Chapter Twenty-One
Craven
I had to find another job. And soon. With meeting Tawny and knowing she was ours, I wanted to be home at night more than ever, even if she hadn’t moved in with us yet. I was outside again, on the top of the building looking out over our town.
From this vantage point, I could see the bookstore and a bit of the tiny apartment our omega called home. I wished I was with her now.
I’d only been at my shift for an hour when my phone rang. The only people that called me were my parents and my pack.
It was Rork and a sick feeling fell over my body.
“Is everything okay?” I responded, barking into the phone. They hardly ever called when I was on shift. I wasn’t allowed to answer my phone, but I’d be damned if I didn’t respond to my pack.
“Tawny is here. She’s in full heat. Get home. Now.”
The line went dead and my wolf howled inside me. This was it. Time to care for our mate.
Not caring if I had coverage, I went inside and after some begging and pleading, they called someone in to cover my shift. Who knew when I was going to be back? In that moment, I could’ve cared less.
I had to get to our mate.
On the way back to the house, I broke every speed limit and if we had cameras in Pleasant, Holt would’ve had to hunt me down for my violations
When I flung the door open, her scent hit me like a sledgehammer against my sternum. My knees almost buckled. She was on the couch. Her nails digging into her jean-clad thighs. My pack brothers were gripping the sides of their chairs, keeping every bit of composure.
The door shut behind me and the bubble popped.
“Please, alpha,” Tawny whimpered, and I knew it was the heat, but hearing her plead broke me. “It hurts.”
She wrapped her arms around her middle and doubled over.
A spike of her scent hit me again as I made my way over. Flint groaned. Rork clenched his jaw.
I sat next to Tawny, not without great restraint, and put my hand on her back. “We need words, omega. If you want us, your pack, to take care of you, we need consent. We won’t touch you without it.”
Another whimper. She frantically grabbed at the bottom of her shirt, ripping it off, bearing those full breasts. Goddess, help me be the alpha she needs.
Tawny tried to launch herself at me, but I put my hands on her shoulders. “Tawny, sweetheart, while you still have your right mind about you…we need to know if you want this. Us. Mating. Marking. Whatever you choose, we will give you. But you have to say the words. Take some breaths.”
She did. In and out, slowly as the world faded around us. Flint moved to the other side of her, and Rork kneeled in front of her.
“Tawny,” I said when her scent calmed. “Do you want us to mate you through your heat? Be a part of this pack. Accept us and our mark?”
Those deep-brown eyes pierced me. “Yes. Yes to all of those things. I knew you were my pack as soon as I met Rork, but I was scared. I want all of you. This pack. Mate me. Mark me. Make me yours. I don’t ever want to be disowned again. Not by you. Any of you.”
“You will always belong to us. From tonight on. Come on. Let’s get you to your nest.”
We brought her upstairs, to the room that Rork kept clean and neat and ready if we ever found the one we were looking for. It happened so fast. We’d wanted to court her slowly. Give her the gifts. Go through the traditional channels, but Fate had other plans.