Talk About… Trouble (Rockwood Valley Omegaverse #4)

Chapter 18

Wren

M y body ached, but not in the same way it did before my heat spike. Instead it was the ache of having been thoroughly fucked by my pack.

Memories of the night before flooded my mind and I blushed furiously. Nash was so sweet and perfect, encouraging me with gentle words as he fucked me. Then after the showers another spike hit and Shepherd with his calloused hands and dirty talk had me falling apart all over again.

Then there was Braxton and Devon. The beta cared for me like I was precious, while Devon made sure I was treated the way I needed. He didn’t let them hesitate or hold back, made them prove they were worthy.

I snuggled deeper in the blankets and the warm body next to me. It wasn’t until I breathed in deep, the scent of chocolate chip pancakes filled my nose.

My beta.

“You awake, sweet omega?” he asked, voice deeper from sleep as he wound his arm around me. I blinked open my eyes and gave him a sleepy smile.

“Mostly. I could use another shower and about a bucket of caffeine.” I leaned in, my nose running over his ribs as I breathed him in. “Maybe some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.”

He chuckled. “You know, I had someone tell me once my scent was awful and gave them a headache.”

“They were wrong,” I said, voice sharp with a hint of jealousy that anyone had smelled my beta before me. His laughter was followed by a teasing tickle down my side.

“Don’t worry, the only ones sniffing me now are my omegas,” he promised.

“Good,” I said, giving him a quick kiss before crawling down the bed. I paused as my feet hit the floor. My body was slightly gross from the last remnants of my heat spike but I was feeling oddly vulnerable and emotional now and didn’t want to be alone.

He sat up and followed me, his fingers moving under my chin to lift my face.

“What is it? Anything you need and I’ll make it happen,” he promised. The determination in his tone had tears forming in my eyes. I felt so silly but if he was offering I wasn’t going to turn it down.

“Come with me? I don’t want to be alone right now,” I admitted, face half buried in his chest. His scent was calming the worst of it and I’d never been more grateful for a beta in my life.

“Of course,” he said easily. “Shepherd brought us some clothes. They went down to cook breakfast.”

He took my hand, leading me into the bathroom. Braxton took his time getting the shower to temp before pulling me inside. He was treating me like I was precious, fragile. Something that contrasted to how I’d been treated before.

I was a tool for those awful alphas, but in the past I was too clingy, told to toughen up by my family.

Yet, here he was making me feel cared for, not weak.

“Hey, what is this?” he asked, still no judgment in his words, just worry. He swiped a gentle finger down my cheeks.

“They’re not sad, just a bit overwhelmed by how perfect you are. No one has ever made me feel this cared for. I’m always… too much.”

“You aren’t too much, you’re worthy of being loved without constraints, sweet omega. We want to take care of you just as much as I know you’ll care for us in your own way. This isn’t exactly a conventional forming of a pack, but we fit, and it works, and that’s all that matters.”

His words were so sure that I let them soak in as his fingers gently worked shampoo into my hair, pulling down the detachable shower head and rinsing it. Then conditioner, and finally body wash. He washed every part of me with the same amount of care and attention.

I felt like he stripped away all the old parts of myself I’d been clinging to and was setting me free. I was no longer the girl who was known for her battle against her abusers, but an omega who was forging a new life.

“How is she?” Devon called out. The sound of his voice had Brax turning off the water.

“Good, grab a towel?”

When I stepped out he was waiting there, big, fluffy towel held out and a soft smile on his face.

“Hey there, baby,” he said, wrapping it around me and drying me carefully before moving to my hair. Again those tears wanted to form but I blinked them away quickly. “Don’t fight it. This is just a heat drop. You’ll feel better after food and fresh air.”

“I’m glad you’re in this with me,” I whispered. He bent down, capturing my lips in a kiss.

“Forever,” he promised. “Now get that cute ass dressed. We have pancakes waiting downstairs and lots of coffee.”

He left me in Braxton’s capable hands. I brushed my teeth and hair while he grabbed our clothes. I was reluctant to get out of this soft, warm towel but the moment he held out Nash’s shirt and Shepherd’s shorts for me, I didn’t hesitate. I swam in both but I didn’t care, tying the string as tight as I could manage.

“We’ll grab actual clothes today,” he promised. “We just need to discuss how we’re going forward.”

When I walked downstairs both alphas dropped what they were doing to come over, brushing kisses over my forehead and lips and checking me over.

“Feeling alright?” Nash asked.

“Can we get you anything?”

Devon chuckled. “It’s overwhelming, but nice, isn’t it?”

I gave him a helpless nod. “I’m good, guys, just coffee and food for now.”

“I’ve already got her coffee, I know how she takes it,” Devon said, handing me a mug and pulling me to sit next to him at the table. The others brought over plates loaded with food.

“We figured we needed a big spread to either recover from the spike, or prepare us for another round,” Shepherd said when he saw me take in the food.

“It smells great, thank you,” I said, feeling shy now. Which was insane. They’d fucked me senseless yesterday. But here, in the daylight, we were strangers again.

“Don’t pull away now, sweetheart,” Nash said as he stood next to me, taking an empty plate and filling it, pausing before each for me to nod or shake my head until it was full.

“I’m not… it’s just weird, right?”

“What says bonding quite like a heat spike and fucking until we pass out?” Devon joked, cackling at the looks the alphas shot his way.

Even if what he said was a bit blunt, it was true. These men showed me they would care for me when I couldn’t take care of myself. The rest was easy.

I let out a breath. “Alright. Where do we go from here?”

“You eat,” Shepherd said, raising an eyebrow at my fork still sitting on the table.

“Yes, boss,” I said, spearing a bit of egg and taking it without breaking eye contact. Even after our night his eyes sparked with heat.

“Both of you are trouble,” he said with a shake of his head. He ran a hand through his dark hair, too short to really be effective.

“I’m honestly kind of sad I didn’t get to fully appreciate the marathon last night,” I admitted, trailing my eyes slowly over all four of them.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll gladly get naked with you anytime,” Nash flirted, that cocky but sweet grin back on his face.

“I’m going to be honest and say that the last thing I want to do is live apart now. How do we become a pack if we part ways now?” Devon pointed out. “I know there are things to figure out there, leases and such, but I’m not ready to go back and pretend this didn’t happen.”

“We have a pack clause in our lease,” I reminded him. “They weren’t going to stick a bunch of omegas together without having something in place.”

“True,” he said, chewing on his lip. I knew exactly what was causing this worry.

“Grace will get it, even if it’ll be sad. She wants us happy and if it was turned around, we’d want the same for her,” I said, giving his thigh a squeeze and leaning into his side.

He nodded, letting out a breath.

“You’re right. We can plan a night out again soon,” he conceded. “At least this time we have a pack to help us move.”

“And an alpha with strong strapping brothers and their packs,” Nash added. “We’ll have you moved in less than an hour.”

“You sure you’re up for us all intruding on your place?” Braxton asked Shepherd. “It’s the most logical since you have the animals.”

“Does this mean I need to find a new job?” I asked, dread pooling in my stomach. “You can’t be my alpha and my boss.”

“Says who?” Shepherd said. “If it makes you uncomfortable then I can just put the monthly amount in your account and you can figure out your own schedule. I’d rather have you here, honestly. I’ve never had anyone win over this ragtag bunch and you did day one.”

“He’s not wrong on that,” Braxton said. “My first day helping him I ended up with this.”

He held up his arm and showed a long, jagged scar on his arm. “Those goats are no joke.”

“They’re sweet,” I defended with a grin before looking back at Shepherd. “I don’t want a new job, but I don’t need your money.”

“It’s your farm now, too,” he shrugged. “What’s mine is yours.”

He turned to Devon with a raised eyebrow.

“Same goes for you, but I somehow already know this isn’t your cup of tea.”

“Living on the same land is enough for me,” he said. “But I make a damn good househusband, at least with cleaning. You better hire a chef.”

“What about a pack account, we can all put what we can monthly and pool resources for things for the pack, changes to the house, anything we need,” Shepherd said. “That includes or excludes the omegas, depending on what you prefer. We are fine either way, no expectations.”

“I want to contribute,” I said.

“Fine, but we only use that fund for pack things. If we want to spoil our omegas, we’ll do that separately,” Nash said, rubbing his chest and frowning slightly. “My alpha doesn’t like the idea of spoiling you from the same funds you add in.”

“That works for me,” I said, because I knew I’d be doing the same.

“I’d like to, but I’m figuring out a job,” Devon admitted. “My savings were covering the apartment.”

I looked at him, excitement hitting me. “What about those charcuterie boards? You could offer them as a business.”

He looked unsure of himself, which just felt wrong.

“I don’t know,” he said, tearing at his napkin as he thought it over. “I was just trying to impress you.”

“It worked,” I teased but gave him another squeeze. “What do you want to do then? What makes you happy? This would be the perfect time to figure it out.”

He pushed his pancakes around his plate, cheeks turning pink. Whatever he was thinking he was fighting the urge to tell us.

I poked him in the ribs. “If I have to not hold back, same goes for you.”

“Agreed,” Braxton said pointedly.

Nash and Shepherd just sat patiently, waiting for our omega to spill.

“I always thought it would be so cool to be a date planner,” he admitted. “I would think up combinations, stage them and post pictures, then recreate them per pack or couple. Customize it for their tastes, but give them a stress free night out or in, curated by me.”

“That’s amazing!” I gasped. “PackVlog would blow your account up for this. I can help you brainstorm and I’m absolutely willing to invest in this if you want.”

“I’d need investors,” he admitted, “and places to advertise because in a town like this, I think word of mouth would do wonders.”

“Let’s start with picking a set number, brainstorming, staging, then we’ll have a better idea for pricing and all that,” I said. What I needed was a notebook and pen. When Shepherd saw me looking around he stood and went for a kitchen drawer, pulling out a notebook and pen and bringing it over. “How did you know?”

“Your hand was twitching like you were wanting to write,” he said, shrugging.

Just like that they were learning our nuances and quirks and embracing them.

“Thanks,” I said, giving him a grin before turning my attention to the paper. “Alright, go.”

Devon started rambling on his ideas and I wrote them down, organizing his thoughts into something we could work from.

Everyone started eating again while we volleyed ideas, occasionally tossing in their own thoughts and ideas, until it was a huge list.

Devon absolutely lit up as he spoke. It was clear he never had anyone hype up his ideas instead of shooting them down.

“You think I could actually do this?” he asked, turning those warm, brown eyes on me. I pulled him close and pressed my lips to his.

“Absolutely. It’s happening.”