She shivered beneath the touch, a small smile curving her lips. “The bonds are open, but the pain… It’s gone.”
I probed at her emotions immediately, trying to figure out if she was lying or making it out to be less painful than it was. She wasn’t. Our bond was wide-open, and the only thing filling it was love.
“That isn’t possible,” I said. “Your bond broke.”
“And it was excruciating when it did.” Talia tipped her head to the side, giving Conrad access to tend his bite on her neck. “But I have you now. I think I’m going to be OK.”
The joy I felt from my pack and mate was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. It made me feel light, ecstatic, like the world could give me everything I wanted.
As the feeling lingered, I realized that maybe it wasn’t all from my bonds.
Most of it was from me. With Talia by my side, I could have joy instead of dread. Forever.
Chapter
Fifty-One
TALIA
Over the next few days, there was nothing worse than the moments when I had to be alone.
Without my new bonds being actively nurtured, the fractured old bond reminded me of its presence. There weren’t many moments when all of them left me for more than a minute, but each of them came and went to deal with other matters.
Even with one of them missing, it hurt.
Yet, it was nothing like the excruciating pain I’d felt when Benjamin died. Nothing like what I’d thought would be my permanent reality until I eventually died too.
And… I wasn’t dying. I wasn’t fading away with the broken bond. The bond was fading alone, and I was growing stronger as it did.
Running my fingers through Conrad’s hair, I watched his chest rise and fall as he slept. He was the one who stayed with me almost constantly, surprising no one.
I didn’t fault my other mates for stepping out occasionally—West felt obligated to check on Violet, and Mercer was handling the Alpha Chariots and his healing gunshot wound.
Brooks had gone on the warpath, and Mercer wanted to make sure no one except the guilty parties paid for his father’s sins. Conrad just didn’t have any commitments except me, and he seemed pretty happy to have it this way.
“Are you watching me sleep again?” he mumbled.
I glanced up from his chest to find him watching me with blurry eyes. I smiled sheepishly. “I’m going to blame omega instincts.”
It wasn’t a lie, exactly. My instincts had been rioting since I claimed them all. I’d created the ultimate nest, packed full of all their scents, and needed physical contact at all times.
We hadn’t been indulging the more primal omega desires, but only because my mates were worried I would break. By now, I was confident.
My broken bond hadn’t broken me after all.
The risk they’d taken had saved my life. I would recover.
“Omega instincts, huh?” Conrad rolled over, pushing me onto my back. His body hovered over mine, his form so wide I could barely see past him.
I whined before I could stifle it, squeezing my legs together. Arousal was pooling in my core, but I didn’t want to get all worked up when they’d insisted on not touching me.
Conrad inhaled, groaning when he caught the scent of my slick. “My alpha instincts want me to do all sorts of things to you, princess. Mercer and West will fucking kill me if I act on it.”
“West and Mercer aren’t here,” I blurted out. “They won’t be able to resist if they come back to it already happening.”
They’d be back soon. Soon enough that they would definitely walk in on it. West had stepped out to chat with Violet, andMercer was in the shower. I could hear the water running in the bathroom.
He shifted, spreading my legs so he could settle himself between them. I wrapped my legs around his hips, bringing my core up to rub against the bulge in his pajama pants.
