Page 50 of Luna

“How long is your break?” I looked at Quinn. I was almost afraid to ask. Colton and Quinn both had their entire lives in Texas. Even though I didn’t want to share them with the rest of the world, I had to prepare myself.

“Break?” Quinn watched Colton move mulch around. The alpha looked perfectly happy moving heavy bags. They fit into my life so perfectly it was gonna hurt when they left again.

“From school.” I took a swallow from the water bottle. “You said you’re a teacher’s assistant?”

“Oh.” Quinn shook his head. “I’m doing some virtual classes, but I’m not going back to teaching. I want to be here for you and the baby.”

I looked at my hands, the sound of blood rushing in my ears. “You don’t have to quit your job…”

“I didn’t like working there anyway,” Quinn laughed. “Don’t look sad. I was going to skip a few semesters to focus on finishing my Ph.D.”

“He was.” Colton dropped another bag of dirt near the flowerbed and dusted his hands off. “I told him he didn’t have to teach at all, but he said he liked getting out and ‘interacting with the youth’.” Colton made air quotes.

Quinn grinned. “They keep me on my toes.”

I glanced between him and Colton. “So you’re renting a beach house for the entire pregnancy?”

“Actually, we’d like to house hunt.” Quinn perked up. “Studies show that packs raising children in the same household have long-lasting relationships. We were hoping you and Halos wanted to look at houses with us, or we could maybe add on to your cottage.”

I rubbed my face, unable to move past the idea of us living together. I hadn’t even asked Halos to move in, even though he had a bag of clothes stashed in my bedroom. Clothes that were quickly finding their way into my nest, but still.

“But what if…” My mouth was dry. “…you hate me after a while? What if you meet someone new who you like more?”

“I told you it was too soon,” Colton told Quinn. “Luna, honey, it’s okay. We’ll take everything at your pace. Just know we’re not going anywhere.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to be around you.” The water bottle was cold in my hands, even though my skin had gone sweaty.

Stupid heightened flight or fight response. Even though we were just having a normal conversation, my stomach churned, and blood began to pound in my head. I’d always been sensitive, but ever since meeting Colton and Quinn it had dialed up to ten.

I wanted them so badly, it would be crush me if they left. It was almost like wishing on a star, and having it granted, but backward. They were here, but because I was pregnant. Not for me.

“Am I moving too fast?” Quinn’s voice was soft. “I don’t mean to, I’m just terrible at dating.”

“You don’t have to be good at it,” I mumbled. I took another swallow of water, not sure what to say. “It’s just…we said we wanted a fling and now you’re here because of the baby.”

“Not just because,” Colton said, looking at Quinn. “We almost broke down and looked up your number a hundred times. But my family didn’t like me bonding a beta first, said I’ll never find an omega like that so…” He shrugged. “I worried if I showed interest, Quinn would feel replaced.”

“I know I’m not replaced. We’re building a pack,” Quinn glanced at me, “if you’d be okay with us courting you.”

I let out a long, steady breath. They wanted to get to know me better.

If I was brave enough. If I could just steel myself enough to take this leap, even though I was pregnant and my heart was more fragile than ever, I might be able to have everything I ever wanted.

A pack to call my own.

“I’m okay with that.” My heartbeat picked up pace just for admitting what I wanted out loud.

“Yes,” Quinn shot his fist in the air. “Yes.”

Colton grinned at both of us, more affection than I thought possible in his expression. “Sounds like it’s settled. We’ll date you at your pace.”

They were here, planning with me, trying to envision our future together. It wasn’t going to be easy, but we could take things slowly.

A stupid part of me was sad that Dante had chosen to think this was a scam. If I was being honest with myself, I wanted Halos as much as the pack I’d chosen for my wild weekend in Vegas. But maybe that was my own fault for asking for too much.

If I could come out of this with a healthy baby and maybe the pack of my dreams, I would be a lucky omega.

Chapter19

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