Chapter 67
Xavier
I lay in the nest, my body pressed against Rowan’s, feeling the steady rise and fall of her breath beneath me. Seb’s warmth is a comforting presence behind me, his chest a solid, calming wall against my back. We’re tangled together, the three of us. I could never imagine anything more natural than this. Yet, as I hold Rowan close, the weight of what could have been crashes over me.
I almost lost her. The thought cuts deep, leaving a sharp sting in my chest, and I can’t help but press my lips to her hair, inhaling the scent of her, so sweet, so familiar, yet fragile. Her body, so small in comparison to mine, is so vulnerable. That panic I felt, the terror of not knowing if I could get to her in time, it’s still there, lingering like a shadow at the back of my mind.
My grip tightens around her as I force myself to breathe, trying to calm the raging storm inside. She’s safe now. She’s here, in my arms. But the memory of her fear, her trembling, the way she broke down in the car, it haunts me. I still feel the aftershocks of that moment, the need to protect her, to never let anything hurt her again.
But something shifts inside me, a primal urge that I can’t ignore. It builds, pressing against the back of my mind, strong and overwhelming. The need to bond. To mark her in the way only I can.
It surges through me like wildfire, my body reacting before I can even process it. My pheromones kick in, flooding the space around us, thick and heady, coating the air with my presence. The need to mark her, to bond with her, rises up inside me, and I can’t push it back anymore.
I feel Seb stir behind me. His body tenses as the air thickens with my scent. I hear his soft whimper, and I know he’s feeling it too. The pheromones coat the air, and I can feel his hunger through the heightened awareness between us.
Rowan stirs beneath me, her body shifting as she begins to wake, a sharp breath leaving her lips. She’s already reacting to it. To us .
“Xavier...” Her voice is quiet, filled with confusion, and I know it’s not just physical proximity. She feels it too, the change in the air, the tension between us.
“Shh,” I murmur, my voice thick with the urge to claim her. “It’s... okay.” I can barely speak through the need, but I force myself to stay controlled, to not push her too far, too fast.
Her breath catches, and her eyes flutter open, looking at me through a haze of desire I can feel pulsing between us. She shifts beneath me, her body reacting to the pheromones, the rising tide of need she can't ignore.
Her scent hits me like a punch to the chest. Sweet peaches and heat, slick blooming beneath her skin as her body catches up to what’s happening. Her eyes meet mine, glassy with sleep and rising need, and something inside me growls low and deep.
She’s mine. Not in the way she already is. Not in the way we’ve touched or kissed or whispered promises into the dark. I need to mark her. I need to feel her body take mine and hold it. I need to leave something of myself inside her that no one can ever erase.
My hand slides down her side, skimming her ribs, her hip, her thigh, until I find the place where she’s already wet. Already ready. I groan as my fingers glide through her slick, hot and thick, coating my hand in proof of her need.
Sébastien moans behind me, his breath catching in his throat as he scents her arousal mixed with mine. His hips rock against me instinctively, his cock hard and leaking where it’s pressed to my lower back. He’s just as far gone as I am.
I shift, nestling between Rowan’s thighs, pushing them apart slowly. She lets me. Her legs open for me with that soft, instinctive trust only an Omega can give. I watch her body react to me, see the flush rise over her chest, the way her pupils dilate, and her breath quickens. Her scent changes too, sweeter and hotter, coaxing my body to move without thinking.
"You're so beautiful like this," I murmur, my voice thick, half-growl. "You feel that don’t you? What’s happening between us?"
She nods, dazed and hungry, her body arching as I slide two fingers inside her. She gasps, clutching at my shoulders, her walls fluttering around the intrusion. My scent pours into the air, heavier now, claiming everything it touches.
"I’ve wanted this since the moment I laid eyes on you," I say, pressing a kiss to the curve of her neck. "But I need you to say it. Tell me you're mine, Rowan."
"You already know I am," she breathes, and it’s all I need.
I line myself up, my cock slick with her arousal, and push inside, slow and deep, until my hips press flush to hers. She cries out, her body welcoming me with a sound that will haunt me forever.
Sébastien wraps his arms around both of us from behind, his mouth at Rowan’s neck, his lips brushing the skin I haven’t claimed yet. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. His scent weaves with mine, his body trembling with anticipation, his need for closeness and surrender as sharp as my need to take.
Rowan whines, writhing between us, her hands fisting in the bedding. I bite down, not hard enough to break skin, just enough to feel the stretch of her against my teeth, and thrust harder, deeper, until she’s gasping my name like a prayer.
I feel Séb’s breath stutter against her neck. His slick is everywhere now, his cock caught between our bodies as he ruts helplessly.
Her Omega pulses around me, milking every thrust. Sébastien’s hands roam over both of us, needing touch, to ground, to surrender.
I feel my knot catch at her entrance, thick and swollen, stretching her open as I lock into place. She gasps, high and wild, body tightening around me as instinct takes over. Her hands clutch at the bedding, her back arching, eyes wide and unfocused.
“Xavier,” she cries, voice trembling.
“I know,” I whisper, voice ragged. “I’ve got you.”
Behind her, Sébastien shifts, his hands reverent as they run down her back, his lips brushing the flushed skin between her shoulder blades. He positions himself with careful precision, stroking down her spine with one hand while guiding himself with the other.
“Can I?” he murmurs into her skin, voice shaking.
She nods, panting. “Yes. Please.”
Séb enters her slowly, pressing into her slick and ready body. But not where I am. He slides into the tight, virgin channel of her ass, his breath stuttering as he sinks in inch by inch. Rowan moans, her body caught between the two of us, stretched and filled, every nerve lit up.
She takes us both, trembling and perfect. I wrap my arms around her waist and bury my face in the crook of her neck. The scent of her skin, of our combined slick and sweat, of Sébastien’s need tangled with mine, drives every thought from my head but one.
Mine.
I open my mouth and bite hard. My teeth break skin at the curve of her neck, just beneath her ear. She cries out as my mark takes, her body clenching down around both of us, a sob of pleasure ripping from her throat.
The bond snaps into place like lightning through my veins. Her taste, her scent, her soul, they flood into me all at once. I feel her. Really feel her. Her joy. Her hunger. Her love. The weight of it steals the breath from my chest.
But I’m not done. Sébastien’s head drops to her shoulder, his body shaking, lips parted as he pants against her skin. I reach for him, cupping the back of his neck and pulling him close. His eyes lock on mine, wide and dazed.
“Come here,” I growl softly.
He leans in without hesitation, and I press my mouth to the space beneath his jaw, where his pulse pounds so fast it makes my lips throb. Then I bite.
He gasps, full-bodied and broken. His back bows, hips jerking as the bond takes hold. I feel him too, warm rain and aching sweetness, that deep well of tenderness he hides behind quiet strength.
And just like that, we are complete. Three heartbeats tangled and pulsing as one. Our bodies move together in a rhythm that’s more instinct than thought, a dance of sweat and heat and love. Rowan is gasping beneath me, her hands clawing at the nest as her body pulses around my knot. Sébastien groans behind her, buried deep in her, his arms wrapped tight around both of us like he never wants to let go.
The bond hums between us, hot and electric, a living thing that threads through every nerve. Every sound she makes, every twitch of her hips, every whisper of his breath, it all pours through me like fire and honey.
I feel Rowan’s climax build first. She stiffens, thighs trembling, a sob caught in her throat as her whole-body bows between us. Her release crashes through her in waves, slick gushing around my knot, her walls clenching me so tight, I see stars.
It triggers mine instantly. I groan her name against her skin, my hips jerking as I empty into her, spilling deep and endless. My knot locks tighter, sealing the bond. I can feel Sébastien’s pleasure cresting behind her, his voice breaking on a moan as he lets go, releasing with a full-body tremble that shakes us all.
The three of us collapse together in a trembling, panting pile, our bodies shaking and tangled, skin slick with sweat and scent and need. The nest is ruined. Soaked. Claimed. But none of us move.
Not yet. Rowan lies boneless between us, her eyes fluttering closed as her breathing slows. Sébastien presses kisses on her shoulder, her temple, her back. I hold them both, one arm across her waist, the other fisted gently in his curls.
And then something shifts. A flicker. A heartbeat. A thread tugged tight. It isn't just Rowan, and Sébastien I feel anymore. It’s Laurent. It’s Massimo. It’s Cole. Their scents, their emotions, their presence, suddenly I can feel them too. Faint but unmistakable, braided into the edge of the bond like a golden thread that had always been there, just waiting to be pulled.
My breath catches. They’re here. In me. With me. Not just Rowan. Not just Séb. But all of them. We are six now. Not a pair. Not a trio. A pack. One heart. One bond. One home. And I am no longer alone.