Chapter 7 #2
I had a really bad feeling that something wasn’t right, so as soon as Hollis was out of the hospital, we went to see if there were any clues at her house. Finding nothing, I started driving, refusing to let Caleb drive. I chose a direction and hoped to God that it was the right one.
Quinn Kelly called me at one point and told me that she’d spoken to her and that Nova was in heat, and it solidified my need to find her. The issue is that she wouldn’t answer my calls, so I kept trying to figure out what to text her.
It’s been hours of checking hotels and rest areas, but I never thought to look at campgrounds. There’s no protection here, just miles of space. Burying my face in her throat, I whisper in her ear, as I breathe her in.
“I’m here, baby. You’re in so much fucking trouble though. I’m going to be so far up your ass, you won’t know where you begin and I end,” I growl.
“That’s romantic,” Caleb mutters, entering a phone number.
He puts it on speaker, and I expect that Hollis is doing something on her end to make sure that it overrides any kind of do not disturb features. I don’t know if Tyde is sleeping or working right now, mainly because my sense of time is fucked.
All I know is that Nova isn’t well and she needs him, even though it hurts my soul that she doesn’t necessarily need me since we aren’t officially scent matched on her side. We need to get her to him as soon as possible.
“ Ugh, please don’t be a telemarketer,” Tyde groans. “ I’m trying to sleep on my day off.”
“ Tyde, it’s Caleb. Where do you live? Nova needs you,” my brother says.
The closer we got to Nova, the worse we felt. My knot kept trying to inflate, my dick was hard, and I felt this sense of intense dread. Now that she’s in my arms, my cock is still standing at attention, but I feel better now that I’ve found her.
“ I live forty minutes outside of Minneapolis. I really should live closer to the hospital, so I’m in the middle of looking for a place,” he explains. “ Sorry, you don’t need to know all of that. What’s wrong with Nova?”
If I wasn’t so worried about my omega, I’d probably laugh at his ramblings. He really is kind of awkward. He’s worse than I am.
“She’s in heat, and she tried to go it alone,” Caleb says.
“ She can’t do that,” he hisses. “ Why doesn’t she know that? Fuck a duck. How bad is it?”
“She had a seizure in her van,” I say. “Can we come to your house? It’s a long story, but she technically hasn’t scented us, which means that she needs you.”
A trickle of blood slides out of her nose, and I swallow thickly.
“Grab the cat, Caleb. We gotta go. Tyde, her nose is bleeding,” I say.
“ That’s not good. Of course the universe would give me an omega that’s stubborn and beautiful. That’s lovely,” he mutters. “ I’m not going to mention that I’m allergic to cats, I suppose. I live at 4567 Rally Road. Get her here as soon as you can. Fuck, where are you anyway?”
“A campground about… two hours from you,” Caleb says, scooping up the cat that was sleeping in her bed.
She complains violently, and tries to scratch him. Caleb growls and wraps her in a towel instead, continuing to speak as the cat loses her shit.
“Goddamned cat. Fine, stay here and I’ll drive the fucking van,” he grunts to the cat. “I have to dispose of a few bodies because they were trying to break into Nova’s van to rape her, Tyde. She’s pushing out pheromones.”
“I’m taking her with me, Caleb. I know that she’d be better off in the van, but I don’t want to let her go,” I sigh.
“ I’m so confused,” Tyde sighs. “ Deal with your dead bodies, I’ll get things set up here for her. We’ll stick the damn cat in a room.”
Smirking, I wait for Caleb to hang up and step outside with Nova in my arms. Caleb grabs the three alphas who attempted to hurt Nova and drags them to a nearby stream and drops them in. The current will drag them all downstream, and no one will connect them to Nova.
Caleb quickly disconnects the van from all the connection sites at the camp, shaking his head as he does so.
“I can’t believe she does this all herself,” he grumbles. Stomping back into the van, he pulls out blankets and a pillow and sets up a little bed in the backseat for her. She finally stopped convulsing, now we just have to get her to Tyde before she wakes up.
As I get into the SUV, she whines, and I take a deep breath as I set up the GPS to get to Tyde’s house.
“I got you, Princess,” I promise, putting something on the radio as I pull out of the campsite. I know that Caleb is right behind me, so I begin to belt out whatever is playing on the radio currently.
My voice is low and gravelly, and seems to mimic a purr as I sing. Alex Warren’s Ordinary lyrics fall on my tongue, the words meaning more than they ever have before as I drive. The miles fly by, but I never stop singing.
I’ll do anything if it’ll mean she’ll sleep peacefully until we get to our destination.
Tyde lives in a really nice house with a gate, and while he has to make good money as a doctor, it’s also clear that he’s from old money.
I’m only impressed because it means that he has something to offer Nova.
Tyde rushes outside as Caleb and I pull in, opening the back door to the SUV as soon as I turn off the vehicle.
“Hey, beautiful,” he murmurs, lifting her into his arms. “God you’re so warm. I set up a nest for her while I was waiting for you.”
“You did?” I ask, brow raised as I get out of the car.
“I’m awkward, not useless,” he grunts. “There’s a Nest store close by, and I grabbed everything I could think of. I also ran by the grocery store since I’ve been working so much.”
I would have thought that he’d have staff because this place is so nice, but I keep my mouth shut as I walk up to the front door with him.
Caleb struggles with the cat, but holds her straight out in front of him as if she’s about to explode.
Chuckling under my breath as we step into the house, I ignore his glare.
“Nova has food in her van and a litter box. I’ll go get those things as soon as I put this devil cat down,” he grumbles. “If I wasn’t positive that she’s important to Nova, I’d release her into the wild.”
“I don’t think she’s an outdoor cat,” Tyde says, glancing at her. His floppy hair doesn’t seem like a style that a doctor would wear, but it works for him.
The cat is all white with a black nose and various black patches on her fur. She’d be really cute if her disposition wasn’t set to demon.
Tyde pushes open a door and turns on a light, gesturing for Caleb to put the cat down. As soon as he goes, he shuts it, but the cat begins to yowl. A second later, I watch the door handle drop as if she’d jumped up and pulled down on it.
“No fucking way,” Caleb whispers.
“Figures this cat would mirror Nova,” Tyde mutters, locking the door. “I can’t imagine that Nova would allow herself to be cooped up for long.”
The insightful words stay with me as he continues through the house and up the stairs. He hasn’t been around Nova long, but he seems to understand her pretty well.
I wonder if that’s a doctor’s super power since he’s around people so often. While I see a lot of people at Brewed Awakening , I tend not to get involved with many unless they interest me.
Adira and Aisling were two people that pulled at my heartstrings, so I allowed myself to care about both of them. I tend to care too much, and that’s why I’m so short with people.
The next door that Tyde opens reveals a gorgeous room, but he continues to walk until he opens what is almost a closet. The nest is decorated well, with low lighting and lots of blankets.
“I can get an IV in here to hydrate her,” he explains, pointing to where one is already waiting. “I inherited this house from my aunt, and the family has been complaining about the empty nest. I didn’t ever expect to find Nova, not with my crazy work hours.”
“Sounds like she found you,” I grunt, watching as he lays her down on a fluffy mattress.
“I need your shirts or sweaters,” he says, cleaning away the blood on her face from her nosebleed.
Caleb pulls off his sweater while I hand over my sweatshirt, and Tyde finds a place underneath her blankets for them.
“I already put one that I was wearing today in here. I’m going to change her into it to help her,” he explains, telegraphing his movements as he pulls off her sweatshirt.
It’s hard not to growl at him as I watch, and Caleb leaves the room completely. It feels odd to see her so helpless, but her breathing does regulate a bit once his sweater is on her.
Next, he inserts the IV with a flashlight due to dim lighting, tapes the cannula down, and starts the drip before standing, a small crease between his brows as he watches her.
“I want to lay down beside her and hold her, but I’m not sure if I should,” he admits, sighing.
“Do it,” I grunt, despite my jealousy. “That’s what we’re here for.”
Tyde slips off his shoes and places them outside the nest before laying down beside her, careful of the IV. As I step out to give them privacy, I watch as he buries his face in her neck and holds her. They seem to fit really well, especially as Nova sighs and whispers his name in relief.
I want her to say my name exactly like that one day. I just hope she doesn’t reject me instead for being an idiot.