Chapter 19
L ife was weirdly good. It didn’t seem possible with how much had changed, but the nursery was coming together, the pack was settling into the new house, and I had given in to Bryce’s insistence that I buy anything I wanted for the omega suite.
Unlimited (not really, but it felt that way to me) funds were a perk I hadn’t anticipated. Andrew had kept me on a strict budget for the nursery, but it seemed like Bryce would buy me a diamond-encrusted crib if I really wanted one. I didn’t, not after Luke had purchased and put together one so sweetly. I’d never felt like a princess before, but Bryce was doing a damn good job of ensuring I wanted for nothing. The others were too, though they had definite differences when it came to their bank accounts.
I tried to consider all of it as pack money, like Bryce had told me. It wasn’t him giving me the money; it was him freely sharing what me and Jesse were entitled to as his bonded pack. I just liked it for the stress reduction. Not having to clip coupons or pinch pennies to get what I needed wasn’t something I was used to.
“Sweetness, we’re going to be late if we don’t leave now.” Jesse popped his head into the bathroom where I was braiding my hair and trying to decide if I needed makeup or not. “You ready to head to the class or do you need another few minutes?”
“I think I’m good. How fancy are these classes?”
“Uh, not fancy at all, to my knowledge. I would imagine everyone will be in athleisure.”
“Okay, good. I don’t want to feel self-conscious.”
He swept into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around me, looking at me over the top of my head in the mirror. “You look beautiful at every level of polish. All you need to do for the class is be comfortable.”
I had intended to get enrolled in a prenatal class once I moved to New York, but since that wasn’t happening, the pack had found a condensed class in Vegas that had an opening. The spot I was taking, though, had only enough space for two of my alphas to attend with me at a time.
Jesse and Micah would be going with me to the introductory class, and later Luke and Bryce would take me to the one that was more medical and focused on baby care. Jesse already knew most of what there was to know on the medical side, and Micah had plenty of experience with childcare from his siblings, but Luke and Bryce were only children, so it seemed like the best option for dividing their time.
Jesse escorted me downstairs, where we collected Micah and departed for the class.
The instructor was a sweet older omega who had six children. While most of the class seemed to be geared toward getting me emotionally ready for the birth, they didn’t let the partners slack at all.
Micah pressed up against my back, cradling his hands beneath my belly, lifting gently to take the weight off my hips.
Fuck yes.
That felt amazing and he was never allowed to stop. I melted into bliss while I listened to the instructor explain coping strategies for pain during labor. I fully intended to get the epidural when it came down to it, and anything else they offered me.
“All right, pregnant patients, if you would like to adjust to your hands and knees, I can show your partners some effective ways to relieve the tension in your lower back and hips.”
My alphas helped me rearrange myself and the instructor came around to adjust everyone before she continued.
“Firm pressure, but not too deep. The birthing parents are always going to be the guide on how strong they want this.”
Micah found a particularly tender spot and I groaned against Jesse.
“Too much, angel?” Micah asked.
“Wee bit,” I whimpered.
He pulled back on the pressure and while he lovingly worked the tension from my body, the instructor impressed upon the partners in attendance the importance of support before, during, and after birth. All the omegas around me, myself included, were lulled into a comfortable half-asleep state, our alphas massaging our muscle knots into submission while they learned all about how to best support us.
If keeping us relaxed was the name of the game, my men were doing a damn fine job.
“Doing okay, sweetness?” Jesse asked.
I blinked my eyes open to focus on him and simply shifted my hips further under his hands. I half listened to the class, trusting that my alphas were absorbing the information. I knew I would have to come up with a proper birth plan and make decisions on the care I wanted to receive. When I had been trying to figure out everything alone without Andrew, that had been overwhelming at best, but Jesse was taking meticulous notes, and Micah hadn’t flagged in his attention once since we got here. I knew that not only would they take care of me, but that they wanted to as well. And that, more than anything else, was exactly what I needed to get out of this experience.
Unfortunately, all those chill vibes evaporated when we got home and my phone rang, Mom’s number rolling across the screen. She’d been tenacious even after finding out I had a pack. The only one of them she knew was Luke, and she had wanted me to find someone who could financially take care of me. From what she knew of him from his youth, he couldn’t do that to her satisfaction. I hadn’t told her about Bryce’s wealth. I wanted her to accept my pack without that.
I ignored the call, and a second came through. I ignored that too. When the third came through, I caved, just in case something was wrong.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Ava, I didn’t raise you to behave this way.”
“What way?”
“To ignore your own mother. To throw away a secure future. I told Nathan everything.”
I looked skyward and bit down a sigh. “I was only ignoring you because you’re not listening. And I’m not throwing away a secure future.”
“Andrew has a good job and his wife wants you to be part of their pack. She already has experience raising babies. You need support.”
“And I have it,” I argued.
“You don’t ,” she insisted. “Your child should have their father.”
My phone disappeared out of my hand and I turned to see Luke, fury etched on his features. “Mrs. Malone, that’s not going to happen.”
“Luke?” she squawked.
“Ava is perfectly fine where she is.”
“Honey, I gave you grace when you were a child, but you’re a grown man now. You know you can’t offer Ava what the father of her child can. Why would you even want to? You ran off the second you turned eighteen like your ass was on fire. I cannot believe you would condone my daughter being around such a violent alpha either.”
“Andrew deserved that punch to the face.”
“Luke!”
“Mrs. M, I promise I’m always grateful for how you treated me as a kid, but I’m not letting you walk all over Ava about this. Micah isn’t dangerous to her, and the other alphas aren’t either. Do you really think I would put the sister of my best friend in the whole fucking world in danger?”
Something about that statement lanced right through me. The sister of his best friend. Was that the only reason he had been taking care of me? The reason he hadn’t brought up being together romantically? Sure, not everyone in a pack needed to be involved with their central omega in that way, but it was what happened most of the time. If Luke was only here out of some obligation to my brother, I wasn’t sure I could stand it.
“You’re all still forgetting that Ava’s pregnant.”
“Trust me, that hasn’t escaped the notice of anyone in the pack. Andrew doesn’t have any legal claim over her baby. She bonded into the pack before she gave birth.”
There was abject silence on the other end of the line and I could picture my mother gaping like a fish.
“We’ll take care of her,” Luke promised. “You don’t have to worry.”
“I’m always going to worry. She’s my baby.”
I stole the phone back. “I’m a grown woman. I need you to respect my choices. I’m staying with my pack; I don’t want to be part of Andrew’s life anymore, and if you can’t accept that, I guess we’re done too.”
“Ava! Don’t be stu?—”
Luke hit the button to end the call. “I remember your mom being a lot nicer.”
“Me too. Kind of.”
“I meant what I said, you know.” Luke sat down next to me. “We’re all going to take care of you.”
I turned away, unable to look him in the eye. “I don’t need you to defend me against my mom.”
“I know. Just nice to have backup when people are being unreasonable.”
I pursed my lips, turning to glare at him. “And I don’t need you to take care of me either.”
His expression faltered, his brow furrowing. “I know you don’t need me to, but I want to.”
“Why? Some ridiculous obligation you feel because we were kids together? Because I’m Nathan’s sister? I don’t want any of that.”
“Aves, that’s not why?—”
“Then why ?! You’d better have a damn good reason because I refuse to be a burden out of obligation. I would rather?—”
Luke covered my mouth with his hand and something inside me snapped. I bit him, and when he recoiled with a yelp, I hoisted myself to standing and stalked away.
He was hot on my heels. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t fucking know but I can’t be around you right now.”
“Ava, stop.”
I halted just long enough to turn and glare at him.
“What are you so mad about?”
“You, jackass. You’re what I’m mad about.”
I moved to walk away again, but he wrapped his hand around my wrist. “Can you stop for two seconds and talk to me?”
I growled, low and dangerous. “Why are you here?”
“What do you mean? I’m here for you. For my pack.”
I sucked in a breath, wishing it could’ve been deeper, calmer, but the baby was taking up too much space for that. “I can’t handle this. I was in love with you from the time I knew what that meant, and when you found me again, part of me wondered if maybe I would finally get to find out what it felt like to be loved by you. But I can’t be an obligation, Luke. I would rather die. If that’s all you’re here for, I need you to leave.”
He stared at me as if I had punched him straight in the face. “You’re not an obligation. Fucking hell, Ava, it wasn’t easy to leave you. Do you think I didn’t love you right back?”
“You left . You abandoned me.”
“I was a scared kid in a shit life and you didn’t deserve the person I was then. You’re my whole world and I keep fucking it up and I don’t know how to stop.”
I bit back a scoff. “You never came back.”
“I’ve only started feeling like I was getting my shit together.”
“So, what were you expecting me to do? Sit pretty until you felt like you were ready and would come back for me?”
“Yes. No.” Luke let out a frustrated growl. “I don’t know. I never thought you would be my reality.”
“Just because you moved on with your life didn’t mean I stopped existing.”
“I know that, I just…If I had stayed, I’m pretty certain I would’ve ruined your life. And if I had gone back, I’m not sure it would’ve been any different. We both know I can be a stubborn asshole. If I had gotten my claim on you before Bryce was in the picture, it’s a guarantee I would’ve been insufferable. I didn’t deserve you then and I don’t deserve you now. I know that about myself.”
He looked so miserable I almost felt bad. I absorbed everything he said, but it didn’t make me feel any better. All I heard was that Luke never saw a life with me in any circumstance.
“But,” he continued, turning me to face him, his arms holding my shoulders, “I’m selfish enough that I still want you. I never stopped.”
I stared into his eyes. “Prove it.”
It was a stupid thing to say, but I couldn’t take his word for it. I needed his actions.
He did exactly as I had hoped, cupping my face and drawing me in, his mouth sweeping over mine in a burst of citrus that had my blood humming. Omega instincts took over, my fingers locking in his hair, my mouth desperate for his as he fulfilled this secret fantasy I’d harbored for years.
His growl against my lips sent a spiral of desire through me, slick dripping. I wanted to drown in him and never surface.
I couldn’t catch my breath and I didn’t care one bit. His hands tensed against my ass. The bump prevented us from getting any closer, and from him picking me up and pressing me against the nearest surface like I wanted.
As if reading my mind, he scooped me bridal style and set me on the edge of the nest before dropping to his knees in front of me to reclaim my kiss. Heat rushed through me.
Luke wanted me.
Passion like that couldn’t be faked. But then I remembered what he did for work and I wasn’t so sure. I pushed away, panting, bracing my palm on his shoulder.
“Tell me it’s real.”
“Of course it’s real.” His pupils were blown wide, his whole body vibrating. “I’ve wanted you more than I should have for what feels like a lifetime.”
I curled my fingers into the collar of his shirt and ground out, “Prove. It. I don’t ever want to question it again.”