41. Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-One
Leah
I wake in my nest, blinking against the low light and sterile white walls. All around me are the bodies of my Alphas, sprawled and tangled in the fortress of blankets and pillows I remember building before the heat haze swept me away.
Our combined essences hang thick in the air, salty skin, crisp citrus, crisp and resinous pine, and warm smoked musk, all woven through with my rose petals in perfect harmony.
It coats my lungs and sinks into my bones until I can’t tell where I end and they begin.
My body hums with recognition, safety and belonging settling deep into my marrow.
Our scents have developed, merged, spiraled together in ways I’ve never felt before, richer and more complex. The horrible chemical taint that always hovered beneath my skin is gone . In its absence, new notes bloom from me, a deeper, duskier note.
I catalogue my body. Even though I’ve just woken, I’m tired and weary. My muscles are sore, probably due to the fact we’ve fucked for days. I’m tender between my legs, but I’m intact. There are no bruises on my body I can see and—also no bonding bites.
They listened.
A strange ache flickers through me and I don’t know if it’s disappointment or gratitude.
Maybe both. I close my eyes, exhale around the ache and let it go.
Yet emotions remain. New, blooming things that fill my chest with warmth whenever I think of these males.
Parts of me have grown into want, into an urge that has taken root in my heart and refuses to let go.
It’s terrifying, but not in the old way. Now, everything is soft at the edges, shaped like hope.
Images flicker through my mind between waves of heat haze: Gabriel holding me tight against his chest, Jax’s soft lips brushing my shoulder, Ronan’s purr as warm and heavy as the nest materials surrounding us.
All the fear I’d carried, the old sick terror of what Alphas can take in my heat is absent. Nothing more than a nightmare that can’t survive daylight. I’m not scared. Not of their hands or their hunger or my own feelings for them. And I…I don’t want to live without them.
I don’t even want to try.
Maybe being scent-matched isn’t a curse. Maybe it’s the thing that brings me back to myself.
Ronan stirs, rumbling a wordless sound, and then his eyes crack open to lock on me.
His smile is crooked and slow, creasing into the scruff shadowing his jaw.
Sleep-mussed hair falls over his brow. He’s devastating .
Broad shoulders, bruised lips, stubble catching the dawn.
He reaches for me, sliding a lock of my sweat heavy hair over my shoulder. "Omega. Your heat has broken. "
On his other side, Gabriel rolls onto his back with a ragged sigh, one arm slung over his eyes.
He’s all long lines and tousled hair, lean muscle and lazy heat.
Jax blinks awake on my other side. His large hand splays possessively over the curve of my hip, his mouth twitching up at the corner in a sleepy, wicked grin.
He looks edible. Wild. Loved. "Doesn’t mean we’ll worship our Omega any less. "
The words land right between my thighs, a flush of want blooming so fast and fierce it steals my breath. Gods, I want him. All of them.
And the wanting doesn’t terrify me.
Gabriel rises on his elbow and looks down at me over Ronan’s shoulder, flashing a wicked half-grin. "Morning, Sweetheart. I’m happy to help. Just give me a moment to warm Mister Happy up."
"Mister…Happy?" A giggle spills out of me, shaking loose from somewhere deep. A flash of pleased surprise passes over Gabriel face.
Ronan cocks a brow, his lips softening with an indulgent, melting sort of fondness.
Heat rises over my cheeks. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"Because we all love the sound of your laugh. And that smile. Didn’t know I’d ever get to see it for real." I shift to look up at Jax, his dark eyes glinting.
I move my fingertips over my lips, but all I find is the honest curve of a smile stretching my cheeks. I am smiling. I can’t remember the last time it was this easy.
But the sweetness of that smile barely has time to bloom before reality floods in. What must I look like with dried sweat over my skin, crusted slick and cum on my thighs and stiff, tangled knots in my hair.
I draw inward, arms hugging tight, shame coiling bitter and sharp beneath my ribs. I’m surrounded by the scent of pack, but underneath lies the raw tang of me.
The cruel laughter of the Facility guards claws into my memory, echoing from those times they’d come into my cell after my heat to mock what I’d become. I remember being that dirty, disgusting creature. How can my Alphas stand to look at me now ?
Ronan catches my chin with his knuckle and brings my head back up. "None of that, Leah."
I frown, the words tangling up on my tongue. How could he know what I was thinking? "How?"
He brushes his lips over mine. "I can’t read your mind, but your perfume told me you drifted into a bad headspace. And you know what that means."
I shake my head because I have no idea.
Ronan just smiles, the corners of his mouth softening.
"It means we have to bring your head back into the present.
Remind your body how safe you are now. How does a bath sound?
" He tips his forehead to mine, voice all molten promise.
"We all need one and there’s one here big enough for four people.
What do you say, Kitten? Will you let us pamper every inch of you? "
The thought lodges in my chest like sunlight after too long in the dark. Being clean, being cherished, having their touch erase everything old and ugly clinging to my skin, sounds wonderful.
Gabriel springs out of the nest, completely unashamed at his nude state. His cock swings heavy against his muscular thighs. "Eyes up here, Sweetheart."
I squeak when I realize I’ve been staring at his cock.
He only laughs. "I love that look on your face, but Mister Happy is also Mister needs-to-be-cleaned." He leans down to plant a quick kiss on my lips. "And I saw a loofah in there I’m dying to try out on your back."
His ridiculousness tears another choked laugh from me and the sharp edge of shame smooths away. Ronan scoops me up and heads to a bathroom I hadn’t noticed. Jax is already moving through the doorway to fill the tub.
Ronan carries me through the doorway, and I gape at the obscene luxury. The tub could easily fit six massive Alphas, let alone the four of us. Steam already rises from the water, carrying the clean, herbal scent of bubbles forming on the surface.
Ronan steps with me straight into the steaming tub and settles me between his thighs. Heat soaks into my bones, turning every muscle loose and heavy with relief .
"My Gods, this is so good." I let my head fall back against Ronan’s shoulder with a moan. My eyes flutter shut as the ache in my body slackens, dulled by the warm water and his arms circling me.
"You’re not wrong, Sunshine," Jax says, spreading his arms along the rim of the tub and letting his head fall back.
"You’ve been in heat for five days. No wonder you’re wiped out." Gabriel reaches for the shampoo.
My eyes widen in shock, searching their faces. "Five days? It didn’t seem that long."
Jax kisses a soapy droplet off my shoulder, voice calm and gentle. "You were lost to it, that’s all. We never left your side."
I bite my lip, rubbing a thumb over my neck where a bite might have been. "You… you didn’t bond me."
The words leave an ache in my chest I hadn’t expected.
"We wanted to. Gods, did we want to, but you weren’t in a place to say yes," Ronan says.
"I’ve been half feral with the urge, Sweetheart. You have no idea how tempting you are." Gabriel scoots across the tub and places his palms on my thighs.
"You were?" I say.
"Of course. Now turn around. You’re going to experience my magic fingers as I wash your hair." Gabriel turns me so I’m facing Ronan.
My mind still spins as I wrap my arms around my knees and butterflies come to life in my stomach. "You’re going to have to wait until my next heat."
Jax’s mouth crooks, a smile that’s reassuring and a little dangerous. "Scent-matches can bond anytime. The bond will take whenever you say yes."
Gabriel guides my head back and warm water flows over my scalp and back. I moan with the sensation. Even with that first flow, I feel cleaner. Gabriel leans over me. "But if you keep on making sounds like that, I can’t guarantee anything."
I can’t help my shocked gasp.
Jax shoves Gabriel. "If you can’t wash her hair without making her doubt us, you’re banned from hair duty for a month. "
"A whole month!" Gabriel protests.
"Perhaps six if you keep this up,’ Ronan adds.
"That’s not fair and you know it," Gabriel says, and I glance over my shoulder to catch the pout he’s wearing.
I’m pretty sure I melt into Gabriel’s hands when he positions my head and starts to gently cleanse my hair.
My eyes close, and I’m lost in the firm press of his fingers into my scalp.
Their deep voices surround me, laughter warming me as much as the water.
Jax glides the softest cloth over my skin while Ronan massages my tired muscles.
Everything melts into languid peace. I drift, half-dreaming, lulled by touch and comfort. Warm water sluices over my skin while hands. I can no longer tell whose, move with care and reverence. Every brush of fingers, every kiss pressed to my temple or shoulder, is a wordless promise.
By the time they’re done, I’m so tired I can’t keep my head up. Gabriel scoops me against him, cradling me through the steamy air while Jax wraps me in a thick towel. They work together, Jax gently drying my hair as Ronan smooths the towel over my body until I’m dry.
When they carry me back to the nest, Ronan bundles the items I’d used to build it, replacing them with fresh throw rugs and clean pillows. I already miss our scents surrounding me, but none of us will be comfortable in materials that probably need to be burned.
“I ordered some food to be brought to us,’ Ronan says.
A tray sits beside the bed. Steaming soup, warm bread, fresh fruit. Simple comfort after everything we’ve been through together.
"Let’s get you fed, then you can sleep." Ronan takes me from Gabriel.
"I can walk by myself, you know," I say.
Ronan kisses my temple. "We know, but this is more fun."
"Open up, Omega." I automatically open my mouth as Jax feeds me soup thick with beef and vegetables.
I let my head nestle into the warm crook of Ronan’s shoulder as Jax spoons food to my lips, and for once, I can’t refuse this tenderness.
Not when they tell me I’m good, not when every soft word and gentle praise makes it easier to accept their care.
With every mouthful, the deep, gnawing emptiness inside me fades.
The moment my hunger settles, exhaustion pulls heavy through my bones.
I burrow into Ronan’s side as sleep drags me under, safe in the arms that hold me.
I stir as Ronan’s guarded rumble filters through my drifting consciousness. He’s talking to someone through the speaker. Adrian, I realize, as my mind crawls toward waking, Mira’s mate. The cadence of his excitement is unmistakable, carrying the same edge of urgency as when he requested my blood.
Gabriel and Jax are awake beside me, muscles tense as they rise onto their elbows watching Ronan.
"…gone. I ran the tests three times," Adrian is saying, voice bright with disbelief. "This is nothing short of miraculous. There’s no trace of the Mortalis Strain left in Leah’s blood. Whatever happened in her heat, the virus is completely purged. Ronan, do you understand what that means?"
I clench the sheet and I force myself to sit. I can hardly believe what Adrian is saying. I’m free from the Mortalis Strain? The virus that has killed so many Omegas?
My voice rasps with the weight of truth I wish I could silence.
"That’s… that was Hardwick’s goal." Ronan’s head snaps toward me, worry carving deep lines between his brows.
I close my eyes, gathering the shards of courage it takes to keep speaking.
"She and Wallace infected me with the Mortalis Strain.
Then they used me. Experimented on me. This is what they wanted all along. "
"Why, Sweetheart?” Gabriel asks gently. “Do you know why Hardwick put you through all that? What was the point?”
I shake my head, sliding my fingers along a strip of satin. "She didn’t discuss her plans with me. I only found out they infected me when Wallace got caught up in his own importance one session."
"We have sources we can…interview to get the answer to that question," Adrian says. I look to my Alphas to gauge if they know what he’s talking about, but it’s clear they don’t. Adrian presses forward. "There’s more, Leah. Something you should know. ’
Jax’s arms tighten around me, pulling me flush against his chest. I bury my face in the safe warmth of his skin, breathing in that smoked vanilla, desperate for the sense of security it brings.
A wave of bitter, hollow, furious exhaustion crashes through me. Even now, after everything I’ve survived, it’s still Hardwick and Wallace shaping the course of my life from the shadows.
Adrian clears his throat, and there’s something awed, in the way he says, "Not only have you burned out the Mortalis Strain, Leah. Your blood contains the antibodies we have never been able to manufacture. Thanks to you, we can finally produce a vaccine that will eradicate the disease."