Chapter 17 Elijah
Elijah
Sofia glances at Mack repeatedly as we get closer and closer to home. I can see her putting things together. When we finally park in front of the lighthouse, she appears to have lost her ability to talk. I reach out and rub her shoulder.
“Breathe, Sol.”
“You live here?” she squeaks.
“Yes.”
“You bought the lighthouse?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” she asks in an almost shout.
I glance at Devon. She is not ready to hear that we bought it because she loved it. Because she told me one night while we were kissing that her most secret wish was that she could get enough money to restore the lighthouse and live there.
Nope, I am in no way spilling that.
I get out of the car and open her door. The lighthouse looms tall in front of us. I love it. I did it for her, but I found myself loving it for me.
“Come have a look. We don’t have to stay if you don’t like it,” I insist.
She blinks at me, and I wonder if she’s remembering that night, too. She abruptly slips out of the car. I don’t have time to back up before her scent hits me, and I lose my ability to think clearly.
“You really own the lighthouse?”
I smile; I can’t help it. She’s so gorgeous. “Yes, we really do.”
I step back and pause, waiting for her.
Mack and Devon are quiet. I had to fight to convince them she would want this. But once we owned it, they were both on board. We’ve put a lot of our blood, sweat, and tears into this renovation. Mack more than the three of us since he project managed the renovations.
Mack unlocks the door and leads Danger inside, but I follow just behind her as she hesitates, watching her face intently. My chest tightens, and I hold my breath as she passes into the light.
“Oh, wow.”
I exhale roughly and walk in, trying to see it how she might see it.
The bottom floor is rectangular and divided into three massive areas: kitchen, dining room, and lounge, with a massive bedroom and bathroom hidden behind a black door with carved mermaids on it.
The living room is dominated by huge grey couches that you sink into and a fireplace.
Installing the add-ons for the fireplace and living room extensions took a lot of money and work, but it was worth it.
Devon picked the colour scheme, a mix of greens, greys, and warm browns that goes with the white ceilings and trim.
“This is the bottom floor. Technically, you could live down here. There is a bedroom, a kitchen, and a living area. Plus the bathroom and toilet.”
“It’s absolutely stunning,” she says as she wanders in, running her hand along everything like she needs to feel it to really see it.
“Is it how you pictured it?”
She shakes her head. “No.” Her word is a breath of sound.
My excitement drops out. “No?”
“No, it’s so much better.”
The warmth in my chest inflates out.
Devon reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “Good call.” He grabs her hand and tugs her towards the stairs. “Come on.”
I follow them up the stairs; my anxiety grows and deepens, subduing the warmth until I can’t feel it anymore.
Sofia pauses on the third step, looking at the framed photo. It’s Mack with a group of rescue dogs all dressed in knitted sweaters. It’s adorable and one of his happiest accomplishments.
“Wow, so cute. Are these all yours?”
Mack laughs. “Yep, I knitted all of them. My hands were broken after, but we got every dog in the shelter a coat for winter.”
She goes up the next step and stares at a photo of Devon on the day he got his boat. In the background, if you look closely, you can see the name of the boat. Sweet Rebel.
The next one is a photo of me with a seven tier cake I baked for Louisa Temple’s wedding. It took me weeks of preparation and was one of the most amazing experiences.
She creeps up the stairs, inspecting our lives.
The next floor has two rooms that are currently being used as studies.
“I love these spaces,” Sofia says. “They remind me of Dad and Pop’s office.”
Air whooshes out of my lungs. I nailed the vibe I was going for. I wipe my clammy hands on my shorts.
The second floor has what is causing my stomach to really twist and flutter.
She inspects our photos as she advances up. Us together, us on our own with our accomplishments, and then she gets to the landing of the second floor. There are three photos, and that’s it.
The first one is of Devon and Sofia at one of Sebastian’s birthday parties. They are looking at each other with three feet between them. I’ve always thought how obvious their feelings were in this photo.
“Where did you get this?” she asks.
“Felix took it,” I say. “It took some bartering, but he agreed to give it to me.”
She doesn’t look away from it as she inspects it quietly. “I remember this day.”
“I do, too,” Devon says.
She moves to the next photo.
“No way! Where did you find it? I searched for that photo for a year!”
I clear my throat. “It fell down behind your desk. I hope you don’t mind?”
“No, I just, I never thought I’d see it again.”
Mack and Sofia at fifteen smile at the camera with the ocean behind them. He has his arm around her, and she’s leaning in, they are both beaming.
“This was just after you asked me out, remember?” Mack nudges her.
“How could I forget?”
She turns to the last photo. It’s our first kiss.
Literally as it began. It’s dark, and the light is slightly overexposed, but it’s clearly us, in all our awkwardness, before we realise the door to the closest has been yanked open.
That closest is now our walk-in pantry. I made sure that Mack preserved the door and the space.
“What?” she utters in disbelief.
“Do you remember a beta name Rainey?” I ask.
She nods.
“She took this photo. I did the catering for her mother’s eightieth birthday, and she gave it to me as a thank you.”
“My goodness…I had no idea there was even a photo.” She reaches out and touches the glass.
Devon clears his throat, and she turns away, blinking quickly.
“This is the room we’d give to an omega. This is where we’d have your heat if you wanted it.” My nerves are shot, was it too much? Was having the photos there over the line?
Mack swings the door open.
She steps inside and goes slowly into the middle of the room.
The room is similar colours, but richer and warmer.
It’s been filled with pillows, blankets, and things we’ve collected.
I’ve actually glued shells to the top of the ceiling because I thought she would like it.
It almost looks too much. The bed takes up most of the space, but there is a bathroom that she disappears into.
The tantalizing smell of her being in the room is doing all sorts of things to my head.
What if we blew it? What if she thinks this nest is horrible?
“She hates it,” I mutter and pace to the doorway, ready to tear the whole room apart.
“She doesn’t hate it; give her a minute,” Devon murmurs.
She comes out, and her face is pale, but her eyes are huge, illuminating the brown like amber in the light. “This is the most beautiful nest I’ve ever seen.”
I slump against the door, almost missing it, but there’s something in her expression that makes me think this is bittersweet. Still, the overwhelming relief overshadows my concerns. It’s almost visceral.
When she gets close, the unease her words gave me returns. I stop her and cup her cheeks. “Talk to me. We can change anything you want.”
“Anything?”
“If you hate it, I will rip it out and replace every scrap of material,” I say vehemently.
She grabs my shirt, fisting it, and leans towards me. “Don’t you dare; this nest is perfect.”
“Then why are you so sad?”
“I just…it’s so generous, even to let me borrow it feels like I don’t deserve it.”
I want to howl that she’s wrong, spend the rest of the evening on my knees convincing her that she deserves it.
“You deserve this nest and more,” I say hoarsely, meaning every word.
Her eyes go wide; her pupils expand. Her scent gets stronger, seeping out of her and filling the room with the promise of what it could smell like in our future. I can imagine her smell in the paint, in the bricks, in the very metal.
“I…” she trails off and pulls herself together.
“Come on, you have to see the best bit,” Mack says, stealing her away.
“It gets better?” she says dubiously.
We ascend again and get to the top of the lighthouse where the now automated light shines out, but the 360-degree view is incredible and one of its kind.
“How did you do this?” she cries, rushing to the glass. “You can see everything.” She walks the whole circuit before stopping so she can stare out at the ocean.
I almost wish it were day so she could really take in the views.
“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” Mack says softly. “You can see everything and all of Sunshine Cove.”
We’ve turned the whole upper part to glass so you can see in any direction. There’s a recessed bed with a minibar, a telescope, and lots of blankets and comfort items. In a way, it resembles a picnic but indoors and up really high.
“You guys really did all this?”
“We really did.”
“And you live here?”
“We will. When we aren’t moonlighting as Sol’s over at your mother’s house.”
She whirls so she’s facing us. “I’m jealous. It is amazing. The most incredible thing I’ve seen.”
Mack pulls out the bag with our dinner and sits down. Danger immediately crawls into his lap.
“Why does my dog love the three of you so much?”
I snicker and sit down, leaving a gap for her between us. She looks at the spot and glances warily at Mack before slipping in neatly. Devon sits on the other side.
We eat in relatively comfortable silence. At least, I think we do. The rolls are, as usual, delicious, and afterwards, Mack pulls out lamington squares for all of us.
“So, do you want us for your heat?”
She chokes on a bit of her lamington.
“Devon, we agreed to ask her later.” Mack glances at Sofia. “Every time we talk about it, you are a bit excited, and we wanted to make sure you answered with a clear head.”
“Yes, I’d appreciate your help with my heat, and as long as it’s not going to upset any future plans with an omega you’ll have, I’d appreciate you letting me loan your nest.”
Her careful words give me a simultaneous feeling of ick and pleasure.
“This polite distance thing you have going on doesn’t suit us,” Devon says arrogantly and shoves the rest of his lamington into his mouth.
She scowls. “I’m not being distant!”
Devon pounces, dragging her under him and tickling her ribs until she’s screaming with laughter.
“Stop being weird, Sol.”
She stares up at him, still chuckling, her expression softening. “Fine. No more weirdness.”
“Good. Now, we have another excursion tonight.”
“We do?” she asks, and when Devon crawls off her, she rolls, almost tipping sideways into his thigh.
“Yep. Come on, pretty omega. I’d appreciate it if you'd get your rear end up and moving, so we could appreciate the night’s entertainment.”
She picks up a pillow and lobs it at his head. Devon ducks out of the way, but with Sofia grumbling and Danger barking, the residual unease dissipates.
“You are so cute,” Devon teases. “But you still throw for shit, Rebel!”
She roars and jumps after him, chasing him down the stairs. I clean up the mess and follow Mack. At the ground floor, instead of finding her out by the SUV, I find that she’s staring at one of the artworks on the wall.
“Who did this?”
Mack sighs. “You did.”
She shakes her head, studying it.
“No, I don’t remember this.”
“Sure, you do. You did it and gave it to me about a month before the day you asked me to go out with you.”
It’s a picture of him sitting at his desk, focused intently on the teacher. Even though he’s young and he’s not grown into his face yet, he’s got the same intensity that Mack always has. Somehow, she managed to capture it.
“I have treasured it.”
“You kept it all this time?”
“Yes. I actually ran away from my uncle the day he came to collect me and ran home to get a bag of things. One of those things was this picture.”
She clears her throat and then looks up at the ceiling, fanning her face. “I’m having a moment. Stay back.” She holds up a hand to stop us from approaching.
Devon sighs. “Are you crying again? Do you need a hug?”
“Stay away from me,” she snarls, but we can all tell she doesn’t mean it.
He comes closer, and I see something flicker on her face. She takes a hesitant step back from him.
“Devon,” she murmurs.
He reaches out and cups her cheek, and she just melts into his hand, her eyes closing, body relaxing. If we didn’t have enough proof already that she’s our omega, this here is it. This one moment of complete trust, just from a gentle touch, says it all. She is the omega for us.
Our scent match. The words bloom in my mind and feel absolutely right. There is no us without her.
“You don’t have to be scared. I’m not going to hurt you,” Devon murmurs. “None of them are going to hurt you. We won’t push you. This is between us, and it’s something special, and I don’t want to lose it.”
Her eyes open, and she stares up at him, but there is so much vulnerability in her expression, I don’t even think she knows it.
“It’s temporary. Fake.”
Devon’s intense expression disappears, but I can feel his disappointment through the bond. He smiles and boops her nose. “I want to see that smile I love because tonight is going to be fun.”
“I don’t know what we’re doing yet.”
“And that’s the fun of it. Don’t you like surprises?”
She shakes her head. “Not at all.”
He leans in close. “Liar. My Rebel used to love the surprises I left for her.”
“What?” she murmurs, staring at him. “What does that mean, Devon? Devon, what surprises?”
He spins away from her, but she chases after him.
“Devon! Are you the person who would leave Lego people everywhere? Devon? Did you leave the flowers?”
Mack looks at me and shrugs. “He’s going to have to tell her, eventually.”
“You’d think so.” I shake my head, wondering about Devon’s plan.
All that time he left her gifts, sneaking them onto her pillow at night or near her door.
Leaving them with her belongings at the beach.
It used to drive her mad, but she loved it.
She spent years trying to find out who it was, and the whole time it was him.
Devon divulged the whole thing to us. It was the only way he felt like he could show he cared.
“Shall we?” Mack asks.
I incline my head. “Yes, let’s go get this party started.”
Our omega has seen what we can offer her. Now we just need to get her to take it.