Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
Silas
"You can't fucking do that! Do you understand the amount of danger you put yourself in?! We could have lost you!" Kade is losing his shit, and rightfully so.
What's surprising to me is he's only lecturing Riot.
Those words, the fear of losing his mate, are for Riot.
The heavy horror of Vivian rushing into the dark night was awful, but we had eyes on her the whole time.
As much as we hated letting her watch Riot, we needed to let her make that choice for herself.
At least that's what Kade said. Though I'm sure his hindbrain was tearing him apart.
Everything about this evening went against our instincts. It tore me apart knowing Riot was gone, and I could barely stomach the fact that Vivian watched him kill someone.
Reverently and lost in my thoughts, I continue rubbing the soap into Riot's chest. His bullet wound has healed into a reddish purple, angry spot, but I stay gentle on it. The red loofah lies abandoned on the shower floor because I need to feel him.
"Riot, you can't do that ever again," Kade pleads and demands. His voice cracks, but Riot stays quiet, not answering him.
Kade runs his fingers over Vivian's scalp in an effort to get the dried blood out. He's shampooed it twice now, and the water has finally stopped running red. The sight of the amount of blood on Riot was horrific, but the need to clean my mate was stronger than throwing up.
On the other side of Riot, Jarek rubs his hands into Riot's tense muscles. All the bonds feel a bit floaty, like we can't quite comprehend the enormity of what happened these past few hours.
There's nothing sexual about the way we clean Vivian and Riot, but our touch is sensual and needy in a different way. They've been clean for a while now, but we can't stop making sure they are real and in front of us.
When Vivian woke us up in the early hours this morning to tell us Riot was gone and she was going after him, we said fuck that. It took a small amount of arguing to agree to take her. The only reason Kade gave in was because Vivie promised to stay by our sides and we would wait with Trent.
Honestly, it was all a blur. I still can't believe we took our omega to a fucking murder scene. We had to trust she knew what she could handle. Doesn't mean it was okay...
"Is anyone listening to me?" Kade grumbles, rinsing Vivian's hair again. "This was unacceptable."
Jarek rolls his eyes. "We're listening, but you keep repeating yourself."
"Because I was fucking terrified. Two of my mates could have died!"
Vivie startles and slips on the tile. Kade curses and scoops her into his lap as he sits on the heated bench in the back corner.
"I'm so sorry, little Omega. I'm sorry," he whispers, voice thick with emotion, and eyes wide with guilt.
Riot snaps out of whatever haze he was in and breaks free from me and Jarek to sit at their feet in the small puddle of water. His head tilts back onto Kade's thigh and he closes his eyes.
"It won't happen again. No more lying or deceiving either. I swear it," Riot promises us. It's still hard to believe he got away with planning this shit with Trent without us knowing.
Vivian reaches down to tangle her fingers in his wet black hair. "Thank you, Alpha. We're free now."
They lock eyes, sharing a connection that's unique to them and their shared trauma. We need to remember that tonight was completely different for them.
We felt terror and worry, while their bonds flooded with relief and pride.
My jaw was on the ground when I saw the body, but Vivie was smiling.
Kade was growling, and Riot was kissing our woman.
Jarek retreated into himself as all the feelings flooded his untrained psyche, then Vivian gathered our energy and soothed the sharp edges.
"I won't help Trent if you don't want me to," Riot murmurs and takes a moment to lock eyes with all of us. He's considering all of our feelings, showing his growth and recognition of pack life.
Kade leads us, Vivian is our heart, I keep us grounded, Jarek reminds us to smile, and Riot challenges us. We're all equally important.
"I support you," Jarek tells him. I nod and tell them I agree.
"I trust you," Kade says, giving his blessing too.
When we turn to Vivian, I'm not surprised to see her smiling down at Riot. "I love you."
"I love you, Firefly," Riot replies with a smile.
The pull to deepen our connection brings me to kneel in front of my new alpha. "I'm in love with you too." My voice wavers, but I push through. It's been a long time since I admitted my feelings to someone, and I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do it again.
Riot's mismatched eyes bounce around my face as if he's checking and triple checking that I mean it. "I love you, too," he whispers, the sound bordering on a whimper.
My heart expands in my chest, and I swear my soul glows. My strong, fearless, dangerous alpha loves me.
Jarek draws his focus when he hovers over us as he trails his thumb across Riot's cheekbone and scar. "I love you."
To my surprise, Riot gulps and looks ready to cry. Surely he knows how we feel?! It's always in the bond connecting us. Unless he's still holding back.
That thought is confirmed and shattered into oblivion when Kade tips Riot's chin back, then looks him in the eye with so much feeling that even I choke up a bit. "You are ours, and we are yours. I love you, mate. Don't ever scare me like that again. I know an omega with a wicked bite."
"Pretty sure she will be right beside him, scaring us shitless," Jarek murmurs and grunts when Vivie swats him in the stomach. The moment is so profound that the slight truthful tease doesn't penetrate the severity.
Naked in our pack shower after washing the blood off each other, we profess our love. It's a bit unorthodox, but it's good. Different is good.
A tear slips from Riot's blue eye, then another. It's odd. His gold one stays dry even though it shows the same emotion. So many questions about my extraordinary pack... but I wouldn't change them for the world.
Riot's voice is pure, beautiful emotion as he accepts our love and allows us in for the first time. "I love all of you so much. Thank you," he croaks, the final wall coming down with a tearful release.
His red, vibrating tether flows into us with full force, dousing us in his appreciation and pure contentedness. We're complete.
We didn't reach this point during sex, or even the mating bites. Intimacy and agreeing to spend your life with someone show an immense amount of trust. But finally letting your walls down, allowing your mates in to see the darkest corners of you and trusting they'll accept you anyway is love.
We did things a little backward...Trust came first...Love came second. The way it was meant to be because we're all a little different and need to feel supported before we can open our hearts.
Now that we're here, with no more threats hanging over us and our feelings out in the open, we can live again. There were so many unknowns, a lot of tears and tests, but the feeling of completeness is what family is all about.
We are one.