"This morning, in the nest... I told Levi and Micah something. Something important. And they said I should tell you too. That we should all talk about it together."
Garrett's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Okay. We're listening." I looked down at my empty plate, gathering my courage. The words had come so easily with Levi and Micah, wrapped in the safety of the nest. Here, in the bright light of the kitchen, they felt heavier somehow. More real.
"The nest," I started slowly. "I didn't plan it. My omega just... took over. And when I woke up this morning and realized what I'd done---that I'd used all of your scents, woven pieces of each of you into my safe space..." I swallowed hard. "It made me realize something I've been trying to deny for weeks."
"And what's that?" Oliver's voice was soft, encouraging.
I lifted my eyes to meet his, then Garrett's. "That I want this. I wantyou. All of you." My voice cracked slightly. "I want to be yours. Fully. Not just dating, not just figuring things out. I want to be a pack."
The silence that followed was deafening. Oliver's breath caught audibly. His eyes went bright, emotions flickering across his face too fast to name, shock, joy, something fierce and possessive that made my omega purr in response.
But it was Garrett who moved first. His chair scraped back with a sharp sound, and suddenly he was on his feet, rounding the table with long, purposeful strides. I barely had time to register the intensity in his dark eyes before his hands were cupping my face, tilting it up toward his.
"Say it again," he demanded, his voice rough and low. "Say it again, Daphne." My heart stuttered. This close, I could see the way his pupils had blown wide, could smell cedar and woodsmoke rolling off him in waves. His usual careful control had cracked, revealing something raw and hungry underneath.
"I want to be yours," I whispered. "All of yours. I want?—"
He kissed me before I could finish. It wasn't soft. It wasn't gentle. It wasconsuming---his mouth hot and demanding against mine, one hand sliding from my cheek to tangle in my hair while the other gripped my waist and hauled me up from the chair. I gasped against his lips, and he took advantage, deepening the kiss until I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but hold on.
His hand at my waist tightened, pulling me flush against him, and I felt the rumble of a growl vibrate through his chest. The sound did something to me, sent heat pooling low in stomach, made my fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt like I needed to anchor myself or float away.
"Garrett," someone said, Oliver, I thought distantly, but Garrett didn't stop. His hand slid from my waist to the small of my back, pressing me closer, while his mouth traced a burning path from my lips to my jaw, my neck, the sensitive spot just below my ear that made me gasp and arch into him.
"Been waiting," he growled against my skin, the words rough and barely coherent. "So long. Wanted you so much. And now you're saying—" He pulled back just enough to look at me, his eyes wild, his breath ragged. "You're saying you're ours?"
"Yes," I breathed. "Yes, I'm—" He kissed me again, swallowing the rest of my words. His hands roamed now—up my sides, skimming the curve of my ribs, one thumb brushing dangerously close to the underside of my breast before sliding back down to grip my hip. Each touch sent sparks skittering across my skin, and I heard myself make a sound I'd never made before, needy and wanting and completely beyond my control.
"Garrett." Oliver's voice was firmer now, cutting through the haze. "Garrett, you need to slow down." A low, possessive rumble answered, not quite a growl, but close. Garrett's grip on me tightened fractionally before he seemed to catch himself. Hepulled back with visible effort, his chest heaving, his eyes still dark with want.
"Sorry," he rasped, though his hands didn't leave my body. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" He squeezed his eyes shut, jaw clenching. "Lost control for a second. You just... when you said that..."
"Don't apologize," I said, and my voice came out breathless and shaky. My lips felt swollen, my whole body humming with sensation. "I didn't mind."
Garrett's eyes snapped open, fixing on mine with an intensity that made my knees weak. "Didn't mind," he repeated slowly. "Daphne, I just—in front of everyone?—"
"We're a pack," Levi said, and there was laughter in his voice. "We're going to see a lot more than that eventually."
"Levi," Oliver warned, but he was smiling. He'd risen from his seat at some point and was watching us with an expression of fond exasperation. "Give them a moment."
"I'm just saying." Levi held up his hands innocently. "That was hot. I'm not complaining." My face flamed. I was suddenly very aware of the position I was in, pressed against Garrett's chest, his hands still gripping my hips, my own fingers tangled in his shirt. In front of three other men who had just watched us kiss like our lives depended on it.
"I should..." I started to pull away, but Garrett's hands tightened.
"Don't." His voice was still rough, but gentler now. "Please. Just... give me another second." So I stayed. Let him hold me while his breathing slowed, while the tension in his body gradually eased. His forehead dropped to rest against mine, and I heard him exhale—long and shaky.
"I've wanted to do that since the day I met you," he admitted quietly, just for me. “I thought,there she is. Like I'd been looking for you my whole life and didn't even know it."
My heart clenched. "Garrett..."
"And then you said you wanted to be ours, and I just..." He laughed softly, self-deprecating. "Snapped. Couldn't hold back anymore. Couldn't pretend I wasn't desperate for you."
"You don't have to hold back," I said, reaching up to touch his face. "Not anymore." Something flickered in his eyes, hope and heat and a vulnerability I'd never seen from him before. He turned his head to press a kiss to my palm, soft and reverent, so different from the consuming intensity of moments ago.
"Careful," he murmured against my skin. "Keep saying things like that and I might not let you leave this kitchen."
"Maybe I don't want to leave." The growl that escaped him was pure alpha, and I felt it vibrate through every nerve in my body.
"Okay," Oliver said, stepping forward to place a hand on Garrett's shoulder. "As much as I'm enjoying this, and I am, believe me, we should probably finish the actual conversation before anyone loses any more control."
