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“You really think so?” she asks.
“I really do,” he says, and this time, he gently kisses her on the lips. She sighs and leans into the kiss. I reach over and entwine my fingers with Fox’s, happy to see Thane so happy.
“Well, who the fuck do I cuddle?” Levi mutters from his armchair. “We’re an odd number now.”
“Get over here, you idiot,” Fox orders, snapping his fingers. Levi makes a happy noise and throws himself on top of both my lap and Fox’s, nearly elbowing me in the goods. Fox runs his fingers through Levi’s hair, and he practically preens at the attention.
“Since we’re all here,” says Riley, a nervous quiver in her tone. “Can we talk about the bonding?”
My muscles tense, as do the bodies of the other Alphas of the Pack. At any other time, if you told me I could finally bond with Riley, I would’ve crowed with happiness. But now, after seeing her so vulnerable? Let’s just say that Thane isn’t the only one overprotective of her health. I don’t want to hurt her. None of us do. So we haven’t spoken about the bonding, either with her or without her. It has remained this far-off event we are too scared to plan for.
“What would you like to know?” Thane asks, his voice hoarse.
“Well, I guess the question is when will it happen? When am I healthy enough? When would you want to do it? I just… I guess I want to know what to expect. How long I’m going to have to wait, you know?”
Thane gives me a helpless look, and I clear my throat. “Generally, under normal circumstances, there would be a ceremony. A way to signify, at least through tradition, the creation of the bond. But physically? It would all just be down to the bite. And the knot, of course.”
“So all you have to do is—” She blushes, despite all we’ve done already, and it is absolutely adorable. “Knot me? And then each of you would bite me, correct? There’s nothing more? I mean, I’ve done some research and I’ve written about bonding between Alphas and Omegas in my ghostwriting, but it was all based on second hand information.”
“Trust me,” Levi says, his eyes dazed with lust. “It’ll be more than enough.”
“Of course, if you want that type of ceremony…” I suggest, but she shakes her head, interrupting me before I can continue.
“No, I don’t need that. I don’t need some big party to tell the world that I’m yours. I just need to be yours.”
“I completely agree,” says Thane, running his fingers through her hair. “Of course, that doesn’t mean my parents won’t try to make it happen. But we’ll fight that battle when it comes to it. Start looking at fancy white dresses, just in case.”
Riley laughs, but it still has that shocked, surprised element to it. “I’ll do anything you want. I just can’t wait to be bonded to you. I can’t wait to be part of a family.”
Thane kisses her. “Neither can we. You’re what we’ve been missing this whole time. No matter what challenges the future holds, we’ll be together as a Pack, and that’s what’s important. I still can’t believe how lucky I was to have found you. It was the best day of my life.”
“It’ll be second best after we’ve bonded,” Fox nudges me, waggling his brows and I huff out a laugh.
Riley sighs, content, snuggling down against Thane. Within a moment, she begins to purr, the sound loud and clear. She’s been doing it more and more over the last few weeks and knowing that she hadn’t purred in years before coming here makes me so damn happy that it was us who found her. That she wasn’t taken into custody and cast off somewhere she never would have been comfortable enough to purr ever again.
I reach for Levi’s hand and squeeze it. These men have been my past and my present. And there, sitting with Thane, is the future for all of us.
TWENTY-EIGHT
—
R I L E Y
The call comeswithin two weeks, when the five of us are in the den watching a movie. I freeze when the unknown caller’s number flashes across my screen, my skin growing hot.
“Is it—?” Fox asks, snuggling into my side, his head on my shoulder.
Last week, an agent requested my full manuscript from a query letter I sent in. What should have taken months or more, took barely a week.
There’s no way I can be lucky enough to have a call back from an agent in only two weeks? I shake my head. It’s probably a scam call.
I answer it just as Miles pauses the movie.
“Riley North?” A crisp, female voice comes through. “This is Maria Conroy. I’m with the Everett Agency. I’ve just finished reading your manuscript… I loved it. I’d like to formally offer to represent you as your agent, if you’re still unrepresented.”
“Willing?” I gasp out, shock and awe rushing over me like I’ve just been doused with a bucket of cold water. It’s everything I’ve dreamed about. And it’s happening.
“Of course!” I blurt, my words tripping over each other in their haste to leave my lips. “I-I would love to! I mean, I would love for you to represent me. You were my top choice. I can’t…”
