Page 54 of Stream Heat (Omega Stream #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Kara

My words hit like a bomb and suddenly each of them were staring at me like they couldn’t believe what I’d just said.

The streaming room felt way too cramped for this, like trying to bottle a thunderstorm with my bare hands.

Every inch of the air was charged. Five Alphas, their gazes locked on me, their scents mixing into a cocktail that should've knocked me flat. Instead, it felt pretty damn close to coming home. Reid’s bite on my shoulder throbbed with a new pulse, the bond already singing, snapping between us like live wire.

“Not here,” Reid growled, and it came out rough, half victorious, half possessive. “The others deserve better than a streaming room floor for this.”

He wasn’t wrong. This had stopped being about heat or biology about ten heartbeats ago. Now it was about choice. About pack. About ties even the universe wouldn’t undo.

“The den,” Malik suggested, his composure fraying around the edges. “More space. Actually comfortable.”

I didn’t trust my voice, so I just nodded.

My legs were boneless, but not from weakness, not exactly; more like the intensity crackling between all of us was too much for muscles to remember their job.

Reid steadied me. Beneath the surface, through our new bond, I could feel his emotions: pride, possessive joy, and a deep satisfaction like he’d found the first piece of a lost puzzle.

The walk to the den felt both endless and way too short.

Behind me, every step had five Alphas following in my shadow, their protective instincts dialed up to eleven after the stream.

The den was all golden, afternoon sunlight, plush comfort, oversized sectional couch dominating the room.

Nobody wasted time. Jace fiddled with the lighting until it was soft and moody.

Ash locked the doors, double-checking, then triple-checking.

Theo grabbed water bottles from the fridge.

Everything moved with a kind of unspoken coordination that felt like pack.

“Kara.” Reid’s voice cut through the buzz in my head. His fingers brushed across his new mark on my shoulder, sending chills all the way down my spine. “We need to be clear. The others need to hear this is your choice.”

I was grateful for the pause, even while every cell in my body screamed for more of them. “I know what I want,” I said, and I made myself hold all their gazes, one by one. “I want the bonds. All of them. Not for heat or instinct. For me. Because I choose this. I choose you. All of you.”

“And we choose you,” Jace said, close now, voice stripped bare. “But claiming bites, Kara… there’s no taking them back.”

“I know.” My voice was steady, surer than I’d expected. “I’ve never been more certain of anything.”

Through the bond, I felt Reid’s satisfaction flare, hot and real. His mark pulsed, a physical echo.

Theo was nearly vibrating, unable to keep still. “So, uh… is there an order? Or does it matter?”

I paused, feeling that strange, bright pull toward each of them. Reid’s bond was there already, a steady heat in my chest. “Jace goes next,” I said, watching how his eyes widened fractionally. “Then Theo, then Ash, then Malik.”

No one argued. They just understood. This wasn’t about favoritism or rank. It was about what felt right.

I watched Jace as he closed the last few steps, not with a lunge, but with a reverent stillness.

For a moment I thought he’d freeze again, let the space between us swell with all the words he’d never say.

Instead, he slid his hands around mine, so delicate they trembled, and traced my knuckles with his thumbs as if he were memorizing their shape.

He didn’t need words. His scent filled the air: sharp with longing, threaded through with a humility that felt like it might unmake us both.

He leaned in, and suddenly the world shrank to the curve of his lips. “You know what you are to me?” he murmured, his voice a soft vibration against my skin. “You’re the first person who made me want to be seen. Not watched. Seen.”

My throat threatened to close, but I forced the words out. “You let me see you, too. That’s everything, Jace.”

He kissed me then, deliberate and precise like a signature.

I pressed into that kiss, letting the slight tremor in his hands root me to the moment.

When he broke away, he searched my eyes, not demanding but asking.

I turned my wrist, palm up, offering the pale skin of my forearm.

He cradled it in both hands, thumb resting over my pulse.

“Are you sure?” he asked, as if my heartbeat could speak for me.

“Absolutely,” I whispered.

His bite was paradoxical, clinical yet not cold, gentle yet irreversible. The shock of pain flared, then dissolved into a bond roaring to life.

If Reid’s bond had been wildfire, Jace’s was an ocean, freezing at first, then rising until I couldn’t tell where my thoughts ended and his began. In that tide, I felt his loyalty, his measured devotion, and a longing so raw it would have undone a lesser Alpha.

Now I carried two bonds, distinct but intertwined, like twin stars pulling me into a stronger orbit. I gasped, not from pain, but from the rush of something falling perfectly into place.

Before I could fully savor it, Theo flooded in.

No hesitation, pure barely-restrained chaos.

He hovered at my waist, fingers fluttering as if he feared breaking the moment but feared more being left out.

His scent crackled with electric anticipation.

“I’m gonna try not to make a joke,” he said, biting back a grin, “because…this is huge. You matter, a lot, and I don’t know how to say it without sounding like an idiot. Plus you already know I love you.”

I laughed, and for an instant his eyes softened. “You’re not an idiot,” I told him, pulling him in. “You’re brilliant, and you make everything lighter when it feels too heavy.”

He exhaled, then blurted, “Fuck, I love you,” and kissed me, greedy, unapologetic, tasting of energy drink and joy.

I leaned into his hunger, let myself be wanted so openly that the bonds seemed to hum with approval.

I offered him my left shoulder, and he flashed me a grin wide enough to show all his teeth.

“I love you too,” I murmured as he hissed his way from my jaw to my shoulder.

His bite jolted me, fast and bright, and the bond surged in, not subtle at all but frantic with hope.

I felt his fierce loyalty, yes, but also his terror of not being enough and his stubborn vow to be everything I needed.

Three bonds now flowed through me, each vibrating in harmony and wild with possibility, blurring the edges of where I ended and they began.

I didn’t mind. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ash came next, circling me like he was gathering courage to stand fully in daylight. When he knelt, it was abrupt and unashamed. His gaze met mine, solemn, steady, and for a heartbeat I saw the boy he had been before armor and distance hardened him.

“I don’t want to ruin this moment, but I want to claim you alone. I’m not a fan of having an audience.” The sincerity laced with fear in his voice was almost hidden by the growl that underscored his words.

I nodded, trying not to feel rejected myself. I understood what he was saying and I could respect it, but I’d said the order I wanted the bonds in out loud and I wouldn’t deviate from it just because Ash was uncomfortable. Still, his words stung.

“I’m not rejecting you, Quinn. I want you so bad I can taste it, but I don’t want it like this.” He stood and walked out and for a moment I felt even more rejected than before.

“Ash just needs a moment,” Malik said, his voice calm and even.

“Me too,” I said as I pushed to my feet and blindly made my way to my room.