Page 41 of How to Lose a Pack in 10 Dates

Aimee

M y body still aches when I finally wake again. Every nerve feels like it’s buzzing under my skin, but I’m no longer drowning in it. I’m hot, dizzy, and sore in places I didn’t know could ache; and I think I’ve been crying in my sleep again because my face feels tight and sticky.

But I’m not alone. Someone’s stroking my hair, someone else is whispering, and a third hand is gripping mine.

The nest is a mess around me, blankets kicked halfway off the bed, pillows scattered, clothes tangled and damp. I must have thrashed in my sleep, must have kicked and spun, but they’re still here.

They stayed.

Jace is behind me, his chest warm against my back, his fingers in my hair. Cam’s at the end of the mattress, his hand resting lightly on my shin. I blink blearily, lashes stuck together—

And he’s there. Wes. Crouched beside the bed, his handsome face lit by the low bedside lamp, and those deep blue eyes locked on mine.

“Hi,” I rasp.

He breathes in—sharp, almost shaky—and then lets it out slowly. “Hey.”

He reaches up to brush a strand of sweaty hair away from my cheek. His fingertips graze my temple, then linger at my jaw. It’s the softest he’s been with me in a long time. Maybe ever.

“I thought you wouldn’t come,” I whisper.

“We almost didn’t deserve to.” His thumb traces the curve of my cheekbone, then his hand drops back down to grip mine again, tighter this time.

“I wasn’t ready,” I whisper. “I didn’t think it would hit like this.”

A rustle shifts the sheets behind me.

“I know,” Jace murmurs, his lips brushing the crown of my head. “It blindsided us too.”

“I’ve always been able to manage it,” I go on, voice wobbling. “It wasn’t supposed to happen now. I… thought I could control it.”

“Stop.” That’s Wes—rough and certain. “This isn’t on you.”

I turn my head, blinking up at him.

“This is on us,” he continues. “You went through the worst of it alone, because we didn’t listen. Because I didn’t trust you when I should’ve. Because I pushed you away every time you got close.”

He shakes his head. “I smelled you in heat and I wanted to tear through the walls to get to you. And all I could think was—you shouldn’t have had to do this without us.”

“ Wes .”

I squeeze his hand. His eyes meet mine, and this time, I don’t let him shoulder the wreckage alone.

“You weren’t wrong about me,” I say quietly. “Not completely.”

His brows pull together.

“When this started… it was about the article. It was all for work . I came in with a plan and a pitch and a chip on my shoulder the size of your ego. I didn’t come here to feel anything. I wasn’t supposed to.”

The silence deepens around us.

“The point was always to prove a theory. That scent-matching was flawed; that omegas like me couldn’t trust the system, and that it was rigged to funnel us toward alphas we couldn’t afford to fall for.”

Wes doesn’t move, but I feel the others shift. Jace’s hand brushes my spine, and Cam’s fingers tighten around my knee.

“And then we had our first date,” I continue. “And you—you were so rude and arrogant, and still so good-looking that I wanted to scream. You pissed me off so much, I told myself I’d get even for what happened.”

Wes’s jaw flexes.

“I told myself I could handle it. That I could write the piece, prove the tech was bullshit, humiliate you and dismantle your pack—and walk away clean.”

There’s a long beat of silence.

“I was wrong,” I murmur. “I underestimated you. All of you.”

Cam’s breathing shifts. Jace is still as stone behind me.

“Because it stopped being a story the moment I started laughing with Jace at the farmer’s market; and by the time I went to that pottery class with Cam, I was completely doomed.”

My voice trembles now. I let it.

“I didn’t mean to fall for you. I didn’t want to fall for you. But I did. All of you. And I was so scared of what that meant that I clung to the stupid article.”

I glance at each of them. Cam’s eyes are glassy, Jace’s fingers won’t stop moving through my hair, and Wes watches me; unreadable, but listening.

“I kept telling myself I could split it down the middle,” I say, voice breaking. “The plan and the feelings. That I could manage both without hurting anyone. But I was lying—to myself and to you. And I’m so sorry.”

No one moves.

“I crossed a line,” I whisper. “I betrayed all of your trust. played with something sacred, and I knew it was wrong, and I still did it. I hurt you, one by one; and I’m not asking you to forget that. But I need you to know I see it. What I did, and how wrong it was.”

Wes’s throat bobs, but I press on. I can’t stop now.

“If I could take it back, I would. But I can’t. All I can do is tell you that I never meant to fake what we had. Not for one second. None of you were a byline. You were the best thing that ever happened to me—and I was too scared to believe I deserved it.”

My next words are raw. “I didn’t want to want you.”

Wes lets out something between a laugh and a sigh. “That makes two of us.”

“But I do,” I say, voice thick. “Even after everything, even knowing I messed it all up, I still want you.”

His eyes close. When they open again, they’re shining.

“So do we,” he murmurs.

And slowly—so slowly he gives me time to flinch if I need to—he leans in and presses his forehead to mine.

“You saw the article,” I sigh.

“We read it,” Cam says softly. “The real one, just like you said. Not… Not the version that gutted us.”

Jace’s hand curls a little tighter in my hair. “We’re so fucking sorry.”

I close my eyes. Their voices are a balm over an open wound, but it still aches. “You didn’t believe me.”

“I didn’t even let you talk, ” Wes say. He sounds furious—with himself. “I was wrong. I was just—angry. Scared . I didn’t listen, but I should’ve done.”

“I always tell the kids at school to fight for things that matter,” Cam murmurs. “And then, when it mattered most, we didn’t even fight for you.”

“I’m such an idiot.” Tears threaten again, but I blink them back. “I didn’t publish it.”

Cam blinks. “What?”

“I didn’t. I’d given up,” I say, my voice shaking. “After that night, I could hardly even look at it. I thought I’d ruined everything, and I couldn’t bear to read my own words. But Rachel still had access to my drive. She… she went in, and she published it.”

Jace exhales hard. “Holy shit.”

“I think she was trying to help,” I whisper. “Even if it felt like too little, too late.”

There’s a beat of silence. Then—

“That article saved us,” Wes says quietly. “It saved me.”

I press a shaking hand to my chest. “I tried to be clever, tried to stay in control; but I’ve never— god , I’ve never needed anyone like I need all of you.”

“You’ve got us,” Jace says fiercely, the words a vow. “You always did.”

Wes shifts closer. “If you still want us.”

“I do,” I whisper, tears finally spilling. “So much it hurts.”

Their scents wrap around me; so different, so distinct, and yet… right . It’s overwhelming in a way that doesn’t scare me anymore. The next wave of heat rolls through me, and I whimper before I can stop it, pressing my thighs together and trying to quiet the desperation tearing through me.

“I want—” I gasp, then break off.

Jace shifts, pulling me closer. “Tell us.”

I swallow hard. “I want all of you.”

Three sets of eyes lock on me.

Three instincts snap taut.

Three bonds, frayed and bruised, start to pulse with life.

“I need you all,” I whisper. “ Now ”

Jace is the first to touch me, his palm flat and steady against my hip. “You sure, baby?”

His voice undoes me.

“Yes,” I breathe. “I’m sure.”

Cam’s already rising from the floor, crawling onto the bed with cautious grace. His fingers trail down my thigh, then stop. “Tell us if anything feels wrong.”

“I’ll stop breathing before I stop listening to you,” Wes adds quietly, still kneeling beside the bed. “You’re the only voice I’m taking orders from now.”

Their hands are on me, and I close my eyes as I let myself feel it.

Jace’s strength pressed against my back, his lips brushing the side of my neck. Cam’s fingers tease along the waistband of my sleep shorts, and Wes’s hand is still holding mine, but is now resting over my heart.

“You were burning alone,” Wes murmurs, eyes locked on mine. “But you’re not alone now. You’re not doing any of this alone again.”

And just like that, my nest doesn’t feel like a place I was abandoned. It feels like home .

*

Time warps after that. It bends and stretches around the heat in my body, around the way they’re touching me everywhere, all at once. I can’t tell where one of them ends and the next begins: I just know I’m not alone.

Large, dominant hands move over me with reverence and hunger while greedy mouths press to skin. My heat is thick in the air now, dizzying and primal, dragging us all under. I can’t breathe without tasting them, can’t think without feeling them.

Jace’s scent curls around my throat, and I instinctively tip my head back against his shoulder, baring my neck in surrender I can’t take back.

My whole body is shaking with need, my skin damp, my thoughts gone.

All that’s left is the throb between my legs and the low growl he lets out when I arch against him.

“Fuck,” he breathes against my ear. “You’re burning up for it, aren’t you? So fucking slick already. Could’ve had anyone take care of this, but you waited. You waited for us.”

His arm bands tight across my waist, holding me flush against his chest as he nudges the thick head of his cock over my cunt. He pushes inside me slowly, with a steady hand and a filthy groan, inch by inch until I’m stretched to my limit; and then past it.

“Oh— fuck , Jace—”

My legs threaten to give out, but he’s already got me. His other hand slips under my thigh, lifting and bracing it, keeping me open for him as he begins to move in deep, grounding thrusts. His knot isn’t even swollen yet, but I can feel the base of it dragging against my entrance, promising more.