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“You’re injured? Who hurt you?” Wolf’s purr cut off, replaced with an angry growl. Death suddenly stalked our cozy glade. Ava stirred in his arms and Nick reached out to soothe her by stroking her back.
“I’m healing. I wasn’t going to let those Palace assholes take either of them, but with no training, I was more of an inconvenience than a threat. If Maia and Lexie’s packs hadn’t intervened, it would have ended badly. I never want to be in that position again.” I clenched my jaw as I remembered the way those alphas had stalked towards Ava and Lexie.
The first time I’d seen Ava, she’d been innocently standing at a window overlooking the Palace garden. I’d barely been there a day when I’d come across her, lost in thought, a small frown on her face. The stone window arch had framed her as soft rays of the late afternoon sun had lit her up. She’d been radiant. A goddess among mortals. Her hair had been up in a bun, long wisps falling loose around her face. I could still see the flowy white dress she’d been wearing, turned almost translucent in the soft light. The one that haunted my dreams.
Ava had been oblivious to my presence, as I’d stood transfixed. Watching her for far too long. A soft breeze had wafted her scent over me and I’d had to stifle a gasp as my heart had instantly raced and the world had seemed to zero in on her even further. The need to go to her had grown until standing still had lodged barbed hooks under my skin. Yet, even then, I’d known I couldn’t. The Palace had made it clear they didn’t want omegas mingling, and at that moment, neither of us had been where we were supposed to be.
As if she’d felt me too, she’d turned in my direction, a soft, uncertain smile on her face. I’d nodded at her brusquely, like a savage, before I turned and fled. I’d torn something inside myself in the process. She hadn’t been for me. Not then. Nothing good lasted long at the Palace. I’d known it the moment I’d crossed the threshold and the polite veneer had slipped away. They broke beautiful things. Yet I vowed, as I ran from her, that I’d do whatever it took to keep her safe. From a distance. Now the Crash had changed everything, except my feelings for her. The pull I felt to Wolf, and this pack, was strange. It had me twisted up. Yet, what I felt for Ava was a clear beam of sunlight in my soul.
The guys were quiet, respectful, as they let me work out my feelings and my sudden agitation at feeling so helpless to protect her. “I’d defend her again in a heartbeat if she ever needed it, and I’ll gladly do the work to make sure I’m more effective. But she still needs people who can protect her better, and give her the love she deserves. She needs a pack. She needs all of you. What I need right now is her and pack mates to help defend her, if that makes sense.”
It was a carefully worded distinction, but nobody argued about it. I couldn’t help but notice the twins hadn’t yet acknowledged my request for training. It had my gut twisting uneasily.Was it too much to hope for, that I could be myself around alphas? Would any ever let me be strong in real life, not just in the bedroom?
“They weren’t trying to take you? You’re an omega, too,” Wolf asked. He looked confused, and still fixated on me being hurt.
“No, they don’t value me as anything more than entertainment.” I tried to sound flippant, but my tone was wrong and I’d felt myself stiffen up again. These guys were far too observant not to notice. Ava murmured in her sleep and I reached over to stroke her hair. Her arm snaked out from under the blankets as she shifted, and she grabbed my arm and snuggled it into herself. I shifted closer to them and leaned forward slightly to breathe her in, needing to know she was here and okay.
“You are so much more than entertainment. I’ve watched you with Ava. You have more to offer than you yet know,” Wolf murmured to me, his tone much softer now. “I will be eternally grateful to you for having her back when I couldn’t.”
I finally met his eyes as we both held Ava in our arms. A spark flared between us, hot and bright, only this time I didn’t shy away. He didn’t push me for more. Yet the way he was so instinctively in tune with Ava had me yearning for what he was silently offering.Would he be that way for me, too? Could I let him one day?
The idea of having someone anticipate my needs and then meet them was intoxicating. It was what invaded my dreams. But I’d fought so hard to hold on to tiny pieces of myself when alphas had only ever wanted to make me their toy. The risk of losing myself to the thrall of an alpha, and my independence along with it, was too great. I wasn’t ready to expose that much of myself to an alpha just yet. If ever.
“You have the spirit of a fighter, and nobody can teach that, Cary,” Ryder said with a quiet respect that dragged my focus back to him.
“Luckily, wecanteach you technique. And we’d be happy to do it,“ River added. “You’re always at Ava’s side, so you’ll be our last line of defense if anything happens to us. It would put our mind at ease, too, if you had training.”
I looked over my shoulder at the twins as relief flooded me. At their nods, determination took over, until it was a drumbeat in my veins. “Can we start tomorrow?”
Ryder smirked, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t be going easy on me. “Yeah, sure.”
“Can I join in?” Nick asked. “I ran into that battle with a broom. I want to have a few more options in my arsenal, too.” He gave a self-deprecating chuckle, and I grinned at him as Nick grabbed a stick from the pile by the fire and started play fighting with it. Nick could coax a smile from me, no matter what I was feeling. He was a rare soul.
“That was epic.” I said, as a grin I couldn’t hold back stole across my face. “I can still picture you running around the corner with that broom, ready to take them all on. And you yelling ‘biscuit’ at Damon when he growled at you. You’re telling me the story behind that later. The look on his face was priceless. But no brooms, or sticks, if you’re going to be my sparring buddy.”
A broom. I chuckled at the memory. Nick was more than plucky. He was fearlessly protective when it came to Ava. I liked his spirit, but he was kind of klutzy. He’d also led a sheltered life and was a few years younger than us. He was going to need watching, or he’d get himself hurt, too. Wolf seemed to have the same thoughts, as he shot a glance at River, and River nodded. He was on it.
“Of course, we’ll train you both,” River said, as Nick’s face lit up.
The protectiveness between the two alphas for Nick had those bolts on my walls loosening just a little. They wouldn’t stop him from helping, just safeguard him.
“Why don’t you take a nap with Ava, Wolf? We’ll take turns to keep watch and keep the fire going,” River said. He nodded his head at the open space behind Wolf on the comforter.
Wolf just grunted and looked up at the trees arching over us. He seemed to relax as he looked up at the wide open space. I realized River had known exactly what he was doing, suggesting a sleepout. Exhaustion settled over Wolf as he closed his eyes and laid back. He pulled Ava down with him and inadvertently pulled Nick and me down, too. Nick passed him a pillow, and Wolf settled it under his head, before he pulled Ava half over himself so he could be hers. Nick rearranged a blanket over us and grabbed a pillow for himself, too. He had no intention of going anywhere right now, as he snuggled in alongside the giant alpha without hesitation.
I awkwardly lay on my elbow and settled behind Ava. She still had a hold of my arm as if it was her favorite teddy bear, but I wasn’t complaining.
“What’s a prime alpha? Ava asked Wolf if he was one earlier,” River asked after a few moments. I could see Wolf’s chest steadily rising and falling, and I guessed he was already asleep.
I explained it as best as I could, but I didn’t fully understand it myself. Nick jumped in between sleepy yawns and filled a few holes in. He seemed to know more than any of us. I tuned out their conversation and listened to the sound of the leaves rustle above us and the way the fire crackled. Being out here made me realize we could go anywhere or do anything we wanted now, and these men would help keep Ava safe. It made me feel free in a way I’d never felt before. I could only imagine how being out here made Wolf feel.
A low ringing sound a little while later had Nick jumping up to answer the satellite phone. I assumed it was Maia and Lexie. He wandered away to talk to them quietly. Ryder started singing something soft that I couldn’t make out, and River joined in. When Nick got back, he picked up the guitar and started strumming along lightly. The hushed, soothing tones had the same effect as a lullaby, making my head nod in my hand.
Without overthinking it too much, I rested my head tentatively on Wolf’s chest and snuggled in closer to Ava. I told myself it was simply practical to lean on Wolf, with the way Ava was clinging to my arm. Yet I knew it was anything but, as his arm instinctively came around my back. I tensed as his beard twitched, as though he’d smiled briefly. But he just seemed to settle into a deeper sleep. I let myself have this moment, just one. A stolen comfort.
Because tomorrow, I’d finally learn to fight. And it was because of these men surrounding me.
I realized something that had those bolts loosening further, as sleep took me under. These alphas didn’t make me feel weaker at all; they made me feel strong.
