Chapter 46
NEVEN
I sit outside Fleur at five o’clock on the dot, my bike rumbling between my legs as I wait for my omega to come out. Over the last few weeks, we’ve taken it in turns to drive her to and from her internship, and today I got the privilege.
Esper struts out with her head held high, and my alpha puffs his chest in pride.
A few others file out of the office, locking up, and I can appreciate a company who believes in clocking out on time.
Esper is dressed in her usual heels, this time in dress pants and a tight little top.
Her black bag hangs off her arms and her hair is up in a clip.
“Hey, Omega,” I say as her bright brown eyes meet mine. She lays a careful hand on my thigh, reaching up to kiss my lips. “How was your day?”
“Mainly getting coffee and samples, but so damn exciting." She slides off her little heels, packing them in the backpack from Reed, and puts on her boots.
I nod, helping her with her helmet, then holding her hand as she now expertly gets on the back of my bike, her hands instantly wrapping around my torso.
“Where to?” I ask and she snuggles her helmet against my back.
“Home!”
“Coming right up.”
I take the long way back. Letting the wind and the motor fill our ears as the sun falls over the horizon.
Late September means the night is coming earlier now.
The sun turns an orange purplish hue in the sky as the trees, now more orange and yellow than green, line the main streets of White Pine Crest.
If you’d told me a year ago I would still be with the Midnight Wolves, doing odd jobs and going to school, I would have groaned in disappointment. I thank my lucky fucking stars I stayed. That I'm still with my MC.
Without them, I would have never found where I belonged. My home.
Her. Esper Malent. My scent match, my purpose.
I’m still on the look for what the fuck I’m doing with my life career-wise, but for now it’s not my only focus. She is. My mate.
Wherever she is, I know I’ll belong. No matter what I’m doing, where I go, she’ll be there and that's everything to me.
Midnight Plaza bar is lively for a Monday night. Esper takes my hand before we get too far inside, guiding me to the stairs that lead up to the apartments, our giant one still in construction but making loads of progress.
It’s been somewhat peaceful since we’ve dropped Soren's brothers and the Eastern Outlaws president off at the bus station with one-way tickets. We’ve settled into Pack life, spending a lot of time together.
Today, though, I got the guys to agree to hang back a bit.
I needed some time with my omega without them.
“I want to show you something,” she says, heading inside our apartment and straight to her nest. We’d recently removed the door from the public hallway, filling it in, and added a new door so it’s only accessible from inside the apartment.
She’s been nesting quite a bit, for someone who's not near their heat, but we love that she’s been getting comfortable, making it her own.
Despite the midnight runs to any open store for something she had a dream about. Last night it was a lamp she had to have. Brown and gold, mushroom-shaped with a candlewax melt thing at the top. I'm so damn surprised she found it at the local supercenter.
“It’s finished.”
“Oh?” I say, shock coloring my voice as I raise my eyebrows.
She nods, her hand gripping the door handle.
“Wait! First we need to change our clothes.” She wastes no time racing to Soren’s room where her stuff has been while we finish her actual bedroom.
I go to mine in the next room, changing my “outside” clothes and putting on sweats and a loose t-shirt.
She’s changed into the cutest fucking sleep shorts and one of Soren’s white t-shirts. Meeting back at the door, she grips the handle, her face flush as she looks back up at me.
“I want you to be the first one in it.”
“What an honor, Omega,” I say, waiting for her to fully open the door. She doesn't bother with the overhead light. Instead she has a remote on a little shelf under the light switch, and when she clicks a button, all the lamps and fairy lights she’s put up fill the room in a golden haze.
The bed is covered with more blankets and pillows than I could count. All varying shades of pinks and grays, as well as splashes of red and green. I see our Pack members' clothes, including some of mine, sprinkled throughout the pillows and blankets too, and happiness swells in my chest.
This is right. This feels so right.
I pick up Esper, banding my arms around the back of her knees and twirl her in the air, then fall back, landing in the center of her bed.
“This nest is perfect, Omega,” I murmur against the skin of her shoulder. She shimmies down my body, her hands bracing herself over me.
“Thank you, Alpha,” she says, running her nose lightly over my neck. My hands rest on her hips as she lays over me. “Neven?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say, kissing the top of her head. Her soft dark brown hair under my lips, she grips my side.“Esper?”
With her attention on me, I suddenly feel every cell of my body tense with nerves. The question on my lips burns with need, yet I can’t help but feel vulnerable asking.
She moves so she's straddling me, her eyes peering down at me. I slide my glasses off my face, setting them gently next to us as I take both her hands in mine. Clutching them tight.
“Will you, Esper Malent, bond with me?” The air is still as I finally ask the question I’ve been dying to ask this wonderful woman in my lap since the day I met her. Her eyes light, a fire I feel inside my own eyes, in my own heart.
Her smile is unbeatable as she nods.
“Yes, Neven Marshall, I would love nothing more than to bond with you, my Hacker.”
“Then without future ado,” I whisper, leaning up. Kissing her lips first before moving the hair on her shoulder, the one free of bonds, and kissing the spot meant for my bond, “I may bond my omega.”
My teeth latch into her neck, the bond between us forming as I break the skin. Her hands curl around my head, gripping me close to her.
Removing my teeth, I see the beautiful ringed mark, fresh with drips of blood now but soon an indent symbolizing my devotion to this woman. I kiss the mark again before leaning back.
“Your turn, Omega.”
The pressure and sting of her teeth piercing my skin are the highest pleasures of my existence. A mark that shows the world I am claimed, and I am loved.
Sealing us together, forever.