Her smile was infectious. “That was when I first fell in love with you. But it just got stronger every time we spoke. Not only were you brilliant, you were kind. Empathetic. Strong-willed. And now… you can’t possibly imagine how much I love you. You’re all I think about.”
She laughed, or sobbed, I couldn’t tell. “The whole time?”
“You didn’t know?” I murmured, still smiling at her. I might never stop.
“No. But I love you, too. Maybe not for as long, but I don’t appreciate your insinuation that your love is somehow stronger than mine. I think I loveyoumore.”
“You think or you know?” I said before I kissed her.
It was brief but fierce, and I growled low in my throat as her tongue stroked against mine. I was conscious of Gabriel and Andrew, and the conversation that had been hanging over us. It was time.
I led her to the couch. Gabriel settled next to her and wrapped her in an embrace. He whispered in her ear as she rested on his chest. Andrew sat on her other side, his hand massaging the curve of her hip. I perched on the edge of the coffee table so I could stay close.
“After your heat, what do you want?” I asked.
“I don’t… I have no idea,” she said after a few moments.
“Don’t lie, princess,” I murmured.
Andrew nudged my shin with his foot and gave me a warning look. “Let me help. If you could wake up tomorrow and have whatever you wanted, what would it be?”
Bridget stared at me as she thought.
“I’d like to go back to work, find a study that doesn’t involve any kind of human trafficking. Or maybe start applying for Ph.D. programs.”
“You should,” I said. “Any program would be lucky to have you.”
“But… if I do that, I might have to go somewhere else. There aren’t many Ph.D. programs in Fairview,” she said.
“Do not worry about that,” Gabriel said dismissively, squeezing her shoulder.
She flushed. “But Iamworried. Because I don’t want to leave you guys.”
I reached for her hand. “You won’t have to leave me.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “Obviously, we’re coming, too.”
“But I couldn’t ask all of you to just… give up your lives here,” Bridget said.
“You don’t have to ask, baby. That’s one of the many perks of being the Omega in the pack. Pretty much anything you want, you get,” Andrew said with a slow smile. “And I do meananything. Plus I’m pretty sure I can do a podcast from anywhere.”
We’d become a pack. It had been happening so slowly, I wasn’t sure when I had missed the tipping point. But now, it seemed like a foregone conclusion.
“But I’m not even a proper Omega,” Bridget protested.
“Even if that were true, I don’t care. I fell in love with you before I knew you were an Omega,” I said.
Andrew huffed. “Alright, stop bragging.”
“Your designation does not matter to me,” Gabriel said as he brushed her hair from her cheek. “It is your soul that I love, mi fiore.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Well, unlike these two, I love that you’re an Omega. I want to spoil you and protect you. I want to show you exactly how an Alpha can care for you,” Andrew added, his voice pitched low. His hand tightened on her hip. “I want to fuck you until you’re begging for my knot, then claim you asmine, and let you feel just how deeply our bond can run.”
It was a window to our future: each of us loving Bridget in a different way, giving her something she needed. In my daydreams, it had always just been Bridget and me, but this could be better than I imagined. I was ready to find out.
“Are you sure?” Bridget asked, her voice breaking.
