Chapter 20
MAEVE
Best. Heat. Ever.
Yes, it’s unexpected, and the circumstances are insane, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
I have a goofy smile on my face for the next few days, when I’m not getting fucked silly out of my mind.
Piper and Blair have made sure to let me know that all the cats are taken care of. I’ve been receiving updates on everyone, and it’s all been good news.
I tell myself that they wouldn’t hide any bad news from me, and that it’s useless to worry about it.
According to Piper, the only relatively “bad” thing that happened was a shipment of cat wands came broken, but that’s an easy fix.
Even Agnes and her kittens are doing well, according to the Alphas.
“We’ll leave tomorrow,” Ivan says, as I plop on the leather couch next to him. I’m dressed in an oversized grey sweatshirt and yoga pants, delivered from the only supermarket within a fifty-mile radius.
We truly are in the middle of nowhere. Fang finding and booking this cabin was a fluke.
The snowstorm is over, and now the weather should be smooth sailing to Artemis County, but we’re still waiting for another day until my Heat is basically over.
We ordered scent blockers, generic Heat symptom medication, and medicated bath soaks.
The clawfoot bathtub is a lovely addition to the cabin, and I have been pampered in it for the last few days.
Logan and Fang are on either side of Ivan, and I motion toward them.
“Purr party, please,” I request, and on cue, the room fills with three different frequencies of purrs, all soothing vibrations that send goosebumps down my skin.
I would argue a purr party is almost as good as kitten therapy, if not better.
And they’re all getting along, which is what I hoped would happen.
Ever since Logan opened up to me, he’s been more relaxed around Fang and Ivan, and he can’t stop smiling.
It’s the most at ease I’ve ever seen him, and my inner Omega appreciates that it’s all because of her.
The cabin is filled with the Alpha’s scents—Fang’s leather, Ivan’s rich apples, and Logan’s bourbon. The aroma permeates through the entire structure, and there’s a pang in my stomach as I realize we’re never going to see this place again.
“I’m going to miss it here,” I sigh, leaning against Ivan’s chest. His purr makes my ears tickle, and I smile softly in his embrace.
“Me too,” Fang adds. “I doubt anyone will want to rent it after this. This place has seen a lot of debauchery.”
My face burns as he waggles his eyebrows at me. I toss a thin white blanket at him, and he catches it easily, grinning wickedly.
“Technically, there’s a pack bed in there for a reason,” Logan says, being his logical self. “So, I’m sure many Heats have been experienced here.”
“Yeah, well mine was better,” I argue, and Ivan laughs and kisses the top of my head.
“Of course it was,” he murmurs. “It was the best.”
Even Logan gives me a tiny, shy smile.
I’ll never get over his confession and how honored I am that he’s never taken an Omega during her Heat.
I was his first. I’ll be his last.
“So,” Fang says, kicking his socked feet onto the coffee table. He’s dressed in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants, courtesy of the emergency supermarket delivery. “What happens next?”
I peer at him while Ivan rubs circles into my back. “What do you mean?”
“I think I’ve made it clear my intentions with you. We’re scent matches, babe. You can’t get rid of me.” He grins. “Or Logan, either, I assume.”
Logan shakes his head. “I’d like to be in a relationship with you,” he says softly. “If that’s what you want.”
His response makes my heart melt. He’s still so shy, so careful, after everything.
He’s been inside me. He’s felt me flutter around his cock while he knots my pussy but still looks at me like he’s unsure if I’ll say yes.
And Ivan, his purr as loud as ever, just gives me a brilliant smile. “I told you so,” he says.
“You weren’t right,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.
“I called it from the beginning.” His smile turns into a mischievous grin, not unlike Fang’s. “Called it in bed, weeks ago.”
“Called what?” Fang asks.
I try to pinch Ivan’s side, but he pulls me to his chest with his strong arms, locking me in place.
“That the three of us would be in a pack together,” he says, and I blush furiously.
“What?” Fang quirks his lip, amused. “Is that so?” His blue eyes flash hungrily, and his pupils widen. “Is that what you wanted, sweetheart, all those days ago?”
My face burns. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ivan tickles my side, and I squirm in his grasp.
“It would be an honor,” Logan says quietly. “If that’s what you wanted, Maeve.”
The room falls silent, and even the purrs stop.
“I have a house,” he adds, filling the quiet.
“A packhouse. I don’t know why I purchased it.
I just did, when I moved to Luna County.
It didn’t make sense at the time, and people tried talk me out of it, because I don’t do those types of things.
I’m not impulsive. It didn’t make sense for me to have one, since I wasn’t a part of a pack and I wasn’t even dating.
I could never justify it.” He exhales. “But I think I finally found the reason why I did it.”
I peer to my right, catching the light in the kitchen window. The sky is bright blue, and the sun shines brilliantly, all traces of the storm from the other day forgotten.
Outside, a bird sings.
Then, I turn to Logan, and meet his warm, expressive eyes.
“I think you found the reason, too.”
Agnes and her kittens are stunning.
They peered up at us with wide, anxious eyes as we gently placed them in the large carrier that would transfer them to Blair’s house. Fang still insists that he wants them and can happily foster, but that will be a battle he’ll have to take up with Blair.
He’s going to have to win her over for her to entrust the cats into his care, and I’m curious to see how that interaction will go.
I want my friends to like my pack, after all.
“Pure white cats are the rarest,” Logan adds as we drive back to Luna County. The covered carrier sits in between him and Fang in the backseat, and he murmurs hushed kind words anytime a distressed squeak comes from the carrier.
Every sound makes panic swirl in my gut, and Ivan watches me carefully as he drives. He keeps his fingers intwined with mine, laying his hand on my thigh.
“Anything I can do?” he asks me, soft enough that Fang and Logan can’t hear.
I’m sure they can scent my distress. My post-Heat symptoms make me more sensitive than usual, and the rapid-fire worries about Agnes and her kittens make my pulse race.
“What if something is wrong with them?” I whisper, and Ivan squeezes my hand.
“You’ve got a tech and a vet here, and a music teacher. You’ll be fine,” he says evenly.
“What the hell is Fang going to do?”
“Serenade either you or the cats. Depending on who needs it more.”
I huff out a shaky sigh.
He squeezes my hand tighter. “You have a pack now,” he says. “We’re here, and you’re safe with us.”
My inner Omega is thrilled.
But Maeve? The core of who I am?
I’m nervous.
Ivan has made it clear, over and over, that he’s not going anywhere. He’s dealt with my irrational panic with patience and logic, and never once criticized me for it.
Logan only knows a little bit about it. He saw it in my panic with Alvin, but I try to hide most of it from him.
Fang knows very little about it.
What if they only like my Omega, but not me? Or, what if they’re only patient with me because I’m their scent match, and they just put up with it?
It’s not something I can voice in the car, especially since I’m sure Fang is eavesdropping. I’ve felt his eyes on me since we left the cabin, watching me subtly.
I adore the attention, but it feels impossible to tell him about these worries.
We still don’t know very much about each other, besides the shared love of cats, music, and being scent matches.
Hey, sometimes I’m worried a cat is sick and no one can convince me otherwise—what are your thoughts on that?
Oh, don’t mind me, I’m just sure that the meow we heard means there’s a cat in distress, not that it’s hungry.
Speaking of, what if it’s only hungry because it has a food allergy and can’t digest the kibble properly? Should we do an elimination diet? Where can we get raw kangaroo?
Yeah. How the hell can I explain that to him?
There are gentle fingers running through my scalp and pulling on my hair, and I realize that Fang has reached over from the backseat. “I love the color of your hair,” he murmurs, and I blush. “It’s so pretty in the light.”
I soak up the compliment, preening inside.
“I told you,” Ivan says knowingly, smirking.
I roll my eyes.
“I could have driven,” Fang protests.
“Just so she could sit next to you on the way back? Naw,” Ivan says, patting my thigh. “I’m more than happy in the driver’s seat.”
“They’re doing great, by the way,” Logan adds softly, as if reading my mind. “They’re just startled from the car ride. Nothing to worry about.”
For the rest of the drive, the cats are quiet.
We fill the ride with light conversation. Fang loves to talk, and I match his energy easily. Ivan joins in, while Logan just listens quietly, occasionally adding a sentence or two, but not much.
He’s still painfully shy, and it’s obvious this trip, along with the scent match and pack forming, is out of his comfort zone, but he’s doing it for me.
I adore him and all his little quirks. I wish he would drop more random information on us—but I cherish each time he adds an interesting fact to our chatter.
By the time we reach Blair’s packhouse, the sun has set, and golden light shines down on us.
Travis, Blair’s pack leader, is the one to answer the door, and I grin widely when I see him.
“Travis!” I exclaim. He’s not a hugger, so I leave my hands at my sides.