Page 75 of Crave

“Argh! Jesus fucking Christ, you scared the shit out of me!” Tanner yelled, glaring at the person beside him.

No, not a person. Bowie. Bowie was there, more solid than I’d ever seen him. Could they all see him now too?

“Can you…?”

Susannah laughed. “Bowie!” She looked over her shoulder at me. “It fucking worked. It worked!” She was crying, beckoning Bowie toward her. He lay down beside our Omega, his body pressed along hers. He was still slightly opaque, but Susannah could see his smile, see his blushes. See the way his eyes drifted down her body.

“It worked, sweetheart. This Pack is a miracle.”

I’d never agreed with my twin more. The Pack was a miracle, but more than that, these two Omegas wereeverything.I kissed them one more time, settling into the warmth of their bodies as Merrick and Murphy bracketed them, and then Tanner lay down with his head resting between Susannah’s thighs. This felt so fucking right.

Pheromones filled the room, and my dick got hard again. “Better go and get your pasta ready, babe, because the yearning is coming.”

Oh shit.

EPILOGUE

MURPHY

One year later

Istood behind Quinn, my hands under his protruding stomach, helping to take just a little of the pressure off his abdomen for a moment while we were all forced to stand in the crisp spring sunshine.

My Omega sighed with momentary relief, and I smiled into his hair. I loved him so much. I loved our cubs already, even though they were still a few weeks away from making an appearance.

We’d definitely bitten off more than we could chew, but the week after we’d bonded had been one long sexfest when Quinn’s yearning kicked off again, and honestly, I wasn’t surprised that it had resulted in cubs. We’d been careful, but we’d all gotten a little carried away.

I looked over at Susannah, who was also pregnant. That had been a real surprise. Susannah’s birth control had succumbed to the pressure of our new Pack life a few months later. It was a shock, but once we’d all come to terms with it, the preparations had begun. A bedroom was converted to a nursery, and we’d handmade all the cribs. Though Quinn wanted the exact number of cubs to be a surprise, Tanner had pulled me aside and suggested I make a few more.

We were so screwed, but in the best possible way. What was the real surprise though was the fact that Susannah was carrying twins. They’d all be born a few months apart—which I was extremely grateful for—since the gestation period for male Omegas was a lot shorter.

I looked over at Jericho, who was holding her hand, Bowie on her other side, and I wondered if it was because the babies were going to be tiny hybrids. Twins definitely ran in that line.

Jericho and Bowie had taken the pregnancies the hardest, and given their history, the way their own mother—and Bowie—had died, I understood. But Tanner had stepped up, reassuring them every step of the way that the babies and the Omegas were okay. It helped that he had access to all the good imaging equipment, because Jericho and Bowie insisted that they were checked every three days.

I understood their trauma. We all did. We all had our unhealed wounds, ones that would mend slowly or not at all. I’d protect the delicate, injured parts of their souls with my own. That’s what being a Pack was about. I sent a reassuring zip to Jericho down the bond, and he looked over at me, his face a soft glow of happiness.

Finally, the event was starting. We all stood in the newly constructed, purpose-built Moonburst Legion headquarters. We’d bulldozed what must have once been the office building of the mining production here, and dug down into the vein of moonstone in the earth, with the help of the witches. They’d mined out a lot of the stone, but the whole place buzzed with magic still.

There were offices for the administration staff, the Moonburst Legion Generals, and the other white-collar workers whose job it was to keep the town of around one thousand Manix and two dozen witches going.

Courtland walked onto the stage, his shoulders finally relaxed. We’d sorted out the two towns now, splitting the remaining Manix into two Packs; the Moonburst, and the Maxton, Packs. Susannah’s father had gone back to Maxton to rebuild, and be the Alpha General of that town until a new one could be elected, with a good portion of the old-school Manix going with him. Ancestral grounds had a lot of lure, especially to the old timers who hadn’t quite been able to adapt to the new situation—and neighbors—we found ourselves in. But what remained was a real community of Manix, who didn’t want to hide in the mountains anymore, and who wanted to live.

“Moonburst Pack. I’m happy to have everyone here today to finally lay down our foundation stone, not just for this building, but for our whole community. It has been a tough twelve months for the Manix, filled with changes and sadness, but this building, and those sitting inside it, are proof that we are a strong and courageous people. This stone will provide the starting block for a new era of Manix, one out of the shadows and taking up our place in the supernatural community. An era where we let old prejudices like fear and hate go, and move forward as changed people for the next generation. Where we live in harmony with other supernaturals, but especially with the Moonburst Coven, who opened their homes and their hearts to us without question. We will always owe this Coven a debt of gratitude which we can never repay.

“As you will all know, we’ve held elections to decide on the new Legion Generals, and for the first time, it was open to all designations. As such, I’m pleased to announce the two Legion Generals for the Moonburst Pack. Miller St. Andrew and August Merrick.”

Our tiny Pack hooted and hollered for Merrick as he took the stage, still a little shell-shocked that the town would nominate him and then vote him in as a Legion General. I wasn’t surprised, though. I’d known and loved that man my entire life; I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have in charge of the welfare of the town and all the people inside it.

Miller St. Andrew was a surprise, though. He was a Beta who’d been in charge of investments under the old Alpha General. He was apparently a Robin Hood figure to the poorer Beta families in Maxton, skimming the profits from the old Alpha General’s coffers and giving it to the families in need. If there was any more proof needed that there’d been a divide between the two sides of Maxton, that was it. The Beta Manix—who made up such a huge amount of the town—had been there, struggling, and I’d missed it completely, caught up in my life as a good little Legion soldier.

Finally, the ceremony portion of events wound down, and I found a chair for my Omega. He collapsed into it with a sigh. “I swear to the Goddess, they’re doing backflips in there.” Bowie appeared at his side, leaning down to kiss him on the head. The appearing from thin air thing had taken a little getting used to, but I was no longer surprised.

“Do you want me to talk to them?” he asked Quinn, his fingers scraping through Quinn’s hair.

Our Omega tilted his head back and purred. “Yes please. Just tell them to stop kicking me in the bladder—that would be nice.”

My poor Omegas. Bowie squatted down until he was right in front of Quinn’s bulging midsection. Placing two hands on either side of Quinn’s stomach, he gave it a soft smile. “Come on, little ones. Take a nap so your papa can have a break and not pee himself in public.”

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