Page 65 of Pack Favero

It takes some effort to keep my tone even and calm, my patience ran short after having my woman taken from me, but I manage it for her sake as I explain all that happened to her. Ileave no detail out, ensuring I share everything I know, ensuring she isn’t left wondering about things that I might have answers for.

“So, he’s alive?” she eventually asks, absorbing the information I gave her without so much as a flinch of fear or clench of her hand. It’s as though she’s completely at peace with it, and I’m utterly baffled by it.

Nodding, I confirm, “Alive and in custody, sweetheart. You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“Huh,” she mumbles with a hint of disappointment, and my lips quirk in confusion. She notices and rolls her eyes, huffing, “I think I was hoping I might have choked him to death, honestly.”

My bark of laughter bursts out of me so suddenly that it shocks me, and I catch Zira grinning as she watches me lose my shit, waking the others in the process.

“What’s so funny?” Alek slurs, still cuddling Barnes, even as the man being cuddled tries to push him off so he can sit up.

I’m still laughing too hard to actually speak, so Zira sighs and mutters, “Just sharing my thoughts on a particular matter.”

That has me laughing even harder until I’m wheezing, pressing my hand against my chest as I try to speak through bouts of hilarity. “She just said… she wished she had… oh, bloody hell… she wanted to… I can’t bloody breathe…”

Apparently, my amusement turns infectious, and the others start chuckling along with me, even though they have no idea why I’m laughing. Zira’s cheeks are flaming red, and I absolutely love the colour on her, obsessed with the shade that now stains her skin. It gives her a flush of life that she’s been missing since we found her, and I make myself a promise right there and then to make sure I cause her to blush as often as I can from here on out.

It takes some time for me to control myself once more,and I’m wiping the tears from beneath my eyes as I lightly chuckle while explaining, “I was telling our sweet, little omega how Professor Nutcase was arrested and her savage response was disappointment because she hadn’t killed him when she choked him unconscious.”

The twins break out in boisterous peals of laughter much like I had, while Barnes groans and shakes his head, rubbing his face with his hands, and Alek finally releases him to sit up and gape at the beauty now blushing furiously. I love it. I love every single bit of it.

“Zira Favero, I am learning a lot about you lately,” Alek breathes, looking genuinely shocked but not put off by our omega’s vicious streak. She deserves to have it after the fucker kidnapped her and tied her in a basement room he planned to keep her in. I’ve watched a movie about something similar, between a father and daughter, and I would have cheered on that girl if she’d murdered him, too.

Chuckling once more after stealing our linked hands back and pressing another kiss to the back of hers, I mutter, “Leave our woman alone. She’s entitled to her thoughts and emotions. I just so happen to rather enjoy this new ruthless streak.”

Zira rolls her eyes once more, but her lips are spread in a smile that soothes my own inner beast, and the purr in my chest kicks up without much prompting. The effect is immediate, her shoulders dropping and her head falling against the headboard as her smile softens, and I consider it my new superpower.

After a beat of silence, where we all simply take in the peace that now floods the room, Zira asks, “Did anyone call my mom?”

Barnes shakes his head, biting his lip before confessing, “It was late, and I knew the facility wouldn’t be taking calls. I didn’t want to call your mom’s cell phone at such a late hour. Iplanned to call her if we hadn’t found you come the morning, but it didn’t come to that, thankfully.”

“So, she’s unaware of what happened?” she pushes, and Ford nods.

“Until the news catches a hold of it, she’s none the wiser at the moment,” he answers, reaching over his brother to take her free hand in his. “We didn’t know if you wanted to share with your mom, and so we were worried we’d overstep if we called her this morning.”

“Don’t,” she sighs, shaking her head. “I’ll explain when I see her… later? What day is it?”

“Saturday, starlight. It’s just past noon,” Mac tells her, tucking her hair behind her ear. “She was meant to go to the spa today with Barnes and Lazarus, but we can reschedule if you’re not—”

“Oh, absolutely not,” she rushes to say, snickering under her breath. “That woman deserves a pamper day, and I don’t want to take that away from her.”

Then she turns to face me, and asks, “If you’re still willing, I’d love it if you could still take Mom. I can see her tomorrow and explain it all after she’s had a day to relax.”

I’m nodding before I fully comprehend what I’m doing, agreeing to her request with ease, because I really would do anything for her. Even though I’d love to stay in here with her all day, locked away at home where I feel like she’s safe and sound, I know that’s not what Zira needs. Based on how easily she’s continuing with her life, I’d hazard to assume she’s dealing with it in her own way, and we simply need to be there to support her. Whatever she needs, we will provide. If that means taking Mother Favero for a spa day where I can learn all the juicy details of Zira’s life, discover all things embarrassing and adorable, then I suppose I can sacrifice a couple of hours.

“I would still be honoured,” I confirm, winking at her. “Iimagine she has a great deal of stories she could share about a young Zira that I’d love to hear.”

My omega’s face drops instantly, right before she groans loudly and pouts pitifully with a regretful laugh. “This is going to bite me in the ass.”

“I’ll bite you in the ass,” Alek mutters under his breath and, just like that, we’re all laughing heartily, Zira cracking up so much that she sets us all off once more. It’s everything to me, my heart filling to bursting. I want this every day, from this day onward. I want to wake up to that laughter, her scent filling every room in the house. I want to binge my favourite television shows with her while we drink tea and eat good food. I want game nights, and lazy days, and everything in between.

Knowing the others are already on board, having discussed the possibility of turning the biggest guest room we have into a nest for Zira already and now her bonding with the twins already, I casually mutter, “When you’re feeling up to it, we’ll start emptying your apartment and go through ending your tenancy agreement with your landlord, too.”

Zira chokes on her next inhale and, biting his smile to stop it from breaking out in front of our omega, Mac claps her gently on the back as she coughs, wide eyes staring at me in shock. Once she’s done hacking up a lung, she blurts, “I’m sorry, did you say empty my apartment?”

I nod, unfazed. “Certainly did. You’re our omega, darling. You have two bond marks etched into that beautiful body of yours now. If you think we’re going to allow you to continue renting an apartment you’re barely living in anymore, then you have a few more things to learn about how we plan to take care of you.”

The guys all nod in agreement, and I smirk at her as she narrows her eyes back at me. That is, until Mac says, “It’s purely selfish, starlight. We all want you here, with us, for the long haul.Ford and I have already made you ours, but we’re greedy and want you living under the same roof as us. We’re a pack, and we want to live like one, with you. If that’s not what you want, we’ll work around it. But just know this is your home. We want to be your home.”

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