Pack Plus Three (Pucking Pregnant Book 1)

21. Nate

My phone had been ringing off the hook, but work had been so damn intense that, I threw my phone onto the back seat the moment I got into my car and ignored its incessant buzzing.

If my pack needed to get in touch with me, they could damn well wait until I was home. Sitting in my car on the boring drive home was the first moment of peace I’d had in almost two days. Every time I had sat down to even eat a bite of my sandwich, I had been distracted by depositions, phone calls from prosecutors, or some other dumpster fire.

At one point, I wasted an entire hour trying to fix the photocopier that an intern had somehow managed to kill. While copier fixing was a little below my pay grade, it felt good to do something with my hands that actually had an achievable outcome for the day.

Sometimes I envied Jeremy and Devon. While construction wasn”t for me, I could certainly see the appeal of building something with your hands and seeing real, tangible evidence of what you”ve created.

I, on the other hand, could spend three weeks crafting a single legal document, and it meant nothing. Their working hours were also a lot more sociable. I was driving home at two in the afternoon because I had spent the entire night at the office. All-nighters weren”t uncommon in my field, and despite my hatred of them, I had to accept them as a necessary evil.

Being a lawyer was not for the faint of heart...or those easily bored.

The phone buzzed again from the back seat, and I considered pulling over and throwing the damn thing into the river. That felt like a bit too much effort, though, so instead, I cranked up the speakers to blare some rock music I had listened to in college.

As my hand reached for the dial, I could see it visibly shaking. Cursing to myself as I turned the music up, I tried not to dwell on it as I quickly focused on the road again.

Sooner or later, I would have to go back to the doctor for another infusion. I felt like most of my spare time was spent at the doctor”s office.

I was sick of being sick.

My packmates were nothing but supportive, but I still despised being a burden. When Jeremy had signed his contract with the Chargers, we had gotten incredibly lucky. The insurance the NHL provided was extensive, and ever since then, I had been getting my infusions at least twice a month, instead of the one a month I had been getting prior.

Despite the early afternoon hour, I was ready to pass out in bed. Pulling into the driveway, I smiled when I saw both Jeremy’s and Devon’s cars in the driveway. Even in my exhausted state, I could appreciate that my packmates were home. Jeremy had been so busy with practice and the project apartment that I hardly saw him anymore.

They were probably working, so I didn”t go looking for them as I opened the front door and made my way toward the kitchen in the back of the house. Snack, then sleep. Only then could I pretend to be an actual human being for a few hours.

The closer I got to the kitchen, the louder my stomach growled. Something smelled amazing. Actually, the whole house smelled amazing. Like brown sugar and candied apples. Had Jeremy brought more cookies home with him? He”d become something of a Cookie Monster of late. I wasn”t immune to the cookies, either. I”d swiped one when he wasn”t looking, and I’d had to grudgingly admit it was possibly the best cookie I”d ever eaten.

When I walked through the doorway to the kitchen, intending to make a beeline to the fridge, I stopped in my tracks.

Someone was in my kitchen.

Someone who wasn”t one of my packmates.

Her back was to me, and all I could see was a large, oversized T-shirt and shorts and piles of curly red hair spilling out of the claw clip at the back of her head. Her exposed legs were beautifully shaped, and I immediately thought of them wrapped around my waist.

And then, a second later, I felt disgusted with myself. I couldn”t let myself think of anyone else in that way. Not after Jilly.

After the disgust came anger. Who was this person in my kitchen, and why was she fucking with my mind?

The woman clearly hadn”t heard my arrival, thanks to the pop music she had blaring out of the speaker on the counter.

“Who the hell are you?” I snapped, probably a little angrier than I should have.

She jumped, dropping whatever she was holding onto the counter and whirling around to look at me.

Fuck me.

She was beautiful.

Masses of dark red hair, perfectly offset by emerald-green eyes. Her cheeks were slightly chubby in the most adorable way. And they were covered in a smattering of freckles.

Freckles.

It was like my fucking wet dream had walked into my kitchen.

And I hated that.

Huh. Her stomach was rounded. She was clearly in the later stages of pregnancy. I felt bad for startling her. I was an asshole, but I wasn”t so much of an asshole that I would willingly startle a pregnant woman.

A pregnant omega, judging by her scent.

She was the source of that candy apple scent I had followed to the kitchen.

“Oh! Hi. You’re Nate, right?” she asked sweetly. “I”m Daisy.”

I nodded. That much I’d gathered from the fact that she was pregnant and in my house. It didn”t take a genius to realize that she was the pregnant omega Jeremy had been obsessing over.

“I am. Why are you here?” I repeated my earlier question.

“Didn”t Jeremy talk to you?” she asked, her brows furrowing in confusion. She winced slightly, and her hand flew to her stomach.

“He didn”t talk to me. Are you okay?” I may have been annoyed, but I wasn”t going to ignore a pregnant woman in pain in my house.

“Just kicks, nothing serious.” She waved off my concern. “Jeremy kind of invited me to stay,” she admitted, biting her lip.

“He what?” I asked. Surely, I was hallucinating? Jeremy knew my past. There was no way he would invite an omega to live under the same roof as us. My packmates could be pains in my ass, but they weren”t heartless. Being around an omega would be a special kind of torture for me.

“I”m so sorry. I thought he had a conversation with you. I will get out of your hair. Erm...” She turned to look at what she was cooking. “I”ve just made some lasagna, so if you”re hungry, please help yourself. It”s the least I can do, considering I’ve invaded your home without you even knowing.” She started flitting around the kitchen, grabbing dish towels and cleaning up after herself. “As soon as Jeremy is back, I will get him to take me home. I think he ran to the store.”

“Isn”t he at work?”

“No, he stayed home today after everything that happened. But I”m sure he”ll be back any minute, and I will be out of your way. I am so sorry. I thought they cleared it with you before I stayed here last night. I never, ever would have agreed to stay here if I thought they hadn”t told you.”

“You stayed here last night?” Where? What room did they put her in and why didn’t they warn me that there was an omega sleeping at my house? I had left my cell phone on the back seat of my car, so I couldn”t even check to see if the idiots had gotten in touch with me. The omega—Daisy—seemed truly horrified that I wasn”t kept up to date with the situation. She flitted around, grabbing dishes and putting them away, like she was desperate to get out of my way.

While I wanted her gone, part of me found her presence oddly comforting, even if she was running around like a chaotic little whirlwind. Several tendrils of her red curls had fallen out of the claw clip and were swinging wildly around her face as she moved around the kitchen.

“My home was kind of broken into. I, uh, live next door to the apartment Jeremy”s fixing up. He insisted I stay here. Oh god, I feel so rude. I—agh!” Her babbling was cut off with a cry as she grabbed the steaming pan of lasagna with her bare hands.

Jumping into action, I strode forward, gently grabbing her waist and pulling her toward the sink. Flicking on the faucet, I waited until the water was running cool and held her hand under the stream. Her wrist felt ridiculously tiny and fragile in my hand, and a deep red welt was already emerging on her palm.

“Hold it under the water,” I instructed gently. My grip on her wrist was firm, so even if she wanted to, she couldn”t remove the burned skin from the stream of water.

Since my eyes were locked on the injury, I didn”t realize she was crying until I heard her sniffle and turned my head to see her eyes full of tears.

It was official. I was a colossal asshole.

“I”m sorry. I don”t mean to cry. I”m just hormonal,” she said, using her free hand to wipe her tears furiously.

“It”s my fault. I shouldn”t have startled you.”

“That”s not your fault at all. You didn”t even know I was here to be startled!”

Footsteps thundered on the marble entryway as someone ran into the kitchen. Devon came to a skidding halt beside us, eyes wide. “What on earth happened? Are you okay, flower?”

Flower? He even had a pet name for her already?

“I”m fine,” Daisy insisted.

“You”ve been crying! And Nate is holding your hand under water. Did you burn yourself?”

“I accidentally grabbed the lasagna pan with my bare hand. It”s no big deal. As soon as the pain lessens, I”ll be on my way.” She gave me a reassuring look as she said the last part.

“Be on your way?” Devon asked with a frown.

“I”m hardly going to stay here. One of your pack members wasn”t even aware!” she hissed at Devon, leveling him with a glare. I shouldn”t have found that attractive, but watching her glare at my packmate just did something to me. Excitement. I was excited by her glare.

For three years, my heart had been a cold, dead husk. Incapable of feeling any true emotion. Thirty seconds with this omega, and I could feel the cold stone around my heart starting to crack.

I didn’t know what sort of voodoo she was working, but she needed to get out of my house.

“Only because Nate didn”t answer his phone. He”s fine with you staying. Or, at least, he will be,” Devon rushed to Daisy before turning to glare at me. “What the hell did you say to her?” he growled.

“Nothing! I just asked why she was here. A stranger, standing in my kitchen, cooking a lasagna—I think I have a right to know why they”re there!”

“It”s okay, Devon. I am more than happy to go home. I”m just thankful for getting away for the night,” Daisy assured him, a sincere smile on her face.

“Let me get some ice to put on this. Don”t remove your hand,” I instructed Daisy with a firm look before heading to the pantry, where the large industrial freezer was located. We had all gone through a phase of watching social media videos of various types of ice and had decided to invest in an ice machine that we now hardly used.

“You better be nice to her,” Devon said from behind me, having followed me to the ice machine. He watched me as I grabbed a little plastic scoop and placed a bunch of ice in a dishcloth, forming a makeshift ice pack.

“Who the hell thought it was a good idea to bring an omega into our home?” I asked, making sure my voice was quiet enough that it wouldn”t be heard by said omega.

“Someone broke into her home.”

“She mentioned that.”

“No, it wasn”t a small thing. The place was trashed. There wasn”t a single surface that didn’t have bleach or broken glass or something like that on it. Everything she owned was destroyed, her door completely smashed in.”

I turned to look at my packmate, unable to keep the frown off my face.

“That sounds a little more severe than just a regular break-in,” I admitted.

“She has no family, and Jeremy is fond of her. Hell, I”m fond of her. She”s a really sweet girl. She”s alone, pregnant, and struggling. Surely, you can understand why Jeremy brought her here?”

I sighed. “But why did he have to bring her here? He could have set her up in a hotel.”

“Hotels are expensive, for one. I”m guessing Jeremy wanted to be around to help her. Just dumping her in a hotel room and leaving her probably wouldn”t have actually helped her that much.”

He had a point there. Even though she was managing to navigate her way around the kitchen easily, I could understand that the rather large bump would create several issues in day-to-day life.

“It”s not like she”s the first woman ever to be pregnant. Loads of women have to deal with it. She would be fine at a hotel,” I tried to reason.

Devon snorted. “Every single pregnant omega we have known has had several alphas doting on her. Can you think of a single woman you’ve seen go through pregnancy alone?”

“Well, where”s the alpha that created the child?”

“He ran the moment he learned she was pregnant. Left her with nothing. She hasn’t told us much more, but I”m pretty sure he hurt her badly.”

“Jesus Christ. That”s a special kind of asshole,” I admitted.

“Look, we can talk about this as a pack when she goes to sleep. Please don’t tell me you want to throw her out right now? I know that being around an omega can be difficult for you, but given the situation, surely you can make an exception? This is someone who is important to Jeremy and someone who is quickly becoming important to me, too. We are a pack, and we want you to know the important people in our lives.”

He had a point. While I knew that I didn”t want an omega, I had to accept that my pack would one day want one. I had avoided thinking about what that would mean for our dynamic. Would I move out so they could be happy with their new omega? Over the last year or so, I had found a kind of peace with my life and my pack, and I didn’t want it to change. But it would be cruel to expect Jeremy and Devon to remain frozen in time like I was.

“Fine, we can stay out of each other’s way. This house is big enough,” I grumbled. “Now, I need to go ice that burn of hers.”

“I”m telling Jeremy that she burned herself while you were talking with her.” Devon grinned as I left the pantry.

I cursed at myself. Apparently, Devon had a death wish.

For my death.