ChapterFourteen
Briar
Through the morning and early afternoon, I waited for Ellis to come talk to me, but he was nowhere in sight. Miles rolled his eyes and stopped me from walking by the kitchen for the millionth time.
“Hey, I told you. He’ll be coming.” Something in his gaze told me he knew more, but I’d already learned enough about Miles to know that pushing him would get me nowhere.
“I know,” I growled, wincing at the bite in my tone. “Sorry.” He didn’t let go, pulling me closer and making me drop into his lap on the couch. I snuggled in, nuzzling into his neck and breathing in the scent of vetiver that was all Miles.
“Then breathe, Briar,” he said gently. “And tell me how good last night was.”
I gasped and sat up, staring at him with shock. “What?!” He captured my lips with a grin on his own.
“Don’t deny it. I know that look from Graham. He’s spanked my ass enough to know it by heart, but you’re not a brat like me, so I’m guessing it was mind blowing?” His eyes sparkled with mischief, and I had to admit I was squirming against him thanks to the mental image of him bent over Graham’s knee.
“Now all I can think about is him spanking you,” I groaned. “How am I supposed to focus on my worries if I’m horny?”
He snorted. “That’s the point, isn’t it?” He brushed his lips against mine again, and I shifted so that I was straddling him instead of sitting sideways. His dick was already hard as we pressed our hips together. Miles was more dominant than Beckham, guiding our sweet kiss until it was full of fire.
“We’re going to have to implement a ‘no making out or fucking in the common rooms’ rule,” Beckham muttered. “I’m still sore from last night. I can’t do it.”
I giggled into our kiss, and we pulled apart. I rested my arms lazily around Miles’ neck as I glanced at Beckham.
“Sleep well?” He had gone right back to bed after breakfast. We really had worn him out last night.
“Yeah,” he said as he stretched. “I’m usually not so easily exhausted, but I've been sleeping awful for a few nights.” We both froze.
“Because of me?” I questioned. “And the drama with Ellis?”
“That lady coming here shook me up a bit,” he admitted quietly. I moved off of Miles, and we both went over to Beckham, giving him a group hug. Although he didn’t stiffen or fight the affection, he chuckled like he was trying to play off how much it had gotten to him. “It’s selfish of me, but I got attached quickly, and I was terrified of losing you.”
“I’m still here,” I promised, and right then and there I knew I’d fight to keep my word.
“We wouldn’t let her get away that easily,” Miles said. The edge in his tone gave away that he wasn’t kidding, and he’d demonstrated that yesterday when he called Ellis on his shit.
“I’d like her to stay.” Ellis’ voice had us all jumping, and I spun around to face the alpha who’d given me nothing but the cold shoulder. He appeared to be exhausted. Dark circles lined his eyes, and he was disheveled in a way that wasn’t normal for him.
My head tilted as I took in the specks of gray on his skin. “Did you paint?” Now that I’d noticed it, the chemical scent of paint mixed with his pine, and I wrinkled my nose.
“Can we have that moment now?” he asked, dodging the question. He held out a hand for me, but I hesitated, glancing from his outstretched palm to his eyes, before finally resting my hand in his. I hated how much I liked his larger hand wrapping around mine, and that hurt came right back to the surface. He’d been my first lifeline here, and I’d thought, even if it wasn’t romantic, that he liked me more than he’d been showing.
He didn’t speak as he led me down the hall. We’d passed Tallon and Wells’ rooms when he pushed another door open, revealing a large space. I expected a bedroom, but it was a living room. There was a large television and couch, a small kitchenette, and three doors off of the main area. Between the fluffy couch, throw pillows, and the large fireplace, it was so cozy.
“Is this your room?” I asked. “Or one of those?” I pointed at the doors, and he shook his head. Every second with him, I was growing more confused and frustrated.
He let go of my hand and walked away, pushing open the first door. When he glanced back expectantly, I followed with a huff. He frowned at my reaction, but all that was forgotten as I checked out the room in front of me.
“Did you do this?” Now, it made sense. The room was freshly painted, the soft gray walls pristine. On one wall there was a mural of mountains and the silhouette of a sleuth of bears, one of them tiny. My heart clenched at the sight of the crib and baby furniture in the room. There was even a stack of diaper boxes in the corner. “Ellis?”
When I turned back, I faced a broken man. He wasn’t crying, but he wasn’t far from it.
“Briar, I am so fucking sorry,” he started. “I just didn’t want you to be trapped with us. This pregnancy left you in a spot that I’m sure wasn’t easy to navigate. We were supposed to be a temporary thing, but the moment you were here, you fit. It wasn’t just attraction. You brightened up this entire loft. I want you, Briar, just as much as the others do. I just didn’t want to push you into anything.”
“I’m not your mom, Ellis,” I said as gently as possible. He still flinched, which made me feel terrible. He started to say something, but I held up a hand to stop him. “Nor does this pregnancy affect my mind or my decisions. You know damn well I had every intention to leave after I got on my feet. I was ready to face everyone as a single mom regardless of what the world thought.” He smiled softly at that.
“I have no doubt you’d be the omega to shake things up. You’re so strong,” he agreed. “Have I fucked up too much to come back from this?”
“No, Ellis,” I said, then I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his middle and resting my head on his chest. “You just have to talk to me. This hurt me. I thought you hated me, that you didn’t want this. I like you, but I never would have pushed. You get to make your own decisions too.”
“That was never it,” he admitted. “The moment I saw you, breathed in your scent, I knew you were mine. My head just didn’t process that the way it should have.”
“You did?” I asked quietly, stepping back to glance up at him.
“It’s true. For the first time in my life, I regretted being friends with Liam because I knew he wouldn’t approve. Guess I was wrong. He almost beat my ass last night,” he joked. His laughter was a bit too self-deprecating, like he actually believed he deserved that kind of punishment, and it blew my mind that such a strong alpha could be so insecure. Liam was right; trauma was trauma. There was no comparison system or a way to determine the value of what someone had gone through or the power it had to affect their lives.
“Don’t,” I told him firmly. “We talked it out like adults. I don’t have time to deal with a back and forth, nor do I want to. This is me saying I want you, this pack, all of it. I want to stay.”
He gestured at the room. “This is me begging you to stay, Briar. To forgive me and let me in.”
“Alright.” I smiled, a wave of relief hitting me hard. Tears of happiness burned my eyes. I shut down the part of my mind that questioned how we could have such strong feelings after such a short time.
What was growing between us was a tentative, shaky kind of love, the first blooms that would either fall away or grow depending on how we all handled them. This was our turning point, the precipice we were teetering on, and Ellis had just taken the final step in the right direction.
“This isn’t all,” he said gently, tugging me by my hand to the second door. When he pushed it open, my jaw dropped all over again. This room was amazing, and I could see touches of myself in it. A bookshelf rested on one wall, and I spotted a few titles that I’d discussed with Graham. The bed was huge, nearly the size of two king mattresses, and I loved the idea of my pack cuddling with my baby on that bed someday. “I even got a bassinet for our baby to sleep in.” He pointed out the small white bed, but I was stuck on a single word.
“Our?” I questioned in a hushed tone. “Our baby?”
His gaze softened. “Yes. That baby is mine just as much as you are, Briar. I’m sorry for what you went through, but I’m proud of you for coming so far, and I can’t wait to be a dad.”
“Holy shit,” I eloquently said before letting out a strangled sob. My knees collapsed, but he caught me.
“What the hell, Briar?” he called out as he picked me up and carried me back out to the couch. “Guys?!” His panic had a laugh bubbling out of me, mixing with my body-shattering sobs. All of my tension and worry came to a head at once, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. It felt like all I did anymore was cry, but it was cathartic this time.