Page 169 of Pack Scratch Fever
They don’t do it because they have to; they do it because theywantto.
Doting on me makes them happy.
Caring for me brings them joy.
And by the end of the week, when my Heat symptoms start to subside, it clicks.
I’m wrapped in a thick cream nesting blanket, dressed in soft cotton sleep clothes while Poe reads to me. The scene is adorable—the four of us, all in comfy outfits, lounge on my nest while Poe reads out loud a detective book I caught him with before.
It’s not my preferred genre of fiction, but I enjoy the sound of his voice, and apparently, Avery and Maddox don’t mind story time, either.
That’s when it finally clicks.
I sit up with a start, ready to finally face the truth.
Poe pauses his reading and places the book down, eyeing me curiously.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Maddox asks, yawning. He lounges in grey sweatpants on top of an ivory comforter, his hands behind his head.
“You love me.”
I speak the words to Poe, but they apply to the two other Alphas on the bed.
A flash of surprise flickers on Poe’s face, but then his expression softens. “I do,” he says simply.
“Duh,” Maddox says, sitting up and taking my hand. “Where have you been?” He flashes me a brilliant smile, one that makes my insides melt.
I blush.
Avery sits up too, beaming. “I’ve loved you since I met you that first day at the cat rescue,” he declares, and Maddox rolls his eyes.
“You didn’t love herfirst, asshole.”
Avery scowls, and I laugh.
“Regardless,” Poe says, looking at me thoughtfully, “I love you, deeply. Probably stupidly. I love you in a way that doesn’t make sense in my head. I’minlove with you, Piper.”
I swallow the lump in my throat.
“I’m not the easiest person in the world to be with,” he adds. “I know that. Yet somehow, you were willing to accept me since the day we met. You were kind, even when I wasn’t. You pushed back. You challenged me, and it’s the sexiest thing you could do. You make me want to be better.”
My throat closes up. “I wouldn’t say I waskind,” I choke out, and Maddox laughs.
“Baby, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to us,” he says. “It’s an honor to be your scent match. Frankly, you’re everything we could have asked for, and more.”
“It’s an honor to love you,” Avery says. “You’re one of my best friends now, Piper. You’re family, always.”
Family.
I flinch at the thought of my parents and the sisters that want nothing to do with me.
“Family is what you make it,” Maddox says, as if reading my mind. “And we are family—we’re scent matches. Or mates, if you ever wanted that.”
Mates.
Yes, my inner Omega screams.Yes, we want that.
The truth is, I do too.
