He shrugs. “Only in name. I’ve never met anyone who’s had it.”
“Well, now you have a scent match that does,” I say jokingly. He gives me a kind smile in return, obviously focusing more on the ‘scent match’ part of my statement.
“What happened during your heat?” Sam asks, and I can tell he already knows. He tries his best to look calm, but I know the idea of me sitting in a hospital bed in pain is tearing him apart.
He was right there, and I didn’t tell him. But that’s my mistake, and I can’t let him bear that weight for me.
“Alpha,” I say, making him look directly in my eyes. “Please don’t bear this burden. I made a choice, and that’s not on anyone but me. I knew that day was coming—it was always going to happen.”
“But I… I pushed you into it. With my scent.”
“Yes,” I confirm. “You did. But what would have happened if you knew? You had a new scent match, and you were in a new relationship. I highly doubt you would have been in a position to help me with my heat after barely knowing me for twenty minutes.”
He opens his mouth to come up with another reason why this is his fault, but I stop him. “But that’s not why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t find out about Kit until a few weeks later. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid. I’d been looking for my pack for months, and when you finally showed up, you couldn’t smell me back. I couldn’t stand the idea of you rejecting me just because you couldn’t confirm it yourself.”
That stops Sam in his tracks as he finallysees it from my side. His green eyes pour into me, but I don’t feel any discomfort. There’s only love staring back at me and it feels like a victory.
“I don’t know how you kept it to yourself for so long,” Kit comments in wonder. There’s no anger there, only curiosity as he lazily rests his chin on my shoulder.
“There were so many times I wanted to tell you,” I reassure him. “But, you all seemed so happy as a pack. From the outside looking in, I convinced myself that I would be blowing up a happy home.”
“We were struggling,” Thatcher interjects. “We loved each other, cared about each other. But there was always something missing, Curly.”
I stare at him, then glance at the other two as they nod in agreement.
“We were a broken pack,” Sam says. “Pretending everything was perfect. But things didn’t actually slide into place until you moved in. You were always meant to complete us, Opal.”
My omega sends me emotion through our heartstrings, just as delighted to hear those words as I am.
“You’re ours, Pebble,” Kit whispers in my ear, and his hand touches my thigh. “Just like we belong to each other, you belong here.”
I cover his hand with my own and nod, fighting tears that threaten to escape. “Everything happened the way it was supposed to,” I repeat.
“Yes, it did,” Sam says as he stands up. “We have something to show you.” He reaches out for my hand, and I take it without any hesitation.
I’m confused as we travel through the hallway and up the stairs. When we get to the only room that I haven’t seen in the whole house, my heart skips a beat.
“What is this?”
“Open it,” Sam whispers, nudging me forward.
My hand closes around the doorknob and I push it open. What greets me is nothing less than magical. Green tapestries hang from the ceiling, and posters and merch touch every bit of space that they can. My favorite characters and video games, and everything I love color-coded in one big collage. In the center is the biggest bed I’ve ever seen with a mountain of blankets, enough to make an enormous fort over the canopy that’s already shrouding the bed in darkness.
My breath stutters, taking in every single detail. “What?—”
“This is your nest,” Sam says, and my eyes fill up with tears again. “I’ve been preparing it for you since the anime-con.”
I shake my head, feeling disbelief in every way as I turn to Kit. “But… what about you?”
“This is something I decided, actually. I wanted you to have this one,” he admits, his grin just shy of bashful. “We’re going to turn my old room into a nest. I never sleep in there anyway.”
“I got the canopy and the tapestries,” Thatcher adds, his cheeks turning red. “Unless you don’t like them, then I’ll get you new ones.”
“You shy dork,” Kit chuckles before interlacing their hands. “Of course she loves them, look at her smile!”
I let out a wet laugh, their banter lighting me up from the inside out. I can’t help the emotions as I stare into the space, at how perfectly it’s tailored for me and my omega.
“You’ll never have to spend another heat in a hospital, Opal,” Sam whispers just for me to hear as I admire the best gift that anyone has ever given me. “Never. This nest is yours, just as much as we are.”
