Chapter 43
“Ahhh god.” The moan slips from my lips and, a second later, River releases a matching groan of pleasure-pain.
Jackson chuckles as he works his thumbs into the knots in my lower back, a hint of sadistic delight simmering on his end of the bond. “That too hard for you?”
“No, and before you make the joke, you know I like it hard,” I say, voice muffled by the pillow my cheek is pressed against.
Ambrose’s warm laugh fills the nest, and River reaches out from where he’s being similarly tortured by the older alpha to brush his hand against mine. “I’m so stiff, but when you make sounds like that, it makes me want to ignore the pain and fuck you again,” he murmurs.
“Heh, stiff,” Jackson says with a snort.
A lazy pulse of heat throbs between my thighs, but I’m too exhausted from the marathon heat sex we had over the past four days to do anything but groan. “Lucky for us, we have the others to keep us from overdoing it,” I say with a soft laugh, squeezing River’s hand back.
I wanted to help take care of him post-heat, but I overestimated my ability to do anything but lie in my nest and make pathetic sounds whenever I try to move. I’ll have to show him that care another time, when I’m not equally achy from being folded like a pretzel by three very vigorous mates.
Mates.
That’s what I call them now, right? We’re bonded, a tether that seems like pure magic with the unfathomable intimacy it creates. After spending a lifetime with only my thoughts to keep me company, it’s surreal to find I’m no longer alone.
Sure, they’ve told me we can cut off our ends of the bond when needed. We don’t have to broadcast our emotions to each other 24/7. But it fills a part of my soul I didn’t realize was empty, each of their bonds slotting perfectly into place inside me.
“So we’re all mates now?” I ask between groans as Jackson’s hands move down to my sore thighs.
He stops his kneading. “Oh, uh, I guess? It’s semantics really between whether someone is your packmate or mate, because the bonds are the same.”
It takes me a second to understand why he’s talking about semantics. “That’s not what I meant. I won’t pressure you into calling them that.”
“You won’t, but I will,” River rasps. “I think we’re past platonic packmates now that you’ve had my cock in your mouth.”
Jackson makes a spluttering sound, and I giggle.
“Ignore him. You take as long as you need to figure out what you’re comfortable with,” Ambrose says, voice gentle with concern.
“You’re both my goddamn mates, alright?” Jackson huffs. “I just didn’t want to make things awkward if we weren’t all on the same page.”
“Well, now I’m glad I asked.” I smile at the bubbly affection in all of their bonds.
“If we’re having a post-heat debrief now, I have something to bring up,” Jackson says.
“Oh, yeah?” River pushes against Ambrose to allow him to roll over to face the beta straddling me.
Jackson follows suit, moving back off of me to let me roll over so we can all look at each other.
“Yeah. So this is awkward as fuck, but I think I might be our pack lead now,” Jackson blurts, the words rushing out like he’s forcing them before he loses his nerve.
There’s a long moment of silence where all of their bonds light up with a cacophony of emotions and urges that are impossible to interpret, and my omega observes it with curiosity.
She’s been more relaxed than ever since I bonded them, happy to sit in the background, soaking in the pleasure of having a pack.
“Yeah,” Ambrose eventually sighs, shaking his head in resignation. “It’s weird as hell, but I noticed that back at the hotel.” He gives River an apologetic grimace. “Sorry.”
River’s face scrunches at the apology. “Why? I’m not. This makes a whole lot more sense than me being our lead.”
Jackson blinks at them, clearly not expecting their responses. “Your alphas are really okay with this? With a beta being our pack lead? I’m not going to wake up one night with one of you growling at me to assert your dominance?”
River shrugs. “Not unless you ask me to.”
“We already know I don’t need to dominate you to get you to be good for me,” Ambrose adds.
I giggle as Jackson’s eyes widen and corresponding arousal lights up in his bond.
“Okay, well, good. Then I guess I’m pack lead. Unless Cami wants to challenge me for that.”
I grimace. “Ugh, no thanks. I’ve had to make all the decisions for my entire adult life.
I’m good with not being in charge of our pack.
” I scoot over to his side and press a kiss to his cheek.
“Besides, I can’t think of anyone more capable of being our pack lead.
Not that I know much about what the hell that even means, but it sounds like something you’d be amazing at. ”
He draws me onto his lap with a grin. “So we’re going to be Pack Knight?”
Ambrose groans. “Nope. That’s not what this means. We need to pick a name together that we like.”
“What about Pack Clairmont?” River suggests, smiling at me as he moves in closer.
“What? No. I’m the newest member, we shouldn’t use my name.”
Ambrose snuggles in too until all three of my men surround me. “Sounds pretty fitting given you’re the piece of the pack we’d been missing.”
“Three votes for Pack Clairmont,” Jackson declares.
Tears well in my eyes as they envelop me with their adoration and joy. “Are you sure?”
River nods. “Never been more certain in my life.”
After a long, snuggly nap, I emerge from my nest suite for the first time in days. The fact that we’re in a new house that they bought to surprise me comes back in a rush as we head downstairs into the sparsely furnished main living area.
Ambrose frowns at my stunned expression. “Wish we’d had more time to get things set up properly for you, but the nest was the priority. We’ll get everything over here ASAP, don’t worry.”
I shake my head. “I’m not worried. Just still a little in shock about all this.” The smell of the spread of Chinese takeout on the kitchen island reaches my nose, and my stomach rumbles. “Shocked and starving.” I squeeze his hand. “Let’s eat.”
He nods, and we join River and Jackson in the kitchen, where there’s a set of folding chairs arranged around a card table. It makes me smile, knowing that they must’ve left most of their furniture at their townhouse so they wouldn’t tip me off to their grand plans.
When I sit down with a plate full of lo mein and orange chicken, I’m right by the French doors looking out into a fenced-in backyard, complete with more rose bushes, as well as an herb garden and stone patio.
“This place is so beautiful.”
Jackson perks up between bites. “Yeah?”
“It’s perfect.” I rub my neck, still a little stiff after all the heat activity. “All we need is a hot tub and it’ll be perfect,” I joke.
River nods. “Done.”
I scoff. “Don’t be silly, you all just bought us a fucking house. We don’t have the money to buy a hot tub; I was joking.”
“Eh, we can figure it out,” Jackson says with a shrug.
I give Ambrose a beseeching look, hoping he’ll join me in being a voice of reason.
“A hot tub is a great idea. The nesting suite tub isn’t big enough for all of us, and I like the thought of soaking with my pack under the stars. Plus it’ll help with River’s back pain, so as a medical professional, it's irresponsible for me not to get one.”
“You all are ridiculous,” I huff, even as I smile. “Guess I’m going to have to be in charge of pack finances.”
Honestly, it’s nice to know there’s something I can do to contribute to the pack instead of sitting around being their pampered princess of an omega. Not that I dislike pampering, but I want to be useful, too.
“Alright, but you have to promise to let us spoil you sometimes,” Ambrose says. “It’s important to pack cohesion to show our omega how cherished she is.
I let out an exaggerated sigh as my omega preens at his words. “Fine.”
We stuff ourselves full, all of us ravenous after the heat, chatting and joking about increasingly extravagant and ridiculous purchases they want to make for me.
They’re debating the pros and cons of a private jet when my phone buzzes where it’s charging on the counter.
The guys wouldn’t let me look at it at all during my heat, promising to monitor my messages in case of any emergencies, so I’ve been living in a blissful little bubble removed from the rest of the world.
A bubble which bursts at the reminder that life, in fact, does exist outside this pack and the joy of being with them. I’d managed to block out the trauma of the attempted kidnapping and assault, Holden’s confessions, and Bryce’s vile promises, but it all comes rushing back in.
“You don’t have to answer it,” Jackson says immediately. “Take another day or two. It won’t hurt anything, and I’ll keep an eye on it.”
I want to agree to his offer, but there’s a nagging feeling that the longer I stay checked out of reality, the harder it will be to go back, so I shake my head and grab my phone to see who the message is from.
It’s a missed voicemail notification from Sandra. I press play, putting it on speaker so everyone can hear, and the alpha woman’s voice fills the room.
“Hi Camille, sorry to disturb you, but Jackson let me know that your heat ended, and I have some news to share with you regarding your case. Pulse PR wants to settle. Once they found out about the recording of their employee’s confession, they offered a five hundred thousand dollar settlement, contingent on you dropping the lawsuit against them and signing an NDA about your termination, as well as an agreement not to release the recording. ”
My stomach flips violently, the food I ate threatening to rise back up. Five-hundred grand to shut me up?