Page 33 of Ensnaring Their Rabbit

Riv met my eyes, feeling the change in the air. Evidently, so did Laurent.

“Alright. I’ll leave you three to it. The bag on the table has some more clothes and necessities, as well as three cell phones. The plan is covered, so don’t worry about that. My number is programmed in all of them. My real number, not the one I gave you earlier. If you need anything, call, but try to leave it to emergencies, eh?”

“Sure,” I said, once again feeling overwhelmed. It was becoming a familiar sensation since we escaped. “Thank you for everything.”

Laurent smiled sincerely, his bright eyes glowing. “Of course. It’s nice to see the happy sometimes. Anyway!” he said too enthusiastically, “There will be one more food delivery. After that, you should be good to get your own food and supplies. You’ll see the information for your new bank account as well as debit cards in the folder. Your jobs already have the direct deposit information, but there should be enough to hold you over till you get paid.”

Brynn stood up, and we all followed. “I don’t think we could ever repay you for all this,” he told Laurent sincerely.

He waved away the thanks. “You don’t need to. That’s not why I do this.”

“Why do you?” I asked. I’d been wondering that since the beginning.

Laurent’s expression shuttered. “That doesn’t matter.” Oh, okay.

“Well if you don’t have any further questions, I’ll be taking my leave,” he said, suddenly stiff. Message received. Don’t ask anything personal.

We all said goodbye, Brynn giving Laurent a really awkward hug, and then he disappeared. Literally. He waved his hand, and then he was gone, leaving us all alone and only with a pile of paperwork and new licenses that proved any of this was real.

“So that happened,” Brynn whispered, still staring at the spot.

I wrapped my arms around him and kissed over his mating bites. “It’s hard to believe any of this happened,” I told him honestly.

“Do you think we’ll ever get used to it?” Riv asked, joining us by wrapping his arms around Brynn’s front and resting his head on my chest. “I mean, I keep waiting for the cops to just burst down our door every second. Can we really trust that this is real? Do we really get this?”

I kissed the top of his head and then Brynn’s. “I’m not sure we’ll ever get fully used to it, but yeah, I think we can trust it’s real. After a life of being shit on, I think all three of us deserve this, don’t you think?”

Brynn snorted. “Can you never use that phrase ever again, please, cause eww.” We all laughed before he continued, “But gross images aside, we definitely deserve this. I never thought I’d ever get any of this. Not just a house and a chance at a real job and future, but mates…love.” The last word was practically whispered, but I heard it and by the way Riv’s eyes widened, so did he. We hadn’t used the ‘L’ word yet, even if I’d felt it since we were still in jail. Brynn was always the most hesitant out of all of us, and we wanted to give him time to adjust. A lot of the whole situation was beyond his control, and he needed the chance to come to his own decisions. So we stayed patient. But now…

Riven backed up enough just so he could tilt Brynn’s face up to meet his eyes. “What was that? We couldn’t hear you.”

Brynn rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up. You heard me just fine. I love you. Both of you.” Before either of us could say anything he added, “Don’t make a big deal about it.”

I grinned. Feisty little mate. “No big deal at all. But I love you too, sweetness.”

“Me too,” Riven added quickly. “We both love you.”

Brynn couldn’t help the smile even if he tried to look grumpy. Eventually he gave up and threw himself at us, and that was how we spent our first day as Barlowes, wrapped around each other and showing just how much we were in love.

EPILOGUE

BRYNN

ONE MONTH LATER

I waited a full ten minutes after my mates left for work before I got up from where I was sitting at the counter and drinking my tea. Sometimes they came back in, either because they forgot something or even once because Riven got the uncontrollable need to scent me more before he left for work. So I learned to wait before I did what I did next.

I was being kinda ridiculous. I couldn’t tell you why I was keeping this from my mates, only that it felt so personal that I wanted it for myself. At least for a little while. They’d be part of it eventually, but for now it was mine. Only mine. And it didn't matter that deep in my brain I knew they’d understand and respect my wishes on this and not intrude without permission, I still hid it from them.

That was why I always felt a little guilty when I finally snuck into my nest after they left for work. As far as the twins knew, I still hadn’t gone into the nest room. They asked me about it a couple times when we first got here, and I always brushed them off, so they stopped asking.

The first time I went in was about a week after Laurent gave us our new identities. I was fucking terrified. It might have only been a room, but it meant so much more than that. Omegas on TV or in books always acted like their nest was part of their personality. It was supposed to be an innate part of being an omega, and I had been denied that my whole life. It was hard to accept it was real.

But after weeks of stopping in front of the closed door, not quite daring to open it, I finally got the courage to do so. I waited until Reeve and Riven left for their job, mainly because I was afraid I’d panic, and then I opened the door.

Their uncle’s letter was right. It was fairly generic. A pit was built into the middle of the room with a comfortable looking mattress inside. The pit itself wasn’t dug in, but instead sides were built around it, giving the illusion of it being lower than the floor. A pile of soft looking sheets and blankets were folded neatly in the corner and next to it was an array of pillows of different sizes and shapes. I walked over to the pillows and picked them up. They smelled like fabric softener.

Over the next month, I had been slowly making the nest mine. It started by me scenting all the pillows and blankets, finding my favorites and discarding the rest. They didn’t smell like my alphas though, so I brought them into our room, one at a time and snuck them in bed with us. If they noticed, they didn’t say anything.

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