Page 72 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)
Daphne
K ieran ends up covering my eyes before we reach our destination, and Ciro carries me the rest of the way.
I didn’t expect to have sex so soon after my heat, since heats are tiring for alphas and betas too. But if this is a sexy surprise, I’m certainly not going to say no if they’re up for it.
I wonder what it will be. We bypassed the hedge maze, so I assume it’s not going to involve chasing. Unless they’re going with open ground, so it’s a quick and easy hunt.
Ciro sets me down, and Kieran uncovers my eyes, and all thoughts of running flee my mind.
Thousands of wildflowers surround us, bright colors waving in the breeze, and I have to spin to take it all in. Fluffy clouds cast shadows across the field, dappling the plants with light.
The flowers are growing untamed, unlike the neat and tidy rows of plants near the house. As impressive as it is to see perfectly curated flowers, wild plants are just as beautiful .
I walk through the field admiring the flowers, my pack trailing behind me.
When we find a small section that’s mainly grass, Alister spreads his jacket out for me to relax among the flowers.
My mates cluster around me, sitting as close as they can so that I end up on Feliks’s lap with my legs draped across several of my alphas.
Everything else fades away as we sit there, only my pack and the flowers exist. I’m connected with them and the earth and the sun warming us from above.
I’m so deep in the moment that I don’t even feel hunger or thirst for caffeine.
At some point my mates move around, and I open my eyes to see what they’re up to.
My alphas are kneeling in a semicircle before us, Feliks still holding me on his lap.
“Now that your heat is over and we’re thinking clearly, we need to talk about our relationship and our plans to court you,” Alister says.
I’m glad he said they’re still planning to court me, otherwise I would have freaked out at “we need to talk.”
I keep it together and nod, and Kieran says, “Your omega was interested in bonding, but we know you can’t hold someone to their feelings during a heat.”
“We’ve talked about it,” Ciro says, “and want you to know you’re the omega for our pack.
There’s no rush and no pressure, but you’re the endgame for us.
Whenever you’re ready, we want to bond with you.
Obviously we’ll court you first and show you how we work as a pack, so you know we can care for you the way you deserve. ”
I’m too excited to get the words out, and Feliks picks up the conversation, tilting my face up to his and saying, “I can’t initiate the bond, but I’m prepared to return it once you’re ready.”
He presses his forehead against mine. “I love you, kitten. I’ve been half in love with you since we first had breakfast together.
I knew then that I wanted to start every day with you, and every day since has only confirmed that feeling.
We waited too long to ask to court you, so this may seem sudden, but I’m tired of not being honest about my feelings.
If I’d been honest that sometimes I’m insecure about being the beta in a pack, I wouldn’t have put off having you meet my packmates, and we could have started courting you weeks ago.
I’m sorry if this seems rushed or convoluted, but I want you to know how I feel about you and why it took us so long to behave like a proper pack. ”
“We love you, Daphne,” Sterling says, and my other mates echo his words.
I finally manage to get some of my thoughts out, and say, “I love you too, all of you. Let’s bond now. I don’t need a big ceremony, I just want to be with you and feel you, now .”
I don’t wait for a response, twisting to pin Feliks down and straddle his chest while I decide where to bite.
I toss my hair over my shoulder and aim for the right side of his neck above his heart.
My lips just brush his skin when Alister stops me, his fist in my hair pulling me back.
“Hold on, baby girl. We didn’t mean that we should bond right this second. We only wanted to make sure you know we intend to bond you when you’re ready, and that we weren’t rejecting you when you bit us during your heat,” Alister says.
“No, let her go,” Feliks says, pulling on my waist .
“I want to do this now. My feelings are the same, in or out of heat. I love you and want to be with you,” I tell Alister, but my eyes don’t leave Feliks’s neck.
“Are you sure?” Alister asks quietly.
He lets go of my hair when I look at him.
“I’m sure. I want to be with you. Forever,” I say, staring into his eyes.
Alister shifts to one knee and takes my hand, and I tear up before I even register what he’s doing.
“Daphne, will you join Pack Fleur and be our omega?”
“Yes,” I croak through a tight throat, holding back tears so I don’t start sobbing all over them when I could be biting them.
Alister smiles, and I think there are tears in his eyes too before he leans in and kisses me. Sterling, Kieran, and Ciro press against me, kissing my hair and face, and Feliks squeezes my waist. I taste a few tears, but I’m not sure who they belong to.
My alphas move back to give us room, and Alister gestures for me to continue with Feliks.
Feliks watches me, bright and hopeful, and tilts his head to expose his neck.
I smile at him but look at the others to make sure they’re ready too. My alphas are just as eager, confirming my decision to bond now.
I brace myself on Feliks’s chest and run my lips along his neck, goosebumps breaking out in my wake. He tangles his fingers in my hair, not pushing me, but urging me on.
I lick the big vein in his neck, and his pulse jumps against my tongue. Feliks groans, and I can feel my pussy getting wet, but I want to do it differently this time.
I stop at the base of his neck, the perfect spot where everyone can see my mark. My sharp canines easily pierce Feliks’s skin, but that sensation is quickly replaced by a jolt, my body tingling.
It’s not like when I bit them during my heat, but I don’t have time to reflect on why because I’m surrounded by Feliks. His thoughts and feelings zip around me like lightning through the clouds, mind warm and blanketing like the air before a summer storm.
Our thoughts mix as the bond connects us, and I get flashes of his perspective. Similar to how I see him, Feliks views me as the sun breaking through the clouds, warming him down to the soul.
I see everything he is, his intelligence and his caretaking urges, driving him to provide for his packmates (which now includes me).
How he values his freedom but was glad to tie himself to the people he loves and who love him in return.
All the amazing things about who Feliks is, a person I’m lucky enough to know, let alone bond with.
My mind is consumed by our connection, and my body acts on instinct, releasing him. Feliks grabs my hair and arches my neck, returning my bite.
He has to bite harder because of his blunt teeth, and his canines just barely break the skin, but it’s enough. The bond crackles between us, snapping in place like an electrical force that can’t be stopped, enduring and alive.
Just like Feliks showed me who he is, I open myself to him. I push my love at him, excited to finally tell him everything I admire about him without having to sort things into coherent sentences. I can just give him the images and feelings and sensations.
Even after Feliks removes his teeth from my neck, the bond remains steady, unlike the temporary, flickering connections my bites formed during my heat.
I take a second to adjust to the new person inside me and then tend to my bite on Feliks’s neck, cleaning it and making sure he isn’t feeling any pain.
When I’m done, Alister pulls me up to soothe my neck, the tenderness from Feliks’s bite fading under his tongue.
Feliks sits up and kisses me, hands on my hips as I straddle his lap. I press against him as our tongues tangle, feeling him kiss me and be kissed by me. His pleasure mixes with mine, lust snowballing because the kiss feels twice as good.
Once Alister finishes tending to me, I reluctantly pull away from Feliks’s kiss, but I’m eager to bond the rest of my mates. Feliks feels the same, wanting me to complete our pack and make it whole.
“I love you, kitten.”
“I love you, too,” I sniffle out.
After one more quick kiss, Kieran pulls me off Feliks, sandwiching me between him and Sterling.
They share a kiss with me, rubbing their cheeks against mine, and it’s messy and sweet and I love it.
Kieran rubs his jaw against my head, scent marking me, as Sterling presses his forehead to mine. “I love you, Daphne.”
Kieran whispers the same in my ear, and I’ve barely finished saying I love them back when they bite me.
Kieran bites the right side of my neck, and Sterling bites the left, bonds springing up between the three of us.
Their minds are a mix of colors, our thoughts so jumbled I’m not sure who’s thinking what, but that doesn’t bother me. Their sweetness meets my warmth, Sterling and Kieran turning to me like a flower that only opens with the sun, needing my light to survive.
Just as the thought forms in my mind that that’s not true, I’m not actually necessary, they push back. The bonds show me the truth, they truly believe they need me.
I won’t argue again, because I need them just the same.
The bond settles over us like a sun-warmed blanket, and then the threads separate out so I can feel Kieran and Sterling, what makes them unique members of this pack.
Both have creative souls, but Sterling’s blends with an analytical mind, prone to testing and exploring potential outcomes, planning for all contingencies.
It’s perfect for baking, but in other areas it sometimes leads to anxious thoughts, and I can feel his anxiety there at the edges.
One thing Sterling has no question about is how much he loves me and wants me to join their pack.