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Olive deserved all the smiles in the world. I just wanted to be the one to give them to her. To give her everything.
So then… why did it feel like my heart was breaking at the thought of Easton giving up on me?
Pumpkin spice. Rich, mouthwatering sweetness with a sharp edge of coffee. The same scent I’d smelled six years ago, that had haunted me ever since.
Finn was standing under the coffee shop’s striped awning, a pinched expression on his face. “Here’s your omega,” he said dryly, handing me a pumpkin spice latte.
I cleared my throat. “You okay, Olive?” I asked. Tell me what’s wrong, baby. I’ll fix it for you.
I just wanted all the people in my life to be happy, would do anything to make it happen.
“I know you don’t need a knight to rescue you, but just let me pretend. It will make me feel a lot better to know you got home safely.”
Olive was the woman Easton had been secretly obsessed with, the reason he’d applied for this job. I’m sure he was convinced we would all fall in love with Olive the moment we met her, and he would be fucking correct.
I had to remind myself that they hadn’t been as lucky as me growing up. I had four amazing moms who were bonded in a committed pack.
“Where do you think you’re going?” “I want to see,” she said, shocking me even further. “What?” I spluttered. “I didn’t get to see before,” she whined, her omega coming to the fore. “You were behind me.” Her eyes were fixed on my blanket-covered crotch like she was hoping to develop x-ray vision. “Yeah, Lars.” Easton leaned back against the wall with a shit-eating grin. “Give us a little show.”
“Just in case this wasn’t clear, we’re courting you, baby.”
“We’ll prove it to you,” Easton said. “We’ll be so good to you, sunshine. We’ll show you that we’ll be the best alphas for you.”
He and Olive had so much in common—both were prickly and reserved and completely mine. My brother, my omega, my family.
“Like is an understatement, little siren. I would wreck my boat at sea just to get close to you.”
I broke apart my cookie and flattened the fortune. “Mine just says, ‘For rectal use only.’” Olive had just taken a sip of her drink and spat it all over the table. “It does not.” I held up the paper slip as she wiped down the table. “Oh my god, it does.”
“Because I see you, Olive. I’ve known you were meant to be mine since the moment I first spotted you.”
She wrapped her hand around the back of my neck and tugged me down so she could press a gentle kiss to my forehead. A warmth spread inside me at the gentleness of it. How special it made me feel.
“Alphas,” she said with an eye roll. “It’s just the male ones that are obnoxious,” Harper shouted from the couch. Lars scrubbed his hand down his face. “I’m literally here fixing your wiring for free.” “As you should,” Jo said.
The sound of a throat clearing made us break apart. “I was sent to stop you from fucking in the kitchen,” Lucy said.
Grief is the price we pay for love, and at some point along the way, it started feeling beautiful instead of ugly, like there’s something sacred in the midst of the agonizing pain.” Tears streamed down my face. Could my grief for my grandparents become something beautiful? Maybe love wasn’t the thing that killed my grandpa. Maybe it was what gave him peace to face the end.
Would you do me the absolute honor of letting me court you? I’ll be so good to you. I promise.”
“That can’t possibly be comfortable.” My voice was soft as sleep clawed at me again. A tender kiss pressed to the back of my neck. “Just go to sleep, sweetheart, with your whole pack around you.” Lars’s words were so precious, I collected them up and held them close to my heart.
“Not all of us can be big Viking alphas.” She pushed her hair out of her face. “No, some of us have to be perfect, precious omegas.”
“You giving me aftercare, kitten?” “Yes,” she said, still focused on my wrists, which weren’t one bit sore after her expert tying. She met my gaze. “Do you want a snack, too?” She looked so serious, so fucking sweet, that I didn’t have the heart to tell her I’d been topping her all along.
“But that was when you weren’t even talking to me,” she whispered, her brow furrowed, lips parted. “You didn’t even like me.” I wrapped her hair around my fingers, holding tight. “That’s where you’re wrong, pretty girl. You consumed me from that very first moment.”
“Won’t apologize for feeling possessive of you when you’re my everything, baby.”
“You love me?” Lars tightened his hold on me. “How is that even a question? Of fucking course I love
“I waited for you for six years. I would wait a hundred years for you, search every corner of the earth. You’re mine, sweetheart. My soulmate, my everything, my Olive.”
“Good, because you’re mine, and I’ll be yours for as long as the universe gives us. Because even if I lose you—” His voice hitched and he took a slow, deep breath. “Because even if I lose you, it will have been worth it. Our love is worth it. You are worth it.”
“Wait, we haven’t really talked about what comes next for us. Do you guys want to live here?” “Oh, I’ve already moved most of my stuff,” Easton said, setting both our pumpkins down on the front steps. “You what?” I spluttered.
