Page 42 of Daisy (Omega Chosen #3)

Dante's voice is rough when he speaks. "I want this with you more than anything. But I don't want you choosing it because you feel like you don't have another choice."

"August could help you," Gunner says quietly. "He can pull out. No risk of pregnancy that way, and you'd still have comfort during your heat."

"I have a contraceptive implant," I interrupt. Their faces show surprise. "Uncle had it put in. Gives whoever claims me control over when I get pregnant."

The silence that follows is heavy. I can smell the shift in their scents—anger, but not at me. For me.

"When you're ready, we can get someone to remove it," August says gently.

My chest twists. "I don't know if I'll ever be ready." The words tumble out before I can stop them. "I don't know if I ever want children."

They wait. No pressure. Just space for me to talk. Dante's hand moves to my back, rubbing gentle circles between my shoulder blades.

"I know I'm supposed to want that. I'm an omega.

But..." I take a shaky breath. "My own mother didn't want me.

Didn't want any of us. I was raised by nannies and Uncle.

If I had daughters, they'd be omegas too.

I could never put a daughter through what I went through.

Being treated like property. Having your body not belong to you. "

"Your feelings are completely valid," August says softly. "We love you exactly as you are, and we'll support whatever you decide."

"You deserve to choose your own path," Cassian adds quietly. "Always."

"If the way omegas are treated ever changes," I continue, my voice getting stronger, "if they got to meet alphas and a beta like you all, who see them as people... maybe then I'd think about it. But not in this world. Not the way things are."

"We understand completely," Gunner says softly. "The world isn't safe for omega’s right now."

"Besides," Hawk says with a grin, "we've got our hands full just keeping you from burning down kitchens. Adding tiny humans who might inherit your cooking skills? That's just asking for trouble."

Despite everything, I let out a watery laugh. "That's not fair. I only set one kitchen on fire."

"So far," he adds with a wink.

I feel tears prick my eyes. Happy tears this time. "You mean that? You're not disappointed that I might never want children?" My voice gets smaller, more uncertain. "If you don't want to bond with me because of that..."

"Never," August says firmly. "You're enough. Just you."

"Thank you," I whisper. "For not making me feel broken."

For a moment, we just sit in that warmth. Their acceptance surrounding me like the softest blanket. I feel safer than I ever have, more seen and understood.

Then I notice the way they're all looking at each other. Like they're having some silent conversation I'm not part of.

"But there's something else," Dante says, his voice careful. "Something we kept from you."

My stomach drops.

"Scent matching," Dante says quickly. "We're all your scent matches."

I blink. "What?"

"All four of us alphas. The biological compatibility thing. It's real."

I laugh, but it sounds hollow even to me. "That's... that's just a myth, isn't it? I was always told it was just something people believed in."

But they're not laughing. Their faces are serious, almost guilty. Oh god, they're serious.

Wait. If they're telling the truth... My mind scrambles to process this. Everything I was taught, everything I believed about scent matching being impossible... Uncle used to laugh about it, said he let the beta-born alphas believe in that myth to keep them compliant.

"It's real," Gunner says quietly. "Rare, but real. We knew the moment we scented you."

Everything clicks. This is wild, impossible, but it makes so much sense.

Why they calm me instead of overwhelm me.

Why I felt safe from the beginning. Why my body responds to them like nothing I've ever felt.

Why even now, cramping and uncomfortable, being surrounded by them makes me want to gather their clothes and build something soft and safe.

"How long have you known?"

"Since that first night," Dante admits.

The betrayal hits hard. Since the beginning. They've known this whole time, and they never told me. Every moment, every choice I thought I was making freely... were they just waiting for biology to kick in? I try to pull away but he holds me gently.

I look around at all of them, seeing the guilt written across their faces. "You've been lying to me?"

"We kept it secret," August says quickly. "But everything else was real. Every feeling. Every choice."

"How can I trust that? I thought you actually wanted me. I thought I was choosing." My voice cracks. Was any of it real? Or were they all just following some biological programming?

"You absolutely were choosing," Dante says firmly. "Every moment, every decision—that was all you."

"But what if it's just biology for you? What if I'm not good enough on my own? What if I disappoint you when the novelty wears off?"

"Impossible," Hawk says. "Scent matching doesn't create feelings. It just says you might be compatible. Everything else—how you make us laugh, how brave you are, how you see the best in us—that's all you."

"Scent matching doesn't make me want to protect you," Cassian says quietly. "That's just who you are."

The sincerity in his voice makes my chest ache. He's always been my shield, even when I was afraid of him.

"I can't scent match with you," August says softly. "I'm a beta. But what I feel for you is real. Everything I've done, every choice I've made with you—that's all me. And if I could claim you like an alpha, I would."

Oh, August. My heart breaks a little at the longing in his voice. He's been my safe harbor this whole time, and he chose that without any biological push.

"We kept it secret because we wanted you to choose us for who we are," Gunner says. "Not because genetics told you to."

They wanted me to choose freely. Even when they knew we were meant to be together, they wanted it to be my choice.

I sit quietly, processing. They wrap around me and finally I understand why they feel like home.

A particularly sharp cramp makes me double over slightly, and before I can stop myself, I'm reaching for Gunner's jacket draped over the chair, pulling the soft fabric against me. His scent helps, but not enough.

"So that's why you all make me feel safe."

"Part of it," August says. "But matching is just a bonus. We were meant to find you, meant to form this pack. We have a family we've chosen, with you at our center."

I think about every moment. Every laugh. Every time they put me first. How they taught me wanting things doesn't make me selfish.

"I'm still mad you kept it secret."

"We're sorry," August says.

"But I understand why." I look around at all of them. "You wanted me to choose freely."

"Did you?" Dante asks quietly. "Choose, I mean?"

Instead of words, I kiss him. Soft and sure and full of everything I feel.

When we break apart, I look at all of them.

"My heat is coming. And I want to spend it with all of you. Not because of biology, but because I choose to. Because I trust you. Because you've shown me what it means to choose freely."

The words hang in the air. Precious and true.

"Are you sure?" August asks gently.

"I've never been more sure of anything," I say, and I mean it.

I curl deeper into Dante's arms, still clutching Gunner's jacket. Surrounded by them and their love, the cramping eases slightly.

But the fear is still there. "What if my Uncle finds us? What if choosing this gets you killed?"

"We chose you," Dante says simply. "We chose love."

"Is that enough?"

"For you?" August says. "Yes."

They all nod. They've already chosen. They chose me that first night, and they're choosing me now.

For the first time in my life, I'm choosing my own future.

And it's perfect.