18. Sunny
Chapter 18
Sunny
I padded down the stairs and to the bunk rooms. Part of me wanted to hide away, but a bigger part of me wanted to see my baby. So, after my shower with Walker, where I accepted all the skin-to-skin cuddles to soothe my omega while trying my best to keep my libido in check, I dressed in a pair of my old sleeping shorts and one of Walker’s T-shirts before going to find Luka.
There were probably going to be a few uncomfortable conversations in my future with the pack, but for now, that could wait. I wasn’t doing anything until I had given my son a cuddle. My entire world felt upside down, and seeing him would help soothe some of my ragged nerves.
The door to the bunk rooms was open, so I poked my head in. The first room I stuck my head in had three beds, and Rune was sitting on the floor with Luka in his lap.
They were both looking at a black smudge on the floor in front of them. It took me a second to comprehend what it was when it hopped in front of my son and took a piece of greenery out of his outstretched hands.
“Is that a rabbit?” I asked, looking at Rune.
He looked up from my son and the bunny to me with a grin. “Yeah, her name is Sooty.”
The bunny was tiny, but cute. She was happily accepting treats and greens from Rune and Luka, and judging by the giggles escaping my child, he was loving it.
“She's adorable. Also, that's a very appropriate name for a firehouse bunny.”
Rune nodded, his grin never faltering as I took a few steps into the room. “We rescued her from a house fire last year, but her owners weren't interested in keeping her, because she needed a few vet visits and they didn't want to pay the bills.”
“They sound like terrible people,” I muttered as I slowly sat on one of the made beds and watched them. “Is she all okay now?”
Rune smiled down at the fluffball as Luka gently reached out a hand to pet her. “Yeah, she only needed some oxygen and a bandage on her ear for a few months because she cut it trying to escape the fire. She’s good as new now, even better, I’d say.”
The bunny had lopped ears and was a dark shade of dark gray all over, except for a tiny patch on her nose that was slightly lighter in color. Her nose twitched as she nibbled on her snacks.
“Their loss is my gain. The vets managed to see her pretty quickly, and I brought her straight back to the station and spent the next several days figuring out everything she needed. She's been here ever since.”
The mental image of Rune carrying this little innocent bunny out from a fire made my insides mushy.
And now he was playing with that bunny and my son.
Luka was giggling as the rabbit nibbled on the greens in his hand. “He seems to like her,” I said.
“She’s really gentle. She loves attention. Rabbits are meant to be in pairs, but I didn't think it was fair to get a second bunny to live at the fire station. When we buy a proper pack house, I’ll get her a friend.”
“You don't have a proper pack house?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. That was unusual. Most packs got their home organized before, if not pretty soon after, filing the paperwork to officially become a pack. He had mentioned having an apartment that was being fumigated, but now their living situation was more prudent, considering I was technically part of their pack.
Rune shook his head. “Nope. We've never really needed one. We've just kind of crashed at our old apartment a few days a week, but we're usually here, working. I guess that's going to have to change now…” As he spoke, he looked at the mark on my neck.
I shook my head. “I don't want to change anything. I don't want to cause any disruption to your lives. It's not like I can afford to contribute to a pack house.”
There was nothing I could offer these alphas, and that realization weighed heavily on my chest.
“You shouldn't have to contribute financially,” he said, his face confused.
I raised my brow. “Of course, I should.”
“No. You’re our omega. Now we take care of you and this little man,” he said, beaming down at my son in his lap.
I glowered at him. “I want to contribute to my future home.”
“Then you can, but don’t rush it until you’re ready. Focus on studying, then you can contribute however you want. I won’t stand by and watch you run yourself into the ground trying to study, parent, and work, when I could do something to help.” His voice had a firm, no-nonsense tone.
My eyebrows rose. “You seem to be taking this in stride…”
Rune shrugged again. “Honestly, I'm kind of looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong—I intend to court you properly before we do anything, but we were all interested in you and trying to do the right thing and wait until you're out of the firehouse.”
I sat up straighter. “Wait, what?”
Rune chuckled. “Did Walker, in his infinite wisdom, not tell you that? Blaze and I have been all in for a while now, but we wanted to wait until you were standing on your own two feet before courting you, because we didn't want you to feel obligated to date us. So, this”—he gestured to his neck, indicating my bite mark—“is no big deal. Actually, it is a big deal, but not in the way you think it's a big deal.”
“I have a son, I have baggage. You can't just take that on.”
“Who says we can't? The moment you and Walker got bitey, you became my omega, and this little guy became my son.”
As he spoke, he looked down at Luka in his lap, his expression calm and caring.
My chest tightened as his words sank in. Could it really be that simple? Rune spoke about the world in such easy terms, and I wanted it to be easy.
“I have a past,” I admitted.
“We all have pasts, Cher. That's the great thing about having a family. We deal with it together.”
I huffed, glaring at the hulking alpha playing with my son and a bunny. “Why am I the only one freaking out?”
Rune chuckled, reaching over to grab another sprig of herbs and hand it to Luka so he could feed the bunny. “Because we were already obsessed with you before this happened.”
“It’s all happened so fast…” I mumbled.
Rune cocked his head to the side. “I agree, it did, but that doesn't mean that anything else has to happen fast. From here on out, everything that happens is at your pace.”
I chuckled in disbelief. “You would be okay with me taking my time courting you and Blaze, even though I just got knotted and bonded by your pack mate?”
“Hey, I didn't say it was going to be easy. I've been hard as a rock since the moment I felt you enter the bond, but I respect that your life is in chaos right now and we need to take things at your pace.”
“Bun!” Luka declared happily.
Rune’s face broke out in a smile. “Yes, little man, bun! Good word.”
My heart hurt with how sweetly he handled Luka. This gentle giant sat on the floor with my toddler and a bunny, a huge grin on his face, like he was the happiest alpha in the world.
“Mama, bun!” Luka said, looking between me and Sooty.
Smiling back, I moved from the bed and sank down onto the floor next to him. “Yes, it’s a bunny,” I said softly.
“Here,” Rune said, handing me a few sprigs of green. “It’s mint, she loves the stuff. Feed it to her.”
Gingerly, I took the mint and held it out. Sooty wasn’t hard to convince. The bunny immediately turned to me and started munching on the herb I held.
“This is why you have an herb garden in the kitchen?” I asked.
I could have sworn Rune’s face blushed before he nodded. “I used to get her herbs and lettuce from the grocery store, but they put things like pesticides on them, and I don't know where it's been grown, so after a month or two, I decided to grow my own.”
How caring he was, to painstakingly grow the herbs for the animal he had adopted. This gentle giant was very quickly stealing my heart.
I had never actually dated a pack before—I had only dated a single alpha—so I found it bizarre that I was getting the warm fuzzies over Rune, even after Walker had just knotted and bonded me on his desk… but it felt right.
As soon as the coast was clear, I crawled into bed. Luka was fast asleep next to me in his travel crib, so after brushing my teeth and throwing my hair into a haphazard bun, I crawled into bed and wrapped myself up in the blanket.
Even though the bed was comfortable, I wanted to cry because it wasn’t a nest. I wanted more pillows, blankets, sheets. I wanted everything. As an omega, I had a natural instinct to nest, and that was heightened now.
I prayed to god it was only heightened because I was now bonded.
Not for any other reason.
The only other time in my life I had experienced seriously heightened nesting instincts was when I was pregnant with Luka.
Thankfully, that hadn’t kicked in until I had been pregnant a few weeks. There was no way Walker had knocked me up, and I was already getting antsy.
I was also on the birth control shot.
Tossing and turning, I pummeled the thin pillow in an attempt to make it comfortable.
Deep down, I knew what I wanted.
Walker.
My omega hated being away from him.
I wanted to be snuggled up in his arms, taken care of and cherished.
Logically, though, I wanted to maintain some semblance of control over the situation.
Sighing, I sat up and looked at the door.
The locked door.
A small voice in the back of my head begged to unlock it.
I knew exactly what would happen if I did.
Walker would join me. We could snuggle all night. Maybe we could do more than snuggle. Either way, my omega loved that idea.
That would just make us closer—even though we were pretty damn close now that we’d bonded.
I needed a little more time to get to know him.
The pull of the bond wasn’t that bad—at least, that’s what I tried to convince myself as I turned over once again, unable to get comfortable.
I just needed a little time.