“She hasn’t eaten anything,” Jax snaps.
Alicia frowns. “She said she was full.”
Um. No, I did not.
Quickly deciding that the need to get away from Alicia is more important than the gnawing hunger dancing around the Bonding ache, I stand to join Logan. “It’s fine. I’ll eat later.”
Jax opens his mouth, but I’m already heading after Logan. He opens another door leading off the kitchen, and I follow him down an airy wooden hallway. It’s bare, and something occurs to me.
“Don’t you paint?” I ask his back hesitantly.
Why is this house so empty if Logan’s a well-known painter?
He stops, shooting a dark look at me over his shoulder. “I don’t really like being surrounded by my work.”
Chewing over his answer, I follow him silently until we reach yet another door. This place is a damned maze. You could get lost in here.
“Here you go.” He pushes the door open and stands back.
My history with doors and spaces in this place isn’t great, but the state of the room beyond makes my reaction to my so-called bedroom pale in comparison.
Gaping, I look at him. “This is a nesting space?”
Logan’s face flushes as his eyes flick to the room. “I know it’s not ideal.”
“Not ideal?”
Logan winces. My tone may be a little shrill. But who can blame me?
My supposed nesting space is top to toe with junk. Bulging boxes stack almost to the ceiling, surrounded by a thousand different things. I can see paint pots, canvases, music stands, even filing drawers from where I’m standing.
I fight back the urge to dissolve into tears. This isn’t even a blink on my radar in comparison to everything else.
“Do you have to make everything so hard?” I ask weakly. “Am I that bad?”
Logan twitches. “You’re not that bad.”
I look at him incredulously, and he shrugs helplessly. “We’re not supposed to help with the nesting.”
My lips press together as I nod soundlessly. The unsaid words hang between us –yes, I’m very aware of that, but we both know that all packs prepare a nesting space that their omega can tweak and play with until she’s completely satisfied.
There’s helping, and then there’s making things completely impossible.
I can’t even see the floor or walls properly, but something tells me there’s no blankets or softness waiting for me in there. That’s even if I can clear it.
And I only have one week until Ollena appears to inspect it and tell me if I’ve passed.
Another realization hits me, and I pinch my nose. “My things, Logan. Are they arriving today?”
I need a pair of jeans. Desperately. I’m not going to get far while still stuck in my filthy Bonding gown.
Logan nods a little too quickly when I spin to him. “I’ll make sure it does. Sienna…,”
I grit my teeth. “I know. You can’t help me.”
He shakes his head. “That wasn’t… anyway. There’s an empty room next door.”
He points to the door as I blink. “And just so I’m clear, the empty room can’t be a nesting space? It has to be this one?”
