Chapter Forty-seven — Trinity #2
“I’ve already ordered them in every metal color I’ve seen you wear.
So they’ll match. But there are all kinds of colors and shapes.
I plan on ordering more. And I’ve ordered enough keys for all of us to have a set.
You will not have any keys.” Aiden put the lock back on my wrist, and then did the other one.
“But you’ll know where they are for emergencies. ”
Nothing about the physical sensation of my bracelets had changed. But they felt different. Now they were more than jewelry. They were a link to my Alphas and the life we were building together. They carried new weight. Good weight.
“What do you think?” Bastian asked.
Emotion welled up. I wasn’t sure how I felt about them could be fully captured in words. All I could manage was a whisper. “I love them. How did you even find something so small and functional?”
“It took some time,” Aiden said. “I’d been thinking about it for a while.
Our conversation a few days ago cemented it.
I spoke to the others, and we agreed to present it to you.
There are plenty of little padlocks that open, but they’re not true locks.
I found someone who could make a real lock in a miniature size. ”
Brooks leaned back and spread his arms along the back of the couch. “So that means you can’t just pop a pin in there and take them off to be a brat.”
“You know, I hadn’t thought about that, but thanks for the idea.”
“It won’t work.”
“Never stopped me from trying something before.”
He nodded slowly. “Go ahead. Try it.”
I probably wouldn’t. This wasn’t something I wanted to mess with. But it was always good to keep my Alphas on their toes.
Looking up at Aiden, I found him staring at me. “I promise I won’t unlock them. Can I see the key?”
He set it in my outstretched palm. It was so tiny. I stroked a finger over the metal. “Are you sure you won’t lose them?”
Theo spoke. “We’ll make sure. But having five sets will help. I think Aiden ordered extras in case.”
“I did.” He paused, turning my free hand palm up and touching the lock there. “Can I take how sweet you smell right now as an acceptance of our proposal?”
“Yes.” No hesitation. There was nothing I wanted more than to be wanted so deeply they had to stake their claim to everyone. “Yes. I want it.” I looked at him and gave him the key back. “Thank you. For this.”
“You’re welcome, violet.”
Looking down at both padlocks, I shivered.
It was incredible seeing them there. A tiny reminder that our dynamic didn’t start and stop when we left home.
And that it was evolving in a way that worked for us.
We weren’t purely a sex-only dynamic anymore, and that was okay with me.
It was evolving slowly, and it worked for us.
“I don’t have to go anywhere today, but I still want to wear them.”
“You’ll wear them every day,” Theo said. He reached for me and pulled me to my feet before arranging me over his lap. “If there’s a day you want to take them off in the apartment, ask. That’s fine. But wearing them isn’t optional anymore. You need permission not to wear them.”
“Okay.” I snuggled closer to him and closed my eyes.
I no longer questioned my instincts or why being owned by them felt like the most stability I’d ever had. Them owning me meant they wouldn’t leave. They were mine.
Following those same instincts, I slid off Theo’s lap onto the floor, leaning against his knee. I was tucked between his legs. I felt his hand on my head, running his fingers through my hair, and I wished I could stay in this moment forever.
Someone turned the television on, and I heard low conversation, but it didn’t penetrate. I was wrapped in a warm and fuzzy glow. Theo’s fingers gently scratched my scalp as he ran his fingers through my hair.
“Trinity?”
“Mm?”
Theo chuckled. “Come here, sweetheart.” He lifted me off the floor and tucked me into the corner of the couch beside him, slinging my legs across his and into Aiden’s lap. “Subspace looks beautiful on you,” he murmured.
The floaty feeling. They were right. It didn’t go away. His soft praise turned the velvet softness my mind floated in gold like sunlight through fog. “Feels good.”
He cupped my cheek. “I’m glad. I need you to come back to me a bit, okay?”
I tried to focus on him and the slow glide of his thumb over my cheek. “Okay.”
Beside me, Bastian sat down on the floor, legs crossed, and took one of my hands. Brooks was still on the other side of the corner-shaped couch, and Logan floated into my field of view, sitting in the armchair.
Brooks cleared his throat. When he spoke, it was soft and gentle. “We need to know what happened, baby.”
Logan said that we would talk once we got home. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell them—it was that I wasn’t sure how. Where did I start? How did I let go of the fear that laced the idea of speaking it out loud?
“I don’t… how—”
Lifting my hand, Bastian kissed my palm. “Start small. Is it your father’s pack?”
“Yes.”
I sucked in a breath, everything in me waiting for something to happen. As if even speaking those words would call down thunder.
But nothing happened. Nothing had changed in the last ten seconds. That same breath shuddered out of me in relief.
“When did it start?” Logan asked. “How old were you?”
“Eight. My dad thought I was finally old enough for him to leave me longer. I had a nanny, but she couldn’t do really long stays. He was restless and dying to go on an adventure. It wasn’t until he met Liz that I ever saw him slow down. He doesn’t like staying in one place for long.”
It all flowed out of me in one long rush. Like a dam being pierced. Or a water balloon. It felt like I couldn’t stop.
None of them moved or spoke. I saw them struggle with it when I talked about certain things—a hand curling into a fist or one of them clenching their jaw. But I loved them for not interrupting. If I stopped, I had no idea how to start again.
I stopped when I reached the point where I moved out and went to college. One thing Val and I agreed on—she wanted me out of the house as soon as legally possible and I couldn’t get the fuck away fast enough.
Since then, it was a silent agreement that I never went to the house unless Dad was home and not traveling. It had been better. I knew Dad was hurt that I wasn’t around as much, but I could barely look him in the eye.
“At Element, the night we met. I told you I interrupted a scene, but I didn’t tell you why. The woman was screaming for help, and it sounded so real. Somebody needed to hear her.” I swallowed. “Because no one ever heard me. Or if they did, they didn’t care. Even when I begged.”
Silence hung heavy around the six of us. What was there to say after that?
“Thank you for telling us,” Logan said. “That’s a lot to carry by yourself.”
“I saw the closet doors. Thank you.”
“We can get rid of yours too,” he said. “I had no idea that the knobs on the inside weren’t connected to the latch.”
A tiny meow rang out, followed by Cinder appearing in the doorway. She looked at all of us with a tiny expression that said it was about time she found us, and trotted right over and leapt onto the couch next to Aiden. He didn’t move, watching the small cat warily.
“Not a cat person?”
“Not particularly. She is cute, though.”
Turning in a little circle, Cinder curled up against Aiden’s leg. I giggled, stifling the sound with my mouth so I didn’t startle her. Aiden sighed, but he didn’t move her, instead running a finger down her spine. “It’s fine for now, but don’t get any ideas.”
Brooks stood. “After that? I think we all need some ice cream. Are your sugars okay for that?”
I nodded. “Should be. They were fine this morning. I would like cookies and cream with whipped cream and sprinkles, and I would like you to serve it to me on your knees, please.”
He leaned over and flicked my forehead gently before kissing it. “Brat. Keep it up and you’ll be the one on your knees.”
He was halfway to the kitchen when I called, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Brooks disappeared. Sounds of doors opening and closing echoed before he came back. “We’re out of ice cream, so we’ll have to order it. And I have a few ideas of what we can do with the delivery time.”
“Oh? What would those be?”
Logan picked up Cinder and carried her out of the room. “Can’t have innocent eyes see what’s about to happen.”
Crossing his arms, Brooks stared down at me. “Take your clothes off, Omega.”
I smirked. “Make me, Alpha.”
He tossed me over his shoulder, carried me off, and did just that.