10
The afternoon sun was warm on Scott's face as he stood in the eastern practice fields, listening with half his attention while Troy explained the new sparring rotation.
His brother's voice was steady, but Scott's focus kept drifting to the low ache that had settled in his belly.
He shifted his weight and pressed a hand there, frowning.
"Scott? You listening?" Troy's voice sharpened.
Scott blinked and looked up. "Yeah. New rotation. I heard you."
Troy studied him. "You look pale. Did you eat this morning?"
"I ate." Scott glanced toward the tree line at the far edge of the fields, where a figure moved between the shadows.
It was Hope, her green dress catching the light, and she was speaking with someone Scott didn't recognize.
The stranger was tall and wore a traveling cloak, and the two of them stood too close for a casual greeting.
Scott watched as Hope pressed something into the stranger's hand. A folded paper, maybe.
"Who's that with Hope?" Scott asked.
Troy turned to look. "Dunno. A trader, maybe. She's been talking to a few outsiders lately. Said she was researching prime-omega history for the council." He shrugged. "Seems harmless."
Scott opened his mouth to answer, and the ground tilted hard. The sky went white, and his knees buckled. He heard Troy shout, and then he was falling.
He woke to cool hands on his wrists and the sharp, panicked scent of three alphas crowding into the small examination room.
Mera's face was calm, but her eyes were bright with something that made Scott's heart stutter.
Rukheim stood at the foot of the narrow table with his arms crossed so tightly the muscles stood out.
Norrix was pacing near the door, one hand dragging through his hair.
Fynn had pushed past the others and knelt beside the table, his fingers wrapped around Scott's hand.
"He's awake," Fynn said, and his voice cracked.
Mera pressed a hand to Scott's lower belly and closed her eyes. The room went quiet. Scott felt a flutter, faint and quick, and his breath caught. Mera opened her eyes and smiled.
"You're pregnant," she said quietly. "Early, but the signs are clear. The child is viable."
Scott's hand flew to his stomach. Tears slipped down his cheeks before he could stop them. "Pregnant," he repeated. "I didn't know I wanted this until just now."
Rukheim's low growl rolled through the room, and his whole body seemed to expand with the force of it. Norrix crossed the room in three strides and set his hand on the back of Scott's neck, warm and grounding. Fynn pressed his forehead to Scott's temple and breathed him in.
"Who is the father?" Norrix asked, his voice rough.
Rukheim answered without hesitation. "Pack law recognizes all bonded alphas as equal parents. The child belongs to all of us. That is how it will be."
Scott looked at each of them. "Do you all accept that?"
"Yes," Fynn said, his hand tightening around Scott's. "The child is ours."
Norrix nodded. "Ours."
Rukheim cupped Scott's face. "Ours. No question."
Mera helped Scott sit up and gave him a cup of water. "You fainted from exhaustion and the pregnancy. You need rest, proper food, and low stress. I'll check on you every few days."
Scott drank the water and swung his legs off the table. "I want to go home. To Rukheim's quarters. I want all of you with me."
They walked slowly across the compound, the alphas flanking Scott like a guard. The afternoon sun had started to sink, and the air was cooling. Inside Rukheim's chambers, Scott sat on the edge of the expanded nest and looked up at the three of them.
"I want this," he said. "All of you. Tonight. As a celebration." He held up a hand when Fynn started to speak. "I know I need to rest. But I want to be close to all of you. I want to feel this bond as a choice. So I'm asking for this, fully aware of what I want."
Rukheim knelt in front of him. "Then we'll do this together, and you'll tell us if you need to stop at any point. Say the word 'river' and everything stops."
Scott nodded. "River. I understand."
Rukheim directed Scott onto his back in the center of the nest, knees bent and spread wide.
Fynn settled at Scott's head, cradling his face between warm palms, kissing him slow and deep.
Norrix took position between Scott's thighs and opened him with tongue and fingers.
Long, thorough strokes of his tongue made Scott's hips lift off the pelts.
Two fingers pressed in and curled against the place inside him that made his vision spark.
"Tell me what you want," Rukheim said, his voice low and certain.
Scott looked up at him, breath already uneven. "I want all of you inside me. I want to feel full and held."
Rukheim moved behind Norrix, slicked himself with oil, and pressed two thick fingers into Scott alongside Norrix's cock.
The stretch was intense and perfect. Scott's cry was muffled against Fynn's lips.
Rukheim worked him open carefully until Scott was rocking down onto both the cock and the fingers.
"More," Scott gasped. "Please."
Rukheim replaced his fingers with his own cock and sank in beside Norrix. Two thick lengths filled him at once, moving in a deliberate, alternating rhythm. Fynn's hand wrapped around Scott's cock and stroked in time. Words came freely between thrusts and kisses.
Fynn whispered against Scott's mouth. "You're beautiful. You're everything."
Norrix growled against Scott's throat. "Ours. Always ours."
Rukheim pressed the words into Scott's shoulder. "Chosen. Loved. Permanent."
Scott came hard from the fullness alone, cock pulsing in Fynn's fist, hole clamping rhythmically around the two lengths buried inside him.
They moved him through it without slowing.
When Norrix's knot began to swell, Rukheim adjusted the angle so both of them could lock.
The double-knotting stretched Scott to the edge of what he could take.
Both alphas flooded him in heavy pulses while Fynn kissed the tears from his cheeks.
They stayed locked for long minutes, a single trembling unit.
When the knots finally eased, they shifted without breaking contact.
Fynn took his place between Scott's thighs and sank into the loose, oversensitive heat with a broken sound.
Scott's legs locked around him, pulling him deeper.
Rukheim and Norrix stayed close, Rukheim's mouth on Scott's throat and Norrix's hand stroking Scott back to hardness.
When Fynn's knot locked them, Scott came again, softer and longer, vision sparking white while the other two held him through it.
They cleaned him together afterward with warm cloths and quiet hands. No one rushed to separate. They settled into the expanded nest in a tangled heap, Scott in the center with one alpha on each side and one at his back, hands resting protectively over the soft curve of his belly.
Scott lay there, warm and held and full of new life. He reached for Fynn's hand and squeezed. "I want to tell Troy tomorrow. And I want to start planning the bonding ceremony."
Rukheim kissed the back of his neck. "We'll plan together. All of us."
Norrix pressed his face to Scott's shoulder. "We'll be ready."
Fynn smiled against Scott's hair. "We already are."
After a while, Scott's throat was dry. He eased out from between them and padded to the water basin near the window. The night was dark, and the moon was a thin crescent. Scott lifted the cup and drank, then glanced out.
Hope was walking along the path near the edge of the compound, her green dress a pale smudge in the darkness.
She stopped at the tree line and looked around once, then slipped between the trees.
A moment later, a shadow detached itself from the undergrowth and moved to meet her.
Scott saw the glint of something small and pale pass between them, a folded paper.
Scott set the cup down and returned to the nest. Fynn stirred as Scott climbed back under the blankets. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Scott said. "I saw Hope near the trees. She was meeting someone."
Fynn's brow furrowed. "At this hour?"
Scott nodded. "She gave them a note. She's been talking to outsiders."
Fynn pulled him close. "We'll mention it to Rukheim in the morning. For now, rest."
Scott settled against Fynn's chest, and the others shifted closer in their sleep.
The flutter in his belly came again, soft and insistent, and Scott pressed a hand there.
The child was real, and the future was uncertain, but he was surrounded by warmth and steady breathing.
He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.