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“No, it’s fine.” He sighed. “I’m sorry I can’t be here for the romantic dinner.”

“You will be,” Ember said incredulously. “We’re not going to have Valentine’s Day without you. I’m going to see my family the day before, and the day of, hide from all the people leaving the house.”

“Really?” The alpha sounded relieved.

“Yes, we hate leaving the house on the day of as well,” I said, giving a mock shudder. “Too many people.”

“That’s great, then. I could cook us a nice dinner on my next day off. Whatever we want. Or we could go out to eat.”

Ember and Alejandro discussed food until we were all hungry and raided the kitchen for leftovers.

I curled next to Rian, nudging my omega. He seemed much more relieved through our bond.

“You were right,” he muttered.

“I’m always right,” I said smugly.

“You are not,” he hissed.

I pulled him into a kiss to prove a point, but he managed to climb into my lap and one thing led to another.

We took our spicy times to the nest, and afterward I lay there panting, wondering at my good luck.

We were a pack; I just knew it. We were meant to be. I didn’t care if we bonded this year or ten years from now. We were meant to be together, and I’d jump through whatever hoops it would take for Ember and West especially to trust that I wasn’t going anywhere.

The only thing left to do was let time take its course.

Chapter 31

Ember

Idrove over to my cottage, sending a text to the group chat that I was swinging by for more clothes for me and West. I offered to stop by Alejandro’s apartment for more stuff, but he told me he had a duffel bag in his car.

Rian added in the chat for me to get as much stuff as I wanted, that we could pick out a bedroom to store our stuff in if we wanted to.

It was a casual comment, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

It had been almost two weeks, and West, Alejandro, and I had spent every night with Ben and Rian. I spent time with my family on Galentine’s Day, and West had his boys’ night out, but otherwise we’d spent almost all of our free time together.

We talked about being “fair” and splitting time between our cottage or even Alejandro’s apartment, but it seemed easier to stay at the bigger house.

Ben and Rian had a much bigger bed and nest. After I brought over blankets and Squishmallows, the nest started feeling like ours and not just Rian’s.

Having a heated pool and jacuzzi was spoiling me, and my leg and arm hadn’t been bothering me as much as usual this time ofyear. Especially since we’d been having the most mind-blowing sex. Usually that was enough to piss off my joints, but West dragged me into the hot tub or pool.

We could basically move in. I turned the idea over in my mind, thinking about how fun it would be to bring a ton of stuff over, pillows, blankets, favorite cups and spoons. It wasn’t like I had rent or a lease. If something happened and we all broke up, West and I would still be able to go back to our cottage.

The ocean was a blur of blue next to me. It was chilly outside, and I had the window rolled up, but I could almost smell the salt breeze.

I had a favorite playlist going, and I hummed along to the songs. One of Burns’s song came on and I wondered if I could ask Rian where he got the inspiration for it without causing him some grief.

The cottage was paid off. We all helped pay property taxes every year. We were barely using electricity in the cottage, enough that everything didn’t feel humid and stale. It was doable, to bring my favorite cups and bowls over without having to do something permanent like move out of an apartment and cancel a lease.

Alejandro was basically living out of the clothes in his duffel bag anyway. Maybe if the three of us did it at once, it wouldn’t be weird.

Rian might still not want to share his nests. He seemed fine when we were around them, but no one had had a heat yet, so I’d see how he felt after we dealt with that. West and I wouldn’t go into heat for another month and then Rian said he was due a month after that, so we had time to keep layering in our scents.

I pulled into the driveway and smiled. My little cottage had seen me through some times. Cottages dotted the property, even though we had all lived in a big house to the north when we were growing up. We wanted space, but not too much space.