"We'll figure it out together," Remy said, his voice warm as honey, his hand squeezing my knee in reassurance. His amber eyes held none of his usual teasing—just sincerity and want and something that looked a lot like love. "No pressure. No expectations. Just us, taking care of you."
Silas moved then, rising from the foot of the bed with that silent grace of his. "I'll get water. Food. Things you'll need." His pale eyes found mine, soft despite their intensity. "We're not going anywhere. But you should have supplies before... before it really starts."
He slipped out of the nest, out of the bedroom, and I heard Gumbo rumble at him from the hallway—a sound of grudging approval. The big gator had taken up position outside the door sometime during the night, his massive body blocking the entrance like a scaly guardian.
"Gumbo can't be in here," I said suddenly, the thought breaking through the fever-haze. "During the heat. He'll try to protect me. Might hurt one of you."
"We know." Harper's lips quirked slightly. "Silas is going to set him up in the living room with enough food to keep him happy. He understands. Doesn't like it, but he understands."
The thought of my nine-foot alligator sulking in the living room while I spent three days being thoroughly debauched by three Alphas made me laugh—a slightly hysterical sound that melted into a moan as another wave of heat rolled through me.
"Getting closer," Remy murmured, his amber eyes tracking over my face, watching the flush spread down my neck, the way my chest heaved with each breath. His thumb had stilled on my knee, his whole body tense with anticipation. "You're flushing. Your scent's getting stronger. Sweeter."
"I know." I could feel it building—the pressure in my lower belly, the ache between my thighs, the fever climbing higher with every passing minute. "It's coming. Soon. I don't know how much longer I can?—"
The bedroom door opened, and Silas slipped back in, his arms full of water bottles, protein bars, and soft towels. He deposited everything on the nightstand, then turned to look at me, his pale eyes sweeping over my flushed, trembling form.
"Gumbo's settled," he said quietly. "Door's closed. He's not happy, but he'll guard from outside."
I heard a thump from the hallway—Gumbo's tail hitting the floor in displeasure—followed by a low, rumbling hiss. Those males better take care of his omega, or there would be consequences.
"Thank you." I managed a weak smile. "All of you. For... for being here. For understanding. For not making this weird or?—"
"Chere." Remy cut me off, shifting closer until he was pressed against my side, his warmth seeping into my feverish skin. "This could never be weird. This is... this is everything I didn't know I was looking for. You. Them." He glanced at Harper and Silas, something soft in his expression. "Pack."
"What he said," Harper rumbled, his chest vibrating against my side. "Less eloquently." A ghost of a smile crossed Silas's face, softening the sharp angles, making him look younger for just a moment. "What they said," he agreed, his quiet voice carrying more warmth than I'd ever heard from him.
The warmth in my chest expanded, pushing against my ribs, making my eyes sting with tears that had nothing to do with the heat building inside me. These three ridiculous, wonderful, infuriating Alphas. These men who had somehow become everything.
Mine.
The thought hit me like a lightning bolt, and something inside me shifted. Not the heat—something deeper. Something permanent.
Mine. All three of them. No matter what happened after this, no matter how the bonding went, no matter what the future held—they were mine. And I was theirs.
"Okay," I breathed, and even I could hear the change in my voice—lower, huskier, the omega rising to the surface. "Okay. I think... I think it's time."
Harper moved then, positioning himself in front of me, his massive body blocking out the light from the window. His gray eyes searched mine one last time—checking, always checking. "Last chance to change your mind. If you want us to leave?—"
"If you leave, I'll hunt you down and kill you myself," I growled, and the sound surprised us both—primal and fierce and entirely omega.
His lips curved into something that was almost a smile. "There she is."
The fever spiked again. It hit me all at once—a wave of heat and need so intense it whited out my vision. My back arched off the headboard, my fingers clawing at the blankets, a keen tearing from my throat that echoed off the walls of thenest. Every nerve ending in my body ignited, pleasure and pain and desperate, aching emptiness all crashing together until I couldn't tell where one ended and the others began.
I could hear myself making sounds—whimpers and moans and broken versions of their names—but I couldn't stop, couldn't control anything. My body wasn't mine anymore. It belonged to the heat, to the need, to the primal instinct screaming at me to be filled, be claimed, be taken.
"Please," I sobbed, reaching for Harper with trembling hands. "Please, please, I need—I can't—it hurts, it hurts, please?—"
He was there in an instant, his massive body covering mine, pressing me down into the nest. His scent wrapped around me—pine and woodsmoke and moonshine—and something deep inside me purred even as the rest of me writhed with need.
"I've got you." His voice was rough, strained, barely controlled. "I've got you, sweetheart. We've got you." At the edges of my vision, I could see Remy and Silas positioning themselves—not leaving, not competing, just... waiting. Ready. Their eyes were dark with want, their bodies tense with restraint, but they stayed where they were. Giving Harper space. Giving me what I'd asked for.
Pack. Working together. Just like I'd asked.
The last coherent thought I had was gratitude—fierce and overwhelming—before the heat swallowed me whole.
Chapter Thirty-Six
