I nod. “Me.”
My voice is shaky as I drink her in, greedily inhaling her Omega scent.
I can’t decipher how she looks at me. There are a million emotions that flicker across her face, and it’s impossible for me to name any of them.
Maeve must finally sense the tension between Blair and me, because she steps away from us. “I’m going to go back to the rescue,” she murmurs. “I need to feed Alvin.”
Then, she scurries out, the door to the clinic slamming shut behind her, leaving me with my scent match.
“You never told me,” Blair breathes, motioning to the blankets. “I would have never guessed.”
I shrug. “It’s something my mother taught me growing up. I learned how to crochet, sew, all of it.”
“So…that one nesting blanket I like?”
My face burns. “That was made specifically for you.”
She swallows, her delicate throat bobbing. “You’ve been sending us donations for a year.”
“I knew how important the rescue was to you, and I wanted to do something unique,” I murmur, rubbing the back of my neck. “You mentioned you were always needing blankets.”
A tear spills down her cheek, and she takes a step toward me.
“That’s the second time today someone has cried because I know how to sew,” I mutter.
She bursts out laughing and wipes at her face. “You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want you to think I was doing it just to win you over.”
“I know that,” she whispers. “It…it means so much, Travis. Thank you.”
I nod. “Anything for you.”
She winces and laughs bitterly. “You can’t mean that. Not after how I treated you and your pack.” She shakes her head and looks at the floor. “Not after how I acted.”
“Of course, I can. My feelings haven’t changed, and they won’t. No matter how tangled in your head you might get about things.”
She remains still, biting her lip and looking at the floor. Her violet scent, still sweet and tempting, has a sour note to it.
“You haven’t been taking care of yourself,” I murmur.
“Neither have you,” she says after a moment of silence, meeting my gaze. More tears fall down her cheeks. “I was miserable without you,” she admits. “My parents aresoannoying.”
I chuckle weakly. “I know the feeling.”
But I can’t stand the look on her face anymore.
I know I’m supposed to stay in control and not pressure her but I close the space between us and gather her in my arms, holding her tightly to me.
Suddenly, I can breathe again.
Her scent is everywhere around me, growing sweeter every second she’s in my arms.
My chest rumbles deeply as I purr for her while she trembles.
“I’m so sorry,” she mumbles into my shirt. “I’m so sorry, Travis.”
“Shh. It’s okay.”
