Page 46 of Mating With My Grumpy Alphas (Hollow Haven #2)

Rhett

T he air in the nest room was thick with the scent of successful bonding.

Two claims, two permanent connections, two thirds of a pack that was rapidly becoming something extraordinary.

But the underlying current of heat was stronger now, more urgent.

Willa's body was preparing for the final claiming, and every instinct I possessed was screaming at me to answer that call.

I stood in the doorway, taking in the scene before me. Willa was curled against Wes, both of them naked and sated but alert. She looked up when she sensed my presence, and the need in her eyes hit me like a physical blow.

"Rhett," she said, and my name sounded different now. Deeper, richer, carrying the weight of two established bonds and the promise of a third.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, stepping into the room and closing the door behind me.

"Empty," she said honestly, making both Wes tighten his hold on her protectively. "I can feel both of them in my mind, but there's still a space. A place that's waiting for you."

The vulnerability in her admission made my chest tight. This incredible woman, who had already given so much of herself, was still willing to trust me with the final piece of her heart.

"Are you sure you're ready?" I asked, settling on the edge of the bed. "This is the completion. Once we're all bonded, there's no going back."

"I don't want to go back," she said firmly. "I want to go forward. All the way forward, with all of you."

The certainty in her voice was everything I needed to hear. But I could also see the exhaustion in her eyes, the way two intensive claimings had pushed her body to its limits even as heat continued to drive her need higher.

"This one's going to be different," I said, looking between her and Wes. "More intense. The final claiming usually is."

I heard the nest door quietly open as Elias slipped inside no doubt wanting to check on her as well.

"Different how?" Willa asked, though I could see in her expression that she already suspected.

"Rougher," I said honestly. "More possessive. Your body knows this is the last connection, and it's going to demand everything you have to give."

"And I'm going to give it," she said without hesitation. "Whatever you need to claim me properly, I want it."

The trust in her words nearly undid me. After everything Sterling had done to her, all the ways he'd made her afraid of alpha dominance, she was still willing to surrender to the intensity she knew I carried.

"We can be right here if you want us to be," Wes said, understanding what I was asking. "Supporting both of you through it."

"Together," Elias added. "All of us together for the final bond."

I nodded, grateful for their willingness to share this moment instead of expecting privacy. Final claimings should be pack events, witnessed and supported by the entire family unit. It made the bond stronger, more stable.

I removed my clothes slowly, letting Willa watch and anticipate. Her scent was deepening with every passing moment, the heat reaching levels that demanded immediate attention. By the time I was naked, she was already reaching for me with desperate hands.

"Come here," she pleaded. "I need you. I need to feel complete."

I crawled into the nest, my alpha instincts preening at the fact that this perfect omega was inviting me inside.

I settled over her, my larger frame covering her completely in a way that made her omega instincts sing with recognition.

This was what final claiming looked like.

Total coverage, absolute possession, the kind of dominance that left no doubt about who she belonged to.

"Tell me you want this," I said, my voice already rough with need. "Tell me you want me to claim you completely."

"I want it," she said firmly. "I want you to make me yours. I want to belong to all of you completely."

The permission unleashed something primal in me, every civilized impulse giving way to pure alpha instinct. I kissed her hard, claiming her mouth with the same intensity I was about to use on her body. She responded immediately, her hands fisting in my hair as she gave as good as she got.

"That's it," I growled against her lips. "Show me how much you want it."

The encouragement seemed to flip a switch in her. Where she'd been yielding and soft with the others, with me she became fierce. Demanding. Her nails raked down my back, her teeth found my lower lip, her hips rolled against mine with clear intent.

"Fuck," I breathed, overwhelmed by the intensity of her response. "You're incredible."

"I'm yours," she corrected. "Make me prove it."

The challenge in her voice was exactly what my alpha instincts had been waiting for. I flipped her over without warning, positioning her on her hands and knees in a display of dominance that made her moan with need.

"This what you want?" I asked, running my hands possessively over the curve of her back, the flare of her hips. "Want me to take you like this?"

"Yes," she gasped, pushing back against me. "Like this. Show me what it means to be owned by you."

I entered her in one smooth thrust, both of us crying out at the intensity of the connection. She was ready for me, more than ready, her body welcoming the invasion with enthusiastic acceptance.

"Harder," she demanded when I started with careful movements. "Don't treat me like I'm fragile. I'm not fragile."

The fierce certainty in her voice shattered the last of my restraint. I gave her what she was asking for, setting a rhythm that was deep and powerful and unmistakably claiming. Each thrust was a statement of ownership, a declaration that she belonged to me as completely as I belonged to her.

"Yes," she sobbed, her voice breaking with pleasure. "Like that. Exactly like that."

I could feel Wes and Elias watching, their own arousal spiking as they witnessed their omega being claimed with such intensity. But there was no jealousy, no competition. Just the deep satisfaction of alphas watching their pack bond reach completion.

"You're taking it so well," I told her, my hands gripping her hips hard enough to leave marks. "Taking everything I'm giving you and asking for more."

"Because I'm yours," she panted. "Because this is what I was made for."

The submission in her words was absolute, but it wasn't broken or defeated. It was fierce, chosen, powerful in its complete surrender. She wasn't giving up her strength. She was weaponizing it, using it to take everything I could give and transform it into something beautiful.

"Getting close," I warned her, feeling the familiar pressure building at the base of my spine.

"Me too," she gasped. "Rhett, I'm so close it hurts."

"The bite," I said, my voice barely recognizable. "When you come, I'm going to mark you. Going to make you mine forever."

"Do it," she demanded. "Claim me. Complete our pack."

The words triggered something fundamental in me, every instinct I possessed focusing on the single goal of marking this omega as mine. My movements became more urgent, more focused, driven by biological imperatives older than civilization.

"Now," she screamed as her climax crashed over her like a tidal wave. "Rhett, now!"

I struck at the moment her orgasm peaked, my teeth finding the back of her neck in the traditional position for final claiming. The bite was deeper than the others, more permanent, marking her as completely and irrevocably owned.

The bond that formed was like lightning, sudden and overwhelming and absolutely transformative.

But this time, instead of connecting just to her, I could feel all of them.

Wes's protective satisfaction, Elias's gentle joy, Willa's complete surrender and contentment.

We weren't just bonded pairs anymore. We were a pack.

"Mine," I growled against her neck, my knot locking us together as my body shuddered with the most intense orgasm of my life.

"Ours," she corrected, and I could feel the truth of it through all three bonds. She didn't belong to any one of us. She belonged to all of us, just as we all belonged to each other.

As my knot locked us together, I carefully helped her settle between all three of us. She was exhausted but glowing, her scent carrying the complex markers of a completely bonded omega. Safe, satisfied, owned in the best possible way.

"How do you feel?" Elias asked, his healer's instincts making him check for any signs of distress.

"Complete," she said softly. "For the first time in my life, I feel complete."

"Three bonds," Wes said with wonder. "I can feel all of you."

"Pack bonds," I corrected. "The real thing."

But even as we basked in the afterglow of completed bonding, I could sense something building in Willa. The heat wasn't finished with us yet. If anything, the establishment of full pack bonds had triggered something deeper, more intense.

"It's not over," she said, confirming my suspicions. "The heat's not breaking. It's getting stronger."

"Final phase," Elias said, understanding immediately. "Pack bonding heat. It's rare, but not unheard of."

"What does that mean?" Willa asked, though her increasing scent production suggested she already knew.

"It means your body wants all of us," I said, sharing a look with the other two alphas. "Not one at a time. All of us together."

The idea should have been overwhelming, logistically impossible. But looking at the need in her eyes, feeling the biological imperative through our newly formed bonds, I knew it was exactly what she needed to complete the claiming process.

"Together?" she asked, and there was anticipation rather than fear in her voice.

"Together," Wes confirmed. "If that's what you want."

"I want it," she said firmly. "I want to feel owned by all of you at the same time. I want there to be no doubt that I belong to this pack completely."

The determination in her voice sent heat shooting through me again, my body already responding to the promise of what was coming. This was going to be intense, overwhelming, absolutely transformative for all of us.

"Then that's what we'll give you," I promised. "Everything you need, everything you want."

As we began to position ourselves around her, I realized that this was the moment everything had been building toward. Not just the individual claimings, but this. The complete surrender and acceptance that would make us truly, permanently, irrevocably pack.