Chapter Five #2
I let myself sag into him for a moment, my forehead pressing lightly to his shoulder, the tightness in my chest unwinding one slow beat at a time.
The warmth of him, the steady rhythm of his heart, the sound of that broken, hopeful purr.
It stitched pieces of me together in ways I didn’t know I still needed.
After a few breaths, guilt prickled at the edges of my mind. I pushed back slightly, hands landing against his chest. “Oh no! I’m getting dust all over you.” I was covered in it. Hell, the whole room was covered in it. I really needed to blow some of this out.
Haze just tightened his arms a little more, purring louder now, smiling down at me with a softness so bright it nearly undid me. “I don’t care, my sun,” he murmured, voice rough with feeling. “I only care that you’re here. In my arms. Right where you belong.”
My throat ached, the edges of my vision blurring for half a second with emotions I wasn’t ready to name. I didn’t know if I belonged anywhere yet. I knew damn well I deserved it though. I wouldn’t let those bastards win.
I barely had time to catch my breath before Haze gave a mischievous little grin—one I was quickly learning meant trouble.
Still holding me against his chest, he turned slightly, casting a look over his shoulder at the others. “Well?” he drawled. “You just gonna stand there looking pretty, or are you gonna get in here?”
I blinked up at him, confused, and everything happened simultaneously.
Ravik was the first to move. I wasn't sure with a low rumble of something that might have been a laugh or a threat directed at Haze.
He stepped forward and wrapped a solid, careful arm around my back, enclosing me between them like a living shield.
He smelled like smoke and worn leather, grounding and steady.
Salem followed more cautiously, one eyebrow arched like he wasn’t entirely sure this was a good idea, but unwilling to be left out. He slipped into the embrace with a soft chuckle, tucking himself into the side with a kind of casual grace that somehow made it less overwhelming.
Micha was last, and his approach was slower, more deliberate. His hand brushed lightly against my lower back first, almost asking permission before he fully closed the circle. When I didn’t pull away, he added his solid warmth to the growing, chaotic knot of bodies.
I was completely surrounded.
And I didn't feel trapped for the first time in what felt like forever. I felt... safe. Wrapped up in a human fortress made entirely of strong arms, steady heartbeats, and the faint, mingled scents of cedar, mint, smoke, and something uniquely Micha—like rain and earth after a storm.
Of course, the moment of tender perfection lasted exactly three seconds before Haze, unable to leave anything serious alone for too long, shifted his grip and accidentally elbowed Salem squarely in the ribs.
“Watch it, you menace,” Salem grunted, pushing back just hard enough to jostle all of us like dominoes.
Ravik growled low in his throat, giving Haze a warning shove that sent him stumbling half a step, but because Haze still had an arm around me, I went with him.
“Ah! Odette’s going down!” Haze yelped dramatically.
I squealed, laughing despite myself as I flailed for balance, grabbing wildly at Salem’s jacket. He caught me easily, pulling me upright with a muttered, “You’re all children.”
Micha just shook his head, his lips twitching with barely contained laughter. “We really need to work on our group hugs.”
Still leaning against the workbench, Henry crossed his arms and grinned like he was thoroughly entertained. “This is why omegas live longer than alphas. No dumbass herd instincts.”
I wiped my eyes, breathless from laughing, leaning briefly into Micha’s side for support. “You’re all ridiculous.”
“We’re yours,” Haze corrected brightly, brushing his hand through my hair like I was something precious, breakable, and somehow indestructible. “Ridiculous is just part of the package.”
Before I could retort, Micha chuckles, his voice dipping into that low, serious timbre that made my stomach flip for reasons I didn’t want to examine too closely.
“We actually came for a reason, sunshine.”
I raised an eyebrow, wiping marble dust off my hands onto my shorts. “Besides the group tackle?”
Micha’s lips twitched in amusement. “Besides that, yes.”
Salem gave me a small, quiet smile. “We wanted to invite you to lunch.”
“Lunch?” I repeated, startled by the normalcy of it.
Ravik nodded, his dark eyes softening. “Just… lunch. With us.”
“To get to know you. Properly,” Haze added, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet like an overexcited but slightly demented golden retriever.
Something in my chest gave a little, startled flutter. They didn’t want to interrogate me. They didn’t want to fix me. They just wanted me.
Dusty, messy, healing, laughing, me.
I looked between them, four hopeful faces. Each different, each shining with patience and genuine affection, and I felt the walls I’d been living behind shift, just a little.
I smiled. Small at first, but real. “Lunch sounds really nice. I just need to shower and change.” I glance down at my dirty baggy jeans and my old holy Metallica tee shirt.
Ravik
August 27th
1:48 P.M
Blueberry pancakes.
The smell slipped into my senses, and I hoped it never left.
My omega was so precious. I could see the haunted look in her eyes that she tried to hide.
She was so strong. I’m glad she told us there was something she was healing from.
I couldn’t wait to find those bastards. The things I will do to them will make Voss look sane.
I forced myself to relax my jaw, hoping she wouldn’t notice the tension in my body.
She turns her pretty blue eyes toward me, mid-laugh, across the table at something Salem said. I wish I were a softer man.
I focused instead on my hands, on the old scars crisscrossing my knuckles.
Silent proof of what I was good for, what I’d always been good for.
I wasn’t a soft man. I didn’t have Micha’s patience, or Salem’s easy calm, or Haze’s infectious light.
All I knew how to do was fight. Break things.
Burn bridges. Protect what mattered with blood and bone and brute force. She needed gentleness. She deserved it.
And I wasn’t foolish enough to think I could change what I was, not overnight, maybe not ever.
But I could offer her something just as fierce, just as certain.
I would let the others be soft with her.
Let them be the steady hands she leaned into when the memories got too heavy.
I would be the wall between her and anything that ever dared to touch her again.
I blinked, dragging myself out of my own head, grounding back into the present before the weight of my anger could swallow me whole.
The diner around us was simple, worn-in, and perfect for what we needed. Vinyl booths faded from too many summers of sunlight, old jukebox lights flickering in the corner, cracked black-and-white tiles underfoot. It smelled like grilled burgers, strong coffee, and fresh pie.
Odette sat across from me, tucked neatly between Micha and Haze, a faint flush still lingering high on her cheeks from laughing too hard at something dumb Haze had said.
She wore a black crop top knotted casually at the side, showing a teasing sliver of sun-kissed skin above the high waist of a dark navy pencil skirt.
The soft material hugged her hips in a way that made it very difficult to keep my mind on the conversation.
Her heels tapped lightly against the tiled floor when she laughed, the silver buckles flashing in the low diner light.
She looked radiant, reckless, and fragile all at once—like a storm barely contained inside a glass bottle.
“Okay, okay, my turn!” Haze said, half-rising in his seat like an overeager kid, bouncing slightly as he slapped his palm against the table. “If you could be any animal, what would you be?”
Odette giggled into her hand, shoulders shaking with the effort to hold it in. Micha gave Haze a long-suffering look. Salem sighed, sipping his coffee like he was already regretting every choice that led him to this booth.
“I swear to God, Haze,” Salem said dryly, “if you ask me another icebreaker question, I’m transferring packs.”
Haze ignored him completely, eyes locked on Odette with shameless enthusiasm. “Well?” he prompted. “What’s your animal, my sun?”
Odette pretended to think seriously for a moment, tapping a finger against her chin.
“Hmmm… probably a cat,” she said finally, grinning mischievously.
“Sleep all day, knock things off shelves, demand snacks and affection on my own terms. But like a panther, so it's completely inconvenient to do any of that.”
Haze clutched his heart theatrically, slumping against Micha’s shoulder. “I knew we were soulmates.”
Micha shoved him off casually without even glancing up from his plate. “You’re a ferret at best, Haze.”
“A majestic ferret,” Haze corrected, completely unbothered.
Odette dissolved into laughter again, the sound bubbling bright and soft through the booth, making heads turn from other tables without her even noticing.
I found myself smiling before I realized it, a slow, rare stretch of warmth pulling at my mouth.
I leaned forward slightly, resting my forearms on the table.
“What about you, Odette?” I asked, my voice low but steady, cutting through the teasing hum around us.
“If you could go anywhere in the world, anywhere at all, where would you go?”
She blinked at me, caught off guard for half a second by the seriousness of the question amid the jokes. Then she smiled, smaller, a little more thoughtful, and leaned in just a little closer, like she trusted me with the answer.
“Anywhere with a beach,” she said softly. “Somewhere warm. Somewhere with soft sand and no clocks. No expectations.” Her voice dropped even quieter, more vulnerable. “Somewhere I could just… exist.”
The words settled between us, heavier than the easy teasing that had filled the booth moments before, but not unwelcome.
Micha reached over quietly and touched her hand, just a brush of fingertips against her wrist, grounding her.
Salem gave her a small, knowing smile. I stored it away inside my chest, somewhere with soft sand and no clocks, and made a silent vow.
Someday, after all of this is over, I’ll take her there wherever she wanted to go, wherever she could breathe free.
Haze, naturally, had to ruin the moment by throwing a sugar packet at Salem’s head. “Well, if we’re all living our best lives, I’m opening a beach bar called ‘Bad Decisions’ and Salem’s going to run security because he’s scary when he’s pissed.”
Salem caught the sugar packet without even blinking and threw it straight back, pegging Haze squarely in the forehead.
Odette laughed again, and I let the sound fill me up, smoothing out the sharp edges inside my chest.