2. Teddy
Chapter 2
V ee’s tugging at my arm, trying to distract me from Kelly, but I can only focus on one thing at a time. Gabe and Sam are talking, but I’m not really registering the conversation—Kelly’s staring at me intently. I look at the two big alphas, trying to figure out what’s going on. “Thanks, man. I…I appreciate it. I’ll take care of it soon.” Sam looks back at me, his body tense and that little crease is back between his brows, the one that he’s had for most of the last week.
Vee lets out a pathetic little whine as I pull my arm free of his, approaching our dominant alpha. My inner omega wants me to go back and soothe him, but I need to find out what’s going on, why Sam looks so upset, why Kelly looks shell-shocked. Garret leans close. His hand comes up and wraps around the wrist she’s brought near to her face, his thumb skating over the tender skin on the inside. Now they’re all looking at me.
Shit, what did I do?
A whine slips loose before I can bite it back.
Too much fucking attention.
I can handle the attention at home, or with just my pack, but out in public, not so much. Gabe isn’t a complete stranger, but I still feel the need to hide. Which is fucking ridiculous. I’m not some frail little creature that needs to cower around big, strong alphas.
Fuck me.
Why do I feel so fucking off kilter lately?
There should still be two weeks till my heat, it’s not exact, but fuck.
Take some deep breaths, plenty of time.
Stop freaking the fuck out.
Still, why the hell is everyone staring at me?
Sam’s big arms come around my shoulders, pulling me in for a hug. “You can call him if you want to, whatever you need to do to feel better.” Now I’m even more confused, so I just nod stupidly, hoping like hell I’ll catch up to the conversation. Vee wedges himself against both of us. His voice is a low mumble against my side, blending and melding with Sam’s soothing purr. Have I heard Vee purr at all since he’s been here?
“Sugar, if you’re alright right now, we’re headed out. Send me a message if you need anything, otherwise I’ll have dinner ready when you get home. ”
Kelly doesn’t say anything, just stares while Gabe grabs another set of keys off the wall before heading back to the garage. My head feels all static-y, like I missed something important, but I don’t know what. Once I figure it out, everything’s going to go sideways.
Sam and Vee keep me sandwiched between them all the way back to the truck. The twins climb into the backseat while Sam pulls me against his side as soon as I slide into the front. His purr rumbling through me feels like my bones are melting, and I just want to curl against him and sleep. I fucking hate biology—there’s no logical reason for me to be on edge, and no real sense behind me wanting to sink into Sam and have him fix all my fucking problems. Other than my impending heat and no nest, I don’t even know what the fuck my problems are. Ok, there’s the whole Vee situation, but that’s more of a frustration and confusion thing than an actual problem.
My phone chimes and I pull it out of my back pocket before sliding back to my own side of the cab and buckling in. Sam’s hand reaches across the seat, the offer there if I just want to hold it, but I’m too focused on checking my email to do much of anything else right now. It’s from Ms. Kimberly, my dorm supervisor at the omega center. I emailed her last week about picking everything up and getting transferred to online classes.
Dear Mr. Darnell,
First off, congratulations on finding and preparing to join a pack. I am happy to hear that your spring break went well.
I am CCing Ms. Jerrika Clarkson, your academic advisor, she should be able to assist you with discussing online options for classes for the remainder of the year.
There should be no problem retaining your nest for the next two weeks until your pack is able to arrange for transportation of your belongings. However, I would be remiss if I did not remind you that we do not allow unbonded alphas in the dorms, so please plan accordingly if you will be picking everything up.
If this will take longer than the allotted two weeks, please be aware that we may need to have housekeeping pack your things for storage, or charge you for an additional month of rent.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me or the office of admissions for further clarification on what paperwork will need to be filed for your release to your new pack.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Ros s
Dorm F Supervisor
Reading over the email again, my stomach clenches. I didn’t expect to need to have everything so soon. But that’s ok. I completely spaced on needing paperwork to be able to fucking leave, though. This was never a problem when I was supposed to be an alpha, and it’s not something Sarah and I ever really talked about, probably because neither of us ever thought we would go anywhere other than back to our parents’ houses after graduation.
I do a quick search on the school’s website and pull up the office of the registrar as well as admissions to search on what I might need. I’ll call them if I can’t find it on my own. But it’ll probably just be faster to find it myself. Plus, it gives me something to occupy my time and distract my mind while we drive to Springfield to pick up flooring and paint. I picked out a dark black-stained cork flooring. Sam really wanted me to go with a mahogany. He says it’s the most durable option if I don’t want to do stone tile. But I liked the cork, it’s softer than wood, moisture resistant, and it makes me feel good knowing that I’m not chopping down half a fucking forest to walk around on.
If we have enough time, I also want to look at mattress options, but Sam says he wants to finish the bed frame before we go too wild with that. Hopefully, Kelly won’t need stairs for this one. I constantly worry about her falling already. We don’t need her rolling out of the nest and having to make a trip to the emergency room during my heat. My poor pixie would probably insist on driving herself so she didn’t interrupt everybody.
At least scrolling through my phone keeps me distracted, so I don’t have to pay attention to the looks my pack is throwing my way for the entire trip. I should probably just give up and ask what the hell’s going on, but I’m not sure if I can deal with anything else right now.
Back at the center, I read an article about something called fork theory, and I can completely relate right now. Each problem is represented by a fork you’ve been stabbed with. So, family drama is a fork, my nest not being finished is a fork, transferring schools is a fork, my upcoming heat is a fork, and Vee might as well be a damned trident. I just can’t handle any more forks right now without bleeding out.
So, I try my best to ignore it, until it becomes painfully obvious that Sam won’t let me. We pull into the mall parking lot first and he rushes around to my side, offering his hand down—which doesn’t even make sense since I’m not much shorter than him—and then wrapping me in a warm hug and purring. “Don’t worry, Love, whatever happens, I’m right here.”
Ok.
Well, I wasn’t freaked out before, but now I am.
Shit.
Pulling away from Sam—he doesn’t want to let me go, and his purr stutters like a candle flame before going out—but now I’m worried about what’ll stab me next. No point beating around the bush. “Sam, I’ve got to be real honest, I have no idea what’s going on here. I mean…I was talking to Vee, and suddenly everybody was looking at me. What the hell did I do?”
Sam swallows a few times, that crease back in his forehead. Before he can say anything, I reach up and try to smooth it out. That at least brings a hint of a smile to his face. “It’s…Shit. Gabe said he saw Joseph and Brice in the ER this weekend when they took Candice in for some pain. She’s fine, but apparently it was bad enough that neither of them even noticed Gabe’s pack in the room. I don’t know if you want to give him a call, or if you’d rather I just get in touch with Joseph. I know this isn’t the best time, but even though I’m pissed at the lot of ’em, Brice is still your family. If you wanna check in with him, that’s fine.”
Oh.
Brice.
Yeah…no, I should probably…
Fuck.
Leaning back into Sam, I wrap my arms around him and squeeze, pressing my face against his neck. “I appreciate it, Alpha. Once we get home, I’ll call Mom. They’re still on vacation this week, but she’s probably checking her voicemail, and if it’s anything serious, she’ll know.” I’m thankful that he would deal with his asshole brother for me, but I’m not too worried. For as long as I can remember, Brice has been smaller and weaker—it goes with being an omega. Still, Aunt Sandra will have called Mom even if it’s nothing, so she’ll have the scoop, and I can avoid any more drama.
“Alright, sweet boy, but I’m here if you need me, ok? Just say the word, whatever you need.” Sam gives me another tight squeeze before letting me go to step away. The alarm on the truck beeps and I look back to see Vee and Garret just standing there. I think they need their personalities reset, because this zombie thing isn’t really working for me.
I grab Sam’s hand, dragging him towards the mall. “So, what are we gonna get for Kelly, and is there any other reason we’re stopping here?”