Page 47 of Crave

My phone flashed, and I reached over Zanny’s sleeping head to grab it.

Good morning, Omegas. We left you a care package on the front step. We have to see the Legion Generals today for our assignments, but maybe we can do dinner? - Murphy (and Merrick) xoxoxoxo

Not going to lie, I loved presents. Even when I was a kid I adored someone thinking about me and gifting me something they thought I’d like. Granted, it was usually Zanny, or Merrick and Murphy. Once, Murphy had found a milky white quartz at the bottom of the river when we were ten, and I still have that rock. I loved it so much.

How I didn’t realize I was an Omega earlier was the real mystery.

Untangling myself from Susannah, I wondered if I should wake her up before retrieving the care package. Nah. I’d just bring it in off the porch, and we’d open it together when she woke, like a good Packmate.

On the porch was a sealed box, which I hefted up and into the kitchen, leaving it on the small formica table. I desperately wanted to open it and see what it was inside, but resisted, heading into the shower instead. I rinsed away the light sheen of sweat from the already hot day.

We’d have to head to town and track down our things that had been evacuated from Maxton without us. It would be nice to have some of our stuff for our new place.

Ours.

My heart beat faster at the idea that this tiny cabin was ours for the foreseeable future. Not Wilkie’s, or my parent’s, or even Susannah’s father’s. Mine and Zanny’s. Whatever happened from here on out would beourchoice, not made under duress, not forced by fate, fear, or our families. We could just be a pair of Omegas forever, if we wanted.

I thought about how the message from Murphy had made me feel this morning. Okay, so probably not just the two of us forever. But we wouldn’t make decisions out of desperation ever again.

We were fucking free.

Getting out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist, and walked out to the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot. I needed caffeination if I was going to face today. When I made it to the tiny kitchen, Zanny was already there sitting on the countertop and staring at the box.

“What’s in the box?” she said by way of greeting, and I walked up to her unable to resist the urge to kiss her sleep-creased face.

She pulled back, wincing. “I’ve got morning breath.”

I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth. “Don’t care. I love you.”

Wrapping her long legs around my hips, she pulled me closer. “I love you too. Why are you feeling so mushy this morning?”

Ah, my mate. She was never big on grand displays of romance, mostly because they made her feel awkward. Sometimes you could tell she was raised by males. It didn’t matter; I was romantic and affectionate enough for the both of us.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I woke up with the woman I love in my arms, without panic, without fear, without worrying if your dad would walk in on us fucking. Life is good.” I gave her a hard kiss. “Plus, Murphy and Merrick sent us presents, and you know how much I like gifts.”

Zanny rolled her eyes. “Such an Omega. Open the box.”

I tried not to bounce with excitement. Ripping off the tape, I pulled out the note on top. “It says, ‘To start your nest and your new life. We hope we can be a part of it. Love, Merrick and Murphy’ with like ten x’s and o’s.” Zanny laughed, but I kept pulling things out of the box. The first thing was a blanket made of fibers so soft, I immediately lifted it to my cheek. “That's so freaking fluffy.”

I passed it to Zanny, and she rubbed her face all over it too. Didn’t hurt that it smelled like Alpha either. Next thing that came out of the box was a cooler. Opening it, I found waffles and whipped cream, brownie fingers, strawberries, and chocolate dip, and some kind of chia pudding in a container with berries. It was a feast. I unpacked everything onto the counter and looked over it with amazement.

“So this is what it's meant to be like,” Zanny said softly, “to be cherished and cared for?”

I nodded, swallowing down the lump in my throat. It wasn’t an insane show of power or wealth. It was the fact that they cared enough to ensure we were fed, even when they couldn’t be here. It was the fact that there were no blueberries, because I hated blueberries, and they’d remembered that. It was the fact that they were hopeful, but not pushy.

Lifting a brownie to Zanny’s lips, I sighed happily. “They’re it for us, aren’t they?”

She nodded. “They always have been.” She grinned. “Doesn’t mean we aren’t going to make them work for it, though. Now, grab the chocolate sauce and the whipped cream, because I know just the place I’d like to lick them from.” She jumped off the counter and walked toward the bedroom, throwing me a saucy wink.

Fuck, I loved her.

An hour,two orgasms, and actual sustenance later, we left the house. We walked toward the main street in Moonburst, our temporary new home. Or maybe not so temporary, given that so much of Maxton had burned. Though, according to Raiden—who Zanny had called last night—they’d held a town council and basically split the Manix in two. Anyone who wanted to head back to Maxton and rebuild would have a new Alpha General, and those who wished to remain would continue to live under Courtland’s rule. Raiden said Susannah’s father had volunteered to be the temporary new Maxton Alpha General. I couldn’t tell how she felt about that, but I wasn’t going to push. Not yet. I didn’t think she’d want to go back to Maxton, but I’d follow her lead.

The other news Raiden had dropped on us was that Loren—the Alpha General’s witch sidekick, who everyone thought had died during the coup—had suddenly reappeared, and he was the reason we’d all ended up in Moonburst.

The town was bordering on dilapidated, but it was also kinda cute. It had a small, beaten-up cafe, and a grocery store. When I looked through the large plate windows, the witches inside smiled. We’d walked past a garage, but the scent in there was one of the guys from the Fletcher-Wiley-Reid Pack—probably Corvin, given he’d been a mechanic for the Legion. It made me wonder if the Legion members would be split too and sent back to Maxton. Would Merrick and Murphy be forced to return because they were unmated males?

My chest hurt at the very idea that might happen. My Beast growled. We wouldn’t let that happen.

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