Page 125 of Knot Their Safe Haven
We slowed, letting her come down gradually, Dante kissing all along her cheek and temple while I rubbed soothing patterns at her belly. She collapsed back against me, boneless and beaming, eyes bright with tears and triumph.
“Say it,” I goaded, nipping at her ear.
She rolled her eyes, but the smile stayed.
“You both win. Don’t make me say it again.”
Dante grinned and lay down on one side of her, already reaching for her hand.
I took the other side, breathing in the riot of scents—cinnamon, whipped cream, her perfume, and something else I hadn't expected, a kind of contentment that filled the hollow spaces in my chest.
For a little while, we just lay there, the three of us, watching the string lights waver in the breeze and listening to the distant sounds of a city that didn't know what it was missing.
Later, when the temperature had dropped a few more degrees and Velvet started to shiver, we wrapped her in both our jackets and half-carried, half-dragged her back to the little bathroom in this space that’s equipped with everything we need.
We cleaned her up, bringing a new set of clothes to dress her in before we snuggled against her in the little blanket set up that we did the best to make like a nest.
Alexis had already told us about Velvet not experiencing a nest before, and we were already waiting for the final pieces for such now that we knew we were going to remain in the glass house as a permanent house for our pack until she was ready to expand.
I stayed awake, watching her breathe, thinking about what it meant to win at something like this, cause it really did feel like we won the lottery being able to finally meet our Omega at this age.
The stars above us burn cold and distant, nothing like the warmth radiating from Velvet's skin where she lies between us. My brother sleeps on her other side, one arm thrown possessively across her waist, breathing deep and even.
But I'm awake, watching constellations wheel overhead while processing what just happened.
Not the physical part—though that exceeded every fantasy I'd harbored since Alessandro first mentioned her name.But the trust of it.The way she let us worship her with silly props and serious intent, laughing and gasping in equal measure.
"You're thinking too loud," she murmurs against my chest.
"Didn't know you were awake."
"Hard to sleep when someone's radiating contemplation like a space heater." She shifts, tilting her face up to meet my eyes. She looks content with the cutest sleepy look on her face. "Regrets?"
"None. You?"
"Only that fate didn’t push us to find each other sooner so we could have experienced this hell faster. Didn’t think I was into threesomes." Her fingers trace patterns on my chest through the cotton shirt I'd managed to keep mostly clean. "I've felt more genuinely loved in the past hour than all the years with the wrong people."
"Velvet—"
"I want to make it official." The words come out rushed, like she's afraid hesitation will steal courage. "The pack bonds. The claiming. Everything."
My heart stutters before finding rhythm again.
"When?"
"Is tomorrow too soon?"
A laugh escapes, surprised and delighted.
"If you wanted to do it tonight, we'd find a way. Tomorrow, next week, next year—whenever you're ready."
"Aren't you worried?" She props herself up on one elbow, careful not to wake Dante. "About being targets? Especially since no one's figured out the bombing?"
Here it is—the conversation Alessandro wanted to have after bonds were established, but our omega deserves truth over strategy.
"We know who did it."
Her entire body goes rigid.
