Page 24 of Run Omega Run
"They'll get used to it," Dante said with a smile that made something warm unfurl in my chest. "We're planning to stick around." I smiled, and my heart fluttered. A warmth radiated through me as I allowed myself to let go for a split second in their scents, their masculinity. What if it could always be like this? What if they could be mine one day and I, there’s? I took a long, deep breath and blinked slowly.
“How are you feeling?” Dante asked as I followed them down the stairs.
My brows furrowed. It wasn’t often that anyone asked me how I felt... how did I feel?
“Numb,” I said. “I’m not quite sure how to feel right now.” I bit my lower lip, walking down the hallway with him by my side.
He nodded. “That’s understandable; you’ve been through a lot.”
“Just a little,” I smiled, and he placed his arm around my shoulder as we walked. The strength of melted marshmallows gathered around me, comforting me, tempting me.
“Mmm!” I said, not realizing I’d spoken aloud until it was too late. My cheeks reddened.
Dante grinned. “Why thank you,” he said.
I swatted his arm, but instead he squeezed me against his chest, holding me tight. “I could hold you every minute of every day, Sweetie.”
I moaned in his arms, resting my head on his warm muscular chest. He laughed, his chest moving up and down against my face. “But,” he pulled back. “You need to rest. We will be back tomorrow, and while we’re here, we’ll start getting some of these things fixed for you.” He motioned to the crack in the wall.
“You don’t have to! You’ve already done so much for us.”
“I’d do anything for you, Sweetie.”
“But why?”
He smiled, leant down and kissed my forehead. “I think you know why.”
As we made our way to the front door, I listened to the way their voices mixed with the children's excited chatter. Loubie Lou had apparently decided that Angus was safe enough to show him her rabbit, while Manny was explaining the complex operational challenges of his broken truck to Cole with the serious attention of a child who'd never had an adult male take his concerns seriously.
"Thank you," I said as they reached the front door, the words feeling inadequate for everything they'd given us in the space of a single day. "For everything."
"Don't thank us yet," Bennett said, but there was warmth in his voice that took any sting out of the words. "We're just getting started."
Chapter 11
Heather
The evening had settled into the simplicity of silence, that only came when seven children finally surrendered to sleep after a day filled with more excitement and worry than their young minds could process. Becky had stayed until each of them was tucked in, reading extra stories to Loubie Lou and helping Susie organize the small pile of books she kept beside her bed. Her vanilla scent lingered in the hallways even after she'd gathered her things and headed home to her own pack, leaving behind the promise that she'd return tomorrow to help however she could.
I stood in the doorway of Mom's room, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest as she slept more peacefully than she had in weeks. The medications from the hospital were working, keeping the fluid from building up in her lungs and allowing her to rest without the violent coughing fits that had been tearing her apart from the inside. For the first time in months, her face looked relaxed, free from the lines of pain that had become so familiar I'd almost forgotten she could look any other way.
The building itself seemed to exhale around us, settling into its nightly routine of creaks and sighs. The crack in the kitchen wall was still spreading, and the loose board on the front steps would probably give way completely if we got much more rain,but tonight those problems felt manageable. Tomorrow the pack would return, and somehow I knew they'd help us figure out solutions to challenges that had seemed insurmountable when I was facing them alone.
That fragile sense of peace shattered like glass when I heard the front door open downstairs.
