Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Tadhg
The low hum of the plane surrounds us like a cocoon, a rhythm that matches the steady beat of my heart. Devlin is nestled between Lorcan and me, her head resting on my shoulder as she breathes deeply, her chest rising and falling in the most comforting way. Her soft scent still clings to me, a mixture of apple, caramel, and something deeper – something ours . I inhale deeply, letting it fill my lungs, letting it settle me. Her scent has changed, just slightly, ever since the bond snapped into place.
It’s richer now, layered with something uniquely ours – mine, Lorcan’s, and even faint traces of Cathal’s – wrapped around her like a protective shroud. A warning to any other male that she belongs to us. She carries us on her skin, in every breath she takes, and fuck if that doesn’t make something deep inside me rumble in satisfaction.
I can feel the bond between us, etched into my very bones and soul, as if the universe finally pulled all the right pieces together. It’s surreal, this sense of completion.
We’ve been through a storm, but right now, the air feels different. Peaceful. Devlin’s breathing is slow, steady, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I’m not waiting for the other shoe to drop. For once, it’s just about being. About being together.
She had one last thing she wanted to do before we left Cork: kiss the Blarney Stone. Well, more specifically, she wanted Cathal to kiss the Blarney Stone. Which was absolutely hilarious because my twin is terrified of heights. But he was determined to make her happy and we’re quickly learning that there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for our omega.
I felt it through the bond the moment he pushed his fears aside for her: she’s forgiven him. But I’m not sure she’s ready for him to know that yet. I fully support her choices, so long as she’s not hurting.
Lorcan shifts, brushing his fingers against the back of Devlin’s hand, and she gives a contented hum, curling into him a little more. He sighs, his fingers seeking out and tightening around hers like he can’t bear to let go. He turns his head, nosing into her hair, drawing in her scent with a low, satisfied growl.
Cathal watches her with a hunger that isn’t entirely physical. It’s deeper than that. Primal. The bond hums between all of us, a living, breathing thing, and I can feel how much he’s holding himself back.
Her fingers tighten on mine, and I’m reminded, yet again, of how much she’s trusted us, how much she’s opened herself up to this. Us.
I never expected Devlin to be our omega – the omega that would fit us, ground us, and make us whole. But now? The thought of a world without her seems unfathomable.
Her eyes flutter open briefly, and she turns her head slightly, just enough to meet my gaze. There’s a softness to her features now, a kind of peace that wasn’t there before. “You’re staring.”
“And I won’t apologise for it, beautiful.”
“What are you thinking about?” she asks, her voice hushed, barely audible over the quiet hum of the engine.
I smile, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. “You. All the ways I’m going to spoil and love you. How you might like to decorate your nest.”
Her lips quirk upward, and she settles back into my shoulder with a content sigh.
“I think I’m getting used to you staring at me,” she teases, her voice laced with something I can’t quite place – fondness or affection, maybe, or maybe even love.
It’s too soon to be thinking about the L-word, but damn if that’s not what I’m feeling. Why wouldn’t it be? I loved Devlin my whole life, finding out she’s my mate has only solidified that love. But we’re working on different timelines I guess, though I’m sure she already knows how I really feel, thanks to the bond. I’m not shy about letting her feel me. I want to make up for lost time.
I chuckle softly, my thumb tracing the back of her hand. “Good. It’s hard not to. It’s just…hard to believe you’re real when you’re so perfect. Hard to believe that you’re here. With us. At last.”
She looks up at me again, her eyes soft but searching. “Do you really think I’m real?”
Lorcan’s hand finds hers, squeezing gently, and I catch the way he watches her, too – his gaze full of the same awe, the same gratitude. There’s something about our connection to her that feels like it’s been a lifetime in the making. It’s natural. Effortless.
“Yeah,” Lorcan says quietly. “You’re real. And you’re ours.”
The words settle between us, and Devlin’s breath hitches slightly, but she doesn’t pull away, doesn’t seem uncomfortable. Instead, she wiggles closer, leaning into the warmth of Lorcan’s side, her hand tightening around mine.
“Alright you bastards, quit hogging my omega. I want a turn,” my brother grumbles, getting to his feet and crossing the aisle towards us.
“ Your omega?” I challenge, raising a brow and smirking at him.
“ Our omega,” he corrects before adding, “not that you’d know it with the way you two keep monopolising her time and attention, rubbing yourselves over her so damn much you’ve almost drowned out her scent with yours.”
“I can’t help it if I’m the favourite twin,” I reply with a grin.
“Yeah, and I scent matched her first,” Lorcan adds.
“One of you move ,” Cathal growls, growing impatient with our teasing.
Lorcan chuckles and swaps seats with my brother, who immediately slips into the vacated space and wraps himself around Devlin. She doesn’t seem to mind a bit as she giggles at whatever he’s whispering in her ear.
I look out the window, letting the silence stretch, my mind spinning in circles. The world feels like it’s moving in slow motion right now. We’re in the air, but I can feel the weight of everything that happened behind us, and the weight of what’s coming. But for now, I just want to hold her, keep her close, and let that suffocating fear of losing her fade into the background.
Devlin’s voice cuts through my thoughts, soft but steady. “I’m glad it’s you three.” She shifts slightly, her fingers finding the hem of my shirt, tracing absent circles against my skin. A soft, involuntary purr starts in my chest. It vibrates against her fingertips, and she hums, pressing closer like she likes it. “I don’t know if I’d have been able to do this with anyone else.”
The words hit me like a wave – one that crashes and pulls me under, but in a good way, like it’s washing away the last remnants of doubt. My heart stutters in my chest. I didn’t realise how much I needed to hear that until just now.
“Same,” I agree, my hand reaching up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Cathal’s hand is resting on her leg, a silent promise, but he adds, “You’ve got all of us, a rún. You’re not alone anymore, Embers.”
I feel her take a deep breath, and when she speaks, there’s a quiet determination in her voice. “I know.”
A sense of calm washes over me then. There’s something incredibly grounding in her acceptance, in her ability to trust us this way. I finally get it. I get her. I get us.
Lorcan notices, his eyes darkening, and he leans in, brushing his lips against her temple. “You know what you do to us, Devlin?” His voice is rough, edged with something possessive.
She smiles against my skin, the curve of it soft, pleased. “I’m starting to figure it out.”
After that the flight drags on, but the four of us are content in our silence. Every once in a while, I feel her shift, her head turning slightly, eyes closing as if she’s drifting. And it’s all I can do to stay right where I am, holding her, not wanting to let go.
But soon enough, the plane begins its descent, the sudden shift in motion pulling me back into the moment.
I can feel the tension settling back in – subtle, but there. Devlin’s fingers tighten on mine again, and I can sense it, too. The change. The inevitable.
We’ve been so wrapped up in everything that’s happened, but I can feel the moment where the next chapter of our lives is about to begin. I look out the window, watching the patchwork of land below, knowing that once we land, things will change.
It’s not a bad change.
But it’s a change nonetheless.
When the seatbelt light dings, signaling we’re about to land, Cathal shifts beside us, a movement I almost didn’t catch in the midst of my thoughts. He looks at us with a soft, knowing expression on his face. His voice is low when he speaks, but it’s as clear as day.
“I’m not giving her up, Tadhg. Lorcan, either. No one is separating us.”
I blink, surprised by the fierceness in his tone. Cathal, usually sullen, is anything but now. I feel a rush of affection for him, both as the quiet leader of our pack, the one who balances us, who always holds us together even when we’re lost in our heads, and as my brother, who’s shown how much he can grow and change for the right woman.
“We’re not going anywhere, Cathal,” I say quietly, giving him a small nod.
“I know that,” he replies with a tight smile, but the intensity in his gaze doesn’t fade. “But I just want to make it clear. No one’s breaking what we’ve built. Not now, not ever. She thinks she’s coming to Silver for a couple of weeks, and that’s fine, if she doesn’t like it and she wants to leave. But I’ll be going with her. We all will. Everyone around the world needs homes building, we can work wherever our girl wants to be.”
His words settle over me like a warm blanket, and I look at Lorcan, who nods in agreement. We all feel the same. This pack, this bond – it’s unbreakable. And if anyone tries to come between us? They’ll have to go through all of us.
“Good,” Lorcan says, his voice full of the same quiet strength Cathal’s has as he repeats his words. “We’re not leaving her side, not now, not ever.” Then he adds under his breath, low enough that only I catch it, “I can’t wait to breed her and see her round with our child.”
Cathal shifts his gaze to Devlin, his eyes softening when he meets hers. She catches the emotion in them and smiles, something more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen before – like she’s seeing it, too. The weight of our words, the promise we’re making to each other, settles into her chest, and I know she feels it. We’re a pack. We were always meant to be.
As the plane touches down and the tires squeal on the runway, I feel it – like we’ve crossed a threshold. There’s no going back now.
We don’t speak for a while after we’ve collected our bags. We move in sync, the unspoken agreement settling over us. We’re a unit, a whole. Together.
But then Devlin speaks up, breaking the silence that’s settled between us. She doesn’t look at either of us at first. Instead, her gaze is fixed on the doors leading outside, where the night air waits.
“I need to collect my car, head home first,” she says, sounding sad and dejected. “To pack my things, water the plants and stuff.”
The words catch in my chest. I feel that pull again, that desire to never let her out of our sight, but I fight it down. There’s no reason to push her. Not now. Not after everything.
Cathal’s hand brushes hers, and I know he’s feeling the same. “We’ll come with you,” he says, his voice firm but gentle. “You’re not going anywhere alone.”
Devlin hesitates, her lips parting, but we both know what she’s going to say. She’s going to try to argue. But we don’t let her.
“You’re not going anywhere without us, a rún,” I say, my voice steady.
She looks up at us, and for the first time, there’s no resistance in her eyes. Only trust. A trust I’ll never take for granted.
“Alright,” she agrees, the word barely a breath on her lips. “How are we doing this then?”
“I’ll hop in with you,” I say before the others can claim shotgun. “They can follow in our car and then we’ll all head home. We can try living in Silver for a couple of weeks and see how things go, and if you don’t like it, we can reassess. Try Exeter, or maybe even look for somewhere new.”
Lorcan steps forward then, his expression serious. “You know we still plan to court you properly, right?”
She blinks, looking between the three of us. “I mean…we’re already bonded, so?—”
Cathal shakes his head. “That doesn’t mean we don’t still want to earn you.”
My fingers tighten on hers. “We’re bonded, yes. But we still want to woo you, to give you everything you deserve. This isn’t just instinct. It’s you . And we’re going to make sure you know just how cherished you are.”
Devlin looks at us, eyes wide, lips parting slightly. Then, slowly, she grins.
“You’re really all in, huh?”
Lorcan smirks, his arm wrapping around her waist. “Sweetheart, we never do things halfway.”
“And you’ll love Silver,” Cathal says confidently, a knowing gleam in his eye.
“Oh, I will, will I?” Dev challenges.
“Yep. And I’m willing to wager on it too,” my cocky twin retorts.
Her hands fly to her hips and she stares him down with such ferocity my dick hardens. “Name your terms.”
“If I’m right, you bond with me during your next heat.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
Cathal shrugs. “Winner’s choice, Embers. You decide.”
She agrees, they shake on it, and then she slips her hand into mine, pulling me off in the direction of wherever her car is parked.
And I feel it. The weight of the future is settling over us all. She’s ours. We’re hers. And nothing will ever change that. But we want to make sure she realises it too. Which is why I look back at the others and give Cathal a nod just before we reach the car.
Cathal stops, digging into his jacket pocket. “Wait.”
Devlin turns to him, brows furrowing. “What?”
Before he can answer, Lorcan steps in first, holding out something small. “Actually, we all have something for you.”
She blinks, looking between the three of us. “You guys?—”
Lorcan smirks, placing a small velvet pouch in her palm. “Open it.”
She unties the string, shaking out a delicate pendant—an antique silver locket, its intricate engraving catching the dim airport lighting.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathes, running her thumb over the cool metal.
Lorcan nudges her, grinning. “Open it, sweetheart.”
She does, and inside is a tiny, folded piece of paper. Her fingers tremble slightly as she unfolds it. Three words, scrawled in Lorcan’s messy handwriting:
“Always your shadow.”
Her breath catches. She looks up, and he winks, but there’s something deeper in his gaze, something raw.
Before she can say anything, I step forward, pressing a small box into her hand. “Mine next.”
She lifts the lid and gasps. A ring, delicate but sturdy, forged from intertwining bands of silver and gold. It’s not a mating ring, but it’s close.
“Tadhg—”
I take her free hand, brushing my lips over her knuckles. “It’s a promise,” I murmur. “That no matter where you go, no matter what happens, you’ll always have a home with us. Read the inscription.”
Her fingers tighten around the ring like she can feel the weight of my words and I watch as her lips wordlessly echo the sentiment engraved on the inside of the band: Home is wherever you are.
And then Cathal steps up, and I swear, the air around us changes. He doesn’t say anything at first. Just pulls out a small, gleaming key attached to an elegant keyring. A lucky four-leaf clover, cast in solid silver.
“This is our house key,” he says simply, his voice steady but low, thick with meaning. “Your key.”
Devlin stares at it.
Lorcan chuckles, nudging her lightly. “You gonna take it, Red? Or do we have to put it on a chain and hang it around your neck?”
Her fingers finally close around it, and she swallows hard. “You’re really giving me a key?”
Cathal’s jaw flexes. “You think I wouldn’t?”
Her eyes flick between the three of us. “This feels…big.”
“It is big,” I admit, stroking my thumb over her wrist. “Because it’s not just a key, Dev. It’s a statement. You belong with us. But don’t you dare think it’s some big grand gesture, because that’s not what this is. You are everything to us, our heart, our centre, our home. You’re the key.”
She exhales sharply, like she wasn’t expecting that. And then, suddenly, she throws her arms around Cathal’s neck, burying her face against his chest. His arms close around her immediately, protectively, and when I step in, pressing my hand to the small of her back, I swear I hear him purring.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “For all of it.”
“Anything for you, a rún.”
“You know I’d be happy with a bottle of Tanora though, right? I don’t need anything fancy.” My packmates and I exchange a glance and all three of us pull bottles of the lurid tangerine flavoured pop from our bags with a laugh.
But Devlin squeals with delight and jumps on each of us, showering us in kisses.
Yeah . We’re all so fucking gone for this girl.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she cries.
Lorcan grins, tapping her chin. “You can thank us properly later, sweetheart.”
She laughs, swatting at him, and fuck if it isn’t the best sound in the world.