Kev’s my planner, the one that makes sure everything goes the way it needs to—type A to a fault sometimes. The worry and hesitation in his voice is nothing like I’ve heard from him before. “I don’t know.”
I should be on edge. It should worry me that Kev doesn’t have the answers when it comes to this whole situation. But it doesn’t. The comfort I feel when I’m between my two Alphas is unmatched, and I can only hope other omegas get to experience this feeling too. Kev wraps his arms around me tight, and before I know it, I’m drifting off to sleep in the warmth of my loving Alpha.
“I think he might be in pre-heat…” Abel murmurs to Kev, like I can’t hear him. Well, to their knowledge, since I’m napping on the couch. But right as their voices hit my ears, my eyes peel open. It’s well into the evening from the living room’s double window—the sun is already set behind the woods lining our house.
Maybe I am in pre-heat…
I haven’t been this exhausted in a while, and now that I think about it, I have been nesting a whole lot more. Maybe that’s why I jumped down Axel’s throat earlier, too.
Shit… Am I nesting in all of Heat Wave?
Probably.
Those poor fucking contractors and decorators are going to be praying to gods they don’t believe in to get this project done with how I’m feeling in this moment. Everyone’s pissing me off, plus none of them are doing anything to my liking.
I blurt out, “If I go into heat before Heat Wave opens, it’s going to be everyone’s problem.”
Yeah… pre-heat is here, but that’s a problem for another day.
Kev soothes everything over like he always does by saying, “Little Omega, I made you some soup. Would you like me to bring it to you?” Kev, being Kev, swoops in and manages every one of my over-the-top emotions.
“Yes, please.” Before I even get the full sentence out, he’s rounding the deep teal-colored couch that I picked out not too long ago, placing a tray in front of me with the creamiest potato soup, crackers, and my favorite creme soda. As the warm soup coats my tongue, I let my thoughts go where they always seem to drift off to.
Heat Wave.
Growing up, there was always a deep feeling in me that I was an outsider looking in when it came to the other kids in my classes who would designate. Most of them already knew because they had been tested at some point in their childhood. Making them and their parents well prepared when their first heat was about to show. The Alphas were insufferable majority of the time, and we betas kept to ourselves.
I grew up assuming I was a beta, and I would only watch from the sidelines. But the thing that finally made me startplanning Heat Wave was my best friend, Ryker. We were friends throughout childhood, until he was sold off at sixteen like a piece of furniture at Grandma’s estate sale.
Just for it to happen to me seven years later…
I want a safe place for omegas to come into their bodies, explore different packs freely and without the risk of the countless bad things that could go wrong, and more importantly, if they never want to be a kept omega, they won’t ever have to be.
We’ll have a team of in-house, fully vetted Alphas, ready to take on any job with a smile on their face and a knot ready to dull their cramps.
I know there’s still going to be issues dealing with people from all walks of life, but my hope is that Heat Wave will be the first thing omegas want to experience when they stumble across our building.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
ABEL
It’s been about a week since August’s first signs that a heat finally coming on. And this one is not going to be rushed or half-assed like his last one. We had just finished the exterior remodel when his second heat with us began, and we were not prepared in the slightest.
The doctors said it was so close to his first one because he was a late-blooming omega and not to be alarmed, as they see it often in them. Not that late-blooming omegas are super common, but the doctor reassured us nonetheless.
His first heat was a little longer than most, but the second and third ones we experienced with him were nowhere near long enough. Maybe a full day… We hadn’t even had time to fully redecorate his nest for him at the house because all our attention was on Heat Wave and getting that project off the ground.
And as the pack leader, it makes me sick to my stomach that I wasn’t able to give him what he needed to have a successful heat. Kev has taken over slowly but surely in getting August’s nest to where he wants it. August only needs to add small things like our worn shirts, socks, and I hate to say it, but our worn boxers too.I see him take them sometimes and stash them in the nest, but I hold my tongue, never saying anything. I want him comfortable and ready for this heat.
And that heat is coming; I can feel it in my bones.
It’s going to be everything the last one should’ve been—all the things we loved about the first one without being scared of losing him afterwards.
I make my way to August’s completed office—the first space I completed for him in this building so he had somewhere to decompress if he needed to. I flop down in one of his bright teal plush chairs, and my feet find their way onto his desk while he clacks away on the keyboard. I listen to my employees working away in all the other rooms, hammering and sanding, trying to get Heat Wave completed in less than a month, which is all we have left before the grand opening.
After a few moments of silence, I place my feet back on the ground and lean my elbows on my knees. “I’ve brought in double the number of decorators so we can get everything knocked out and completed. I want Heat Wave opened before your next heat.” I need August to know there’s no need to stress about the project not being done in time.
