Chapter Forty-Four – Mercedes
My heat passes by in a blur. The only thing I vaguely remember is them taking me into the bathroom and disinfecting the marks on my neck, then bandaging me up. Seriously. The rest is one huge sex-fest with a desperate omega and three sexy alphas.
But it’s not bad. The opposite, actually. I don’t mind losing myself in them, because I know they’ll take care of me. I trust them, and that’s not something I ever thought I’d say about a pack of alphas.
When the fogginess of the heat is lifted, and I slowly come back to my own mind, I lay in my nest, surrounded by my three alphas: Darius, Nic, and Warren, and for the first time in my life, I am content. I’m happy. I’m right where I want to be. The girl who wanted to run away, the one who wanted to spend the rest of her life hiding, is gone. I’m not that girl anymore.
I nestle against Nic’s chest as I reach up and touch the bandage on my neck. Asking for them to mark me, wanting it, craving it; it’s all foreign to me, and yet, now that it’s done and I’m bonded to these three, it feels… the only word I can use is right.
It feels right.
And what’s even stranger is I can feel them. It’s like their hearts are also in my chest, all beating as one. It’s like magic, if you believe in that stuff. I never thought I did, but now… now I’ve seen the light, and I never want to know a day without my three alphas in it.
They’re mine. They might not have a mark on their necks to display it like I do, but they belong to me all the same. It’s funny—all the mistrust, the annoyance, and even maybe a splash of hate—it all went away so fast in the grand scheme of things. Deep down, I guess we’re not too different from animals.
The next morning, when my alphas finally stir, Nic is the first to speak, “How do you feel?” He talks with his face half turned into a pillow, so his voice comes out a bit muffled.
Warren yawns. “A bit worn out, if I’m honest.”
“Not you,” he says, slow to sit up. “Mercedes.”
Darius sits up, hiding a yawn behind his hand. “Can’t you feel her? She’s perfectly content. No, wait.” A pause as he thinks, assessing our newfound bond. “She’s hungry.”
I giggle as I sit up with them. “I am hungry.”
Nic kisses my cheek. “Why don’t you hop in the shower, and I’ll start us all some breakfast?”
That sounds amazing. As Nic scurries away, I’m much slower in getting up. Warren stands with me, giving me a goofy grin as he asks, “You want company in the shower? Someone to scrub those hard-to-reach spots and crevices on that flexible body of yours?”
“I thought you just said you were a bit worn out?”
“Uh, yes, but just because I’m worn out doesn’t mean you can’t wear me out more.”
Though it’s tempting—very tempting—I tell him, “I can handle it myself this time.”
Warren is a sad puppy dog as he files out of my room, leaving me alone with Darius, who’s busy glancing all around at the mess we made, all the blankets and pillows and clothes strewn about. “I’ll help you clean this up later,” he says, stepping towards me and wrapping his arms around my back. “How are you feeling?”
I angle my head up and meet his bright green eyes. “I’m good.”
He cocks a brow.
“I am,” I say.
“You don’t regret letting us bite you?”
Even now, he’s concerned about me. It’s sweet. It really is. Who knew the prickly alpha would be the caretaker? “No. I’m glad I did.” My lips tug into a smile as I gaze up at him. “I’m Mercedes Alabaster now, remember? I’m one of you.”
His reply comes swiftly: “The best of us.” How can it be that my heart warms when I hear him say that? He kisses me on the top of my head, on my sweaty, greasy hair, and then lets me go.
I go, completely naked, to the bathroom, where I start the shower and wait for the water to get hot before I step in. I stand in front of the vanity, able to see my reflection in the mirror.
I look like an omega who just got out of her heat. And, yes, I’m starving, but you can’t see that in the mirror. What I can see is a girl without a scowl on her face, a girl who puckers her lips in the shape of a smile, at nothing in particular. I see a girl who wears a bandage on her neck proudly, an omega with no reservations. Not anymore.
I never thought it would be like this. I never dreamed…
My heart is so full it feels as if it could burst out of my chest at any given moment, but not in an uncomfortable, heart attack way. I can’t believe this is where I am, that I found a pack. A family. Me, an orphaned omega who thought she’d have to be on the run for the rest of her life.
Will it ever feel real? Will I ever get used to this warm, tingly feeling inside? I don’t know. Only time will tell.
But you know what? Time is the one thing we have loads of.