Page 22 of Yes Now Yes Forever

Lyra covered her face and let out a frustrated groan. “I’m nervous to meet her. What if she doesn’t like me?”

The worry which had been churning in my stomach vanished at her question. I tugged her hands away from her face and met her gaze. “Why wouldn’t she like you?”

“Well, because I’m older than her, I’m out of touch with what’s current in pop culture, and I’ve been told I’m not much fun to be around,” Lyra grumbled.

My brows shot up at her last comment. “Who the hell would tell you such a lie?”

I knew exactly who’d taken such a cheap shot at her. If I ever dared to look up who this previous pack was, I’d destroy the life they’d built as well as the company Lyra helped them start. God, I hoped they treated their scent match better than they’d cared for my precious petal.

“It’s fine, I don’t need more reasons to despise those men,” I muttered as I pulled Lyra into a hug. “As for your worries about meeting my sister, I need you to know if the two of you possibly don’t get along, it wouldn’t change the fact I’m in love and devoted to you.”

“I love you too,” Lyra whispered, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Another reason you shouldn’t be worried is because there isn’t a person on this earth with a bigger heart than Bailey-Rose. If there is anyone who will have the slightest chance to understand what you’ve been going through, it would be my baby sister,” I pointed out. “In fact, she’s struggled with nightmares for a while after she was attacked by her ex. Things have gotten better, but she still sees her therapist once a month to ensure she has a person to talk to about anything. Finding her pack was life-changing, but adding Waffles to the family was a game-changer. Waffles is her emotional support service guard dog.”

“Elora suggested looking into getting a service dog,” Lyra shared, leaning back so we were face to face but keeping her arms around me. “I considered it, but the waitlist was so long since I’d need a dog trained to deal with physiological issues. Plus, there are so many people in the world who have it worse off than I do. I guess I felt a little guilty taking a service dog from someone else.”

“I am constantly in awe of you and how compassion for others oozes out of your every pore,” I said, knowing she couldn’t see herself the way I and the rest of our pack did. My smile grew at the faint blush which bloomed on her cheeks. Unable to resist, I closed the small distance between us and kissed her.

It was a quick kiss, ensuring I didn’t give into my urges to deepen it before knowing she’d told me everything. “Was meeting my sister the only thing you were worried about?”

Once more, her lip was back between her teeth as she shifted under my gaze. I didn’t press her for answers. Instead, I simply waited, trusting my petal would tell me eventually.

“It’s the car,” Lyra blurted, her cobalt gaze full of fear. “I’m scared I won’t be able to get back into a car without being drugged.”

I nodded, wanting to acknowledge her fear, but held off saying anything as my brain tried to find a solution. Then I remembered a seminar I went to teaching management how to support and train your staff in skills the employee struggled with. One option was to role-play the situation to help find what part of the interaction they stumbled over.

“How would you feel if we went down to the garage so we could see how you feel? The car would stay parked, the garage door closed, and we could take all the time you needed. This way, you’d know exactly how you’ll react, and if needed, I’ll reschedule things with my sister,” I suggested.

“Can I put my pants back on?” Lyra asked, trying to sound confident, but there was still a slight tremble of nerves.

An idea popped into my head at her question. “You could…” I started, then paused to cup her bear ass in my hand, “… or we leave them off so I can reward you for being a good girl.”

Lyra’s breath hitched at my suggestion, telling me she wasn’t against the idea. “Dr. Barnette did tell me once it’s helpful to have new feelings or memories to replace the old when working on my trauma.”

I quickly stood, tucking an arm under Lyra’s ass as her legs circled my waist. My keys were still on the counter, so I scooped them up and headed for the garage.

“Hey, where are you taking our Omega while she’s half-naked?” Zachary called after us.

Turning on my heel, I faced the rest of my pack, who’d moved to the living room. “Nowhere, Lyra’s worried about how she’ll feel about getting in the car tomorrow. I thought it might be a good idea for her to test the situation without any added pressure.”

“This requires her to be pant-less, why?” Pascal asked, his expression full of concern.

“Easy access,” I answered succinctly.

It didn’t bother me at all for my fellow pack mates to question my intentions. Lyra had been through hell, and all of us were hyperaware of anything that might trigger our girl. Plus, I had a lot of catching up to do when it came to the same level of trust the other three had with each other.

Time would eventually fix both these problems, but my focus right now was helping my Omega feel safe.

Eli carried me over to his sedan, then sat my ass down on the closed trunk. He boxed me in with his body as he placed his hands on either side of my hips. It was hard to feel worried about what might happen when I was so distracted by Eli’s spicy and refined scent. I leaned in like a moth drawn to a flame until our lips met, but Eli pulled back before either of us got swept up in our lust for each other.

“I think we need to set some rules before we start this experiment,” Eli decided.

Not feeling all that interested in worrying about something so boring, I nodded as I fisted his shirt, trying to draw him to me.

“The first rule is, you can end this at any time for any reason, just tell me you’re done. Second, none of this is about me, I’m here to help you feel safe and confident. Third, nothing is off-limits. Whatever you need, I’ll find a way to make it happen,” Eli said, lifting a finger for each rule he was putting into place. “Is there anything else you want to add?”

Finally, the reality of what we were going to do settled into the forefront of my mind. Fawn had warned me the other day I could get drunk off our Alphas scents alone while unbonded. Once I had a mark from my Alpha, his scent wouldn’t affect me… as much. It was fascinating to find out just how vital bonding with our scent matches was for Omegas.