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Dio’s face turned red, and I figured he’d momentarily forgotten GG was there. “Sorry, GG.”
GG burst out laughing. “We called it a purple nurple in my heyday, but only if you did it right.”
She turned and headed back towards the kitchen, still laughing to herself.
forty-nine
IgrabbedSamandpulled him towards me, stretching up and wrapping one arm around his neck. I had a death grip on the thermos in my other arm. “Are you okay?”
It felt like life was moving at impossible speed since the Crash happened. We were bouncing from one crisis and calamity to another and figuring it out as we went. Yet life had also brought me my mates, so I couldn’t complain. There was nowhere else I wanted to be right now, than here, at home, with them.
My mates all surrounded Sam and me as we stood under the tree together, their scents mingling in a delicious concoction. They all instinctively reached for Sam and I, and each other, in simple ways. Dave was warming my back while Claudio was propped against him with one hand on my waist, and Pala had his head on Sam’s shoulder, while lightly playing with my hair. Even Bear was getting in on the action, his head resting on Sam’s hip while he gently nudged me with his nose, hoping for pats.
We were all drawing on each other’s energy to center and balance us. I could feel Pala’s calm river, Dio’s light, Dave’s rock solid dependability and Sam’s dominant caress, all moving within me.
“I’m okay, sweetheart,” Sam said as he drew both arms up around me and pulled me in tight. Sharing his warmth and his strength. “I won’t lie. That was tough, but I knew you guys would have my back if it went sideways. I just needed a bit of time to process it before I shared it with Maia, so I could be here for her if she took it badly. Are you okay?”
“Me? Okay about what?” I asked, genuinely confused. I felt so happy and content right now, in this moment.Couldn’t he feel that?
“With Maia being pregnant? After what we talked about this morning.”
“I may not know if I’m ready to fall pregnant myself, but I’m going to be the best aunt ever.”
“Yeah, you will,” Pala said over my shoulder.
“Besides, now I get all this delicious chicory coffee to myself,” I added with a laugh, as I clutched the thermos between Sam and I.
“Oh, you’re sharing that chicory,” Dave warned. I just winked at him from the safety of Sam’s arms.
When I’d met Sam, I’d known he was mine from the first moment, but I hadn’t been sure we’d ever reach this point. Freely hugging and securely bonded. His rage and his fear had been so entrenched, and I’d sensed the abyss pulling at him, dragging him under.
I’d worked with a lot of women to process their emotions after escaping difficult lives, but it hadn’t prepared me for Sam. Without this pack, I don’t know that any one of us would have been enough to save him.
He’d had to overcome a difficult childhood, traumatic teenage years and a physical power he couldn’t understand or control. Yet here he was, with a peaceful contentment flowing through our bond. It made my heart feel too big for my chest.
Dave had equally challenged me, constantly pulling at me while holding me at a distance. Granted, I’d held him at a distance, too. Too scared of triggering something within myself by letting in someone important.
Yet Dio and Pala had blasted through my walls so easily, like they’d always been within them, before we’d even met.
I wasn’t ever going to take these pack hugs for granted. Sam snuck a hand under my t-shirt and I arched into him, as warmth from his hands spread tingles where he drew lazy circles against my skin with his thumb. I rubbed my cheek over his neck, instinctively marking him with my scent. He growled lightly and I could feel his beast’s pleasure at my possessive touch.
I’d never in my life felt more connected and needed than I did at this moment. I realized I’d been strong for myself my whole life, but I’d also kept people at arm’s length. Even my brother, who I loved fiercely. I’d never let anybody in before now, only giving people small parts of myself. Now, that had all changed. I’d let in a village.
I let go of all my worries about being a problem for other people, and just lent on my guys for a minute while I sorted out my thoughts. Knowing they would cherish the opportunity to hold me up, even just for a little while.
We’d come together so quickly as a pack, but it didn’t mean we were weak. We all filled in each other’s broken pieces. Dio helped Dave chill out, Dave anchored Sam, Pala made Dio feel whole. They all made me feel like I could conquer the world, and they’d cheer me on while I did it.
I knew it wouldn’t be all hugs all the time. Especially between Sam and Hunter. Despite the hug fest they’d just had, it would take some time to adjust to their new roles in each other’s lives. Their childhoods had left them both with scars, but we’d all help them through it.
Even with the peace we all felt at this moment, there was so much we had to do hovering at the edges of our awareness. We had to help the town recover and take care of the Palace omegas. Then there were Ava and Cary. I had no intention of leaving them alone to work out who the feral alpha was, and what was up with the twins. Ava and Cary had both stepped up when I’d needed a friend and I owed them to do the same. More than that, I wanted to do the same. They’d both snuck through my walls.
We also had to figure out where the Palace lab techs had gone, where Maven was hiding, what they had planned next, and who that sniper had been working for.
On top of all that, we needed to keep Maia and Ava safe. Especially now that Maia was pregnant while mated to a prime alpha. If the people hunting her found out, they’d never rest until they got her back in their clutches. Plus, there were all the risks of a pregnancy with only a vet and traditional medicine to rely on.
We seemed to always be in the dark, pun intended, since the Crash. Reacting to outside influences who all knew far more than we did.
“I’m tired of playing defense,” I suddenly blurted to my guys.
