18. Talya
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
TALYA
I never knew how much I’d enjoy having a dedicated nest. It answered something inside me that I didn’t know I’d been missing, a hole I didn’t know I had. There was security and comfort and a unique sense of right that very few other things gave me. Outside of my alpha, I’d never felt this sense of belonging before. I’d never had something that was more mine.
But as I stretched and woke up from an impromptu nap with Kasen on one side of me and Ronan on the other, I wondered if maybe it wasn’t the nest itself but what it represented. A pack.
Colby and I always spoke about the ‘future home’ we’d buy, but that vision came with packmates. It was never meant to be just the two of us.
This was the third day I’d awakened from a nap in my nest with Kasen and Ronan. It was like they knew that an hour after lunch was when I wanted to crash for a while. I’d never needed a nest for anything other than my heat, but now that I had one, I wanted to be in it. When I walked in today, I caught Ronan’s lingering scent. It was strong enough that it almost drowned out Kasen’s calm incense vibe until I laid down, then they both surrounded me in equal measures. The two scents did different things to me. Kasen’s was sweet friendship, while Ronan’s was something hot and potent.
“Want a drink?” Ronan asked, his voice deep and growly. Sexy.
I was going to tell him no, but… Yeah, I was actually thirsty. I nodded. “Thanks.”
“Kasen?” Ronan asked as he gently disentangled himself from us.
“Of course, hot stuff,” Kasen said, his voice sweet and sensual.
Ronan growled a little before leaving the room.
“He loves me. I swear,” Kasen said, grinning when I rolled over to face him.
I smiled back. Kasen was as easy to be around as Fenton had been. Their similarities, even though there weren’t many, were enough to make a pain in my chest known. He’d think Colby and I were dead, and he’d spend the rest of his life thinking that.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he also carried around guilt because he hadn’t been there. Although, had he been, he’d have either been killed as a possible witness or been abducted, too.
Before that night, I wouldn’t have considered that alphas or betas were in any danger of being abducted like omegas. Rumors or evidence of such a thing were unheard of. I now no longer thought anyone was safe.
What a dark world we lived in.
Ronan returned with two bottles of water. Kasen and I sat, accepting them with thanks. I drank most of it under Ronan’s watchful gaze. When I finally stretched and got to my feet, climbing out of all the soft cushiness that was my nest, the three of us went our separate ways.
As always, I went in search of Colby. I could feel his strong, hot presence in my entire body, but I needed to lay eyes on him to prove to myself he was safe. He was here.
It took me a couple rooms until I caught sight of him outside on the back deck with Blakely and Lohtus, the three of them playing cards. To see my alpha smiling like he was, completely at ease, was the best feeling. I’d never considered that I’d taken aspects of my life for granted, but you just didn’t know what you had until you’d nearly lost it all.
The tenor of his laughter drifted in through the open screen door. Instead of joining them, I curled up in the window seat to watch. It wasn’t long before Colby spotted me, and he flashed me a smile. The alphas with him turned in their seats to do the same, so I smiled back.
I watched for a while, content just to see him sitting there happy. When his gaze started to meet mine every few minutes, I knew it wouldn’t be long before he came inside to check on me.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, Colby stood and headed for the screen door, stepping inside once he slipped it open. I drank him in as he walked toward me. Tall, with broad shoulders. A smile on his handsome face.
He grabbed me up in his arms as soon as he was close enough to do so and took a deep inhale of my perfume, just as I did him. Seeing him was one thing, while touching and smelling him was even more reassuring confirmation that he was really here.
“Are you alright?” he murmured.
I nodded, hugging him close before sitting back onto the seat. Glancing at the alphas outside, I saw that they were looking this way. “Are you?” I asked, meeting his blue eyes again.
Colby smiled. “I’m fine. Just playing cards.” He gestured outside. “Want to join us?”
Looking at the alphas again, I knew that they weren’t watching me at all. They were polite and I thought they liked me just fine, but their interest was in Colby. I wasn’t sure if he knew that, but I wasn’t going to interfere. We’d both been through shit. Abduction and torture aside, he’d been with me through every pack interview.
The miserable experience had taken a toll on him, too.
Seeing him connect with other alphas was a relief. Whether it be friendship or something more, I wanted him to have that bond.
“No,” I said, smiling up at him. “I just like to creepily watch my big alpha from a nearby window.”
Colby chuckled and bent low to kiss my lips. “Alright. Enjoy the view, princess.”
My eyes were trained on his ass as he left me. It wasn’t fair that alphas were naturally hard and fit. In my high school classes, I’d learned that it was part of their designation, a way to make it easier to meet their natural instinct to protect their family.
They could only do so effectively if they were big, hard, and strong. To be a predator, you needed to be the most cunning, the biggest threat, so alphas were born with their natural bulk.
But they didn’t have to be so effortlessly attractive, did they? I mean, how was that fair?
I continued to watch them, and Colby continued to glance in my direction many times. He even made two more excuses to come inside to check on me, disguised by needing a drink or a visit to the restroom—neither of which I believed. Considering he left without a drink, I was pretty sure he was found out.
“There you are.”
I turned at Kasen’s voice and smiled.
“Are you busy right now?” he asked, glancing outside. “I don’t want to interrupt your afternoon of stalking.”
With a snort, I admitted, “No. Just admiring Colby.”
Kasen moved closer to me, dropping into the window seat. “Mind if I join you on that?” he asked. “I’ve never seen a better sight than the three of them.”
“Well, it could be improved if they were naked,” I said.
“Oh! Let’s suggest that.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “What’s up? Why were you looking for me?”
Kasen’s brows knit together as he stared—drooled—out the window. He’d been thoroughly distracted. “Oh.” He turned back to me with a big grin. “Right. So, you’re not busy right now?”
“You see the extent of my afternoon thus far.” I again gestured to the window.
He laughed. “Well, Em is trying to woo me.” His smile was so wide, I swore he was glowing. “And he knows I’m a bit of a kid at heart. He built me a fort, and we were going to play games or watch a movie or something. Want to join us?”
“I don't want to impose on your wooing,” I said.
“Silly. He’ll woo you, too. Just wait ‘til you really catch a hint of his alpha side.” His brows waggled teasingly.
With a chuckle, I shook my head. “Yeah, alright. That sounds fun.”
Kasen grabbed my hand and pulled me along. We slowed a little as we climbed the stairs. “You know, if you’re not interested in being courted by anyone in this house, you should say so. Soon.”
“Are you hinting, Kasen? Do you want to court me?”
He stopped abruptly, and I ran into his back. He frantically grabbed for me so I wouldn’t topple down the stairs, but his deer in the headlights look only made my amused smile break into laughter.
When he gained his composure, he frowned at me. “I really like you, Talya, but I just don’t like girls.” He shrugged. “I can still court you if you like. As long as I don’t have to…” His words trailed off as he glanced down my body. I didn’t miss the flush that glided over his face.
Laughter tried to bubble up again. “I didn’t realize you didn’t like girls,” I said.
Kasen turned around and grabbed my hand again to lead me up the stairs. He shrugged. “It wasn’t something definite until you moved in.”
“I’m a little offended.”
This time, he laughed. Shaking his head, he continued to pull me down the hall, but now I was beside him. “No. There have been other girls here, and we’ve gotten along fine. I’ve never been interested in them, but then again, none of my pack was either, so I just assumed it was… you know, pack dynamics or something. I’ve never had a pack, so I didn’t know.” We stopped at the closed door to his room. “But my pack likes you. I like you. If I was going to be attracted to a woman, it would be you. Since I’m not, and I can’t say that I’ve ever been, I’ve come to the conclusion that I just like guys.”
Leaning in close, I watched his lips curve for real this time. “It’s their dicks, isn’t it?” I whispered.
Kasen burst out laughing as he shoved the door open. “I guess. I don’t really know.”
I stopped abruptly when we stepped inside. When he’d said fort, I hadn’t realized he meant basically the entire room. A large blanket was somehow fastened to the ceiling, then it fanned out in a circle. There were star lights all over the outside and framing the flap that was currently held open with a clothespin.
Though I could only catch a small glimpse of the inside, I was able to figure out that the space had been transformed into a small nest. Pillows circled the entire area, and the floor was lined with blankets, cushions, and… stuffies?
Kasen pulled me inside, shutting his door behind us. Then he gently pushed me toward the opening. Emerald was already inside. There was a television set up with a gaming system and a few controllers. He looked up at me with a smile.
That was when I smelled his scent, but there was nothing beta about it. The strong lemony citrus scent was all alpha. I blinked several times as I stared at him.
“In,” Kasen urged, and I moved again. I took a seat, leaving space for Kasen to sit between us. Unclipping the pin, the flap shut behind him as he crawled over me.
There were body pillows and seating wedges lined up behind us so we had something to lean against instead of falling through the cloth wall.
“Familiar with Kart Rracing?” Emerald asked, leaning around Kasen to look at me.
I nodded, accepting the controller from him. As he set up the game, I looked around the room. It had all the hallmarks of a nest. Cozy. Soft. Dim. Running my hand along the faux fur blanket, I smiled.
“There’s a misconception that all betas want to be an omega,” Kasen said, gaining my attention. “I didn’t want to be one. I’m small enough that I get mistaken for one regularly, but I never wanted to be one. So much about your biology is terrifying, and then the world we live in...”
I snorted quietly. “Tell me about it.”
“But Em still treats me like an omega sometimes,” he said, grinning at Emerald while glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. “Thinks I need all the sweet gestures.”
“It’s not that I think you need them, baby,” he said, moving his hand into Kasen’s hair. His purr was soft, making Kasen’s eyelids droop. “But you deserve a bit of spoiling. I love making your face light up.”
Kasen blinked the moment away and looked at Emerald with a new softness in his eyes. “Thanks.” He leaned in, and they shared a quick peck.
Emerald looked at me over Kasen, smiling apologetically. “He’s probably right. His size is close enough to an omega that everything in me goes all alpha. And now you’re here, so hints of your perfume are everywhere, and everything in me is all big, growly, weird alpha. ”
“Weird?” I asked.
He laughed. “I’m a beta. So yeah, weird.”
Ah. Right. “I think it’s kind of fascinating. And also, sorry my perfume is everywhere. It’s hard. Like a dog shedding, you never really get rid of the evidence.”
Kasen looked at me with almost horrified wide eyes. “You did not just compare your perfume to a dog!”
I laughed. “No. I compared it to shedding. There’s a difference.”
He shook his head in disbelief.
Emerald chuckled. “I’m not complaining. You smell like the best dessert. Pretty sure I’m always drooling at this point.”
My cheeks heated.
I leaned back against the cushions with them, and we dove into playing video games. While I’d been somewhat self-conscious at first, it wasn’t long before I forgot our conversation and lost myself in the teasing banter and laughter that we shared.
At some point, snacks appeared, so I had to assume one of the alphas brought them. It was between rounds as I was sitting up, watching them and sipping my bottled water, that I thought if having a pack was like this, I wouldn’t give up looking.