Page 67 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

Warrick seemed to sit with that for a moment, staring at my sketch. “I think I get what you’re trying to say. We are the product of the experiences we’ve lived through, and some of those moments continue to shape us long after the events happened. Am I close?”

My lips curved up in a smile as I leaned back against Warrick. “Yeah, I’d say that’s a pretty great way to say it. Not every challenge in life has an end to it. There are so many who fight every day to exist. Even though it’s hard, sometimes painful, and takes everything they have to simply get out of bed, quitting would make all the suffering they’d done pointless. Granted, there are those who feel there is no other choice, that life will only be filled with endless days of torment, and beg for it to end. The battle those people face is the hardest of all because there is no right answer or magic cure.”

“Have you ever been in that place?” Ulysses asked, coming to sit on the edge of the mattress.

Yun-Sun, Gareth, and Vili joined, crowding us and squishing me to be the center of the circle they created. This clearly hadn’t been meant for six people, but they didn’t seem to care as long as they were close to me. I knew they thought Ulysses’ question was going to be hard for me to answer, but I wasn’t ashamed of my past.

“I never reached the place where I wanted to die,” I assured them. “However, there were dark days when I didn’t want to fight anymore. Anger and resentment at the restricted life that had been forced on me by this condition I never asked for was the lens I viewed life through. No matter how hard my family tried to get me to see the good all around me, I refused to let them change my mind. Everything turned into a fight. I refused to take my medications, eat the way I was supposed to, and for a week, I went without my monitor. Thankfully, I have a wonderful therapist my mother hired to work with me all through my childhood, knowing I’d need Dr. Libby’s help in earnest at some point.”

Pausing, I took a moment to look at each of the men surrounding me, offering their protection and support without hesitation. Their entire focus was on me, riveted to every word I spoke, proving with actions and not just words how important I was to them. How many times had Dr. Libby told me that the right people wouldn’t be scared away by the baggage I brought with me? Clearly, the woman knew what she was talking about because not one of these men showed any sign this truth I was sharing changed their minds about me.

“I don’t remember this,” Ulysses murmured.

“That’s because it happened when you left for college,” I shared. “Thirteen was an ugly year in my life. Hormones kicked into high gear, my medication changed with every visit until we could find the right thing to balance teenage angst. The few friends I had were deeply involved with sports, started to flirt with boys, and discovered what their designations were. Because of the medication to stabilize my hormones, I didn’t know I was an Omega until I was sixteen. Instantly, I was put on heat blockers and told I could never go into heat until they found a way to strengthen my heart.”

A light seemed to go off in Ulysses’ brain. “Is this why I never realized who and what you were to me?” He stopped and frowned. “Hold on, you stopped wanting to hang out with me and Crew around that time too. Did you know?”

Laughter burst out of me at his outlandish connection. “Of course, I didn’t know. God, if I’d known you were my scent match, I would’ve never pulled away. I did that because I had the world’s biggest crush on you, and I couldn’t risk hearing about all the escapades with girls you had in college. Mind you, I was doing a lot better mental health-wise at that time, but I knew I was too fragile to handle much, so I decided not to risk it.”

“Damn, if only I hadn’t let you pull away so easily,” Ulysses grumbled, combing his fingers through his hair.

Reaching out, I rested my hand on his thigh. “Lysse, we both needed time to grow up. There’s no way I’d have been ready to deal with having a scent match so young. I believe with all my heart that things worked out the way they needed to for all of us.”

“She’s right. Hell, Vili only moved to Preidon three years ago,” Gareth pointed out. “We might have always been meant to be a pack, but I can’t imagine things going as well if we’d been put together that early. None of us would be at this point in our careers or reached the point where we chose to find a pack. For me, especially, that was a big mental shift.”

The others nodded and murmured their agreement at Gareth’s statement, making me smile. Sensing the conversation had ended, I decided it was time to move on from heavy topics.

“I feel like doing something fun. Vili, what games did you pack?” I asked.

Vili’s face lit up as he shot to his feet and took off toward the car. The others followed suit, and I reached out to Gareth, who I expected would help me to stand. Instead, he scooped me up and nuzzled into my neck, tickling me with his stubble, causing peals of laughter to spill from me.

“Thank you for sharing that with us, baby girl. I just know that I love and treasure you all the more for it,” Gareth said, brushing his nose along my jaw to whisper in my ear. “You are an inspiration, and I’m one lucky bastard to call you mine.”

If I could have melted and turned into a puddle of goo at his feet, I would have. This man had a wicked mouth that could make me swoon one minute then beg him to fuck me the next. He knew what to say to get under my skin in the best way possible.

“Likewise,” I said, keeping my voice low. “The calling-you-mine part, I mean. Not that you aren’t an inspiration, I’m sure⁠—”

Gareth put me out of my misery as he planted a searing kiss on my lips, shutting me up. My hands grasped his face as I returned the passion he was giving me. Everything about this kiss was flooded with emotions we struggled to say out loud, finding it easier to show the other instead.

“Hey, you two, are we gonna play a game or what?” Warrick yelled, laughter ringing in his words.

We broke apart, smirking at each other, but Gareth gave in and pressed one more kiss to my forehead before swinging me to cling to his back. My fathers and Eli were the only people who’d ever given me a piggyback ride in my life, but that had been when I was a toddler. However, I found I quite enjoyed wrapping myself around one of my Alphas as he held me securely before running to join the others in the open field.

When we reached the others, Gareth let me down carefully so I could see what was in the three duffle bags. “Is that a giant Jenga?”

“Yes, kitten, I have two sets,” Vili announced, looking super excited. “We can have tournament, and winner picks prize, yes?”

Peeking into another duffle, I saw a rectangular board with a hole in it along with some bean bags. “That sounds like a great idea, but what is this?”

“We call it Cornhole,” Gareth answered.

“Cornhole?” Yun-Sun questioned. “I’ve only ever heard it called Bags.”

Gareth shrugged. “Guess it depends on where you learned it, but I think the game is still the same. Each team stands on the opposite side and tries to toss the bean bag into the hole. Whoever gets the most bags in the hole wins.”

The mental picture of me tossing a bean bag only to hit one of the guys in the face, gut, or balls made me cringe. “I’m not so sure about that one. What’s in the last bag?”

“Croquet, a favorite of mine,” Vili shared, pulling out a wooden mallet. “It is a more complex game with balls, wickets, and become last one standing. Very fun, but takes time to learn.”