“He should be,” she grumbles. “I’m not holding grudges. I swear it.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused. Turning slightly, I pull her against my chest so she can snuggle closer. The hammock gives a dramatic wobble, and I wince, waiting for it to dump usboth on our asses. Marie gasps, freezing, and only relaxes when the hammock settles.
Why I didn’t decide to lay on the couch that’s close by, I’ll never understand. Apparently, I enjoy living on the edge.
Marie is wearing Storm’s hoodie tonight, the hood over her tangled hair. It’s too cold to run around naked. I'm even wearing a pair of joggers and a sweatshirt while we swing idly in the hammock. I was smart enough to half close the motorized pavilion so the snow won’t touch us, but we can still stare at the sky.
Fuck, it’s magical out here.
“I don’t want him to think I haven’t asked for a bond bite because he used his alpha bark on me,” she whispers, hiding her face.
“No one thinks that,” I sputter. “Storm and I have talked about this, and I promise you neither of us think this.”
The two of us are being patient, because we know it’s a very important choice for her. Scent matched or not, we’re willing to wait. These few months have been a roller coaster for Marie. I still catch her looking for Lore, her hand on her chest until she can see him.
“Sometimes, I wonder how much it’ll destroy me if I were to lose one of you,” she says. “After Lore, I don’t know if I’d be able to survive it.”
“Marie,” I rasp, sliding my hand under her hoodie to rub her back. I need skin to skin contact right now to soothe myself as much as her. “You can’t…Those kinds of thoughts borrow trouble, baby. Anything can happen in life, but we do our damndest everyday to come back to you. Even a trip to the grocery store could lead to tragedy. It’s not just the shit we get up to with the club.”
“No… I know that,” she shudders. “My brain has just been going to really dark places. I don’t understand why, or at least, I didn’t until about an hour ago.”
“Care to share?” I drawl, my fingers playing over her skin. “I promise it’ll feel lighter once you do. Your mind is just going to keep turning up scarier shit on your own.”
Marie gives me a little growl of frustration and I simply shrug because I know I’m right. Inhaling sharply as I wait, I smell the slight difference in her scent again along with the crisp night air.
“Are you trying to say I’m snowballing this in my head?” she asks dangerously.
“No ma’am,” I say immediately. Fuck does this five foot two omega scare the hell out of me. “I’m saying that if you tell me, I’ll be here to lighten whatever it is you’re carrying alone.”
Amusement of my sage advice fills the bond, and I smell the scent of weed instead of cigarettes. Lore is nearby listening to us, and is choosing a different form of vice to smoke tonight.
“Why are you so wise all of a sudden?” Marie sighs. “Lore, put that out and get your ass over here. It’s all your fucking fault anyway.”
I blink at that, and Lore almost falls out of his chair as he puts out his joint. A second later he opens the back door and yells something inside before strolling over to us. Lore tugs her hood down, his fingers moving through her hair until they lightly curl around her throat. Marie’s back bows to press further into his hand like a cat looking for attention.
“What’s my fault, Princess?” he purrs, making Marie and I shiver.
“The baby I’m pregnant with,” she rasps, biting her bottom lip.
“Did you say baby?” Ransom asks, the back door announcing him and Storm a second later as it bangs shut.
“I did,” she says, barely audible over our yells of excitement. “I don’t know why I was worried to tell you!”
“Little Omega, we’ve been trying to get you pregnant for longer than you even know,” I growl, throwing caution to the wind as I turn and pull her over my body to kiss her.
Thankfully, Lore and Storm keep us from capsizing with a shout, while I smugly kiss my grumbling omega quiet.
“Ah, can I confess something?” Storm asks, making Lore and I groan.
“Oh please do,” Ransom rumbles.
Fuck me.
“Storm,” I groan. “Come on man.”
“Hit me with it,” Marie says, covering my mouth with her hand. I nip at her palm, making her laugh, and Storm winces.
“We swapped out your heat and birth control pills with placebos,” he says rapidly.
