35. Lainey
The two weeks after my attack are a blur.
Most of it is spent in my nest with one or more of my alphas, but by the end of the second week I’m starting to go a little stir crazy and they can tell.
“You up for a field trip today, darlin’?
” Rhys pokes his head into the bathroom, eyes catching on my nude form.
The bubbles disappeared a while ago, so now it’s just me, some tepid water, and the planet on my torso.
As soon as the words leave his mouth, I sit up, excitement zinging through me.
Wyatt got me in with a therapist a couple of days after we got home from the hospital and I’m seeing her once a week, but overall I’m feeling okay.
I’m not sure I’ll ever come to terms with my own mother trying to kill me, but she didn’t succeed, and now she’s serving a life sentence in a women’s penitentiary on the other side of the state.
As my therapist says, living well is the best revenge.
“Field trip to where?”
Rhys just winks, handing me a towel. “Wear something comfy and light. It’s warm out there today.”
It’s early April now, but the weather went from one last snowstorm to early summer in the blink of an eye.
Some days are perfect cool spring weather and others are unseasonably warm, which feels very on brand for my first venture out of the house in two weeks.
I dress in a stretchy pair of pink athletic shorts and a tee that doesn’t fully cover my belly, but I can’t bring myself to care.
The guys are always pushing my shirts up to hold the belly anyway, might as well just remove the obstacle for them.
“You look cute, little mama.” Lucky smiles at me as I waddle down the stairs, and I grin back.
I’ve been in a surprisingly good mood, and I probably have all the alpha pheromones to thank for that.
If I’m not in a cuddle puddle with my pack, then I’m doing the horizontal tango with one or more of them, and I finally feel like I have that mythical pregnancy glow.
We haven’t worked up to sex as a pack yet, and the more time passes, the more I think about it.
I may resort to begging soon, and I hate begging.
Okay, that’s a lie. I enjoy begging for my alphas, but I will go a little feral soon if I don’t get to experience group activities before these babies are born and I’m out of commission for a couple of months.
“Thanks, ball boy.” I throw myself into his arms as much as I can with the belly in the way and kiss his exposed chest. Because of course his full-length tee is cut all the way down the sides to expose his entire torso.
Popping up onto my toes, I lean in to whisper in his ear, “any idea where we’re going? ”
He turns his head, stealing a kiss from my parted lips and palming my ass before pulling away with a smirk. “Naughty kitten. Trying to use your womanly wiles to trick me into spoiling the surprise.”
A pout immediately takes over my face, which has the smugness dropping from his expression as his eyes go wide with panic. “Ohh no.” he crosses his arms in an X in front of him. “Not today, omega. You keep that expression far away from me.”
Just then Lawson walks into the room, freezing when he takes in his brother’s defensive stance. Rather than comment he shakes his head and moves to my side, kissing my cheek sweetly. “Quit tormenting Lucky, angel. You know he can’t resist your pout.”
I huff, crossing my arms across my chest. The movement pushes my boobs up nearly to my chin, and of course it draws their attention.
Rhys said to dress comfortable so I have foregone a bra, meaning my nipples are out and proud in this pale yellow tee.
“Yeah, that was kind of the point,” I sass.
Lawson and I have played a few times now, and I love his dominant side.
It helps that he loves when I act like a brat, so I get to be myself and it works him up like nothing else.
Slick leaks into my panties just thinking about it, and I rub my thighs together. Lawson catches the movement, gaze heating as he takes a step forward. But then Rhys appears behind him, pulling Law back by the collar. “Nope. No time. Let’s go.”
My pout is back, but this time for a different reason. “No fair,” I whine.
Something else I have been working on with my therapist is embracing my natural omega instincts. It gets a little easier every time, but my alphas still have to remind me its okay every other day or more. We’re working on it as a team.
Wyatt drives Rhys’s giant SUV while Lucky pesters him in the front seat, and Rhys and Lawson sit on either side of me in the back seat.
They fucking blindfolded me, so all I have to go on are my other senses.
None of which help when all the windows are rolled up and Lucky is blasting his sad boy music.
The drive is short, which is great because I am about to either snap at them to get this damn thing off my eyes or go into a full blown sensory meltdown. “I’m going to carry you in, darlin’. Save us both some trouble and let me, alright?” Rhys drawls lazily, which makes me want to be a brat.
I’m too curious about where we are to risk mouthing off now, so I keep my mouth shut and nod instead, letting out a tiny squeak when he scoops me right up into his arms like I’m not carrying two additional human beings inside of my uterus.
“Okay, you ready?” This comes from Wyatt, which makes me smile. I love when my soft boy speaks up.
“I’ve been ready!” I shout, bouncing on my toes. They all chuckle, but then the blindfold is stripped away and… “Am I hallucinating?” I ask seriously.
We’re standing in the middle of Whimsy , but the more I look, the more little changes I notice.
The checkout counter has been painted in a fun dark and light blue checker pattern, and the walls have some sort of groovy, swirly design on them I absolutely would have picked out myself.
All of the inventory pieces I painstakingly picked are back in their rightful places, and the best part? The whole space smells like my pack.
I finish my slow spin and stop facing my pack with my hands covering my mouth and tears in my eyes. “What did you do?”
Lawson steps forward, eyes gleaming with love and pride. “Welcome to your shop, Lainey Ryan.”
“Huh?” Is my eloquent response.
The other there step forward with varying sizes of grins on their faces. “Lawson had the idea to buy back Whimsy from your… Laura. Turns out, she didn’t even own it outright, so it was pretty easy to purchase the building and set everything up in your name.”
My eyes dart to each alpha, and then to the rainbow key Lawson holds out. “You bought me a store.”
Lawson shrugs. “It was always your store, now it’s just official.”
I have absolutely no idea what to say, except… “you put the store in the wrong person’s name.”
He tilts his head, confused, but Rhys seems to get it right away because his small smile transforms into a full, beaming grin that makes my heart skip a beat. “What name should he have used, darlin’?”
I shrug, pretending to inspect my nails. “Lainey Daire, obviously.”