Chapter 22 – Bells #3
We do it over and over. I become an expert at this, even with him flinching again and turning his head at unexpected angles. When I get a streak of ten unmaskings in a row without fucking up once and hurting him, my confidence is flaring.
I think I can actually do this.
My last attempt is the smoothest yet and Orion catches my wrist. Guess he's at the end of his rope with this.
"You have steady hands," he murmurs. Those green eyes finally meet mine through the curtain of auburn hair. "Rex is lucky."
"I'll make sure to tell him that. He loves compliments."
Orion's permanent grin doesn't change—can't change—but his eyes crinkle at the corners. The ghost of a smile that lives above the damage.
He releases my wrist and carefully peels the adhesive housing off his scarred cheek, wincing as it pulls at the delicate skin.
Then he reaches for his golden skull, buckling it back into place with a relieved sigh.
The transformation is immediate. The vulnerability vanishes behind sculpted metal and the tall, composed alpha I first met reassembles himself piece by piece.
Jamie crosses the room and wraps both arms around Orion's waist from behind, burying his face between Orion's shoulder blades. Orion's hand covers Jamie's where they're clasped against his waist.
Neither of them says anything.
I pack the mask case in silence, giving them the moment.
Jamie walks me toward the staircase when everything's packed up, his bounce fully restored. "Hey, Bells?"
"Yeah?"
"Game night sometime." He smiles wider. "When things settle down. Platonic game night, of course. No funny business. Scout's honor." He holds up three fingers in a Boy Scout salute that I'm ninety percent sure is wrong. "Just board games and snacks and Cheeto shedding fur all over everyone."
"Pencil me in," I say, grinning.
"Yeah? Orion makes this incredible mulled wine. And I make a killer cheese board. You could bring your—" He waves a hand vaguely. "Your people."
I tilt my head. "My mates?" I say without thinking.
Oh fuck.
"Bandmates," I correct quickly. "My bandmates."
Jamie's eyebrows have already shot up and Orion's green eyes go wide above the golden skull. They exchange a stare.
Fuck.
My face goes hot. "I—that's not—I didn't mean—"
Jamie's maniacal grin is spreading across his face.
"You said mates," he sings.
"I said bandmates."
"You did not say bandmates."
"I definitely said bandmates."
"Orion." Jamie doesn't break eye contact with me. "Did he say bandmates?"
"He did not say bandmates," Orion confirms, the traitor. "Not at first."
My face is on fire. Full volcanic eruption. I'm going to combust in this tower staircase and they'll find my ashes scattered among Jamie's horrifyingly violent cardigans.
"Cool," Jamie says, rocking on his heels with the energy of a man who has just been handed the best piece of gossip in the entire Pacific Northwest. "Cool cool cool. Mates. Vespyr is a pack of mates."
"I'm leaving now."
"Oh my gods, how am I going to keep it to myself?"
"Because Rex will feed you your own eyeballs if you don't and he doesn't even know I'm his scent match?" I offer, because why the fuck not? I need to be myself completely around someone who isn't my literal mate, and these two someones could become my best friends if I play my cards right.
Jamie's eyes widen. "Wait, Rex doesn't know…" He pauses, mouth hanging open. "Bells, are you… you're a fucking OMEGA?!"
Even Orion is staring openly at me now, stunned into silence.
"Goodbye, Jamie."
"brING YOUR THREE MATES TO GAME NIGHT!" he shouts after me as I practically throw myself down the spiral staircase, mask case clutched to my chest like a shield.
His delighted cackling follows me all the way to the front door.
The cold fog hits my burning face and I stand there for a second, blinking at the mud and the trees and the mist, heart hammering.
Mates.
I said mates.
Because that's what they are.
That's what all three of them are, and I said it out loud to someone who isn't them, and the world didn't end.
I said it and it was true.
Rex is watching me from the passenger seat. Even through the rain-speckled windshield, I can feel the weight of that single blue eye.
I get in the car and twist to set the mask case carefully in the back seat. I put on my seatbelt and struggle with it for a second because my hands are shaking and it keeps getting jammed.
"You're red," Rex says flatly.
"It's cold."
"It's fifty degrees."
"I run hot."
He stares at me for another beat. I can practically hear the gears turning. Then he exhales through his nose and looks away, but the corner of his mouth is quirking up.
"Almost thought I'd have to rescue you from Jamie and Orion."
"Oh, it was close," I say. "Jamie's a cutie and Orion's majestic as fuck. What? Are you jealous?"
Rex turns his head to glower at me.
But he doesn't deny it.
I start the engine and pull out of the clearing. Navigate the fog-shrouded road back toward the highway with steady hands and a pulse that won't fucking calm down.
Mates.
I'm going to tell him.
I'm going to tell Rex.
Tonight.