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‘I’m filling this out, but you don’t need to read it. I’m not hiring you for sex, so get it out of your heads. I’m done with men for the foreseeable future.’”
We didn’t need a discussion to be on the same page. She wasn’t a client. She wasn’t a job. She was absolutely everything. Isolde Allen was our Omega, and we had three weeks to prove it.
I wasn’t interested in anything, of course, but I was still an Omega. And I had eyes that worked.
ISOLDE True. But seriously. This was a bad idea. TRINITY The best ones always are.
“Because each of us knows what it’s like to go through something alone, and desperately need someone to be there with you. Especially if someone is going to judge you. The fear climbs up your spine and your throat and it feels like your lungs are so full of rocks you can’t take a full breath. “And all you want is someone to stand in that space with you. We like taking care of people.”
My friend took in the way Cade had me pressed against the railing, and her eyes glowed with what looked like victory. I flushed with heat. It wasn’t what she thought. Sure, he kissed me. Yes, his hands on me made me feel things I hadn’t felt ever. And yes, the way he offered their help made me want to bask in that warmth. But it wasn’t what they thought. Even though I kissed him back.
“You’ve been staring at your blush like it murdered someone for about three minutes.” “Well, you know how blush can be. Have to keep an eye on it.”
But I wasn’t sure what we were anymore. Like hell was I going to continue taking clients if Isolde was in our lives. I couldn’t. Maybe the others could, but I doubted it. It was like lightning striking. The place it struck would never be the same as it once was. She consumed my every thought, and we’d only just met her.
He searched my face with a smile. “Do you have more lip gloss? Because I’m about to ruin yours.” Leaning down, he captured my mouth with his in a possessive kiss that had people gasping around us. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.
“I’m not sure that’s better. They’re still talking.” “I don’t know. I think kissing you makes everything better.”
I choked on my wine. “They are not in love with me.” “Bullshit,” she muttered. “If you’re not engaged by the time the wedding gets here, I’ll be shocked.
“Okay,” Rin said after she ordered her drink. “You have to help me out.” “How?” She lowered her voice so there was no chance of being overheard. “I know you said no fucking the escorts. But I’m begging you. Please. For me.”
Hawk leaned in again. “If you’re asking if I like to be called daddy, then the answer is no, not really. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like taking care of someone or giving them exactly what they need. No matter what that is.”
Ocean smiled. “You know it’s bad when I say the same thing as Trinity. But I think you should. Have some fun. Let yourself loose. There’s nothing wrong with this. And having Beau watch you get treated like a queen while he’s with his knock-off Isolde Barbie is the best revenge I can think of.”
I stroked my hand gently up and down her spine, which made her cuddle closer. Fuck, she was cute. I wanted her cute. I wanted her sexy. I wanted her mine.
“Our job isn’t to pretend shit.” I leaned down and whispered the words into her neck before dragging my mouth up to her ear. “Our job is to make you realize exactly how incredible you are. To show you that you’re worth so much more than what that asshole made you believe. I have pretended with others, yes. But Isolde Allen, I am not pretending with you.”
Fear rose up in me, and I tried to push it down. What if I got addicted to them? What if it hurt to let them go? What if I shut the fuck up and enjoyed Alphas and a Beta who wanted to show me something more?
“Corruption sounds kind of fun.” “It will be.”
Rowan’s low growl had every hair standing on end. “You will always have a safeword, and anyone who tells you that you don’t need one should be strung up by their thumbs and castrated.”
“You do matter,” he whispered. “Why? I’m—” “Because you’re a fucking person,” he said, holding me flush to his body. “You’re beautiful, and I won’t lie, I searched your work. You’re fucking talented. You’re kind when you don’t need to be. You care about your friends and family. It took me no time at all to see those things, and even if not one of them was true, you’re still a person, Isolde. You matter.”
“Isolde.” Trinity’s voice carried across the beach. “Get your fine ass out from underneath his fine ass and get yourself a drink.”
All these emotions felt like the tides. They came in waves. Up and down. I felt good. Then the horror of my own blindness rose up and threatened to crush me.
“I’d want a cactus up the ass before I want him back.”
I waited until he was out of sight to go inside, smiling when I saw Isolde curled up in the middle of the giant bed with everyone else around her, watching, entranced. Like Isolde was a dragon egg at the center of our hoard. Which she was. The most precious thing imaginable.
“Get your hands off me,” Beau snapped. “Funny.” I let the sarcasm drip before I turned back to face them. “That’s what I said. You didn’t listen. Why should he?”
Don’t think for a second they didn’t want to follow me, but Vaughn’s face is too pretty to get fucked up because he fell off a treadmill.”
“Because if you weren’t here, and none of this had ever happened, I think I’d miss you anyway.”
“Stop,” I laughed. “It’s enough for him to fuck off. I don’t need to kill him.” She sighed. “Fine. I’ll settle for castration.” I didn’t hate that idea.
My cautious mind screamed that grabbing them would be like holding onto the third rail of a railroad track. Or getting struck by lightning. The reckless part of me thought what a way to go.
But Joel shook his head. “A gentleman never arouses and tells.”
You’re going to look so good when I’m done with you, none of your pack will be able to resist.” A laugh caught in my throat. “Some of them already have that problem.” “All of them,” Hawk’s voice echoed from the main entry. “We all have that problem.
“I think you and this piercing are going to be good friends, baby girl.”
The five of us, alcohol, and Isolde’s ex all in one space, was a recipe for disaster, and not for us. I preferred not to go to jail when we’d just found our Omega.
My fingers gripped his shirt, my nose in the fabric before I could take another breath and holy fucking shit he smelled so good. I never wanted him to take a step away from me again. I would glue him to my side because he was mine. Dawning realization reached me. Oh. Fuck. He was mine.
“Is it all of you?” I whispered. Before I could answer, I pushed past him into the room. All of their scents crashed over me in a wave. A mixture and medley of everything good in the world that told me the truth. They were mine. They were my Alphas. My pack.
There was no scent in here, like no one had used the nest before. My Omega preened, loving being the first and the fucking only. This was my nest. No one else’s.
Rowan crawled next to us. “Why is that crazy and impossible?” I strained to kiss him and he closed the distance. Too gentle for how I felt. “Because I’m not cheese.” A laugh burst out of Hawk. “Baby girl. Cheese?” “You know the cheese with all the holes in it? I don’t have enough holes.”
“But we have something he didn’t.” “General human decency and the skill to actually bring me to orgasm?”
“Why do I think that a naked nap is going to turn into not a nap?” “I’ll try very very hard not to let it,” he said, helping me into the car. “But shit happens.”
“Isolde,” she turned to me. “Whatever happens this weekend, I’m fine with it, okay?” I frowned. “What do you mean?” Ellie glanced toward the house before looking at me. “It means I know you, and I know you won’t want to make waves or steal my thunder. So I’m telling you that whatever happens, even if it’s making your scent match permanent, I won’t mind. I’ll be thrilled.”
Ellie is a rockstar sister!
Ellie smirked. “If you want to wait and have a ceremony, I fully support you. If you want to have a ceremony later, I support that too. If all you want to do is bite each other and fuck it out?” “Let me guess. You support me?” She laughed and pulled me into a hug. “I’m just happy for you. After everything with Beau, you deserve it.”
We moved around the side to where we could sit out of the way. Sit and watch and plan the ways we could smother our Omega in love. And maybe a few ways to bury a body.
“Oh, please. This had nothing to do with you. I bonded my scent matched pack. Believe me, I didn’t make a lifelong commitment just to spite you. Wearing a dress that showed it off? That was to spite you.”
“The only thing that would ruin my wedding is if you weren’t in it,” she said. “That, and Warren leaving me at the altar, but he won’t. That man loves me.”
Our bouquets were made of roses, dahlias, and orange blossoms. Or, as Ocean had designed them, eternal love and commitment. They were beautiful.
“I know it’s just—it’s always been there. No matter what is happening, it stays the same. It’s always wild, always dangerous, always… endless. Always exactly what it is, despite everyone trying to tame it or use it or change it. It’s just there. And it didn’t matter where I was, it always felt like home. Until you.” Happy tears smudged the sky into a watercolor of nothing but light.
