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“Mine,” Wolf growled, again, as his heavy weight pushed me into the mattress, bringing my attention back to him. His arms wrapped around me as he rolled us onto his back. He stilled as he noticed the tears on my cheeks.
“Happy tears, Wolf. You all make me so happy. I feel so full, after feeling lonely for so long.”
“You’ll never be alone again, little bird. You have us now,” Ryder said, as he hovered over us and kissed my wet cheek.
They let me cry as they stroked me. Even Cary shifted over and ran long strokes down my leg. He looked so conflicted, yet watched us longingly.
All the touching had my body instantly heating again. I ground down on Wolf’s knot while I licked over my bite mark on his neck possessively. “Mine,” I growled at him possessively, feeling the heat haze settling over me, and he moaned as he shuddered underneath me.
I may have been a sticky, sweaty, emotional mess. But this heat wasn’t done with us yet. Our nest was about to get a lot messier.
thirty
Istoodandlookedat myself in the mirror, running a critical eye over my body. I’d woken while the others were sleeping and went to have a shower in the main bathroom so I wouldn’t wake everyone else. Ava’s heat had lasted for almost three days. Three incredible fucking days. I felt at peace for the first time in a decade.
River had looked up at me sleepily as I’d gotten up, nodded to me and fallen back asleep. Something he rarely did. He was more relaxed than I’d seen him in years. He trusted our friends to have us covered while we were vulnerable, and he didn’t trust easily.
I’d always cherished my connection with my twin. I’d worried at first that Ava finding her pack may have damaged our bond further, knowing it was already strained by my behavior. That I’d maybe lose River in the process of getting Ava back. But I hadn’t. Our twin bond was stronger than ever. It was just enhanced by the pack bond. The bonds grounded me in a way I’d never felt. It went beyond our own pack, too. I don’t know what we would have done without Ava’s friend Lexie. She’d delivered meals to our door, along with notes about security and movements around the Palace. The last few days had given me a greater appreciation for being part of a village.
The hot shower had been wonderful, but now I’d gotten lost in my thoughts. Movement in the doorway had my gaze skating away from my reflection. I already knew it was Cary, though. I’d already catalogued the way each of my mates moved and their heartbeats, as well as their scents. Cary’s vanilla scent and his heavy footsteps had preceded him.
He startled when he noticed me in here. We really needed to work on his awareness of his surroundings, as well as his physical training. Maybe we could start on that later today. I was looking forward to working out with both Cary and Nick together. I genuinely liked them.
“Sorry, I’ll use the other bathroom.”
“No, come in. I’m glad you’re here. I’m hoping you can help me with something.”
He raised a suspicious eyebrow, but came into the room. He’d thrown his sweats back on, but I was naked, having dropped my towel to the floor. “Let me just pee, first,” he said.
I nodded at him as he headed into the toilet cubicle. Ava was the heart of our new pack, and Nick was our much needed center. That didn’t mean it was on them to develop our pack bonds. I wanted to do my part, too. I wanted to get Ava everything she needed, and she needed Cary to be comfortable with us.
“You too, Nick. Get your ass in here.” I called out, being careful not to be too loud. I’d heard his distinctive shuffling footsteps pause in the hallway, just outside the door. We’d need to teach him to lift his feet while he trained with us.
“I was going to have a shower,” he said as he popped his head around the door, “but I can use the other one.”
“No. Get in here. Shower’s free.”
“Uh, okay.” He walked in, still naked as well. I didn’t know where to even look for any clothes right now. Especially considering Wolf had stuffed most of my dirty ones in Ava’s nest.
Cary came out of the bathroom and headed to the sink to wash his hands, passing Nick on his way into the shower.
“I’m glad you’re both here,” Cary said in a rush before I could start talking. “I wanted to thank you for helping get me out of my head that first night of her heat. You both helped without being dicks or pushy about it.”
Cary had joined in after we’d gotten him into the nest, but focused only on Ava for the rest of her heat. He’d been with no one but her, and their bites on each other hadn’t solidified into a claim. I’d hoped they would. He felt right in our pack. It seemed they were going to need the help of an alpha. It had made some things a little awkward during the heat, which was a shame. Yet I figured with six of us in this pack, there were going to be times we weren’t in sync.
Cary didn’t feel like mine the way Ava did, but I definitely found him attractive. Especially watching him with Ava. It had been no hardship to step in and direct them. Initially, I’d done it for Ava, but I was hoping we could have something fun and light together if he could relax enough. I had an inkling it would drive Ava wild. I’d also happily step in if he ended up having a heat. The idea of him potentially suffering alone through it didn’t sit well with me. He was pack, and I wanted him happy, healthy and safe. So I needed him to be comfortable and trust me well before anything like that happened.
I shrugged, “That was mostly Nick.”
“No, it was both of you,” he answered, as he looked directly at me in the mirror, “and it helped.”
“You’re welcome,” Nick said from inside the shower as he turned the water on. “Fucking hell, that feels good.”
Nick had such an easy way of being gracious and utterly charming, yet not making a big deal out of things. I had a tendency to overthink everything, but I was trying to change that. Maybe Nick would rub off on me a little.
Cary jumped up onto the counter and narrowed his eyes at me. “I brought up some of my clothes and put them in Ava’s closet. You’re welcome to help yourself to them if clean clothes are your problem. We’re about the same size and I can get more from my room downstairs.”
I was a little leaner than Cary, and slightly taller, but he was right. We were close enough that his clothes should fit okay. “Thanks, I’ll take you up on that until we can figure out how to get some washing done. But that’s not the problem.”
