Chapter Fifteen
Odette
The sketchpad rested on my knees, a half-finished line arcing across the page as I paused, pencil hovering midair.
The TV flickered in the background, some old action movie Micha had picked.
He claimed it was a classic. Ravik had his feet propped on the coffee table, arms crossed, silently judging the film.
Salem lay on the floor beside the couch with his arm thrown over his eyes, half-watching, half-napping. The house was quiet, easy. Safe.
It was a good day. One of the first, I could say, that without flinching.
I was starting to fill in the shading along the edge of the figure’s cheekbone when the front door opened.
“My sun,” Haze called, in a sing-song, hands behind his back. “I have a gift for you.”
That got everyone’s attention.
I sat up straighter, already smiling. “Oh yeah? What kind of gift?”
“You gotta stand up to receive it,” he said, eyes twinkling.
I set my sketchpad aside and padded over to him in my soft pajama shorts and one of Salem’s oversized sweaters that hung off one shoulder. “You’re not gonna bite me, right?”
“I mean… not unless you ask real nice,” he winked, then brought his hands forward.
A large mason jar filled with clear, fluorescent green liquid was in them. Floating inside were three unmistakable, very real hearts. I blinked. Once. Twice.
“Is this—”
“Yup!” Haze beamed like a kid who just aced a spelling test. “I found the bastards that hurt you—ripped their hearts out myself. Put ‘em in formaldehyde. Thought it was romantic.”
My hand flew up to cover my mouth. I wasn’t horrified. Not really. I wasn’t even shocked. I just froze. Something inside me twisted, then snapped into place. I let out a sharp laugh that quickly turned into a sob, and I launched myself at him, arms winding tight around his neck.
“Thank you,” I whispered, breath hitching as tears slid down my cheeks. “Gods, Haze… thank you.”
He hugged me back instantly, gently rocking me side to side. “Anything for you, my sun.”
I pulled away only far enough to look at the jar again. Carefully and reverently, I took it from his hands and shook it like a gruesome magic eight ball.
“I can’t believe I’m the kind of girl who finds this sweet.”
Salem snorted from behind me. “You’ve been hanging out with Fallon and Violet too long.”
“No,” I whispered, still looking at the floating hearts. “I think… I think I was always this girl. I just didn’t know it until they broke me. And you…” I looked up at Haze, then over my shoulder at the others, “…you helped put me back together.”
My throat tightened again, but I didn’t try to stop the words this time.
“I love you, Haze. You’re unhinged, ridiculous, and probably should be on several watch lists, but you make me feel powerful. Like I’m allowed to be just as wild and fucked up as I need to be.”
Haze grinned so wide it crinkled the corners of his eyes.
I turned next to Salem, who had sat up and was watching me like I hung the stars.
“I love you, Salem. You’re my calm, my quiet. You always know what to say when I can’t even figure out what I’m feeling. And that cuff you gave me—” I touched the Valkyrie etched in gold on my bicep, “—you remind me that I’m still a warrior, even when I feel like a ghost.”
Ravik stood, slowly crossing to me, his expression unreadable as always. I reached for his hand.
“I love you, Ravik. You don’t always have the words, but you protect me like I’m something sacred. And when I’m around you, I feel safe enough to breathe. Safe enough to sleep.”
Then, finally, I turned to Micha. His golden eyes met mine, steady and warm, the silent alpha who always saw more than he let on.
“I love you, too. You never pushed me. You made space for me to come back to myself. You saw me, even when I couldn’t see anything beyond the pain.
You never treated me like I was broken.”
Silence settled over the room for a long, fragile heartbeat.
Then Haze let out a loud sniffle and wiped his face with his sleeve. “Okay, if anyone else cries, I’m gonna lose my shit and probably go kill someone else to cope.”
Ravik rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “drama queen,” but his hand tightened around mine.
And for the first time in a long, long time… I felt whole.
“We all love you too,” Micha said softly, and somehow those simple words cracked something wide open in me all over again. There was no grand flourish, no performative declarations, just his voice, calm and sure, a quiet promise I could fold myself into.
Salem’s fingers brushed along my arm, warm and grounding. “With everything we are.”
Ravik nodded once, firm and confident, like he was carving the truth into stone.
And Haze…Haze pressed a dramatic hand to his chest. “Obviously. I murdered people for you. That’s peak romantic commitment.”
The laughter that slipped from my lips felt lighter than anything I’d carried in months.
But I wasn’t done.
“I do have just one more question for you all,” I said, stepping back a little so I could look each of them in the eye, one by one.
Their expressions shifted instantly, alert, serious, bracing for something heavy.
I smiled, just slightly, then asked, “Will you bond with me?”
I barely finished the sentence before the world tilted.
Ravik tossed me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing, striding down the hallway with a determined, possessive grip around my thighs.
I squeaked, actually squeaked , and smacked his back, but the only response I got was a low rumble of amusement from his chest.
“You said bond, Omega,” he said gruffly, like that explained everything.
Maybe it did.
Behind us, the others followed, too quiet, too focused. There was something in the air now, electric and heavy, like the air before a thunderstorm. My heart pounded, heat blooming low in my belly as the realization hit me.
This was happening.
My alphas. My pack.
The bedroom door creaked open, then slammed shut behind us. I was dropped onto my nest with a gentle thud. It was soft and warm, familiar and safe. But tonight it would become something more. Something sacred.
I looked up, breath catching in my throat as I took them in.
Micha stood near the bed, gold eyes pinned on me like I was prey and he’d been starving.
Salem leaned against the door, arms crossed, his expression unreadable, but the heat in his eyes gave him away.
Ravik’s jaw was clenched, his body taut with restraint.
Haze was already shirtless, smile crooked, and eyes wild. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You really want to bond with us, my sun?” he asked, his voice a low purr. “Want to make this permanent?”
I swallowed hard, my voice coming out soft but steady. “Yes.”
Haze’s grin widened. “Then we’re gonna make you ours. Every inch of you. Every fucking breath.”
The silence that followed was thick with anticipation. I could feel their scents starting to bleed through the scent-canceling charms on the door, pine, spice, mint, smoke, mixing with the sweetness of my own. My whole body buzzed.
“Are you going to be my good boy?” I tease Haze.
He nods enthusiastically. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Such a good alpha,” I purred, the words thick with approval. I slip out of the nest to stand before him. I crooked my finger at him, tilting my head just enough to let the fairy lights catch the glint of mischief in my eyes. “Come here.”
Haze surged forward like I’d yanked a leash he didn’t know he wore. His long limbs folding around me, heat rolling off his body in waves. I felt every ounce of restraint trembling beneath his skin.
“Give me a kiss,” I whispered, voice smoky, command threading through the softness. “Then undress me.”
He obeyed without hesitation.
His mouth crashed into mine, hot, wild, and greedy. He kissed like a man starving, like I was the last taste of salvation left on this earth. His hands fisted in my hair, holding me still, devouring me with lips and tongue and worship.
I felt their eyes on me, on us, as Haze’s hands finally moved, fumbling slightly, reverent and rough all at once as he peeled my sweater up over my head.
His breath hitched when he saw the skin beneath, eyes darkening as he traced every inch with his gaze before leaning in to kiss the swell of my breast through my lace bralette.
Then he knelt back, palms trembling as he tugged it off, tossing it behind him.
He shuddered like he’d been struck, groaning deep in his chest. Low, ragged, and feral sound rolled through him like thunder.
“That’s it,” he rasped, voice shaking as he leaned in, his mouth hot against the curve of my throat. “You smell so fucking good. So mine.”
A smile curved my lips, slow and sharp. I leaned forward and caught the skin just below his jaw in my mouth, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. He let out a growl, hands flexing at my waist.
“Good boy,” I whispered into his neck, dragging my teeth lightly across his skin.
His head dropped forward with a groan, body taut with the effort it took not to just sink into me right then and there.
“She’s going to ruin us,” Salem muttered from behind him, voice thick with something reverent.
“I hope she does,” Micha said, low and certain.
Ravik just let out a soft growl and stepped forward, voice rough as gravel. “Yes, please.”
I looked past Haze and met Ravik’s eyes. Then Micha’s. Then Salem’s.
And I knew…
Tonight, I wouldn’t just be worshipped.
I’d be claimed.
Haze’s hands had just finished pulling off my panties when I curled my fingers under his chin and tilted his face up to mine. His pupils were blown wide, lips slick and swollen from our kiss, chest heaving with every shaky breath.
“Wait,” I whispered, watching his brows pull together in confused frustration.
“Wait?” His voice cracked on the word, half a groan, half a plea.
I leaned in, brushing my nose along his jaw as I murmured in his ear, “Go grab a chair.”
“A… chair?”