Chapter 12

Imoan at the feeling of someone playing with my hair because it feels so damn good. Thick fingers rub against my scalp in a soothing motion, which has me melting into my dream man's touch.

Something grows hard against the back of my head, and my eyes flutter open. "Morning, Trouble." Zane's stunning hazel eyes stare down at me.

It takes a moment for my brain to play catch up as my eyes roam his face. I almost forgot about that tattoo under his eye. Probably because I was still distracted by the fact that he had his cock inside Everett's ass.

My hand twitches, wanting to reach up and brush my fingers over the tattoo, when the realization that I'm in his lap has me bolting upright. "Where the fuck am I?" I demand as I frantically look around.

Jumping to my feet, I spin around, taking in the tan leather seats where all three guys are sitting, blinking rapidly before something out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. A window. Clouds.

"Are we on a fucking plane!?" I gape at them in utter horror.

"Technically, it's a private jet, but yeah, pretty much," Zane confirms, lounging back in his seat, his arms lay on the arm rest like he doesn't have a care in the world.

"How the hell did I get here?" I glare at him, rage simmering beneath my skin. "Did you seriously fucking kidnap me!"

"Jade, please," Everett starts. "You need to calm down."

I swing my gaze to him. "Calm down? You"re joking, right? You want me to sit down, enjoy the ride to God fucking knows where, and just be okay with the fact that the three of you have taken me against my will?"

"That would be nice, yeah," Zane snarks.

"You." I snap my focus back to him, pointing my finger at him like I'm scolding a naughty child. "Don't you even fucking start with me. I can"t believe you did this. Are you crazy?"

"For you? Yes." He blinks, face emotionless like he's answering the most casual question.

I can't even start to begin with these guys right now. I close my eyes and try to allow my brain to process everything.

"How did you do it? Hit me on the back of the head? Because it's fucking pounding right now." I instinctively rub the back of my head.

"Here." Everett stands up and goes over to the little kitchen area. This place is like an RV in the sky. He grabs a white bottle, pops the lid, and shakes out two little pills onto his hand. After capping it, he grabs a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. "Take this. It will help," he offers, holding it out to me.

"I'm not taking drugs from you," I scoff, moving a step back.

"Don't be so dramatic, Jade. It's acetaminophen, to take away your headache."

"I wouldn't need to take anything for the pain if you didn't fucking do something to me so you could kidnap me!"

"It was just a little pin prick. You will feel gross for a little bit, but you"re going to be fine," Zane grumbles.

"I'm going to kill you," I snarl, having just about enough of his crazy ass. I go to launch myself at him, loving how his eyes widen in shock, but Everett's arm wraps around my waist, holding me back.

"Let me go!" I shout through gritted teeth as I thrash in Everett's arms.

"Jelly Bean, you"re going to hurt yourself," Griffin warns, leaning forward in his seat. "Could you stop and just talk to us?"

"Fuck you!" I spit. "You"re all fucking crazy."

"What are you doing?" Panic fills me as Everett holds me down while Zane takes out fucking handcuffs. "Stop. Don't you fucking dare!" I scream. "Help! Someone help me!"

"Shut her up," Zane snaps. Griffin curses but grabs a roll of duct tape, rips a piece off it, and shoves it over my mouth.

I'm fucking fuming, trying to pull my arms free, but Zane cuffs each hand to the arms of the chair. I scream but it's muffled by the tape.

With my feet still free, I try to kick Zane, but he grabs my foot and glares at me.

"That"s enough, Trouble," he chastises. "You will calm the fuck down, now!" Again with the fucking alpha bark.

My body relaxes a little bit by no choice of my own. My chest heaves, nostrils flaring as I glare at him. He slaps another set of cuffs around my ankles before sitting back in his chair.

"Now, that"s much better," Zane gloats, grabbing my chin in a firm grip. I glare up at him, wishing looks could kill at this very moment. My chest rises and falls as I struggle to breathe through my nose. "If you would just be a good girl, we wouldn't have to resort to such drastic measures. But seeing as how you just won't listen and let us talk, this is what we have to do. So, now we're going to make you listen to what we have to say."

I scream against the tape, trying to rip my chin from his hold. He only leans forward to kiss my forehead before whispering, "Fight as much as you want, little omega. It just makes my cock harder."

My body stiffens as it flushes with a surge of heat. Fuck. How does he affect me so damn much?

He lets my chin go and sits back in his seat with a chuckle, like he knows what he's doing to me.

"Here's the deal, Jade. We don't know what happened exactly all of those years ago or what the contributing factors were that kept us apart, but here"s what we do know. Either it was a big misunderstanding or someone sabotaged us. I'm pretty sure we're all going to go with the latter on that one. And we plan on doing everything we can to find out who did it, starting with that fucking PI," Zane snarls.

"Until then, here's what"s going to happen. The fact is, Jade, you are ours. Always have been. The moment I laid eyes on you up on that roof, my soul claimed you. The only reason I held back from letting you know was because I knew once I had my hands on you, I wouldn't be able to ever let you go. The same goes for these two." He nods his head toward Everett and Griffin.

My heart races at his admission, the one I dreamed about when we were kids, and my eyes flick over to the other guys. Everett's looking a bit fidgety, his eyes sad, nervous, and concerned. Griffin is watching me with a mix of hope, uneasiness, and panic.

"We decided that we would watch over you, be your protectors, take care of you the best we could without showing those two fucking waste-of-space foster parents that it was something more than friendship. We were not going to risk giving them a chance to kick us to another house or separating us in any way. We would have gone fucking mad being apart from you," Zane continues.

"We did go mad without you," Everett admits. "The past six years, Jade, it's been pure hell. Sure, we have fame and money, everything we could want in the world. But we didn't have you. Therefore, it made all of it useless."

"There's so much you don't know, Jelly Bean," Griffin adds. "So much we want to tell you. So much you need to hear."

"We should never have left without you. But we did. We hate ourselves for it. But the thing is, Jade, we always meant to come back for you. Everything we worked for was for us to be a family, to be together. And now that we have you back, we are never letting you go."

My mind"s a total mess. They're telling me everything I've always dreamed of. Years of thinking they hated me, that they moved on with their lives without me, and he's telling me that was never the plan. That whatever intervened in our lives put us on these separate paths without our consent.

As much as I told myself I hated them, I never really did. I was convinced that if I distracted myself with the goal of never thinking of them, I'd simply get over them. Seeing them the other night proved that it didn't work.

The fact is, my heart still beats for them. I want them. I want them so fucking badly it hurts. But all of this is too good to be true.

Zane leans over and pulls the tape off of my mouth. "Now, what do you have to say about all of that?"

"When we land, I'll run."

His lips twitch. "You have no ID, no money, no phone."

"I'll go to the cops." I raise a brow.

"And who are they going to believe?" He cocks his head to the side. "You or us."

"I hate you," I spit.

He chuckles. "Sweet girl, I know you want that to be true, but you and I both know you don't. Want to know why? Because you"re fucking mine, Jade. You"re my girl. My omega. Mine," he growls. "I told you the day I left that I loved you, and I'm telling you right now, I still love you. How about you make it easier on everyone and just accept that fact, okay?"

"Is it true?" I ask Everett and Griffin. "Do you feel the same about me that he does?"

"Of course." Everett's eyes widen. "I know we were stupid and didn't say it back then like we should have, but Jade, I love you. I've always loved you. All these years have been pure hell without you. All I did was worry about you. Who you"re with, how you"re doing. Are you safe? Are you healthy? Are you happy? I've never gone to sleep without asking myself that. Every. Single. Night."

My heart pounds erratically and my eyes tear up, but I say nothing as I look to Griffin. "I love you, Jelly Bean. Just as much and as hard as the other two. Every concert we've done, I'd look out into the crowd and wonder if you were there. I'd search for the striking green eyes that always took my breath away and wished more than anything that I'd find them looking back at me," he confesses. "It was always meant to be the four of us."

This is all too good to be true. I can't just let go of the last six years like it didn't happen. I made a new life. A life I like. I love The High Roller, I love my job and the people who work there. They are my family.

But these guys were once my family, too, and so much more.

Swallowing hard, I lick my lips, trying to get my mixed emotions under wraps.

"When we were younger and we made all these plans to move away together, to start a new life, I honestly believed it would be as friends. I knew you all cared for me, but I didn't know it was in the same way that I felt about you. I loved you three so hard." I laugh.

"I was a lovesick girl who wanted nothing more than to be loved by her three hot best friends who cared so damn hard for her. I convinced myself that if something romantic didn't happen and you never saw me the way I saw you, I'd be okay with that. As long as I'd get to keep you as friends."

My cheeks grow hot as I admit this next part. "I told myself that if you ever found an omega, I'd learn to accept them, be with them so I could be a part of your pack, if it meant I could have you three in my life. Pathetic, isn't it?"

"That would have never happened," Zane dismisses, making my heart drop. "You wouldn't have had to watch us be with someone else because there never was going to be anyone but you, Jade. If you ended up a beta, none of us would have cared. We didn't want an omega, we wanted you. It will only ever be you, Jade. Get that through your pretty little head right now."

"Stop." I close my eyes, willing myself not to cry. Not right now. "This is a lot. It's all too much."

"It's not enough!" Zane growls. "Why are you fighting this!"

"Because!" I snap as my eyes open. "It's not as easy as you"re making it out to be. You want me to just leave the life I've built at the drop of a hat to be with you. But I've spent the past six years trying not to love you. Telling myself that I didn't need anyone but myself. I've been alone because the idea of opening up to someone else and giving them the power to crush me later was something I couldn't come back from. It's not as easy for me as it is for you."

"Do you love us?" Zane asks.

"It's not that easy."

He lunges forward, wrapping his hand around my neck. I gasp, eyes widening, partly in fear and partly in anticipation. My blood pounds against his thumb as he presses it against the pulse point in my neck.

"It is that easy, Jade. Answer the fucking question," he snarls.

My chest heaves as I look up at him. His eyes are wild. Something changed in him over the years, or maybe it was a part of him that was just hidden.

"Yes," I rasp out, struggling to speak as he tightens his hold on my throat. He closes his eyes, letting out a low, hungry groan as he presses his forehead to mine.

"Say it, Jade. Say the words." His voice is a husky command with a hint of a plea.

I don't want to. They don't deserve it. Not yet. Maybe not ever. They need to earn it, to show me this isn't all just one big cosmic joke.

"No," I rasp.

"Say. It!" he demands. He's not using his alpha command, but he"s close.

"Zane. That"s enough!" Everett barks. "Let her fucking go, or you"re the next person who"s getting a fucking needle in their neck. Do not use your alpha bark on her. The words will mean nothing if they're forced."

"Fuck!" Zane curses, letting me go and dropping back in his seat. "I will get you to say those words, Trouble. Mark my fucking words."

"Love to see you try," I rasp, coughing a bit.

"I love a challenge, Jade. You know that." He grins like the crazy fucker he is. But God, why does he have to be one of the sexy ones? And why am I fucking wet for it?

"We don't want to force you to be with us or to love us. That"s no life for anyone. But we do want you to be aware that we love you. We want a life with you. If you"re not ready for that now or ever, we understand. But this time, I'm going to ask you something," Everett says.

"Come with us on tour. It's two months. You can travel the world. Leave Vegas for the first time and give us some of the time we lost with you. If by the end of the two months, you find this life isn't for you, and you want to leave, we will let you go."

I can tell Zane is about to protest, but Griffin holds up a needle, dangling it between his fingers. Zane glares at him, flips him off, and sighs, crossing his arms and looking out the window.

Everett and Griffin watch me, waiting for my answer. Do I say no? If I do, I could be missing out on something I've wanted for so long. Not just being back with the guys, but the dream of wanting to travel the world.

"I don't have any money on me," I whisper.

Zane snorts. "We're literal millionaires, Trouble. You never have to worry about money." He turns his face to look at me.

"You. Shut it. I'm still pissed at you. You crazy bastard," I growl. His eyes light up at my reaction. "You kidnapped me."

"They helped!" Zane growls.

"You stuck the needle in my neck." I narrow my eyes. "Anyway. I don't like the idea of using someone for money. I have my own. I just need my fucking bank card."

"While we think it's honorable of you that you"re worried about taking advantage of someone, Zane is right. We have money, Tiny. And I think after everything we've done to you—intentional or not— it's the least we can do. Let us treat you. At the very least, you get an all expense paid vacation out of it."

Fuck, I do like the sound of that. I've never been on vacation before. "Two months?" I ask hesitantly.

"Two months." Griffin's face lights up, and damn it, my heart starts racing at his excitement.

I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. "Fine. Two months. But if I'm miserable and I hate it, I want to have the right to leave anytime I want."

"Deal," Everett quickly agrees.

"What! No, that"s not the deal," Zane yells.

"And if you"re going to be around me, no heavy drinking and no drugs. Weed is fine." I give all of them a pointed look.

"Well, that"s easy for me," Everett gloats. "As for them, not so much."

"Who's who?" I ask, referring to who's got trouble with what substance.

"Drinking," Zane mutters, looking back out the window.

"It's just a bit of coke sometimes," Griffin says guiltily. "But I'll stop."

My heart hurts, wondering how they got to that point where they'd need to use the hard stuff. But with the lifestyle they're living, I'm not surprised.

"Okay. Fine. I'll stay."

"Yes!" Griffin whoops, jumping up and fist-pumping the air. "You"re going to love it. Being on the road, it's fucking amazing." His grin is so wide, so beautiful, it takes my breath away. His face falls slightly when I don't instantly get excited with him. "I do want to ask you something, though. And please, please consider it."

"What?"

"Please, don't write off us being together. We want to court you, show you what a life with us being your alphas could be like. I don't think any of us could handle having you so close while having to keep our hands to ourselves."

"I'll think about it," I whisper, my mind racing, wondering what I should do.

"That"s all I ask." He nods, sitting down.

The three of them stare at me, and I shift uncomfortably. "Ahh, can I get out of these cuffs now?" I ask. Zane gives me a look as Everett starts to remove the restraints. "I'm not going to fucking go anywhere." I glare at him. "We're in the fucking air."

"I swear, Trouble, if you keep fighting me, we're going to have issues. Because I'm telling you right now, you are mine. I don't give a shit about any of this. I'm not letting you go."

I hate how much I love that. The passion in his declaration. I hate that I believe him, too.

"Is there a bathroom?" I ignore him and look at the other two.

"Just down there." Everett points.

Without saying anything else, I turn around, heading down the hall of this fancy-as-hell private jet and into the bathroom.

"What am I doing?" I ask myself as I stare at my reflection. My hair is a mess, the dress I'm in is all rumpled. Thankfully, I wasn't wearing much makeup to begin with, so it's only a little smudged. Sighing, I take one of the paper towels and get it wet with warm water. After I'm done washing the makeup off, I splash my face with cold water and do what I can to fix my hair.

"Jade?" Griffin's voice sounds through the door.

"Yeah?" I answer back, heart picking up speed at his voice. It's still crazy that I'm actually here with them. After all these years.

"I thought you might want to change into something more comfortable."

Opening the door, I find Griffin holding a pile of clothes in his hands. "I hope this is okay for now. When we land, we can go get you everything you"re going to need."

"Thanks." I smile, taking the clothes. His face lights up at my reaction, and my heart clenches, remembering the fact that they didn't want any of the horrible things that happened the past six years brought up any more than I did.

Someone did this to us. Someone kept us apart, and I really hope the guys do as they said and find out who it was.

"There's a bedroom you can change in." He steps back and opens the door across from this one. "For more room."

"Thanks," I reply again, not really sure what else to say right now. I'm still partly in shock and really do just need some time to think.

He nods and leaves me in the room to change. I pull off the dress and slip into the pair of sweatpants and the T-shirt he gave me. I smile because these are probably his. They're a little big but comfortable.

Next, I grab the sweater and pull it on. It's soft, and I sigh, taking a deep sniff. I'm hit with a wave of disappointment when I can't smell his lemon and blueberry cheesecake scent, and I realize that the last hit of alpha-blocker spray must be still in my system since it hasn't been twenty-four hours from the last time I've taken it.

At least, I'm assuming that"s what they would still smell like. Maybe their scents are completely different to me now that I'm an omega. That would be a shame, though, because their scents were so damn good.

A wave of exhaustion hits me, and a whimper slips free. I'm tired, and for some reason, all I want right now is to be held.

Maybe it's the fact I'm around alphas or that it's the only people I've ever felt safe around. Either way, I'm feeling really needy right now, and it's making my skin crawl.

I've never felt so omega in my life.

Grabbing the fuzzy blanket off the bed, I wrap it around my shoulders and snuggle into it, rubbing the softness against my face.

I join the others, slowly shuffling my way over to them. They look over at me, and three different smiles take over their faces at the sight of me.

"What?" I grumble.

"Nothing," Everett chuckles. "You look adorable."

My cheeks heat, and I avert my gaze. "Are you hungry?" Griffin asks. "Of course you are, it's probably been a while since you last ate. I'll make you something." He gets to his feet. "Normally, we have people who would do this for us, but we didn't have time to book a full flight crew with us leaving a full day earlier than expected." He winks.

"Thank you." I smile. "I'd love something to eat."

"Anything for you, Jelly Bean." He kisses me quickly on the top of my head, and I'm unable to stop the butterflies that attack my belly.

Biting my lower lip, I stand there, unsure what to do. The uneasy feeling still crawls beneath my skin.

"What"s wrong, Tiny?"

"Nothing," I lie, but they can see right through it.

"Jade," Everett says my name in warning.

I sigh. "It's stupid, okay."

"I promise it's not." He smiles.

"I'm just feeling... I'm feeling uneasy, and I..." I shake my head. "Never mind."

Zane grabs me before I even know what"s happening and pulls me down into his lap. I go with a squeak, and he quickly snakes his arms around me.

"What are you doing?" I protest.

"It's okay to need an alpha, Jade," he murmurs. "I just happen to be an awesome one. And I like the idea of you needing me. You need to be cuddled, to be held, and that"s what I'm going to do."

"I could easily have one of the others do it," I grumble.

"Stop being a brat and just relax."

I give in, too tired and overstimulated to deny myself this. Everett chuckles as I snuggle into Zane, his warmth settling something inside me. Dammit, I really did need this.

Closing my eyes, I whisper, "I'm still mad at you."

"I know, baby." He kisses the top of my head. "Be mad as long as you want, but I'm not going anywhere."

Something about that settles me even more. A tear slips free as I'm hit with a wave of emotion.

Zane's hand starts to rub up and down my arm softly before a deep, rumbling vibration sounds in his chest. He's purring... for me. And God, if it isn't everything I didn't know I needed.

Zane holds me as I silently cry, and before long, the comforting vibration has me drifting off to sleep. No matter how upset I am about how they went about this, being here with them, in Zane's arms, I've never felt more safe. They have always been my home, and that's what I feel right now. At home.

While I know allowing them back into my heart so easily isn't smart, I have a feeling that they're going to make it really hard not to do so. Especially because I'm already finding myself wanting to give in and let them love me.