Page 71 of Dodging Bullets

Nothing got past Rio, though. “There are no bonding marks, but not from lack of trying on your Omega’s behalf. He’s as persistent as he is horny.” He laughed and brushed my lips with his, a reminder he was joking. “But we wanted you to be clear-headed when you bonded into our Pack. When we make you ours, and you make us yours. If that’s still what you want.”

I pushed up and kissed him, the heat still riding me, but I was beginning to feel the ache of my muscles. “I want to. I want to right now.”

I felt him shift, and Max’s body jiggled as Rio kicked him gently. “Max, wake up. It’s time.”

Max bolted upright. “No, I’m fine. I can definitely go again,” he said with slurred words that directly contradicted him. He needed electrolytes, and apparently, Rio agreed.

“Grab an electrolyte drink, Beta, then it's time to bite your Omega and tie him to us forever.”

Finally.

Epilogue

Polly

Two months later

Irubbed my bond marks absently. The action was a source of reassurance, and I’d swear the guys could feel it when I did. A pulse almost always came down the bond. It was nice, a comfort that I’d never thought I would get.

Llew had tried to re-bond with the guys during August’s heat, and while the connection wasn’t as strong as it had once been—or even as strong as mine was with any of them—there was a fine thread of bond there that I hoped would grow and strengthen over the years. It was a start, anyway.

Nim sat to my left. “It really doesn’t matter what the report says. Family are the people you commit yourself to, and Henry and I are your family, regardless of what a silly DNA test says.”

We’d all gotten DNA tests to help narrow down who belonged to whom at the Homestead. It really only mattered for the younger kids, because most of the teens had applied for parental emancipation, and given the court case, it had been granted. They all lived together in a house with Jewel now, who was slowly helping them reintegrate into society.

Only one mother had come forward to claim her babies without having to rely on DNA tests, though due diligence had to be done. Sister Eloise was young, barely more than thirty, but she’d been only seventeen when she’d run away and joined the cult with her boyfriend, Brother Frederick. He’d been ten years older than her, a Beta to her Unshown, and life hadn’t been easy for her.

Although she’d lived in a different house, she’d always been kind to me, despite the fact I was an Omega. She’d looked so sad for the last few years, and now I knew why. She’d wanted her babies. The two youngest children were hers, and I was happy they were going into a home with their mom and not into the system.

Sucking in a deep breath, I pulled the papers out of the envelope. But still, I couldn’t look. Henry took them gently from my hands. “Do you want me to get your Alphas?”

I shook my head. I needed to do this alone. Well, not alone, but with people who understood what this moment would be like. The guys had given me the space I’d asked for, but I knew they were probably hovering somewhere close by, in case I needed them.

My Pack. My safety net.

Handing the papers to Henry, I sighed. “You read it.”

He hesitated too, and Nim made an annoyed squeak. “Honestly, you twohaveto be related with the amount of angst-ridden dithering. Let me do it.” She flipped the pages over, her eyes skimming the words and graphs that made no sense to me. “Congrats, guys. You’re twins.”

I blinked at Henry, who blinked back at me.Twins?I looked at the boy across from me with wide eyes, like I was seeing him for the first time. We didn’t look identical; we had different hair colors, different noses. But maybe there was something in the shape of our brow, in our lips.

I had a twin.

“That’s, wow… Thank god I didn’t have a crush on you, like Nim did. That would have made this really weird.”

Nim gasped, slapping my arm, her cheeks flushed. “Traitor. For that, I should make you both read the rest.” But she kept the papers and continued reading silently. She frowned, and my heart stuttered in my chest. Her face was solemn when she looked up again. “Your mother is Sister Roberta. Your father is Leader Victor.”

I blinked. I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel.

Throwing the papers on the table, Nim gripped my hand, and Henry’s too. “You are wonderful people—the best people I know. Your parents mean less than nothing. Neither do mine. We are who we aredespitethe hell they put us through, do you both hear me?”

I nodded, swallowing hard. We’d been instrumental in putting both of our parents in prison. That was a lot to come to terms with. Just because they were biologically related to us, didn’t make them any less awful. Sister Roberta must have known she was my mother as she’d branded me and sold me to some Alpha she’d never met.

She wasn’t worth the guilt I felt right now. I’d gained a brother, a twin, and that was far more important.

I hugged Nim close. “I hear you.”

Today was sentencing for the Ozark Homestead cult leaders, and I’d purposefully decided to check the DNA today rather than earlier. I didn’t want to know the outcome of the sentencing either. As long as they weren’t a threat to me or any of the people who’d once lived behind their walls, I hoped they all rotted in their misery, whether that be in a jail cell or in a society that was disgusted with them.

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