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Iwoke up the next morning to the most epic snuggles. Ben was curled to my side, West and Rian had switched positions in the night, and the bed was super soft and comfy.

My body felt amazing. If this is how happy people were with a pack, I could see why they bonded each other.

I pushed the idea away like it was a hot coal. It was too soon to think about bonding, but I wouldn’t poke holes into something amazing either.

Last night had been…incredible. Everything felt right. I woke up in Rian’s nest, and it didn’t feel like I was borrowing another omega’s space. It smelled like mine, and for the first time since I scented Ben and Rian, my instincts were happy.

I had all of their scents on me and more orgasms than I could count, and they were sweet and funny. What wasn’t there to be over the moon about?

Ben shifted position, tightening his arm around my waist. I wiggled against him, discovering not all of him was asleep.

I wiggled again, and he nipped my shoulder. “Keep doing that and you won’t make it out of the nest.” His voice was husky, pure sex, and my pussy clenched at the prospect of him inside me again.

Alejandro rolled over, his dark hair tousled. He looked like an underwear model and I wanted to lick him. Again. He saw me looking and gave me a sleepy smile. “Breakfast?”

“Mmm.” I gave him a saucy look so he knew exactly what was on my mind. “Yes.”

Ben grumbled, trying to get me to lie back down. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I settled for cuddles. And tickles. I alternated between Ben and Alejandro until West rolled on top of me, pinning me. “Are you going to be a menace until we all wake up?”

I gave him an innocent look and stole a quick kiss. “Alejandro’s awake. So no, only you, Ben, and Rian.”

West settled his weight on me. “If you want us up, I can think of better things to do.”

He made good on his threat, and we had brain-meltingly-good sex again. It was the best way to wake up and by the time we were ready to leave the nest, we worked up an appetite.

We made waffles and bacon with scrambled eggs and spent the day lazing around. Alejandro was off work on Mondays, so West and I made sure to schedule Mondays off if we could.

We watched movies, listened to music, cuddled, and then had more sex, which led to more knotting, and when it was time for bed again, I was pleasantly exhausted.

The next day at work, I couldn’t stop grinning. Our group chat was pinging, between Alejandro showing us pictures of food he was making, Rian complaining about having to wait for a sound check, Ben giving us song suggestions, and my random snapshots of places around Cosmic Bonds.

West commented with his usual snark that we should all be actually working but then shared an office meme.

After lunch, Stella poked her head into my office. She had a massive bouquet of roses in her arms. “I take it things are going well?”

“You could say that.” I shoved a piece of cheese in my mouth. Alejandro had sent us all to work with lunch boxes filled with food and snacks.

I got that swooping feeling again at how well it was going. I was flying in the wind and hoping like hell the wings I’d made wouldn’t melt when I got too close to the sun.

Stella set the bouquet on my desk. “They must not know you well enough yet.”

I wrinkled my nose, coming to their defense. “We haven’t talked about flowers.” The roses were pretty, dark red, with the standard arrangement of baby’s breath and greenery. The heavy scent of roses started to fill the room, souring my stomach.

While I had been in the hospital recovering from the plane crash, people had sent so many flower arrangements. It was impossible not to associate the scent of hothouse roses with being in pain and grieving.

When Luna put fresh-cut flowers in the waiting room, they didn’t bother me because they smelled like the outdoors, like sunlight and air. Flowers from flower shops always had a weird under-smell, something I associated with grief and pain.

People had sent us cards: sorry for your loss, get better soon. Because apparently a bouquet of lilies was the right choice for sayingsorry for becoming an orphan.

I picked up the white card. Whoever sent it didn’t know better, and I would be happy for the gesture at least.

I turned the card over. Inside it read, ‘You smell sweeter than any rose. Signed, your secret admirer.’

I pulled out my phone. I snapped a photo of the roses and sent a text to our group chat.

Ember:

Thanks to whoever is clever enough to say “Secret Admirer,” but all four of your dicks were inside me yesterday, pretty sure your admiration isn’t a secret anymore.