Page 44 of A Pack of Cozy

We all talked about bonding again before the heat hit, thank Christ. But we'd thought she'd still have a few weeks to consider it. We'd assured her we could wait until the next heat if she wasn't ready, but we were prepared. We would always be ready for Cali. She'd said she wanted to bond the first night sharing our bed together, but this wasn't something set in stone, and if she's changed her mind, I want to give her that out.

"I will always be sure, " she vows. Blurring pricks the edges of my vision, and I don't even try to stop the tears from rolling down my face. I'd always let her see me and all of my soul. She leans up and kisses each one off. "I will always be sure of our bond, our pack, and especially of us, " she continues. Shifting beside us lets me know that the guys are awake.

Cali climbs onto my lap and looks me right in the eyes. As she sinks down onto my cock, everything we've shared, our scent-sensitive match, our love, overcomes me, and I lean forward and bite her right where her neck and shoulder meet.

She calls out my name, and I can feel our minds connecting. It's like a window, and she's on the other side. Though slightly muffled, her emotions, love, care, and desire all flood me. And all of my devotion, protection, and love flow back. I can close the window, but I leave it wide open. Honestly, I can't imagine ever closing it.

I lick the bite mark a few times with the pad of my tongue, tending it. When I pull back, she looks me right in the eyes, kisses me, and then leans down to bite me in the exact same spot on my own neck. Her emotions, which are muffled, become crystal clear. The bond is complete. I thrust up into her a few times before we both tip over the edge. The bond makes every touch and every thrust feel electrically charged.

I didn't knot Cali, knowing, from those books, that once we began bonding, she would be compelled to finish the entire pack, creating the strongest bonds she could between us. If I was knotted in her while she bit the others, that wouldn't be fair, even if the thought does make my cock hard again.

She crawls to Bax next. Her gaze drifts over him, and his hands shoot out. One to tangle in her hair while the other curls around her waist and pulls her into his lap, sheathing her in one quick thrust. I hiss. I can feel her orgasm already building.

"I love you so much, Bax," she whispers to him.

"You're everything to me, Cali," he promises her, and then bends down to bite her on the shoulder, opposite my bite mark on her neck. Her head falls back, and her eyes roll up in ecstasy. She comes and I feel every moment of it. He licks and sucks at the bite mark, and before he even lets go of it, she swings her head forward and bites him on his shoulder. He roars into her skin and ruts up into her at a hard, sharp pace until she screams, and he tips over with a hard growl.

Calliope

Aburningdesireinmy soul has me peeling myself away from Bax. Seth sits at the edge of the recessed area of the nest, legs splayed, watching me with a heated expression. When I turn to him, he grins and opens his arms wide. I scramble into them and tuck my head under his chin. He scent marks me. I can feel Bax and Connor both inside of me. Nothing but love and admiration pour into their bond as they take me and Seth in. We're almost there, almost whole.

"You ready to be a bonded pack, Seth?" I ask. It's a teasing question. I know that this is what he's always wanted. Ever since he was a little kid in a chaotic but loving household. This is something he's dreamed about, but was never sure he'd find.

His eyes are shiny with unshed tears as he takes my face in both of his and kisses me so soft that my confession of undying love slips into his mouth before we even part. I can't hold it back. He whispers it right back into me. Vowing to love me forever, and always make me smile. Which, of course, makes me smile.

Seth lays me down on my back and breaks the kiss, positioning himself between my legs. His cock nudges my entrance, and he looks me deep in my eyes. I nod, and he rocks into me. Soft at first and then faster and faster until we're nothing but a thrusting mass on the floor. Just as I'm tipping over the edge, he snarls and bites me just under my ear on the side opposite from Connors bite.

His emotions rush into me, and though they're still hazy from the bond not yet being completed, I can feel devotion, love, and sweet exuberance, which is all Seth. His excitement is champagne bubbles in my veins, fizzing to the surface, cooling the fire of Connor's bond and highlighting the calm of Bax's. I bite him in the same spot he bit me, and his emotions focus in my mind. Like the others, the bonds are a two-way window, and I can open and shut them at will, but I know I'll keep mine open. These men's emotions are as bone-deep as my soul, and I don't want to live without them.

Seth turns us to the side so he doesn't collapse onto me, and I snuggle into him. Bax takes a place on my other side, spooning into my back to make me a cozy sandwich between them. Connor takes up the place on Seth's other side. We're a perfect pile of happiness.

Epilogue: Calliope

"Itwasmyroommate!"Winnie yells as she comes in the front door waving a wine bottle. Bax deftly plucks it out of her hand while she passes and takes it to the kitchen to uncork it. Sunny, Clara and Rose are already here. Clara's standing, holding her wine glass next to the fireplace, while Rose is typing away on her phone on the leather couch with Sunny sitting next to her. I'm sitting in the big reclining chair. The guys had set up a small table in the corner and are filling it with food.

"What was your roommate?" I ask.

"The Library vandal," she says, and we all freeze. The guys peer in from the kitchen. I can feel their tension through the bond.

"It was?" I ask. I'd never met Winnie's roommate.

"Yeah. I didn't know her before I moved in with her a few months ago. I'll never do that again, by the way. Answer an ad for a roommate. I don't know what I will do, but not that."

"Winnie," Bax growls, trying to get her back on track. The guys hang on to her every word. They've been incredibly stressed about the vandal situation. Visiting the Library every few hours when I'm working to stand as a library guards.

"Oh, right," she goes on. "I found the spray paint that she'd used. It was the same color as the writing on the Library. And who just keeps spray paint anyway? She also had pages from those books you said had been ripped up and written on."

"Did you confront her?" Rose puts away her phone and is on the edge of her seat. Drama seems to get Rose's attention above anything else.

"Heck no!"

I try not to laugh. I've learned that Winnie never swears. I have no idea why. She doesn't have a problem with us doing it, and doesn't mind it in our books. She just doesn't.

"I put all the stuff in a bag, took it straight to the police, and told them what I thought," she explains. "They acted like it wasn't enough and then sort of acted like they thought the stuff might be mine!" Now, her story is officially stressing me out. I'd never suspect Winnie of doing such a thing. She is just too kind and lovely. "But the moment they came to the apartment to ask her about it, at my insistence, the stupid B-word confessed. Took the police completely by surprise."

The girls and I laugh, but the guys just look relieved as fuck. Seth actually slumps against the door frame where he's been listening.

"Did she say why?" I ask.