Chapter 25
Kaden
Safira was curled up on the couch, relaxed and refreshed after we’d all taken a shower. I was a little sad that we washed off the heavy scent of our heat, but I knew it wasn’t the last time we’d experience it. We aired out the house, using a de-scenter to make it fresh again. Now, the scent of eggs and bacon filled the room as Tony brought over a plate for her. “Eat up! You’ve got to replenish your energy.” He remarked as he sat down next to her, piling up a fork with food before offering it to her. It was cute watching her look confused before opening her mouth and letting him feed her. We knew she hadn’t been treated well before, but that was about to change.
I checked my phone, already knowing that I would have a backlog of text messages, missed calls and angry voicemails to go through. Our families had been notified that we wouldn’t be available for several days and our house would be locked. That only meant one thing. I glanced at the others, knowing they had already read some of the multitude of texts from our family. Just then, a long pounding sound echoed from the front entryway. I sighed and stood, kissing Safira on the forehead. “Wait here.” I said with a relaxed smile, and got up with my pack to walk down to the main foyer.
The hard pounding on the door continued, and Jax casually walked over to open it. On the other side, just as we predicted, were a pack of angry alphas. They walked in as if they owned our place, not bothering with pleasantries as they filled up the entryway. Eight of them total, the packs of all our fathers, excluding, of course, our omega mothers. The men filed in, saying nothing until they lined up, their faces still as stone. Finally when they were all inside, Jax shut the door and joined us, a face-off of fathers versus sons. Finally, the tallest of the group, Charles, spoke.
“Good to know you had your fun while we were busy cleaning up your mess.” He spat out with anger as we stood together, united as a pack. “Imagine our surprise when we find out that our business deal that we put our blood and sweat into, for years , was shattered by our own family.” He shook his head at us. Peter, one of my fathers, joined in.
“And to add to it, you all become unreachable leaving us to deal with the fallout!” He yelled, pointing his finger at us. I could feel their anger filling up the room. “This stops now! We warned you there would be consequences if you went down this path, chasing girls when you have a perfectly good match set up for you!” He raised his voice even louder, walking up to us and getting in our faces. “So here’s how this is going to work. You all are going to stop acting like children. You will go back to Pack Verdant and beg forgiveness from Illiana. You will explain that you got cold feet, but talked it out and have a fantastic home for her. You are going to clean this mess up, so help me!” He was nearly spitting with rage as he looked at us. But we weren’t backing down anymore. Jax cleared his throat.
“No.” Was all he said. The fathers took a moment, then all started talking at once, trying to out alpha us. “Quiet!” Jax said, louder this time. “We have something to say.” They growled menacingly as he stepped forward. “We respect you and thank you for all you’ve done for us. We wouldn't have what we do without your sacrifice and we know that you worked hard to position the company well. We know you’re thinking of our future.” He said this with reverence, and the growling subsided a bit. “But we can’t take over or start making decisions if you won’t let us. Allow us to forge our own paths. We can still build and be successful without bonding with our competitor’s daughter.” The fathers started bracing themselves for a fight, but we stood with Jax. “Allow us to prove it. Allow us to make our decisions, ones that don’t involve tying ourselves to a virtual stranger. There are other ways to grow, and yes, we might make mistakes along the way. But we can't progress in our lives if you don’t allow us to make decisions as a pack.” His words were respectful but stern. I knew the fathers wouldn’t see our vision, not for a while anyway. They were a hardheaded bunch. Now one of Tony’s fathers stepped toward us.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, but we know best. You will be risking your future if you don’t follow our plan. We worked out a deal, and you all need to follow through. So here’s what will happen.” He was so close I could feel the heat from his breath as he spoke. “You will fix things with Illiana. You will promise her a bond, move her into your place, and bite her by the end of this month. Do you understand me?” The fathers nodded in agreement at their order to us. “You will obey!” He shouted, with an alpha command that was so strong it caused us to shake as we stood. But we were alphas too. And even though we’d always listened to them and followed, this time we fought off the urge to do as they said. Jax cracked a rare smile.
“It will be hard to move an omega in here, seeing as we already have one living with us.” He said with a smirk, and there was only a moment to register the shock in their eyes before I turned to call down the hall.
“Safira! Meet the family!” My voice reverberated down the hall, but Safira stepped out from behind the door of one of the rooms, bundled up in pajamas with a fluffy robe covering most of her body. She padded over to us, standing next to me as I threw my arm over her shoulder. She smiled up at them and waved.
“Hi!” She chirped out, and I swear I could feel the room simmer as they seethed at us.
“Get that girl out of here this instant!” Charles shouted, his face contorted as the rest of them balled their fists. I sighed, and shook my head.
“Fathers, meet Safira. She’s the one we always talked about. We met her a long time ago, and now she’s back. And we’re not letting her go. She’s perfect for us, and no matter the outcome, we’ll always choose her.” I proclaimed as I looked down at her, matching her smile. This only served to make the fathers angrier. Charles strode over to us and sneered..
“Sorry omega, but this fling is over. Say your goodbyes, because after this you won’t be seeing these boys anymore. Soon they’ll be bonded to another, and there is nothing you can do about that.” His words were meant to be a threat and a promise, but instead of growling or posturing, I smiled as Tony started laughing. Charles whipped around to face him. “What! Is! So! Funny!” he said, punctuating each word by slamming his fist into his open palm. Tony bent over, still laughing as he slapped his knee. Jax stepped forward with a smirk, pulling down the collar of his shirt. At the same time, I motioned to Safira, who pulled her robe to the side of her neck, revealing the silvery necklace of bite marks we’d given her post-heat.
“A little problem with your plan. We’ve already bitten her.” Jax’s smooth voice stunned everyone into silence. Tony and I pulled down our shirt collars as well, showing the little bite marks Safira had left on each of us. I smiled when I thought back to it. She’d been so excited to see how it worked, and wanted to try it out with her little teeth.
The room was silent. We stood there, the three of us relaxed as we waited, knowing that there was nothing they could do now. We were bonded to her. Our emotions flowed through our bond along with hers, and she was now part of our pack permanently. I kept my arm around Safira for support, feeling her anxiety but pushing through confidence toward her. The fathers might be livid, but they wouldn’t hurt her. They seethed for a moment, none of them knowing what to do. Finally, Charles spun on his foot, storming toward the door.
“You’ve made a huge mistake!” He shouted, without bothering to look back. The other fathers slowly followed, resignation finally showing on their faces. A few shook their heads at us, but several of them nodded at us curtly before leaving, and one of Tony’s fathers came up, and placing a hand on his shoulder.
“I get why you did it, but really Tony… you have the worst timing!” He turned to leave, and when he shut the door behind him, I let out a huge sigh of relief. It was over.
Safira looked up at me, touching the silvery marks on her neck. I don’t think I would ever get tired of seeing them, the proof that we were one. Bound together forever. “Do you think they’ll ever accept me?” she nervously asked. I kneeled down, my packmates quickly doing the same as we surrounded her.
“Don’t worry about that, my love. They are alphas. One thing to know about our world is that you get respect by showing strength.” Jax said, smoothing his hands over the robe, giving her comfort. “They might not like our decision, but they will grow to respect it.” His words seemed to calm her. I pulled her to me, embracing her and smelling her neck, savoring the sweet scent of fig and lotus.
“Also, you didn’t display any sign of fear. They admire that, even if they didn’t show it.” I explained as she nuzzled into me.
“Once they get to know you, they will absolutely adore you. I promise.” Tony affirmed. We knew he was right. Our fathers might be mad now, but they were not completely unreasonable. And now that we were showing a united front and demonstrating our strength, they accepted our decision. It was a win in my book.
“Well, I should hope so. I went from having no father figure to having, what was that - eight fathers in law?” Safira ventured as she raised an eyebrow. “It’s got to be complicated during the holidays!” Her comments had us all beaming. She was right, holidays could get chaotic, but with her in our pack, they would always be full of love. And that made everything worth looking forward to.
“We’ll have to help you learn everyone’s name. But for now, let's get you settled in.” I said as I stood up, taking her hand. “Our pack is now officially off the market, and now that you’re with us we can get to decorating.” As soon as we’d re-registered our pack to be available, we’d signed up to court Safira. Then just as quickly, we both took our profiles off the market when we’d announced our bonding to the Omega registry this morning. Now, she could move in with us and we could start our lives.
“This is still quite a lot for me to take in. I mean, we still have a lot to learn about each other. I’ve never even lived on my own before.” She bit her lip and looked away, clearly overwhelmed by all the changes. I took her hand in mine.
“Safira, we waited over eight years for you. We can wait again. Take your time to feel ready to take the next step.” I said, but I could feel her relaxing already through the bond. Sure, living apart from your pack was unconventional. But nothing about our situation happened the normal way. If she wanted to stay in the villa for a bit, then it was understandable. She squeezed my hand, and I led her up to the room that we wanted to be hers.
“Okay. I’d like to stay here tonight at least, maybe tomorrow night as well.” She commented as she stepped in and looked around. But when her eyes lit up at the room, I had a feeling she probably wouldn’t set foot in the villa again unless it was to gather her clothes to move. “This is the room?” She walked in, her face in awe as she took it in. We hadn’t decorated it yet, but we had a high-end bed, a solid dresser and vanity, and new modern lighting. “It’s so bright!” She exclaimed, looking around as she explored every corner. “And it has its own bathroom?” She looked in at the large bath, complete with a shower, tub and marble vanity. “What’s this?” she pointed at a metal rod.
“It’s a towel warmer. You know, in case you get chilly.” I said with a shrug. She beamed, then ran over and flung herself on the bed.
“It’s so nice! Even nicer than my villa!” Her words made me proud that we at least had a good start. I felt through our bonds that she was already feeling at home. “What’s that?” She sat up and asked, her dark hair already mussed from laying down briefly.
“What do you mean?” I asked, pushing a stray lock behind her ear.
“That feeling. It’s so warm. It feels like you.” She said, her eyes curious and big with wonder. I gave a small chuckle.
“It’s our bond. When we bit you in, it locked us together, remember? You can feel all of us if you concentrate.” I explained, and she reached for my chest.
“What’s that feeling though? It happens every time I look at you.” She was closer to me, her lips parted as her hand felt my heartbeat.
“I think you know, Safira.” I said, pulling her closer. “I feel it more and more every moment I spend with you.” I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I love you, Safira.”
She curled into my chest, and I held her tightly. After a moment, I felt her body shake and pulled her back.
“Are you crying? Why?” I asked as I searched her face. Tony and Jax burst into the room, feeling my concern through the bond.
“Why is she crying?” Jax asked as Tony sat next to us, cupping her face in his hands. I searched for her emotions through our newly formed bond.
She didn’t feel sad.
“I can feel it. I can feel it when you look at me. I can feel it from all of you.” She croaked out the words as her throat tightened with emotion.
“Our love? Of course. That’s the strongest emotion. You’ll always feel it now.” I murmured as I wiped a tear off her cheek. She hiccupped and gave a small smile.
“It’s just, I haven’t felt this since…” She closed her eyes again. We knew before she said the words.
“My parents.” Her words were sad, but the feelings in her chest were more nostalgic than sadness. Mixed with something much, much stronger. She grabbed my hand, and Tony’s, placing them on her chest. Jax leaned in and she moved his hand onto her heart with ours. “Do you feel it?” She asked, and we nodded. The feeling had been there since we bit her, but it had been growing ever since. Now, it was strong and clear, reverberating through our shared bonds and giving me everything I’d never dreamed I could have. She looked at us with such emotion, then spoke.
“I love you too.”