Page 41

Eli

One week later

The evening air carries the scent of possibility as I stand on the terrace outside Beck's study, watching Emmie and Jude in the garden below.

They're walking slowly between the flower beds, deep in conversation about something that has them both gesturing animatedly.

The sight fills me with a contentment so profound it still catches me off guard sometimes.

Three months ago, I was convinced I would spend my life alone.

The broken Alpha who thought nobody would ever love him, who'd convinced himself that his intensity and need for control made him unlovable.

That his scent was too unique to match with an Omega.

Now I realize not that nobody could love me—it was that I'd been stopping it from happening, building walls instead of bridges.

"Brooding again?" Beck's voice carries amusement as he joins me on the terrace, two glasses of whiskey in his hands.

"Reflecting," I correct, accepting the drink gratefully. "There's a difference."

"Is there?" He settles beside me against the railing, his attention also drawn to our mates below. "What thoughts are occupying that mind of yours this time?"

I take a sip of whiskey, letting the warmth spread through my chest before answering. "I'm thinking about how wrong I was about everything. About packs, about belonging, about what I thought I needed."

Beck's eyebrow raises. "Care to elaborate?"

"I spent years thinking I needed to dominate others, to maintain complete control so I wouldn't get hurt again.

" I gesture toward the garden where Emmie has apparently said something that's made Jude throw back his head in laughter.

"Instead, I found something better. I found people who didn't need me to be anything other than myself. "

"Even me?" Beck asks with a tight smile. "I haven't changed."

"No, but what it means has changed. At least for us." I turn to face him fully. "Being my brother, I never expected to be in a pack with you. But here we are. You're my pack mate now because we built something together."

Beck's expression grows serious, touched by something deeper than his usual confident amusement. "You know, when I had my first pack, I thought I knew exactly what I was looking for. Traditional roles, clear hierarchies, everyone in their proper place."

"And now?"

"Now I realize I was building a boardroom, not a family." He takes a long drink, his gaze never leaving our mates. "What we have now is messy and unconventional and completely unprecedented."

"But it will work," I finish.

"It will because we'll make it work. Because we choose each other every day, not because biology or tradition tells us we should have sought a scent matched Omega."

The study door opens behind us, and Jude appears with Emmie close behind. Both of them are flushed from the evening air and whatever conversation they've been having, their connection is a reminder of the soul bond that connects them in ways Beck and I can only imagine.

"Are you two having deep Alpha thoughts out here?" Emmie asks with a teasing smile, moving to slip her arms around my waist from behind.

"The deepest," Beck replies solemnly. "We were just discussing who the real number one Alpha is in this pack."

I feel Emmie's laughter vibrate against my back before it bubbles out into the evening air. "Oh, please. You're both ridiculous if you think there's any kind of ranking system here."

"Excuse me," Beck says with mock offense. "I'll have you know as the elder—"

"And I've been running businesses since I was sixteen," I interrupt. "Leadership isn't about age, it's about—"

"It's about all of us being exactly equal," Emmie cuts us both off firmly, moving to stand where she can look at all of us directly. "This pack is beautiful because we are all so different that we make something whole and wonderful."

"And you're our heart," Jude says softly, taking her hand. "The one who reminds us why we're building this in the first place."

She smiles, and when she does, we all stare at her. The moment stretches between us, and all I can think about is we're about to make us permanent. This perfect unconventional pack.

"So," Beck says after a moment, his voice carrying a tone that means he's shifting into serious mode. "Are we ready for this? Really ready?"

It's the question we've been dancing around all week. Tonight is the new moon, the night we've chosen to complete our pack bonds. To mark each other, claim each other, make this unconventional family official in every way that matters.

The specialist signed an NDA before treating Emmie and Jude. Because there was no way Jude wasn't an Aurora Omega too. He admitted it beforehand. He'd always know. Not only that, but he's the only male one known.

But he will never be outed. He's now in as much danger as Emmie. But Beck and I will burn the world down to stop anyone from hurting our Omegas ever again.

"I've been ready since the moment I realized what this was," I say without hesitation.

"Even knowing it's permanent?" Beck presses as Emmie and Jude, deep in conversation, walk away. "Even knowing there's no going back once we do this?"

I look around at the three people who've become my entire world, especially her.

The Omega who saw my strength instead of my damage, the one who challenges me to be better every day.

And him. The Omega I never knew I needed.

The one who accepted Emmie needed her alphas during her first heat, and he waited despite his own discomfort.

For that, I will love and trust him every day.

"Especially knowing that," I say firmly. "I'm going to ask Jude if I can claim him, too."

"You should ask Emmie first if she wants you too," Beck says.

"Did I hear my name being mentioned?" Emmie calls from where she stands with Jude looking at the gazebo being built in the distance.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

Emmie nods, her eyes bright with certainty. "Of course."

In the house, I relay what I told Beck about claiming Jude. Her eyes shimmer with water as I ask, "But I can only do it if you give me permission. I don't want to cause a pack war."

"If you're asking for my blessing. I will give it to you it. How can I not? I love Jude. If you love him too and you feel him, then ask him."

I swallow and nod when she asks, "Do you want me to send him in?"

When Jude stands before me, I say, "I spent so many years hiding who I really was, afraid to let anyone see the real me. I never knew I'd love two Omegas."

"You love me?" Jude murmurs.

I sigh deeply. "I do and I'm done hiding. I want to belong to you and I want to belong to Emmie. But only if you want it."

Jude's expression goes from surprise to something that looks a lot like hope. His eyes are on mine as he says. "I'd love that."