28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Leah
R onan gathers me against him, containing me as though he can barricade away the world with his body, shield me from the shrapnel inside my skull.
My skin prickles, nerves jackknifing between want and terror.
My limbs flail in an uncoordinated attempt to push away.
Thunder rolls through me, a seismic wave down my spine, and I hate how easily I melt, bones dissolving until I’m limp in his arms, as if my skeleton was only ever provisional.
"So good. So perfect. Right here with us." Ronan’s voice is a low river of command and devotion.
Those words are too much. Too sharp, too raw, and I choke on them, unable to swallow. My breath gets all tangled, chest locking up as though something heavy sits on me. I claw at the air, at him, at myself. Ronan strokes my hair, his thumb tracing soothing patterns at my temple.
"Jax, help me cradle her. She’s spiraling again."
Jax shifts behind me and frames my body from my shoulder blades to my ankles.
Every inch of him supports me: his arm snaking beneath my waist, fitting to my body’s curve.
His palm spans my ribcage, thumb splayed just shy of my pulse.
He is all warmth, all steady anchoring, vanilla and sunlight and the deep base-note of earth.
My back fits perfectly into his chest, as if he’s always been meant to catch me.
Jax presses his nose to the crown of my head and speaks so close it vibrates through my skull. "I’ve got you, Sunshine. I’ve got you."
Jax’s purr harmonizes with Ronan’s. My body betrays me as muscles loosen, and my eyelids fall heavy. My mind claws at the edges, trying to retain purchase, but I’m tumbling down a river of their intent. Pushed and pulled and soothed in equal measure.
Jax’s lips trace the whorl of my ear. "Such a sweet girl letting us hold you. So perfect, Sunshine."
Ronan’s hand finds my jaw, tilting it up so I drown in the dark promise of his eyes as he lifts his head. "Listen to our words. Test our scents. Trust your instincts."
I resist these words, all sharp teeth and splintered glass, but when Ronan edges my nose to his scent gland again, my body wants.
My mind softens. I’m purr-soothed and scent-drunk.
Their hands map my skin, they keep telling me how much I mean to them, and I’m falling, falling, into a twilight drenched in confusion.
Time hangs strangely in this in-between place where I’m floating on scent and soft words.
It’s like a heat except there’s no frantic beat between my thighs.
Just a steady hum of contentment blanketing my nerves.
My body is slack, boneless, heavy and liquid at once, as if every muscle has surrendered and become a lazy river running beneath skin .
When I swim back up through the haze, Gabriel’s thick thighs bracket me.
He’s a mountain behind me, unyielding warmth and gentle restraint as one arm bands soft around my waist. His body is a wall of comfort, the steady rise and fall of his breath giving the world some new, necessary rhythm.
I’m both weightless and anchored, safe in a way that frays the edges of old, hard memories.
Jax and Ronan sit in the corners of the opposite side of the nest, their voices a steady rumble around me as they chat. The center of the nest has been smoothed down and is covered in plates piled with cut fruit, crisp bacon, and soft rolls shining with butter. My stomach pinches with hunger.
Gabriel dips his head, running his nose along my cheek as his purr strokes against my spine. "Hey, there she is. Have a nice rest, Sweetheart?"
My breath snags halfway down my chest, but I force it out anyway. "I only rested because Ronan and Jax tricked me." The words are sticky, like I’ve confessed something private.
Gabriel chuckles. "They didn’t trick you. You rested because you’re exhausted and you’re healing in more ways than just the physical."
Heat rises to my cheeks because his scent stays warm and zesty. Truth . Not a lie to sully his bright citrus. His body doesn't lie either. Not by the unmistakable hardness against my back. "You took off your apron."
"Hmmm. I didn’t want to be the odd one out," Gabriel says.
A quick check of Ronan and Jax shows me we’re all naked under the thin throw rugs placed over their laps and my front.
"I don’t mind wearing clothing," I say.
I should be uncomfortable being with three naked Alphas in my— a —nest, but I’m not. I ignore the subtle throb between my thighs that has nothing to do with the acres of bare muscle on display, nor the essences that coat my skin, infusing me.
"And you will. Once we’ve drowned out those voices those assholes have nailed in your head and you believe we only have your best interests at heart," Jax growls.
"You’re tricking me. Hoping that all of this" I gesture between us. "will make me change my mind. "
"Not making you change your mind, Kitten. Only opening your eyes to what your instincts already know." Ronan leans over to slide his fingers along my jaw.
"I don’t trust you." My heart gives a stupid little flutter, but my tongue is thick and wooden, and a brittle taint mars my sweet rose.
"You trust us to take care of you. Or you’d be clawing to get out of my arms and this nest, and running a mile from us," Gabriel says.
His words land with a thud. The survival part of me wants to deny everything and pretend I haven’t quieted under the crush of their scents, their touches and their intent.
I roll my eyes, tipping my head back so I can see him out of my periphery. "There’s nowhere to run. The front door is locked, and you won’t tell me the code. You ever think of that, Alpha?" My voice wobbles somewhere between sassy and dangerous, but I can’t stop the curl at the corner of my mouth.
His arms tighten, a slow smile breaking out over his lips. "Oh, Sweetheart, you keep talking like that and I might let you out just so I have the pleasure of catching you."
Thunk . Another brick tumbles to dust as a thrill flutters in the pit of my stomach. Gabriel might come across as being lighthearted, but he’s all Alpha, and the Alphas in this nest are so, so dangerous. I can’t forget that.
"But I’ll only do that when you’re ready. For now, the only thing you’re ready for is food," he says.
Hunger gnaws at my belly and my mouth waters in a more visceral way at the aroma of all this food. I reach for a plate, eager to put as much in my stomach as I can, but Gabriel catches my wrist.
"Uh-uh. This is my pleasure." His voice turns those words into something molten.
I try to stifle the shiver that steals through me, but I might as well stop the sun from rising in the morning. "Do you have to?" I hate the way my voice is too breathy and not the force of indignation I want.
"Oh, it’s absolutely necessary." He shifts behind me, crooking my head back into the hollow of his shoulder as his palms stay firm and wide at my midriff, pinning me against muscles as wide as I am.
His purr is an unfair advantage. I can do nothing but surrender to the way he holds me, the way their essences slip under my skin and loosen everything tight and hidden inside me.
Destroying me piece by piece.
"I’m not stupid. I know what you’re all doing." This is just another tactic. Another way to control me. Another way to…
"Love you?’ Ronan says.
The words ricochet around inside me, too big to land. There is no room to hide from the blaze in Ronan’s eyes. His gaze fuses me to the spot with hot nails. "Eat, Omega. Heal. Let us look after you. Stop fighting so hard."
Gabriel picks up a piece of fruit and lifts it to my lips. His fingertips graze my bottom lip and it’s too much, the care and the power in it. I open for him, and he slides the wedge against my tongue. I snap my jaw shut before he can remove his fingers.
He strokes my shoulder with his free hand. "Good girl."
I open my teeth, sucking in a sharp breath, but before I can say anything, he scoops something savory in a pinch of flatbread and holds it under my nose.
My mouth opens without thought and flavors explode over my tongue while his gaze scorches my profile.
He tears another piece of bread and scoops his own mouthful while I swallow.
His knuckles brush my collar bone and his cock throbs against my lower back as he feeds me. I tell myself that I let him but I’m too worn down to fight. If they want to hang out in the living area on these couches in a pile of towels and throw cushions, then let them.
We eat all the food, the Alphas finishing the plates when I can’t fit in another bite. Jax and Ronan begin to empty the nest.
I wrench my gaze off the easy, ridiculous grace of their uncovered bodies because want is just another pitfall, and I’m fully aware of what they’re doing.
Attraction is the oldest trap in the book.
I won’t fall for it, no matter how many times my heart stutters or how my belly tightens at the sight of all that smooth skin and those heavy cocks .
I turn toward the window, still in Gabriel’s arms since he still hasn’t let go of me, as the world spins on the road below.
The moon is rising in a darkening sky and the street pulses with activity.
Cars trickle past, brake lights flaring then winking out as drivers melt into the city’s evening hush.
A jogger, ponytail slashing the air, passes beneath the streetlamp, her stride confident and sure, legs eating up the sidewalk as if she owns every inch of it.
She’s alive. Free. She gets to choose where she runs, when she stops.
A dull ache flexes through my chest. I bite my bottom lip, hard.
Gabriel’s arm tightens around me. "Why are you sad, Sweetheart?"
I don’t sugarcoat it. I’m too worn out to lie. It’s clear they’re not going to give up their campaign to control me. "I’ve just swapped one set of bars for another, Gabriel. I’m an Omega and nothing will change the fact I’ll never be free. If you think that’s not true, you’re kidding yourselves."
His fingers stroke along my thigh, just light enough for goosebumps to break out over my skin. Enough to bring my attention back to his scent. The movement of muscle. The thump of his heart. "That’s not true, Leah."
"Then let me out there. Let me breathe fresh air…" I draw a stiff breath, attempting to outlast my crushing chest so I can hold myself together. It’s been years since I’ve felt fresh air on my face.
Smelled grass. Flowers. Heard the rustle of leaves.
Wanting that so badly causes another ache where there are already so many.
"You’re deluding yourself thinking you’re protecting me. "
"Leah."
I talk over him, voice flat and ragged at the edges. "At least the Alphas who locked me up were honest with their abuse. You want to call this care, but this is still a prison. I’m tired. I want to sleep."
I don’t wait for him to answer. I close my eyes, forcing my breath slow and deep, feigning sleep even as longing and loss tangle beneath my skin. Let them watch over me.
In the darkness, I can pretend escape is still possible.