Building a Pack is Ruff, Part 1 (The Pack Pets Omegaverse #2)

13. Sam

Chapter 13

T hese are Kelly’s parents. They’re betas and they don’t understand, but I’m getting tired of their angry stares and how frantic Kelly smells trying to get them to listen. Teddy’s scent has taken on a burnt edge, and he’s leaning heavily against me sweating like crazy. I need to get him home—get both of them home, and back into my space.

Our home, our space.

Much better.

Maybe he caught a bug or something today being around so many people. It might just be stress, I haven’t been around a lot of omegas, so I’m desperately trying to draw on what I learned in school. That was a long-damned time ago.

I wish I had a decent nest set up for him, it’s just an empty shell of a room right now. I never bothered doing anything with it since it wasn’t something I thought I would ever need. Shit. Still, I think I have the stuff to make him some soup, or I can stop and get some cans of chicken soup. I hate the thought of feeding him something canned, but it might work better as a short-term solution. My hand rubs up and down his back, as a low growl rumbles through him. I can’t say I blame him, I’m not happy with the situation myself, but until Kelly gives some indication that she wants my help, I don’t want to get in her way.

Also, this is her family, and we are already causing enough strife. After what happened earlier with Joseph and Brice, I don’t want to cause her the same kind of issues. Should I offer to leave? I don’t want to leave without her, and I don’t think Teddy would handle it well if the whine coming from him right now is any indication.

Dammit!

“Kelly, Teddy and I can leave if you want. We don’t want to cause any problems between you and your family. I think we’ve all had enough of that today.” Even offering makes me want to scream, but I don’t know what else to do. I deal with betas all the time, but this is pack business, and I don’t really care what her parents want, but if she does…

Fuck!

Kelly turns her big brown eyes back to Teddy and me. “Don’t you want me to come with you?”

Before I can answer, Teddy strides across the room and gathers her up, he’s pale and sweating profusely. He looks like he’s about to collapse, but he pulls her into his arms and a rumbly purr comes out. “Of course we want you to come home with us, Pixie. But you saw what happened earlier with both my family and Sam’s. We don’t want you to have to go through anything like that. If it makes it easier on you, we’ll leave.” Kelly wraps her arms around him, sinking against his purring chest. Her father’s scowl deepens, when I step in to put my hand on Teddy’s back, keeping him stable.

“Stay, please.” It’s a quiet whisper against his chest, and I don’t think her parents heard. Her mother watches intently, she hasn’t said much, but she seems to be taking in every detail. She reaches out and touches her husband’s shoulder, pulling him from the room. Kelly’s eyes are closed as she holds Teddy. She doesn’t seem to have noticed they left. The younger boy who came in earlier just looks at us before nodding. “Sup?”

Teddy smiles over Kelly’s head and nods back. “Not much. Sup with you?”

The kid grins and leans against a wall. “So, you’re Kelly’s pack huh? Be warned, she uses all the hot water…and she can’t cook for anything. So hopefully one of you is better, otherwise you’re gonna starve.”

Kelly’s face turns bright red where it’s pressed against Teddy’s chest. His purr turns into a low growl, wiping the smirk off the kid's face. Kelly’s voice comes out muffled. “So help me Tuck, you better hope I leave tonight, otherwise I’m gonna noogie you so hard your hair falls out.”

Teddy snorts with laughter and the grin pops back out on the kids face. “Yeah, Sis, I hope you get to leave tonight too. They seem pretty protective, so I don’t see a problem with it. Later gator!” The kid waves at Kelly’s back and bolts around the stairs. Well, at least we won one member of her family over.

The longer I stand there, the more awkward I feel. Sometime later, I hear the kid’s voice calling from the kitchen. “Let Kelly’s pack help her get some of her stuff together, I’m hungry! I just wanna eat dinner!” Well, he’s kind of a rude little shit, but I appreciate him being on our side. Less than a minute later Kelly’s parents come back in the room, her father still shooting us angry looks. Her mom at least seems less upset.

“I’m sorry, boys…Kelly’s never had a serious relationship, so this was a bit of a shock to us. But she is an adult, legally anyway.” She glares at Kelly’s dad for a minute, causing another low growl to slide out of Teddy. “And if you make her happy, and she wants to go with you, then we won’t stop her. However, if you hurt my little girl, just know that we have twenty-five acres out behind the house and nobody would find the bodies.” She glares at both of us for a minute before pulling Kelly away from Teddy and giving her a hug.

“We love you sweety, we just worry, ok.” She kisses Kelly on top of the head. “And if you need anything, we’re right here…and if anything happens, we’ll take care of it, ok. Just remember, I’m too young to be a grandma, yeah?”

Kelly snorts at that and hugs her mom back before pulling back to meet her eyes. “Thank God, Mom. I don’t plan on having kids for…ever. You know that. The guys and I already talked about it. None of us are ready to start a family yet, if at all.”

Her mom kisses her forehead before stepping back. “Ok, just be safe. We love you.”

Kelly’s dad finally steps in, pulling her into a one-armed hug. “We love you Sprout, we better hear from you at least every couple days. Call us, otherwise I’m comin’ over with Rufus.” He glares over her head at both of us again. I look down at the big brown dog that’s lying by the door. Its tail thumps against the floor when it meets my eyes, and it gives me a big doggy grin. Yeah, it looks about as fierce as Jake—though the way he acted earlier to keep Kelly safe, maybe I shouldn’t discount him.

Kelly’s mom claps her hands together. “So, are you all staying for dinner? I can make more spaghetti!” Her voice is bright and too chipper. Also, Teddy still looks too pale.

“If it’s ok with Kelly, I think we’d like to just get her a couple of changes of clothes—and whatever she needs for a few days, and then head out. We’re all still settling in and learning about each other, plus that’ll give her a reason to come back this week. If that’s ok with y’all?”

Kelly nods and her mom gives a hum of assent. Her dad looks like he wants to say something, but Tuck's voice yells from the other room again. “Ok, I’m just gonna grab a plate for myself and take it upstairs away from all the drama. Bye, Kelly!” Her dad mumbles something about a smartass, and stomps back through the door to what I assume is the kitchen. Her mom lets out a little puff of exasperation, and points towards the stairs.

“See, I’m outnumbered now…but you get to see how it feels soon enough.” She chuckles, hugging Kelly again and taking off into the other room. Her voice carries back but I can’t make out everything, only a few mumbles about men and impatience.

Teddy still looks wobbly, but insists we help Kelly. I walk behind him up the stairs in case he falls. She leads us to a room down the hall, and I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. The curtains are a heavy rainbow of colors with tiny star shapes sprinkled across the surface, there's a gauzy top layer that probably diffuses what little light comes in. But that’s the only part of the room that I would consider even remotely girly.

She has bookcases lined up against one wall, and they are full to the point of overflowing. Comic books and manga are perched on every available surface, but other than that the room's surprisingly clean. There’s nothing on the floor, the hamper is put away in the corner beside a rather lopsided looking wooden chest. There are a couple of shirts tossed across the bed that Kelly rushes over to hang up and put in the closet.

The bed itself is a simple affair, a twin-sized pallet bed with a navy duvet and two pillows. She drags Teddy over and pulls him down to sit on the side, making it look even smaller. Kelly places her hand on his head, checking his temperature and looking into his eyes. “Are you ok? You look kinda sick.” Teddy just closes his eyes and leans into her hand that’s pressed against his forehead.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Pixie. Maybe just not at this exact moment.” His arms come out, wrapping around her waist and pulling her close, pressing his forehead against her stomach. His eyelids seem too heavy for him to open.

Kelly looks to me and nods at Teddy and the only other door in the room—the closet she hung clothes up in earlier. I step over to it, it’s tiny, with only one rack for hanging clothes…and hey, more books in stacks of milk crates. This is going to take at least a few trips in the truck for all her books.

My brain catalogs what she’ll need and what can stay. Obviously, the bed and dresser can stay, I can build her any type of furniture she wants. For now, I do a quick scan until I see a duffel bag and toss it out to the bed beside Teddy. Kelly got him to stretch out, but the bed’s too small for his frame so his feet hang over the end. There’s no room for her to cuddle unless she lays on top of him. Not that he would mind.

Her hand's running over his hair, but when the duffel hits the bed, she meets my eyes again, we don’t even need words. She bends down and kisses him on the forehead so I can take her place while she packs up some clothes. Kelly goes to her dresser and digs around for a bit before looking back over her shoulder at us. She pulls out a couple of handfuls of lacy sheer fabric and stuffs them in the bottom of her bag before adding plain cotton underwear and bras on top.

Teddy’s face is turned towards her, and he lets out a low chuckle at her attempts at being inconspicuous, causing her cheeks to turn an adorable shade of pink. She hurries over to the closet grabbing out several shirts and dresses and shoving them on top of the underwear. After she adds a couple of pairs of jeans and shorts to the bag, she has some trouble zipping it closed.

Kneeling on top of the bag to push everything down, she looks back at us, lets out an exasperated huff of air, and comes over to pick up a charger and earbud case from the table. Shoving them on top of everything else she, tries again. Her adorable blush has gone almost atomic red by the time she gets it zipped, and I almost feel bad asking her if she needs any of her bath stuff. Her eyes get huge for a second, her tiny foot comes down with a stomp. “Oh....Sugarsnaps!”

She tries to march out of the room, but trips over the bag on her way. Thankfully, she regains her balance with the help of the doorframe and stomps down the hall. I hear her footsteps and muttering all the way there and back, when she returns with a bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and a toothbrush. She’s blushing and looking at her feet when she comes in. “Sorry, the soap and toothpaste and stuff are mine and Tuck's, so I just grabbed my hair stuff and toothbrush. I hope we can go to the store soon so I can get a few things.”

Like she even needs to ask.

Teddy and I will both give her anything she needs or wants.

“As long as it can wait until tomorrow, I think we need to get our omega home and tucked in. Maybe some chicken soup?” I look between the two of them, and they both nod. Kelly goes to try to unzip her bag, but I don’t know how she expects to squeeze anything else in there. I help Teddy stand, then grab the duffel by the strap and toss it over my shoulder. “Can you just carry those out to the car, I got the bag?” I nod at the stuff she has in her hands, and she starts to protest before just nodding, and mouthing a silent ‘Thank you’ to me.

I head down the stairs first—again, just in case either of them fall. Teddy is close behind, his hand on my shoulder to keep himself steady. Kelly follows behind after closing her bedroom door. Her dad's standing in the entryway again when we come in. “Call me anytime you need me, Sprout. I’ll come running. I love you.” He gives her a big hug, squeezing her until she squeaks before he lets her go.

“Daddy, I’m still in town. And I don’t even have all my clothes. It’s not like you’ll never see me again.” She hugs him back and he ruffles her hair.

Glaring at Teddy and me again over her head, he tells us, “You boys take care of my little girl.”

Teddy mumbles a low, “Yes sir,” before shuffling towards the door. I’ll call in an order from the diner for some chicken soup, and I’m sure I have soda crackers at home. Kelly kisses her dad on the cheek then follows Teddy outside, helping him get situated in my truck.

“I’m serious Sam, you better be careful with her.” I can’t even be mad at him, since I’d already tear down the world to keep her and Teddy safe.

“I’m not gonna tell you not to worry, Rob. But I can tell you that as long as Teddy and I are around, then we’ll do everything in our power to make sure that Kelly stays safe and happy.” He grumbles a bit but sticks his hand out for me to shake before turning around and heading back into the kitchen.

I get outside and Kelly's standing by the open passenger door of my truck. Teddy still looks ill, but not as bad. “Do you want me to order some soup from the diner or a burger…or…?” I trail off, hoping they’ll tell me what they want. But Teddy just stares. Of course, he’s never been to the diner, so he doesn’t know what they have.

“I can pop by the store. If you wanna take Teddy home, I’ll run in and grab some canned soup, or anything you might need. It’ll give me a chance to pick up soap and toothpaste, so we don’t have to leave tomorrow.” Kelly smiles at me, and I pull out my wallet to hand her my debit card. She just stares at it for a minute before flicking her eyes back up to mine. “I do have a job, and money…just tell me what you need.”

Together we make a short list of medicine and foods that might sit ok on a sick stomach, as well as stuff for hamburgers and foods that Kelly and I can take turns cooking, without her setting herself on fire. She leans into the truck, kissing Teddy quickly on the lips, and he whines a little when she pulls back. “I know, Big Guy, but I’ll be home soon too, ok. Just keep Sam entertained till I get there.”

He chuckles softly, reaching out to run his fingers down the side of her jaw. “Miss you already, Pixie.”

She closes the door after he pulls his hand back, and leans into me, pressing her face against my chest and breathing in deep. My arms come around her automatically, holding her close. I don’t want to be separated, even for the trip home, but I let go when she pulls away.

“You both look like I kicked your puppy, I won’t be that far behind you. And this way we can have the whole day tomorrow to get to know each other better, without having to deal with shopping or family stuff, yeah?” Teddy and I both nod, and I climb up into the cab of the truck with him. He leans over, pulling against the belt and pressing his face to my shoulder. He releases a deep shuddering sigh as we watch Kelly hop in her tiny car and take off towards town. We follow behind all the way to the store, and he waves out the window when she pulls into the parking lot.