Page 61 of Welcome to Bone Town

I gesture to the pelvis that's visible where the ancient fabric had shifted. “Females generally have lower-set, wider hips. You know, for…um, birthing children.” Not wanting to upset Cora even more than she already is, I drop the subject like a live wire and lead Bear to the pedestal.

For as opulent as everything else in this chamber is,the pedestal is made of plain white stone. The surface is free of any blemishes or symbols, except for the bottom. The base of the plinth is inlaid with golden jackals, similar to the ones that stood stalwart by the doors.

“Lunara’s relic.” Cora breathes out reverently. Her gaze is focused on the item atop the pedestal. A half-bust holds a necklace of sorts. That’s the best way to describe it even though it's far more than that.

Intricately woven chains form a bright gold choker, the strands so fine it looks as if the metal is malleable. The braid meets in a swirl in the middle with a centerpiece in the shape of the omega symbol. The pendant is adorned with four blood red stones, set around a larger stone in the center.

“Cora, don’t!” Roman’s yell pulls me from the trance the relic had me in. Holy goddess, I was so focused on the choker I didn’t notice we had all gotten so close to it. Roman has his hand on Cora’s outstretched arm, stopping her from reaching for the jewelry. He spins her toward him, and she shakes her head, eyes clearing from the haze they just had.

“Oh my goddess.” Cora’s voice is muffled as she buries her face in her hands. “I can’t believe I nearly grabbed a 4000 year old relic. What the hell was I thinking?”

“I-I don’t think youwere.” I stutter. “It felt as if the choker hypnotized me, beckoning me like a siren would a clueless sailor on the sea.”

Bear is looking between me and Cora, a confused expression on his handsome face.

“What?” I ask.

“You felt it that strongly? I mean, I felt something but it was more…uh…” Bear tightens his lips and waves toward his crotch, his cock already half-hard under his pants.

“Horny?” Jax so helpfully supplies, as per usual.

Roman addresses the group. “Okay, clearly something’s going on here, and I think we all need to take a step back. I’d say it’s pretty obvious this is Lunara’s relic, does everyone agree?” He gets murmurs of agreement and nodding heads in response. “Great. Now what do we do?”

While Roman’s facing us, Cora turns back to the necklace, that hazy look in her eyes again.

“Okay, little mate. Let’s get you away from the shiny relic before you accidentally unleash a plague of man-eating spiders or something.” Jax gently takes Cora by the shoulders and steers her away from the choker to a pile of rich textiles on the floor, urging her to sit. She complies, taking a deep breath before looking up at us.

“This has to be it,” Cora says as we all take a seat in a semicircle facing her. “Lunara’s relic. It looks exactly like the one we saw in the book. And I canfeelit. This could be the answer to all my problems. My lack of heats, the horrible cramps, the mood swings. If it works, we could bond.” She looks around. “All of us.”

“You want to bond with us?” Bear asks at the same time as I whisper, “All of us?”

“Well, I mean, only if you…” She shakes her head, waving a hand like she’s dismissing a thought. “That’s something we can talk about later. The point is, it could fix me.”

“You aren’t broken.” Roman interrupts her with a growl.

She waves him off. “You know what I mean.”

“No, honey,” Bear says. “You need to stop looking at yourself as damaged. We don’t see you that way.”

“He’s right.” Jax scoots closer to Cora. “All we see when we look at you is our mate. Our gorgeous, kind, brilliant, compassionate mate. We don’t care if you ever have a heat, as long as we have you.”

My breath catches. The alphas all nod in earnest agreement with Jax’s proclamation. If they truly don’t care if Cora ever has a heat, does that mean they may not care that I won’t either? Could they possibly bring me into their pack despite me being a simple beta?

Tears threaten to spill from Cora’s eyes. “I-I just…gah! That’s so sweet. You all are good men, I know you’ll accept me as I am if you have to. But…I have to do this for me. Besides the actual heat, I want bonds and babies, lots of them. I want a pack I know I’m enough for. But most of all, I need the cramps and insatiable cravings to go away. You can’t imagine the pain I’ve lived through. I don’t think I can survive a lifetime like this.” Her tears win, trailing down her cheeks like rain down a windshield. Slow. Quiet. But full of so much hurt.

Jax pulls her into him, gently asking, “What do you want to do, love?”

She looks at all of us. “I need to try it on. I have to know if it wor?—”

“Absolutely not!” Roman barks, and she flinches. Bear turns a menacing glare on the professor, his fists clenching like he wants to punch him for barking at their omega. Roman holds his hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just can’t let you put yourself in danger.”

“Let me?” Cora challenges him. It's so good to see some of her spark back. I want to see that fire every damn day for the rest of my life. If she’ll have me.

Roman backtracks. “No, I didn’t mean… Fuck, Cora! I thought I watched you die back there in the water. I can’t—wecan’t—lose you. Not when I’ve only just accepted that this could be something. I want time to prove to you that I can deserve you. Don’t put that at risk.” His voice breaks, and her face softens.

“You won’t lose me, Roman. You saw the book, this is my answer!”

“I know you need this, well, you think you do.” Roman pulls at his hair. “But we can’t do this down here, hummingbird. What if it does work? Or what if it hurts you?”

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