Chapter 23 In which I give in to instinct

I take too long to realize what the fuck is happening. Someone is shooting at us. And not with paintballs, with fucking bullets. Real bullets. Slamming into the wooden structures around us, kicking up dirt and debris when they hit the ground.

Luca groans on top of me, red, viscous blood dripping from his shoulder and onto my face. “Luca,” I whimper, fingers curling into his shirt. “What’s happening?”

He doesn’t pull back to look at me, just keeps his body over mine, arms wrapped around my head, covering as much of me as he can. “Shh, it’s gonna be okay,” he murmurs, though it comes out hard and panicked and not really all that soothing. It’s nice that he tries, though. “We’ve just got to stay put, vixen. We’ll be okay.”

My eyes squeeze shut as I cuddle closer to him, breathing in his scent that, even though it’s tinged with rage, helps to keep me calmer.

“Are you okay?” I whisper, wanting to check his shoulder, but also too terrified to move.

His lips brush the top of my head. “Yeah, omega, I’m fine. Just a graze. I promise everything’s fine.”

I want to believe him. I do. But the rest of our pack is out there. They’re in the line of fire and that means they can get hurt.

They could die. Oh, fuck.

The thought of that has a whine pulling out of me. Omega stress hormones flood the air around us with my distress.

“Fuck, Sadie,” Luca murmurs, opening our bond wide, sending soothing vibes to me. “Please don’t make that noise. Please. It drives me crazy and makes me want to hunt down whoever made you feel like that. But I need to stay right here with you, keeping you safe. Okay? Please, baby. I promise we’re fine. Everyone is gonna be fine. I can feel them, remember?”

A shuddering breath gusts out of me at the reminder. Yes, of course. Luca can feel them, even if I can’t. He knows that they’re safe.

I nod against his chest and swallow down the whines and whimpers that my omega wants to make as we just wait.

I’m not sure how long we lay there, waiting, waiting, waiting.

But eventually the gun shots stop and Luca pulls back, looking down at me with worry in his eyes. “You’re okay?”

I nod, hands moving to flutter over his bleeding shoulder. “I’m fine. But you’re bleeding, Luca. A lot. I should put pressure on it, right? That’s a thing they do in movies?”

Half his mouth quirks into a smile and then he’s laughing. At me. In this situation. Right after he’s been shot, and he’s laughing .

My hands drop away from him. “I fail to see what’s funny about this,” I sniff, going for disdain, but unfortunately it comes out watery as hell. Tears prick my eyes and Luca blurs as the amusement falls from his face.

“Fuck, vixen, baby. You’re right, there’s nothing funny about this. Please, don’t cry.”

“You were shot! ” I wail, tears streaming fully now. I press a dirty hand over my eyes, trying to stem the flow. “You’re fucking bleeding all over me and you’re laughing about it!”

Great big sobs wrack my body, and I’m half embarrassed, half relieved. I was starting to worry that something was truly fucking wrong with me, since I haven’t had a breakdown with all the bullshit in my life. Luca scrambles up to a sitting position, then winces as he pulls me onto his lap, situating me so I’m straddling his hips with my forehead pressed against the column of his throat.

“It’s okay, baby,” he murmurs into my hair, one hand cupping the back of my head, holding me to him as the other rubs circles between my shoulder blades. “I’m okay. The rest of the pack is okay. Everything’s gonna be fine. I promise.”

As if to prove his point, there’s a thundering of boots approaching us. Luca stiffens for about a half second before he relaxes again and it’s enough to let me know that it’s our pack, so I stay snuggled against him, breathing in his fruity spiced brandy scent.

Boozy coconut beach wafts over me as Swift drops to his knees next to me, one of his hands gripping the back of my neck to tug me away from Luca gently. He cups my cheek, thumb running over the blood splattered on my skin. “You’re alright, Cherrybomb?”

I nod and sniff, trying to hold back my tears and failing. “It’s not my blood. Its Luca’s. ” The statement ends on a wail, and I feel all of them exchange a look. Apparently, they aren’t sure what to do with an overly emotional omega, either.

Luca presses a kiss to my temple and then I’m being handed off to Swift. I struggle for a moment, trying to stay with my wounded alpha, but Logan is there, hand wrapped around the back of my neck, thumb stroking my pulse point, as he says gently, “I need to check him out, okay, mo chuisle ? I want to make sure he’s okay.”

I swallow and nod. “Okay.”

Swift sits cross-legged and arranges me on his lap, with my back to his chest, arms wrapped around me tight, and so I can watch as Logan cuts away Luca’s shirt to reveal the wound underneath. I let out a relieved breath when I see he’s right. It looks like just a graze.

Logan prods at the gash. “Might need a handful of stitches. But nothing too bad.” He leans back. “I’ve got my emergency kit in the car. I can stitch you up here, or we can go home first.”

“Home first,” I blurt out, tears still leaking out of my eyes. “I want to wash it out before you stitch it.”

Four sets of eyes land on me with varying degrees of softness. My face flames. “Sorry. I umm.. Whatever you want to do. I just thought… there might be dirt or something.”

Logan bites his lower lip like he’s fighting a grin. “Well, I was planning on making sure it’s clean first.” He looks back at Luca. “Whatever you want, man.”

Luca’s gaze latches onto me. “I think we can go home first. Let our omega take care of me the way she wants to.”

Logan laughs as Swift cuddles me closer. “I don’t blame you.” The pack doctor pushes to his feet and holds out a hand to Luca to help him stand. “Come on.”

My head swims a little as Swift pushes to his feet, not the least bit concerned about doing so with my added weight. He just adjusts his grip and stands up. “I can walk,” I say, breathless.

He grins down at me. “I’m aware, but I like carrying my cherrybomb. I’d carry you everywhere if I could. Never let your feet touch the ground like the fucking queen you are.”

My stomach flips over at his words, warmth spilling through me. When he says things like that, it makes me want to kiss him. Makes me want to drop to my knees and take his cock in my mouth. It makes me want to present for my alpha and beg him to bite me, bond me.

I don’t say any of that though because, contrary to my actions just now, I am not owned by my instincts, so I just hum. Swift laughs and brushes a kiss on my forehead as I loop an arm around his neck. Over his shoulder I see Maddox and Ethan still standing where we had been. Maddox has his phone pressed to his ear and is snapping angrily at whoever is on the other side, while Ethan is typing away at his screen.

“Did you get all of them?” I ask quietly. I don’t want to say the word kill, but that’s really my question. A week ago, I might have been horrified at such a casual mention of death, but that was before some assholes shot at me, before they hurt Luca. Now I just feel the need for vicious revenge.

Swift tightens his grip on me. “Yeah, Cherrybomb we did. Even got one alive so we can figure out who’s behind this attack.” Gold eyes peer down at me. “You wanna help me interrogate them?”

I shudder and shake my head, pressing my forehead into his neck. “No. I’m not quite ready for blood and torture, even if I am-” I bite off the thought. Even if I am the Falcone Pack omega.

Look, I know I’ve already been bitten into this pack. I know that technically I am their omega, but it still feels too fucking soon to say out loud.

Far too fucking soon to be admitting that.

I’m the girl that, up until I let Luca and Ethan take me into the back room at The Market, only had one-night stands. Never anything more than a quick tumble in the sheets and an airy goodbye after.

If Swift is bothered by my cagey attitude, he doesn’t show it, just hefts me higher as he carries me to the car. “Don’t worry about it, Cherrybomb. We’ll get you basking in the blood of your enemies in no time.”

I bury my face in his neck and snort out a laugh as he pulls open the car door.

By the time we make it back to the penthouse, I’ve calmed down a lot. Not all the way. I think that won’t happen until Luca is clean, stitched up, and bandaged. Until I’m snuggled with him on the couch under a blanket. Until all of my pack is circled around me with their scents in my nose and their body heat soothing the tension from my muscles. I hope they’re okay with that. Because it’s going to happen.

I hurry Luca up the stairs and into his room, then into the adjoining bathroom. He follows along with me, a small smirk on his lips that tells me he’s loving this attention, loving that I’m worried about him.

Under normal circumstances, I might give him a hard time about it, but as it is, I need to take care of him, to see with my own eyes that he really is fine. So I strip him with hurried movements, hands trembling with leftover fear and adrenaline. It’s my shaking that helps Luca realize just how fucked up I actually am from what just happened.

When my fingers go to the button of his black jeans, he curls his much larger hand around both of mine, stilling my movements, while he uses his other to tip my chin up, making me meet his gaze. “Hey, vixen.” His voice is low and smooth. “I’m okay. Promise I’m okay. I’ve had much worse.”

My cheeks puff out with the force of my breath. “That doesn’t really make it better, Luca.”

My gaze trails over the scars on his chest, pale and puckered skin. Fuck, he really has had worse. I never really let myself consider what his scars mean, what all of their scars mean. But now I can’t stop thinking about it.

My pack has been through battle after battle. They’ve been bruised and stabbed and shot. They’ll probably continue to be.

Hell, by being their omega, I’ll be in the line of fire, too. I suddenly realize why they didn’t want me to go out alone, why they preferred if I stayed in the penthouse safe and sound. You’d think it would be the almost kidnapping that happened, but not it’s this, the years of violence written on my bonded mate’s skin.

Luca tugs me closer, until I’m pressed against his bare body. He wraps his arms around me and presses my head to him, right over his chest, so I can hear his heartbeat, steady and strong behind his ribs. “See?” He whispers. “I’m fine. Still alive and here with you.”

I swallow a choked sob and pull away from him. “I know that.”

He gives me a soft smile. “Good. Now let’s get in the shower and wash off the blood and mud so we can get to the cuddling part of the evening.”

I catch sight of myself in the mirror, and my eyes widen. I look worse off than Luca does. There are twigs and grass in my hair, mud and blood smeared on my face.

He chuckles at my expression and helps me undress. I protest and try to do it myself, but he won’t let me.

Under the hot spray of water, we wash each other and by the time we’re done, I know Luca is going to be just fine. The stiff cock that keeps poking me in the stomach, hip and ass is a pretty good indicator of that.

When we head back downstairs hand in hand, it’s to find the rest of the pack there, also freshly showered and dressed in lounge clothes. They’re in the middle of situating two mattresses side by side in front of the couch, which is covered with pillows and blankets. The lights are turned low, creating a cozy atmosphere.

I freeze at the sight, my inner omega eyeing the soft goods and the makeshift nest. Not a nest, my omega scoffs. It’s too large of a space to really be a nest, but the couch is a U shape and with the mattresses between the arms, it creates a cove of soft goodness that makes my fingers itch to arrange.

I’ve never once felt like I needed to build a nest. Unless you count the urge, I had to steal the pack's clothes when I first got here. But now I’m shifting from one foot to the other, waiting for permission to do exactly that.

Maddox looks up at me, a soft smile on his face. “We know you aren’t ready for the nest upstairs, trouble, but we thought maybe you’d be okay with this? We all want to be near you after what happened this afternoon.”

I look from him back to the pile of blankets. “Can I- Can I set it up?”

He grins at me. “Of course you can, baby.”

I let out a little squeal of excitement that takes even me by surprise and dive over the couch to land in the pile of blankets, effectively sending them tumbling onto the mattresses. I arrange everything just how I like, following an instinct that doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, but who cares?

My omega purrs when she realizes that the blankets and pillows must be from their bedrooms, because the fabrics carry the heavy scent of each of them. I frown when I come across a blanket with almost no scent and toss it to the side. Not here. Not now.

But when I come across a beautiful soft gray one that feels amazing on my skin, but carries no scent, I hesitate. I want it in the nest, but it’s not right. I stare down at it, sudden tears pricking my eyes even as I realize this is fucking ridiculous.

“Hey, Cherrybomb, baby. What’s the matter?” Swift appears next to me, his hand rubbing soothing circles between my shoulder blades.

I sniff down at the blanket. “It's not right.”

“What’s not?”

“The blanket. I want it, but it’s not right. It doesn’t smell…” I trail off helplessly, because again I recognize that this is, for sure, the stupidest thing I’ve ever been upset about.

“Oh, Cherrybomb, it doesn’t smell right? You need it to smell like pack?”

I nod, sniffing again. Feeling like the world might end if I don’t get what I want right now.

Swift carefully takes the blanket from me, and I follow the fabric with my eyes as he lifts it to his neck, his cheek, his bare chest and rubs it all over him. The tightness in my chest releases as he hands it back to me. “Better?” he asks, smoothing the hair back from my face.

I bury my nose in the blanket and inhale deeply, letting out a purr when it smells like him. “Yes, thank you.” And then my eyes widen and I shove against his chest. “Get out.”

He falls back, eyes wide with surprise. “What?”

“Get out. It’s not ready yet. You have to get out and you have to ask if you can come in.”

A brilliant smile curls his lips as he scrambles off the mattress and onto the hardwood floor. “Sorry, omega, finish building your nest. I’ll wait.”

I watch him warily, making sure he’s going to stay where he is, then go back to arranging things just so.