Page 77 of These Bonds that Unite Us
Omen’s lips twist thinking of her sister and friends. We aren’t sure what is happening between the three of them, but based on Foster and Shepherd’s attentiveness to Hannah when they were here last there is something building there. The Wilsons are clearly smitten with the beta woman.
We keep the rest of our conversation to simple chatter while we finish eating. Omen offers to help clean up the mess, but Callisto convinces her to shower and change into fluffy pajamas instead.
As I’m wiping down the counters, an idea starts to form in my mind. I may have another way we can show Omen exactly how determined we are to keep her with us forever. I’ll have to do a bit of research before I share it with the others, in case it’s out of the realm of possibility for us to accomplish.
Before I trek upstairs, Nebula loads my arms up with a huge bowl of popcorn and a basket full of other snacks to share. Water is still running in the shower, so I slip into the nest and sit everything to the side.
Opening the hidden panel for the projector takes a minute since I have to track down the remote. The panel opens and the projector angles down. Pressing another button, a large white screen slowly expands against the wall of framed pictures.
“That’s so cool!” Omen exclaims from behind me. She’s cute as hell in her oversized fleece pajama top and matching pants. The tan color makes her look like a sexy teddy bear, which is a weird as fuck thought to have.
Hormones, they do weird things to alpha brains sometimes.
“We thought it might be too bright to have exposed during your heat, so we had them get all tech wizard on the setup,” I explain. It only takes a few seconds to navigate to the app Callisto uses to watch the new episodes of their show. I leave it paused while we wait for our beta mate to join us.
Omen flops onto the bed, wiggling around for a minute as she rearranges all of the pillows and blankets to optimize her nest for a movie night. When she’s comfortably settled against a stack of pillows I hand her the bowl of popcorn.
“What do you think I should get Nexus for his birthday?” Omen asks as I settle in beside her. “Besides books, because I already have a few of those in mind.”
“As long as you’re here, he’s guaranteed to have the best birthday ever. You’ve already given him the gift he wanted most,” I tell her, running my finger over his bond mark again.
Her lips purse as she studies me. “If you think so. I still want to find him something special though.”
“Ready to see another week's worth of chaos?” Callisto asks as he walks in. Talk of Nexus’ birthday is quickly forgotten aswe watch the pack on the screen try to find balance in their new relationship.
Omen giggles when the omega on the show tries to make one of her new alphas pancakes for breakfast, except she puts way too much baking soda into the batter. “That would be me if I ever tried to cook.”
Callisto grabs a small container of nail polish and lets her dig through it to pick which one she wants. They commentate the entire show while he paints her nails for her. It’s wonderful witnessing the steady friendship they’ve built over the past several weeks. He’s becoming someone she trusts and relies on, which is a great sign for our entire pack. If she can forgive him, she could forgive all of us too.
Omen’s curled between me and Cal, and her eyes are shut by the time the show is over. I look at him over her shoulder and nod toward the door. We’re careful as we shift away from her, trying not to wake her. Gathering the empty bowls and cups is easier since they’re piled on the floor by the bed. Cal takes everything from my hands and heads out first. I linger behind, watching my firefly as she sleeps peacefully in the middle of her nest.
For the longest time, I never imagined this would happen. We’d gone through so many omega agencies trying to find our mate, but they were never a match. They were never her. Things haven’t gone the way we hoped. We all made a lot of mistakes, but having her here in our house makes all of the chaos worth it.
The door opens again when Nexus walks in. He looks as sleepy as our omega, but he’s carrying a book in his hand. He’ll probably fall asleep reading it and have to search the blanket piles in the morning.
“Good night,” I whisper.
A hand snatches mine when I move to walk away. Light green eyes peek up at me hesitantly. “Stay?” My heart soars withher question. Like I would ever say no to the chance to sleep by her side. I slip my shirt over my head and curl against her back. Nexus is grinning from his spot on her other side.
“Ready to sleep, gorgeous? Or do you want to start the next book in our duet?”
“Book,” she mumbles. We both chuckle, sharing a look that says we know she’ll be out before he can finish the chapter, but he finds the first page and starts to read anyway. His words blur through my mind, the sound of his voice lulling me to sleep as quickly as our girl.
My chest rises and falls, the sweet scent of sunflowers and honeysuckle filling my lungs. Hair tickles my cheek with each breath out. Cracking my eyes open, a smile stretches across my lips when I see Omen sprawled on top of me. I gently push the hair away from her mouth, biting back a bigger smile when I see her parted lips and sleep-slackened face. She’s adorable.
A glance to the left reveals Nexus is still starfished across the bed beside us. His soft snores are muffled by the blankets piled near his head. I could get used to waking up like this. With my girl in my arms, and my mates around me.
Technically Callisto and Nebula are in the other room, but I doubt this arrangement will last for much longer. Our omega is starting to accept us as her pack, I can feel it.
“Good morning,” Omen murmurs against my chest.
“Mornin’ darlin’.”
She shifts, propping her head on her hands so she can look up at me. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Mhmm, I did. Don’t think I’d ever be able to have a bad night of sleep with you in my arms.” Lifting my hands, I run them up and down her sides, caressing her hips and waist. Shefeels so small in my arms, so fragile. But I know she’s the strongest of us all. Everything she’s endured in her short life she’s walked away from. My firefly is a survivor.
Pulling the blanket up over our legs, her thigh brushes against my morning wood and she freezes. Tentatively she does it again, teeth digging into her bottom lip as she watches me jerk beneath my sleep shorts.
