Page 23

Lily

After I explained to Rumor and her mates that I would be staying with Roan, Benji, and Harlan for a bit, to kind of test the waters, my friend helped me pack up some of my things.

Considering I didn’t have a whole lot, the two duffels she loaned me ended up holding most of my personal items. But I wasn’t giving up my little apartment just yet.

Having it there if I needed it gave me the confidence to try out life with this pack. I’d never had such security or so many people who wanted me for me, not just to use me. It was a heady feeling but also frightening. What if something changed? I’d known bad for much longer than good.

Then, as I was closing the second duffel, I heard them outside chatting with Rumor’s mates. Their friendly tones and laughter drew me to look out the window and see them there, the six big males, and three of them wanted me.

I’d seen how Rumor’s treated her, and I’d been willing to accept that they were the exception that proved the rule. All others treated omegas terribly, except them. The odds of my finding mates as wonderful as Rumor’s had to be infinitesimal, and finding even better males?

Impossible.

Yet, I thought I had.

“Ready?” Rumor moved to pick up one bag, but I quickly lifted them both. She didn’t need to be doing that in her situation. “Lily!”

“I’ve got these. We’re going to have to figure out how to get ready for the market if I’m not here.”

“How about for this week I’ll just do what I can, and when we see you at the market, we can make more plans. I think what you’re doing today is enough for today.”

“Sure?”

She hugged me hard and kissed me on the cheek. “Lily, go and be happy. If you’re not, you come back here immediately. I will send my mates for you any time of day or night.”

The tears I tried so hard to hold back spilled down my cheeks at the love I’d experienced here with Rumor and her alphas.

And, of course, once I started, my hormonal friend followed, and a few minutes later, all six men, Vargas carrying Bernie, came upstairs to see what we were up to and found us crying in each other’s arms.

I felt guilty as we drove away. Bernie did not need me getting her upset, even if she told me it was okay.

“You all right, Lily?” Roan asked. He was driving, and I sat in the passenger seat, the other two guys in the back.

“Yes, I will be. Are you sure you want to take on a mess like me?”

“You’re not a mess,” Benji asserted. “It’s not easy to try on a new life. But we hope you won’t regret it.”

“I’ll be all right.”

Harlan patted my shoulder. “You need a good night’s sleep. Things will look clearer in the morning.”

“The bed is very comfortable in the room I slept in last time.”

“That room is for you,” Benji said. “It always has been, so if there’s something you don’t like, just say so and we’ll change it right away. No questions asked.”

I protested, but they insisted, and when we got to the house, Roan and Harlan carried my bags up while Benji put a frozen lasagna in the oven.

The en suite in my room was as nice as the bedroom, as I’d discovered the first morning when I showered in there, but it also had a big, deep tub, and while dinner heated, I took their advice and spent an hour soaking in the warm water with towers of bubbles.

There were a number of bath products at my disposal. These alphas thought of everything.

Dinner was lovely, and we sat together in the living room and watched a movie.

Although Roan and Benji sat on either side of me, they didn’t try to touch or kiss me, giving me time and space.

They’d told me more than once that anything between us was in my time.

Up to me. It was so strange, not the way things usually were, but I was starting to trust them.

When I began to yawn, Roan turned off the TV and helped me to my feet. “Bedtime, I think. If you need anything, just call out and we’ll hear you.”

They all walked me upstairs and left me at my door. I changed into a sleep tee and crawled into my ever-so-comfortable bed, prepared to go right out.

But then I didn’t. I lay awake and feeling as if something was wrong. A strange place, of course. I’d been here one night, and it must just be that it was in general unfamiliar. Finally, I gave up trying and went downstairs for a glass of water.

I made it as far as the sofa and sank down, pulling the afghan over me and inhaling the scents of all three of the alphas. Sleep overtook me almost instantly.

I woke to the sound of the front door opening and shot to sit upright. Benji and Roan were entering, pulling on their shirts. They’d mentioned going out on perimeter runs at night.

“Lily?” Benji came over and sat beside me. “What’s wrong? Couldn’t you sleep?”

“No, and then I came down here and your scents made me relax, I think.”

“We don’t want you down here on this uncomfortable couch.” Roan leaned on the chair across from the sofa. “Can we do anything to make you feel better in your room?”

I chewed on my lower lip before asking, “Would you mind, one or all of you, coming to sleep with me? Just for tonight?”

“Omega, we will all stay with you tonight and any night if you welcome us.” Benji stood and drew me with him. “Let’s go upstairs, and we’ll get you tucked in.”

Along the way, they rapped at Harlan’s door and brought him along with us. They undressed partially, crawling in beside me in their boxer briefs, after asking me if that was all right.

It was all right.

More than all right to have them beside me in bed all night, their breaths mingling with mine.