Page 44 of Pack Scratch Fever

PIPER

This Heat is wild .

I’ve never been hungrier in my life, and in between my arousal, I scarf down food like I’ll never see it again.

I down pitchers of ice water, always wanting more.

I wrap myself in nesting blankets, nuzzle against soft fabrics, and whine for attention.

Yet the pack makes sure I never have to leave the bedroom.

When my arousal hits me like a freight train, one of them is there to knot me.

Avery insists on making sure the nesting blankets are always clean and warm, Maddox wants to cook, and Poe continuously barks orders.

All three of them hold me close, cuddling and purring for me as much as they can.

Poe is exceptionally clingy, occasionally growling at the others until he can have me to himself.

“I almost lost you once,” he answers when I inquire about the behavior. “I won’t do that again.”

You don’t have to do all this, I want to argue, but I know what the response would be.

They don’t do it because they have to; they do it because they want to.

Doting on me makes them happy.

Caring for me brings them joy.

And by the end of the week, when my Heat symptoms start to subside, it clicks.

I’m wrapped in a thick cream nesting blanket, dressed in soft cotton sleep clothes while Poe reads to me. The scene is adorable—the four of us, all in comfy outfits, lounge on my nest while Poe reads out loud a detective book I caught him with before.

It’s not my preferred genre of fiction, but I enjoy the sound of his voice, and apparently, Avery and Maddox don’t mind story time, either.

That’s when it finally clicks.

I sit up with a start, ready to finally face the truth.

Poe pauses his reading and places the book down, eyeing me curiously.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Maddox asks, yawning. He lounges in grey sweatpants on top of an ivory comforter, his hands behind his head.

“You love me.”

I speak the words to Poe, but they apply to the two other Alphas on the bed.

A flash of surprise flickers on Poe’s face, but then his expression softens. “I do,” he says simply.

“Duh,” Maddox says, sitting up and taking my hand. “Where have you been?” He flashes me a brilliant smile, one that makes my insides melt.

I blush.

Avery sits up too, beaming. “I’ve loved you since I met you that first day at the cat rescue,” he declares, and Maddox rolls his eyes.

“You didn’t love her first , asshole.”

Avery scowls, and I laugh.

“Regardless,” Poe says, looking at me thoughtfully, “I love you, deeply. Probably stupidly. I love you in a way that doesn’t make sense in my head. I’m in love with you, Piper.”

I swallow the lump in my throat.

“I’m not the easiest person in the world to be with,” he adds. “I know that. Yet somehow, you were willing to accept me since the day we met. You were kind, even when I wasn’t. You pushed back. You challenged me, and it’s the sexiest thing you could do. You make me want to be better.”

My throat closes up. “I wouldn’t say I was kind ,” I choke out, and Maddox laughs.

“Baby, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to us,” he says. “It’s an honor to be your scent match. Frankly, you’re everything we could have asked for, and more.”

“It’s an honor to love you,” Avery says. “You’re one of my best friends now, Piper. You’re family, always.”

Family.

I flinch at the thought of my parents and the sisters that want nothing to do with me.

“Family is what you make it,” Maddox says, as if reading my mind. “And we are family—we’re scent matches. Or mates, if you ever wanted that.”

Mates.

Yes , my inner Omega screams. Yes, we want that .

The truth is, I do too.

I want to have a pack, to have a place where I belong.

But there are some things left that I need to get off my chest.

My hands shake with nerves while I look to Avery, the gentlest Alpha of my pack.

I keep my eyes locked on him while I tell my story.

“I’ve never had a pack before the three of you,” I admit.

“Every other Alpha I’ve been with has been selfish.

They never made me feel special. Heats were transactional, and their Ruts came first.” I swallow and pick at a thread on the blanket while Maddox squeezes my hand.

“I met the last Alpha I was with on a dating app, and I spent my Heat at a hotel with him.” I swallow, memories flooding my mind.

“He was selfish, cold, and cared only about his own needs. He knotted me, then left as soon as he could.”

Avery swears, and I chuckle humorlessly.

“It was horrible, and I fully expected never to find a pack after that. I convinced myself that I deserved to be treated that way, that maybe…” my voice cracks. “Maybe I wasn’t worthy of being treated well.”

“You know that’s not true—” Poe cuts in, but I hold up a hand to stop him.

“I know it’s not,” I say gently. “But at the time, I think my heart believed it. I think I’ve been punishing myself for a long time. I’ve had these standards in my head that I’ve never met—but I’m not the one that put those expectations there.”

Poe nods. “I understand that,” he says softly.

I let out a nervous breath. “But I’m starting to realize that those voices were wrong. They’ve always been wrong.”

“Damn right, babe,” Maddox adds. “And once you give me the name of that hotel guy, I’ll ruin his fucking life.”

I chuckle. “That’s not the point.” I meet Maddox’s intense icy gaze. “What I’m trying to say is, I love you, too,” I tell him earnestly.

His eyes widen, and he squeezes my hand.

Then, I turn to Avery. “I love you,” I murmur, and he beams.

Finally, I look to Poe. “I love you, as well.”

Poe’s smile is bright and brilliant, making him look ten years younger.

I did it.

I finally told my Alphas my true feelings for them.

“Come here,” Poe says, placing the book on the nightstand.

Tearing the blanket off me, I climb over to him and press my lips to his.

Then, I drown in the scents of my Alphas, tears spilling down my cheeks.

My confession has lifted a weight off my chest, and joy radiates in my soul.

They love me.

I am loved.

The cuddling turns to kissing.

The kissing turns to much more.

We’re a mess of limbs in the nest, me being passed back and forth between the three of him. They mouth at my mating gland, run their hands down my body, and tease me with their fingers and tongues.

My Heat is almost over, so the touches aren’t as urgent or desperate.

But they’re just as deliberate, each of them taking their time with me to draw out my pleasure.

Scents swirl around me until I’m not sure who I’m touching or tasting. I only know that I’m connected to the three of them in my heart and body.

Soon, it will be in my soul, too.

There’s no reason for us to be apart anymore after my confession.

My inner Omega knows she has found her mates—and she’s growing inpatient.

They’re seen all of me and accepted me.

I’m ready to be tied to them permanently.

Poe is the first one to take me. He slides into me slowly, keeping his grey eyes locked on mine as he pushes into me, his cock filling me deliciously.

“I need you to mate me,” I whisper, and the room grows still.

Poe freezes mid thrust, and I whimper, my cunt clenching his cock desperately.

His catmint scent fills the air, and I drink in his aroma greedily.

“Are you sure?” he asks in a strained whisper. “We don’t have to. We’ll wait as long as you need.”

But I can feel his cock start to inflate from just my words. I gasp and arch my back, and he begins to thrust again, drawing pleasure from me.

“I’m sure. I want you first,” I breathe.

His pace quickens, the bed frame squeaking with his movements, and he lets out a guttural groan.

With one final slam of his hips, his teeth sink into my mating gland, and I cry out from the instant orgasm.

It’s nothing like I’ve ever felt before.

Poe is everywhere inside my soul, the core of who he is flowing through my bloodstream.

“Mine,” I gasp out, as he groans.

“Yours,” he confirms with a slam of his hips. “Yours, Omega. Always.”

His cock fully inflates, spurting cum into my womb, and our mating bond forms.

I see everything he’s hidden from me.

I sense his insecurities, his loneliness, and the deeply held belief that he’s never been good enough.

The belief that mirrors mine so greatly.

Seeing those pieces, the ugly parts that hurt him as much as they hurt me, makes me love him more.

He’ll take care of these parts of me, just like I’ll treasure those parts of him.

It takes hours for him to pull out of me, both of us just enjoying the newly completed mating bond.

But there are two other Alphas I desperately need.

When Poe is finally out of me, his cock soft and his knot deflating, Maddox joins me in my nest. He takes his time tasting me, his spicy ginger and pepper scent making my head swim.

“I’ve wanted this since the day I met you,” he growls as he slides into me. “To stuff you with cum while I give my soul to you.”

He’s rougher than Poe, and he grunts while slamming into me, his cockhead hitting the sensitive spot inside me. He’s impatient when he bites down on my gland, and I scream in pleasure, twitching and shaking in his hold.

Once again, I’m hit with the loneliness that Maddox carries, the deep, desperate need he has to belong to someone.

I sense the ugly, irrational fear that he will be abandoned again.

We kiss each other through it, my soul melding with his, me whimpering against his lips as I process all the feelings that barrel into me.

Just like Poe, Maddox is complicated, and parts of him are broken.

But I love every single piece.

I lift my legs over my head, allowing Maddox to slam into me so hard the bed frame groans in protest. When he finally empties his cum into me and stuffs me with his knot, tears are running down my cheeks.

“I love you,” he whispers, kissing away each tear. “I love you; I love you.”

I murmur the words back, and he presses his forehead to mine, his cock pulsing inside me.

Just like with Poe, I can’t get enough.