Page 107 of Claimed By the Band

She looks so peaceful in sleep, all her careful walls finally down. The sight makes my chest ache with protective instincts. I want to gather her up and never let anything hurt her again. Want to hunt down every person who ever made her feel like she had to hide who she was.

But I push those violent thoughts aside. Plenty of time for that later.

I climb back into bed, settling on her other side. She immediately reaches for me in her sleep. I pull her close, breathing in her clean, floral scent.

This feels better than right. It feels like it was always meant to be.

38

JORDAN

Iwake slowly, surrounded by warmth and the mingled scents of pack. My body feels heavy and satisfied in a way I've never experienced before, the desperate need of heat finally subsided into a pleasant haze. The sheets are clean and fresh against my skin—they must have changed them again at some point while I was lost in the fever of it all.

It's been… two days? Three? I've long since lost track in the tangle of limbs and knots. And I don't mind.

Asher's face is buried in my neck, his honey-sweet scent wrapping around me like a blanket. The rest of the pack is curled around us in various states of sleep—Dante and Silas accidentally spooning on one side while Knox and Damon bracket us on the other. Their combined body heat should be stifling, but instead it feels perfect. Safe.

"Morning," Asher murmurs against my throat, pressing a soft kiss to my pulse point. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," I whisper back, not wanting to wake the others just yet. "Really good, actually. Just... a little overwhelmed."

He lifts his head to meet my eyes, his gaze soft with understanding. “Bad overwhelmed or good overwhelmed?”

"Good," I assure him, reaching up to brush his tousled golden hair from his face. "I just can't quite believe all this happened. That you all still want me."

"Of course we want you," he says firmly, catching my hand and pressing a kiss to my palm. "You're ours now. If you want to be."

I flush at his words, but surprisingly, they don't make me want to run. Instead, they settle something deep inside me that's been restless for nine long years. "I want to be," I admit softly.

His brilliant smile is worth any lingering uncertainty. He leans in to kiss me properly, and I melt into it with a contented sigh.

"Get a room," Knox grumbles from beside us, but there's amusement in it. He sits up with a jaw-cracking yawn, stretching his massive frame.

"We have a room," Asher points out cheekily. "You're in it."

The others start stirring at our voices, and I'm immediately surrounded by sleepy alphas fussing over me. Dante nuzzles into my hair while Silas checks my temperature with a gentle hand to my forehead. Damon produces a bottle of water from somewhere next to the bed, pressing it into my hands with a stern look that says I'd better drink it.

The care in their actions makes my chest tight. I've spent so long taking care of myself, never letting anyone close enough to help. But now...

"Actually," I say hesitantly, "there's something I need to tell you all. About the other night."

"Pretty sure there are no more mysteries left after the past couple days, sweetheart," Dante quips with a wicked grin. "We've all been inside you in every possible combination."

I blush furiously as Asher swats his leg playfully. "Not about that," I mumble, though the memories of exactly how thoroughly they claimed me send pleasant shivers down my spine. "About what happened at the party. Before Asher found me in the stairwell."

The playful atmosphere shifts immediately, all of them focusing on me with that intense pack protectiveness that still takes my breath away.

"Dr. Trakiss caught me in the lab," I admit, watching their expressions darken. "I mean, he didn'tcatchme exactly. I managed to edit the security feed, and I played it off like I was just lost looking for the bathroom, but..." I trail off, remembering the knowing look in his cold eyes.

"But what?" Damon asks softly, but I can see the concern in his eyes.

I touch my wrist instinctively, where the raised scar tissue is usually hidden by long sleeves. My bracelets somehow survived the night, but I take them off slowly, and I can feel the others' eyes widening as they study the raised scar burned into my skin in the shape of the letter symbol for omega.

"He knew me. Or at least, he suspected something. He touched my scar and said... said he'd love to study me sometime. See what makes me tick." I shudder at the memory of his bonyfingers on my arm. "He was talking about me reacting to the pheromones as a beta, but I could tell he knew more. I felt it."

Asher takes my wrist gently, his thumb brushing over the mark. "I've been meaning to ask about this," he says carefully. "But only if you're ready to talk about it."

The others watch silently, giving me space to decide. Even Dante is uncharacteristically quiet, though I can smell the protective rage rolling off all of them in waves.

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