Page 48 of The Omega Trials: Part Three

She’s taken all of us, literally and figuratively, and it’s to her, with her, that we all belong.

1. “Wow.” – Instrumental by Post Malone

Chapter 26

Legacy

Sinclair

Penelope places the last pin in my hair, then comes to stand in front of me. She takes me in, in the dress she fitted, my hair done up with a few loose tendrils framing my face. Her expression is completely unguarded. She looks me straight in the eyes when she says, “You look beautiful, Om—” A smile flits across her face as she says for the very first time, “Sinclair.”

I’m struck with so much gratitude for her, it’s like a punch to the throat. She was the one person by my side throughout thiswholeordeal. My one constant.

I can’t help but pull her into a quick but tight hug.

“I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you.” Emotion chokes me as I try to finish. “I don’t think I would have made it out of this aliveif it wasn’t for you.” My voice wobbles as tears well in my eyes.

“Oh, stop that now,” she says, equally choked up. “You’ll ruin your makeup.”

We both laugh ruefully as she dabs at the corner of my eyes with a handkerchief. “Truly, what would I do without you?”

She tries to pull herself together. “You’re ready. Your alphas are waiting.”1

My alphas.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank them either. But this is a start, I think, as Penelope hands me a stack of three flat gift boxes.

I don’t know why, but nervous butterflies flutter in my stomach as I step up to my bedroom door. Maybe because once I leave this room, the night will have officially begun, and I honestly don’t know if all of us will make it to the morning.

But as soon as Penelope opens the door and I see my alphas, my anxieties completely disappear. All dressed handsomely in tuxedos, they take my worries and my breath away.

Bishop’s hair is pulled neatly into a bun, his hair slicked down except for a few runaway curls. Ecker’s locks are swept smartly to the side, styled but still loose and free, and Titus is completely clean-shaven, making the cutting angles of his strong jaw more pronounced.

They turn at the sound of my arrival, and the looks on their faces when they see me threatens to steal my breath away yet again. It’s pure awe and devotion.

“Your . . . our mark . . . ,” Ecker breathes. “So damn beautiful.”

The deep V of my dress completely reveals the newly darkened larkspur flowers etched in my skin. When I picked the dress, I didn’t know Titus and I would bond, turning my carvings into atattoo. I already wanted to show it off, but now I’m even more proud to let everyone know that I’m a member of Pack Cerulean.

“What is that?” Titus flicks his chin at the boxes in my hands.

“They’re for you.” I walk over to them, and they each take a box. “Go ahead and open them. You’ll need them for the ball.”

They quickly undo the ribbons, lift the lids, and for the second time in as many minutes, their jaws drop.

Paisley told me the trial alphas are given gold masks from their family Elders to wear to the ball to symbolize their successful completion of the Trials. I wasn’t going to let them show up blindsided and empty-handed, but I knew no one else was going to get Cerulean bear masks. So with Penelope’s help, I did. Just another thing I couldn’t have done without her.

“You’ve more than earned the right to wear your family’s mask.” I smile slyly. “Even if only for a night.”

Titus is the first to sweep me up in a hug, lifting my feet off the floor, and then Ecker and Bishop pile on. I laugh in pure delight as kisses land all over my cheeks and neck and shoulders.

Love.

I am so hopelessly in love with every one of them.

If it weren’t for the chandeliers being lit with electricity rather than gas, the Great Hall could be a ballroom straight from the Regency era. It’s the epitome of class and elegance.

For now.

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