Page 120 of Taken By the Pack

“Shit, baby,” I murmur, wiping her tears away with my thumb. “Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know,” she sniffles, laughing wetly. “I just... this feels different.”

“The bond,” Rowan murmurs, his voice thick. “It’s affecting you.”

She nods, swallowing hard. We give her a moment, letting her process, then continue doting on her.

Ash feeds her small bites of steak, coaxing her to eat, while Rowan massages her sore muscles. I kiss her hair, murmuring soft reassurances between sips of water.

After a while, she shifts slightly, blinking down at herself. “Who bit my nipple?”

Silence. Then I scratch the back of my neck, grinning sheepishly. “Uh... that might’ve been me.”

Her eyes narrow, but she’s smirking. “Might have been?”

I hold my hands up. “Okay, okay, it was me.”

She shakes her head, amused. “I’m covered in marks. It’s gonna take me forever to recover.” Then she pauses, tilting her head. “But do you think we can do that again soon?”

Rowan groans, Ash chuckles, and I just grin.

“Soon,” Ash says, brushing his lips over her temple. “But right now, we’re giving you time to recover.”

I glance down, frowning slightly. “Part your legs, sweetheart. Let me see.”

She raises a brow but obeys, shifting just enough for me to check. I run gentle fingers over her thighs, my touch light. “Your Omega healing will kick in fast,” I reassure her. “You’ll be okay.”

She nods, trusting.

Rowan watches her with a new expression on his face. He exhales. “You’re so damn beautiful.”

Her breath catches, lips trembling. “Rowan...”

“Goddamn it,” he mutters before kissing her softly, reverently.

We keep her close, tangled between us, whispering soft words against her skin. She drifts in and out of sleep, exhausted but content.

And when she finally settles, we stay right there with her—because there’s nowhere else we’d rather be.

* * *

The clinic smellslike antiseptic and the soap they use. Grace shifts in her seat, looking anywhere but at the three of us while we wait for Dr. Avery. Her fingers twist together in her lap, her nervous energy palpable.

Ash, sitting beside her, notices too. He takes her hand, rubbing slow circles against her palm with his thumb. “You okay?” he murmurs.

Grace glances at him, then at Rowan and me. Her blush is instant. “I mean… yeah, just—this is weird, right?”

Rowan smirks. “You mean introducing your doctor to your Alphas? No, it’s totally normal.”

She groans, dropping her head back against the chair. “I hate you.”

Rowan only grins. “No, you don’t.”

Before Grace can retaliate, the door swings open and Dr. Avery walks in, all business. She’s a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes and an easy smile, her gray-streaked hair pulled back into a loose ponytail.

“Well, this is a first,” she says, arching a brow as she takes in the three of us surrounding Grace. “I take it these are your Alphas?”

Grace nods, cheeks still flushed. “Yeah, uh… this is Jake, Ash, and Rowan.”

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