Chapter 26 Hailey
HAILEY
Every single inch of my body hurts.
My legs and hips are riddled with bruises. I have the headache from hell and my most intimate areas feel more sore than they’ve ever felt.
The room smells like Nate and Sterling, but as I peek a glance around me, Sterling’s on the far side, and Hayes’ right next to me.
There’s still a pressure inside me and I groan as I move to slip my fingers between my legs with a wince, pulling out a glittery blue sex toy. I stare down at the toy with a sigh. Hayes wore it for me because I needed the stretch, I know that much. I’m in pain as I adjust my body to the side.
Hayes moves next to me, mumbling something, but still completely asleep.
I take a deep breath, and tears want to flood my eyes. I’m not really sure why I want to cry. I think I’m overwhelmed.
Going into heat is an emotionally draining time, and all the drama beforehand didn’t help.
My mind still isn’t completely online, but I know I need to get something to eat and drink. The way Sterling is lightly snoring right now, I know he’s exhausted.
Bits and pieces of my heat cycle through my mind and I sigh before climbing out of the bed as quietly as I can. Grabbing what looks to be one of Sterling’s shirts, I toss it over my head.
I rub my face and groan. Even my arms are sore. When I get to my hair, I grimace, it’s a bird’s nest and I don’t even want to look in the mirror to see just how bad it is.
As soon as I get to the kitchen, I’m opening the fridge and guzzling down a water bottle like I haven’t had a drop to drink in a week.
I groan at the thought. How many days was my heat? I hope it didn’t mess with Nate and Sterling’s work too much.
It feels like each one of my limbs weighs one-hundred pounds, and maybe it was the much needed water, but some clarity goes through me.
Smokey.
Shit. Oh my god, what if they didn’t think about him while I was in heat? What if he hasn’t eaten this whole time?
My feet pad quickly down the hallway, and I open the office door. Luckily, I don’t find a starving Smokey. Nope, I find a shirtless Nate, leaned back in his desk chair, his eyes heavy with a purring cat on his chest.
“Hailey,” he says my name in surprise, blinking a few times, and I lean against the doorframe.
More so because I’m exhausted, and maybe because I don’t know what to say. I know I felt hopeless after the altercation at the club, and maybe there are still heavily lingering feelings of not being good enough for this pack.
But they were there for me. They built me my nest; they took care of me when I needed them most. I obviously can’t hold them to promises they made to me during my heat, but I know I want them.
I remember how many times I begged Sterling and Nate to bond with me, and the multiple times they got tased for my begging. I grimace at the imagery and pick at my nails.
Nate thankfully breaks the silence. “He likes me. I think it’s from smelling so much like you during your heat. But I think I like being a cat dad.”
The smile that tugs against my lips doesn’t stand a chance as I watch him pet my cat.
“How are you feeling?” he asks.
“Like I got hit by a truck,” I say, my voice raspy.
“Do you want to shower and get some rest?” he asks, and I nod.
He picks Smokey up, kissing his head. The action turns me on, which is insane, because there’s no way I’d want to actually have sex right now.
Nate puts Smokey on one of his cat beds before coming to me. He doesn’t say anything, just pulls me into his arms. I rest my cheek against his shoulder and sigh.
He smells like mine—he feels like mine, yet I can’t seem to conceptualize the thought that he would truly want me back. I’m still groggy and trying to arrange my thoughts as he carries me through the house.
He doesn’t take me to the nest, but to his bedroom. It’s steeped in his comforting scent, albeit a little messy. It’s comforting. His bathroom and bedroom are much smaller than my nest. He turns on the shower, waiting for it to heat up.
There aren’t any words between us as he grabs the bottom of Sterling’s shirt, undressing me and then himself before we get in the shower.
It’s so odd that I feel shy? I mean, the man bent me like a pretzel over the past few days. No inch of my body was unseen.
My cheeks heat and Nate gives me a small smile, doing his very best to not glance below my neck.
“I like the stubble,” I say, pointing a fingertip along his jaw.
He laughs. “You made that known in heat, too. I can’t keep the full beard, but I could try a stache for you if you wanted,” he says easily.
I bite my lower lip and squint at him. Yeah, he’d totally rock a hot little firemen stache.
“I’d like that. Thank you for being there for me. I’m sorry that it happened when it did,” I say, ready to grab some soap, and Nate lightly taps my hand away.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. I loved taking care of you. I’m just sorry that it was our first time together. I wanted it to be special.”
I’m not gonna cry. I’m not going to fucking cry.
Tears start involuntarily falling down my cheeks and I’m going to totally blame it on post-heat delirium. Nate wraps me up in his arms, my cheek pressed against his large chest.
“We don’t have to talk about anything serious right now. Let’s just get you cleaned up and rested. It’s been a long five days,” Nate says.
“Five?” I repeat in shock.
“Yeah,” he says sheepishly, running his fingers through my hair, and snagging on some knots, so he stops, lathering the strands with conditioner instead. “Are you hungry?”
The poor man is swaying on his feet, just as exhausted as I am. I shake my head against his chest, my stomach rather empty, but the idea of eating doesn’t seem pleasant.
“I think some sleep would be good,” I tell him.
He kisses the top of my head as he washes himself quickly before taking care of me. He kneads my muscles as he washes me and there’s no way I can hold back the moans that slip out as he works out the tension from my limbs.
My hair takes longer, but he’s patient, combing gently through all the knots.
We dry off and he supplies me with a new shirt. He doesn’t ask me where I want to go, he just pulls back the covers and I crawl in next to him.
He wraps me in his arms and I don’t even have time to question everything going on in my life; pure exhaustion claims me as I sleep in my mom’s ex-boyfriend’s arms, and I’m pretty sure I’m already in love with him.
When I wake up, it’s to an empty bed, which is dangerous, because it gives me too long to think about my situation. The embarrassment of my mom’s pack showing up at Lavender Moon, the despair I felt in their words, and then there’s everything that happened during my heat.
My skin is flaming hot red when I think about it all. It comes in little flashes. The way I’d beg Nate and Sterling to bond me, and the way they would be tased so that they wouldn’t.
They tortured themselves because they didn’t want to bond with me without my consent—I know that. There was a moment with Sterling where he told me outright that my next heat would be less complicated because we’d be bonded.
When I think about Sterling, my heart aches. We planned to take things slow-ish. He’d never been with an Omega before, never knotted someone, and his first time was with me in heat.
I don’t know why I feel like I robbed him of something.
Then there’s fucking Hayes. The man got my name tattooed across his chest, for fuck’s sake.
My mom’s pack’s words slowly disappear when I think about these men’s actions. They want me. They’ve said it repeatedly. I’m not sure what it is about them tending to me during my heat, but it solidified everything.
I want to bond with this pack; I want to forget every vile and hurtful thing my mother or her pack has said to me.
My life, my future, is mine, and I think it could be a quite beautiful life if I let it.
My stomach obnoxiously groans and it’s my cue to head to the kitchen. It’s time to deal with everything that happened at Lavender Moon and the past few days of my heat.
I roll out of Nate’s bed, finger brushing my hair to the best of my ability as I head downstairs. The sun is up, but I truly have no clue what time or day it is. The men are talking low and I take a deep breath before letting my presence be known.
“Hi,” I say quietly as I approach the island.
They each say good morning in their own way and all of them are cautious as I pull back a stool and sit down.
The back of Sterling’s hand touches my forehead, and he hums in approval. “Hungry?” he asks.
“Very,” I reply, wondering where do I start with everything I need to say? I guess I’ll just blurt it all out, put it all out there. So that’s exactly what I do.
“I was going to take a leave of absence after that night. Mr. Martinez said he would’ve held my job.
I didn’t like the way it felt dancing for other Alphas when I had you all, when I had my beautiful nest. I-I don’t know why that’s so important for me to tell you, but I wanted you to know that I already made my choice before everything happened. ”
I clear my throat, still looking down at the granite countertop.
“I don’t know if maybe my heat was already on its way or the high emotion of seeing my mom’s pack brought it on, but I’m sorry for being irrational and kicking you all out of the nest. I’m very grateful that you all were there, and that you took care of me. ”
I tap the countertop a few times before looking up. The first person I see is Sterling, and his grin is undeniable and infectious as I smile back.
“Then it’s settled. You live here, we’re your pack and when you’re ready, we’ll bond and make it official,” he says.
He’s so confident with his words, so assured. The idea of bonding with this pack is heady, but I think I need to recover from my heat before taking that step.
“It’s settled,” I repeat.
The large Alpha gets out of his seat, wrapping his muscular arms around me and squeezing before peppering kisses against my cheek. His relief is palpable, and it puts me at ease.
I take a deep breath, glancing over at Hayes, who just points at his chest.
“You already know where I stand,” my Beta says easily.
Nate stands next to me and Sterling, his fingers gripping my chin as he presses a soft kiss against my lips.
“We’ll move at your speed, I just hope that the taser can go out of commission,” Nate jokes and I give him a sheepish look.
“I don’t think we’ll need the taser again,” I say, meaning it. I’m not sure exactly when we’re going to bond, but I’ve made up my mind.
These guys are a pack and we’re going to make it official sooner rather than later.
Holy shit, I’m going to have a pack and I have no idea how to be the center of it all.