Chapter 25
ANITA
Ispent the morning moving my stuff into their mansion, which honestly wasn’t that much.
A suitcase of clothes, my laptop, some books, radio equipment.
But now I’m standing in what’s apparently my room for now, and I’m completely overwhelmed.
Once I work out what I’m really doing and if I’m staying, then I’ll figure out what to do with my stuff back home in my apartment in the city.
This is the same room where Mason, Dylan, and I ended up on that wild night together. The massive bed with the nest-like quality. But now it’s been completely transformed into something that has me almost purring with satisfaction.
There are pillows everywhere. Like, an absurd number of pillows in different sizes and textures. Soft throws and blankets are draped artfully across the bed and a beautiful velvet couch they’ve added against one wall. The couch faces a huge flat-screen TV mounted on the opposite wall.
“All the streaming channels,” Dylan had said proudly when showing me. “For all your movie-watching needs.”
There’s a tall cupboard stocked with snacks. Chocolate-covered almonds, sea salt caramels, fancy crackers, dried fruit. A small wine fridge in the corner filled with drinks and more chocolates and cheese.
The bed itself is piled with the fluffiest blankets I’ve ever seen, in soft creams and grays and a gorgeous dusty-rose color.
I may never leave this room.
I never really thought seriously about nesting before. My previous pack discouraged it, said it was giving in to base instincts and that modern Omegas should be above such primitive behaviors.
But the truth is, I feel more comfortable and secure in this room than anywhere else I’ve ever been. Like it’s safe. Protected. Mine.
I find myself automatically folding and arranging the blankets, creating little nooks and comfortable spots, nestling between them while nibbling on chocolate-covered nuts from the cupboard.
Yep. I am living my best life right now. And part of me is insisting these are the signs that my heat is coming—the whole nesting and being continuously horny. But I push those aside.
Last night, I slept in Slater’s bed after the hours we spent at the spa.
Well, passed out is more accurate. After our marathon sex session at the spa, I could barely move from complete exhaustion.
The man pretty much had to carry me everywhere, including to his truck, into the house, up the stairs, and into his bed.
I’m definitely aching between my thighs in the best possible way, because holy hell, that man knows how to thoroughly fuck someone. He’s savage in the absolute best way.
The door opens, and all four of them file in. I sit up from my nest of blankets, probably looking ridiculous with chocolate on my fingers. I quickly lick them clean.
“Wow, this is a lot,” I say, gesturing around. “Seriously. I love it so much, but you really didn’t need to do all this.”
“Yes, we did,” Slater says firmly, his steel-gray eyes warm.
“You deserve it all,” Dylan adds with that bright smile that always melts me.
Mason moves to the little fridge, pulling out a bottle of sparkling water. “Want a drink?”
Jasper is just standing there, staring at me with this expression on his face—captivated, lost, like he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing.
“What?” I ask, suddenly self-conscious.
“I still can’t believe you’re actually here with us,” he says quietly. “In our home. In your nest. It feels surreal.”
I laugh. “Trust me, it’s all incredibly new to me as well. Yesterday morning, I was convinced you all hated me, and now I’m living in your house, surrounded by luxury blankets.”
“We set up your radio equipment in one of the spare rooms downstairs,” Mason says, handing me the water. “The one with the good acoustics, as we figured you’d want to keep doing your show.”
“That’s amazing, thank you, and absolutely yes, I do.”
“And don’t think you’re getting off light with work,” Slater adds with a smirk. “You still need to do your social media role for Wilde Charters, as you were doing an amazing job.”
I blink at him. “Wait, since when?”
“Since you’re part of the pack now and you’re still making it up to us to show us how much we can trust you.” He chuckles, approaching the bed and sitting beside me.
The moment he’s close, I feel that intense gravitational pull toward him, stronger than what I feel with the other guys. I know it’s the bond he forged between us with that bite mark.
Which means that if we’re apart for too long, it’s going to be painful. Aching. I’m essentially locked to these men now, and things are happening so incredibly fast and I don’t know if I’m ready for this and what if I’m making another huge mistake and—
Slater takes my hand gently, bringing it to his lips and kissing my knuckles. “Calm breaths, little Omega. I can feel your panic through the bond. It’s a lot of changes very quickly. I know.”
“Now, when you’re ready,” Jasper says, drawing my attention, “we have breakfast waiting for you downstairs. And then we’re starting training in the gym in the basement.”
I blink at all of them. “You have a gym?”
Dylan drops down on my other side, and I can’t help admiring how gorgeous he is. The way his long hair falls around his face. Those green eyes that sparkle with desire. All of them are unfairly attractive, and I still need to pinch myself to believe that they actually want me.
“Let’s give her some time to adjust to being here,” Dylan says reasonably.
“No, I’m fine. I’m sure.” I shake my head. “Why am I training in a gym, again?”
Dylan leans against me, his shoulder warm. “We’re going to teach you how to convincingly be a real male so you can win over that dick Reed. Make sure he doesn’t get suspicious when we infiltrate his business and his big event for insider information.”
“Right. Yes. Okay, that makes sense.” I start to get out of bed when I notice Mason flicking through my sketchbook on my nightstand. “Hey, that’s mine!”
“I know,” he says, not looking up, clearly absorbed. “Fuck me, these are incredible. But are these sketches of us? Because I swear this one looks exactly like Slater, and this one is definitely me.”
“What?” Dylan is already rushing over to see, and Jasper and Slater immediately follow.
I sigh heavily. I should have hidden that sketchbook better.
“It’s my sketches for my Patreon subscribers,” I explain. “They’re just generic heroes for a fantasy series I’m working on.”
“Oh, that’s totally us,” Dylan says, grinning widely. “And notice how we all have huge cocks compared to the other characters on this page.”
“There are no cocks in my images!” I protest, climbing out of the bed to approach them.
They all turn to stare at me with matching expressions of amused disbelief.
“Well, they’re in pants,” Jasper adds slowly, like he’s explaining something to a child. “But the bulges you created indicate very significant packages.” He winks at me. “Very accurate, by the way.”
My face flames hot. Jasper is the only one I haven’t seen completely naked yet, and now all I can think about is whether my sketch was correct.
I manage to snatch my sketchbook back from Mason’s hands and physically usher all four of them toward the door. “Out! I need to get changed.”
They file out with varying degrees of amusement, and I rest my back against the closed door, pressing my sketchbook to my chest.
God, is this really happening?
What about my life back in the city? My apartment, my routines, my carefully constructed independence? My radio show that I built from nothing? My future plans that I had all mapped out?
I’m not even sure what those plans were anymore, but I assumed I could do anything, go anywhere. Now I have a pack. Something I swore to myself I wouldn’t do again after the last disaster.
And it’s all happening so fast. Too fast.
Am I making a huge mistake?
As if on cue, Slater’s bite mark on my breast throbs, a warm pulse of sensation.
Okay, I’m not having doubts about them specifically.
I know deep in my heart that they’re mine and I’m theirs, but I thought that about my previous pack too, and look how that ended.
I hate them now. Despise what they did to me.
But the Wilde pack is different, right?
Maybe I’ll use this time to genuinely get to know them. See if they’re actually good for me long-term while getting their help to take down Reed. Yes. That’s my focus. Focus on the real villain, then prove to myself and them that I’m trustworthy.
I get dressed quickly in leggings and a comfortable T-shirt, then head downstairs following the incredible smell of sweetness and maple syrup.
I find Jasper in the kitchen, and he starts filling a plate for me. Waffles, fresh strawberries and blueberries, whipped cream, warm maple syrup drizzled over everything.
“Oh my God,” I moan, taking the plate. “You’re amazing.”
He grins, leaning against the counter to watch me eat. Just watching. Not eating anything himself. I love waffles, so obviously I dig in immediately, and he just keeps staring at me with a soft expression.
“Do I have cream on my nose?” I joke around a mouthful of waffle.
“No. You’re perfect.”
I flush, taking another bite to avoid having to respond to that.
“Tonight,” he says after a moment, “I’m taking you out to a movie. Just you and me. How does that sound?”
“Actually, really nice and normal,” I admit. “Everything in my life recently has been anything but normal. A regular movie date sounds incredible.”
“Perfect.” He smiles wider. “I should warn you that Slater and I are heading into the office for a few hours. But Mason and Dylan are waiting downstairs in the basement for your training session.”
“This should be interesting.”
I finish my breakfast, thank Jasper with a kiss that turns heated before he reluctantly pulls away, and then head down to the basement, everything feeling very surreal.