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“How bad are they getting?” Ferris asks from where he crouches next to me.

I don’t even waste the oxygen to speak; instead, I raise my feet from the water so he can see for himself. He whistles low, displeasure etched in his furrowed brow. “Damn,” he grunts. “How the hell are you going to walk uphill through the mountains with blisters like those?”

Frustrated tears prickle at the corners of my eyes, and I can’t help but feel defeated. My emotions are all over the place, likely thanks to my raging hormones, and all I really want is to build a nest and bury myself inside.

“I don’t know,” I sniffle.

Dair walks over with a fresh jar of water and a handful of berries that he found on a bush near the creek. “Snack first, worry later,” he tells me with a gentle kiss on the head.

I scarf down the sweet berries, luxuriating at every juicy burst on my tongue. Already I feel better, but my snack doesn’t change the fact that my feet are destroyed.

I hear Dair and Ferris behind me, whisper arguing, probably about me, so I call out, “What are you two arguing about?”

“Dair was just offering to shift into his wolf and carry you,” Ferris informs me. “Yet, he already told us he’s worried about shifting and not being able to shift back because of the full moon. So, what happens when he’s a wolf, and we reach the Foothill Territory, and he can’t transform back to speak to his allies? What happens if he can’t change back for his rut at all?”

“That wouldn’t happen,” Dair snaps back.

“You know that for certain?” I ask.

He grumbles while his rainy forest scent faintly burns. “No,” he admits, “I don’t know for certain.”

“Okay, then the argument is over!” I exclaim.

“For now,” Dair growls deeply. His eyes take on the silvery glow of his wolf and fur sprouts over his forearms. “But the moment that my wolf senses that you cannot continue, I will have no control over his actions. I barely have control as it is. He will not stand to do nothing if you are in pain.”

24 Hours Until the Full Moon

We are just a little over a day outside of the Foothill Territory, and the shift in environment is amazing after having spent an entire week walking through nothing but dirt and ghost towns. The elevation is exhausting, but I can’t deny that the changing landscape is a welcome reprieve. I actually saw a tree today for the first time since leaving the Great River, and it made me so emotional I almost cried.

We walk a little later into the evening than we normally would, but the pressure is stronger than ever. Dair and Ferris have both been exceptionally clingy, needing to touch me several times an hour, often scent-marking me in some way. Little kisses to my wrists, grabbing me into their side so that they can rub against my temple. My omega has been at the forefront of my mind, cataloging every little possessive touch as if they’re precious gems.

Some time ago, Ferris set the tent up and left me alone inside. Since then, I’ve been rearranging our blankets into something of a respectable nest. The idea of bringing my alphas into this space that I’ve been building for all of us makes me so wet that it hurts, but I know that the relief I need won’t come until Dair’s rut sends us all overboard.

Just as I weave the final blanket into place, the zipper opens and my alphas climb inside, sealing us in with our raging, pheromone-rich scents. Dair’s eyes land on the nest, his chest breaking out into a thunderous purr and his eyes glowing in the low light. I can sense how close to the edge he is even without a mate bite. As for Ferris, his emotions flood into me through our bond, and I can feel how proud he is of me, and how much elated disbelief he feels that everything worked out after all.

“You made a beautiful nest, omega,” Dair growls.

I feel my cheeks flame with a blush that spreads down to my chest in a warm flood. “Thank you,” I breathe.

Ferris’s hands clench into fists at his sides. “Are you going to invite us in?”

I hum, like I’m contemplating it, but my heart rate speeds with excitement. “Come in, alphas,” I say, and lie back to watch them climb into my nest, careful not to disturb anything.

Dair pulls my bare feet onto his lap and gently cleans them with a wet cloth before slathering them in some of his aloe. Ferris hands him some gauze from our med-kit, and he painstakingly wraps up my injured skin before raising one of my legs to place a gentle kiss on my ankle.

“There you go,” he whispers, and I melt into the blankets around me.

Ferris scoots in behind me, lying down so that his body cradles mine and begins petting me with long, soothing strokes over my arms. “We’re nearly there,” he says quietly into my hair. “Soon we’ll be home.”

Dair lies down in front of me so that I’m surrounded by the people I love, and I’m reminded of all the times I was smooshed between Mother and River. My heart aches to think about them. Mother would have loved Dair and probably would have laughed her ass off that Ferris ended up bonding me despite all his protests. Maybe she would have wanted to make the journey with us to the Northern Pacific, but more than likely, she’d have stayed with River.

Not because she loved him more, but because it’s so obvious that he needs help. I don’t know what happened to the brother that battled against the world with me, but he’s so very lost. I hope that as the alliance between Grand Prairie and the Northern Pacific Territory grows, we can somehow find a way to be siblings again.

Which reminds me . . . “Where do you think Vale and Tore are?” I ask, snuggling closer into Dair’s chest.

His voice is soft with exhaustion. “Probably right behind us. They might have even shifted and been moving in wolf form. For all we know, they’re waiting in the Foothill Territory.”

I hum, closing my eyes. My alphas pull me closer into their bodies as we all settle in the first nest I’ve ever made for my pack. I feel their hands entwine where they rest over my hip, and I smile at how lucky I am to be part of so much love.