Page 62 of The Omega Lesson

“It was a great game. Travis was on fire.”

“Then she dragged him into the locker room and told him she wanted to lock his dick down,” Noah says baldly, a wicked glint in his eye. “So,heknows the score, which leaves us waiting onyou, Cliffhanger.”

I shake my head at both his wordplay and his lack of subtlety. “We’re calling to discuss the pack with you, Ben. You’re Mattie’s guardian and Jack’s mate. You should have a say before we take anything further.”

His lips curve into a smile, his eyes darkening to a mossy black. “I also heard you told the world you’re courting us.”

I blush, remembering my adrenaline-fuelled grab at the microphone. “Well, it’s true. It’s what I want. And Travis didn’t exactly say no...”

“But he’s not there now.”

I shake my head, but Noah scoffs. “Maybe we should just conference him in. That way, we could all agree on what we already know. We’re a pack. The six of us. And all that’s left to do is fuck, bite, and bond. Anyone disagree?”

No one does, and he claps his hands. “Great. Meeting adjourned. Now get your cute butt over here, Bratty Boy, so we can spit-roast our girl.”

Mattie chuckles while I make a choking sound, but Ben clears his throat loud enough to drown us all out. “You got a television in that cottage of yours, Noah?”

He sniffs. “I have a state-of-the-art media room with sofa beds and surround sound…”

“Then conference me in,” Ben growls, pushing away from the wall. “I’ll meet you in my stateroom in five.”

It’s a testament to the size of Noah’s ‘cottage’ that I didn’t even know he had a basement, let alone a wine cellar, gym, and a media room tucked under his house. And when we all head downstairs, I discover he wasn’t exaggerating about it being state-of-the art, either. There’s a huge screen on the wall, with sleek speakers on each side, and the sofa bed Jack mentioned is an L-shaped sectional big enough to hold a slumber party. There’s another pile of vicuña blankets spread across the leather, and I can see a Jack-shaped hole in the middle, like I’ve just discovered his secret burrow.

But before we’ve even got settled, the enormous screen flickers to life and we’re staring at Ben’s back as he climbs onto a neatly-made bed in a wood-panelled room. Mattie said he’s in the middle of the ocean, so this must be his ‘boat bedroom’.

I’m suddenly nervous about how this is going to work. I’ve done video-conferencing before, as part of online courses I’ve taken, or with parents who live remotely. But this is the first time I’ve done it with the intention of getting naked.

But before it can get too awkward, Jack dims the lights and draws me down beside him on the sofa bed. He wraps an arm around my waist and cocks his head at the screen. “Can you see us, alpha?”

A simple question, but it ripples through the room, the inflection in Jack’s voice putting us all on high alert.

“I can,” Ben replies, his voice a deep rumble through the speakers. “And it’s the best thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

Jack purrs, and the other guys gather close; Mattie tight to my side, and Noah next to him. We’re barely using any of the sofa, and the low ceiling and dim lighting makes it feel like we’re in our own little cocoon. “I’m not going to torture you this time, alpha,” Jack says, smiling at the screen. “Because I’m too damn excited to wait.”

“Then ask her, Jack,” Ben says in his gravel voice. “Ask her to be ours.”

I gasp as Jack slides to his knees, all his seductive omega grace on full display. The low lights glint off his dark curls, his eyes velvet pools of need and hope as he lifts my hand to his lips. “Will you be ours, Lexi?”

I’m already nodding when the bonding ring slides onto my finger, and I’m staring at a star-shaped cluster of white diamonds, with a sparkling pink one at its centre.

“Holy shit,” Noah croaks. “Is that the Star of the North?”

“It was our mum’s,” Jack tells me as I stare in shock at the exquisite ring. “Our dad sold it after she died, but I’ve been keeping tabs on its owners. And then Ben and I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”

“I know the feeling,” I murmur, then realise how that sounds. “Not that I want to refuse. It’s beautiful.” Almost too beautiful, in the way of Maseratis, and vicuña blankets, and other precious things I never touched before I met these men. And I’m suddenly aware of exactly how out of my depth I feel. “I really love it, of course, and I’ll treasure it always…”

“But?” Jack asks softly.

“But I should have gifts for you! I’m meant to be courtingyou!”

“Oh, I have a long, long list of things I want from you, sweet thing,” Noah croons from my other side, but Ben leans forward, capturing all of our attention.

“You’re the pink diamond in the middle of that setting, Lexi.” I stare down at the ring, the need and gratitude in his voice rolling over me like a balm. “We’ve all been pointing in different directions for a long time. But now you’re at our centre, we can finally be a pack. And that’s all the gift we need.”

I feel a fleeting pang for Travis, but I’m not going to let his absence dim the feeling blooming in my heart. “Thank you, Ben. I feel the same way.” I lean against the guys so that Ben can see us all clustered together, like the precious gems in my ring. “I accept. All of it. And I hope I can live up to your beautiful words.”

“Then bond our Jackson, alpha,” Ben tells me, already leaning forward in anticipation. “I want to feel everything through the bond.”

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