Chapter 42 Jake
FORTY-TWO
jake
The ceremony wraps up, and Beau is immediately swarmed by reporters. I watch him handle it with ease—charming and confident, giving them just enough to make good headlines without revealing anything too personal.
But through the bond, I can feel his exhaustion creeping in now that the adrenaline is wearing off. His desire to be done with all of this and just be with his pack.
“He’s going to want to leave soon,” I murmur to Charlie.
“Yeah.” He’s already scanning the crowd, looking for an exit strategy. “We should get out of here before the crowds start to leave.”
I glance at Willa, who’s watching Beau with that soft expression that makes my chest tight. Her scent is happy but tinged with exhaustion—all the noise and stimulation wearing on her Omega. She’s been low energy for a couple of weeks now, and it’s starting to worry me.
“Come on,” I say, taking her hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What about Beau?” She looks up at me, concerned.
“He knows where we’ll be.”
I stand and pull her up, giving a sharp tug that brings her straight into my chest and sends a rich, honeyed cloud of her scent around me. I’ll never get tired of this.
Charlie’s already moving, using his size and Alpha-ness to clear a path through the crowd. We follow him down a side corridor, away from the main chaos, until we find the blessedly empty service hallway near the competitors’ entrance.
“Perfect, no one’s around,” Charlie says, checking the exit door. “Once Beau gets here, we can slip out and hopefully avoid the buckle bunnies and reporters that are definitely hunting for him.”
Willa sags against the wall with a relieved sigh, and I move closer. I’ve been wanting to kiss her all night.
The second we’re alone, the tension I’ve been holding all night releases. We did it. Beau fucking did it. National Champion. Again.
With a growl, I lean into her and run my nose up the column of her neck, drinking in her sweet Omega scent.
“Jake,” Willa starts, but I’m already pulling her against me.
I kiss her—hard and deep and full of all the emotion I’ve been holding back all day.
She melts into me with a soft sound that goes straight to my cock.
Her hands fist in my shirt, pulling me closer, and her scent spikes, thickening until all I can taste is buttercups and vanilla like thick custard on my tongue.
I pour everything into the kiss. Every “thank God he’s safe,” every “we did it,” every “I love you so fucking much.”
Even after almost three months of living together, of having her in our bed every night, she still drives me insane. If anything, it’s gotten worse. She’s been insatiable, the bond making every touch electric, every kiss addictive.
I reach down and palm her thigh, dragging her knee up to hook over my hip and press into her. I’m hard as fuck, and if Beau doesn’t get here soon, I’ll be finding a closet to fuck her in. I press into her again, and she moans as she arches her hips, pressing her core into me.
Her fingers slide up into my hair, tugging, and I growl again, deeper this time. Possessive. The sound makes her whimper, and I feel the exact moment her arousal floods her system.
Slick. I can smell it, thick and sweet, calling to every Alpha instinct I have.
When I finally pull back, we’re both breathing hard. Her pupils are blown wide, her lips swollen and red, and her scent is pure want.
“Jake,” she breathes, and the need in her voice makes my cock throb.
Charlie inhales sharply beside us, catching her scent. “Jesus, Willa. Why do you have to smell so good?”
“Sorry,” she gasps, but then she’s turning to him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Maybe you need some, too?”
Before Charlie can respond, she’s pulling him down by his shirt and kissing him just as thoroughly as she kissed me. His surprised grunt quickly turns into a growl, and his hands come down to palm her ass, pressing her into him as he takes over the kiss.
I watch for only a second before I can’t help myself. I step up behind her, pressing my body against her back, sandwiching her between us. My lips find her neck, right over her scent gland, and I feel her shiver between us.
She whimpers into Charlie’s mouth, her body arching back into me even as she presses forward against him. The scent of her arousal intensifies, and I growl against her throat—a possessive rumble that makes her go pliant between us.
My own arousal spikes at the sight and feel of her trapped between us. The way Charlie’s scent goes dark and possessive. The way Willa makes that same needy sound against his mouth. The way she fits so perfectly between our bodies, like she was made for this.
Yep, going to need to find a closet.
“There you are,” Beau says, striding toward us. “Thought you’d abandoned me to the vultures.”
Willa turns her head to look at him, her face flushed and her breathing uneven. “You’re here.”
“I’m here.” Beau’s grin is wicked as he takes in the scene—Willa pressed between Charlie and me, all of us clearly affected. “Having fun without me?”
“Never,” Charlie says, moving away from Willa to pull him into a hug. “Congratulations, brother. That was the best ride I’ve ever seen.”
“Seriously,” I add, reaching out to grip Beau’s shoulder. “You made Hellfire look easy. Rode him like he was a damn carousel horse.”
Beau laughs, the sound full of satisfaction and relief. “Felt good. Felt really fucking good.” His eyes find Willa’s, and his expression softens. “Especially knowing you were watching.”
“I almost had a heart attack,” she says, but she’s smiling. “You scared the hell out of me.” She laughs and walks over to embrace him, reaching up to cup his face. “Congratulations, champion.”
“Thank you, baby.” He leans down, pressing a softer kiss to her lips. “But you three are way more interesting than any buckle.”
“Liar,” she accuses.
“Maybe a little.” He grins. “But you’re definitely a close second.”
Charlie snorts from behind her. “Real romantic, Beau.”
“I contain multitudes.” But his expression softens as he studies her face more carefully, taking in the exhaustion beneath the arousal. “You doing okay? You look tired.”
Something in her scent shifts. Goes sweeter, richer. I catch it at the same time Charlie does, both of us turning to look at her with sudden focus.
“Willa?” Charlie’s voice is intentionally casual. “What’s going on?”
She takes a breath, looking at each of us in turn. Her hand drifts to her stomach—a gesture so unconscious I don’t think she realizes she’s doing it.
“I have something to tell you,” she says quietly.
Beau goes still, his Alpha instincts immediately zeroing in on her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” Her smile is nervous but genuine. “Actually, something’s really, really right.”
My heart starts pounding. Because I think— I think I know what she’s about to say. The change in her scent, the way she keeps touching her stomach, the nervous energy rolling off her in waves.
“Willa?” I manage to get out. “What is it?”
She looks at me, then at Charlie, then at Beau. Takes a deep breath.
“I’m pregnant.”
Silence.
Complete, utter silence as the words register. As they sink in and reshape everything.
Then—
“What?” Beau’s voice comes out strangled.
“You’re—" Charlie can’t seem to finish the sentence.
I just stare at her, my mouth open, my brain trying to process. Pregnant. She’s pregnant. With our child.
“I’m pregnant,” she repeats, and now she’s smiling—that brilliant, beautiful smile that makes my chest ache. “About ten weeks. I found out two weeks ago, but I wanted to wait until after the championship to tell you. Didn’t want Beau distracted.”
“Pregnant,” Beau repeats like he’s testing the word. Then his face transforms. Pure, uncomplicated joy spreading across his features. “You’re pregnant!”
“Yes.”
He lets out a whoop that echoes down the service hallway, picks her up, and spins her around despite her shriek of protest.
“Beau! Put me down! Or I’ll hurl on you—”
“I’m going to be a father!” He sets her down but keeps his hands on her waist like he’s afraid she’ll disappear. “We’re going to be fathers.”
Charlie and I are suddenly there, crowding around them, and we’re all laughing and maybe crying a little. I’ve never felt so overwhelmed with joy in my entire life.
I can’t speak. Can’t find the words for what I’m feeling. So I just pull her into my arms and hold her, breathing in her scent—buttercups and vanilla and orange blossoms, now with that subtle undertone that means life, means future, means family.
“Are you happy?” she asks softly, looking up at me and the rest of us with those gray eyes that see straight through me.
“Happy?” I laugh, and it comes out raspy. “Wills, I’m— I don’t even have words. This is—” I kiss her, deep and thorough and full of promise. “This is perfect.”
Beau wraps around us from behind, his arms encompassing both of us. Charlie presses against her side, his hand still on her stomach like he can already feel the baby growing there.
We stand there in that service hallway, wrapped in each other, and I let myself feel it all. The joy. The love. The bone-deep rightness of this moment.
A year ago, I was riding bulls and sleeping alone and convinced I’d fucked up my one chance at happiness. Now I have everything. A bond that makes me whole. An Omega who chose us. And a baby—our baby—growing inside her.
“Best night of my life,” Beau murmurs.
“Second best,” Willa corrects, and he pulls back to look at her.
“Second?”
“The best night was when you bonded me.” She looks at all of us, her eyes shining. “When you made me yours. When I finally came home.”
The bond flares between us—bright and warm and permanent—and I know they feel it too. Feel the truth of those words.
This is home. She is home.
And we’re never letting her go.