Chapter 28
Juniper
Three days pass after yet another creepy encounter with a stranger, and the guys have all been clingy and protective, all of which I absolutely love. After not having them around for eight years, their lingering and check-in’s have had my heart on the brink of melting, my appreciation for each one of them growing by the minute.
By the time Friday rolls around, I almost feel like nothing can touch me, despite the paranoia that has me constantly looking over my shoulder. A stupid notion, really, regardless of the guys all accompanying me to school and back home, never spending a single moment without them, Munro, or Pack Larsen. In just a short few days, I’ve found my family growing by the double, Pace, Rage, Haze, and Aero all chipping in to ensure I feel safe at school. And yet, with all of that protection and a sense of invisibility, I still find myself acting with caution, constantly scanning my surroundings, watching and waiting for another fucked-up interaction with a stranger who might want me dead.
As Rage, Haze, and Aero walk with me from the cafeteria, their conversation tuned out while I fan my hand in front of my face, I wonder not for the first time I how I got lucky enough to not only find a pack, but a family that extends further than the five men I was meant to live my life with. Pace and his pack have welcomed me like a sister, each one helping and teasing and generally acting like a pack of brothers I never thought I’d have.
It doesn’t go missed by Silver, the pastel-haired pixie that laughs every time she sees me with the pack that sees me as nothing more than a sibling. She links her arm with mine as soon as she finds me, giving me a funny look before she grins and says, “You know, it’s kind of cute how they’re all banding around you like big bros. I wish I had that in my life, only not in a familial sense. I’d bone those guys for a week straight without needing to blame my heat.”
I hear the twins choke on their words, and I’m confident I catch Aero grinning wildly, but I keep that to myself so I don’t embarrass the glitter unicorn that insists on becoming my new best friend. I’m pretty sure the guys all tune in to Silver when she’s around, any previous conversation being forgotten the moment the bubblegum unicorn steals their attention with very little effort. The only one who ever seems bothered is Munro, and sometimes Rage if he’s in a rotten mood. I don’t think she’s met Pace, yet, the most protective of the bunch and a seriously cool guy. I mean, the dude produces music for fun. Good music, too. I say with great confidence that I don’t doubt the pastel omega beside me wouldn’t hesitate to hump the dude’s leg while panting.
Speaking of which, I continue to fan my face, feeling flushed. “Are you warm or is it just me?”
“Just you,” Aero and Silver answer at the same time, the two sharing an amused look that they both look away from just as quickly. Silver then pats my arm and gently says, “It’s your heat, Kitten. Looks like you’re gonna be back bound in the next couple of days, if I were to hazard a guess. You smell really strong. I thought you knew.”
Oh, shit. That would explain the body aches I woke up with, along with the skull-splitting headache, lethargy, and now the overwhelming heat that feels somewhat different to the heat spikes I’ve been experiencing. This feels like I’ve been walking through the desert without so much as a lick of water or a leaf of shade to protect me from the harsh beating of the sun.
I grimace, because I should have seen this coming. I mean, Aero practically had to spell it out for me, and yet I am still unprepared. It’s not that I didn’t expect my heat, but it still caught me by surprise after the week of no heat spikes that quickly became heat spikes almost every day since Evron took me on a date. Since the night I spent with Leylan, they’ve been coming far more regularly, some brief and some long, but each of them feeling vastly different to the way my body feels as though it’s being shoved into a preheated oven.
“I should probably call—” I begin, only to be interrupted by a severe ache in my stomach that has me stumbling to a stop and clutching at my middle with a puff of air that slips past my gritted teeth.
“Kitten, are you okay?” Silver asks over the sudden ringing in my ears, her arm still linked with mine, doing more to keep me standing than my own legs, currently.
I shake my head, because this is absolutely not okay, this particular heart spike kicking my ass enough that I feel dizzy and lightheaded, my bones suddenly aching as though I’ve come down with the worst flu I’ve ever experienced. I can smell my perfume bleeding from my skin like a leaky faucet, a beacon to all alphas that I’m about to get my first heat in almost a decade, and I grit my teeth against the panic that brings. I also ignore the looks of concern from the two alphas and omega that have formed a haphazard barricade around me, blocking out curious alphas who have drawn closer to find the source of the scent pouring off me. Fuck my life.
“Oh, shit. Okay, yeah, not okay,” Silver rushes, wafting her hand in front of her face. “Yikes. That’s some pungent stuff, Kitten. We should get you to—”
“Juno?” a voice I’d recognize in my sleep calls, Creek’s blessed voice interrupting Silver suddenly.
“Oh, good. Excellent timing,” she calls back, waving Creek over like she’s a red flag enticing a bull to charge over, still holding me up when another wave of agony has me clutching tightly at my stomach while I pant for the air it just stole.
“What the hell—?” Creek begins as soon as he’s near, gently taking me off the hands of my best friend and cupping my face to look over my pinched expression, my skin coated in a fine sheen of perspiration. Understanding dawns on him quickly, and he nods with determination. “Alright, beautiful. Let’s get you home, and fast, before we cause a scene here on the sidewalk for all to see.”
I huff a strained laugh, accepting the way he bends at the knees and hauls me into his arms bridal style, the cramping in my stomach stealing most of my attention. I’m only vaguely aware of him thanking Silver and the guys, Silver agreeing to call Munro to cover for me in class, and the guys all wishing me well as I’m carried away to and deposited into Creek’s car.
I’m a little loopy during the whole drive, my fever sending me into a state of near delirium, a seed of arousal growing until it branches all through my body by the time we reach the house. I’m writhing in my seat, clawing at the clothes that feel much too tight on my fevered body before the car even stops, Creek’s soothing voice cutting into my mind enough for me to hear him say, “I’ve got you, beautiful. It’s okay.”
I can’t answer, whines and mewls of need slipping free of my mouth while I fumble with my clothing. I’ve removed my boots, socks, jacket and shirt before Creek has rounded the car to retrieve me, my fingers fumbling with the clasp of my jeans just as I’m pulled out of the car and rushed into the house I now call a home with my pack.
My pack.
My family.
My guys. The guys I need more than anything in the world. I need their laughter, their smiles, their affection. I need their love and lingering looks, their protectiveness and safety. I need them. Their marks. Their bonds. Everything. I need it all.
Crying out when another wave of agony clutches at my stomach, my arousal building until it physically hurts, I grip the back of Creek’s neck as he kicks off his shoes and hurries me up the stairs, leading a path straight to my nest.
The door shuts with a loud bang as he lays me down on the mountain of comfort that surrounds me, and I’m already clawing at my clothes to free myself. Creek must sense the urgency, because his much more reliable hands are swift and efficient in relieving me of the constricting material of my jeans and underwear.
I can finally breathe a little better the moment I’m bare, but it lasts only long enough for me to take a single inhale before my mind goes crazy once more, and I’m panting hard as I lean in to remove Creek’s clothing. It’s like I have a one-track mind, the sole objective I’m gunning for is having Creek’s teeth sinking into my flesh and putting me out of the misery that is being unbonded. I want to feel him, to sense him wherever he is, to own a part of him that he owns of me in return. I want to be his. I want to be Evron’s, Geo’s and the twins’. More than anything.
So, while Creek scrambles out of his clothing, his honey-blond hair standing on end the moment his shirt is gone, I make a decision there and then that I won’t be getting out of this heat spike without finally forming the bonds that will make us a pack.
While Creek fucks around with his jeans and boxer briefs, my hands begin to roam over my body, cupping my breasts and squeezing. I moan loudly, slick pooling between my legs when I brush my thumbs over my nipples, Creek’s groan of approval turning me on even more than before. Moreso that my scars mean nothing to him, his eyes heating to scalding as he watches me play with my breasts for as long as it takes him to remove the last of his clothing.
By the time he’s completely naked, he looks as frantic as I feel, his cock long and hard, thickened with desire and already leaking precum my mouth waters to taste. His ocean eyes have darkened, turning stormy with desire, and his hands are rushed as he reaches for me, dragging me beneath his muscular body with very little effort.
There are no words shared between us, only heated looks and a frantic nod of approval, as Creek notches his leaking cock at my entrance and swiftly plunges inside me, my slick granting easy enough access that Creek bottoms out with that single thrust.
“Oh, shit, J. You feel so fucking good. Too good,” he grinds through gritted teeth, a wild expression fluttering over his handsome face, only serving in riling me up further. I’m convinced my body grows impossibly hotter, my pulse thrumming rapidly with the beats of my heart as I adjust to his size and length.
I can already feel the bulge of his knot teasing my entrance, and I want it. I fucking need it. I need his teeth buried in me, I need his bond, I just need him.
Feeling much like I’m crawling out of my skin and drowning in arousal, I arch my back and a jumble of nonsense mingled with begging slips past my lips as I grind against Creek from below.
“Fuuuck,” Creek growls. Literally growls, shocking me enough that my startled gaze snaps to his, and a flood of liquid heat pools between us as my body produces enough slick that I’d be embarrassed about it if I had time to think about it.
As it was, Creek takes that moment to pull his cock free, right before slamming home with a sharp thrust, rocking my body in a way that has my tits bouncing freely and my heart galloping like a free stallion beneath the confines of my ribcage.
From there, the reins holding Creek back snap, and I damn near scream with pleasure as he fucks me hard and fast, his cock filling me to bursting over and over again. He fucks me like a man possessed, hips pumping hard enough to slap against my ass, creating a salacious soundtrack joined by my cries and moans of pleasure and the sexy little grunts and groans he makes every single time he bottoms out and rubs his knot against the nerves at my entrance.
“Feel so good. Fucking heaven. Made for me,” Creek mutters between every thrust, sending me soaring toward the peaks of pleasure, my heart spike riding me harder than any other I’ve had.
My pussy clamps tightly around him with every pump, dragging his cock deeper and deeper every time the tip of his shaft drags along the spot inside me that has my head thrown back and my walls spasming with the threat of my release.
“I want you to come for me, beautiful. I want you leaking all over me, coating me with your juices. I want to smell like you for fucking days. Can you do that for me?” Creek demands roughly, his voice like grit as pleasure fuels him.
I’m nodding rapidly, clawing at his waist as I silently beg for more, my body primed and ready for all of him. My pussy is already fluttering in anticipation, my walls tightening enough that Creek grunts as he pounds into me with enough force to knock out several moans and feminine grunts from the depths of my chest.
With every thrust, I feel the first sparks of my release, building and building until it teases the edge of my mind. My body grows taut, stretched out like a rubber band, and with one perfectly executed swivel of his hips, Creek sends me hurtling over the edge and into a mind-shattering orgasm that makes my throat hoarse with the scream he tears out of me.
The ravenous alpha doesn’t give me a chance to come down from one climax before he’s kissing me senseless, cock thrusting in and out of my convulsing pussy as he draws out one orgasm until it bleeds into another, my moans trapped by his greedy mouth.
I’m absolutely mindless and out of control, my body thrumming wildly, by the time Creek tears his mouth from mine. He lifts himself up to his knees, large hands clutching my thighs and holding them open wider, and his manic ocean eyes fall to where we’re joined. A bone-rattling sound emerges from his chest, a sexy mixture between a purr and another filthy growl, and my eyes roll to the back of my head when he damn near snarls, “This pussy belongs to us, right? Only we get to knot you, fill you with our come and watch you fall apart, Juniper. You’re fucking ours, and only ours, and I’ll kill anyone who tries to take you away from us again.”
Creek’s thrusts grow harder, faster, the intensity between us growing until all I can think of is him. Every other thought flees, and I’m only half aware of my head tilting to expose my neck for him, my words on the verge of pleading as I begin begging, “Please, C. Please. I need it, I need you. Do it. Please, oh my god.”
The alpha’s hips stutter for a brief moment before he’s fucking me like a wild animal freshly released from his cage, the slapping of flesh growing louder as he ruins me in the best way possible. All the while, his hands grow tighter around my thighs and he growls, “What do you want, beautiful? You want my knot? You want me to fill every inch of you, fill you until you’re covered in my scent?”
“Yes!” I almost scream, the single word ending on a sobbed moan as when Creek lifts my ass higher and fucks me deeper, his knot pushing further and further against my entrance until he’s teasing me with what I want.
“I can feel how badly you need it, J. How desperate you are to have me locked inside you, coating your insides with come,” he grits, fingers digging into the curve of my ass. “Come for me again, and I’ll give you what you want. What you’re begging for.”
Like his words held the key to my orgasm, it’s unlocked so swiftly that it steals my breath, my lips parting in a silent scream as I’m hurled over the edge once more, pulsing around Creek as I lose myself to another climax.
“Fuck, yeah. That’s right, beautiful. Fuuuuck,” he groans, right before he yanks me harshly toward him and stuffs me full with his cock and knot, my body instinctively locking him in place as he fits himself snugly inside me.
The feel of him stretching me sends me hurtling into another orgasm, which promptly tears one from Creek, and he falls forward as he moans loudly, tucking his face into the crook of his neck as the warmth of his come fills me with sporadic spurts that prolongs my own release. My fever breaks in that instant, and my mind comes back to me like a boomerang, and I can’t help the smile that spreads over my mouth.
Panting and sweaty, I wrap my noodle-like limbs around Creek, heart thundering rapidly enough that I’m sure he feels and hears it from where he lies on top of me, his weight a comforting presence along my body.
As I sink my hands into his hair, I dig the heels of my feet into the globes of his ass and draw him closer, unlatching a rumbling groan from his throat. With my limbs wrapped around him the best I can, attempting to keep him snug against me while I ready myself to finally ask for what I was truly begging for before, I kiss Creek’s shoulder before I cross the barrier that separates me from them.
With panted breaths, my heart lodged in my throat, and a niggle of fear that he’ll reject me, I finally demand, “Bite me, Creek. Bond with me.”
His entire body turns to stone in an instant, and I worry I might have asked too soon, but before I can lose myself to my internal panic, Creek relaxes his whole body and begins to purr loudly before whispering into my ear, “About fucking time.”
My grin is instantaneous, euphoria flooding through me so fast that I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience. It only grows when Creek presses soft butterfly kisses over the sweat-slicked skin of my neck, right before he sinks his teeth into the flesh with that sexy little purr-growl that has me crying out with desire.
The moment his teeth break the surface, a pressure breaks inside me, and it feels like my chest expands double the amount that it was before. It takes only a few seconds before I sense it, the threads that form between Creek and me, growing and growing until I can feel him.
Radiant happiness that rivals the sun’s shine.
Bone-deep satisfaction.
Blissful acceptance.
Euphoric and ecstatic love that pulses from him in waves. I don’t even need to hear the words, because I feel it filling me to bursting. This man loves me, has loved me for years, and I can feel it all. It all floods me from head to toe, and I know that those emotions mirror mine to perfection. I soak myself in them, clinging to the happiness we share as the bond falls into place, joining us more effectively than we already are.
I grunt when Creek removes his teeth from my neck, whimpering softly when he runs his tongue over the fresh mark now permanently etched into my skin. When he cleans it a little, he pulls back and I turn my head to find him grinning down at me with tears hovering at the corners of his eyes as he says, “You’re mine now, Juniper Baines. You’re officially stuck with me.”
“That’s the best thing you’ve ever said to me,” I breathe, practically giddy with joy.
Creek’s grin widens, and a tear falls from his eye as he no doubt feels my emotions, and he asks, “Oh yeah? Nothing will top that, huh?”
I shake my head, unable to wipe my matching grin away.
He does it for me instead, when he whispers, “I fucking love you, J. I love you so damned much.”
Pretty sure I laugh and cry at the same time, my own tears filling my eyes before spilling over and tracking wet marks down my temples. Another tear slips from Creek’s glittering blue eyes, and I can’t help but cup his face and tell him, “I love you with everything in me, C.”
And, without uttering another word, Creek presses his soft lips against mine before we lose ourselves to our bond, our newly formed connection, the only thought in my mind before he shatters me all over again is that I can’t wait to experience this with the others.
I’m a part of a pack now, an official member of the family, and I couldn’t possibly be any happier.