Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock on Liah's phone going off. Opening my eyes and reaching over, I shook her a few times before saying “hey Liah, your alarm is going off” before looking down at the weight on my chest. As I looked at the sleeping figure on my chest, I remembered the times he woke up during the night because of his nightmares the last of which ended with me snuggling him as he cried. Reaching out to turn off her alarm, Liah put her phone back on the table and turned to look at us.

“Aww, how sweet” she whispered than added “wait, how did that” trailing off as memories from last night came back to her.

“Yeah, I guess the last one was my turn and this is how it ended” I whispered back gesturing to the still sleeping form of Conner laying on my chest.

“Well, at least you know he finds you comfortable” she teased reaching out to ruffle his hair before speaking a little louder saying “hey Con sweetie, it's time to get up. If we don't hurry your mom is gonna be mad at us.” Groaning, he said “just five more minutes” making us both laugh. As Conner realized his pillow was a person, he jumped up and stared at me with a shocked expression making Liah and I laugh twice as much before he remembered what happened last night. His expression changed from confused to sad before he said “I'm really sorry you guy. I didn't mean to keep waking you up last night.” Pulling him into another hug, I said “there's no need to be sorry. We both understand you're in pain and your mind was trying to help you cope with it in the only way it knows how.” Joining the hug from behind Conner, Liah added “we know you needed us to feel safe again and neither of us minded holding you while you cried because we know you'd do the same for us in a heart beat.”

“Thanks you guys. I really do have the best friends anyone could ask for. I love you guys” he said resting his head on my shoulder and placing a hand on Liah's arm that was wrapped around my shoulder.

“We love you too sweetie” Liah said followed by me adding “always and forever.” Releasing the hug, we all smiled at each other just as a knock came on the door. After a few seconds, it opened to reveal Ty as he came in the room and saw the three of us on the bed together.

“Okay, not sure what I just walked into” Ty said with a cheesy looking grin on his face.

“Nothing dirty you idiot. I was just apologizing to them for continuously waking them up last night” Conner said looking down and sounding ashamed.

“Nightmares again? That explains the terror I kept feeling from you last night but it seemed to go away every few minutes. I take it you woke up crying and they traded off taking care of you?” Ty said getting to the gist of what our night was spent doing as he closed the door and walking over to the bed.

“Yeah, if you don't mind me asking are they always that bad?” I asked wanting to know if he'd been dealing with them alone this whole time.

“Nah, not usually. It's probably added stress from seeing that monster last month coupled with the possibility he'll be here today that's causing Con's mind to go into a problematic overdrive to protect itself” Ty said putting his hand on Conners' shoulder which shuttered making me realize he'd started crying. Liah reached over and hugged him from behind, while Ty hugged him from the left and I hugged him from the right while he cried. In between sobs, Con said “everyone is gonna think I'm pathetic. Hell my mate probably won't even want me because I'm so broken” making my heart ache. After a few seconds, Liah said “now that's nonsense. Your mate will be lucky to have such a strong and fierce mate. Just because you break down in front of your friends and family doesn't mean anyone else has to know and doesn't mean your mate won't love you. Hell anyone would be lucky to love someone like you. Don't you agree guys?”

“Yes, she's absolutely right. Your mate will love you no matter what” Ty said.

“But who would want an already tainted wolf?” he sobbed again. This time it was my turn for the pep talk.

“You're not tainted Conner. Yes, you have a past but who doesn't. You're incredible. You took that pain and decided you'd never be defenseless again. You worked your ass off to get the title of best Warrior in the Blood Rose pack and now you're working towards getting the highest grades to go to medical school and become the pack doctor. You take on the training of a pathetic wolf who's being bullied and become friends with the idiot treating him like a brother. You're smart, funny, laughably awkward but through all that you are the most caring person I've ever met even when you don't show it. Anyone would be lucky to have you as their mate” I said hoping and praying that the Moon Goddess would bless me with such a gift when the time came. After a few minutes of silence, Conner asked “wow, you really believe all that don't you?”

“Yes, we all do because we know how incredible you are and how lucky any wolf would be to have you as their mate” Ty said kissing the side of Conner's head. From the door, we heard “We all love you and your mate would be the luckiest wolf in the world to have you by their side” causing us all to look up and see Alpha Miles, Luna Kris, Kyle, McKayla, and Nina standing in the open door. Letting out a short laugh, Conner asked “when did you guys get here?”

“They had been outside the door since I got here. I had a feeling this would happen. So, while you were distracted I had them come in and wait for the right moment to speak” Ty said ruffling Conners' hair.

“Alright children, it's time for us to get ready for the day and finish all the preparations for this evening. Madox and Liah, don't leave his side for any reason today. I want one of you or one of my boys with him at all times. Is that understood?” Luna Kris said.

“Yes sir” all four of us said making Conner sigh and giggle before saying “I guess that makes them either my escorts or bodyguards” with the goofiest grin on his face. After a few seconds, I got his ulterior meaning of the words he chose and burst out laughing too followed by Liah doing the same. Everyone else in the room looked mildly displeased at us for laughing but didn't understand that the “oh so innocent Conner” would possibly make a dirty joke. Though looking at Ty, he seemed to get it as he stared at Conner with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

“Oh good grief” Luna Kris finally said before turning to leave the room followed by the rest of the group at the door minus McKayla who waited for Ty. Turning to look at her before turning back to Conner, Ty said “you need to work on your timing little brother. I'll see you three later” before turning to head out the door with McKayla.

“I thought it was pretty funny” Conner said as Ty closed the door making Liah and I laugh harder to the point we had tears streaming from our eye. In between breathless giggles, Liah said “stop Con, you're killing me” before laughing harder and rolling onto her back on the bed. As soon as I could get my breath back enough to talk, I said “oh my god man, that was too perfect. Did you see the look on Kyles' face? Talk about priceless. He was trying so hard not to show that he'd gotten it and even harder not to laugh.”

“Yeah, that's one of the best things about my brothers, they understand how my mind works. I mean did you see the look on Ty's face. He was having a hard time not laughing too” Conner said smiling as he got up from the bed to get clean clothes to wear. Waiting until he went into the bathroom to change, I look over at Liah who had stopped laughing finally and said “at least he's smiling again even if he doesn't really feel it.”

“How can you tell he doesn't feel it?” she asked looking at me confused.

“I just get the feeling he's trying to be happy even though he's not. You can see it in his eyes that he's not. He's still worried about tonight and I don't blame him. I'm worried for both of us too” I whisper to her.

“Yeah, we'll just have to keep an eye on him. Promise me one of us will be with him even if his brothers are there too. I know Luna Kris wants it to be one of the four of us but I'd rather it be one of the two of us since we seem to comfort him more” she said back. All I had time to do was nod before the door opened to reveal Conner dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and a tight fitting anime shirt that made me suck in a breath to keep from whistling at how sexy he looked. Reaching up, Conner ran his left hand through his hair causing his shirt to ride up a bit revealing some of his sculpted muscles along his waist. As Conner turned his back walking towards his dresser, I turned to look at Liah who winked at me before taking her clothes into the bathroom to get dressed leaving me alone with the gorgeous man in front of me. As I watched him secure his moon pendent around his neck, he said “I know you guys are still worried about me. Thanks for not calling me on faking that smile earlier. I really do wanna be happy today, I'm just worried that something will ruin it.”

“Hey, hey ,hey none of that pessimistic talk again. You know you'd be a catch for anyone. Hell, if you were my mate I'd be the luckiest wolf in the entire world because even though we are both omegas we can fight for what we want and don't have to worry about living up to everyones expectations because we can go beyond what they expect of us” I said then added “I'm proud to be your friend and I would be proud to be your mate if the goddess made it so. I'm willing to tell you everything I've said this morning as many times as you need to hear it.”

“Awww, you guys are having a moment and I missed it” Liah said from the bathroom door. Walking to her bag that was sitting on the bed, she put her pajamas in it before turning to face Conner and say, “honey, we both love you and are so very proud of you for everything you've done and everything you're going to do in the future because we know how incredibly talented and driven you are. Please, please, please believe us when we say that everything we've told you today is all true and not just trying to make you feel better.”

“I know you guys. I know you mean what you say and that it's both true and meant to make me feel better. I love you both so much and I would be proud to have either of you as my mate” Conner said as tears began to slide down his cheeks. Walking over to him, Liah pulled him into another hug and said “go ahead and get dressed. I've got this. We wouldn't wanna keep Luna Kris waiting any longer than he already has.”

“Alright,” I said moving to the couch where my bag lay on the floor to get my own jeans and a t-shirt before heading to the bathroom to change and brush my teeth. Once we were all dressed and ready, we headed downstairs and got to work finishing getting everything set up for the Alpha and Luna ceremonies. After several long hours of hard work, everything was finished and now it was time to get cleaned up and dressed for the party. Heading back up stairs, the three of us returned to Conners' room to get ready together. After each of us got a shower, it was time to reveal our outfits for the evening. Liah was up first coming out of the bathroom wearing a stunning black party dress that had a sweetheart neckline and high low sequined skirt with silver heels and matching jewelry. She had left her caramel hair to cascade down her back in loose curls and only put on light make up of black eye liner and maroon lip stick. I was up next coming out of the bathroom in steel gray pants, a dark blue dress shirt with the top two buttons undone, a black tie with hints of blue and gray in it hanging loose around my neck, and black converse. My dark hair was tousled to look like a mess but I actually styled it that way. Last up was Conner, he came out in a dark purple dress shirt that complimented his emerald green eyes which he left the top two buttons undone on, a purple tie with specs of green that he'd left hanging loose around his neck, black slacks and matching black combat boots. His sliver blue hair was brushed over to one side and back slightly. Heading to his dresser, he added the moon pendent and a pair of earrings one of which had a chain from the stud in his earlobe to the piercing in his cartilage in the ear opposite how his hair was parted. As we were getting ready to leave his room, Liah said “ Conner sweetie, you should take your meds before we head downstairs.”

“Right” he said moving back to the desk to take his medications that would hopefully keep him relaxed and sane tonight. As he moved away to get something to drink, I leaned down and whispered in Liahs ear “he looks so damn sexy, I almost don't wanna let him out of this room tonight.” Stifling a laugh, she gave me a knowing look before turning back to watch Conner without a word.