Chapter 34 Naomi
Chapter thirty-four
Naomi
Silas moves inside me with a rhythm that's slower now, gentler, after hours of this. My body is oversensitive, aching in the best way, marked by hands and mouths and whispered praise. I can tell my heat isn't over yet, but something about this moment feels different.
I'm lucid.
His knot swells and locks, and I come apart again. Softer this time. Rolling pleasure instead of crashing waves. His forehead presses to mine, and we stay locked together while the aftershocks fade.
Liam is stretched out on my left, his hand tracing lazy patterns on my hip. Felix is on my right, fingers tangled in my hair. The nest cradles us all, our scents so mixed I can't tell where one ends and another begins.
The fire has burned down to embers, casting an intimate glow. Through the corner of a window next to the fire, I can see snow falling thick and steady.
Today's Christmas Eve. I'd almost forgotten.
"I need—" I start, then stop. My voice is hoarse from crying out. "I want—"
"What do you need, angel?" Silas asks softly, still buried inside me.
The words stick in my throat. I look at Silas above me. At Liam beside me, fingers gentle on my skin. At Felix, watching me with those warm eyes.
My chest aches with how much I want this.
"Claim me," I whisper. "All of you. I want your marks. Want to be yours permanently."
The air in the nest goes still. A bonding bite is permanent.
"Naomi—" Liam's voice is rough.
"Are you sure?" Felix asks, his hand tightening in my hair. "Heat can make you feel things that—"
"This isn't the heat," I interrupt, looking at each of them. "I'm lucid right now. This is real. You're real. This—" I gesture at the nest, at us. "This is what I want."
Felix smiles. "Okay, so what's a hundred divided by thirteen?"
"Seven point six nine two three," I answer without missing a beat.
Felix blinks. Looks at Liam. "Is that right?"
Liam's lips twitch. "It is."
"Okay, well, I definitely didn't know that." Felix scratches his head, chuckling. "You're really good at everything, aren't you?"
We all laugh, the sound breaking the tension. Felix presses a kiss to my shoulder. Liam's lips brush my forehead. And Silas cups my cheek with one hand, thumb brushing my cheekbone.
"You know, when I first caught your scent, I—," he starts, shyly, "I panicked. I was terrified you'd see through me. See all the broken parts I try to hide and leave."
"I'm not leaving," I say fiercely. "I saw firsthand you can be a total jerk when it comes to letting people in. But once you do... You're careful. Protective. There's nothing you wouldn't do for the people you love. I see you now, Silas. And I'm not going anywhere."
His eyes close briefly. When they open, they're shining. "I want this. I want you. I want to build something that can't be broken."
"Good," I murmur. "Because I'm thinking we get a Christmas tree after this and we celebrate our first Christmas together as a pack."
His mouth curves into a rare, full smile. "I'd love nothing more, angel."
He leans in and his mouth finds the curve where my neck meets my shoulder. A spot where the mark will be visible. Where everyone will know.
"Yes," I breathe. "Claim me—"
His teeth sink in.
Pain and pleasure twist together until I can't separate them.
Something snaps into place, a presence that wasn't there before.
I feel him. Steady. Grounding. A captain's certainty, the knowledge that he'll steer us through any storm.
And underneath it, softer, the fear he hides from everyone, the desperate need to protect what's his. I feel it all, and I hold it close.
When he pulls back, there's wonder in his eyes.
I turn to Liam, reaching for him. "Now you, Liam."
He's looking at me like I'm something precious. His hand slides into my hair, cradling my head.
"I never told you or my pack," he murmurs, "but when I realized you were our scent match, I thought it was over before it started. I learned with experience that wanting something too much is the fastest way to lose it." His thumb strokes my temple. "But you make me want to be brave."
"Let's be brave together," I whisper.
He leans in and his teeth find the other side of my neck, mirroring Silas's mark.
The bond snaps into place and Liam floods into me. Not just calm, something deeper. The cozy feeling of a library at night. The patience of someone who watches and waits and sees everything. And woven through it, a tenderness he guards so carefully, now offered to me.
"Angel," Felix says when Liam pulls back, and his voice cracks on the word. "I don't have the right words. I've never felt like this. Never knew I could. And I don't want to lose it."
"You won't," I promise. "I'm not going anywhere."
I bare my throat to him, right over my pulse, and his eyes widen.
"Are you really one thousand percent sure you want me, angel?"
"I do," I tell him. "And I want everyone to see, to know I chose you. All three of you. My pack."
He makes a sound that's half laugh, half gasp, then his mouth is on my throat.
His teeth sink in over my pulse and the bond bursts to life, bright and warm and fizzing with joy. Felix feels like… a golden retriever tackling someone at the door. I feel his boundless energy… how much he loves making people smile… his fierce loyalty.
Three bonds. Three alphas, now mine as I am theirs.
And I feel them all now. Silas's protective fire. Liam's steady depth. Felix's golden warmth. They're woven into me, a part of me, and impossible to separate.
"Holy shit," Liam breathes, pressing a hand to his own chest. "I can feel you. All of you."
"Same," Felix says, eyes wide. "This is... wow."
"A pack," Silas says quietly. "A real one. Family."
"Speaking of family," Felix grins, "we should do stockings. And presents. And one of those cheese boards with the little crackers."
"You're thinking about cheese boards right now?" Liam asks.
"I'm thinking about everything right now. It's Christmas Eve and we just all bonded. My brain is doing a lot."
I laugh, the sound bubbling up from somewhere deep. These ridiculous, wonderful men. My ridiculous, wonderful alphas.
"Christmas dinner," I say. "A tree. Stockings. All of it. But—" I shift my hips, reminding Silas that he's still locked inside me. "We're going to have to get creative with logistics. This heat isn't ending anytime soon."
Silas groans. "And I wouldn't have any other way, angel."
Outside, snow keeps falling, painting the window white.
Christmas Eve. My first Christmas with my pack.
"I love you," I murmur, the words meant for all of them. "Merry almost-Christmas."
Silas presses a kiss to my temple. "I love you. More than I have words for."
Liam's hand finds mine, squeezing. "You make me believe in things I'd given up on. I love you, Naomi."
Felix grins, bright and brilliant. "I love you, angel."
I pull them closer, laughing, crying, full of joy.
This is already the best Christmas ever.