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“You are the heartbeat of this family, of this pack. This house is yours. Shit, you can take the stupid house and we can sleep outside for all I care. As long as you’re back here.”
That is tempting, I think to myself. And I’m going to need the clothes I have there to get ready for our date that I'm insisting on tonight. “I’ll come home, but that doesn’t mean that all is forgiven. It only means that I’m terrified to get caught in that woman’s grasp again. It also might mean I need you, even if it doesn't make sense for me to seek you out for comfort right now.”
“Ouch,” Colter says. “We are going to make it make sense baby. However long it takes.”
The drive goes quickly, and I get nervous all over again when we pull up to the familiar house. Not having been here in over a week now, everything just feels a little fuzzy. Like the colors are different or something. But the smells of the forest are familiar, as is the slight divide in the second step going up that I remember to not stumble on. I run my hand along the smooth balustrade of the porch railing, bracing myself before we open the door. James stands behind me like a sentry, strong and steady.
But it’s August that opens the door for me. They’re definitely playing dirty. Sending out the one I like the most right now? Smart move, because it absolutely is going to get me inside.
“How are you doing?”he asks me.
“Oddly enough, better all of a sudden.” He pulls me against him, then pulls me into the house as James shuts the door and locks it.
When he lets me go, I look around the place, trying to see if anything has changed. Kit and Colter are sitting on the couch, looking like they’re two seconds away from exploding. Their fists are clenched, their shoulders tense, their eyes fixed only on me.
They’re holding themselves back, giving me the chance to approach them. Trying not to look so intimidating. But it doesn’t do much, they’re still massive, and they still radiate that intense energy. That energy that fixed me onto them immediately when I met them.
I walk over there slowly as if every step takes some mental reaffirmation. I tell myself I’m doing the right thing, that I have nothing to fear from them. The back of my mind doesn’t believe me. It remembers how little they trusted me and how they put me in danger. But the guys before me, these aren’t those same men. They look desperate. A little bit broken. Humble.
Then, their scents hit me, and I’m stumbling forward, arms outreached. They catch me between them, the rich chocolate wafting off Kit and the fresh, yeasty smell of bread and almonds wafting off of Colter making me dizzy. Their arms band around me as we fall sideways onto the couch. They don’t do anything I don’t want them to, their hands don’t wander anywhere, they just told me. Their bodies are against mine, penning me in, making me feel safe. Here, like this, everything feels like it should.
Nobody says anything for quite a while. It almost gets awkward, but this moment is important. Then, I realize Kit is actually crying. Real tears. I didn’t think alphas were allowed to do that.
“I need you so bad sweet girl,” he whispers. “In my life, in my arms, in my bed. My heart didn’t want to beat without you here.”
I hold him a little tighter, tucking my face under his chin, leaning into his chest.
“I am so sorry omega,” Colter follows. “Failing you made me feel like a failure of an alpha. It went against every instinct I had. I’ve been trying to atone for it all week, but I don’t know that anything can.”
I don’t tell them it’s alright, because it’s not. I don’t reassure them because they don’t need that. I don’t have that in me.
“What are we doing about this… photographer we caught, and the interesting company he keeps?” James asks.
“Well,” Kit rumbles while stroking my hair, “we’re going to a pretty public place tonight, a place with security. I kind of hope she comes at you because then we can do something about it. You’ll be accompanied by your three bonded alphas, and a beta that’s already been inducted into our pack. She can’t touch you.”
My eyes meet August.“Inducted?”
He gives me a shy sort of smile and lifts up his shirt, showing off the mark on his side that he sent me a photo of earlier that matches the other guys’.“What do you think?”
I crawl closer, looking at it with my fingersandmy eyes. It’s a simple design really, but it’s not exactly the same as the alphas’. They all have a tattoo somewhere on their body I found out today via photo evidence on James’ phone, that consists of three stars with the points touching in a sort of triangle fashion. This one on August’s side, however, has four stars with a smaller fifth one in the middle. The whole thing is about the size of my palm, and I have a pretty good idea what the stars represent. Further confirmed by the fact that my alphas had theirs altered to include two extra stars.
“How doyoulike it?”I ask back.
“He’s pack now.” I twist my head to look at Kit, who is already looking more improved in the coloring in his face from when I first walked in. A little bit more at ease that I’m here now.
I brush a kiss over the tattoo that’s still sealed with some plastic wrap, then I stand up and kiss August’s mouth.“I’m happy you finally found your pack,”I tell him.
“I found them because of you,”he explains.“It’s going to take a while to get used to the new dynamic, to figure out how we all work together, but I feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”
“You are trying to win me over, and it’s working.” I make eye contact with all of my alphas as I say this, because I want them to know where I'm at.
Then there’s a knock on the door, which Kit goes to answer. The flowers that got delivered to August's place this morning reappear. A handful of people start carrying in all the vases, covering the dining table, the floor, the kitchen counter, the coffee table, and any other flat surface they can find. It takes about half an hour just to get the flowers inside.
It still blows my mind how many they bought. I feel like I’m in some magical fantasy garden here now. I walk around and look at them as boxes start appearing next, hastily slapped together with labels. August's stuff, I presume. They carry those out to the tiny house under August’s direction, while I sit there admiring my gifts. I cannot believe they did this.
“Do you want to take a bath or something?”
I blink out of my stupor up at Colter, who looks almost nervous to approach me. He’s not usually the one to pamper me, but I find that I like the idea a lot.
