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“Shit,” Matiu grunts. I know that tone, know he must be close, and turn my head, capturing his lips with mine. He comes a moment later, growling into my mouth, his knot pressed hard against the lips of my pussy, making me feel even more full.

“Fuck,” he sighs, slipping free. “You’ve gotta fucking knot her.”

“Yeah,” Scott grunts. Both of them have their hands on my hips now, holding me in place as Scott fucks into me, pressing me back hard against Matiu’s chest. My legs are spread even further apart, Scott’s cock splitting me in two with every thrust. “I’m gonna⁠—”

“Yes! Please,” I beg loudly, digging my nails into his back. “Fucking knot me.”

I come the moment his knot pops into place, vision whiting out, and for a moment there’s nothing but the intense pleasure of being so fucking full. I’m vaguely aware of Scott coming too—of course he is, because that’s how it works—and Matiu’s deep, soothing voice at my ear.

“Hey. Hey,” Scott is talking, his voice so gentle, and I blink, realising that my eyes are wet with tears.

“Oh.”

“Did I hurt you?”

I shake my head, closing my eyes, clutching at both men, my hands in their hair. My alphas. Lips press to my forehead and shoulder, and I let out a little sob. “I don’t… I don’t know why I’m crying,” I admit, my voice small. “That was amazing. The best. I think you just fucked the tears out of me. Like a release. I feel like I’m floating.”

Matiu’s mouth presses to my ear once more. “Well I have some shocking information for you… you are floating in water right now.”

I snort and Scott shoves Matiu’s shoulder playfully. Scott wipes away the last of my tears, kisses my cheek, and all I can think is that this is the pack I wanted all along.

Chapter Fourteen

Scott

There’s a naked omega sprawled over me, and I can’t even make the most of it because I’ve got to take a piss. “Keep sleeping,” I whisper to Lizzie as she stirs, muttering something unintelligible in her sleep. I do my best to creep silently down the mezzanine stairs, wincing as the third one from the top creaks.

Matiu is already in the kitchen, and gives me the old raised brows as acknowledgement as I walk past. I spend the next ten minutes stressing about our situation as I shower and dress in shorts and a singlet.

We’ve been getting along when in Lizzie’s presence. It’s felt like old times in those moments. We’ve felt like friends. Hell, last night—when we fucked her together—we felt like a pack. But then when she’s asleep, or out on a walk, or up in her nest, it’s as if that all disappears. I don’t know what to say to him, where to even start, to bridge fifteen years of animosity between us. We’ve let this go on for so long that, at least for me, I’m not even angry about what set us on this path. I haven’t been for years.

I miss my friend. I miss the people we were: two young guys who formed a pack and had all their hopes and dreams ahead of them.

I’m so fucking scared we won’t get back to there.

“Made you coffee,” Matiu says as I step into the kitchen, holding a mug towards me.

“Thanks.” I take a sip. It’s exactly how I like it, and somehow that stings more than anything else has so far. Fifteen years, and he still remembers two sugars and just the right amount of milk.

I set the mug down and open the pantry. I make my breakfast in silence, slicing banana over the top of muesli, the only noise the odd clink of my spoon against the porcelain bowl.

“She still asleep?”

“Yeah,” I answer. “She’s really not a morning person, eh.”

“Yeah.” Matiu’s knife scrapes over his toast as he spreads a thick layer of butter. “She was up in the night, reading again.”

“Oh really?”

“You were snoring.”

“So were you,” I hit back. “Just so you know.”

“Sure.”

We eat in silence, both of us standing awkwardly in the kitchen, staring out at the ocean, at walls, at Barry snoring away in his bed, doing anything but make eye contact and actually address the elephant in the room.

“She got an update on her missing bag, by the way,” I say. “Came through when you were in the loo last night. They’re shipping it here, or they’re supposed to be. What’s the bet that it gets lost again?”