Alison sat on the hard hospital exam table. Despite not being far along, she already felt unbearably uncomfortable.
The past two weeks had passed in a blur. FBI, police, the news. Everyone wanted her story.
They’d saved forty-eight omegas and had taken down the largest slavery ring in the country. With how well it had all gone, no one dared to come after any of them for something unsanctioned.
Kyle and Daniel had left the FBI—or they were let go, it wasn’t entirely clear. Or, at least, that was what Alison had heard.
She hadn’t seen them, not since Marshall had checked her out just after the warehouse, when he’d suggested she stay with him and Tiffany so he could keep an eye on her for the night.
She’d gotten a few text messages from the alphas, but they hadn’t tried to see her.
Was she an idiot? Had she misread everything? Maybe they’d been playing the entire time, enjoying an available omega who provided easy access.
She’d been the one to constantly say it would end after the case, so the last thing she’d expected was for them to pull back.
And yet…they had.
She hadn’t asked to see them, because the thought of being directly rejected by them was too damn scary.
So she waited, frustrated that when she finally knew what she wanted, she couldn’t have it. She wasn’t scared of it, had perfect clarity and now they decided to get cold feet.
Assholes.
The morning sickness had grown worse, and while she didn’t have to hide it anymore, she missed having them look after her. As much as she’d balked about the hovering, when she was crouched over a toilet, she would have given anything to hear Trent call her pet and run his fingers through her hair. Without Trent feeding her small bites, without Daniel growling out a threat when she didn’t drink enough, without Kyle wrapping her in a hug and forcing her to sit down and relax, she discovered she didn’t take great care of herself.
Staying with Tiffany for a few days had meant she still had alphas trying to order her around, but she could easily ignore them. It seemed she couldn’t get more than an hour or two before some alpha or omega was in her space, bothering her and trying to help her.
And yet the more she thought about those things she was losing, the more she sank into hopelessness at losing it.
Marshall came in, a file in his hands. Alison had to admit that Tiffany hadn’t done too terribly. Besides, it seemed Alison and the doctor would spend plenty of time together, as he had taken over her prenatal care. She hadn’t even had much of a choice in it.
After all the alphas and omegas had showed up for her, it seemed they didn’t plan on letting her sit on the outskirts anymore.
And she couldn’t deny they were family, not when they had all risked themselves for her.
“Your numbers look good,” he said, gaze down. “Strong. You’ve lost weight, though.”
“Well, when the little spawn makes me throw up constantly, I’m not surprised.”
He chuckled. “Try candied ginger and eat small amounts all day. If you’ve got nothing in your stomach, you’ll feel sicker.”
She waved off the advice.
“Okay, lie back.” He set the file aside and rolled over an ultrasound machine.
They hadn’t done that before, hadn’t heard the heart. Thus far the baby had been nothing but a parasite that made her nauseous. Maybe seeing it would make her feel a little more maternal?
Then again, she had killed two people and nearly her father to protect it, and that had to give her some mothering points.
Marshall moved her sweater up, revealing her stomach that was not quite as flat as it had been. She was around nine weeks, and even though she was sure it was just bloating, the change in her body unnerved her.
The thought of doing this all alone terrified her. Could she really be a mother without any help? She pictured trying to care for a child, trying to get everything right.
What did she even know about that?
Marshall picked up a small bottle, then frowned. “I’ll be right back. This one is empty.”
“I’ll be here,” she muttered and closed her eyes.
Just her luck for there to be a problem. It seemed to be the way her life went.
She tucked her hands into her sweater, playing with the thing she’d bribed Kara to steal for her, the thing that never went far. How it could hurt her as much as it helped, she had no idea, but she’d known she needed it.
The door opened, and Alison kept her eyes closed. “Men should learn that if they need it, it’s best to keep lube close.”
“Not sure I care for you making that joke to another man, pet.”
She bolted upright at the sound of Trent’s voice. Sure enough, Daniel and Kyle stood beside him, and all three stared at her in a way that said…
They know.
Trent couldn’t breathe. It had been too long since seeing Alison, and each day had felt like some cruel torture.
She’d been so…unsure after the warehouse, after she’d been checked by Marshall. As much as Trent had wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her until he could relax, he’d forced himself to give her space.
She didn’t have to stay with them anymore. They couldn’t take that choice from her. No matter how much it hurt, how much he wanted to walk into the place she was staying, throw her over his shoulder and bring her back to where she belonged—with them—he had to give her the space to make her own choices.
Except, when they’d backed off, she had, too. She’d become more evasive, and when Tiffany had let slip that she had an appointment with Marshall today, Trent couldn’t shake the fear.
What if she’s sick? What if those fuckers at the auction hurt her?
The last thing he’d expected was to walk in and find the ultrasound machine pulled up beside her, her sweater raised.
She’s pregnant.
He didn’t even need to ask. It was written all over her face. The guilt. The fear. It was all there.
“What are you doing here?”
“Wrong question,” Daniel said. “Did you really think you were just not going to tell us?”
She reached into the large pocket at the front of her sweater, fidgeting with something there. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You could have gone with, ‘Hey, you know how I lied to you about getting my period? Well, guess what, I’m actually pregnant,’” Daniel said, voice rough.
She winced, her shoulders curling in. “I was going to tell you, but then you seemed like you’d changed your minds.”
“What?” Trent asked.
“After the warehouse. You agreed I should go to Marshall’s, then you didn’t come see me.”
“You didn’t ask us to visit,” Kyle pointed out.
“I thought you realized it was all just some game, that maybe I was stupid because I’d never been in love before.” Her bottom lip quivered the tiniest bit, and still she played with what was in her pocket.
Stupid woman.
Trent came up and rested his hip against the bed. “We backed off because you always said you were done after the case. I didn’t want to push you, to make you feel trapped. I thought maybe a little time on your own would let you realize you actually liked us. I guess I underestimated how stubborn you are.”
She didn’t even smile, though she did lift her face to his.
I miss her collar…
“I’m afraid,” she admitted. “What if you change your mind?”
He looked down at her, waiting until she met his gaze, until those stunning green eyes of hers were locked on him. “I’ve been alone for the last eight years, pet. I never figured I’d have a place again, that I’d ever find one worth wanting. You? You’re home.”
“My father was selling me off to the dead man in that office. I realized right then that I didn’t want to go back to my old life. It made me finally able to see the difference between what I was afraid of and what I wanted.”
“Oh yeah, and what did you decide you wanted?”
She reached out and cupped his face, pulling him in to whisper against his lips, “you,” before she kissed him.
And that was the best thing Trent had ever heard.
Kyle couldn’t quite take his gaze from Alison’s stomach.
Pregnant?
How could he be a father? How had everything changed in the last few minutes?
Still, when she looked his way, he offered her a smile he knew he always would, his way of reassuring her, of telling her something his words were no good at. “Got to say, I missed you.”
“You’re sure about this? Because I’m not trying to force you into anything.”
He laughed, taking Trent’s spot when he moved. “You couldn’t force me into anything. In case you’ve forgotten, you’re the one who gets tied up, not me. And, sugar? There’s no one I want to spend the rest of my life tying up more than you.” He set a hand on her stomach, gentler than he needed to be, before leaning in and setting a kiss there.
Without jobs, Kyle and Daniel had taken it easy for the past two weeks. He had no idea of their direction, but something had felt better when they had moved into Trent’s place. They’d been missing Alison, of course, but the fracture that had run through him since the falling-out with Trent finally felt healed. He couldn’t imagine going back to being separated, no matter how their lives fell into place together.
Kyle had never wanted anything, content to take things as they came. Nothing had ever mattered to him enough to care. Then he’d met her, the feisty woman who had been more trouble than any female ought to be, and for the first time he’d not only wanted but needed something.
He had a family, one he cared about more than anything, one that he’d damn well do anything to keep, and it was all thanks to the omega who had broken his nose.
Daniel waved Kyle off, taking the spot. He slid his fingers into Alison’s hair and tightened his grip. “I don’t like that you lied to me.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Liar. You just want to punish me for it.”
Her humor made him laugh, and he leaned in to take a kiss that was far rougher than what Trent had given her. Then again, Daniel wasn’t a gentle person. It was something he’d accepted about himself, but something no one else had ever been able to.
And Alison? She didn’t pull away, didn’t hesitate. She moaned against his roughness, against the way he tugged at her scalp with his grip in her hair.
She was breathless when he pulled back, when she tried to follow him as though that taste wasn’t enough, a desperate little whine on her lips.
“You know, my life has been nothing but work. I’ve always picked my job over everything else, thought nothing was more important. Hell, I turned my back on one of my best friends because I’d convinced myself my job was all I had. When I had to decide between that and you, though?” He shook his head. “Never made an easier choice.”
“And you won’t regret that? You won’t resent me for it later?”
He shrugged, his lip curled into a grin. “I figure if I ever miss the FBI too much, well, I know a certain omega I can use my handcuffs on.”
“I didn’t need to hear that,” came the doctor’s voice from behind them.
Daniel laughed and rose, giving Marshall room to work.
“I assume you’re okay with them being here. I won’t even bother to ask how they knew.”
Daniel lifted an eyebrow in Alison’s direction, but she assured the doctor it was fine.
Marshall lifted her sweater, and when she moved her hand, something fell from the pocket, the thing she’d been fidgeting with since they’d come in.
Her collar.
He’d assumed it had gotten lost at the warehouse, but it seemed she’d had it the entire time. Hell, she’d carried it with her like a prized possession.
He picked it up, then pressed it back into her palm. “We’ll buy you a new one, sweet,” he promised as he kissed her forehead, even as Marshall moved the ultrasound probe on her stomach. For all Daniel cared, the doctor could work around him.
“Well then,” Marshall said, his eyes on the screen.
Trent turned a glare on the doctor. “Doctors are not supposed to say that or sound surprised when doing exams.”
Daniel looked at the ultrasound screen but he couldn’t understand it. It was all just black and white and meaningless to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong? Nothing. She’s healthy and so are they.”
He drew in a deep breath in relief. She was fine. So were they.
They?
That forced a double take so obvious it was almost funny. “Excuse me?”
Marshall grinned, looking even younger than he was. “She’s carrying twins.”
Marshall said a few other things, but Daniel didn’t catch any of it. He stared at the screen, then at the picture Marshall printed out and handed to him.
Twins.
Not just a father, but he’d have two children?
He wrinkled the image from holding it so tight, but fuck, he didn’t care.
When Alison sat up, Daniel pulled her against him. He pressed a kiss to her head. “You’re going to do every damned thing Marshall says you need to. We clear?”
She lifted her eyebrow, mischief across her features. “I don’t know. I’m not very good at following directions.”
Daniel set his hand around her throat, where a collar would be by day’s end if he had anything to say about it, a sign that she was theirs.
“That’s fine. I don’t mind punishing you when you get out of line. I’ve got some extra time on my hands right now, and I can’t think of a better way to spend it than training you again.”
The press of Daniel’s hand against Alison’s throat was a sensation she’d expected to hate. It was a claim, and she’d always seen that as a choking leash.
Revulsion didn’t come, however, and she finally understood why.
She’d spent her whole life running away from this. She’d thought risking herself was a foolish choice that only idiots made. Each time she’d seen a friend of hers fall for the pretty words of an alpha, she’d rolled her eyes and waited for the horrible outcome.
Yet, in Trent’s harsh features that softened only for her, in Kyle’s smirk and humor, in the grasp of Daniel’s hand against her throat, she didn’t find the stifling claustrophobia she’d feared.
Instead, she’d found freedom—from loneliness, from expectations, from her own past. The alphas she’d run from—even before she’d realized she was running from anyone—had ended up being her own leap into a future that held more than she’d ever thought she could have.
They weren’t just any alphas—any men. They were her partners, her protectors, her mates, her alphas.
Alison smiled up at them, at the only men who had been brave and tough enough to match her, to make her face her own demons, to face theirs in response. She happily accepted that they needed one another, that they were bound.
She might be theirs, but they were damn well hers right back, and that would never change.