Chapter 26
LAUREL
On the first day of my recovery, Jordy went to check on the pub and pick up fresh groceries on the way. It felt strange to see him leave, but I wasn’t panicking like I would have been during the heat. Besides, he promised he’d be back in two hours, tops.
Monty carried loads of laundry back and forth—we’d gone through quite a few sets of sheets and towels during my heat—and I picked up the guitar. My need to play must have built up because I didn’t mind sitting on my sore ass when I could touch the strings.
On the living room sofa with an extra pillow under my butt, I got into the flow and forgot about time.
I was trying out the new song I’d come up with on my first night here, when I noticed both my men leaning against the wall by the stairs, listening.
Jordy still had his jacket on, and Monty held an armful of blankets.
They looked a little stunned. I shrugged, smiling at them apologetically.
“Um, you okay with that?” I asked. Because it could be weird to have someone make a song about you, right? Especially if thousands of strangers might eventually hear it.
Monty sniffed, his grin wobbly. Jordy’s pierced eyebrow went up.
“Can you play that again?”
So I played the whole thing, as it was now firmly imprinted in my head, word for word. I couldn’t look at them, so I closed my eyes. When the last note faded, the room was eerily quiet. I carefully opened my eyes.
Jordy pushed off the wall, strode toward me, and took the guitar from me. Monty dropped the blankets into an armchair, knelt in front of me, and grabbed my hands in his. His eyes were brimming with tears. He looked so happy, and I knew it was because of me, but I didn’t know what to do with it.
“I think you cured my creative block,” I joked, but my voice broke.
After carefully leaning the guitar against the wall, Jordy sat by my side and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my temple and whispered, “I love you, Laurel.”
Monty kissed my hands and laid his head on my thighs, sliding his arms around to hug my hips.
“Damn, Laurel,” he rasped, and took a shuddering breath.
Wrapped in both of them, my body relaxed, and I let out a long sigh. God, this was so fucking perfect. I still felt selfish and greedy, hogging these two men all to myself, but this was so right.
“I love you so much,” I whispered. “It’s crazy, right? I’m in a brand-new house, and we’ve barely been together for more than a week, but this is home.”
Jordy hummed. “Yeah.”
They shifted, their arms moving over my body, and I knew without looking that they were holding hands over my hip.
“You’re our home now,” Monty said.
It could have sounded scary. I’d been adrift for so long; how could I be someone’s home?
But it made perfect sense. I was their omega, and we were a family. Everything else was secondary.
Jordy had to go back to work on the second day of my recovery, and I missed him like crazy. Monty did, too. We clung to each other like two castaways on a float. The chalet seemed so quiet with just the two of us.
I took a long walk on Hunter’s recommendation, accompanying Monty as he went to check on the B&B, and the afternoon passed reasonably quickly.
Back at the chalet, I decided I should call Calvin. Monty grabbed his own phone and went outside to talk to his parents. Through the glass wall in the living room, I watched him pace around the patio. He was gesturing with his free hand as he spoke into the phone.
“Laurel! Where have you been hiding?” Calvin asked cheerfully.
“Hi, Cal. Funny thing. I was in heat.”
I could hear him gasp, then silence.
“Are you there, Calvin?”
“Not sure. I might be dreaming. You said you went through a heat?”
I chuckled. “Seems I’ll be spending a lot more time in Beauville in the future.”
“You’re serious.”
“Yes. But no, I’m not preggo, thank you very much. I opted for the contraceptives.”
“But…who is it?”
“That’s the fun part. Are you sitting down?”
I enjoyed the hell out of that conversation. Calvin was overjoyed once he got over the initial shock.
“I’m itching to tell Barclay,” he said with a smile in his voice, “but I don’t think he’ll believe me.”
“Hunter is the only one who knows, and Monty’s talking to his dads right now.”
“Oh my God, Beauville will never recover from this. You know bears gossip quite a lot, don’t you?”
“Small town, big news. I get it.”
“This is huge. But Laurel! The public? Are you planning to announce it?”
I heaved a sigh. “Soon. I’ll have my people taking care of that.”
The line was quiet for a moment, and then Calvin’s voice came back, softer than before. “It will be crazy, I bet, but you know what? I am so happy for you, Laure.”
“I’m happy for myself. I got lucky.”
“I think Monty is the luckiest in this scenario. He’s had a crush on you for ages.”
I shook my head, grinning, my gaze on my big bear outside. I didn’t agree with Calvin on that but wouldn’t argue. Monty threw his head back and laughed into his phone as I watched. The talk with his family must be going well.
“I love them both. I still can’t believe I get to have them all to myself.”
Calvin snickered. “You’ll certainly have your hands full.”
When Jordy came back, I got to my knees in the shower and sucked my alphas off.
They loomed above me, water running down their glorious bodies, their cocks in my face…
And I’d thought my desire for them would calm down after the heat.
It didn’t. Cum sliding into my throat and running down my chin, I felt like an animal all over again.
We couldn’t fuck—I wasn’t healed enough for that. But they reciprocated by rimming me on the bed until I was shivering and gasping their names.
I slept like the dead, cuddled between them.
Three days after the heat, Sam arrived to go through some strategies with me.
He’d chosen a suitable PR agency, and we agreed that their reps would come to Beauville for a series of meetings and media training for Monty and Jordy.
Their main task would be to come up with a controlled way to disclose my relationship status before it leaked.
Jordy’s past might capture some unwelcome attention, but we’d be prepared for that.
After Sam had left, I found Monty in front of the open fridge in the kitchen.
“What do you want for dinner?” he asked. “We’ve finished the casserole, but there’s ready-made pizza dough, or I could make some veggies and rice.”
I tapped my lips with my fingertips. “How about honey-glazed ribs? Jordy recommended them to me once.”
Monty looked at me, eyebrows scrunched together. “I can go down to the pub and pick that up, I guess.”
“Or we could go eat it there. I feel much better today. I don’t mind sitting in a chair.” I nudged the fridge closed and looped my arms around his neck. “We’ve been holed up for days. Don’t you want to go out?”
Monty’s beard bristled as he held back a smile. “I do. But everyone will see.”
I shrugged. I didn’t see a reason to keep our bond secret. Not here in Beauville, anyway.
“You don’t want them to know?”
Chuckling, Monty grabbed my ass with both hands and squeezed. “My sweet omega, I want to rub it into their faces.”
“Then let’s go.”
Some of the guys’ clothing had drifted from the B&B to my chalet. Monty dressed in dark jeans and his signature red-checkered shirt—he owned at least five of them from what I could tell. Feeling unreasonably excited about the outing, I decided to doll up a little.
Monty looked stunned when I descended the stairs in my tightest black jeans and a see-through shirt. I added platform boots and a long, flowy black cardigan, open in the front.
At the door, Monty kissed me soundly on the lips. “Jordy is going to swallow his tongue.”
I grinned. I was about to flaunt my two alphas in public. It was just Beauville, but damn, I was giddy.
The pub was buzzing when Monty and I walked in.
I recognized several faces. Hunter sat at a long table nearby with Mayor Frey, who had Oliver tucked under his arm.
Barclay and Calvin were wrapped around each other, facing them.
They must have someone babysitting their kid—maybe Phil, Calvin’s boss at the daycare.
Monty’s dad, Barrett, stood by the bar together with the sheriff, smiling like he was looking forward to the show about to start.
Ever so slowly, the crowd quieted, possibly noticing that Monty held my hand. He squeezed and let go, only to take off my coat and hang it on a wall hook by the bar. Then he nudged me toward his father.
Here goes nothing. I extended my hand. “Mr. Wolf. We’ve already met.”
“Not like this, we haven’t,” he said. Instead of taking my hand, he opened his immense arms. “Welcome to the family, Laurel.”
He was warm and huge like Monty, and he hugged me gently, patting my back.
When he released me and stepped back, Jordy was right there. He kissed me on the lips. “You look beautiful,” he murmured.
I could tell we had everyone in the room watching us when Monty decided to blow their minds. With one arm around me, he kissed Jordy. Jordy smiled against his mouth, then gave him a little nip back.
There was a chorus of gasps, holy shits, and even a whoop. Hunter, Calvin, and Monty’s dad must have been the only people who didn’t blink an eye.
Sheriff Chickie stared at us like we were a three-headed dragon about to spit fire. Then he slowly nudged Monty’s dad with an elbow.
“Hey, Barrett, you’re seeing what I’m seeing?”
“Yeah. That’s my son and his mates.”
“Mates,” Chickie repeated dumbly, his confused gaze slowly panning from Jordy to my face. I fought the need to inch backward. He was intimidating as hell.
Barrett slapped Chickie on the back. “Let’s have a drink. Jordy, son, give us two shots of something nice.”
“Coming right up, Mr. Wolf.” Jordy pressed a kiss to my temple and rounded the bar.