Page 191 of Bliss & Her Idols

The words are not only reflected in Cricket’s eyes but shining through the bond.

It gives me the strength to continue.

“That day, hour, minute,second, I stopped being a kid. I grew up. I was fifteen. I had my little brother to think about. He was only six, scared and confused. And my other brother…? Chase doesn’t think that I fully know what he suffered to keep our family together and stop those assholes from hauling Pip and me away to become orphan wards of the Omega Institute. He tried to hide his exhaustion, feed us while starving himself, and make a game out of running from landlords. He tried to hide the bruises from his illegal cage fights, which he fought to pay for Pip and me to have an education to become independent Omegas with a better life than he led. I’ll never forget that both my brothers were my champions against a world that treated us as criminals, outcasts, and rejects.”

When I meet Torin’s gaze, he doesn’t look pitying like I’d dreaded. Instead, there’s only compassion and a deep understanding.

These men are all outcasts.

Perhaps, they’re the only men who could have become my bonded pack.

We understand each other down to our souls.

Torin balances his wine between the pillows at the side of the fort and lays his hand on the back of my neck.

When his thumb caresses over the wolf tattoo on the base of my neck, I relax with a sigh.

“I’ll never allow you to be made to feel like that again,” Torin swears.

“And I won’t let you be made to either.”

“Pinky promise?” His lips quirk.

I hold up my pinky.

Torin briefly links his with mine. “I love you, a chroi.”

“I love you too.” I run my fingers down Torin’s bare chest. Then I glance over my shoulder at Jin, who is watching us with a heated gaze. “I love you all.”

“Why don’t we go camping for real next time?” Jin rolls onto his back, displaying his dancer’s body in a distracting way. I have a sense that he knows the impact he’s having on the rest of us. “I can plan the next date, yeah? It’ll be the fucking best.”

I should’ve known that these men would be competitive.

Cricket scrambles to sit up, eagerly. “Wait, wait. I want to plan a date.”

“It looks like we’re going to be busy spoiling each other.” Torin draws back from me but he’s still relaxed in a rare way for him. “This is the one to beat. How are you going to do better than marshmallows and chocolates eaten off the floor?”

He means it to be a self-deprecating joke, but Jin and Cricket actually look worried like it is going to be a challenge.

I bite my lip, asking the question that I’ve been avoiding all day. “How did things go with Una?”

While Jin recovered from the bonding bite on the bed, Torin went in search of his sister and her pack to win her over to his coup idea.

I’d been tense with fear that he wouldn’t return.

When he did, he’d simply shrugged, then insisted that we should make the most of our time together.

Torin clenches his jaw. “I knew that I wasn’t going to get away with that. Let’s simply put it that Una was open to the idea. But she wants more time to think about it.”

My heart speeds up. “We may not have more time.”

“I know that. But my family can’t be rushed on anything. Just look how many years I’ve had to wait to even get back to America to plead my case. She listened, and that’s more than anyone has done before. It’s progress.”

“Enough to save us, if Mena arrives back tomorrow morning?” Cricket chews his lip.

Torin brushes imaginary lint off his trousers. “Here’s hoping.”

“What about Rory?” Jin pushes his long hair behind his ear.

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