Page 104 of The Butcher

Bramley fucking Ambrose is crouching next to me, his dark eyes fixed on my face, his gigantic hand on my neck while his thumb brushes over my erratic pulse. Bram’s voice is the one I heard, his bark the sound that not only pulled me back to them now, it pulled me to them months ago.

“You good?” He asks, his fingers flexing against the base of my head.

I glance around the room, making sure I’m not hallucinating this entire thing as part of a panic attack. “I think so.”

Bram gives a curt nod, maintaining eye contact a few seconds longer before he gets to his feet and walks back toward the door. He doesn’t leave, though, he just takes up his post in front of it, his kindness, his willingness to tap into our bond, fleeting.

“You okay, pretty girl?” Clayton asks, his usual bright smile dimmed with worry. “You need anything?”

I shake my head and squeeze his hands. “I have what I need.”

“You’re sure?” Nash presses a kiss to my shoulder. “You name it, we get it.”

“I’m sure.” I tilt my head so he has to look at me. “I promise, I have everything I need.”

“Why do you want to know what those guys were doing here?”

Rolling my eyes, I huff, “It’s nice to know you can roll right back into being a dickhead so easily.”

Our alpha and beta both chuckle at that, each of them kissing me before resuming whatever they were doing before I lost my shit.

Bramley narrows his eyes and crosses his arms against his mammoth chest. He doesn’t say anything, not right away, he just stares at me long and hard, like he’s digging through my brain to find the answer himself.

And goddamnit, of course he does.

“Stand up.”

“Excuse me?” I hate that I know why he’s asking that, whether he really does or not.

There’s only one reason, and it makes sense that this jerk would know that without actually knowing that.

“Up,” he grunts. “On your feet, omega.”

I shake my head and mirror his position from my place in the bed. “Don’t you dare try using your bark on me again. A panic attack was one thing, but prying information out of me is something else entirely, and it’s not exactly playing fair.”

One dark brow lifts, and I know I’m cooked.

He doesn’t have to play dirty, or even a little messy. I can’t go on keeping this from them, it was a matter of time before it came out, and I might as well rip the band aid off so I can deal with the aftermath now, before I had the chance to profess my love and embrace some stupid happily ever after.

With a sigh, I untangle the sheet from my lap then get to my feet, turning toward Bramley so he can find exactly what he was looking for.

“Christ.”

That didn’t take long.

“Jesus fuck, I’m such an idiot.”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” I say as I fold my arms against my chest and look out the window. Which is covered by curtains.

Clayton stares at me, I can see both him and Nash out of the corner of my eye. “What are we looking at?” Then he takes a step closer as he says, “Other than our fucking gorgeous omega in all of her naked glory.”

I snort and roll my eyes because I know that’s not what Bram is thinking.

“I don’t know how I didn’t put it together sooner.” He rubs a hand over his hair with a sigh. “Fuck.”

“Will someone please tell us what the hell is going on?” Nash moves closer, placing his hand on the small of my back.

It’s a reassuring gesture, one that has me turning a small smile his way, but I know it’s more for him than it is for me.

---