Page 28 of Rhythm Of Our Souls (Heartbreak Melody #3)

Nate

“Are you sure she’s not in heat?” Brady asks, shifting in his seat as moans come from the back room.

“Yes,” I chuckle, amused by the uncomfortable looks on both Liam's and Brady’s faces. They want to go back there and join in with the girls, but they both seem to understand that they need this time together.

As luck had it, the photo shoot was pushed back by a few days, so we’ve been camping for two nights to give the girls that extra bit of time together before we have to be in Vegas for work.

The first night we were here, no one got any sleep. Between the sounds the girls were making, which had us harder than ever, and the mixed scents of their perfume, none of us could get our cocks to go down long enough to get any sleep.

These Alphas deserve a medal for their resistance, though. They wanted to go back there so many times, but ended up going for walks to clear their minds. Even Gavin opted to sleep in a tent outside.

Any free moment we had, the girls were together, touching, kissing, laughing, smiling.

Brady and Gavin saw the pain Lulu was in pining after Ally, and the same goes for Liam and me seeing it in Ally for Lulu.

None of us dared to come between them while they got reacquainted.

“This is pure torture,” Liam growls, nostrils flaring, eyes nearly feral. “I’m not sure how much longer I can hold back, Nate.”

“Come.” I stand, grabbing his hand.

His brows furrow at me before his gaze drops to my hand. Sighing, he takes it and lets me lead him outside the bus.

“Where are we going?” he asks as I lead him away. “I don’t want to go too far from them.”

“They will be fine. Brady is in there with them, and Gavin is chilling outside by the fire pit. No one will harm them.”

“Fine,” he grunts. I smile at his grumpy demeanor.

I pull him away, into the trees, out of prying eyes. “Where are you taking me?” he sighs heavily.

“You are stressed, horny, and need some relief.” I point out, chuckling as I glance over my shoulder.

He glowers at me. “Yeah, can you blame me? My Omegas have been making sinful noises for the past two days, and I’ve had to sit on my hands like a good boy and stay away. It’s fucking cruel, Nate.”

“I know.” I grin. “I know, babe.”

Pulling him to a stop, I gesture to a fallen tree. He rolls his eyes but sits down anyway. I sit next to him.

“How are you doing with all of this?” I ask him, surprising him with the question.

His eyes flick over to mine, brows creased. “Me?”

“Yes,” I laugh. “You. I know a lot has happened in a small amount of time. Things are crazy, but in a good way. Still, I wanted to check in with you. Finding your scent match is a big deal. One I know you’ve been dreaming of, but also worrying about for a long time.”

He blinks a few times, eyes drifting off to look out into the forest. Blowing out a breath, he rubs his hands on his knees.

“Overwhelmed,” he admits. “But not in a bad way. It’s just a lot to process.

Everything is so new, and there are so many different moving parts.

My brain is kind of just hanging out in limbo, waiting to know what to do next. ”

“That’s understandable.” I nod. “Let’s start with Lulu. How do you feel being scent matched to her?”

His lips curl into a smile. “Happy,” he answers. “She’s funny, kind, sweet. She knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to take it.”

“She’s a pretty awesome girl,” I agree. I haven’t had much time with Lulu alone, but I can tell from what I’ve seen so far, she’s a good person.

“And how do you feel about the fact she’s the girl Ally’s been in love with for years?”

He rubs at his jaw in thought. “Relieved?” he says, like he’s not sure.

“It’s the best word I can find to describe it.

At least that was my initial reaction. I’ve had it built up in my head that whoever I was going to be scent matched to would only want me, not anyone else I’ve built a life with, because that's what happened to me in my past. And when I built something with an Omega, they have no interest in continuing it once they found their real Alphas.” He looks away, jaw working as he thinks about the past.

“You are a real Alpha,” I reassure, giving his knee a squeeze.

“I know I am,” he sighs. “But at the time, it didn’t feel like it.

Like I wasn’t enough because I wasn’t their scent match.

It got in my head that scent matches were so powerful that it left no room for anyone else in their lives.

And I know that's not true, I've seen it a lot in Calling Wood, where non-scent match pairings worked out with a scent match in the pack. And so many Betas fit perfectly into packs.” He smiles over at me.

“Because they tend to be the level-headed ones.”

I wink. He’s not wrong.

He looks away again. “I guess I just let my trauma affect my mind so much to the point I was just doing what I could to avoid being hurt like that again.”

“And how did that work out for you?” I chuckle.

He gives me a death stare. “Lovely.”

“You just ended up torturing yourself. You’ve loved Ally for years, but didn’t take what your heart wanted because you didn’t think you deserved it.

You had yourself convinced that she was going to leave you if she found her scent match; the same outcome as all the others.

And you were afraid that if you found your scent match, that they would make you give up Ally. ”

“Yes. We’ve been through all of this before,” he sighs in annoyance.

“What I’m saying is that was never going to happen. Do I think that it would have been perfect? No. Would you have had to fight? Most likely. You and Ally might not be scent matches, but you were meant to be together. If there ever was a soul bond, it’s the two of you.”

“You think?” His brows furrow together. “I tried looking up soul bonds when you brought it up, but I didn’t find much.”

“Because it’s rarer than scent matches. It’s often just seen as intense feelings because that's how Omegas and Alphas often feel about everything in life. And it gets dismissed easily. It’s a bond that can be whatever it’s needed to be.

A strong urge to protect someone, like a brother might feel towards a sister, or a strong connection like a best friend feels towards another friend.

But it also works with people in a romantic setting.

That's what I believe is between you and Ally. I’ve even seen it between Lulu and her Alphas.

It’s like being madly in love with someone, but on crack. ”

He snorts out a laugh, shaking his head. “You have such a way with words.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m not wrong, though. I’ve seen it between my parents.

And the lovely thing about it...” I move to straddle his lap, his big hands cupping my ass.

I groan as my cock rubs against his erection, getting a hiss of pleasure from him.

“It’s a bond that’s not just between Alphas and Omegas.

It can be with any designation.” I tangle my hand in his light brown hair.

“Like Alphas and Betas,” I whisper, my heart beating fast as arousal flushes through me. “Me and you.”

His eyes flick between mine. “Yeah? You think?”

Brushing my lips softly against his, I nod, humming as a growl emanates from his chest, while his hands grip me harder.

“I knew from the moment I met you— the strong pull, the urge to be around you all the time; everything about you, from your broody personality to the underlying sweetness—that you were mine, that we had something more. I felt it towards Ally, too. It’s been hard not to act on it in fear of fucking all of this up.

The situation was messy, complicated, and the last thing you both needed was me inserting myself. ”

“You were the only reason neither one of us slipped into some dark space in the back of our minds.” Liam’s voice is gravelly, making my body shiver.

“I tried my best with the position I was in. I know what Ally has been through, and I didn’t want to add to her plate. I tried to stay away from you, too, but I could see you losing yourself. At the time, you needed me more than she did.”

His brows furrow. “What do you mean?”

“I wanted to hold out, to wait for a better time where the three of us could be together, with the open idea of adding other people to the pack, like future scent matches. But the more time I spent with you, the more I saw you slipping into a depression. It killed me to see you so broken. You needed something to hold onto, and I hoped that I’d be enough to keep you afloat until you were ready to see that Ally is your Omega.

That she was one of the people you were meant to be with. ”

“I wasn’t the only one hurting,” Liam’s voice is thick. “She was hurting too. She was hurting so badly that it fucking killed me. She tried so hard to hide it, but I saw.”

“I know.” Guilt hits me. “And that’s one thing that I regret.

I didn’t see just how much she needed us until I started something with you.

I don’t regret being with you; I just wish I had started something with the three of us together.

I was so worried she would think that I was stealing you away, when it was anything but.

It’s why I wanted to keep things behind closed doors.

Not because I wanted us to hide what we felt, but because I didn’t want Ally to think we’d chosen each other over her.

I just... I knew you weren't ready to take that step with her, and I couldn’t leave you to go be with her. It was just—fuck. It was–”

“A hot mess?” Liam finishes. “Complicated beyond compare? A mind fuck that has us all messed up in the head?”

“All of that,” I sigh heavily. “So when she found us together, I made sure she knew it wasn’t what it looked like. I made sure she knew I was working on a plan to get us to all be together, that I just needed to work on you a little longer.”

“But I was a stubborn fucker who was too caught up in my own head?” he asks, lifting a brow.

“I mean, you said it,” I tease casually.