
“You too?” Lukas asked as he walked up to me and leaned against the hallway wall.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, pointing at her door. “We’ve slept apart before. Why is tonight so hard?”
Now Preston was quietly leaving his room. As soon as he spotted us, he froze, frowning before coming over to join us.
“What are you all doing here?” he asked as the door next to Ivy’s opened and Dem stepped out.
I chuckled softly as the four of us stood awkwardly outside Ivy’s bedroom.
“A quick recap, none of us can sleep even though we’re all clearly tired, and we all suddenly want to check on Ivy, even though we’ve all been fine this whole time in our own bedrooms,” I said, looking over to Lukas. "What's going on?"
“I can’t be certain.” Lukas furrowed his brow. “But I believe what we’re experiencing right now is the ‘pull’. We want to be near her because she’s about to go into heat.”
“Thank god her parents are leaving tomorrow morning,” I added.
“Does everyone feel prepared for this?” Dem asked us, looking around at each of us.
Preston smiled. “I’m so excited to bond with her. I’m definitely ready.”
“Agreed,” Lukas added.
I completely agreed with them. I wanted that bond badly with her; she lit me on fire.
“Should we still check on her?" Preston asked, looking at the door.
I followed his gaze to her door. “She’s probably curled up in a little ball, snuggled in her blankets, fast asleep.”
We all chuckled at the thought.
“We need to get some rest as we might be heading into a long three days coming up,” Lukas said as he gestured us back to our rooms.
Three days in the nest with Ivy—just the thought made my pulse race.
***
