Chapter 18
Grace
“ O kay, we clearly need an intervention,” Avery said with that gentle way that made my skin crawl.
“Yeah, where’s our pink loving bestie? The girl who is all smiles and sunshine and cute, oversized sweaters,” Sidney accused, crossing her arms.
“So, not a coffee date?” I half-whined, making them both quirk their eyebrows.
It only had Avery pressing further. “Girl, what is going on?”
“They’re still fighting to get the office moved,” I admitted with another half-whine. What the fuck was wrong with me? Every missed call or text was like a stab to the heart and even I knew it was dramatic.
Then someone walked by with too much perfume and my hand flew over my mouth and nose as I tried and failed to not gag.
“Oh god. You’re pregnant,” Avery hissed in shock.
“No,” I argued. “I haven’t even had a heat and had birth control with the guys.”
“Sure, but you also were freshly found mates. That negates a whole lot it shouldn’t,” Sidney argued.
“No, no, no,” I muttered, the terror striking through me nearly sending me into a spiral.
“Look, I have a test leftover,” Avery said as she dug in her bag and pulled out the box and tucked it into my own purse. “Use it when you’re ready."
“They’ll be back.” Everyone always said that with confidence while I continued to fall apart. I hated that they were gone. But my omega? She was practically desolate, curling into a ball and preparing for the worst.
The first week I was optimistic, we both were.
Now that’s over and this current virus wasn’t helping.
“It’s just a stomachache,” I argued weakly. “I’m just all thrown off with them gone.”
“Okay,” Avery said, even as the two shared a worried glance. “I have to run, have a job to finish today. I put off work long enough.”
They tried to argue but I hurried out and stepped into the warm sunshine. Shockingly, I was missing the lake right about now.
Not that Rockwood Valley didn’t have one, but it wasn’t the same without them. But this hot, sticky, summer air was making me feel so much worse.
Drew’s ringtone went off and a small smile crept across my face. Despite the alpha and betas who haven’t come back to me, he has a sixth sense for knowing when I need him.
“Hey, Gracie. I’m exhausted. How about we call it a day and have a picnic down by the creek?”
“You’ve read my mind,” I said as the tension seeped from me. Maybe my heat was closer than I thought.
“Perfect, are you almost back?”
We’d crashed at Hailey’s for about a week while he somehow greased palms into getting our paperwork streamlined. We bought the property easily and now we’d redone two of the rooms so we had ours ready, though he slept with me most nights.
Drew and I had fallen into a friendship again. There were touches, looks of longing, but neither one of us had pulled the trigger.
I knew he wanted me, but he was respecting the space I’d accidentally put between us. Maybe this missed period and weird hormones were from missing my other pack members, but also the stress of the move, the wedding… a nasty combination of it all.
Maybe it was time to change that.
With my purse weighed down by the test, I made my way home. The firehouse… or packhouse, now, smelled incredible. It was clear that Drew went all out for this date, which only solidified my plan.
It was time to take this relationship past friendship and to where it belonged… an omega claiming her alpha.
Sneaking upstairs, I took a quick shower and shaved, before sliding on a cute swimsuit and a sundress over the top. I opted to leave my hair damp and makeup off, it would be messed up again soon anyway.
It was far too hot to not get in the creek and the spot I knew he’d take me to, the one I’d been in so many times with him before, was deep enough to swim.
I found Drew in the kitchen with a genuine picnic basket in one hand, a big blanket in the other. His smile was adorable, green eyes lit up at the sight of me.
I’d been so wrapped up in missing them, I was clearly not seeing Drew as I should have. He was attentive, sweet, playful, and respecting every invisible boundary I’d put up.
Ignoring his full hands, I walked closer. His eyes tracked the movement, watching me stalk closer. His smile turned from excited, to sexy as he stood, statue still.
“Hello,” I offered. My voice sounded husky and breathless, telling him exactly where my thoughts had gone.
“Gracie.” My name was a prayer, a beg for salvation, and god it was powerful.
“Drew.” My response ended as I stepped into his heat, feeling his alpha pulsing just under the surface, ready to strike, if his muscles weren’t locked down tight.
Then I ghosted my lips over his.
It snapped something in my alpha. Before I could even process, he had his things thrown on the table and me in his arms, his mouth slanting over mine.
He kissed like a god… though, a starving one. His tongue swept in, possessive and dominant. He devoured me like he was committing my taste, my feel, to memory.
Maybe he was. Just as afraid of losing me as I was of losing him.
His scent swelled brighter, the strawberry, mandarin, and spicy alpha scent swirling around me.
A low, feral noise filled the air. It wasn’t until he spoke that I realized I was making that embarrassing sound. A whine that echoed from my wounded soul, begging him to make me his.
“I’ve got you, Gracie,” he promised so sweetly as he moved his kisses from my lips, to my neck, teasing over my unmarked skin and making me shiver. I could feel his smile against my skin.
“I need,” I started, unable to even finish the sentence.
“What do you need?” he asked. “I need your words, Gracie. Tell me what you need and I’ll give it to you.”
It was a vow from my alpha. One said with so much conviction I couldn’t shake it off as anything but the genuine truth.
“You.”
“You have me,” he promised, kissing again before pulling back. “I want specific words.”
“Your knot,” I whimpered like the needy omega I was.
His smile should have scared me. It was downright feral, a promise to devour me. I knew I wouldn’t be the same when he was done with me.
I welcomed the change.
“Take me, alpha.”
He let out a rumbling groan, green eyes flashing with pure, molten fire.
“My pleasure, little omega,” he managed to get out before I was being carried upstairs, our picnic forgotten for now.
“But our picnic,” I said in my last moments before losing myself in him. He let out a little laugh.
“I’ll spread it out for you in the backyard later,” he promised. “Nothing will be ruined. This is so much better than the creek.”
“Drew,” I gasped as his teeth grazed over my neck. My skin practically tingled under the alpha’s teasing bites and all I could think was that I needed his mark on me.
Was it too soon?
My thoughts sailed away as I was thrown onto his bed. The sheets held his sweet, citrusy scent and I wanted to press my face into them and inhale.
But I had the real thing hovering over me. He dipped down as if he read my thoughts, trailing his cheek over me to scent mark my face and neck. His beard was just rough enough to send goosebumps skittering over my skin.
I bet it would feel amazing rubbing against my thighs.
That thought had fresh slick wetting my suit. The thin fabric was doing nothing to hide just how much I wanted this alpha.
“Tell me you’re mine, Gracie. Tell me we’re pack.” It was a plea laced in desperation and desire. One I felt down deep in my bones.
“I’m yours, Drew. We’re pack,” I promised before claiming his mouth again.
Now that he had permission, Drew wasn’t satisfied with only kissing me, he needed to taste me everywhere. He was practically shaking as he slid my dress over my head. His eyes raked over my bikini, taking in the pebbled nipples and slick darkening the fabric that was absolutely his fault.
“The only omega for me,” he declared in that rough, husky tone.
Then my bikini was gone along with his own clothes. Everything he did was quick, almost feral, but I had a feeling that was where that ended.
He’d be the slow, torturous kind of lover that wanted me to come until I couldn’t stop shaking, tasting every inch of me meticulously, and only then would he give me his knot.
As if I’d given him a direct challenge, Drew did just that. He braced himself on his elbows, kissing me once before he was tasting and teasing my skin. Little bites and open mouth kisses, his tongue teasing out to get a deeper taste as he moved lower.
My eyes rolled back as he flicked his tongue over my hard nipples, worshipping each thoroughly before moving lower. I let my legs fall open wider, hips rocking against his hard body in a silent plea.
As he took his time, I let my own fingertips learn his body. Ghostly touches fanning down his chest, over his shoulders and biceps, before nails scratched down his back.
The only time he faltered was when my nails bit into his scalp, a low rumble of pleasure that was stolen away as he reached my slick pussy.
His inhale was so loud that I felt it, then he was blowing it over me. I shivered at the sudden chill as my back arched, trying to seek out his mouth.
Strong hands held me in place, not letting me have an inch.
One long swipe of his tongue was all he gave me, as if he was savoring the taste of my slick.
A satisfied purr echoed out and then he lunged forward, burying his face in my needy core.
It was too erratic for me to come for him, but it had me breathing hard and writhing against his hold, amped up but not quite there, leaving me absolutely desperate.
Then he sucked on my clit, two fingers plunging into me. With the slow movement of his fingers as he stretched me and the unrelenting attention of his mouth, I didn’t stand a chance.
I came on a choked cry, core clenching around his fingers as my body pushed against the one hand still holding me down.
He continued to tease me through the earth-shattering orgasm, pumping his fingers until I was babbling and begging for mercy, struggling to get away from the sensitivity.
I’d waited years for this, and him taking his time was driving me insane. Yet, no matter how many needy, whining pleas I gave, the alpha was undeterred.
He swiped a hand over his face and continued his descent down my body, kissing my ankle before moving back up. This time he settled on his knees, his bulky body forcing my legs wider.
The way this man stared down at me, eyes sparking with fire and tongue glazing over his lips, made me feel powerful.
“I want your knot, alpha. Please,” I said. My voice was clear and he grinned like I’d given him a prize.
“There are the words I wanted, Gracie,” he purred before gripping his thick cock in his hand. His eyes stayed on me as he stroked himself. It was almost as if he were afraid I’d disappear if he looked away for even a second.
“i’m not going anywhere, Drew. I’m yours.” He froze at my words, eyes shifting to mine and settling there.
Then he exhaled. A low, shaky sound that seemed to come from the depths of his soul.
“Mine,” he agreed as his eyes fluttered closed. He breathed deep again, a smile on his face as he was hit with our scents.
When he opened them, it was all sweetness left behind. His movements were slow and sensual, eyes staying on mine as much as possible as he lined himself up and gently pushed into me.
“I’ve dreamt about this moment for years,” he admitted on a shudder, my body stretching around him and his already swelling knot. “So fucking perfect.”
I couldn’t speak or think beyond the eyes I was drowning in. They spoke of his pain of losing me as much as my own did. It was a promise-filled abyss that said ‘never again would I have to feel that.’
My head tilted to the side and there was no hesitation as I offered my neck to my alpha.
“Are you serious, Gracie? You want my bite?”
“I’ve waited long enough, Drew,” I said, not shifting an inch.
Then his teeth were piercing my skin, white hot and blinding but as he rolled his hips, it ebbed away, leaving only my alpha’s presence behind.
Fuck, there was so much love there. He never stopped, it was years of pining, of hoping, but too afraid to truly dream.
Now I was in his arms and he was never going to let me go again. Before it could fade, I lunged for his collarbone, biting down hard and making him gasp.
It quickly turned into a moan as I soothed my tongue over it. Now he could feel the pain of the past being washed away by his presence. The way I lit up for him when he was close, and gravitated to him when he was near.
Now there was no going back.
“Kiss me, alpha.”
“Every chance I get, omega,” he promised as he crushed his lips to mine, fucking me furiously as our mouths and bodies promised that this was just the beginning.