Chapter 50
EMME
While we might have taken the afternoon and evening to just exist with each other, none of us were willing to let another day go by without reforming our quintet.
The next morning we woke early, ate breakfast together, and all the time I had an alpha by my side.
Hunter showered with me, Finley helped me pick out my nicest jeans, a blue shirt, and a black winter coat.
Talon brushed my hair and then Slade braided it, while Kellan read to me from his latest obsession, which was a vampire fated mates story.
My heart was full of so many squishy feelings; it felt a lot like they were courting and loving on me before we bonded.
I was whisked downstairs soon after and deposited in the front seat of the G-Wagen. Hunter drove, with Finley and Kellan in the back, while Talon and Slade decided to fly. Their beasts needed to work off an overflow of energy.
When we left the street, I turned to take in Hunter’s gray suit and white button-down.
He looked a lot like he did the very first day I met him, where his beast had driven him to almost claim me in that council chamber.
His thick hair was nicely styled, and the shades of gray in his eyes were light and filtered with gold.
“Your essences are stronger,” I noted, as his dominance filled the car.
“How are you feeling after sharing your strength with me?”
“We’re recouping the energy already,” Hunter said as he took his eye from the road to watch me. Which no longer caused a panic attack. “There’s nothing to worry about, little omega. In a true scent match, essences can be shared without repercussions.”
Kellan and Finley leaned forward, and I welcomed their touch against the side of my neck and shoulder. “I want to return energy to you after we bond though. Even after taking out Jewels, I’m more powerful than I was.”
Kellan stroked up under my jaw with a gentle touch. “Keep it, Shortcake,” he said. “We want you to be so powerful that no one will ever think to hurt you. Our little witch killer.”
I snorted, hoping that nickname wasn’t about to stick around. “Do any of you think it’s weird how easily the council just accepted that I was strong enough to kill the witch? I mean, I’m glad, since we don’t want them to know about my hybrid nature, but still…”
Finley grumbled and his hand on my shoulder flexed. “They know they can’t take us on, and you also saved their asses from the wicked witch. They won’t question a good thing, at least not for a while.”
No doubt there’d come a day when someone put the pieces together to find they didn’t quite fit, but I wouldn’t worry about that until it happened.
We were living for the now. Yesterday had shaken all of us in a way that was permanently imprinted on our psyches.
Not just losing the bond, but the brief moments we’d thought we lost Hunter, Slade, and Talon.
As much as the alphas had been stuck to my ass since then, I would have freaked if they were far away as well.
“I do have to say, you all look incredible today.” I brushed my fingers over the cuff of Kellan’s dark blue suit. Finley wore a deep, rich burgundy, and I was legitimately surrounded by the hottest alphas I’d ever seen, dressed up to claim our bond back.
By the time Slade and Talon joined us, I might as well just send up the white flag and surrender. Maybe that was why my bra and panties were white today—the usual white flag of surrender in my world.
“I should have worn a nice dress,” I huffed, glancing down at my clothes. They were my best jeans, but still, far from fancy.
Kellan’s hold slipped down my arm until our fingers were interlocked. “Why bother when you’ll be naked soon enough? Clothes were optional for the entire bonding, but since we’d have to kill any shifters who saw you naked on the drive, it’s better for Golden Claw that you at least wear something.”
Their dirty mouths didn’t make me blush as much these days, but every now and then they managed to bring a rise of heat to my cheeks. Mostly, it was desire that had me all flushed, and I remained in an overheated state all the way to the nature reserve and sacred grounds.
When Hunter opened my door, the winds felt particularly icy as they whooshed in. “When does it start to warm up here?” I whined a little, sick of the chill now.
We were well into February—Kellan’s birthday was soon.
“We’ll have false spring next month,” he offered as he helped me out. “Then it’ll get cold again for a while before the real spring sets in.” I generally loved snow and winter, as it was my wolf’s favorite, but I was ready for some sunshine and warmth.
“Can’t wait,” I murmured around chattering teeth, which eased when the alphas surrounded me with their bulk and natural heat.
Slade and Talon emerged from the edge of the tree line, also dressed nicely in black slacks and matching black button-downs. They were always beautiful and godlike, and when they dressed head to toe in black, they looked gigantic.
As they strode toward me, and I took in all their glory, a needy whimper slipped from between my pressed lips. Slade’s gaze snapped to mine, as if he’d heard that sound.
“You okay, Emme?” Hunter asked, and I huffed.
“You’re all hot as fuck, and I’m over here looking like—”
“If you say anything less than a hundred out of ten, I’m going to spank your perfect little ass right here,” Slade responded with a slow smile, as if he was still somewhat amused. Before I could recover from that statement, he wrapped his hands around my waist and hauled me over his shoulder.
I tried to glare at him from my perch across his broad shoulder, but he appeared unfazed.
The rest of our pack joined us in a march across the grounds, and I leveled that same glare on each of them.
“None of you better get used to hauling me around like this just to get your own way. I know how to fight now… And I have magic.”
I’d zap their asses without a second thought. Just a minor spell, of course; no one hurt my mates, not even me.
“You know you’re the boss, baby girl,” Hunter said, and as the entitled alpha that was an official statement. “But since we love to touch you and take care of you, I doubt any of us will stop carrying you around. Within reason.”
Slade grunted his agreement, and it was so quintessentially alpha that I was filled with what could only be described as burst of warmth. It flooded into my wolf, who was relaxing in the comfort of her pack and scents.
We ended up in a different hut this time, one with a second room that was almost all bed. Big enough for a quintet plus a few.
I stared down from my vantage point upon the tower of Slade, and my pulse was damn near racing. “It’s finally clicked that we’ll be performing all parts of the bonding here.”
Slade’s slap against my ass was firm, even over the top of my coat and jeans. He rubbed across the spot, and the fire which followed was both external and deep in my core.
Wave the damn panties. We were going down.
“You’re not leaving this cabin unbonded,” he said with a rumble, “and our quintet will never be destroyed again.”
“I promise,” I murmured, hoping it was one I could keep. I wasn’t sure the end of the world could convince me to go through that pain again, even knowing we could reform our quintet later. Or so we hoped. Today would be our telling point.
Slade didn’t set me down until we were in the main room, candles already positioned for the circle of energy.
When I’d broken our quintet, I’d done more than cut my ties to them all—I’d cut their bonds with each other as well.
For the strongest quintet we could have, they would join in brotherhood first, and then all of them to me.
My heart slammed in my chest as they started the ritual, which was a repeat of last time, with chanting and the earthy scent surrounding us.
It may have been wishful thinking, but it felt like the buzz of their connection was stronger.
All I could guess was that this time all five were coming into the bond as equals, and I really loved that for Talon.
When the essence of their beasts rose, a sigh expelled from me with so much force that it caught their attention. But fuck, there’d been more than a small part of me which feared I’d broken the scent match magic beyond repair. This proved that all I’d done was disrupt it for a short time.
The goddess did not forsake our match.
After their part of the ceremony was complete, the alphas abandoned every pretense of formality, encircling me like hungry predators. “It’s time, little omega,” Hunter purred, reaching out for me. “And I will be going first, as is my right as entitled alpha.”
Slade grunted, and there was a lot of dragon in his piercing green gaze. “For the first time ever, I feel the urge to challenge you for that role, brother.”
Hunter’s smile never wavered. We all knew Slade wouldn’t actually challenge him, but I appreciated his need for me all the same. When Hunter extended his hand once more, I placed mine against his palm without hesitation.
With a gentle tug, I fell into his arms. “If you have any objections, baby, now’s your time to speak up.”
My wolf rose until a purr rattled in my chest, which was pressed against Hunter. My fingers crept down his shirt, unbuttoning it slowly along the way. “Not a single objection, Hurricane. But I do have some requests.”
Gold flared in his gaze, and my skin heated at the intensity of five other gazes on me, even as I remained mostly focused on Hunter.
I pressed my lips to his chest I’d just revealed, caressing the hot skin below. “You will claim my ass, Hurricane, while Kellan takes my pussy. You can bite first, but I want Kellan to claim me just after.” Their scents exploded, and I had to shrug off my coat before I overheated and died.
“Deal,” Kellan burst out, ignoring Hunter’s annoyed snarl of a reminder about who was in charge.
“What next?” Hunter asked, returning his focus on me.