It makes us both laugh. We don’t end up staying in the bath too much longer, since I feel too drained with everything that’s happened tonight.
After rinsing off quickly and getting dressed, I finally make it back into the pack bed. Keelan, Eli, and Liam are all still there. I’m not sure where the others went but I don’t dwell on it. Diving in between Eli and Liam, their scents envelope me. Joy and hope. I just need to cling to that and maybe things will work out this time. Keelan’s scent filters in as I nod off and that feeling of safety is exactly what I need to fall asleep.
3
ELI
It’s been a day and a half since Thea passed out and Parker has barely left his office. Thea brought him food a few times but hasn’t said much about how he is. When Jake pushed him about going through our systems, the way he pushed back at him was surprising. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s always been one to go with the flow. I can count on one hand the times I’ve seen him truly angry and upset. Jake is also working like crazy, constantly on the phone with Logan coordinating something. I wish I was more help to them and Thea. I’ve never felt so useless in my life.
I’ve always been a people person. It’s part of the reason I travel, checking on our properties for the company, making sure things on site are running smoothly. Usually, I’m able to jump in when there’s a problem and fix it. But not here. I don’t know how to fix any of this. I refuse to be useless. I’ll support my pack as best I can, which in this case, means checking on Parker and bringing him some food.
I don’t bother to knock on his office door. If he’s focused on a task he won’t hear it. The light—or lack of light—surprises me. His normally vibrant LED strips that line the ceiling are off andwithout any windows in here, the only light source is from his screens.
As I approach Parker—whose shoulder-length blond hair is pulled back—I notice the empty energy drink cans littering his normally organized desk. Moving some items out of the way, I place the plate with the food I brought down on his desk. He doesn’t stop working or acknowledge my presence. I frown. He needs to take care of himself too. Reaching out, I push on his shoulder to shake him out of it. He shrugs me off hard, not even looking at me.
“Parker, you need to take a break.” I shake him again.
“When I find him,” is all he says almost in a monotone voice, which is scary coming from him.
Supporting your pack means sometimes you’re the bad guy. Guess today it’s my turn.
Gripping the back of his chair tight, I pull it—and him along with it—away from his desk and turn it around so he’s no longer facing his computer.
“What the fuck Eli,” he yells, trying and failing to move his chair back to his desk.
“Scary Parker is cool and all but you need a break. Get some food and sleep, then pick it back up again tomorrow. Maybe by then you’ll be back to normal too,” I say, trying to make light of the moment. It seems that was the wrong thing to say based on his answering expression.
“If you want a happy dog, go find Duke,” he replies with a coldness I’ve never seen in his green eyes. Does he think we view him that way? Maybe this is leftover resentment from what I said to him when we were courting our ex. Of everything that happened during that time, how I treated Parker that day is my biggest regret—laying into him after he cut off contact and blocked Amber.
She had told me she was trying to help him lose weight because he’d asked. I thought it was weird at the time since he never talked to any of us about it. But I’d chalked it up to him bonding with her as our potential omega. Even though she lied, I’m responsible for my reaction and what I said to him was out of line. When it came up in our pack group therapy sessions months later, we never got too deep. Parker kept saying he didn’t hold any grudges about it. I kind of felt like maybe he should’ve.
“What’s this about?”
He looks at me like I’m crazy. “This is about you taking me away from working on finding this asshole stalking our omega.”
“Is that it?” I say pointedly. He looks at me and I can see the gears turning in his head but when he doesn’t say anything for a minute, I clarify, “Are you still mad at me for what happened with Amber?”
His eyes widen slightly in surprise. Sighing, he says, “Honestly, no. Does it still hurt my feelings that it even happened? Yes. But this isn’t the time to get into this. I have to help Thea. She’s the priority. Not you. Not me. Her.”
“You’re wrong. Our pack needs to be together. Unified. We can’t have lingering issues like this between us from before. Especially now. Also, you can’t help Thea if you’re exhausted and overworked. That goes for all of us. We can’t be there for her like we want to if we’re struggling.” I crouch down so we’re eye to eye. Reaching over to squeeze his shoulder, I continue, “It’s one of my biggest regrets what I said to you that day. There is no excuse for it. I am sorry. I can only promise and show you that I’d never berate you or anyone in this pack like that again.”
The coldness that was in his eyes before seems to be giving way to some emotion, though I can’t say which one. He looks back to his desk behind him then back to me. “Thank you Eli,” he says, surprising me. “I believe you on your promise. And you’re right. I can’t help Thea like this. I’ll take a break for a little bit.”
I doubt the break he intends to take will last as long as it should but at least it’s something. However, hearing him say he believes me feels like a weight has been lifted off of me after so long. With that, he finishes what he was in the middle of and follows me out with the plate of food I brought and heads upstairs to his room. Hopefully he can get some solid sleep.
Heading for the stairs to retreat to my own room for the night, I catch Thea and Liam returning home from somewhere. “Where did you guys go?” I ask, wondering why he’d take her somewhere when we haven’t come up with a plan to mitigate the stalker threat.
“Liam’s office. He ran new blood work to see when my heat is coming and to make sure my birth control from last year is still good, which it is,” she says as she shucks off her coat. Little flurries dot her brown hair and her cheeks are a little red. She’s so beautiful. We really got lucky.
Without another word, she’s grabbing my hand and leading me up the stairs all the way to the third floor, to her nest. I’m surprised since she’s been staying mostly in the pack bed, but I won’t complain. She quickly takes off her jeans and bra under her shirt and is left in nothing but her underwear and top.
“No bras allowed in the nest?” I ask teasingly.
Looking back at me as she starts to get comfortable in her nest, she smiles as she replies, “Absolutely not. But you are.” She reaches her hand out for me and I take it without thinking and am pulled down to join her. We lie face to face as she cocoons us in a soft blanket.
A soft smile lines her face and lights her hazel eyes from within. How she’s able to smile right now is beyond me. It justshows how strong she is. She hasn’t spent much time in the nest to relax like most omegas do, aside from setting it up.
“What was your last nest like?” I ask, curious if she was more at home there than here.
