Chapter 25
M organ fell asleep on my knot, her energy finally depleted. I’d lost track of how many rounds we’d gone, but sleep seemed like a decent sign.
Her skin was still frustratingly warm. Every so often one of us would gather snow into a towel and trace the damp fabric over her. She shivered and twitched every time, but made no sound of complaint. I wasn’t sure if that was due to her being too exhausted, or if she had fully surrendered into trusting us to take care of her.
I hoped for the latter.
Exhaustion seemed to be the theme of the day. Morgan’s brutal heat had taken its toll on all of us and it still wasn’t over. I hated to think she might be suffering. Had we been able to drown out the discomfort of the fever?
Bear watched her thoughtfully, wiping her down with a cool cloth. She started fidgeting after a few minutes, a little whimper of displeasure sneaking through. Bear paused.
“Keep going,” I said. “That’s a good sign. If it’s flipping over from providing relief, that means we might be able to break the heat with the next round.”
Bear cupped her cheek, kissing the other and whispering soft words in her ear as he pressed the cloth along her throat. He was so gentle with her.
Maverick and Ryder had finally succumbed, both sleeping hard next to us.
I rolled my hips carefully to test her response. Morgan pressed back against me to meet the subtle movement while shying away from the cold Bear offered. “Good girl. Are you up to helping her, Bear?”
He nodded, moving into position, straddling my thighs and cradling her body, bringing it up to lean against him.
Morgan tipped her head, offering her throat to Bear. It wasn’t the first time she had asked for a bite, and I had used up far too many brain cells trying to prevent anyone from biting her in return. If Morgan was going to stay, I wanted her to choose that for herself, not because we had been too addled by her heat to stop ourselves from bonding her.
My instincts protested, and my teeth ached to sink into her skin.
Bear kissed his way up her throat and back down again, ghosting his hands over her curves before planting one firmly against her stomach to hold her in place, the other descending to toy with her. Tension spiked in her muscles, and I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing through her grip on my knot. Bear played her like a violin.
She writhed in his arms and I kept a steady hold on her hips, firmly planting her on my knot so she didn’t get hurt trying to squirm away to get fucked again.
“Bear,” she gasped out, the first coherent word she had uttered in the gods only knew how long. “Please.”
“Fuck our girl. She needs you, Bear.”
Morgan was so drenched with slick it was easy for Bear to coat himself and work his way into her ass. It felt like she came about four times before he finally started to move, my quiet packmate huffing and puffing like he was running a marathon. That wasn’t too far off.
All I could do was hang on for the ride once Bear got going. Morgan bucked and shattered in his arms, her fingers digging into my hands where I held her in place.
This heat wasn’t even over and my mind was already tumbling into the future.
She had to stay. How was I supposed to continue on with my normal life if she left? I would never be able to fill the void she’d leave behind.
I wanted to hear those desperate sounds every day, wanted to soothe and rile her up in equal measure, and watch her experience the life we could offer her.
Bear nudged her forward into my arms and I devoured her mouth while he gripped her plush ass and drove into her. Morgan surged back up, hooking her arm behind his head so he couldn’t move a damn inch to pull away before he knotted her. The burst of pressure set us both off, Morgan’s scream as she came startling Maverick and Ryder out of their sleep, and even Pumpkin shoved her head through the tent ties to check on her.
“Motherfuckity fuck,” Morgan cursed, panting and collapsing against me. “Oh god.”
Holy shit.
“Are you hurt?” I asked. We certainly hadn’t prepared for her to take a knot up the ass.
She shook her head frantically, still breathing hard, her skin finally returning to a normal temperature.
“Bear,” Ryder hissed. “Did you knot her?”
He nodded, eyes still squeezed shut.
“Not his fault,” I added. “Our girl got a little wild.”
She whimpered softly, slick core pulsing around us.
“You doing okay, firecracker?”
“Mhmm.” She shivered, kneading my chest with her fingers.
“Did the heat break?” Maverick asked, covering a yawn with his hand.
“For the moment.” It was so hard to think. “No one touch anyone. We should let the knots come down.”
That wasn’t as difficult now as it would’ve been before. Everyone needed rest. Exhaustion dragged us all under, and by the time I woke again, my knot had finally deflated. Bear looked like he was fully asleep while kneeling behind Morgan. I tapped him gently and he blinked down at me before waking up enough to understand what I wanted. Bear slipped free and I carefully rolled Morgan to the side and into Ryder’s arms so I could sit up. He cocooned her in his arms instantly, not even waking to do so.
I got unsteadily to my feet, my stomach growling obnoxiously. Pumpkin was in her glory when I emerged, hopping excitedly around me. I refreshed her food and water before sinking onto one of the cushions in front of the fire. We needed something easy. I dumped several cans of beef broth into a pot along with carrots, tomatoes, and corn my cousins had grown and canned for us. I roughly chopped some potatoes and bison jerky so we could get some protein and I wouldn’t have to add much salt. It was simple, but it would be effective. I needed something we didn’t have to babysit, and soup was always a winner.
Pumpkin scarfed down her food next to me, tail wagging happily. Bear climbed out of the tent, moving immediately to pet her head.
“Do we just schedule around Morgan’s heat in the future and make sure no one is staying here?” I asked Bear. “Her nest won’t be able to stay in the living room. I can’t imagine she would be comfortable having so many strangers around it.”
He sat down at my side with a groan and signed, “She hasn’t agreed to stay.”
“Do you really think she’ll leave?”
Bear shrugged. “I hope not, but it’s not up to me.”
“Then answer what you think we should do, so we’re prepared.”
He sat in silence for a moment, probably collecting his ideas, before offering me a list. “Build an extension for her. Separate entrance for guests. Separate bunkhouse.” Bear shrugged. “Flip the study. Make it her nest.”
“She didn’t want the study, though.”
“She might if we make it hers. Right now it’s ours.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Extension is probably best. New space.”
“Fair point. We can bring it up with Ry and Mav later. I’m not sure how spooked Morgan would be if we started discussing where she wants a permanent nest to be.”
Honestly, I had no idea how she would feel on the other side of her heat. She’d have nothing pushing her to be close to us once it was over, and anything that happened would be down to her logical choices, with no extra hormones to influence her.
Maybe she would still want us, maybe not.
She trusted us; that much was clear, and my mom had always told me that trust was the most important foundation in any relationship. You could build anything if you had a strong base to support it.
I added a few handfuls of dry pasta when the soup was nearly finished, purely to get in some extra calories. We had broken Morgan’s heat and everyone had to refuel.
“Food’s ready,” I announced after testing one of the noodles.
Bear jostled the others awake.
“Do you need to eat in the nest, little fox, or do you want to stretch your legs?”
Morgan crawled out of the tent and flopped onto the cushion next to me, laying her head on my thigh and curling her legs to drape over Bear’s lap.
“You should sit up. I don’t want you to choke.”
She let out an adorable petulant sound and stared up at me until I helped her up, letting the weight of her body lean against me. I passed a bowl to Bear, then to Maverick and Ryder, before filling one for myself to share with Morgan. After making sure it wasn’t going to burn her, I spoon-fed her small bites. She kept her eyes closed for most of it, opening her mouth like a baby bird each time the spoon tapped her lips.
I alternated bites with her so she didn’t feel rushed, and we made it through three bowls together before she started grumbling.
None of this was a representation of what a normal day would be like with her, but I could easily imagine early-morning breakfasts like this, or midnight snacks after a solid day of work.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Good. Tired.” She yawned and lazily stretched her legs, pointing and flexing her toes. “Everything hurts, but mostly in a good way.”
If any of us were in any condition to make the trip, I’d have suggested a soak in the hot springs, but she wouldn’t be able to walk. I was pretty sure none of us were up to marching through the snow with her weight on our back. We would need a decent sleep, and a couple more meals in us, before that was plausible.
Morgan drifted back to sleep against me. I turned, seeing Ryder and Maverick also passed out, empty bowls in their laps.
I smiled, drawing Morgan further into my arms so we could stretch out in front of the fire.
Our omega.
Our Morgan.
Life couldn’t get more perfect.