Page 88 of Claimed By My Exiled Alphas
But there was something else too. Something I hadn’t expected. Through the web of bonds, I could feel their emotions toward me. Jace’s genuine friendship and respect. Hollis’s quiet understanding and acceptance. They didn’t just tolerate me for Talia’s sake. They actually cared about me as a person, as a packmate, as someone who mattered to them.
The realization nearly undid me.
“Oh my god,” Talia breathed beneath me, her body still trembling with aftershocks. “I can feel all three of you. It’s like I’m wrapped in pack, surrounded by you all. Connected to each of you differently but all of it right.”
“That’s what pack bonds do.” I licked the bite on her throat clean, extra careful with this vulnerable placement. My saliva would help it heal, would seal the bond permanently. “Connect us through you. Make us family in ways that can’t be undone.”
We stayed locked together, my knot gradually softening while we adjusted to being bonded. Through the connection I could feel this wave of her heat finally starting to ease, the desperate edge fading now that all three of her alphas had claimed her. Her body recognized that she was safe, protected, cared for by a complete pack.
“Thank you,” she whispered, hands coming up to frame my face. “For letting go. For trusting me enough to stop being so controlled. For giving me all of you instead of just the parts you thought were acceptable.”
“Thank you for wanting me anyway.” I kissed her softly, a stark contrast to the intensity of moments before. “For choosing me despite everything. Despite my family, my past, my inability to be gentle and patient like the others.”
“I didn’t want gentle and patient from you,” she said firmly. “I wantedyou. Exactly as you are. Intense and controlled and fiercely protective and willing to let go when I asked you to.”
Through the bond I felt the truth of her words, felt how much she meant them. And I felt Jace and Hollis in the living room, felt their satisfaction at the pack bond completing. We were connected now, all four of us, in a way that could never be undone.
When my knot finally released, I helped her clean up with the washcloths I’d prepared earlier, then called out to the others. “You can come in.”
Jace and Hollis came back into the room, and I watched as Talia looked at all three of us with wonder clear on her face. “I can feel you all. Each of you is different but all connected to me. Connected to each other through me.”
“That’s pack,” Jace said, settling on one side of the nest with easy confidence.
“That’s family,” Hollis added, taking the other side with his characteristic gentleness.
I claimed the spot behind her, pulling her back against my chest where I could feel her heartbeat, her breathing, the heat of her body. All three of us surrounding her, protecting her, claiming her.
“The heat will cycle for a few more days,” I said, already running through logistics in my mind even as I tried to stay present in the moment. “We’ll need to rotate, make sure she stays hydrated and fed, coordinate care. Someone should always be with her, but we also need to rest so we can be effective when it’s our turn.”
“We’ve got this,” Jace said confidently. “We’ve been practicing coordination for weeks. This is just applying what we learned.”
“Plus we’re bonded now,” Hollis added. “We can feel each other through Talia. Know when she needs someone different, when the rotation should shift. The bonds will help us coordinate better than any amount of planning could.”
Talia made a contented sound, already drifting toward sleep between waves of heat. Through the bond I felt her satisfaction, her bone-deep relief at finally being safe with people who wouldn’t hurt her. Her wonder at having three alphas who actually worked together instead of competing. Her happiness at being completely, utterly claimed.
“We should let her rest,” I said quietly, even though every instinct screamed at me to stay wrapped around her. “The next wave will hit in a few hours. She needs to recover her strength.”
We carefully extracted ourselves, though I found it physically difficult to leave her even for the short distance to the living room. The bond pulled at me, wanting me to stay close, to protect, to provide. But I forced myself to follow Jace and Hollis out of the bedroom, leaving the door cracked so we’d hear if she needed us.
The three of us settled on her furniture, and for a long moment no one spoke. I could feel them through the bonds we now shared via Talia, could sense their emotions even if I couldn’t read their thoughts. Satisfaction. Relief. Joy. And underneath it all, the same sense of rightness I felt.
Then Jace started laughing, the sound bright and genuine in the quiet cottage.
“We did it,” he said, grinning at both of us. “We actually formed a pack. Four people who barely knew each other two months ago, and now we’re bonded for life.”
“We more than formed a pack,” Hollis corrected, his own smile soft and wondering. “We bonded. Permanently. There’s no going back from this, even if we wanted to.”
“I don’t want to go back,” I said firmly, meaning it with every fiber of my being. “This is the first thing I’ve done in my life that feels completely right. The first choice I’ve made that wasn’t calculated or strategic but just true.”
“Same,” Jace agreed enthusiastically.
“Same,” Hollis echoed quietly.
We sat in comfortable silence, three alphas who’d learned to work together instead of compete. Three men who’d chosen trust over territorial instinct. Three packmates who’d claimed one omega and in doing so, found themselves.
Through the bonds we could all feel Talia sleeping peacefully in her nest, surrounded by our scents, safe and claimed and home.
We were pack now.
