Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Gael
The sound of Corbin’s motorcycle causes Maddox to jump up from the couch.
“There he is, that sonofabitch,” he growls.
I push myself to standing. When Jules had informed us his tertiary phone, the one he had synced up to the trackers on Adira, was missing, Mads had lost it.
Pissed that Julian didn’t kill the trackers, pissed that Corbin left, just pissed.
And of course Corbin had the sense to leave his phone at home, because we all know that Jules can track us down by our cell phone pings.
I had tried to coax Maddox into a run in fur to help calm him down, but he would have none of it. He wanted to be here, awake, sober, ready for whatever disaster was incoming. He even declined Eli and Julian’s offer to have sex.
He just sat on the couch, scrolling MetFlix for a show. He had eventually let me take the remote and flip on The Bachelor, and accepted some cuddles from us.
The three of us follow Maddox out front. The air is crisp; it smells like it’s going to snow soon. I look up at the gloomy sky but at that exact moment, Corbin comes around the bend. And clinging to him tightly is another figure.
“Oh shit,” Eli barks, “Is that her?”
“It better be,” I mutter, “Cause imagine him bringing someone else home?” I cringe.
Aside from the fact that none of us would have any interest, the fear that our omega might return and smell another wolf in her space? Nope, bad.
“Of course it’s her,” Jules breathes, hope clear in his voice.
“I’m still gonna skin him and turn him into boots,” Maddox grumbles, though he sounds decidedly less annoyed over the sound of the loud engine.
“Wait,” Eli says as Corbin pulls the bike up to a stop. “Did he kidnap her?”
But, unfortunately, that’s the exact moment that Corbin kills the engine, so ‘kidnap her’ practically echoes through the leafless forest around us.
The second figure slips off the bike even as Corbin pulls off his helmet and glares at Eli.
Sure enough, the figure smoothly removes her helmet, and Adira’s brown curls are released, a messy halo around her gorgeous face.
“No, he didn’t dognap me,” she says pertly, wrinkling her nose. Her cheeks are pink, obviously cold despite the helmet. Damn Corbin, couldn’t he have taken one of his cars?
She pulls off her crossbody bag, and I hurry forward, hand out. “He just showed me the error of my ways.” She reaches into it, ignoring me, and tugs out her cane, which is folded. She gives it a shake, and it snaps into place. Nifty.
Mads growls but hustles us all inside, obviously worried about her being frozen.
Eli heads straight down the hallway.
Adira walks to the kitchen island and puts her bag down, the loop of her cane over her other wrist. I feel Maddox practically vibrating with the need to just scoop her up but he manages to restrain himself.
I turn and put the kettle on. As I go to dig out the green tea with rosehips, willow bark, and ginger that I had had custom blended to help with her joints, I see Eli return with a fluffy blanket, which he wraps around her shoulders.
Instead of shrugging him off, or even glaring, she reaches up and touches his hand silently.
“So…” Jules starts, looking as shocked as I feel. “What… uh… what happened?”
Corbin slides into the chair next to Adira as Maddox leans his ass against the counter next to me, arms crossed.
Adira shrugs, looking away. “I had some time to think. To adjust to the rather life-altering news that I’m an omega.
And seeing you three,” she looks to me, Jules, and Eli, “smelling you… it helped. And when Corbin showed up it just suddenly was clear. You’re my pack.
” Another little shrug, nervousness on her face. “Assuming you’ll still have me.”
Maddox and Corbin both snarl at that. The kettle whistles and I turn to grab it off the burner. Silence settles in the room and I slide her tea, in one of my mugs, of course.
Adira frowns, “Shit, I should have brought my special mug from you!”
I smile gently, “I’ll make ye more, bird.”
“How long are you staying?” Maddox asks, voice rough.
“Forever,” Corbin flatly answers him.
She lets out a little laugh, putting a hand on his arm. His eyes turn to her and a tender look fills him.
Oh yeah, she’s pack. If I hadn’t known it before, that look would seal it.
“For the weekend, to start,” she responds as she curls her little hands around the mug of tea. “I figure we should probably get to know each other a bit more before I ask you to bite me.”
You could hear a pin drop. The room is utterly silent.
It’s Eli who breaks the tension. “I could film it! It’d be peak content; a pack taking a Luna!”
“Jesus fucking christ,” Jules mutters even as Adira laughs.
Mads crosses to her, turning her chair and stepping into her. He cups her chin. “You know about pack marks? You want to be claimed?”
She presses her lips together before responding, “I did a lot of research. Yes, I want that. If you do.”
“It’ll hurt, but?—”
She cuts him off, “I know, it’ll feel good and heal nearly immediately. I want it.”
We all erupt into purrs and she chuckles, the sound happy and free.
“No undoing this, baby girl,” Mads says in a low voice.
Her eyes sparkle, “I know Daddy. Maybe I should just let Elias bite me first.”
“Me,” Corbin rumbles. “Now.”
She turns to him, eyes wide.
He continues, “I first knew you were our match. So, I go first.” He hesitates. “If you’re green, love.”
She nods, eyes wide.
I walk around the island, not about to let this chance slip away. “Shirt off, omega,” I say gently as my hands slip under her soft purple sweater. When my fingers brush her skin, she shivers.
She raises her hands obediently, and I pull it off. She’s in another sexy lace bra-thing and my cock hardens. Not now, I tell it.
Corbin tugs Adira onto his lap, her back to his front. His hand curls possessively around her throat and her eyes flutter closed.
“Ready?” Corbin breathes.
“Green, alpha,” Adira whispers, eyes closed and the tiniest smile on her lips.
He lets his teeth shift and strikes all within the same instant, the bite quick and fierce.
Adira cries out, but she doesn’t open her eyes, her body lax as it transmutes the pain to pleasure, the magic of a pack bite taking effect.
Maddox lifts her hair, tilting her head the other way even as Corbin releases her. His bite is just as fast and savage.
“Now, Silverthorn,” Corbin demands. Jules carefully lifts Adira’s limp body as her eyes open.
“Please, my alphas,” she mutters, a dreamy smile on her face.
Jules sinks to the floor as his teeth sink into her neck, her a gorgeous pile on his lap.
Eli and I drop to our knees next to them as Julian carefully positions her.
Eli and I nod to each other, and we strike, one on either side of her already-bitten neck.
My teeth sink in, and I clamp my jaw hard before letting go.
Her essence soaks into me, making me dizzy as I absorb her emotions: contentment, bliss, relief, and a tiny, disappearing thread of nervousness.
I’m flooded with her feelings—her omega drive— and they overwhelm me for a moment as her bond worms its way deep inside me, settling in my chest. All in the space of three heartbeats, I feel her pleasure at being surrounded by her strong alphas, her stress melting away now that she’s in her pack house, and her desire to see us happy and fulfilled as well.
Her tired eyes take us in, even as I see her raw flesh mending. “Wait, did…”
Maddox lets out a pleased little huff. “Did you think the marking was for us to leave a mark on you? No, your mark is indelible, and carried in our hearts, Adira.”
The cutest, sweetest little omega purr erupts out of her. She stops, eyes widening. Then she shrugs, and it kicks back to life. I feel my pack mates press us all into a hug as our purrs join hers.