35. Elliot

"I'm here. I'll always be here. I'm in love with you." Doc rocks me gently from side to side. He kisses my tears and my lips, interspersing each touch with words of love. My skin tingles in his wake, my insides warm. With a soft brush of his mouth, he pulls back from our embrace and gently tugs on my hand. "You're already home."

I walk behind him in a daze, barely aware of my muddy prints on the wooden floor or the cool air against my skin. We traipse up the stairs in the dim morning light, then to Sadie's nest.

I brace myself, but I needn't. They're all waiting for me, lying in the rumpled nest, arms around each other. They don't speak, but their purrs are loud with the sounds of home and acceptance as they move together as one.

When just a moment ago I had found my words, they fail me now. There are so many things I want to say but I settle on, "I'm sorry and I love you."

Doc brushes his thumb over the back of my hand, tugging me to the bathroom. Graham follows him, turning on the shower. Doc urges me to the counter, and I lean against it, closing my eyes. Sadie's scent cocoons me at the same time her delicate fingers run a washcloth over my brow.

"Bear—" Her voice breaks on my name. I open my eyes to see her blazing hazel. "You need stitches." My lips move, ready to form the apology, but she shakes her head, dabbing at the cut on my forehead. "I love you and I'm glad you're going to be okay."

I wrap my arm around her, holding my omega and reminding myself that she's safe. "I love you so much, Red. And I'm going to keep working on getting better."

"You don't need to be fixed, Bear. Do you understand?" she asks, nuzzling her cheek into my chest. "I love you, and the only reason to get better is so that you feel better."

I bask in her words and the vibrations of her purr against my chest. I know I've told her before, but I want to tell her every day. "You light up my world, set a fire in my soul that makes me want to live. I swear I will keep my promise. I'm yours, always."

My mouth clings to hers. I trace her lips and it's you make me a better man. I suck on her tongue and it's I cherish you. I kiss her with everything I am and it's I promise to love you for the rest of my life. We kiss until our bodies are soothed by the reunion, then I hold her to me and open my arms for Doc and Graham to join.

Our bodies fit together as though they were made to hold one another. And that realization calms a restlessness that always seems to live under my skin.

We cling to each other, only breaking away when Hunter rumbles in, Lo on his tail. He sets a medical kit on the counter. "Here or the clinic?"

"Home," I answer.

Sadie finishes cleaning the wound, and Hunter makes quick work of the gash. Lo offers me whiskey, but I brush it off, though I grimace, my hands tightening on the sink ledge, when Hunter tugs the needle through my skin. It won't be pretty, but neither am I. Besides, I've seen him stitch himself up before, so I know I'll be fine.

When he's finished, Hunter gives me a gruff pat on the back that I turn into a hug. "Thank you, brother."

"That's what family is for," he says softly, squeezing my shoulders and letting me take comfort from my Prime.

He hands me off to Lo, who kisses my cheek. "Love you, big guy."

I hug Logan too, and he ruins it by squeezing my ass. I laugh, pushing him playfully from my embrace. He gives me his signature smirk, then he and Hunter leave me with my mates. They leave me with my mates. That truth settles within me, wrapping me in another layer of safety.

Doc and Sadie undress me, kissing old scars until I'm naked and raw before them. Graham pulls me into the shower, detaches the nozzle, and hoses off my muddy feet. His long sudsy fingers work in tandem with the water, washing away the remnants of the night.

Graham shuts off the water, turning to leave, but I snag his arm, tugging him to me. All six of us together is pack. But the four of us, that's something different.

This man, too, has been patient. His love is laughter that breaks up heaviness and an endless easiness that lets me lose myself in the present. His love is nimble, sneaking up on me. But how could I not be in love with this man? It was friendship and a thousand moments that taught me how to smile, then how to love in pleasure.

I put my palm against Graham's chest, rubbing over his heart. "Thank you for bringing sunshine on the darkest days. I'm sorry it took so long for the clouds to part and for me to see that my mates were right in front of me. I asked Doc to give me his bite. Will you give me yours too?"

He nods, swallowing roughly, and it's a look I recognize. He kisses the side of my lips, down my jaw, and nips at my skin.

I want to ask other questions, like why didn't they say anything, and how could they stand to be around me knowing? But I already know the answers.

I wasn't ready. And they filled the waiting with love, and laughter, and so much fucking kindness that it steals my breath all over. My heart is so full that it feels as if it will burst from my chest.

Our mates towel us off, and the air fills with a buzz of anticipation. Sadie takes my hand. Doc takes Graham's. Our omega prepares our nest, smoothing out the blankets and fussing until she has it right. Tristian's purr meets hers, and the room fills with the sounds of us.

Sadie crawls to the edge of the bed and leans into me. I don't have to tell her because she already knows. She kisses the spot above my belly button, and her soft fingers run along the edge of the towel around my waist. She lets the knot drop, tugging me closer.

I scoop her up and carry her to the center of the bed. My alpha mates follow, climbing in one to each side. Our mouths find each other, sometimes in pairs and in groups.

The sun creeps along the horizon, each slant of light bringing the obligations of the day closer. But we pretend as if we have nothing but time. We taste one another, map each other's bodies with our hands and mouths until we're breathless and the room is heavy with the scents of slick and pre-cum.

I end up perched on my knees in the center, with all my mates' attention on me. Graham is nestled into my back, his arm slung around my shoulder as he scrapes and licks along my neck. Sadie and Doc are at my sides, caressing my chest and taking turns stroking my hard cock. Doc turns my head toward him, his grip on my chin possessive and gaze full of his alpha.

"My mate," he growls, the sound rumbling from deep in his chest. "Ours."

Graham lets out a soft chuckle, his teeth scraping against my ear. "You ready, El? Because you've awakened our alphas."

A shiver of anticipation runs down my spine at his words, and my own alpha answers within my chest. "I'm yours. I'm all yours."

Doc gives Sadie and Graham each a look as they move in unison. She sinks to her knees in front of me, her sweet mouth licking the head of my cock before she sucks me in long pulls. At the same time, Graham crawls to the edge of the bed and grabs the lube from the nightstand.

"Let's get you ready, handsome," he says as he returns to me, using his slick fingers to trace along my ass and between my cheeks. The sound I make when the two of them touch me is feral, my alpha hungry.

It's the most beautiful sight I've ever seen, my mates all together like this. It isn't the first time, but it's the first time with all of us as true mates.

My fingers thread through Sadie's hair, holding her to me as Graham teases my rim, then dips his finger inside. It's foreign at first, then the feel of him inside me turns molten as he pushes and twists, opening me. He adds another finger and more lube, until I don't know whether to push my ass back or thrust forward into Sadie's eager mouth.

"I love to watch you all together." Doc's voice is lower, more gravelly than I've ever heard it.

Doc grabs Sadie's ass, dipping his fingers between her legs until she's slurping and moaning on my cock. It sparks my own need and I grumble, wrapping my hand around Doc's hard length. He pulses in my hand, hissing out a breath when I use that tight corkscrewing motion he taught me. It causes me to grind back on Graham's fingers, thinking of how it will feel to have one of my alpha mates take me there.

"Now. I want you to claim me," I rasp.

My mates answer me with bodies blurring in motion. Doc pushes against my chest and I go to my back, my legs spread wide. His weight settles over me, our hard cocks rubbing against each other as he takes my mouth in a hungry kiss.

Sadie drapes herself along my side, Graham between her legs. Her knee digs into me, her nails biting into the flesh of my thigh. I turn from Doc's mouth to hers, our tongues tangling and our breaths panting.

Doc's hand on my chest draws me back to him. He steadies himself against my chest, his other hand on his cock as he lines himself up at my entrance.

"Let me feel it," I plead.

"You're mine. You were always meant to be mine." Doc surges forward on a greedy grunt, blanketing my body.

The first push past that ring of muscle burns, but I savor it, loving the way my body responds to his. I feel him hot and hard inside me, each roll of his hips pushing him deeper until he brushes past a spot that makes the world glitter.

Sadie's hand reaches for my cock, stroking me in long pulls that bring me closer to the edge. I throw my head back, watching from the corner of my eye as Graham thrusts his hips between her splayed legs.

Our moans blend, needy achy sounds that echo around the room and fill the space between bated breaths. Sadie's hand is joined by Graham's long fingers and tight grasp. I buck against the glorious pressure of their tight fists around my cock. Doc's grip on my hips tightens, his strokes faster.

I reach around our tangle of bodies, my fingers sliding in the slick between Sadie's legs. On each pass against her clit, my fingertips skirt against Graham's cock as he glides into her. I rub her clit until she comes for us, her sweet floral perfume filling the air, along with her sharp cries.

The slick sounds of the four of us together sends flames of arousal through me. I'm close. So close. Everywhere I touch. Everywhere I am touched. It's ecstasy and intimacy, raw and pure love. But it's missing that final link. I need to have it so I can feel my two alpha mates inside me, nestled around our omega.

"Bring me home," I plead.

Doc doesn't hesitate. He leans in and sinks his teeth into my skin, right on my neck. I grab his hand and do the same, adding my mark next to Graham's on his thumb. Doc's alpha surrounds mine. His bond is soft but so strong. It's like the finest silk woven together by a million acts of love, wrapping around my heart.

He comes for me on a roar, his teeth still gripping my neck. I savor the pain of the bite, how he marks me as his in every way, loving the feel of him inside me. We nurse our new bites in long licks. He tends to me with the tenderness his touch always brings. Too soon, Doc softens, slipping free in a rush of cum. I feel the loss of his touch, then Graham is in his place.

Graham's long fingers skirt across my hole, pushing back in his mate's release. He grins at me, full of sunshine, and I reach up to taste it from his lips. He pulls me closer, tugging me onto his lap. For a moment I'm off kilter, fearing my weight will crush him.

Graham kisses away the worry, licking over his mate's bite and purring in my ear. "I've got you, El. Relax."

I steady myself on his shoulders as he nudges his cock inside, filling me in one go. The glorious stretch pulls at the edges of my vision, making them shimmer. I taste his skin, lift my hips, and together, we find a rhythm of slapping skin and grunts of pleasure.

Doc and Sadie crowd my sides, their hands and mouths added to ours. Sadie's fingers tease and work my crown, while Doc drags his hand up and down my cock and squeezes my knot.

Graham leans in, his teeth glinting in the morning light, and he bites my neck, opposite my other mark. My orgasm crashes into me, my cock spurting cum between us. My teeth ache, and then I bite down on his neck with a roar. Inside, his bond closes the loop, merging his soul together with mine. It's white lightning dancing across the sky in a storm. He is adventure and laughter and the cozy feeling of watching the rain from under the blankets.

All together, the three of them drown out anything but the love pumping between us. This, this is what I was missing. This is exactly where I belong.

We fall together into a tangle on the bed. Sadie lies on my chest, her small palm stroking over my heart. Doc and Graham snuggle into my side, both tending to their new marks.

Hunter and Logan join us after a while, the two of them snuggling into our pack puddle, making this moment perfect.

We lie together, dozing until the sun has bathed the nest in full light and the first of the insistent alarms begin. Bodies move as people start their day. Our routines fall into place, the usual rhythms dragging us on.

The day is ordinary, except that I'm different. Inside my chest, three bonds have merged together, remaking the landscape of my heart. And with these new changes, I know this version of Elliot is an alpha I'm going to love.