Wiping my eyes, I pillowed my face on the blanket. “I promise, it’s okay. It always happens when it’s over. The release of all the hormones and stuff. Almost like withdrawal.”

“It’s over?” Ben asked.

“Yeah. It is.” Those words made more tears come even though I really did feel fine and crying in front of them felt silly now. I was no longer an Omega in heat and I didn’t have the excuses. “And I’m okay. I’m a little sad it’s over, but it’s good. You guys can go back to your normal lives.”

“And courting you,” Avery said. “Don’t forget about that part.”

“Yeah.” My voice was quiet.

Luke’s knot loosened, and he slid out of me, turning me on my back and covering my body with his. “I hear doubts.”

“Welcome to life with Esme Williams. Fucked up and broken.”

His eyebrows rose, and I heard soft growls to my left. “You’re coming down pretty hard, but you’re going to be okay. The rest of the things we bought you were for right now, after you finished your heat, and we also have something to ask you.”

“What is it?” My stomach tightened, and I closed my eyes, wishing for once I could not anticipate the worst.

“While we’re courting you, and while we’re all learning more about each other, we’d like you to move in here. This is your nest. This can be your room. Until you decide whether you want to stay.”

I blinked up at him, not fully comprehending. “You want me to live here?”

“Until you decide if you want to stay,” he repeated quietly.

“That makes it sound like you already know you want me to stay,” I said.

He smiled, leaning down to kiss the corner of my mouth. “You hadn’t realized that already?”

“But you don’t even know me.”

The warm, steady sound of his purr filled my ears. Vibrated through my chest. He moved his mouth so it was pressed to my ear and only I could hear his words. “I’ll tell you as many times as you need until you believe it, but we’re not courting you hoping to send you away, little Omega. We’re courting you because our deepest instincts have already told us you’re ours. And yours are telling you too, and I want to string up every person who’s made you believe you’re not worth it.”

My whole body relaxed underneath the words and the purr. They wanted me to stay, and just the thought of packing up and going back to my house alone had tears pricking my eyes again.