Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
Lazy nights on the weekend have become my favorite time. When my pack and I have nothing to do but spend time together huddled up on the couch, watching movies, or obsessing over our current hyper fixations. Tonight, however, we’re watching an action film while I crochet a sweater.
When I gave Kit his beanie, I noticed Thatcher watching a little too closely and offered to make him his own thing.
He tried to refuse at first, but nothing is going to stop me when I’ve set my mind to something, and the way he’s watching me as I create this sweater is nothing less than appreciative and warm.
I move the hook through the yarn, the gray pattern morphing as the movie plays in the background.
Sam had a few things to take care of tonight, so we’re sitting as a trio, basking in the quiet comfort of each other.
Jemma sits in Kit’s lap, getting lazy scratches as he watches the movie with firm attention.
It’s become normal for us now, and that fact has left me reeling in the best way possible.
When my heat ended, I could barely believe it.
Despite some soreness, everything went perfectly.
It made me a bit emotional, knowing that I had these men around to take care of me at my most vulnerable.
I finally got to experience it the way every other omega did, and it was worlds better than I could have ever imagined.
No wonder other omegas look at people like me with pity. Not experiencing your first heat with unending love and proper aftercare must be horrifying to them. I wouldn’t want to think about our existence either if I knew I was avoiding that horrible fate.
But now I have it, and I’m not letting it go anywhere.
A few moments later, Sam comes in with bags in his hands. When he walks in, he pauses. “Thatcher,” he says, his face unreadable. “Can you help me for a second?”
“Oh, yes,” he says, his voice unnatural and monotone. He gets up, walking stiffly to Sam, and they both turn and head upstairs. I narrow my eyes at them before looking over at Kit, who is giving them the exact same expression.
“That was suspicious,” I say.
“Fuck, I thought so!” Kit exclaims. “Like, what was that walk Thatcher was doing? Who are they kidding? They can’t keep secrets from us to save their lives.”
I snort. “He looked like a robot.”
“Oh my god,” Kit gasps loudly and grabs my arm. “What if he is a robot?! What if we’ve been watching a movie with a robot and we didn’t even know?”
“I’d guess that the old grumpy Thatcher would be a robot, but do you see how much he’s been smiling today?”
“That’s exactly what the robot wants you to think!” Kit says dramatically.
“You’re right.” I put down my hook and look at him seriously. “Maybe they’re staging a kidnapping right now!”
“Now you’re getting it! We have to be prepared.” He looks at Jemma. “Jem, if they try to take us, you have to bite them really hard.”
She just looks up at him, bored and slightly irritated that he stopped giving her scratches.
“Maybe we should defend ourselves,” I tell him, changing the tactic. “I have my crochet hook, what do you have?”
“Besides a lazy cat? Nothing.”
“Shoot. What about this?” I pick up the candle on the coffee table and hand it to him. “I bet that would hurt if you hit someone with it.”
Kit nods. “You’re right. This would definitely pack a punch.” He pretends to hit someone with it, testing out its weight. “Yeah, this will work.”
Our alphas come back then, their scents morphing together as they travel toward us. Even with our suspicion, their scents are heavenly, which lets me know that these are really our mates, despite our paranoia getting the best of us.
“We have something to show you,” Sam announces, but his brow raises a little at the sight of us huddled together. “Are you two okay?”
“We’re fine!” I say a bit too loudly.
Thatcher looks nervous, but is practically skipping in one place as he watches us. “Can you two come upstairs with us?”
We both stand up, but I catch Kit’s eye. “I think we’ve been watching too much sci-fi,” I whisper to him.
He speaks out of the side of his mouth. “I think so, too, but let’s take our weapons just in case.”
We follow the—not—robots up the stairs and to Sam’s room. When we get there, we both gasp at the sight before us.
There are candles lined up on every surface, causing the room to shine even in the darkness. Bright red rose petals dust the floorboards and the covers to the point that there’s no blank space left. And a tiny bucket full of ice, champagne sticking out of the top, waiting for its moment.
“What the hell?” Kit blurts out.
“We, uh—we wanted to give you a formal proposal of sorts,” Thatcher says, his cheeks bright red.
“We want to bond,” Sam says much more confidently. “We wanted to show you both how much we love you. And that we’re ready when you are.”
My entire body lights up. “Oh my god, this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“You silly alphas,” Kit laughs. “We thought you were doing something way more suspicious than this!”
Thatcher tilts his head. “Like what?”
We both look at each other and shake our heads as we discreetly put our weapons behind our backs. “Never mind that.” I try to slyly change the subject. “I want a glass of champagne.”
“Alright, we’ll table that conversation for now, but I will be interrogating you both later,” Sam says pointedly.
We all get some champagne and lie down on the bed riddled with rose petals.
They’re soft and velvety under my palm, making me smile foolishly and my omega to preen like the princess she is.
There’s a tiny raspberry in my glass, and I admire the way it sits in the bubbles, gathering up the flavor as the pretty decoration in the center.
“So,” Sam says, looking as serious as ever. “Are you guys ready? Do you want to bond?”
“And to have your first heat?” Thatcher asks Kit.
We look at each other, and Kit’s eyes glaze with a happy shimmer. It makes the hole in my heart close completely, realizing that this is it. This is every omega’s dream and we get to live it together.
“Yes, but on one condition,” Kit says.
Sam nods. “What is it?”
My omega looks back at me, nothing but love reflecting in his eyes. “We get to bite each other first.”
My hand immediately goes to my chest. I think that might be the most romantic thing Kit has ever said, and he has said a lot of beautiful things. Everything feels so full, and my head immediately nods up and down.
“Yes.”
Next thing I know, someone is taking the champagne flute from my hand, and I’m scooting closer, taking in Kit and how handsome he is. Now that it’s been brought up, I can’t go another minute without his bite. He smiles, bashful as he pushes my hair behind my ears.
“Since the moment I first saw you, Opal,” he whispers.
“I was fascinated by you. It was like becoming aware of a string between us that wasn’t there before, and it was pulling me to you with every mention.
And I must confess… at that party when I invited you to come live with us, I knew you would be there.
I didn’t want to be anywhere else after discovering I might have the opportunity to speak to you again. ”
My jaw drops. “What? You were pining for me even then?”
“Yes. I didn’t know what shape my obsession would form into, but I wanted to be close to you.
I felt like I needed it to breathe. And then with every conversation and every touch between us, I realized that you were mine.
That what I had experienced was love at first sight, just like I had experienced once before.
” His eyes look over at Sam for a moment, the first time they met flashing in their gaze, before he turns back to me.
“And I can’t wait to be obsessed with you for the rest of my life. ”
My eyes shine with fresh tears and I scoff with teasing surprise. I had no idea that my most playful and unserious mate was going to make me cry right off the bat, but here we are.
“Kit,” I start, getting so close that his skin rubs against mine, just as electric as the first time.
“If we’re confessing, then I have something to say, too.
I was also fascinated with you. After discovering that my scent match already had an omega, I was bummed, but then I saw you at a Halloween party.
You were dressed as Gojo, and some small part of me knew that you were the omega that I had thought about so much for months.
Instincts are such a scary thing, and I realized that there was more to this mystery than I thought.
I felt something toward you then, but I avoided it because you were happy, and I didn’t want to mess that up. But I was wrong.”
He nods, wiping the tears from under my eyes. “You were, because I have never been happier since you showed up,” he says. “None of us have. You complete us, Opal.”
“I know that, now. And I’ll never let the fear or worry keep me from you guys ever again,” I say, looking around at all of them.
“It all starts here,” Kit says, taking my hands in his as our foreheads push together.
“I love you,” I whisper to him.
“I love you, too,” Kit says back, adoration lacing his tone. He pulls my wrist up to his mouth and hands me his own in return. “Let’s do it at the same time.”
I nod, glee filling me as his teeth meet my skin. It takes me a second to realize he’s waiting for me to do the same because the happiness I feel is rendering me temporarily dense.
“Sorry,” I laugh.
He starts counting down. “3… 2… 1.”
We both bite into each other, and it’s an explosion that I’m not expecting. My hold on his arm tightens as we both bear down, making sure our bond is secure. It’s overwhelming. Every single molecule in my body shifting into something else, into something more.