Chapter 43

CHAPTER 43

S loane prepares what she calls the essential snack plate and brings it downstairs to the little nest we’ve made.

I think it’s a mixture of wanting tonight to be special and her wanting somewhere to nest for her pregnancy. I’ve nearly read What to Expect When Your Omega is Expecting three times.

“Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting,” she says, eating some cheese and nestling up against one of the millions of pillows we brought down here.

“Whatever you need, I’m your guy,” I tell her, scooting up and putting my head on her lap.

She continues eating but pets my hair.

“We need a TV down here.”

“You know we’re going to have to move this all back upstairs when the contractors start working.”

“Hopefully they don’t take long,” she sighs, and I make a note to mention it to Bram.

Maybe there are some modifications we can make upstairs while we get someone in here to finish the basement.

I turn around and kiss her stomach.

“Do you think it’s a girl or a boy?” I ask her.

She smiles down at me, her soft fingers still playing with my hair.

“Hmm. I don’t have a feeling one way or another yet. But you better believe as soon as we can find out, we’re going to. No way could I wait till they’re born.”

“Me either, I’d want to know. We should probably pick a pack name,” I tell her, and she hums.

“The guys will probably keep their last name, at least while they’re playing hockey,” she says.

“I don’t want it to be my last name,” I say plainly.

She doesn’t make me explain; she just nods her head. “To be honest, I’m a little too mad at my dad right now to consider Applegate.” I laugh in her lap, and she shrugs. “Bram is the pack Alpha, would make sense to take Nilsen.”

“I think he would come in his pants if you told him you wanted to take his last name.”

“That powerful, huh?”

“So tiny but so powerful,” I tell her, kissing her stomach and rolling off of her.

“We’re waiting for Max to get home,” she points at me, and I give her a smile.

“I never thought I’d bond with someone. I’m kind of nervous,” I admit as we both lie on our sides and look at one another.

“It hurts for a second, but then that goes away, and it feels amazing. You’ll be able to sense Max’s emotions the strongest. From what I’ve read, an Alpha to Beta bond might not be as intense as it is to an Omega, but it’s still powerful. I’m not sure how much of me you’ll be able to feel through the bond, but once Bram bonds with the both of us, it should be stronger.”

“You’re really okay with me bonding with them?”

“More than okay, I grew up in a house where everyone loved everyone. This has been my dream,” she tells me easily.

“You know that you’re the Omega. You’re our priority.”

“Ethan?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up, and take a nap with me,” she says as I gently tug her against my chest.

Never was a fan of naps before, but becoming somewhat of a kept Beta has made me soft. I’m not even mad about it.

“Jesus fucking Christ. We’ve been looking everywhere for you two,” Max says, startling us both awake.

The Alphas take in our very amateur nest, and all the irritation slips away.

“What’s this?” Bram asks.

Sloane looks shy. Maybe she doesn’t even realize how badly she needs her own cozy place to decompress, but Bram must understand as he doesn’t even allow her to answer.

“It looks great,” he says.

It doesn’t look great, but they’re kind enough to not bring that up.

“Have you two been down here all day?” Max asks.

“Mostly. We need a TV down here,” Sloane says.

I’m surprised the man doesn’t pull one out of the wall right away. He goes to sit on the mattress, and Sloane tsk s at him.

He removes all his clothes, putting them in a neat pile, before sitting on the bed in his underwear.

Bram follows suit, and then we’re all just sitting on this mattress in the middle of the floor, wondering how this is going to go.

“I think you and Bram should both bond with Ethan,” Sloane says.

All our heads whip over to Sloane who looks like a queen in her throne of pillows.

“What?” I ask.

“Bram is uneasy leaving without being bonded. I know it helps that Max will be bonded to both of us. But I think him having one bond will help with some of his anxiety.”

“I don’t have anxiety,” Bram says back.

She holds out her hand and tugs at him so that he’s basically spooning her.

“Whatever you say, Alpha. Plus, I think it would be nice. I get to feel what it’s like when Max bonds with him, and he’ll get to feel what it’s like when we bond,” she says to Bram.

“You're a romantic little thing, aren’t you,” I say, tapping her nose.

“Yes, and a needy one,” she says, grinding against Bram’s crotch.

The massive Alpha wraps a hand around her waist, and he slides his hand down the waistband of her shorts.

“Dripping wet,” he purrs against the back of her head, and she sighs, tugging at my shirt and instructing me to get undressed.

Bram kisses down the side of her throat as he toys with her pussy at the same time Max’s hand wraps around my hip and squeezes my cock. I groan as he rubs his hard length against my ass.

“Is that what you want, Ethan? Both bonds?” he whispers in my ear. A low rumble of approval slips out of him as he grinds harder against me. “Who knew you’d be such a greedy fucking Beta?”

“Why don’t we help your Beta and Alpha out, hmm?” Bram asks.

Sloane moans as Bram slides his fingers out of her and reaches over to cover Max’s dick in slick.

Both of the Alphas groan in satisfaction as Sloane’s perfume chokes us in the small space.

She likes watching her Alphas touch each other, and I can’t say I mind either.

“Now he’s going to fuck our Beta covered in your slick,” Bram says.

My dick has never been harder as Max tugs down my underwear and starts rubbing my hole with his slick-covered cock.

Sloane and I face each other, leaning in for a messy kiss as both Alphas push inside of us.

I swallow her moans as she does mine.

She moves Bram’s hand from her clit to collect some slick before stroking my cock.

I’m not going to last.

Not with Max slowly pushing into me, hitting that deep fucking spot that feels so good, while my Omega strokes me.

“One day I’m going to knot this tight little hole,” Max says, making me whimper.

Sloane crashes my mouth back to hers.

She pants against my mouth as Bram fucks her, and her movements on my cock become less structured. It makes me feel like I’m even closer to coming all over her hand.

Max is kissing the nape of my neck, his teeth dragging against my skin, a promise of what’s to come. Bram watches us from where he lies behind Sloane.

What would have been a look of jealousy months ago is now a look of complete hunger.

Fuck.

It feels like my entire pack is fucking me in some way right now, and I’m not sure how to handle the attention.

That’s a lie.

I devour it.

Max’s grip on me tightens as I feel his knot press against my entrance.

“Fuck,” he pants behind me, his hips hitting my ass cheeks with each rough thrust.

“Are you going to take my knot while I bond our Beta?” Bram asks Sloane

She answers in a moan as we get pressed closer to one another. Her hand doesn't have much room to move, so she just squeezes me instead.

It all happens so fast.

Bram grabs my arm, yanking my wrist to his lips, while Max cups my jaw, and they both sink their teeth into me at the same time.

Sloane jerks my cock as I cover her hand in cum and let all the feelings move through me.

My orgasm seems to go on forever as Max fucks me, filling me with his release as he bonds with me.

It’s a jumble of emotions hitting me at once, all of them positive: lust, love, contentment.

Then there’s this speck of emotion that seems shinier than all the others. Pure happiness.

I know it’s Sloane.

Part of me feels guilty about getting Bram’s bond first.

“No,” the Alpha rumbles, kissing the bond mark that is plain as day on my wrist. “This is what you wanted, wasn’t it, liefje ?”

She moans. I was so lost in my own pleasure I didn’t realize Bram is knotted to her.

Sloane licks her lips and nods. I lean forward and kiss her, and she grabs my wrist and kisses the spot where Bram just bonded with me.

“This is exactly what I wanted,” she says dreamily as Bram tucks her tighter into his arms.

Max pulls out of me, and I wince.

“I’ll be right back,” he says.

He has to run upstairs completely butt ass naked but comes back with multiple warm washcloths, handing a few to Bram before coming over to me. He doesn’t even ask. He just cleans me and himself up before plopping down on the mattress next to me.

I turn in the bed so we’re facing each other.

He’s always been handsome, always been fun. But when I look at him right now, I see the real Max. The Max he always wanted to be but just didn’t realize.

“Did you think this is where we’d end up when I asked you to move my dad’s couch?” I ask.

“No, but I wanted it to.”

My brows furrow. “What do you mean?”

“I had a crush on you and Sloane since that first night at the diner. I just knew I didn’t deserve either of you then.”

“And now?” I ask, rubbing the bond mark.

Fuck, it feels weird. It’s definitely going to take some getting used to.

“Sometimes this all doesn’t feel real to me. Like one day you and Sloane will realize I’m a fraud,” he whispers it so Sloane and Bram can’t hear.

Though they may be asleep and knotted, I’m not going to risk turning around and finding out.

I grab the back of his neck, rubbing my thumb against the muscle there.

“Secret?”

“Hmm?”

“I had a crush on you then too. You’re not a fraud, and none of us are going anywhere. I’m pretty sure my and Sloane’s matching bond marks more than prove that. You’re a good man, Max. Sloane loves you. I love you. This is forever.”

His pretty blue eyes get glossy for a moment as he searches my face.

“I’m going to try really hard to be a good partner to you,” he says.

“You already do,” I promise him, leaning forward and kissing him tenderly.

When I pull back, he’s smiling, and it’s contagious as I smile back. Sloane may be the center of this pack, and the one we all give a little more to, but at the end of the day, we’re a pack who all have affections and feelings for one another. How it looks between each of us is different but treasured.

When I look at Max now, he’s well beyond the cocky asshole I gave advice to at the diner. He’s someone I trust, respect, and I’ve tied my life to.

I never thought about what it would look like to create my own family or forge my own bonds. But if I told twelve-year-old me where I would end up, I never would have believed it.

“Can you feel her?” he asks in a whisper, glancing over my shoulder. Sloane must be passed out. Pregnancy has made her tired.

“Yeah,” I say with a slight blush.

“As soon as we get back from our away games, it will be official.”

“And then we’ll have to tell Coach,” I say, and Max winces.

“Yeah, there is that.”

“We’ve survived worse,” I say, and he nods, wrapping his arms around me.

“We have,” he replies, and before long, we’re all passed out in the makeshift nest that Sloane and I made, and I don’t think I’ve had a better sleep in my life.