Chapter 8Jules
CHAPTER
EIGHT
JULES
A sweet scent clogs my nose, choking me as I wake. I open my eyes. It takes a second before I remember where I am. Gavin invited me into his home. He’s letting me stay with him and his boys. One of whom is an omega. Altair.
Yesterday, it was Gavin’s scent that filled my nose. Now, it’s his son’s. The familiar smell coming from Altair’s room is overpowering as I leave the bedroom Gavin is letting me use. He’s in the kitchen with a mask on. Callum looks as if he’s about to lose his breakfast. Not that he seems to have eaten a single bite of the cereal in front of him. Instead, he’s clenching his hands into fists, and looks a little flushed.
“Can I help with anything?” Even if Altair is family, he’s an omega and they’re alphas. If the scent of Altair in heat is overwhelming to me, it must be twice as bad for them.
“Would you mind?” Gavin’s voice is muffled behind his mask. “His heat came a little early and I don’t want to wake him before I have everything ready in the basement.”
“What do you need?”
“Can you put the water and sports drinks in the fridge downstairs?” He points to a case of each. “I’ve just got to arrange his meds for the next couple of days.”
“He stays here?” With two other alphas in the house? Is that safe for any of them?
“The basement. We fixed it up years ago. Once he shuts the door, he can lock it from the inside, and the ventilation system deals with—” Gavin waves his hand in—maybe at—the air.
“Does he use an alpha?” I never used an alpha in the burrow, but other omegas did. Some of them didn’t have a choice in the matter.
Gavin shakes his head as he arranges pills into little plastic bags numbered one through three. “No. Altair doesn’t make use of heat clinics or alpha services.”
“Oh.” Before I left the mountain, I didn’t know about heat clinics or alpha services, but I don’t see anything wrong with them. For some omegas, they’re probably really helpful.
To keep me... unspoiled for the alpha I was intended to mate with, my family locked me in a shed and told me to endure the pain and other side effects through prayer. My grandfather liked to tell me the more I sweated, the faster my heat would end. It didn’t take me long to figure out that isn’t true and by the end of my cycle I was always dehydrated and starving.
“It’s smart to give him water and sports drinks.” It won’t be pleasant but Altair won’t suffer even if he’s alone, not like I did.
I pick up the case of water Gavin pointed out.
“I’ll go check the mail for his new boyfriend.” Callum leaves the table and rushes out.
“Why is he staying here?” Why not go stay with Baz or Silo?
Gavin rolls his eyes as he shoves the pill packets in his pocket. “Some misguided sense of loyalty to Altair and Silo. Trying to prove he can tough it out without acting like an animal.”
“Poor kid.” He has to know it’s not his fault. Callum’s response is just instinct; an alpha body’s natural reaction when an omega goes into heat.
“In a few years, we’ll all be laughing about this.” I glance at Gavin. Am I included in the picture he’s imagining? Will I still be here in a few years? Will Gavin and I still be friends, the kind that look back and laugh at moments like this? I hope so. I want to be here in a few years, roots buried so deep in Pine Glen leaving would be impossible. It scares me though—the thought of growing roots, and what might happen if I have to cut them.
I shake my head to clear the unpleasant thought and take the water down first, then the case of sports drinks. Callum is back with a box in hand when I enter the kitchen. Gavin opens it, and inside is a smaller box with a... not so small boyfriend inside.
“There is no way that’s gonna fit!” Callum says with wide, horrified eyes.
I kind of have to agree but how Altair plans on getting something that big inside of himself is a problem for him and him alone. I don’t want to think about it, much less know the logistics.
“Time for you to go.” Gavin waves Callum out of the kitchen. “Spend the night with Silo or crash with Baz, but you can’t stay here.”
“Why are there bumps on it?” I ask, studying the picture on the box.
“One day, you’re going learn there are some questions you don’t want answers to, Juju.” I glance up. Juju? Is that a nickname? For me? I’ve never had one before. I kind of like it. Gavin said it without thought, and for some reason that makes it more meaningful. An unplanned sign of familiarity and affection. “And this is probably one of them.”
“Oh.” But I kind of really do want to know. Do the bumps feel good?
Gavin adds the toy to the tote he’s filled with supplies for Altair.
“I want to know too, though,” Callum whines.
“Ask Thane. Bye.” Gavin shoves him toward the door.
Callum groans but grabs his bookbag and leaves.
I point at the bag Gavin’s holding. “Do you want me to take it down for you?”
“Yeah. I better get Altair up.” He passes it over and I take it downstairs. Altair’s scent is all over the room. It’s even stronger when I go back upstairs and see Gavin with Altair wrapped in a blanket and tossed over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He bypasses me and carries a struggling Altair down the stairs. Once he’s out of the basement, he shuts the door behind himself with a sharp bang.
“Mind opening the back door while I pop the windows?”
I race to the back door and throw it open. Gavin moves around the house, opening one window after another and I help with that too. When Altair’s scent isn’t the only thing I can smell anymore, I smell Gavin. I thought he smelled good before but this... this is different. I sway close and press my nose into his chest, breathing deeply.
“You smell good.” Like really fucking good. I kind of want to lick him to know if he’ll taste as good as he smells.
Gavin palms the back of my head and I look up. “Careful, Jules. I’m a little on edge.”
There’s a tightness around his bright eyes, and his lips are pressed into a thin line.
My face burns. “Oh. Oh! I’m sorry.” I quickly step away.
What am I doing? He probably thinks I’m weird on top of everything else.
Gavin rubs my arms, his fingers sending little sparks straight to my abdomen. And lower. “Don’t be. It’s all pheromones. Which, Altair was supposed to talk to you but...”
“I’m fine,” I rush to reassure him. He doesn’t need to worry about me. “I won’t go into heat for another couple weeks.”
The last time, I shifted and hid in the woods as long as I could. When it became unbearable I was deep enough in the forest it was safe to shift and take care of myself. No one found me, and it wasn’t as bad as being locked in the shed. But maybe, for my next heat, Altair won’t mind if I use the basement too.
“Do you have suppressants?” Gavin laces his fingers with mine and brushes his thumb over my knuckles. I sway towards him but jerk back at the last second. “Do you take them? Being close to an omega in heat might trigger your own.”
I shake my head. “I don’t use them.”
When I was a teenager, I was allowed so my parents knew exactly when my heat was coming and could prepare, but once I was an adult they took them and let nature run its course. So my body could adjust to its own schedule, they said.
“Okay.” Gavin pulls my hand to his mouth and kisses my fingers. I shiver. He doesn’t seem to realize what he’s doing and I’m not going to call his attention to it. “If you go into heat, do you use a clinic, an alpha service, or shop around for a new boyfriend like Altair?”
I can’t help but take a step closer and inhale deeply. His scent is impossible to resist. “I’ve never done any of that,” I mutter as I splay my hand over his chest. “My parents locked me in a shed and told me to pray.”
Why does he smell the way he does?
“Let’s not do that.” Gavin sounds choked as he slips his arm around my midsection and tugs me into his chest. “The bedroom door locks and I can crash with Baz so you can take care of yourself without being bothered.”
That sounds like a terrible idea. “I can’t put you out of your house. I’m fine. Really.”
“Jules—” Gavin starts as his fingers slip under the back of my shirt.
I shake my head and run my hands up his chest. “I don’t want you to worry about me when Altair is suffering. I’m okay. I’ll tell you if I start to feel bad. Okay?”
Right now, I feel fantastic. A bit like I’m floating. Gavin’s arm is warm and steady around me. Every breath I take is filled with his scent. I want to breathe him until he becomes a part of me.
“Okay.” He slips his hand up my spine and I press against him. “Altair is going to be okay. He’s got food, water and a brand-new boyfriend. He’ll call if he needs anything else.”
“You’re such a good dad.” I press my nose into this throat. “What about the diner?”
“He takes the week off and Thane helps out. Baz and Callum will too if we hit a rush. Might put you to work.” His laugh is low and warm as his mouth brushes my temple.
I’m not sure how much help I’ll actually be but I’ll do whatever Gavin needs. I don’t have anything else to do and I like the diner. I like being there with Gavin.
“How about we get ready and head out? I’ll feed you breakfast before the morning rush.” Gavin’s arm loosens around me, but it takes a solid minute before he completely releases me and I step away. “Meet back here in ten minutes?”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath but it doesn’t help.
I want to stand here and breathe him in, but we have to get to the diner.
“Okay.” Gavin lingers for a long second before he turns and rushes down the hallway. I follow when my legs stop trembling.
In Baz’s old bedroom, Altair’s scent is thick and heavy. I’m not sure how he lived so close to his omega brother and didn’t go into a rut. Every breath I take is filled with Altair’s heat pheromones but mixed in is Gavin—warm and spicy and intoxicating. It takes all of my concentration to get ready for the day.