Page 142 of Believe it or Knot

I nod. “Yes, Liam.”

He blows out a relieved breath and runs his knuckles down my cheek gently, before pinching my chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilting my face toward his. Gage’s hand slides to rest on my sternum, no doubt feeling the frantic beat of my heart against his fingers.

“I missed you too, lovely,” Liam murmurs, brushing my mouth with his. “We never should have let you go. It’s been miserable without you. I’ve been miserable without you. Since the moment we left you at the studio. Fucking unbearable.”

He kisses me slow and languorous like we have all the time in the world. And I suppose we do, to some extent. They’ve promised they aren’t going anywhere, and I so desperately want to trust it.

I part my lips and Liam whines as his tongue touches mine, deepening the kiss, savoring me, until I’m shifting, rubbing my thighs together and grinding my ass on Gage’s erection.

Liam pulls away from me with a deep inhale, dragging his lips over my cheek, leaving a trail of saliva and scent behind. He nibbles along my jaw as my head tips back to rest on Gage’s shoulder, lips parted, breathing heavy.

My heavy gaze meets the hungry ones of Rafe and Gray, watching as their omega makes a feast of my skin, marking me with his cheesecake smell. It’s not enough.

“Wanna bite you,” Liam murmurs into the curve of my neck. “Wanna mark you and claim you. Bond you.” He pulls back and cups my jaw, holding me in place to meet my eyes. “Then you’ll know how I feel about you, how we feel about you.”

“Please,” Gray rasps, drawing my attention over to him. His gray eyes are intense on my face, pleading. “Please, sweet thing, please let us bond with you.”

“Let us show you how much we want you, how much we love you, conejita.”

“I’ve been in love with you since I was eight, biscuit.” Gage’s hand drifts up to touch the space over his heart. “I don’t want to go another minute without feeling you here, without feeling what home is.”

I stare at all of them, warring with myself. Because, fuck, do I want to give in. I want what they’re offering me, but I can’t shake the fear that as soon as they can feel me, feel all my wild emotions that I hide under a polite smile, they’ll change their minds. They’ll regret it. They won’t really want me.

“Not gonna happen, biscuit,” Gage growls, like he can already feel me, like he knows what’s going on inside my head without the bond.

“It’s a lot,” I choke out and Liam’s fingers tighten on me. “Believing that you really want me.”

“Believe it or not,” Gray murmurs, moving closer to me and Liam, until Liam is sandwiched between the two of us, and I’m wrapped up in their scents and their arms. “We want you. So fucking bad, Sorrel.” His teeth scrape over the flesh where my shoulder meets my neck, making goosebumps spread over my body and my nipples pucker.

Liam chuckles, feeling my body’s reaction to their closeness. “If you don’t want to bond with the rest of us, lovely. At least bond with Gage.” My head jerks up to meet his eyes and he gives me a tender smile. “Growly Bear has been in love with you forever, Sorrel. You know that, don’t you? He deserves to feel you, to feel complete.”

Rafe moves closer while Gage stays where he is, dark blue eyes focused on me. “The rest of us can wait. We’ll put in the work to prove to you we mean this, but Gage… he’s already done that, hasn’t he?”

My gaze flicks between the three men surrounding me, and then back to Gage, my best friend for years. He’s staring at us like he can’t quite believe what he’s hearing, like he can’t fathom that they’d back his right to bond with me over their own. But this is what being in a pack is.

They’re using this opportunity to show him they view him as part of theirs, that they find him worthy, that they want him too, not just me.

“Gage?”

His jaw tics as he looks at me, then away.

“Come on, Growly,” Liam urges, and Gage lets out an abrupt bark of laughter. “You know you want to.”

“I fucking hate that you think you need to give your permission for me to claim my girl.” He glares at the three Cordova pack members. “Mine. She’s been mine for fucking years. If anything, you should ask me for permission to bond her.”

My brows arch at his audacity, but Gray just nods. “Yeah, okay. That’s what we’ll do. When Sorrel feels ready, we’ll check in with you, too.”

I want to think this is sweet, but part of me is more than a little pissed. “Or you could, I don’t know, let me decide who bonds with me and when, regardless of who else I’m already bonded to. It is my fucking body, heart and mind you’ll be connected to, after all.”

All four of them look at me, expressions of chagrin on their faces. “Right, of course,” Gray stumbles over his words. “I only meant that, while I’m the prime alpha of the pack, we recognize Gage is the prime alpha of your heart.”

My frown deepens. “I don’t love him more than I love any of you.”

The words slip out before I can think better of them. And I don’t want to call them back once they’re out there. It’s the truth. “My love for Gage is different from how I love all of you, but it’s not… It’s not more valid or…” I look up at my best friend, leaning farther into his chest, lacing my fingers through his. His mouth twitches into a small smile that lets me know he understands what I’m saying as he slides his calloused palm into mine. “It’s just different,” I finish lamely.

I look away from Gage, back to the three Cordovas. All of them are staring at me hard. Liam’s mouth is open and I swear there are tears in his eyes. Gray’s gaze is intense, almost like a predator watching his prey. Rafe has a smirk on his lips, his brown eyes crinkled at the corners.

“What?” I ask uncertainly, backing away from their attention on instinct before I make my feet go still. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

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