Page 96 of Knot in Bloom
The purr seems to unlock something in her. She melts completely into my arms with a soft, satisfied sigh. Her body finally able to relax now that the desperate edge of heat has been satisfied. Her breathing starts to even out as the rumbling in my chest soothes her omega biology.
“Water,” I say softly to Reid, who’s already moving toward the nightstand with a glass. “She needs to hydrate.”
Reid brings the water with gentle hands. Helping support her head as she drinks. She’s shaky and exhausted. The intensity of her first claiming having taken everything out of her. When she’s had enough, Caleb appears with a warm, damp cloth.
“Let me clean you up,” I murmur, still purring as I gently tend to the mess between her thighs and around her fresh bitemark. Every touch is careful, reverent. Focused entirely on her comfort.
“Tired,” she whispers against my throat. Nuzzling into the vibrations of my purr like a cat seeking warmth.
“Then sleep,” I tell her, pulling the softest blanket over both of us. “I’ll hold you. I’m not going anywhere.”
Reid settles on one side of the nest. Caleb on the other. Both of them adding their protective presence without crowding her space. Through our new bond, I can feel their satisfaction at seeing her properly cared for. Their anticipation for their own turns tempered by patience and love.
My purr deepens as she drifts off in my arms. Her scent warm with satisfaction and the lingering sweetness of heat finally sated. Her body trusts mine completely now. Boneless and peaceful in a way that makes my chest swell with possessive pride.
This is everything I never knew I wanted. Not just the claiming, but this. Holding her while she sleeps. Feeling her complete trust and safety through our bond. Knowing I’ve given her exactly what she needed when she needed it most.
My omega. My mate. Safe and satisfied and mine forever.
The purr continues long after she falls asleep. My alpha biology unable to stop providing the comfort she needs. And as Reid and Caleb settle deeper into the nest around us, their own protective instincts satisfied by her peaceful breathing, I know this is just the beginning of forever.
Chapter 28
Caleb
Watching Levi claim Sadie is both torture and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed.
The way she responds to his gentle approach. How her scent blooms richer when his knot locks them together. The pure joy on her face when he bites down and creates their bond. It’s everything I want for her. Everything I want for us.
But it’s also making my own need nearly unbearable.
My cock has been hard since the moment she settled into the nest. Now, breathing in the thick scent of claiming and satisfaction, watching her wear Levi’s bite mark like a badge of honor, every alpha instinct I have is screaming to add my own claim to the collection.
“How do you feel?” he asks, as she wakes.
She doesn’t answer with words. Just a soft whimper as her heat, temporarily sated by one claiming, begins building again. I can smell it—the way her scent shifts from satisfaction back to need, the changes triggered by Levi’s bite calling to every unclaimed alpha in the room.
Her glazed eyes find mine across the nest. There’s want there, trust, but also that desperate edge returning as her biologydemands completion. She’s been claimed by one alpha, but her heat won’t be fully satisfied until all of us have knotted her.
“Caleb,” she whimpers, my name barely coherent as heat steals her ability to form complete thoughts again. “Need... hurts...”
She can’t finish the sentence, just reaches for me with trembling fingers. The fresh bite mark on her throat is already healing, but I can smell how her body is preparing itself for more. More claiming. More knotting. More of what only an alpha can give her.
“I know you do,” I tell her, moving closer until I’m kneeling beside the nest. “I can smell how much you need it.”
Her scent carries renewed arousal mixed with the satisfaction of being partially claimed. The chemical cocktail is intoxicating, making my own need spike to painful levels. She tries to pull herself upright, to reach for me, but her movements are clumsy and uncoordinated.
“Please,” she gasps, the word broken and desperate. “Caleb, please, still empty. Still hurts.”
That single plea shatters whatever restraint I’ve been clinging to. She’s in distress again, my omega is hurting, and every fiber of my being demands I fix it immediately.
“How do you want me?” I ask, settling onto the mattress beside her, though I can already smell exactly what she needs. Her body is calling for more knot, more claiming, more of the biological completion that only multiple alphas can provide.
She can’t form a coherent answer. Just whimpers and tries to pull me closer, her heat-addled brain reduced to pure instinct and need. The trust in that gesture—the way she reaches for me even when she can barely think—hits me harder than any declaration could.
I lean down to kiss her, and she responds desperately. Hands fisting in my shirt with enough force to tear fabric. This kissis nothing like our gentle encounters before. It’s raw need and biological desperation.
“Need you,” she gasps against my mouth, the words barely recognizable. “Inside. Need your knot.”
