“Natty?!” A sharp squeal pierces the air as our own Omega comes flying through the air like a rocket, caught at the last moment by the big Alpha—Oberon—who spins and slows her momentum before releasing her again just as the other Omegagrabs her, sobbing and burying his face in her hair. The rest of my pack joins us out in the garden and watches with growing confusion and concern as the two embrace and cry together.
Que porra está acontecendo?
Skye
Nerves overwhelm me as I stand in the kitchen, eating my breakfast and waiting for these‘friends of the pack’who are visiting today. It’s clear they’re important to Lucas, and being the first of the pack—mypack—to start the bonding process, I want to make a good first impression. I can’t let them down. Can’t let a misplaced‘fuck’ruin my chances of new friends. I’m excited, really; it’s been a little isolated out here on the ranch with only my pack and the horses for company, regardless of how hard they’ve tried to keep me busy. Even with my dates out riding, and to the activity center with Clay and Atlas, the itching hasn’t stopped to do something.
Fury’s entrance brings a warmth to the room that is uniquely his. Our Cardinal grins as he drags me into his arms, tucking himself against my back and burying his nose against my hair. Inhaling deeply, I feel his shoulders slump as he nuzzles me until I give him a soft growl and shove against him, but there’s no real animosity in it. I appreciate the scent marking now, knowing that they do want me, that the scent of whiskey and smoke entwines with my own rummy scent so well. There’s a cocktail of scents in the air, both mine and Fury’s joining with Lucas’ ocean and Atlas’ mossy scents. What a mix we are.
Watching as Lucas slides out the door towards Teddy at the barbecue, I confront the Alpha behind me.
“This pack, the visiting ones, they’re important to Luc?” I ask, leaning into him and pulling some of his bubbly strength through the semi-embrace. Resting the side of his head on the top of mine, a deep purr rattles through his chest, and I feel the heavy sigh ruffling my hair.
“They’re the closest thing that Luc had to family before us. It’s not really my story to tell, but Prue’s family took him in when his mom left, and they just clicked from the get-go. You just get a feeling when someone is supposed to be a pack, you know? They’d have probably been together the rest of their lives if losing Tomas and Maggie hadn’t frayed the bonds so badly. You just don’t recover from that.”
There’s a solemn echo to his voice that betrays my Cardinal, and I pull back to really look at him. Blue eyes are misty as he returns my gaze, the drowning pain there piercing my heart. No matter how well they seem to function, there is an aching hurt that runs deep in my pack. An Alpha with loss in his past—hanging onto his previous family, and a Beta who thought he was half a man after a life-changing accident… These guys are more broken than I am. I wonder what Fury’s story is. He doesn’t talk about his parents really, just that they are Betas, and his designation surprised them. I wonder if they’re still in touch.
Embracing Fury fully, I squeeze his slender waist, feeling his muscles pull tense as he stands. Another set of arms joins me from behind, and Atlas sandwiches me between them. I can’t hold back the start of my giggles, Fury scrambling to get his arms around us until we are just a big cuddle pile standing in the kitchen. Both chests pinning me are vibrating, and my own purr starts up, a little higher and not so rumbly, but just as prominent as theirs, melting us into a big gooey heap that I swear makes my heart grow another size. These men are bad for my health.
Huddling for a few more moments, we absorb the warmth and comfort until the sound of strange voices draws me from thepectoral pillows currently smothering me. It’s a crime to leave them, but I want to greet the Hawksridge pack like a good little pack Omega. Not that my guys seem to give a single, flying fu—frog what people think of me.
Striding through the sun room and out to the back, the wave of scents hits me first. Bright raspberry and vanilla make my nose scrunch a little. I don’t… Sweet scents aren’t good for me, and they bring up some things that I’ve honestly forgotten how to deal with in the two weeks that I’ve been out here with the savory, natural scents. Forcefully exhaling, trying to rid it from my nose, I see if I can pick up the next scent and straight up gag. Liquorice. It catches the back of my throat and sticks there, turning to my Alphas and crushing my nose against Atlas. His thick, rich, earthy rain covers it up just in time for me to catch something I thought I’d never scent again… Honeycomb. Sure, it could be a coincidence, but science says that even two scents that are the‘same’wouldn’t register as the same person. And I know this honeycomb.
Emotions flood me, swirling and uncontrollable as a whine escapes. Metal cells, brutal guards, Anna’s rough treatment, and the ones that came before… Then it begins morphing, the memories a little more pleasant; sneaking into other bunks, scented honey and rum—wolf and cat.
Then I’m startled as my instincts rise, my Omega bristling at another in her territory, aroundherunbonded Alphas. Tossed about like a buoy in a storm, it takes both Atlas and Fury to balance me and pull me back from my head before I bound forward towards the lean, golden man, my bare feet thudding on the patio and grass as I charge. Teddy and Lucas step forward to intercept, as do two of the strange Alphas, but I only have eyes for the other Omega.
“Natty?!” The squealing call leaves me as I launch, only to be caught by the big, burly blond Alpha, slowing my approach.He spins me, then puts me back down, having stripped my momentum. There is a moment, a breath, where I think that Nathaniel won’t recognize me, sobbing as he jolts as though a shock has run through him. Then he throws himself on me. Burying his angled face in my hair whilst mine finds itself against his shoulder, we break, bodies wracked with heaving cries.
“I never… Thought I’d see… You again,” He chokes between heaves, voice airy and light as I remember. Nothing escapes me around the crying, too focused on the feeling of my best friend back in my arms as I press a wet kiss to his cheek that results in a chorus of angry growls from the Alphas around us.
“Care to explain, Little Leo?” The big Alpha who stopped me from steamrolling Natty asks from the side. He’s massive, easily on par with Clay and Atlas, but unlike my two cinnamon rolls, he has an air of danger that makes both my wolf and Omega hackles raise. Backing up quickly to the safety of my own pack, I hug my arms around myself. I can smell shifter on him, though nothing that I’ve ever encountered before. Not wolf, not feline… Natty’s hand on my arm freezes me as he gestures to his pack.
“Obi, Bex, Prue,” With an extravagant wave, the Omega gestures back to me, “This is the woman who saved my life in the O-32 facility auctions.”
Silence.Barely a breath is taken as both packs turn to me, their worlds turned on their heads, before chaos erupts. Bodies clamor for me, voices all clashing as they fight until I can’t hear my own thoughts.
“We didn’t find you at O-32, though…”
“How many auctions did you go through?”
“Thank you, we wouldn’t have Nat if…”
“How did you even get…”
Black dots edge my vision. Short, heaving inhales bring in too much noise for my nose.How do I escape?I need my nest.Fur starts to flow, my instincts pulling forward to turn on flight mode as I’m jostled by my pack. Someone is whining, another snarling.
“ENOUGH!” Comes the loudest, fiercest bark I’ve ever heard, and the whole world grinds to a halt except for my own hiccuping breath. Tree trunk arms scoop me, a hand cups my cheek, and turns my face into a warm pulse point, the jawline bristly against my temple.Cloves.Cloves and spicy pepper clear my airways, my head emptying as the calming purring begins. My eyes close as I listen to it change pitch as he starts humming too, softly, barely loud enough to hear.
I don’t open my eyes again until I feel the sheets below me, a mattress dipping, and blankets pulled up around my chin. Laid on my side, an arm bands me against a warm body, his belly firm but no cheese grater abs. My voice is shaky when I speak, but at least I don’t cry, “I didn’t know you could bark like that. Fury better watch his back.”
There’s an unamused huff and a deeply soothing hum, “I don’t think I even knew I could do that, darlin’.” His thick, syrupy accent belies the fine tremor running through him. “I’d like to not do it again, if it can be helped, but you were having a panic attack and needed me.” Snorting at him, I nuzzle into the plush pillows below my head, the scent of the fabric softener that Teddy uses adding a whirl of cherry blossom to the room. It takes a moment for me to notice that he hasn’t brought me to his room, but… The room is painted in the darkest navy blues. Sparkling fairy lights strung across the ceiling like stars. Windows dominate the slanted wall at the side, but the heavy blinds are drawn, the only light coming from the faintly twinkling lights. Paler sheets and blankets are draped around the massive circular bed.My nest.They finished it at last, and it’s everything I could ever want. Tears well as I see the bookshelves, the mini fridge hidden away, but close enough toreach from the bed… They’ve really gone all out, and I can’t think who I mentioned what to on the shopping trip, but they’ve all done this for me.
Clay rolls closer, pulling me tightly to his broad body, massaging my back and purring until I’m a melty little pile of Omega in his arms.
“I should get you some matching weighted blankets; they’ll be good if you’re prone to panic attacks.”
A panic attack.It seems too light a term for the feeling of an ocean of terror dragging me under and dashing me against the rocks. No words come to me, my thoughts a knotted yarn that I start working through, bit by bit, drawing from the strength of my quiet Alpha. He doesn’t need me to speak, content to just hold me.
