Instead, I followed the guys out of the room, shutting the door gently on their quiet chatter. I wrapped my arms around Raiden’s waist and kissed his shoulder. “Naja and Luisa are making me even more clucky. When will we know if it worked?” I asked both Raiden and Finlo, because while this was a mystery to them, it was well and truly out of my scope of knowledge. I hadn’t been Manix until way too late. I’d missed all the valuable teachings of a Manix school, and I was still playing catch-up.
“We can do an ultrasound in about five weeks, but Gatlin and Finlo should be able to pick up scent changes in two or three. Actually, Seven too probably, his sense of smell is more powerful than most Alphas,” Raiden said, leaning back into me. “Fuck, I’m starving though.”
“A mass orgy will do that to you,” Finlo teased, but I raced into the kitchen ahead of my Omega.
Raiden raised an eyebrow at me and I waved him to the couch. “Go and sit down. I’ll make you some food.” He was going to be the most pampered damn Omega to ever be pregnant, and he’d probably hate every moment of it. Well, not the pregnancy itself, but the actual coddling. I couldn’t help it though. A Beta’s gotta Beta. It was in our makeup.
Finlo just laughed and shooed him over to the living room, laughing at Raiden’s huff. Then he wandered over to the kitchen, standing behind me so he could wrap his whole body around mine. “You don’t have to take on the caregiver role, El. We can help too. No one expects you to play house servant and nursemaid.”
I rested my head back against his shoulder and hungrily accepted the kiss he placed on my lips. “I know, but it feels right, you know? Like I wasn’t needed before but now I have a purpose.”
Finlo frowned. “That’s not true. We need you more than anyone else in this Pack. You’re worth ten of me.”
I snorted but appreciated the sentiment. “Only in this Pack, Fin.”
He nuzzled my neck. “This Pack is the only one that matters.” He nipped my throat and I shuddered in pleasure. He pulled back and rested his head on my shoulder. “What are we making a hungry Omega who is possibly eating for, like, six?”
I whipped up a couple of bowls of yogurt with berries and granola, one for Raiden and one for Naja when she was ready to face the day. I hadn’t been lying to Finlo—it did feel right to care for them both, especially during the heat. But the sadness that washed over me at the thought of her leaving straight after tore at my happiness.
I poured Raiden a glass of juice and looked over at Finlo, who was eating leftover yogurt and not actually being helpful at all, though that was half the reason I loved him so much. “Do you think we could convince her to stay?” I asked him quietly, though I hadn’t heard Naja leave her room.
Finlo shrugged, but his brows were pulled low. “Whatever she’s running from has her scared. If we can convince her she’s safer here with us, she might stay. But I don’t really want her to stay out of fear. I want her to stay because she wants to be here with us. Because we can build something perfect here.”
He was right, and I wanted that too. But I’d be happy if she stayed out of fear as well, because whatever terrified a strong woman like that? It had to be deadly.
22
Naja
How did a woman act around a group of men she’d just had a mind-blowing orgy with? Did you give them high fives and swap sex tips? Reminisce about that time you watched them pound someone into the mattress?
Was it still a walk of shame, or was it a stride of pride?
I didn’t know, and I wanted to believe I was badass enough to just stroll out there and own it. I knew as well as I knew my own name that they weren’t judging me for the fact I’d had sex with four different men yesterday. Or was it three? After the fourth muscle-melting orgasm, it had all gotten a little hazy.
The heat was receding, so technically I could leave soon. Just take Luisa and go. I’d given the Pack what they wanted and I’d gotten my end of the bargain too. The deal was done.
But I didn’t want to go yet. And judging by the fact that Luisa kept pointing at the door and saying, “El!”, she didn’t want to go either. So maybe I’d just play it by ear. Have a week of more dirty sex to put in the old spank bank and then we could go. I needed a plan anyway.
Yeah, I’d go once I had a solid plan.
Decision—or justification—made, I rolled out of bed. The scent of Gatlin on the shirt I was wearing made my nipples pebble. It should be illegal for any man to smell that good. Like cedarwood and vetiver. It hung to my knees like a dress, and I was wearing my boyleg underwear, so I decided I was dressed enough. Last night Seven had scooped my jello body from the upstairs nest and put me in the shower. He’d cleaned me off, dressed me, kissed me softly and put me to bed.
The whole night had made a huge chasm in my chest open up. Like my heart was screaming for them to fill the space. They were wrapped in Christmas lights, with a big blinking sign saying ‘The Thing You’ve Been Missing, Dumbass!’ but I was ignoring it because I didn’t—no, I couldn’t—have the capacity to give myself over to them like that.
Luisa was standing at the door, not so patiently, and I opened it. She bolted for the living room like she owned the place, and when I made it out there, she was perched in Raiden’s lap, eating his breakfast.
“Lulu, that’s Raiden’s breakfast,” I chastised, but honestly, she stared me down with the confidence and brass balls that only a two-year-old could have. Like they knew they were too damn cute for punishment.
Raiden grinned, letting her pick out another berry from his bowl. “It’s alright, Mama. We like to share, don’t we?”
Luisa gave me a very solemn nod, and I shook my head in exasperation, walking over to Finlo and Ellar in the kitchen. “You guys are spoiling her rotten,” I mock-grumbled, and they both grinned, not looking even a little bit contrite about it.
Ellar pulled out a bowl of bircher muesli and yogurt, topped with berries and some kind of berry compote. Okay, maybe it wasn’t just Luisa getting spoiled. I sat at the breakfast bar, and Finlo leaned beside me.
“How are you feeling?”
I shrugged. “Uh, sore but pleasantly so? Less like my skin is going to crawl off my skeleton as well, so I guess I have you guys to thank for that.” I flushed bright red and tried to hide it behind a mouthful of muesli.
