Chapter 55
Chapter Fifty-Five
brIELLE
P hoebe presses her ears back as Ethan rides up beside me, so close he actually manages to palm my thigh. She shakes her head when he and Cottonwood don’t move, and he chuckles. I pat her shoulder before scratching her skin. She blows out a sigh and stomps.
“Ease up,” he tells the horse. “At least I’m not riding Minthe. And it’s not like I’m trying to shoe you right now.”
I can’t help but smile. I’d gotten to witness Phoebe’s detesting getting her shoes redone Thursday. Watching Ethan work in the Monroe’s private barn was an exercise in delayed gratification. He’d done it all with only a thin white shirt that clung to his chest and faded jeans, his hair tucked under a ball cap. Luckily, I’d had the sense to wear scent blockers, so he didn’t realize the extent of my obsessing over him until much later.
Even the memory of it now, three days removed, has me scenting.
Ethan breathes in, his nostrils flaring, before glancing around the open meadow we’ve just crossed into. We’ve spent the morning since family brunch riding through the Monroe Ranch, the lands that aren’t currently being used as pasture. This meadow is larger than the others we’ve visited. And it also holds more memories for me.
“I love this meadow,” I admit, tightening my hold on Phoebe’s reigns and adjusting in my saddle, my right leg going a bit numb.
“Daddy does, too,” Camden says from his perch in front of Caleb. “He has it on his shoulder, next to my blue bird one.”
Caleb glances at me, his eyebrow arching. “Yeah?”
My cheeks heat. Once Ethan told him the memory attached to the West barn, he’d filled in the gaps of most of the other tattoos, too. Ethan laughs, not at all embarrassed that most of his tattoos are memorials of our knotting. He squeezes my thigh as he looks across from me, focusing on Caleb.
“How about we stop here for a bit?” he asks.
Caleb nods, and Camden claps. Ethan guides us to a small outcropping of trees near the center of the meadow, a small copse of aspens full of bright green leaves. Ethan ties out Cottonwood before turning to Camden, easing him off the double saddle so Caleb can get Maple secured, too. I slide off Phoebe and tie her out as far from Cottonwood since she seems particularly irritated with Ethan’s favorite horse right now. I ease the single saddlebag off of her and toss it over my shoulder.
Camden runs through the meadow as soon as his feet are on the ground, giggling, grabbing the few wildflowers still blooming. Before I’ve managed to walk away from Phoebe, he’s back, holding out the small collection of white and yellow flowers.
“Here, Mommy Bri! For the new house!” he says, his grin so wide, his dimple is showing.
I take them, smiling, until he’s run off again. I turn to the men, my Alphas, and raise an eyebrow while tucking the flowers between Phoebe’s saddle and her saddle blanket.
“New house?” I ask.
Caleb sighs, and Ethan digs through the pack attached to Cottonwood’s saddle. He pulls a smaller bag and tosses it over one shoulder before holding out his hand to me. I lace my hand in his, and he kisses me.
“Let’s go walk,” he says as he pulls away.
I take Caleb’s hand, too, as the three of us slowly make our way across the meadow. Camden’s a hundred or so feet away, laying in the grass, messing with something on the ground.
Once we’re in the true center of it, the sun beating down on us, both men pause. Caleb’s amusement fills my chest as he kisses my temple. Ethan hands me a folded paper and wraps his arm around my waist.
My curiosity spikes. I thought I was the only one with a surprise today.
My breath catches as I unfold the paper and realize what it is.
“Blueprints?” I ask. “You’re building a house?”
Ethan nods, his brown eyes piercing me. “We can still change them if you want to adjust anything.”
He points to the front door on the paper, and then turns me until I’m facing the southern edge of the meadow.
“Welcome to the view from your porch, princess,” he whispers.
I blink back tears, tenderness and happiness welling up in me in a great wave.
We’d spent the day here, talking about the future, things we wanted, our dreams and hopes. Kids and vacations and houses.
“You remembered,” I whisper.
Ethan eases a finger under my chin and urges me to look at him. “I remember everything,” he whispers, low and fervent. “And I plan on making every single one reality.”
“Promise?” I ask. Caleb comes up behind me, his hand a hot brand on my hip.
Ethan nods, his thumb pressing into my lips. “Promise, princess.”
I breathe them both in, letting my eyes close for a moment, soaking in the moment, the feeling of them surrounding me and the Wyoming wilderness around us all. Then I pull the saddlebag from my shoulder and dig out my own folded pieces of paper. I grab Caleb’s hand, easing one of them into his hand, and then give the other to Ethan.
“Brielle,” Caleb whispers, his voice shell-shocked.
I twist out of his hold so I can see them both. He looks up from the official announcement, tears in his eyes.
“When?” He swallows. “How? This takes weeks . And we just bonded Friday.”
“Princess,” Ethan’s voice is just as surprised. His knuckles are white, his grip enough that it crumples the paper. His eyes are bright, the vulnerability in them making my breath catch in my throat. I grab his waist, pulling him closer to me. And then I grab Caleb, too. His lips trace his bond scar.
“I did it while you were out on the fire. When Olivia, Cam, and I went up to Jackson,” I explain.
“How did you manage to get Cam to keep it quiet for over a week?” Caleb asks, his awe a light in my chest.
I grin. “I distracted him with a bakery.”
“Wait,” Ethan says slowly, his voice hoarse. “You did this before…”
His question trails off.
I give him a single nod.
He crushes me to him, kissing me so intensely, I’m almost positive I’ll forget my own name. My new name.
Lavender surrounds us between one breath and the next, and his mint joins in. Caleb’s cinnamon does, too, the three of them swirling together in a moment of perfection.
“Welcome to Pack Taylor, princess,” Ethan breathes against my lips.
Love swells in me, and I laugh as both men cuddle me into them, surrounding me, holding me up in their safety and acceptance. I look out over the meadow where our house will be, and happiness floods through me. Caleb’s breath catches, and then he kisses his bond scar. I hold Ethan’s hand.
He drops the paper, letting it get caught on the wind. I don’t need to see it to know what it says. I’m no longer Matchless. I’m part of a pack, an Omega with a family and a place. Roots of my own.
“I love you,” I tell them both.