Page 76 of The Omega Project

After Soren’s heat, where he was claimed by all his alphas, Creed and I agreed to wait until tonight to formalise our bond. It hasn’t stopped us from tearing each other’s clothes off at every opportunity, but in his heart, Creed is old-fashioned, and I love the way the anticipation has brought us closer together. It’s a kind of ritual now, the way he brushes his thumb over the patch of unclaimed skin on my neck, whispering how he’s going to bury his knot in me and claim me forever.

We spend the next hour mingling with our guests and watching the sun go down. Creed has set up a sound system so that all my favourite Sundowners’ tracks are playing in the background while Lang brings out a tray of cocktails. He lingers to kiss the fruity liquor off my lips, settling behind me as our friends present our bonding gifts. Clark and Kat have brought us a luxury gift basket from the Switcheroo Club, including five backstage passes to Sweet Addiction’s final concert of their sellout tour. I’m pretty sure my squeal of delight deafens everyone in a fifty-mile radius.

“There’s also an open invitation to come to our gym,” Kat says as she pulls me in for a quick hug. “I know you’ve got a pretty good setup here, but it might be fun to teach you a few boxing tricks.”

“Fromyou?” I squeak, watching her biceps ripple in her sleeveless white pantsuit. “Um… Can I bring Creed as backup?”

She snorts, then gives him a chin uplift, since his gaze is never far from me today. “Yeah, I’m not even going totryto keep him away.”

We grin, and then Sally is in my arms, squeezing me so tight it brings tears to my eyes. “So, is everything ready for the big night?”

It’s pretty much an open secret at this point that Creed and I are going to have a ceremony of our own later. “Yep. There’s not a lot to organise, just more of this really.” I wave my handat the simple decorations, since describing anything else I have planned would be kind of awkward.

“Well, I baked a tray of vanilla slice for you all to share later, but I wanted to give this to you personally. It’s the first thing he ever won.”

She presses a small gold trophy into my hands, and I laugh as I read the inscription. “First place in the primary school spelling bee?”

Her cheeky grin lights up her pretty face. “I thought it was appropriate.”

“Very,” I reply, already picturing it in my larder next to my Viktor Rees and workbench of beeswax candles. “Thanks again for inviting Dee and Jacob to stay,” I add, watching as my sister and nephew build a soggy sandcastle while Soren looks on from a safe distance. “She’s never been happier, and Jacob loves sleeping in Uncle Creed’s old room.”

Creed was actually the one who suggested the arrangement. I think he was triggered when his mum started talking about a new renovation project for her backyard. It wasn’t the outdoor pizza oven that she really wanted; Sally was just trying to fill her packhouse with something other than sad memories. At the same time, Dee was getting desperate to find an apartment that was close to her work, in a good school area, had built-in babysitting, and was within her budget. Creed explained her situation to his mum, and Sally threw her home open immediately, insisting their company was all the payment she needed.

Tears now prickle the corners of Sally’s eyes, but she gives my hand a pat. “Well, it was time to breathe some new life into the old house.” She leans in and whispers, “Thank you for giving me all this, and for helping my boys find their way back to each other.”

I just nod, since the lump in my throat only grows as I think back on everything my pack has already givenme.

A little while later, the last of the sunlight has leached from the sky and we’re strolling up to the house when Clark and Derek join me. From the matching grins on their faces, I immediately sense a story I want to hear for myself.

“You think my superpower is calmness?” I scrunch up my nose after Derek finishes explaining their theory on my new switch power. “That’s not very sexy.”

“It would be if we were fleeing a swarm of killer bees,” Clark replies, and I click my tongue at him, but his curious gaze is fixed on Finn. Our alpha is waiting for us on the back verandah, his pale grey eyes taking in everything at once. “And look, you managed to tame the ultimate beast.”

Derek nudges his friend. “He’s not that scary once you get to know him.”

Clark snorts. “Maybe not when you’re wrapped up in hisdark web.”

Derek rolls his eyes at the nerdy joke, but I consider the analogy. “Finn has always reminded me more of a wolf than a spider.”

“Why can’t he be both?” Clark quips, then gives a delicate shudder. “You ever seen a wolf spider? Those things are creepy as hell.”

I just shrug, since not everyone can appreciate creepy-crawlies like I do.

Dee chooses that moment to wander over with a sand-encrusted Jacob in tow. “What are you three whispering about?”

“I was just saying that your sister’s superpower is calming wild and dangerous things,” Clark says with the intonation of David Attenborough.

“You noticed that too, huh?” They share a snigger as they gawk at our packmates. “Those alphas have been eyeing you like you’re the last three chips at the beach picnic.”

“Not me, I hope,” Clark says and melts off into the crowd, leaving Dee and I to head towards the house together, while Derek falls back to talk to Jacob. Derek is wearing bites from all of our alphas, and when I cast a glance at him over my shoulder, his eyes shine with contentment. I’m not sure if that’s my superpower at work, or just the fact that we’re both exactly where we’re meant to be.

“I love you,” I mouth to him, grinning when he pauses and runs his toe through the sand to scratch out a quick ‘SOS’.

“That was really nice,” my sister says, bumping me with her hip and drawing me out of my lovestruck haze. “And you look beautiful, by the way.”

“So do you,” I tell her, and for once I’m not ignoring the dark shadows under her eyes. Since moving in with Sally, Dee’s been sleeping more, eating better, and has even gone on a date with a work colleague. I don’t think it’s serious, but it still makes me smile as we climb the stairs and join Finn on the verandah. In silent agreement, we peel away from the rest of the party and head into the sitting room where his laptop is set up on the coffee table.

“Any updates about dear old dad?” she asks as she leans on the back of the couch. “Last I heard, there was some talk of a court-martial.”

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