“That wasn’t nice,” Blair chides, her voice breathy.
“She’ll deal with it,” I huff.
She wiggles in my grip. “You can put me down now,” she says, then sucks in a breath and freezes against me. “Shit,” she moans in pain.
“No way in hell I’m putting you down when you’re cramping like that.” My chest rumbles, a soothing purr just for her.
“Ah…Travis…Alpha…”
A squeal of tires sounds in the distance, signaling Rylee’s quick departure.
“You need to apologize to her after all of this,” Blair chokes out. “You scared her.”
I only growl in response.
Keeping Blair pressed against my chest, I grab her small handbag off the counter, flick off the lights in the back room, and kick open the exit.
I carry her to the parking lot while she moans and huffs in discomfort.
“We’re almost there,” I promise her, my chest violently rumbling in an attempt to calm her.
But I’m about to lose my mind, too.
I have to take care of her, and I can’t do that when she’s not in my packhouse comfy in a nest.
“My car,” she mumbles when she sees that I’m taking her to mine, not hers.
“Leave it. Ryland or Rowan will get it.”
“I need my stuff.”
“It’s all at the packhouse. There’s nothing you need.”
“The cats,” she whines as I open the passenger door. “My kitties.”
“Piper and Maeve are on cat duty. Mervin and Marlin are taken care of.”
“What? How?—”
“Did you really think I would let you go through this unprepared?” I ask her, placing her gently int the seat. I click her seatbelt in place as she stares at me with glassy eyes. “I scented you yesterday on the couch. I knew you were close to your Heat.”
“You called my friends?” she asks curiously. There’s no accusation in her voice, which likely would have been there weeks ago. Now, there’s just trust and delight in her expression.
“Just because you wanted to be reckless, doesn’t mean I will be.” I caress her cheek, and she leans into the touch. I smile softly, despite the adrenaline and arousal that pumps through me. “If you wanted us with you for your Heat, I had a plan in place. I coordinated with Piper so that everything would be taken care of.”
It was less of an awkward conversation than I thought it would be. Piper was more than happy to care for Blair’s cats, and despite not meeting me yet, she was trusting that I would take care of her best friend. She had told Ryland and Rowan that if we ever needed anything regarding Blair, she would help in a heartbeat.
Especially if her best friend suddenly found herself at our packhouse…preoccupied.
It only took a simple text message for everything to be arranged, which I shot to Piper immediately after Blair showed up to work tonight.
“You planned for me,” she breathes. “Travis, you’re so sweet it’s disgusting—ah!”
She winces at a cramp and doubles over in her seat, breathing deeply.
“Shit,” I hiss. “We’re getting you home, baby.”
“No, I’m fine?—”
