“I can rest while coordinating…”
“No.” Dane’s voice carried command authority, the tone that made people listen. “You’re recovering from heat and forming three pack bonds simultaneously. Your body needs rest. Real rest. Margaret has emergency coordination handled. You don’t go back until tomorrow at the earliest.”
I wanted to argue. Wanted to insist I was fine, that work needed me, that I couldn’t just take time off because my biology decided to inconvenience everyone.
But through the bonds, I could feel their genuine concern. Feel that this wasn’t about controlling me or limiting my independence. This was about caring for me in a way I’d never experienced before.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “Tomorrow. But I’m doing status checks every four hours today.”
“Deal,” Silas said immediately, probably sensing that was the best compromise we’d get. “Status checks from here, while you rest and recover. We’ll make sure you have everything you need.”
“What I need is to understand what happens now,” I admitted. “We’re bonded. We’re pack. But I don’t actually know what that means for day-to-day life.”
“It means we’re family now,” Beau said simply. “It means we take care of each other. Support each other. Build a life together.”
“It means I don’t go through heat alone anymore,” I said, the realization hitting me. “It means I have people who will actually help instead of abandoning me to suffer.”
“Never alone again,” Dane confirmed. “Not during heats, not during emergencies, not ever. That’s what pack means.”
The weight of it settled over me. Not crushing, but significant. I had responsibilities now. People who depended on me, who I depended on. People whose wellbeing was tied to mine through bonds that couldn’t be broken.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I admitted quietly. “I don’t know how to be in a pack. I’ve spent five years being independent, being alone, being the person who doesn’t need anyone.”
“Then we’ll figure it out together,” Silas said, taking my hand. “None of us are experts at this. We’re all disasters who’ve been alone too long. But maybe that’s perfect. Maybe we can build something new instead of trying to fit into someone else’s idea of what pack should be.”
“A pack built on equality,” Beau added. “Where you’re not expected to submit or defer or be anything except exactly who you are.”
“A pack where strength is valued, not punished,” Dane finished. “Where independence and cooperation can coexist.”
I looked at each of them, feeling the bonds pulse warm in my chest. Feeling their certainty, their commitment, their determination to make this work.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s try. Let’s build something new together.”
“Starting with you getting more rest,” Silas said, standing and pulling me up with him. “Come on. Back to bed. We’ll wake you in a few hours for food and status checks.”
I let them guide me back upstairs, too exhausted to argue. The nest was still there, still carrying our combined scents, and when I crawled into the center of it, all three of them surrounded me.
Warm and safe and exactly where I belonged.
I fell asleep with their hands on me, their scents wrapping around me, their presence solid and real through the bonds we’d forged.
When I woke hours later, they were still there.
And for the first time in five years, I believed they always would be.
Chapter 18
Dane
The safe house felt different in daylight.
Less fortress, more home. Maybe that was because of the omega sleeping upstairs in my bed. Maybe it was because I could feel her through the bond that now lived permanent and warm in my chest. Or maybe it was because for the first time in three years, I’d woken up and felt something other than guilt.
I stood at the kitchen counter making coffee with more care than the task required. Grinding beans, measuring water, temperature exactly right. Small acts of service that felt significant when performed for the pack instead of just yourself.
Beau appeared in the doorway, looking as rough as I felt. Neither of us had slept much. Hard to sleep when you could feel your omega’s contentment radiating through newly formed bonds.
“Coffee?” I asked.
