39. Colby
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
COLBY
I f this heat was going to be like the others, we had maybe ten hours left. Her sleep patterns were lengthening to a few hours now, which meant she was definitely pulling out. I kept my eyes on her while I spread butter on the slice of bread in my hand.
She was curled up on Ainsley’s chest, both of them fast asleep. She looked so small and peaceful. The soft curves of her body. Her long golden hair a mess around her. Her skin was flushed. So delicate. Fragile.
Ainsley was much bigger, though not nearly as big as Ronan. He was sprawled on his back, a soft purr barely reaching my ears as he innately comforted Talya even while asleep. One of his arms was protectively wrapped around her, keeping her secure to him. The other gently rested on top of her head.
Smiling, I quietly washed the butter knife in the small kitchenette sink and set it on the towel to dry, then I assembled the three sandwiches. I wrapped two in paper towels and set them aside, picking up the third to take a bite.
Ronan slept propped against the door, his broad arms crossed over his even broader chest. There was a blanket haphazardly strewn across his lap as if he was attempting modesty but couldn’t be bothered to exert too much effort. His head was tilted back, and a soft snore drifted to me every few breaths.
The only one not in the room was Emerald. He was in the attached bathroom, taking a shower. He’d already been eating when I woke up. Ravenous. I chuckled softly as I watched him devouring his food like a man who hadn’t eaten in months. When he finished and started making more sandwiches, I shooed him to the shower and took over.
With perhaps Ronan being the only one to have gone through a heat before, Emerald and Ainsley were the most exhausted. Keeping up with a needy, heat-ridden omega wasn’t for the faint of heart. I thought they were surprised by how tired they were given that there were four of us to attend to her needs.
But the thing was, with the promise of more bodies, Talya became even more demanding. Needier. She’d been awake far longer than in the past. It was almost as if her heats had adjusted themselves to what her single alpha could please, and now that he wasn’t alone anymore, it had amped up to normal omega heat levels.
I turned back to Talya while I mused on this. Ainsley’s hand now ran soothingly, almost lazily through her hair. His eyes were barely open, no more than slits. I quietly watched him as I finished my sandwich.
Emerald stepped out of the bathroom and looked around. He was still dead tired. I could see it in his eyes when he met mine and smiled.
“Still hungry?” I asked.
He shook his head. I glanced at the shorts he was wearing, and he grinned. “It felt weird walking out naked,” he answered my unasked question.
My smile climbed as I took another bite. There was no room for modesty in a heat, but it was cute that he’d tried.
“Get some sleep. I’m giving her fifty-fifty odds that she wakes up still deep in heat.”
“Maybe you should get some sleep,” he said as he stuck his face into the small fridge.
A moment later, he pulled out a bottle of water and offered it to me. “I’ve only been awake for twenty minutes, and I plan to go back to sleep when I’m done eating.”
He nodded and pulled out another bottle of water for himself, drinking most of it before setting the bottle down. “I might argue another time, but I think I could sleep for a week.”
I finished my sandwich and I clapped him on the back as he walked by. Once Emerald was settled, I grabbed the bottle of water he’d handed me and stepped back into the cushions and pillows. I touched Talya’s skin softly so I didn’t disturb her, crouching to my knees to get closer to her and Ainsley. It was cooler than it had been. Maybe she was closer to being out of her heat than I thought.
Ainsley watched me through barely open eyes.
“Go get something to eat,” I said softly. “I left a couple sandwiches on the counter.”
“You sure?” he asked.
“Mhmm,” I said. “She might wake up ready to go again, or she might just sleep for a bit longer. Either way, I think it’s been a while since any of us have eaten.”
He grunted in acknowledgment, and I settled beside them, gently pulling Talya into my arms. She was pliant, allowing me to move her without more than a wistful sigh in her sleep. When Ainsley was free, he rolled to his hands and knees and stretched, yawning. After a minute, he got to his feet and made his way to the counter with the sandwiches.
Ronan was awake now, though barely. He watched us through nearly closed eyes. Ainsley brought him one of the sandwiches and took a seat beside him to eat.
“I don’t know how you did this on your own,” Ronan grumbled quietly.
I grinned, burying my face in Talya’s sweat-dried hair. She released another sigh of contentment. “You do what you need to do to take care of your omega.” I hadn’t had a choice, but I’d do it all over again, without changing anything, in a heartbeat.
It didn’t take me long to fall asleep.
“Colby?”
Talya’s sleepy voice broke into the empty darkness of my sleep. I’d been fortunate not to be plagued with as many nightmares as Talya had. Instead, I tended to float around in a black void, somewhat conscious of doing so—as if the dark void was the dream. I barely remembered it when I woke up.
I pulled my omega closer, pressing her against my chest. Her arms wrapped around me, and her cold nose pressed to my collarbone. Her heat was over. I smiled, keeping my eyes closed, and held her tightly.
“I’m thirsty,” she murmured, voice tired and scratchy.
With a squeeze to her shoulders, I disentangled us and groped around for the bottle of water I’d brought to the pillows. Once I found it, I sat up and twisted the cap. Talya pulled herself up beside me, and I handed it to her.
She guzzled the entire thing as I knew she would. She was almost always parched after her heats, so water was the first thing she asked for. Taking the empty bottle from her hand, I recapped it and tossed it aside so I could brush her hair from her forehead. Her skin was cool again.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
Talya took a deep breath as she thought about it then met my eyes with a small smile. “Good.”
“Hungry? Or want a shower first?”
This was another one of those moments that could go either way. I’d stopped trying to guess years ago since I was almost always wrong.
“Shower,” she answered.
I kissed her forehead and got to my feet before bending down to scoop her up. Ainsley and Emerald were still sleeping, curled up a few feet above where our heads had been, but Ronan was awake. He hadn’t moved since I last looked at him, still propped up against the door with his arms folded over his chest.
I gently deposited Talya into his arms, and he immediately began to purr.
“I’m going to get the shower ready.”
Tayla nodded, snuggling into Ronan’s chest without complaint.
He met my eyes, and I was sure we shared the same thought. Perfect, beautiful omega.
Leaving them, I headed into the bathroom and turned the shower on. I brushed my teeth and shaved while the water was heating, then I quickly washed myself and arranged the items I’d need in the shower before retrieving Talya. I was thankful there was a detachable shower head. That made washing her easier.
When we were standing under the water, I held her to my chest. She sagged against me, and I could feel how tired she was. For several minutes, we didn’t speak. I simply let the hot water run over her skin.
“What do you remember?” I asked as I pulled the shower head down and saw to getting her hair thoroughly wet.
Talya hummed. “I remember Emerald’s eyes rolling back.”
I chuckled.
“I remember Ronan’s deep growl. I could feel it in my blood.”
Not at all surprising. I replaced the shower head and lathered her hair with shampoo, taking extra time to massage her scalp.
“I remember Emerald… knotted?” she said, tilting her head against me. “That’s not right. I think I’m confusing something.”
Reaching for a washcloth with one hand, I lifted her head with the other and pressed it between her forehead and my chest so I could rinse her hair without soap getting into her eyes. It was a little challenging to wash her hair this way, but this was our ritual. The shower, the conversation, the cuddles. This was how Talya woke up after her heat, though she didn’t stay awake long. Just long enough to drink some much-needed water, get cleaned, and eat before we passed out again.
“I remember Ainsley’s voice in my ear, but I don’t remember what he said. I remember you telling me I was doing a good job.”
“You always do a good job.”
She huffed and I grinned. We used to argue about this since heats weren’t something she controlled. They just happened. She said it was like being told she did a good job by having blue eyes, being five-feet-three inches tall, or female. They were things she didn’t and couldn’t decide.
Still, she had done a good job. She eventually stopped arguing with me, so now she just snorted.
Talya continued to tell me the bits and pieces she could recall while I put conditioner in her hair. This was a two-step process. The first round of conditioner had to sit in her hair for a few minutes before rinsing it. Four days of writhing meant her hair was insanely knotted. The second round of conditioner, I worked my fingers through her hair, taking care of the bigger knots. When my fingers went through easily, I moved on to a comb and brushed her hair until it was smooth. Only then did I rinse it out for the final time before moving on to clean her body.
She quietly leaned against the wall when I got to that point. Silently, she tried to move her tired limbs to make washing her easier, so I assumed she'd reached the end of what she could recall from her heat-rattled mind. I glanced up at her as I washed her feet, and her pretty blue eyes watched me in return. She offered me a tired smile.
Not for the first time, I caught my breath when looking at her. No one was as beautiful as my omega. She made my heart race just by existing. Leaning forward, I tenderly pressed my lips to her stomach, just below her navel. “Love you,” I murmured.
She tangled her fingers into my hair. “Love you.”
When I put her foot back down, we remained like that for several minutes. I couldn’t believe that just a few short weeks—months? I really ought to ask, but I didn’t want to know how long we’d been tortured—ago, I’d nearly lost her. They were trying to rip her away from me. I’d have had to live the rest of my life without my omega. My heart and soul.
Pushing the thoughts away, I got to my feet and flicked the water off. Once she was out of the shower and wrapped her in a big towel, I sat her on the counter and handed her a toothbrush. Talya obediently brushed her teeth while I dried myself and slipped into some shorts. Her eyes were barely open as she leaned sideways over the sink to brush, getting excess toothpaste all over her and the sink.
When she was done, I cleaned her up again, then the sink because it looked like a three-year-old might have had a fight with the tube of toothpaste. I helped Talya into some underwear, then bed shorts and a tank. Her body was barely maintaining enough balance to hold herself upright, so, with Talya’s forehead pressed to my stomach to keep her from falling over, I braided her hair so it was off her neck and out of her face. Pulling her back to her feet, I picked her up and wrapped her legs around my waist. Talya sighed, letting her body drape in my arms.
“Feel human again?”
She sighed. “Yes. Now I’m hungry.”
Chuckling, I turned to the door. “Let’s see what we can find.”
We didn’t have to go far. Ronan had a plate piled with eggs, sausage, and pancakes waiting for her. “Get comfortable,” he said.
I brought her back to the cushions to find that all our mess had been shoved into the laundry basket. There were now fresh blankets and pillows lining the sunken bed. Usually, I had to curl Talya up in a blanket with a heating pad and a big mug of hot cocoa while I cleaned and got her banquet ready. It was… humbling to have so many others attending to Talya’s needs.
Setting her down, I took a seat beside her. Emerald arranged the same collapsible tray in front of us before Ronan set two plates in front of us. Ainsley added syrup and tall glasses of juice.
“You’re going to join us, right?” Talya asked.
Ainsley kissed her forehead. “Yes, baby girl. Hold on second.”
She nodded and leaned against me to watch them move around. Ronan and Ainsley were efficient and confident, but I could see Emerald’s reserve. He watched everyone else with some timidity like he wasn’t sure how he should be acting right now. When I glanced at Talya, she was watching him with a small, amused, fond smile.
Ainsley handed Emerald a plate. “What’s wrong, Em?” he murmured.
“I’m not sure how to behave right now. Like we didn’t just spend the last four days…” His voice trailed off.
Talya flashed him a wide grin but didn’t say anything.
“No,” Ainsley said, amused. “We did spend the last four days knotting our omega and enjoying her coming all over us.”
Emerald flushed. I swore I could see his dark skin flush, and I loved it. Talya covered her mouth so she wouldn’t giggle out loud.
“And now, we feed our omega and continue to tend to her needs,” Ainsley said. “I’m guessing she’ll be tired after she eats and will want to cuddle.”
Talya nodded when Emerald looked at her.
With plate in hand, the beta sat, the awkwardness he felt still written all over his posture. It was probably the first time I was reminded that he wasn’t an alpha. Heats weren’t about sex—or even about breeding even though that’s why they happened. They were about taking care of your omega however she needed you to. It was a part of life. A part that alphas grew up learning about from a young age even before we truly understood what went into it.
Emerald did not grow up with the same information and expectations. He knew what heats were and the mechanics, but like so many other aspects about being an alpha and taking care of your pack, Emerald had to experience it firsthand without truly knowing what was coming.
And maybe, more importantly, not knowing what was expected of him. As someone who’d grown up as a beta, what role was he supposed to fill?
Ronan sat on Talya’s other side, facing Ainsley and Emerald. He nudged Emerald with his foot and gave him one of his rare small smiles. Encouragement. A reminder that he wasn’t alone. Emerald bowed his head, hiding his return smile shyly.
Grinning, I dug into my plate of food with the rest of them.