26. Sadie
Sadie
T he word “please” is barely out of my mouth before everything shifts.
I can smell the change in them immediately. Three alphas who’ve been holding back for weeks, suddenly done with restraint. Caleb’s sandalwood goes dark and rich. Levi’s cedar deepens with want. Reid’s bergamot carries an edge that makes my pulse race.
“You’re sure?” Caleb’s hands frame my face, his thumbs stroking my cheekbones. “Because once we start taking care of you like this, there’s no going back to pretending we’re just friends.”
I lean into his touch, my body singing at the contact. “I don’t want to go back. I want this.” The certainty in my voice surprises even me. “All of this.”
“Then let us help,” Reid says, voice carrying quiet authority. “Let us give you what you need.”
My body knows exactly what that is, even if my mind is struggling to catch up. The building ache in my core has moved beyond uncomfortable to actually painful. Every breath floods my system with their combined scents, making me dizzy with want.
“I can’t think straight,” I admit, reaching for whoever’s closest. My fingers find Levi’s shirt, gripping the soft fabric like an anchor. “Everything feels like too much.”
“That’s your body responding the way it’s supposed to,” Levi explains gently, his hand covering mine. “Your suppressants are completely gone now. You don’t have to fight this anymore.”
The way it’s supposed to. Like this desperate need is natural instead of something to battle. The relief of that thought alone is almost overwhelming.
Caleb moves first, scooping me up easily. The feeling of being carried makes my omega side purr with satisfaction. Being taken care of. Protected. Handled by my alphas.
My alphas. The thought settles in my chest like coming home.
The steps to my bedroom feel endless. Every step sends little jolts through my hypersensitive body, and by the time Caleb sets me down beside my bed, I’m trembling with need.
“Look at you,” Reid murmurs, his gaze traveling over my flushed skin. “So responsive already.”
I am responding. All of it. The years of fighting my biology, of proving I could handle everything alone, are crumbling under the weight of want. And for the first time, that doesn’t terrify me.
It feels like freedom.
“Help me,” I whisper, tugging at my sweater. The fabric feels rough against my overheated skin, and I need it gone.
Caleb’s hands replace mine, lifting the sweater over my head with careful reverence. The cool air hits my bare skin and I shiver, but not from cold. From anticipation.
“You’re incredible,” Levi breathes, his cedar scent wrapping around me like comfort itself.
They surround me then, three sets of hands mapping my body with increasing boldness.
Caleb’s mouth finds my throat, pressing gentle kisses to my pulse point that make me arch toward him.
Levi’s fingers trace patterns along my ribs that send sparks across my skin.
Reid’s hands span my waist, thumbs stroking against my heated flesh.
“More,” I gasp, my hands reaching for them. I need to touch them too, need to feel their skin under my palms. “Please, I need more.”
“We know what you need,” Reid assures me, his mouth replacing Caleb’s at my throat. When his teeth graze my pulse point, I can’t hold back the soft moan that escapes.
They strip away my remaining clothes with efficient gentleness, leaving me bare and trembling beneath their hungry gazes. The way they look at me makes me feel powerful instead of vulnerable. Desired instead of exposed.
“So responsive,” Caleb observes, his thumb brushing across my lower lip. “Look how you react to just being touched.”
He’s right. Every caress sends lightning through my system. When Levi’s mouth finds my breast, tongue circling my nipple, I cry out and arch against him. The sound seems to undo something in all three of them.
“That’s it,” Reid encourages, his hand sliding down to cup me where I’m already slick with need. “Let us hear how good we make you feel.”
When his fingers brush against my core, I nearly come apart at the simple contact. “I’m already so slick,” I gasp, embarrassment and arousal warring in my chest.
“Exactly how you should be for us,” Caleb says, settling between my spread thighs. His breath is warm against my most sensitive skin, making me tremble with anticipation.
The first touch of his mouth against my core makes me scream. Not a polite gasp but a raw, desperate sound that speaks to how far gone I am. He doesn’t start gentle because my body won’t allow for gentle. His tongue works my clit with focused intensity while his fingers stretch me open.
“Oh god,” I sob, my hands fisting in his hair. “That feels so good.”
“Give us everything,” Levi murmurs against my breast, his teeth grazing my nipple. “Don’t hold back.”
I couldn’t hold back if I tried. When the first orgasm builds, it tears through me like lightning, leaving me shaking and gasping. The pleasure is intense, overwhelming, and for a few moments I can’t do anything but ride the waves as they crash over me.
When the intensity finally starts to fade, I become aware of gentle hands stroking my hair, my arms, my legs. Soothing touches that help anchor me back to reality.
“Breathe,” Caleb murmurs softly, pressing kisses to my inner thigh. “Just breathe through it.”
I do, taking shaky breaths while the aftershocks slowly ebb. That’s when I notice how parched my throat is, how much I’m still trembling.
Levi seems to read my need before I can voice it, reaching for the water glass on my nightstand. “Here,” he says gently, helping me sit up enough to drink. “Small sips.”
The cool water feels incredible against my dry throat. I hadn’t even realized how dehydrated I’d gotten until the liquid hits my system.
Reid disappears briefly, returning with a soft washcloth that he’s dampened with cool water. “This will help,” he says, gently cleaning the sweat from my overheated skin. The cool fabric against my flushed face and chest makes me sigh with relief.
“Better?” he asks softly, pressing tender kisses to my temple as my breathing slowly returns to normal.
“Much better,” I admit, though I can already feel the familiar ache starting to build again beneath the temporary relief. Their gentle care has eased the desperate edge, but the deeper need remains. “But I can feel it coming back.”
“This is just the beginning,” Levi explains, his fingers stroking soothing patterns on my arm. “What you really need—what will actually satisfy this—we can’t give you here.”
I look between them, confused but trusting. “What do you mean?”
Reid settles beside me on the bed, his bergamot scent mixing with the others in a way that makes my pulse quicken again. “Your body is asking for claiming, sweetheart. Real claiming. Knots and bonds and everything that comes with them.”
The words send a fresh rush of arousal through me, but there’s something else too. A flutter of nervousness mixed with the want. “That’s so...”
“Permanent,” Caleb finishes gently. “We know. And we don’t want you making that decision in the middle of this, when you can’t think clearly.”
“But if you’re ready for that kind of bond,” Levi adds, his voice soft but hopeful, “we prepared something for you. Somewhere you can nest properly. Somewhere private where we can take care of you the way you deserve.”
My breath catches. “You prepared something?”
“Remember the cottage I showed you?” Caleb asks, moving to sit on my other side. “On Willow Creek Road?”
I nod, my pulse picking up for reasons that have nothing to do with the returning ache between my thighs.
“We bought it,” Reid says simply. “Yesterday. For us. For our pack.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. “You bought the house?”
“The one with the nesting room upstairs,” Levi confirms. “The garden space you said would be wonderful for flowers. The kitchen where you could see yourself making coffee for all of us.”
My throat tightens with emotion that has nothing to do with biology. While I was panicking about festival logistics and fighting my feelings, they were planning our future. Building something permanent.
“But that’s such a big decision,” I whisper, overwhelmed by the implications. “What if this doesn’t work out? What if?—”
“Hey,” Caleb interrupts gently, his hand cupping my cheek. “Do you trust us?”
“Yes,” I answer immediately. “Of course I do.”
The relief that floods their scents is unmistakable. It mixes with my own honeysuckle and vanilla until the air around us is thick with contentment and rising arousal.
“Then let us show you what we prepared,” Levi says, pressing a soft kiss to my shoulder.
As they help me into soft clothes, I notice how careful they are. Reid’s button-down that smells like bergamot. Levi adjusting the sleeves so they don’t irritate my sensitive skin. Caleb making sure I’m warm enough for the short drive.
The thoughtfulness makes my chest tight with emotion even as my body responds to their proximity with renewed need.
The drive to Willow Creek Road should feel longer, but I’m too focused on the sensations flooding my system. Sitting between Caleb and Levi in Reid’s backseat, surrounded by their combined scents, makes the temporary relief from earlier fade quickly.
I can’t stop touching them. My hand finds Caleb’s thigh, fingers tracing patterns through his jeans. When Levi’s thumb strokes across my knuckles, I lean into him, breathing in his cedar warmth. Even Reid’s presence in the front seat, his bergamot scent mixing with the others, makes my pulse race.
“You’re trembling,” Caleb observes softly, his free hand coming up to stroke my hair.
“The relief is wearing off,” I admit, pressing closer to his solid warmth. “I need...”
“We know what you need,” Reid says from the front seat, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Almost there.”
When we pull into the driveway of the cottage, everything looks different than when Caleb first showed it to me. The garden is immaculate, welcoming lights glow in every window, and there’s something about it that screams home in a way that makes my chest tight.
“Welcome to our home, and your nest.” Levi says softly as he helps me out of the car.
The word nest sends a fresh wave of arousal through me. This isn’t just a house anymore. It’s the place they prepared for claiming. For bonding. For the rest of our lives.
Inside, the cottage is even more stunning than I remembered. Fresh flowers in crystal vases, soft lighting that makes everything glow, furniture arranged for comfort rather than show. But it’s the nest that steals my breath completely.
They’ve transformed it into paradise. A massive mattress on the floor dominates the space, piled high with blankets and pillows in every soft texture imaginable.
The lighting is warm and gentle, candles flickering on the dresser.
Their scents permeate everything—cedar, sandalwood, and bergamot mixing into something that smells like pack, like safety, like home.
“You did this for me,” I breathe, walking slowly into the space they created.
“We did this for us,” Reid corrects, his hands settling on my waist from behind. “This is where we’re going to build our life together.”
I touch one of the pillows, soft cashmere that must have cost more than I make in a week. Everything here is chosen with care, with love, with the understanding of what an omega needs to feel safe during claiming.
“It’s incredible,” I whisper, then turn to face them. The ache between my thighs is building again, but now it’s mixed with something deeper. Emotional need alongside the physical. “This is really ours?”
“Really ours,” Caleb confirms, moving closer until I’m surrounded by all three of them. “The deed has your name on it too. We made sure of that.”
My name. On a deed. With theirs. The permanence of it makes my throat tight with emotion even as fresh slick dampens my borrowed clothes.
“I can’t believe you did all this,” I say, overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness.
“We wanted to give you something worthy of what you’re giving us,” Levi says softly. “Your trust. Your heart. Your future.”
The words break something open in my chest. “I love you,” I whisper, meaning it with every fiber of my being. “All of you. So much.”
“We love you too,” Reid says, his mouth finding the sensitive spot behind my ear. “More than you know.”
The combination of emotion and returning arousal makes me sway on my feet. The nest calls to me with biological imperative—the need to be surrounded by soft things and alpha scents while I’m claimed properly.
“Into the nest,” Caleb says gently, reading my need. “Let us take care of you the way you deserve.”
I climb onto the massive nest gratefully, immediately surrounded by their combined scents embedded in every blanket and pillow. My omega biology purrs with satisfaction at being in a proper nesting space, finally safe to surrender completely.
“This feels right,” I say, settling back against the mountain of pillows. “Like this is where I’m supposed to be.”
“You are,” Reid says, settling beside me on the bed. “This is exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
They surround me again, hands gentle but possessive as they strip away my borrowed clothes. In the soft candlelight, with their scents wrapping around me like the world’s most loving embrace, I finally feel ready for what comes next.
“Claim me,” I whisper, meaning it with every fiber of my being. “All of you. Make me yours completely.”
“We will,” Caleb promises, his mouth finding my throat. “But first, let us worship you properly in the nest we built just for this moment.”
As they begin their sweet assault on my senses once again, in the space they created with such love and care, I know I’m exactly where I belong.
This is just the beginning of forever.