Page 27 of Packed Up In Vegas

Her laugh was broken, a sob sneaking in to shatter it. “It’s been way too much.”

“Will you come stay with us after the heat is over? Or should I plan to move somewhere?”

She squirmed, her discomfort made manifest. “I don’t know where else I would go.”

“Please stay. At least while we figure things out. I don’t even want you out of my sight. I don’t think I would be able to cope if you left us.”

I would have no choice but to follow if she did go. Keeping Callie close felt necessary, like one of the fundamental laws of the universe I simply couldn’t break. She was meant to be with us, with me, even if fate had an unconventional way of bringing us together.

Closing my eyes, I breathed her in and stretched us out in the bath, purring away until she melted against me and the bond settled. It wouldn’t always work, nor should it, honestly. Sometimes feelings just needed to be experienced even if they were uncomfortable as hell. Right now she needed soothing. She wasn’t going to process anything truly meaningful in her healing journey during a heat anyway, so I leaned into what she required from me: safety. I had to show Callie I could protect her even if I didn’t know how.

I had no clue what the future held for us. At the moment this was enough. I had my own instincts to quiet down, and the only way that was going to happen was if she stayed exactly where she was.

At some point I would have to tell my family that I was bonded, but I was in no rush to do that. There were a million other things about my life they had no idea about. This could be on that list for a little while longer.

“Tell me everything about yourself,” I prompted. “I want to know all the details.”

“Like what?”

“Favorite color?”

“Pink. You?”

“Orange. Favorite food?”

“Thai green curry. You?”

“Spam musubi for childhood classics. Shrimp pho otherwise.”

Callie wriggled around to face me. “Siblings?”

“Only child.”

“I have a younger sister. She’s definitely the favorite.”

“Parents aren’t supposed to have favorites.”

“Tell that to my mom.” Callie snorted. “She never got that memo.”

“Does it help if I say you’re my favorite omega on the planet?”

I caught the ghost of a smile on her face. “A bit, yeah, even if you’re obligated to say that.”

“Excuse you, I’m obligated to say nothing. Take the compliment.”

She leaned forward and snuggled up against me, tucking her forehead against my neck. “Okay.”

We picked our way through an introduction. I learned bits and pieces that helped me make sense of her. Her ex had roped her in when she was only eighteen and living in a foreign city, ground her down over their years at college and convinced her to move to LA with him, where she didn’t know a single soul. Once he had gotten her good and trapped there, he had weaned more and more bills over to her, forcing her to take on additional hours to compensate until she was too exhausted to do much of anything. No wonder she had stayed so long.

At least she was free now. I was ready to fistfight every insecurity drilled into her by her ex and her family. She didn’t have to worry about any of that with me, but I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. I knew I would support her, but that didn’t mean she could believe me with a lifetime of trauma between her and the truth. I could work on it, though. Every day I could knock out one brick, prove to her that my pack and I were whom she belonged with. I had avoided in-depth relationships for ages, between med school and the job I did now; maybe the universe thought it was funny to send me from zero to mated in a heartbeat.

“I never thought I would have an omega.”

“I never thought I would have an alpha. I don’t really know what it means yet, but it’s nice so far.”

I swished warm water up her back. “Definitely nice. I still hoped for you, even if I didn’t think I could have you.”

“Me specifically?”

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