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Dave groaned, but didn’t refute him, which I found intriguing.
“Where’s Sam?” Pala asked.
“He’s writing,” Dave said, which had the guys nodding, but I was completely confused.What the hell was he writing? A journal entry, a short story, mission reports?
The mention of Sam had me tensing up, though. While I didn’t shy away from them, I didn’t like confrontations and I liked the aftermath when everything was awkward even less. I was still mad at Sam for acting like a dick, and I would never put up with that, but I was more worried about him than anything else. I hadn’t liked the look on his face after I’d put him down.
Pala instinctively started stroking my back, the same way Dio had earlier, offering comfort. Sensing my mood swing seemed to soften his knot, though, enough for me to slip off him. I was a little disappointed. I’d been enjoying our outdoor snuggle time. We were going to have to do this again. Maybe we could keep the hammocks, so we didn’t have to lie on the ground.
“Come on, let’s go up to the treehouse so we can clean up and get Sam’s grovel fest underway,” Dio said as he held a hand out to help me up.
I tried to fight my smile, but I couldn’t. Nothing was ever going to feel too heavy with Dio around to lighten the mood.
“So, who’s giving me a piggyback ride?” I asked.
Pala immediately tried to push Dio out of the way, to reach me first, but Dio stood his ground. They ended up wrestling with towels hanging precariously from their hips. Bear came leaping out of nowhere and jumped into the fray, wanting to play, too. He stole Dio’s towel as Pala laughed, and they both ended up chasing him for it. Bear had the goofiest, happiest look on his face as he dodged them both.
I would have stayed to watch the show, but Dave turned away from me and crouched down in silent invitation. I dashed over and hopped on his back.
“Thanks.”
“No thanks needed,” he said as he gripped my legs and steadied me as he stood up.
We both realized the problem at the same moment, as his hands gripped my naked thighs. The blanket shifted even further when I put my arms around him to hang on, so now I had a lot of skin plastered against his back.
“Why do you always seem to wander around in nothing but a blanket lately?”
“Hey, you brought the blanket,” I said in mock outrage.
“Clearly I’m a sucker for punishment,” he mumbled to himself as he headed towards the stairs.
The stairs that would take me up to the dark presence I could feel pulling at me, even from this distance. The alpha that drew me in with an intensity that took my breath away, yet also had alarm bells ringing in my head.
Sam.
twenty-nine
“Keepittogether,”Iwhispered to myself as I spotted Dave piggybacking a blanket covered Lexie towards the stairs while Dio and Pala goofed off in the clearing with Bear. Dammit, I did not want to have another awkward conversation with her while she was naked under a blanket and smelling like sex. It drove my beast wild to scent my mates on her. He was desperate to stake his claim, too.
I’d white knuckled my way through the sexcapade that had just gone on in the clearing below me. Forcing myself to stick to the shadows of the deck and not peek over the railing, despite Lexie’s scent and moans calling to me like a siren song. I’d almost lost it when Dio had groaned loudly while Pala had cried out in pleasure.
I’d noticed Dave adjusting himself uncomfortably from where he stood at the edge, scanning the trees, with only the occasional glance down before he tore his eyes away.
The group hug earlier had calmed my dominance in a way nothing else ever had. I’d been skeptical when Leif had alluded to it, but all their energies in close proximity had quickly calmed my own. Pala’s tranquil river, Dio’s lighthearted joy, and even Dave’s solid dependability had all soothed me. My beast was an instinctive creature and had lapped that shit up like it was his first ice cream cone.
Yet, sitting up here alone now, in the star speckled darkness as the clouds receded, my dominance was surging again as my thoughts and energy raced. I had always appreciated Dio stepping in whenever my dominance spiked. His fond and instinctive touches never failed to soothe me. Yet, I’d always removed myself as soon as I could, to flee and attempt to dilute my dominance on my own, by exercising to the point of exhaustion.
I cursed myself as I realized Leif was right and I had made it so much harder. I was an idiot. Now that the fog of my dominance spiral had fully lifted, I felt a keen need building inside me for my budding pack to be close at hand. And for the feisty omega at its center. I’d been delusional to think I could ever leave them. I would have been feral within weeks, maybe days.
As if I had called them, Dave and Lexie appeared at the top of the stairs. Dio and Pala’s heads popped over the edge of the balcony a moment later, as their chests heaved heavy breaths after their rope climb.
The two bite marks on either side of Pala’s neck, that were almost glowing in the moonlight, had my beast yearning. Alphas rarely bit each other, but my beast wanted a claim mark from both Pala and Dio with a passionate need that took my breath away. Almost as much as I wanted Lexie’s.
“I win,” Dio crowed, distracting me, as he threw his leg up onto the railing and propelled himself over, using the brute strength in his powerful thighs. Unfortunately, his towel snagged on the timber and ripped free as he leaped to the deck. It slipped over the edge and fell back to the earth before he could grab it.
“Yeah, but I made it to the top without flashing the world my junk or losing my towel,” Pala said as he gracefully flipped himself over the edge like a gymnast on a balance beam. His abs flexed as he used his core strength instead.
Dio shrugged. “It was all slobbery, anyway.”
