“Fine.” Maisie grits out. “But if you hurt one hair on my cousin’s head, I will take that metal bat she loves so much to your dick and maim you so thoroughly your children’s children won’t be able to procreate. Got it?”
If she didn’t look so serious I’d probably laugh. But I don’t want to make a bad impression on my omega’s family. Ward, however, has no such qualms.
“Damn baby girl,” he chuckles. “That was a good one. I can’t wait to tell Theo.”
I give her a shaky thumbs up, already skirting past them. I can see the Lighthouse just ahead, and my alpha relaxes the closer we get. Of course the front door to our pack apartment is cracked open, two sets of eyes peeking out like the creeps they are. “She’s asleep,” I murmur when I get close enough. “I need to wake her up to get her keys, but we ran into her cousin on the way back and got held up. My purr put her right out.”
My brother and Mack tiptoe out, matching dopey grins on their faces as they watch her snuggle further into my neck. Mack reaches out a tentative hand and brushes some hair away, sighing when he finally sees her face. “I know I just saw her this morning, but fuck I missed her.”
Pax comes up on my other side, eyeing me. “You good?”
I nod, not taking my eyes off of her. With how feral my alpha is right now I don’t trust myself to look at another alpha for too long. Not even my pack mates. “I’m good. If she’slucid and feeling more herself I’ll just tuck her in and come home. But if she needs me I’ll stay.”
He sighs, tracing the blush still staining her cheek. The color makes her freckles stand out in the best way and I can’t wait to tell her how adorable I find them. “We need to tell her who we are. I don’t like feeling like we're lying to her.”
Mack and I exchange a glance but nod in agreement. It’s past time she learns we’re her neighbors. I just hope she isn’t too upset when she finds out who the fourth member of our pack is, especially given everything Jude has been putting her through.
“Remind me to talk to you later. She said something about Jude… god, she’s just so sweet. Apparently he was pretty rude to her, but she didn’t say anything bad about him. Just said he makes her really anxious. He needs to pull his head out of his ass before he says or does something he can’t take back.”
Their concern is palpable in the air, but I shoo them back to the apartment and wait for the door to click shut before rousing the sleepy girl in my arms. “Hey, flower, we’re home. Can you tell me where your keys are so I can get you inside?” I realize a second too late I shouldn’t know where she lives, and I pray she is too out of it to realize she never told me.
Posey’s head pops up as she looks around in confusion, but then a sweet little smile tilts her lips. “If I give you my keys, will you stay with me?”
My head tilts as I study her intently. She’s still warm and her eyes are a little glassy, but she seems at least a little bit clearer than she did at the library. “Sure, baby. I’ll stay.” I glance down, pretending to be surprised by the basket of clothes on the mat. “Oh, looks like someone left you something.”
“Ooh! Gimme!” She makes grabby hands, and I have to bite my lip to hold back a laugh.
“Keys first, flower.”
“Oh. Right.” She hops down from myarms and digs in her bag, coming back with a set of keys on a pink rose keychain.
I wonder if I could get a copy of those without her noticing…
Okay, maybe I need to chill out a little bit.
She unlocks the door and grabs her basket of goodies, leaving me staring at her from the porch. The basket is propped on her hips when she turns around, a hip cocked out to hold it. An image of a baby sitting on her hip in place of the laundry basket comes to mind, and I have to bite my lip to stifle the pleased growl that tries to escape at the idea of her having my baby. Her foot taps, knocking me out of visions of the future. She stares me down as she crosses her arms over her chest. “Well, are you comin’ or not?”
A chuckle does slip out this time at how much stronger her accent is right now. “Yes, ma’am.”
A quick cat nap on Parker seems to have alleviated the worst of the heat spike, but there’s still a sharp ache in my belly and a low heat simmering under my skin that has me inviting the alpha in for more. The delicious scents coming from this basket full of clothes have most of my focus, but I hear Parker puttering around the apartment behind me, likely locking up and doing all of the things I can’t bring myself to care about right this second.
“I’m takin’ these to my nest!” I call over my shoulder. Maybe I should be concerned that I just let an alpha who is basically a stranger into my apartment unsupervised, but my omega is convinced he’s ours and that’s enough for me.
If I end up on a true crime documentary, at least I won’t be alive to hear my parents, Maisie, or Lainey scold me for being reckless.
I’m full prepared to thoroughly examine these clothes before finding the perfect spots for them in my nest, but when I walk in it looks like a bomb has gone off. There are blankets strewn every which way, pillows flattened and several strings of lights pulled down. I know my heat sucked but I think this is the first time I’ve looked at my nest through the eyes of another person, and I’m almost…ashamed.
What if Parker thinks I’m a terrible omega and leaves? What if my scent is too strong and it makes himsick? I haven’t washed a single thing since my heat, and the room is thick with the syrupy scent of apples, honey, and a musky undertone of omega slick.
I’m so deep into my panic spiral that I don’t hear him come up behind me until strong arms wrap around my torso, one across my shoulders and the other resting lightly on my lower stomach. Parker groans roughly in my ear, his salted caramel scent getting infinitely richer as it fills the nest. The way our scents mingle together makes my knees wobble, but the embarrassment is still too strong to fully appreciate it. “Goddamn, Posey. Is this your nest?”
My nod is small, my scent sour with shame.
His cold nose nuzzles into my neck. “What a beautiful nest, flower. Can I come in to look around some more, or do you want to put these clothes in there first?”
His easy acceptance of the disaster that is my nest eases my panic and allows me to relax back into his hold. “I’m sorry it’s a mess. I had my first heat a couple of weeks ago. I was alone and it was… hard. My nest got trashed and I haven’t had a spare minute to fix it.” My voice gets quieter, tiny tendrils of hope lighting me up inside. “Never really thought I’d have anyone in here to see it.”
Parker presses his lips to my neck once, twice, three times, and I can feel his smile. “It’s an honor to be the first alpha who’s ever seen your nest, Posey. I don’t care if it isn’t perfect, as long as it feels like you.”
