Page 185 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

Henry grunted. “I recognized those alphas. They were at one of the meet and greets not too long ago. I guess they were scoping out security, waiting for their chance.” Henry rubbed a hand over his eyes out of frustration. “Apparently they first caught your scent when they were working on the bus after it broke down.”

Lyric’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shape as it dawned on her. The missing sweatshirt she’d loved so much.

“See?” Henry groaned. “This is exactly why the buddy system is important. I told you from the beginning, in order to protect you—”

“Henry?” Lyric interjected, a saccharine sweet grin on her lips. She extracted herself from Adra’s arms with a peck on the lips and faced off against her manager.

Alpha. Lover. Whatever.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to protect me if we were bonded?”

Silence.

Henry’s brain might have short-circuited. He eliminated the few feet between them and stopped with their toes touching. His gaze was dark and intense, and Lyric curled her fingers into fists to keep from reaching out to him.

“Lyric, don’t you play with me,” he growled.

“I’m not playing.” She met his gaze, the whirlwind of emotion reflecting the same storm in her chest. “Bonding won’t fix me. I still have issues, and it will take time to work through them, but what I’m saying is that I want to work through them… with you. As a pack.” She caught Javi’s gaze so he knew he was included.

“I don’t know what it looks like after we get off this bus, but I just know that I don’t want to go back to my brownstone alone.”

“Are you just making this decision because you’re scared?” Henry asked. “We’ll protect you even if you don’t bond with us, you know that, right?”

Lyric smiled. “I know. I made this decision before the attempted kidnapping, promise.”

“And you’re sure? You want a pack?”

Lyric searched his gaze and found a whole lot of worry, but the tiny speck of hope that glimmered deep in the sea of hazel was what gave her the courage to admit the truth.

“A pack used to sound scary, like a life sentence as an object rather than a person. But I know now that it’s not like that at all. It’s a family, and I want that with all of you.” Lyric’s cheeks heated. “Now can you hurry up and agree? How much do I have to confess?”

Henry’s laugh was low and gruff, and it sent shivers over her skin as he reached out and wrapped a hand around her waist. She tipped forward, buried her face in his chest, and took a deep breath of his intoxicating scent.

“I’m sure that was painful to admit,” he teased. “But thank you for suffering on our behalf. You won’t have to go home alone, I promise.” Henry squeezed her tightly. At his vow, something in her chest eased, and she felt like she could take a deep breath again.

But Javi had been strangely silent, and she dared to risk a glance around Henry.

“Javi?” she asked. Henry released her, and she approached her last alpha. “I didn’t scare you off, right?”

“You couldn’t if you tried,” he purred in that accented tone that made her knees weak. He held out his hand, his long, lithe fingers awaiting her touch. Lyric placed her hand in his and squeaked as he pulled her close. His heat warmed her from head to toe, and she wanted to feel more of it. “Thank you for including me in your pack.”

“I’m not including you—you were always a part of it.”

His smile was blinding, and Lyric melted on the spot. When he finally released her, Lyric had to catch her balance, and clapped her hands together.

“So, how should we do this? Like a conga line?” Lyric snorted.

“Pajarita… no.” Javi chuckled. “Don’t you know these things have to happen naturally? No rushing perfection.”

“But…” Lyric pouted. “No orgy?”

Nohen snorted a laugh before he covered it with his hand, and Henry rolled his eyes, though his twitching lips belied his fake exasperation. “No bus orgies. And besides, bonding shouldn’t be scheduled like an interview. It happens naturally. When you’re ready.”

But I am ready, she wanted to argue. But if she was honest with herself… “Okay, fine. I guess I am sleepy. We can still puppy pile, right?”

“Of course,” Emerson agreed, sneaking up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist. “I want to be the big spoon.”

Adra chuckled. “Fine, but only if I’m the bigger spoon.”