Chapter 18 #2
She hangs up the phone, shooting me an exasperated look. “Alphas, man. They’re a pain in the ass. Are we sure we need them?”
“Sadly, yes. It’s a biological imperative for me. Otherwise, I’d kick them to the curb and keep you and Davis.”
She laughs, wrapping her arm around my waist and leading me back into the hallway. “Liar. You want their cocks and knots.”
A whimper slips out before I can stop it. I snicker. “I guess there’s no denying that, is there?”
“There certainly isn’t.” Kiara huffs when I stumble, almost taking down both of us. “Shit. We need to get you into a wheelchair. If we go down, I won’t be able to get you back up.”
“It’s a good thing we’re in a hospital then, huh?”
Which is how I find myself in a wheelchair, waiting at the employee entrance with a beta orderly while Kiara runs to get the car. I’m nodding off before she makes it back, and once they manage to get me strapped into the passenger seat, I’m out like a light.
“Crew, baby. It’s time to wake up.”
I grunt, trying to push away the hand shaking me. “Sleep.”
Kiara’s tinkling laughter has me blinking my eyes open. “You can sleep after we talk with the guys, okay? I get the feeling they’re going to want to get consent directly from you and won’t take me at my word when it comes to bonding with you.”
Before I can answer, my door flies open.
“Crew? Are you okay, baby?”
I turn my head to find Alexander there, his big hand cupping my cheek. “Kiss?”
My alpha chuckles, leaning in to brush his lips against mine before undoing my seatbelt. “Mason and I are going to help you inside so we can talk, okay?”
“‘Kay.” I blink a few more times, and while my head is still hazy, it’s clearer than it was earlier. I need to sleep through the worst of this until my heat kicks in.
Pre-heat is the fucking worst.
My steps are steadier as Alexander helps me out. Mason takes up my other side, and they help guide me toward the door.
“Are you okay, Kiki?” I hear Davis ask behind me.
“I’m good. Don’t worry about me. I’ve dealt with a lot of heats with Crew before.
I should’ve caught it, but it’s just so early.
” She sighs. “It would’ve been nice to know that an omega meeting their scent matches can fuck up their cycle, but nothing can be done for it now.
Oh, and I called the parental pack on the way home.
I didn’t want them to worry if we were out of contact for a week or more. ”
“That was a good call, Kiki,” I yell, laughing as my alphas shush me.
Oh, right. It’s the middle of the night. I probably shouldn’t be yelling. At least the houses on either side of us are pretty far away, so it’s unlikely they heard me.
The guys take me straight upstairs, pausing outside our room. “Bedroom or nest?”
“Bedroom. I need to sleep this off. When I wake up, I’ll move to the nest. I’ll need things from each of you for that. Blankets, pillows, dirty clothes—anything that carries your scent.” I shrug. “You can put it in the nest whenever. Just don’t go inside. It might set me off when I go in there.”
Mason nods as they get me settled on the bed. “Open the door, toss smelly things inside, and shut the door again. We can do that.”
“Smelly things?” I shake my head. “Fuck, I’m exhausted.”
“Maybe we should let you sleep and talk later,” Davis says slowly.
“Absolutely not,” Kiara and I say together, laughing when our gazes meet.
She joins me on the bed, curling into my side.
“This is the most aware Crew will be until his heat is over. He feels like shit, and he might be a little hazy, but his omega isn’t riding him yet.
When he wakes up tomorrow, he might be all omega.
Or he might be just as cognizant—it’s a coin flip, really. Either way, we talk now.”
“What she said.”
The three of them glance around the room before Davis climbs onto the bed and leans against my other side. I sigh as I’m surrounded by the calming energy of my betas. Davis’s scent reminds me of comfort with zest—a little extra energy with that comfort.
Fuck, I wish I could smell Kiara’s scent.
Soon, I remind myself. As soon as I go into heat, I’m making her mine.
A moment later, the alphas sit on the foot of the bed.
“This is awkward,” Alexander says with a laugh. “Where do we even start?”
“Kiki and I are bonding first thing,” I tell them bluntly. I’m too tired to worry about nuance right now. “After that, I’d like to bond with the three of you, but Kiki gets my first bond.”
Shocked silence follows my announcement, and Kiara buries her face in my neck as she laughs.
“Tactful Crew has left the building, I see.” Davis laughs as he rests his head against mine. “Not that he’s often in the building.”
“Are you serious?” Mason practically growls. “You want to bond with us? All of us?”
I nod. “I do. We do.”
“Wait. Kiki too?” Alexander’s eyes flicker between us, and I realize I probably should’ve let her make that particular announcement.
“Sorry, baby,” I murmur, burying my face in her hair.
“It’s all good.” She clears her throat. “And yes, me too. The last three weeks have allowed me to see that what Crew and I have is strengthened by the three of you. You don’t make me feel like I’m just an add-on you’re taking because you want my omega.”
“Because you’re not,” Mason assures me. “I hope you know that.”
She nods. “I do, which is why I’m ready to bond with all of you. I’ve put off Crew for years, and I thought it was because I wasn’t ready—and I wasn’t. But maybe not for the reasons I thought. I think I was waiting to do this as a pack—once we were all together.”
“Oh, I like that. It feels right, doesn’t it?” I ask Kiara, but my eyes are on my alphas.
“Yeah, it does,” she agrees.
My eyes slide shut, and I have to shake myself awake.
“We should talk limits, but I’m about out of time.
I don’t have many limits during heat. Just don’t piss or shit on me.
Talk dirty and degrade me all you want, but make sure you cuddle the shit out of me.
I love cuddling—even when I scream at you to knot me again. ”
That draws laughs from everyone as Davis and Kiara help me lie down. “Go to sleep, Crew. We can discuss limits while you rest since I know yours.”
“Don’t leave me.” I lift my head enough so that I can look at Davis, Alexander, and Mason. “I want all of you to stay. Talk in here, if you want, but I’d like it if you stayed.”
“We can do that, omega,” Alexander reassures me, his hand closing around my ankle and squeezing before he pulls off my shoe. “For now, get some sleep while you can.”
Even if I wanted to stay awake for longer, my body wouldn’t allow me to. I fall asleep to the rumble of their voices, content and safe.