37. Luna
Luna
“ T he director is here?” I squeak out, gripping Archer’s shoulders. “What—what are we supposed to do?”
Alpha knots can last anywhere from a few minutes to up to half an hour. Which means if Archer’s knot doesn’t go down, his dad is going to see us like this.
“Give me a minute,” he grits out, trying to take deep breaths and closing his eyes. “And stop moving, you’re making this harder than it has to be.”
I freeze, realizing I’ve been shifting nervously on his lap.
Archer’s phone chimes once again and a crease between his eyebrows appears as he does his best to concentrate.
“Hey dude, I think your dad is here.” Chase’s voice cuts through the silence between us. “Whoa, what do we have here?”
I turn back, licking my lips nervously as I give him a little wave.
“Good morning.”
“Holy shit, you guys totally fucked in the kitchen. I thought your scent was just the leftovers from your heat spike last night.” His eyes grow wide as he makes his way into the living room.
Even with the blanket over my shoulders, I think it’s still pretty obvious that Archer’s cock is still inside me .
“Sorry,” I say, sheepishly.
“Oh my god, Archer knotted you! You guys are stuck together!” Chase gasps. “Fuck, I totally shouldn’t have let your dad in.”
“You did what!” Archer growls.
“The director showing up at our doorstep at six in the morning is pretty important, don’t you think? Especially after last night! How was I supposed to know you were knotting Luna?”
“Just shut up,” Archer grits out. I finally feel his knot starting to deflate inside of me. He gives my hips one last squeeze before he lifts me off his lap.
“Make yourself useful and go get Luna some clothes,” Archer orders, his dominance nearly making it a bark. He takes a breath to compose himself. “My dad has fucking stupid timing.”
“Oh shit, yeah, here,” Chase says, whipping off his white t-shirt and revealing his toned, lean body.
A little involuntary whimper leaves the back of my throat at the sight.
“Like what you see?” Chase chuckles, stepping closer to me. He lifts my chin so my gaze leaves his body. “My eyes are up here, sweetheart.”
I clear my throat and snatch the t-shirt he’s extending out to me. My cheeks feel like they’re on fire right now.
I narrow my eyes at Chase, who’s very obviously amused by the situation, and I drop the blanket I have around my shoulders, making sure he gets an eyeful too.
“I’m loving the view, but my father is making his way up to the house now,” Archer grunts.
I let out a startled squeak, throwing Chase’s t-shirt on as quickly as I can. I’m getting braver about my body around the guys, but that doesn’t extend to Archer’s dad.
God, I really do love wearing any of their clothes. It’s like being bathed in their scent.
Archer looks unfairly put together, considering what we just did and the fact that he hasn’t gotten any sleep .
“Go get her something more than just your t-shirt, you idiot,” Archer growls to Chase. “And go put a fucking shirt on yourself.”
“Yeah, yeah, you just want Luna all to yourself,” Chase teases as he walks backward towards the stairs.
The doorbell rings, making me jump in my spot in the living room.
“You can head upstairs and get ready if you’d like,” Archer says, looking down at me, his tone significantly softer than it was with Chase.
I shake my head. “I—I’m not leaving you.”
I can sense this meeting likely has to do with me, considering how abrupt my exit from the ball last night was. And I don’t want Archer to get in trouble for something that wasn’t his or the pack’s fault.
“Alright.”
Archer’s steps are confident as he makes his way through the foyer and to the front door. I follow behind him, fighting the urge to hold onto the back of his shirt.
Archer opens the front door, letting in the winter chill. It makes me shiver, behind him.
“What the fuck was last night?” The director grunts, stepping into the pack house.
“Good morning to you, too, Dad.”
“This isn’t a laughing matter. I just spent all night arguing with some very angry alphas asking about the legitimacy of the situation.” The director scrubs a hand down his face before shutting the door behind him.
The air still feels far too cold. I try to convince myself that’s why I’m trembling and not because I’m afraid I’m going to be taken away again.
“Stop—stop it,” I whisper, taking an unsteady step forward. I force my body to move forward until I’m in front of Archer.
The director raises an eyebrow as he looks down at me. “Good morning to you, Luna. Stop what? ”
His friendly tone towards me doesn’t cool the anger that’s bubbling in my gut.
“Stop yelling at Archer,” I hiss, my hands clenched into fists at my side.
The director’s amusement makes me even angrier.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” I say, my voice growing louder. “They’re mine and I refuse to leave them!”
Archer’s large hands find their way to my hips, resting there. His touch only serves as fuel for the fire I have burning inside of me.
“You have no right to take me away from my scent matches. I’ve been going to the classes at the Omega Center. I know they’re my scent matches now.”
The director’s brows raise in surprise as he nods slowly. “Your scent doesn’t indicate you’re lying,” he murmurs.
“I’m not lying!”
“I know you aren’t,” The director sighs. “This just complicates things.”
“Well, isn’t it your job to deal with complicated things?” I huff, stepping back into Archer’s hold, soaking in his quiet strength.
The director lets out a bark of laughter.
“Ha! Yes, it is.” He looks up and over my head to Archer. “I’ll make the announcement, but people won’t be happy. There are quite a few alphas and alpha packs who were very interested in Luna last night.”
“And they have no claim to her. Not now, not ever,” Archer growls from above me.
“Yeah! Luna is ours!” Chase says, appearing from behind us with the pair of soft sweatpants he first bought me when I arrived. Unfortunately, he’s put on another shirt again.
“Is that all, Dad?” Archer asks, lowering his head. It almost seems like he’s getting distracted with my scent.
The Director’s gaze darts between the three of us, fixating on me before he sighs.
“Luna, you deserve the opportunity to hear what I have to say too,” he sighs.
His hesitation makes me grip Archer’s hand, nervously clinging for any sense of security.
“I had my security sweep the venue for a man matching the description you gave last night for… for the trafficker involved in your past, but we couldn’t find him. He must’ve left in the initial chaos,” The director says, picking his words cautiously as if he doesn’t want to freak me out.
Well, unfortunately for him, I’m already freaking out.
I completely forgot about that scent I smelled last night, during all of the chaos after I chose the Ward Pack as my heat spike partners.
Alpha Niall’s scent.
In the ballroom.
Fresh.
He was there.
Close enough to see me again.
How could I not see him? How could I have missed him? Why couldn’t I have noticed him earlier so we wouldn’t be in this stupid situation with him god knows where!
Could he have been close enough to touch me last night?
“Luna!” Archer’s voice sounds like it’s coming from underwater.
I feel his strong hands cup my cheeks. His dark eyes come into focus in front of me.
“Breathe with me, baby,” he says, his thumbs brushing my cheeks.
That’s when I realize he’s wiping away the tears streaming down my face.
My chest is tight. I guess I forgot to breathe. Maybe because if I didn’t breathe, Alpha Niall wouldn’t be able to find me.
“Fuck. Here, Luna, deep breath in,” Archer reaches down and presses one of my hands to his chest .
I match his inhale, feeling his heartbeat underneath my fingertips.
His cinnamon scent is sharp and spicy with his fear.
Fear?
That’s not right.
Archer is never afraid.
“That’s a good girl,” he murmurs. “Now breathe out for me.”
I do as he instructs, blowing air out past the silent, shaky sobs racking my chest.
“Perfect,” Archer says, his expression cracking open with relief. “Again. Follow my lead, baby.”
He’s never called me baby before.
I think I like it.
The more I breathe with him, the more of his cinnamon scent I take into my lungs, the more my body finally relaxes.
When I finally get back to myself, I squeeze my hand into the fabric of his dress shirt, my bottom lip wobbling.
“I—I’m sorry,” I whisper, my eyes dropping down with shame.
I acted crazy.
In front of the director, too. How could I embarrass the pack like that?
“You have nothing to worry about, Moonlight,” Chase says, throwing his arms around my shoulders and pulling me tightly into him.
“But—but?—“
“Hey, I’m not saying you didn’t scare us, ‘cause to be perfectly honest with you, I was scared as shit, but it makes sense you’d get a panic attack.”
Panic attack.
I guess that’s what that was.
“Well, it scared me too,” I huff under my breath. “Panic attacks suck.”
“They do,” Archer says, leaning down and leaving a lingering kiss on my forehead .
“Sorry to interrupt,” The director says after clearing his throat.
“I just need to go over a couple last things before I go. The police and the Omega Center security have been notified of the potential trafficker on the loose, but there’s not much else I can do on that front right now.
It’ll be up to you guys to keep a vigilant watch. ”
“We understand,” Archer says, nodding his head gravely.
He looks down at me, a determined look on his expression.
“No one is going to lay a hand on you, Luna, I promise you that.”
I cling to the front of his shirt, his heart still underneath my palm. It’s comforting. Grounding.
“I know,” I say, flashing him a small smile.
“I guess I’ll take my leave now,” The director sighs.
“I’ll send over the necessary paperwork and make the announcement about you all being scent matches later today.
” He looks down at me, a soft smile appearing on his face.
“It’s been wonderful to see your progress, since when I first met you.
Don’t take the events of this morning as a setback, progress isn’t always linear.
Feel free to come to the Omega Center for any of the classes we have.
I think it could be beneficial for you.”
I give him a slow nod. I think I’d like that. Even if there were some catty omegas I found there, the classes were really fun and helpful. I finally feel like I know what living is supposed to feel like.
“Goodbye, Dad,” Archer says, opening the door for The Director, making it obvious to everyone we want our privacy.
Chase buries his face in the crook of my neck after the director leaves.
“God, you smell so good, freshly fucked,” he groans. “The only thing that smells better is if you were freshly fucked by me,” he smirks.
“Even—even though I freaked out?”
I can still taste the sour notes of my terrified scent at the back of my throat.
“Of course, your scent after being freshly knotted stays sweeter for a while,” Chase says, offering me a reassuring smile. “I promise, you’re still so delicious I could eat you up.”
“Let the girl breathe,” Archer growls, hauling Chase backwards by the back of his shirt. “Let her get some food in her system before you maul her.”
“Yeah, yeah. You just want to keep her all to yourself.” Chase rolls his eyes before he turns to me, handing me my sweatpants. “You should’ve seen him last night after Kane carried you inside. The prickly bastard was so jealous.”
“Shut up,” Archer huffs.
I laugh as I pull a pair of underwear and sweatpants up my legs. I think I need an actual shower soon, considering I’m definitely going to ruin these panties dripping a mix of my slick and Archer’s come into them.
“So, tell me, Moonlight, how was last night? And this morning, too,” Chase asks.
A blush covers my cheeks as I remember the feel of Kane and Archer inside of me, the way their knots made me feel, the flood of hormones that came after our shared orgasms.
“It was amazing,” I say, softly. “Better than I ever could’ve imagined. I was kind of scared at first. But I’m not anymore.”
Chase’s expression grows soft, and he extends his hand to me, placing a soft kiss on my forehead.
“That’s good to hear. Now then, Archer may be a grump, but he’s right. We should get some food in you. I imagine heat spikes are similar to heats, you’re probably starving.”
My stomach grumbles on cue and I let out a little laugh.
“What do I hear about food?” Madden asks, yawning as he scrubs a hand down his face. He looks like he just rolled out of bed and tossed on a pair of black sweatpants, leaving his tattooed chest bare.
“Good—good morning,” I say, doing my best to swallow with my mouth as dry as it is.
“Good morning, Angel, did you sleep well? ”
I nod, drawing my gaze up from his body to meet his. “Yes, not as good as Kane did, though. I think he’s still asleep.”
“How about we cook him some breakfast together, then?”
“Okay! I took some cooking classes at the Omega Center. I can show you what I learned!”
I look up at my alphas and feel something click in my chest. This feels good, waking up to all of them. It feels right.
It’s like I can almost forget about the danger that seems to lurk around every corner.
Almost.