Page 149 of Priceless

Cameron didn’t let go of me the entire ride home. But as soon as the door to the car opened, I didn’t let him carry me again. It wasn’t fast enough. “Nest,” I mumbled as I moved, hoping they heard me. It was still bright outside, but the nest was dark and warm and everything I needed right now.

My instincts were high and my Omega needed my nest. Darkness and softness and soothing comfort. My face hurt. Everything hurt, and it shouldn’t hurt, but I was sure with the adrenaline and fear, my body was overreacting.

The whiplash from being happy and confident to terrified and broken and back to safety had me reeling. I didn’t know what to do with it. But I knew I needed my nest, and more than that, I needed to feel it on my skin.

This dress was too hot.

I pulled it over my head and tossed it to the side, reaching for a blanket in the pile of blankets and arranging it on the side of the nest. Where it belonged.

“Here, princess.” A hand appeared in front of me with some pills, another with a glass of water. “Everett has an ice pack for your face.”

I swallowed the pills and handed the glass back, ignoring the ice pack. That could come later. The nest wasn’t finished, and I needed that more than I needed the relief. “After.”

Low murmurs reached me from the edge of the nest, but nothing penetrated. The only thing that existed were the blankets and pillows. I found a shirt in the pile that smelled like pistachios and almonds. Like Everett. I whined, adding that to the circle I built.

Another soft, purple blanket, and another shirt. This one smelled like Cameron. I smiled and added it. A whole pile of their clothes waited when I finished with my pillows. Perfect.

If Omegas could purr, I would be. I needed clothes from my Alphas for my nest. Because they were mine.

Sweat beaded on my skin, and I shed my bra and underwear. Why was it so fucking hot? It was like they’d turned the heat in here up to eleven. And I could smell all three of them together. Like I had my nose buried in their necks instead of where they waited at the entrance to the nest, simply watching me.

Micah’s suit jacket was closest to me. I crawled and pulled it to my nose, inhaling the scent of him. Chocolate but more than chocolate. Layers of cocoa and darkness that went all the way to the sweetness of white chocolate, laced through with the warm, contrasting caramel. Sometimes salty, sometimes not. So fucking good.

The shirt I found of Everett’s was the same. I scented the delicate layers of his scent. Pistachio at every stage, from whole to crushed. Almond frosting and almond liqueur. It was so different and so good.

They were mine.

The words in my head echoed like a bell.

They were mine.

I whirled around to face them and found them all watching me with awe and so much love. I sat, unable to process. “What?”

Micah took a step, waiting until I nodded before coming in. He came straight to me and fell to his knees, but he was smiling as he placed the backs of his fingers against my forehead. “You’re going into heat, Princess. Your instincts were out of control because of that asshole, and your Omega is responding the only way it knows how.”

I just looked at him. “But… but… what? You?—”

He took my face in my hands and kissed me. Hard. “Yes, wife. You’re my Omega. You’re our Omega. We knew the second we met you, and we couldn’t even look at anyone else.”

Everett and Cameron joined us in the nest, surrounding me with heat and scent and fuck it was so good.

They were mine.

My Alphas.

My scent matches.

And my whole world shattered.

All these weeks of them telling me they wanted me and that I was perfect. Of me being convinced they were falling for me while I was completely falling for them. And it wasn’t real.

They hadn’t picked me for me, they’d picked me because they’d scented me and our biology picked us to be together. Nothing more than that.

If they hadn’t matched with me, would they have liked me? Would they have rather had someone small? I hated the fear that clawed up my throat, but there wasn’t a way to banish it now that the truth was out.

I thought?—

I swallowed and held back my sob. They didn’t need to see how my entire world was falling apart. All I’d wanted was for it to be real. And now everything was gone like it never existed.

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