Page 44 of Indigo

“It’s our dream too,” Nash says with a smirk.

My eyes narrow. It seems very improbable that their dream is exactly like mine. “You dream of living in the middle of nowhere with no one around t”

“Baby”—Hank chuckles—“our dream is you.”

Oh.Every fucking butterfly on the planet flutters its wings inside me, and I can’t hold anymore. I jump on Nash, capturing his lips. It’s not a cute kiss. It's hungry and needy. He groans against me, but I’m moving away, taking Hank’s lips and tasting him before going for Cassidy. I wasn’t lying when I said I needed them touching me. I sigh into their kiss, knowing I’m finally safe.

They gave me everything I needed back in that hotel room. Safety, trust, and building the self-esteem I thought was destroyed. It wasn’t just my fear of scent-matching that kept me away. I can see now. I also never thought I deserved something so good like this. To be accepted not as a vessel but for who I am. Everything I am.

“Come on, let’s go. We can talk in the truck,” Hank says, nudging us to the exit.

“Okay,” I breathe out the pent-up emotion.

Turns out, I’d go anywhere they lead me to.

Epilogue

Six months later

Grime and dirt cover me from head down to booted feet. The thing about living on a ranch away from everyone is that you have to do everything yourself. Unless you want people around. I usually don’t… but sometimes I wonder if I should start changing the rules. Just a little bit.

Of course it won’t be like this forever. The ranch needed a lot when we moved in. We have been working hard ever since to get it into a state where we can just sit and relax. Maybe relax is a strong word for ranch life, but if we get anywhere comfortable, I’m happy.

I toss my clothes in the hamper with a disgusted grunt and jump into the shower, not surprised when the water runs darkfor a couple of minutes before turning clear again. I grab the shampoo and start scratching my scalp for dear life when my phone chimes, vibrating over the sink.

I bet it’s Journey.

Months ago, when they told me what happened to my friends, I wanted to turn around and start screaming Journey’s name. It felt wrong to leave the motel when I didn’t know where she was. The pack didn’t let me. They were right. It was dangerous with that other pack sniffing around, but I wasn’t thinking about my safety.

They removed me from Texas, and we laid low, avoiding hotels and motels, afraid that our scent would linger after we were gone, especially because we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Once we arrived at Nash’s parents’, another ranch not far from the one they gifted us, we got Dominic on the phone.

For the next few months, I’d jump anytime the phone rang. Sometimes we got good news, sometimes bad. Eventually, every single Omega was rescued and accounted for. In the meantime, Dominic took down yet another bigwig of the trafficking ring, and we found more breeding houses. More than a hundred Omegas were rescued.

Everyone is happy and healthy and now planning to visit us.

Oh yes, I’m hosting. It’s laughable to think I can be trusted in making sure people feel comfortable, but I miss Journey, and things are a little better now, and she can afford moving from hiding. A few months ago, her pack wouldn’t even dare let her go on the road, afraid someone could scent her. I don’t blame them. We were just as scared.

Because yes, Journey has a pack. Her story is way crazier than mine, which is a testament to her easygoing nature. I swear to god, when she told me on the phone how the scent-match happened, it took me a while to pick my jaw off the floor. She’sdefinitely a better woman than I am, because I’d be scratching eyeballs and screaming my head off.

It all ended well. She's happy and on her way here. I’m not sure if she cared that I cleaned the third barn, but I wanted the ranch to look as beautiful as it could be.

Voices break me away from my thoughts as I wrap a towel around me. The men are back. Hank left early for the hardware store. He wanted to make a deal on a few supplies, though Nash said it wasn’t needed a hundred times. Cassidy went into town too, but he was on a mission to buy linen for the spare bedroom, and Nash has been on the phone with Dominic all morning. He’s been helping with things now that it has been revealed that it was Nash paying for everything back in the motel. Now Dominic has access to more money too, thanks to one of Manuela’s kids who turned out to be the granddaughter of one of the leaders of the trafficking ring. The whole rescue operation is in their hands. The Alliance is barely a factor anymore. Until we learn who leaked our address, we can’t trust the government.

My heart hammers as I make my way to them, following their voices. I miss them. It’s not normal to miss them this much after just a few hours apart, but I stopped questioning things a long time ago. Now, I just accept what is in my heart. That was what Journey told me to do when we finally reconnected over the phone.

“What’s the point of living life if you don’t believe in a little bit of magic?”

Nash is still on the chair behind the desk when I arrive, while Cassidy is leaning on it and Hank is on the other side, holding his cowboy hat in his hands.

“Haven says we can use her father’s mansion in Willow’s Ridge as a… safe haven.” Nash chuckles at his pun.

“That’s Texas,” Cassidy shakes his head. “I thought we agreed it was best to stay away for the time being.”

“St. James and Prescott are down. The Prescotts have a lot of money, and Haven, just like Veda, wants nothing with their family's dirty money.”

“Who is Haven?” I ask, and they all turn to look at me.

The moment they see me, their gaze turns hungry. Nash and Cassidy stand while Hank comes my way, wrapping himself around me and burying his nose deep into my neck. His mustache tickles my sensitive skin, but I lean to the other side anyway, giving him more access.