Chapter 43
Between losing my Streamverse account and my apartment being destroyed, I’d almost entirely forgotten that Indigo and Joon weren’t exactly on speaking terms. Though neither of them let that stop them from doing everything in their power to try and make me feel better.
There just… wasn’t a solution. At least not one as simple as some ice cream from the corner store or a few hours worth of cuddling. Though… that absolutely didn’t hurt.
Not at all.
After a day spent piled onto the couch in the media room, Joon offered for me to use his nest as a sort of bedroom for the night, at least until we could all work out something better in the morning.
That was probably the most distressing part of this whole thing. Since I lived alone, I’d pretty much turned my entire apartment into a bunch of mini nests. Now? They were all gone. I felt… kind of untethered, like I didn’t have a home to go back to.
Which, I supposed, was probably the point.
I was a little disappointed that Indigo kissed me goodnight to head into their room instead of joining us in the nest, but I understood too. The tension between them and Joon, as much as they were making efforts to ignore it, was in every look that passed between them.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter much. I knew that if I wanted one of my alphas I could leave at any time and join them in bed, and the blankets and pillows were soaked in their scent anyway, offering me the biological soothing that I craved even as they gave Joon and me a little space to be alone together.
I wanted to ask Joon how they felt about everything, but I was so drained, that I couldn’t force the words past my lips. The pair of us falling into a tangle of limbs in a wordless cuddle that said more than my exhausted brain would’ve come up with anyway.
This was Joon’s safe space, and he’d offered it to me so willingly… the same way that I offered myself to him.
I was his omega.
As much as he was mine.
And that was enough.
With Joon’s hand rubbing soothing circles along my back, it didn’t take long until I fell asleep. When I opened my eyes again I was disoriented that it was still dark, until I realized that the warm body I’d been sleeping against had disappeared.
I rubbed my eyes, feeling around the cushions until I found my phone, the screen clicking on nearly blinding me.
2:00 AM.
My messages to Tara, way too early when I’d originally sent them to expect a response, had swapped from delivered to read. A string of worried messages from my best friend taking up most of my notifications.
TARA: omg are you OKAY?
TARA: i went over right away but it was only marcus there with the cops
TARA: youre safe right?
TARA: i’m hoping that you’re not responding because that rich fuck pack of yours is spoiling you to make u feel better
TARA: streamverse is so STUPID omg #FREEEVA
TARA: okay maybe i was wigging a little but charlie called cameo and he promised you were at their place and safe.
TARA: i’ll call you tmrw in case you’re sleeping it off or dont want to talk or whatever, but i’m here for u. I love you.
I smiled at the frantic barrage of messages, sending one of my own back.
EVA: at the pack house, safe. Just tired. Call tomorrow?
Tara’s reply was nearly instant.
TARA: what a relief. deal. rest up.
I nestled deeper into the blankets, hoping that I’d be able to get back to sleep easily.
The scents in the little A-frame room were comforting.
Joon's was the heaviest, of course. His sugary, apple scent the dominating comforter and my pillow.
But every once in a while I'd get hit with whisper of Cameo’s lovely smoky smore, or the sweet maple of Indi.
Even Marcus' salty notes came through every once in a while, though, they mostly seemed to be attached to a T-shirt that Joon had balled up into one of the pillowcovers.
A door slammed on the street outside and I jumped, my heartrate rabbiting along like I was being hunted for sport. I knew I wasn’t alone in the house, but suddenly found myself really, really, craving for an alpha to be close.
The hyperawareness of everything around me didn’t help. Every small sound felt like a clap of thunder, every pass of headlights outside a threat.
Oh. I would’ve laughed, if I had it in myself to find the situation funny. I was just like the main girl in a horror movie—overly paranoid and jumpy, but ultimately likely to go check out a noise that was absolutely the killer lying in wait.
What’s the first rule of a horror movie? Never split up.
Fuelled by my own certainty that the only way to survive the night was to pack up, I slid from the slightly raised platform of the nest, pulling one of the decadently fluffy blankets along with me like a shield to head next door.
Of all of the alphas, the one that was the most proficient with a knife seemed like the best choice for upping my chanced of survival.
Nevermind that I just… missed him. He’d been so worried about how I would react back at the apartment that it was a bit of a surprise, given I was still half sure that I was pretty much just an incubator he got to fuck.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t fair. He was just… hard to read.
My knock on the alpha’s door went unanswered. Unsurprisingly, given Cameo tried to keep a fairly regimented schedule and two AM was certainly in the realm of time where he was usually sleeping.
I swung the door open, whispering loudly as I toed my way into the room. “Cameo?”
Nothing.
Not that Cameo, god forbid, would be the type to snore and let that slide.
I had a feeling that if anyone could, he’d be able to stop himself out of sheer willpower alone. But, if that didn’t work out, surgery was probably a fun side hobby for the strange alpha anyway.
Cameo’s bed was tucked into an alcove on the far side of the room with heavy velvet curtains in a deep merlot framing either side.
I tiptoed towards it, but all my care to be quiet was pointless, since once I got close enough to squint through the shadows I could make out that his bed was empty, sheets still tucked with nurse-like precision.
My chest tightened with anxiety, worst case scenarios flying through my mind a mile a minute.
Where did he go at this hour?
A faint, blueish glow from over the loft’s railing in Cameo’s office below drew my eye, and I moved to investigate. A long alpha-shaped shadow laid on the vintage sofa facing the desk, the knot of worry in my stomach loosening.
Oh, duh.
Leaving my blanket behind on Cameo’s bed, I slid down the fireman’s pole that connected the two rooms to go drag the alpha to bed. Only, once I was level with the mass, I realized that it wasn’t Cameo at all.
The long body pillow propped against the back of the couch almost made me laugh as I picked it up. Even squinting in the low light, I would recognize that pattern anywhere, my long pigtails flowing beside me on the strawberry-printed fabric.
He has my merch?
I smiled, weirdly charmed by the alpha’s strangeness.
I wonder…
I brought the pillow to my nose for a heavy sniff, letting out a little giggle at the burst of smoky sweetness that flooded my senses.
Yeah, he totally fucking cuddles with it.
Laughter really was the best medicine, the knot in my stomach loosening a little as I set the pillow-me back into her place.
I’d intended on heading back upstairs to look for Joon and Indi, but the faint glow of Cameo’s computer screen drew me closer, casting strange shadows along the walls.
As I approached, a plastic container on his desk caught my eye.
I recognized it as one of the prep containers that Marcus used the in the kitchen, my smile growing at the massive, quiet alpha leaving his friend treats for while he worked.
Curious, I picked the container up, squinting through the semi-opaque side to try and make out the contents within.
Too dark.
I pulled the chain on the vintage banker’s lamp, and the bulb popped to life in a wash of warm light that left me blinking, trying to adjust.
This, of course, was a huge mistake.
In my hand, separated by only a few milimeters of plastic, was a container full of thick, wriggling white worms.
I gasped, tossing the container on to the desk and wheeling around to beeline it the fuck out of the office when my eyes hit the wall, registering the odd shadows for what they were for the first time.
Bugs of every size, shape and type bore down on me from every side, the walls seeming to close in around me, bringing them closer.
A scream tore from my throat as I bolted for the door, nearly tripping in my rush to get the ever-loving fuck out of there.
I missed the doorhandle on the first try, but on the second, it opened and I half fell into the hallway, a dark mass moving to block the low light coming from the kitchen at the end of the hall.
Where's your knife? Cameo's voice hissed in my mind.
I reached into the pocket of my sleep shorts.
At first, I’d thought that the whole ‘always be armed’ thing was insane.
But now? Faced with an assailant in the middle of the packhouse, my alphas no where to be seen?
The metal of the handle, warmed from being kept so close to my body, seemed to steady me.
My thumb clicked the little button, just like Cameo had shown me, and the blade popped open with a mechanical click.
Eyes, throat, dick, chest I rattled off, brandishing the knife. “Don’t come any closer! I’ll—”
I did my best to hold it exactly how I'd been told to. Fingers wrapped around the inside, thumb over the back, and blade facing away. I did my best to keep my hand steady, but couldn't prevent the slight shake I was feeling.
“Eva?” A low, familiar voice asked in confusion before the hallway light flicked on, illuminating a very confused—and very shirtless—Marcus, a small bag of flour in his hand. “Are you okay?”
“I—uhm… yeah,” I said uncertainly, suddenly feeling very foolish. “I thought you were, I don’t know…”