Page 168 of The Rust in Her Hair

His chest is whole. His face is fine. All I find, anywhere on him, is a scatter of raw, reddened marks across the knuckles of his right hand.

That can’t be it. Can it?

I move forward, crawling out of my nest. My legs shake, barely holding me up as I cross to the alpha. Mack watches me, not moving a muscle, like he's afraid any sudden movement might frighten me.

Reaching up, I press one hand against his cheek, and his eyes float closed the second my skin touches his.

All the hard tension goes out of him in one long exhale, and he leans the weight of his head into my palm. I feel some knot in my own chest come loose just from the warmth of him under my hand. He's real. And he’s safe. And he’s not hurt.

I open my mouth to tell him that I was so scared. And that I've been dying waiting for all three of them to come home, but not a single word comes out.

Another ruthless cramp slams up through me, and every inch of me shakes. The pain is so vicious my knees give out.

Owen is there before I fall. He comes off the wall and wraps both arms around me from behind, gathering me against his bare chest. He holds me up on my feet, filling my lungs with lemon and sage.

"I've got her," Owen breathes.

From the edge of the room, Nico speaks. He still hasn't come closer. He's holding himself at the wall with both hands like a man chained there, and his voice comes out low and rough with the effort of it.

"Kiss her neck, Owen."

Owen goes still behind me. "No, I can’t—I don’t want to overstep, this is your⁠—"

"She's hurting." Nico's voice gentles, all the command draining out of it at once. "Our omega needs to be soothed, and she doesn't want to be touched by me right now. Please. Kiss her neck."

My head rolls loose to one side, and through the blur of pain I find them.

Nico and Adrian stand together by the door, and somewhere in the last minute the both of them have stripped bare.

Two big alphas, shoulder to shoulder, all that hard muscle laid out in the low light, and their cocks are heavy and flushed and straining toward me. But they don’t move to touch me. They just watch, chests heaving, eyes black and fixed on my face, drinking in every twist of pain and need that crosses it as Owen lowers his mouth to the side of my neck.

The beta kisses me, working his way up until his lips find Nico’s mating bite tucked beneath my ear. He presses a kiss there, right over the mark, and something in me goes molten and loose.

My head tips back onto his shoulder, and my eyes slide shut. It feels so good it steals what's left of my breath, the ache in me easing back half a step for the first time all night.

A low growl rumbles out in front of me. Mack.

"Can I touch her?" he asks, his voice rough like gravel. I can only assume Nico has said yes, because then he whispers, "Baby. Please. Can I touch you?"

"Yes." The word leaves me on a breathy mewl as Owen nips my earlobe.

The beta’s hand slides up and cups my breast, warm and sure, and his mouth stays working at my neck, as I sink back into him. Then I feel Mack’s rough hands on my hips, steadying me from the front. A mouth presses to my belly, a slow kiss just beneath my navel, and the heat of it rolls straight down through me.

I open my eyes and look down.

Mack is on his knees in front of me. He's stripped bare now, that huge wet body right in front of me, his hands spanning my hips to hold me up. He bows his head, and as I watch as he drags his tongue up the inside of my thigh, chasing the slick where it runs down my leg, lapping it up.

I’m lost in the feel of Owen’s mouth and Mack’s tongue when I’m suddenly lifted.

Mack sweeps me off my feet, then he turns and lays me down on the edge of my nest, right in the soft hollow I just built. The blankets close warm around me and my lungs fill with the scent of pack, but Mack doesn’t crawl inside next to me.

Instead, he stays crouched at the edge of it, his wet hair dripping onto the sheets while his chest heaves.

"Can I get in there with you, darlin'?" His voice is shredded down to gravel. "Can I come into your nest?"

I want him so badly, but he’s not what my body needs. Not yet.

My hand lifts, and I reach past the alpha, stretching my hand toward Owen.