Page 28 of Hidden Fates

My only wish is for more of this. Forever.

Exhaustion hits me as I wave goodbye to Bellamy’s siblings. The only guests left are Emmett’s brother, Oskar, who will likely pass out in the sitting room with Emmett, and Caleb.

Tonight was fun. We laughed, we played games, and we just enjoyed ourselves. Relaxing is easy when my family, friends, and mates surround me.

Swaying a little, I sigh when Quentin presses himself against my back, steadying me. I love how contented his lemon and summer rain scent is. It reminds me of a glass of sweet lemonade shared on the porch during an early August storm.

“I should head out.”

One sentence uttered from Caleb’s lips and all the happiness drains from my body, panic quickly replacing it.

He wants to leave?

But this is his home now. We’re his pack.

Unless he doesn’t want us.

The thought stings, turning the ache in my heart into a searing burn. Bile rises in my throat, and darkness dots my vision.

“You can stay,” Quentin offers. “We have a guest room.”

Caleb glances out across the driveway. “Uh.”

Q’s hand shifts to my back and pushes me forward into the other man’s arms. “Stay,” I beg, a whine trapped behind the words. “Please.”

Preferably forever, but I’ll take tonight if that is all he is ready for.

He rocks on his heels, watching me. “If that’s what you want, bunny.”

I wrap my arms around his stomach and bury my face against his chest to hide how terrified I am he’ll walk away again. My sound of relief is muffled by his body, but he feels me relax and a rough purr rumbles to life. I melt like an ice cream cone in a hundred-degree heatwave.

Standing here with his scent wrapped around me and his purr vibrating against my cheek, it’s like we time-traveled back to when we were eighteen. To a time when I thought it was us against the world.

“Let’s get you inside,” Quentin comments, holding the door open for us. Part of me is afraid Caleb will change his mind about staying, and I can’t convince my arms to unwind from his waist. “You may need to carry her.”

Of course, my Alpha knows what I need before I can vocalize it.

Caleb shifts me into his arms, giving me access to his throat and the heady strength of his scent straight from the source. I moan as I bury my face against him. This is heaven.

Someone chuckles behind us, but I don’t move to see who it is. I never want to leave this spot.

My eyes flutter closed, the warmth of his body lulling me into a light sleep. Even as he sits down, shuffling me until I’m spread across his chest, I barely stir. Only when he tries to pull away do I wake up.

“No,” I whine, dragging him back against me.

What can I say? I’m a needy Omega who is used to getting what she wants.

And right now, what I want is my Caleb.

Fingers trail over my skin. The touch feather-soft. Uncertain. They pause on the scar on my elbow from a bike accident in sixth grade. I flipped over the handlebars in Macy Patterson’s driveway and crashed into the gravel. Caleb’s mom patched me up while he held my hand and his little sister snuck me a popsicle out of their freezer.

“Mom misses you,” he whispers. “Every time I call her, she’s telling me about some article she found online about you. She’s so damn proud. Tells the entire neighborhood about your successes. Cara does too. All her friends came over to watch parties when you were on that season of Musical Disguises.”

“I know,” I mumble. “She sent me pictures of the themed food they brought.”

His exploration stalls, breath hitching. “You know?”

“Mhmm. We talk at least once a month.”