Chapter 55
Chapter Fifty-Five
Jayce
I’ve had my side of the bond locked down all day so I don’t give anything away, but it’s hard not to know what Siobhan is feeling on her end.
I don’t like being cut off from her like this, and I hope she’s not too suspicious.
I really hope she likes the day I planned for her.
I’m kind of scared that I messed up, that it’s a terrible idea. She’s going to say no.
My brain is pretty certain it’s all going to backfire somehow.
Aury and Hayden are both here, and they say their parts of the plan went perfectly.
“What if she’s hating it?” I twitch one corner of the picnic blanket, then tug it back where it originally was.
“There’s no way she’s hating it,” Aury says.
His eyes turn dreamy and unfocused. “When she realized what was happening with the flowers…” He shakes his head with a wistful smile on his face.
“I wish you both could have seen her face. It was like hope and fear and longing, all battling it out, and I think the hope won.”
Hayden nods. “I noticed the same when I was driving her to the library. It was like this intense, fierce want that she seemed afraid to let herself feel. But I could see it there, just barely below the surface.” Hayden smirks. “She’s going to say yes.”
I wish I had their confidence, but I haven’t seen her at all today, and this walled off bond is getting to me. I rub my chest with a grimace.
“Besides,” Hayden comments. “Does our omega do anything she hates?”
Oh. “Good point.” That actually does help. I reflect on what they said, how they described her moving through her emotions. Their confidence that she’ll accept us.
My phone chimes and I glance down to see another update from the Omega Gardening Club. I was nervous to ask them to help with this, but they were all ecstatic. I’m glad my omega has such supportive and loving friends. It’s clear they’ll do anything for her, as she would for them.
Wren: I just left them at Mystic Market. She’ll be heading your way soon.
Me: Thanks again, Wren. And all of you. You’ve made this day so much more special for her by being part of it.
Sage: This is the cutest thing ever, I’m glad we could help!
Bea: I’m glad you asked us. She deserves the best, and I think your pack will be that for her.
I blink in surprise, then set my phone face down on the blanket. I don’t know what to say to that.
“She should be here soon,” I tell the others.
And sure enough, within minutes, Siobhan walks through the sliding door out into the backyard where we wait.
The energy wand is clutched in her hand, and it trembles the slightest bit when she sees us.
Her blue eyes are wide and glassy, and she pauses outside the door, taking in the three of us standing beneath the willow tree in her backyard, a picnic spread out alongside us.
I read that willow trees are supposed to be magical, so I hope it lends some extra magic to this moment for her.
I can use all the help I can get.
Aury strides across the lawn when she doesn’t start walking again, and my heart thuds uncertainly in my chest. He bends to whisper in her ear, and she tears her eyes from Hayden and me to look up at Aury instead.
Please, let him say the right things to convince her to come over here. To give us a chance.
Siobhan leans into his side and he bends to wrap his arms around her, but she pulls away after only a moment. Aury turns and offers his hand. The tightness in my chest loosens slightly when she slides her palm against his, and they walk side-by-side over to the blanket.
“Moonbeam,” Aury says. “Would you do us the honor…” he pauses, and Siobhan’s eyes flare. Aury grins, then continues, “of joining us for this afternoon picnic?”
Her mouth drops open and she stares at him in shock.
Hayden huffs a low laugh, and I gulp my anxiety down.
Siobhan narrows her eyes at Aury and he adopts a look of innocence so convincing I wonder how many times he’s lied to me, although I don’t think he’d have anything to lie about. I’m second-guessing it all now, though.
Siobhan shakes her head with a dramatic eye roll, and the emotional tension releases its stranglehold on us.
She drops to her knees on the blanket and Aury quickly follows.
Hayden side-eyes me, then nods for me to sit as well, so I do.
They kneel and start plucking items from the basket, arranging them on a plate for Siobhan.
“Tea, amorcito?” they say, holding up the vintage teapot we previously filled with boiling water. It’s still steaming, thankfully.
“That would be lovely,” she says, more tension loosening from her shoulders. “What kind of tea is it?”
“A custom blend,” Hayden replies when the silence stretches a moment too long.
I think I’ve lost my voice. She’s so gorgeous.
So smart and creative. So very out of my league.
I’m stuck in my own head, and it’s all I can do to keep my breath steady.
“Jayce ordered the ingredients and made these sachets up for each of us.”
“No way?” Siobhan says, turning to me.
“That’s so cool,” Aury says. “I didn’t realize that.”
I shrug, trying to act like it’s no big deal, but their appreciation is filling me with a bubbly lightness that makes me feel like I’m going to explode if I end up feeling too much of it.
I grunt in acknowledgement, mentally slapping myself for the pathetic response, but Hayden passes out the tea and then sits back with their shoulder firm against mine.
It helps to ground me, and I lean into their solid support.
“Mmm, it’s good.” She takes another sip, then sets the teacup back onto the saucer. “And thank you for the earrings,” Siobhan says, glancing at all three of us but ending on me. Does she know? Does she somehow suspect this was my doing? “I love them.”
Hayden grins. “They’re gorgeous on you, little witch, but the mastermind behind most of today is Jayce.
He picked out the earrings, the books, the drink and flowers.
” They slip their arm behind me and their hand closes on the back of my neck.
It allows me to suck in a deep, slow breath for the first time in what feels like hours.
Siobhan’s eyes catch on me, a blue so bright and full of wonder I want to hide. I could never hide from her though, so my only option is to face it.
“He’s also the one who made you that,” Hayden says, nodding to the wand. “Which I’ll admit I don’t entirely understand.”
“It’s an energy wand,” Siobhan says, eyes still locked on mine. “Right?”
I nod and attempt to clear my throat, but I don’t think any sound would come out if I tried to talk, so I just nod again with a shrug. She smiles softly, then looks down at the wand where she’s rolling it between her fingers.
“Energy wands can lead you to areas of healing energy, positive energy, or really whatever type it is you’re looking for. As soon as I picked it up and focused on what I wanted,” she pauses, glancing up at each of us before continuing, “I got this urge to come back home. So I did.”
Hayden flashes a smile at me, and I think that’s admiration in their gaze.
Aury captures her attention again by resting a hand lightly on her knee, tracing small circles with his finger. “That’s incredible. I didn’t know you had that skill, too.”
“Me neither,” she says, smiling down at the wand. She sets it carefully to the side, and Aury takes both of her hands in his. Hayden looks over at me, eyebrows slightly raised. This is the moment, but I can’t. I shake my head.
Hayden’s lips curve up the slightest bit, and I frown. They nod slowly, just once, then squeeze the back of my neck three times. One two three. I love you.
I bite my lip and my eyes search theirs. They’re steady. Strong. Full of love and devotion, reassurance and enough confidence for the both of us. I take another slow breath, then return their nod. Their smile grows and they tip their forehead down in acknowledgement.
Aury clears his throat, and all three of us focus on him.
“Siobhan,” he says. “Moonbeam. You’re the light of my life.”
Her lips part and I think she stops breathing for a moment. I crack open my side of the bond, needing to know what she’s feeling. If she’s going to say no, I need a heads up. Instead of disbelief or apprehension or uncertainty, that tiny crack I opened gets flooded with resounding yes.
Desire and want and need and belonging, yearning so fierce it takes my breath away.
I stare at her, this perfect creature, and wonder if this is true.
If it could really be happening. That after all of my mistakes, grunting at her like a beast, after taking away her autonomy, she’d truly feel this way about the possibility of being with us forever.
Because she certainly knows by now what this is.
“…I knew the moment I first saw you years ago that I was meant to be yours,” Aury is saying, and I pull out of Siobhan’s overwhelming emotions to listen.
I can’t take my eyes from her, though. “You’re brave and strong, so creative and resilient.
Not to mention the hottest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” Aury says with a grin.
Siobhan laughs, but it sounds suspiciously close to a sob, and I lurch forward.
I barely stop myself at the last moment from scooping her up and depositing her in my lap.
I freeze with both arms outstretches, hands inches from her waist. I fist my hands, swallow hard, then let my eyes slowly travel up to her face.
She’s looking at me with wide eyes. Eyes that are pleading. Hopeful?
“Pretty omega,” I whisper, my voice so hoarse I don’t know if she can understand me. “I need—” I cut myself off. This isn’t about me, but I do need her. “Can I hold you? Please?”
Her smile is quick and bright, and leans forward the last few inches to close the distance between my hands and her waist. “Yes, Jayce.”
I snatch her up and deposit her between my legs, and Aury heaves a world-ending sigh.
He rolls his eyes, then shuffles closer so he can take her hand again.
Siobhan giggles at his dramatics, and Hayden rests one hand back on my neck, and the other on Siobhan’s thigh so their arm is resting on my leg as well.
Only when she’s tucked into me do I realize how much of the anxiety swirling through me was my alpha instincts on edge.
Cutting myself off from what is still a relatively new bond was probably not my best idea, and I don’t plan on ever doing that again.
Everything settles into a low hum with her tucked against me.
“As I was saying,” Aury says, shooting me a pointed look. “Siobhan Marie Clark, would you make us the happiest pack in the world by allowing the three of us to be yours? And if you want, we’d love for you to be ours as well.”
The wind sighs through the sweeping yellow willow fronds that surround us, then it falls silent as we all wait with baited breath for her answer.