Chapter 39 Jessica #2
She wraps her arms around herself. "Unbonded omegas at bonding ceremonies... The pheromones, the intensity. It could trigger a heat. I'm barely holding it together now. If I'm there when you bond..." She shakes her head. "I can't. I'm sorry."
I pull her into another hug. "Don't be sorry. You came. You were here. That's what matters."
Her voice is muffled against my shoulder. "Call me after? The appropriate amount of details."
"Promise."
Stacey announces. "I can be there. I'm a beta. Pheromones don't affect me the same way. Someone should witness this impulsive decision."
Sergio says. "It's not impulsive."
Stacey grins. "You decided to bond tonight in a mattress store while a salesman questions his career choices. That's the definition of impulsive. I love it. Very on-brand."
The salesman chooses that moment to return, looking harassed. "My manager suggested a custom furniture builder. I have his card..."
Carlos takes the card. "Actually, we're good. But thanks. You've been great. Very patient."
David says faintly. "I'm going to take my lunch break now and maybe reconsider my life."
We walk Harmony to the parking lot. She hugs each of us, her scent bittersweet with worry.
Nacho pulls out his keys. "You're not driving back to Portland alone. Not with someone watching you."
Harmony starts to protest. "I can't ask you to—"
"You're not asking. I'm telling." He unlocks his keyring and hands her a single key. "Go to our house. Wait there. I'm calling in a favor. Detective I know owes me. He'll drive up with you, make sure you get home safe."
Her eyes go wet. "You'd do that?"
"Already texting him." Nacho's phone is out. "He'll meet you at the house in an hour."
"Thank you." She clutches the key. "All of you. For everything."
I hug her one more time. "Call me when you're home safe."
"I will." She climbs into her car, waves once through the window, and pulls out of the parking lot.
Stacey watches her go. "So. We need a bed. And apparently we need it by tonight. Where exactly are we going to find a custom bed in..." she checks her phone, "eight hours?"
Sergio's already dialing. "I know a guy. Tom. Custom furniture. He owes me a favor."
"Does he owe you a build-a-massive-bed-in-one-day favor?"
"We're about to find out."
Nacho's truck pulls into a parking lot outside a warehouse. The sign reads "Timber & Stone Custom Furniture."
Tom meets us at the door. He's in his fifties, built like someone who works with his hands, smelling like sawdust and coffee.
Tom clasps hands with Sergio. "Sergio. What can I do for you?"
"We need a bed. Twelve feet wide, eight feet long. And we need it tonight."
Tom laughs. Then stops when he realizes no one else is laughing. "You're serious."
"We're bonding tonight. We need a bed for after."
Tom looks at all of us. "Tonight. You want me to build a custom bed in less than eight hours."
Sergio nods at his brothers. "We'll help. Four extra sets of hands. You supply materials and expertise. We supply labor."
Tom studies us for a long moment. Then he grins. "My daughter bonded to a pack last year. I built them a bed. Took me two weeks." He pauses. "But I was alone. With five people..." He pulls out his phone. "I'm calling my guys. We'll need six people minimum to pull this off."
"We'll pay triple your usual rate."
Tom starts pulling lumber from racks. "Damn right you will. You want the impossible, you pay for the impossible. Let's build you a bed."
What follows is controlled chaos.
Tom's two guys arrive within an hour. Both built like lumberjacks, smelling like pine and determination. They assess the situation, nod once, get to work.
The warehouse fills with the sound of saws and drills. Measurements called out. Wood cut to precise lengths. The brothers move around each other like they've done this before, anticipating needs, passing tools.
I watch Sergio mark measurements with steady hands. Pedro handles corner joints with surgeon precision. Carlos sweet-talks a wood planer. Nacho cuts slats with mechanical efficiency.
Stacey sits on a workbench, legs swinging, eating an apple she found somewhere. "This is the weirdest pre-bonding activity I've ever witnessed."
"You've witnessed other bondings?"
"One. Very dramatic. Someone fainted. This is better though. More wholesome. Less public biting."
"There will be biting later."
Stacey takes another bite of apple. "I'm aware. Trying not to think about it. So what happens after the bed is done?"
"We go home. We bond."
She's quiet for a moment, watching the brothers work. "You're really sure? All four of them?"
"I've never been more sure of anything."
Stacey grins. "Good. Because they're all looking at you like you're made of sunshine and they've been living in the dark."
She's right. Every few minutes, one of them glances my way. Sergio meets my eyes over lumber. Carlos flashes a smile while covered in sawdust. Pedro's steady doctor gaze checks in. Nacho watches from the saw, silent but present.
They're building me a bed because I decided, on a whim, in a mattress store, that tonight was the night. And they didn't question it. Just found a solution and got to work.
By six PM, the bed frame is taking shape. Twelve feet wide. Eight feet long. Cedar posts thick enough to support a house. Maple slats spaced perfectly.
Tom wipes sweat from his forehead. "Mattress problem. You can't buy one this size."
Sergio says. "We'll pile smaller ones together temporarily. Order custom later."
"You're going to bond on a mattress fort."
"Yes."
Tom laughs. "Your omega is lucky. Brothers who'll build a bed in eight hours? That's rare."
"She's worth it."
By eight PM, the bed is assembled. We load it into Tom's truck, securing it with straps and blankets. The brothers are covered in sawdust, smelling like sweat and cedar and accomplishment.
Tom waves us off. "Go bond. Send me the mattress specs when you order. I know a guy in California."
I hug him. He smells like kindness and wood shavings. "Thank you. For everything."
"My pleasure. Been a while since I built something impossible."
The drive home is quiet. Stacey dozes against my shoulder. The brothers are tired but satisfied, anticipation building in the truck.
When we pull up, lights are on inside.
I start. "What..."
Carlos grins. "Backup plan. We might have prepared. Just in case."
Inside, the living room looks normal. But as we climb the stairs, I smell candles. Roses. Something sweet and warm.
My room.
The guest room that became mine when I first arrived. The space they gave me without question, without expectation. The door is open.
Inside, everything has been transformed.
Candles everywhere, casting warm light across the walls.
The massive bed frame fills the center of the room, already assembled, surrounded by every mattress and pillow in the house piled together.
Fresh roses in vases on the dresser. The Persian rug from downstairs centered on the floor.
My room. My space. Made beautiful for this moment.
I step into my room, and everything about it feels right.
"Yes. We're doing this."
Stacey settles into the armchair by the window. "Don't mind me. I'm just here to witness a beautiful moment."
The candles flicker. Rose petals are scattered across the massive bed. The scent of four alphas mixing with candlelight and anticipation.
We're already bonded. The pack bond settled during my heat, permanent and absolute. But this? This is different. This is us choosing to stand together and say it out loud. To make promises. To witness each other.
Sergio steps forward first, taking my hands in his. His dark eyes are steady in the candlelight.
"Jessica Maria Delacroix." His voice drops, formal and grounding. "I stand before you as alpha of this pack, and I make you this promise: I will lead with wisdom when you need guidance, and stand beside you as an equal in all things. Your battles are ours to fight together."
My throat tightens.
"Sergio Negrorio. I choose you as my alpha. I trust your leadership, your heart, your steady presence. You are my foundation."
Pedro is next. His grey eyes are bright with unshed tears.
"I'm not good with words. Never have been." His voice cracks. "But you make me want to try. I promise to care for you with everything I know, everything I am, everything I'll become. You are my person."
"Pedro." I cup his face. "You don't need to be better. You just need to be you. I choose you exactly as you are."
Carlos steps up, grinning even as tears spill down his cheeks.
"Okay, so, I had this whole speech planned.
" He laughs wetly. "But fuck it. Jess, you're my favorite person in the entire world.
You make me laugh, you let me build you things, you love me even when I burn dinner.
I promise joy. That's it. That's my vow.
I'll bring you joy every single day we have together. "
"And I promise to laugh with you, let you build me a thousand things, and love every ridiculous part of you. You are my joy, Carlos."
Nacho is last. He moves with that quiet intensity, dark eyes locked on mine.
"I see you." Simple. Direct. "Not the omega. The woman brave enough to start over. I will protect this pack, stand between you and anything that threatens you, and I will never stop seeing exactly who you are."
"I see you too, Nacho. My guardian. My steady presence. I trust you completely."
Silence settles. The candles flicker. Through the pack bond, I feel the love and commitment.
"Pack," Nacho says simply.
"Pack," we all echo.
Stacey clears her throat from the armchair, wiping her eyes. "Okay. That was beautiful and I'm never going to let you forget I saw you all get emotional. But also—" She stands, stretching. "I'm going to bed now because it's past midnight and you five need your first proper night in this room."
She crosses to me, pulls me into a hug. "Congratulations, crazy omega lady. You picked good ones."
"Thanks for being here."
"Wouldn't have missed it." She hugs each of the brothers quickly. "Take care of her. Or I'll come back and kick your asses."
"Noted," Sergio says dryly.
She pauses at the door, grins. "Have fun with your mattress fort."
And then she's gone, her footsteps fading down the hall toward the guest room.
The door clicks shut behind her.
Five of us. Our room. Our bed. Our life.
"So," Carlos says. "First night in our official room."
I look at the massive bed they built in eight hours. At the candles and roses and the space they made beautiful for me. At four men who vowed to love me today and always.
"Let's make it count," I say.
And we do.