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AMAYA

P ulling into my driveway feels like an out-of-body experience. My omega goes awfully quiet and the chaos of my bond with Vincent muffles. Emmett's small tether completely disappears as I'm slammed with images of me being yanked through my front door.

The guys are a flurry of activity around the van we borrowed from Kate as they unload their luggage and the random shit I'll need to help me function with my broken ankle. Like a handicapped bar to install next to the toilets and a chair for the shower. Chills race across my skin, and my belly twists at the idea of subjecting my poor skin to more blasting water. Never again.

But how will I ? —

I cut that thought process off, needing to focus on one dilemma at a time. And right now, my main concern is getting through the front door and up to my nest without allowing the panic I can feel bubbling up behind my ribs to swallow me whole.

Samuel and Emmett are running back and forth from the trunk, and I haven't seen Oliver since he dragged two suitcases in. Do I want to be here?

My door slides open a second later and I'm slammed with Vincent's glorious scent of lemon, reminding me not only of him but of my nana. A tear falls, making my alpha's face twist in concern.

Before he can ask me what's wrong, I shake my head and murmur, "I don't know." Except, I do know, there's just too much to say. How do I tell him everything that's wrong with me? It would be faster to tell him what's right .

I would tell him the morning light shining around him highlights the thorny rose tattoos on his neck so beautifully he looks like a painting. He looks untouchable even as he reaches for my cheek to wipe away my tears.

I would explain the warmth in my heart and the yearning of my soul when I have all my mates around me. So much wrong has happened that the feeling of completeness when I have the four of them near me, touching me, loving me... it makes it all just a little more bearable.

Ignoring the fact that life right now is only bearable , if my alpha were to ask me what's right in the world, I would point to my dad's car pulling in behind us. Dad jumping out of the driver’s seat and rushing toward us until he's standing beside Vincent; that is what's good right now. Seeing them beside one another reminds me of the things I heard in the bond. I'm just too tired to ask right now.

They're adults... They should be able to figure their own stuff out, right?

"Darling," dad breathes like he's relieved to have eyes on me again. I have no idea how he got here right after us, but I don't care. There's something about my dad only having eyes for me that settles the abandoned girl inside of me who was sold to an abusive experiment.

"Hi, dad," I whisper. I finally know what it's like for the waterworks to rush forward at the presence of my parent's concern.

So much love shines in his eyes. "I won't ask if you're okay. But how 'bout we get you inside, and I go get you one of those foot long deli sandwiches you like for whenever you're ready to eat?"

I nod emphatically. "Yes, please! With their signature sauce? Maybe a bowl of—" I pause, blushing and feeling weird for asking for something.

"Hey," Vincent says. He reaches forward and grips my chin. "You ask for whatever you want. A bowl of what?"

"Chili," I whisper and gulp. "And can you get the guys something too? I don't think I'll be up for coo?—"

"Don't say it," Vince growls. "You are going to rest, and we are going to worry about you. "

"He's right, Amaya. Let your mates take care of you. I'll be back later with enough food to feed your army," dad says with a wink. Before he walks away, he and Vincent lock eyes. Something passes between them that I will for sure have to ask about later, but right now? Well, I'm trying to figure out how I'm supposed to crutch my way up the porch steps.

A car engine turning over draws my attention away from the death traps I have to use to get around for a few weeks. Dad backs out of the driveway and Vincent reaches inside the car for me after flipping his hat backwards.

My core flutters at the sight, but he soon tugs me from my seat and swoops me into his arms. Gasping, my lungs squeeze painfully, but my arms are soon wrapped around his neck, and I'm lost in his blue eyes.

"I can?—"

"What did I say about letting me take care of you?" Vincent nips my jaw, making me forget what I was about to say. "Do you want to text Kate? I have your phone."

"No. No, thank you," I decline immediately. I don't need anyone seeing me like this. "Just?—"

I was doing so much better at making choices before I was taken again, but I feel like no matter what I want, it will be wrong. I couldn't do anything right all those years in school, and I sure as shit couldn't do anything right in the torture chamber.

Knocking the front door open with his hip, Vincent doesn't break eye contact with me. My omega hums softly in my mind, enjoying the feel of him against my skin. "What do you need, Omega?"

His direct question to my omega doesn't go unnoticed. I can feel her sitting up and pushing forward. I gratefully lean back and let her handle it. 'Nest.' "Nest. I want my nest."

The words come out as a whine and a bowl clattering onto the island snap me out of my omega daze. My entire body involuntarily stiffens when my eyes take in my living room. My attention never even making it to my mates hovering in the kitchen.

Blackness swoops in, stealing my sight and my breath one panicked fuzzy at a time.

"Shit!"

The only sense that works is sound, and all I hear as air brushes past me and my lungs protest life is a high-pitched whine.

'Alpha! Need alpha!'