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Beau wouldn’t want me to live alone. He knew how much I needed touch and to be loved.
How much I needed to love.
I smile, as I begin to silently cry.
They are happy tears, however, as I remember Evan’s freckled face when I kissed him for the first time underneath the Dream Tree and dancing with Beau with my cheek pressed against his leather jacket.
I am not losing those memories. I am simply making more.
I will never lose my Monarch pack either, but I am terrified that I will lose the Coles.
Alarmed at my tears, Luca pulls me against his neck, washing soothing pheromones over me. “Why are you sad? You don’t have to say that you love us back. I don’t expect you to. I’m not worthy of it.”
“What?”
“It’s why Chief doesn’t reckon we should take an Omega.” The words tumble from Luca, and I can tell that he’s becoming overwhelmed. “Our jobs are dangerous. We come back with burns and concussions and…Chief says that bonding an Omega ain’t fair. We’re a pack of misfits with no family. Signing up at the clinic because Angel begged was his compromise. He said we had no right to claim an Omega full-time. We’re not worthy—”
“Bullshit.” Angry, I pull back from him. “You’re self-reliant and nature’s guardian. Oak Hollow is damn lucky to have you. Angel? He’s a true lifesaver. Rhett? He’s the heart and hero of this town. You are worthy. And I fucking love you.”
Luca and Angel are both staring at me with such intensity that I blush.
“We love you too.” Angel leaps up, stalking to stand behind me. He kisses the back of my neck. I feel safe caught between the two Alphas. “You have no idea how much.”
I reckon I do.
“I don’t want to give up my career.” Luca looks conflicted.
Surprised, I shake my head. “Who’s asking you to? I just don’t want to lose you because Rhett is too scared of what may happen. The worst has already happened to me. I lost my first pack. I’m not some needy Omega, who’ll be waiting around fretting about where you all are. No matter what happens today, I’ll find work. I’ll forge my own life like you have. I’m used to being alone. I can deal with being part of your pack. Ain’t the fear the same for Angel?”
Angel’s lips still on my neck. “No one has noticed that before. They just accept that I deal with it.”
“I’m here now, Halo,” I say, simply. “Your fear is no different just because you’re an Alpha. You won’t be alone with it; we’ll have each other.”
He curls his arms around my waist. “You truly are the real angel here, beautiful.”
“Can you be my home, the same as you are each other’s? The four of us can run together into the flames because we’re not frightened of them. We can simply be part of each other’s lives…”
“Do you mean bond?” Angel pulls me back from Luca, turning me to face him.
He is grinning.
I nuzzle his neck, grazing my teeth up and down, and he pushes his crotch against my hip. He’s already rock hard.
“Uh-huh.” I puff hot breaths against his neck.
“Are you officially asking us to bond you?” Luca asks. “In the studies that I read, it is traditional for the Alphas to—”
“To hell with tradition.” Angel groans, as he rubs his crotch against me. “Our Omega has asked us to bond her.”
“Are you saying yes?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“On your next heat,” Luca replies, “I would…I would be honored…I don’t know the right thing to say.”
“Yes.” Angel smiles encouragingly at him over my shoulder. “The right answer is yes.”
“But Rhett will say no.” My smile drops. “He ran away from the flames.”
