11. Luna
Luna
I wake up to bright sunlight on my face.
It’s confusing at first because there’s no sunlight down in the cellar.
I also wake up to softness and warmth, which confuses me even more, because even in my bedroom where there was a window, it was never very warm.
My eyes flutter open and everything, all the events of the past few days, hits me like a truck.
I’m in the Ward pack house. With four alphas. Four kind alphas, who’ve given me a beautiful, warm place to stay. Four alphas who haven’t used my body in any way. Four incredibly hot and sexy alphas.
God.
Where in the world did that thought come from?
I shove that thought away. I don’t know if I can handle processing my attraction to them. Especially when I should hate all alphas.
But I don’t.
I know I don’t hate any of the alphas here, not even Archer, even though he was big and scary and a little mean. Sure, I’m a bit scared of them, but what omega in my position wouldn’t be?
I glance around myself to see, to my absolute horror, that I’ve built myself a bit of a nest in my sleep. I’ve tugged up the soft comforter so it’s loose and piled around me. The pillows from the top of the bed are scattered about like a mini pillow-fort.
And here I am in the center of all this softness and comfort, clutching the pile of t-shirts carrying my alpha’s scents.
I shake my head.
No. Not my alphas. I have no claim to them.
If they wanted to go out and bring another omega into their home I would have no say.
I don’t know why that thought has me burying myself deeper into my makeshift nest, trying to seek comfort in their scents, but it doesn’t sit well with me. Just the thought of that has nasty, jealous thoughts floating around my brain.
I can’t be thinking like that.
Maybe this nest and their clothes are making me forget who I am. What my place here is. Even if they’re kind, I’m still an omega and they’re still a pack of alphas.
I was never allowed a nest back at home. My parents just didn’t have the money to start buying a ton of pillows and blankets for me, and Alpha Niall never thought I was worthy of one, though he taunted me with the idea while I crawled to his feet, cold and naked in that disgusting cellar.
I roll out of bed, and as painful as it is to start putting the pillows and blankets in their rightful place, I do it.
I have to. I can’t let myself get too comfortable here.
Once I’m done, I check the clock beside the bed.
Oh my god, it’s 11 in the morning. I didn’t mean to sleep in. I wanted to wake up and find out if there was anything I could do around the house to earn my keep.
It’s also been eight hours since my last dose of pain medication, and I’m starting to feel the ache again .
But I can’t take it yet, not without eating.
I glance at the door.
Chase was right. No one came in here while I was sleeping to use me.
Does this mean I can trust them? I’m not sure. I don’t even know what trusting them would look like.
But I do know food is downstairs.
Hesitation still fills every single cell in my body. Going out there, seeing them again, will make everything real.
Hiding in here isn’t going to do anything helpful.
Clutching the pill bottle in my hand, I turn the doorknob and step out into the hallway. It’s empty. The house is also shockingly quiet as if they’re all gone.
When I make my way to the kitchen without seeing anyone, I hesitate again. Less so because I haven’t seen anyone and more so because their kitchen is crazy.
I don’t think I really understood the luxury of their home when they brought me in at night.
During the day, sunlight streams through the windows and shines on all stainless steel appliances, with shelves I don’t even know how to open.
There are glittering granite countertops and a stove with ten different burners and a griddle. Who needs ten different stove burners?
I jump when I hear noises from behind me. Before I have time to scurry back up the stairs, a door opens, revealing Madden, his thick, muscular, tattooed arms full of bags full of what look to be groceries.
He stops in the doorway, long enough for me to see that the door leads out to the garage.
“Oh shit, good morning!” Madden says, his eyes wide in shock. In the light, my eyes are drawn to the scar on his cheek. It looks old. And like it was made with something like a knife.
I stand there frozen as he makes his way into the house, nudging the garage door shut to keep the cold out. He sets the bags of groceries down on the kitchen counter before turning to face me.
He keeps his distance, almost like he doesn’t want to spook me.
“Sorry, shopping took longer than I thought it would, I wanted to see if I could have some food ready for you by the time you woke up,” Madden says, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
I blink up at him in surprise. He wanted to have food ready for me? But I’m the omega. It’s my purpose to take care of alphas.
I glance at the sheer amount of food on the table and panic starts to grow heavy in my gut. Four alphas must have huge appetites if Madden has gone out to get this much food. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much in my entire life.
“N—no need to apologize,” I say, clasping my hands in front of me around the pill bottle. “Would you—would you like me to leave?”
He steps towards me. His dark chocolate scent wraps itself around me and I have to force myself to swallow the sigh that’s working its way up my throat. His scent is so much better in real life than it is on a t-shirt.
“No, please stay,” he says. “I just have to go grab the rest of the groceries.”
There’s more? How much did all this food cost?
I scold myself in my head. That’s such a stupid question. Of course alphas like these don’t have to worry about money for food, look at the kitchen I’m in!
Still, this can be an opportunity for me. I need to make it known I want to be useful. I want to earn my keep.
“Do you need help?” I ask.
Madden glances down at my legs, still covered in bandages and gives me a kind smile. “No, it’s okay. I got it.”
I deflate. Of course he wouldn’t want my help. He has more muscle in his forearm than I do in my entire body. I was stupid enough to even offer.
Madden surprises me by taking a few slow steps towards me, as if giving me time to run away if I want, before lifting my chin to meet his eyes.
My focus pinpoints on where he’s touching me. It’s such a soft touch from an alpha who holds so much power in his body.
“How about this,” he says. “I’ll definitely need some help putting all of these groceries away, so how about you sit tight until I get everything inside and then we put everything away together.”
“Okay!” Excitement hits me. He’s giving me something I can do to help! This is good. This is great, even.
“Good girl,” he says, his fingertips tracing my jaw before he turns quickly and heads back through the door to the garage.
My own hand lifts to where Madden touched me and inhale sharply. God. I think I’m blushing redder than a tomato right now. It feels like my face is on fire.
I shuffle over to the plastic bags on the kitchen counter and start peeking into them.
There are bags full of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. I don’t think I’ve had vegetables that weren’t out of a can in my entire life.
There’s chicken, beef, and even fish, wrapped in fresh butcher’s paper. I check the price tag of the beef and my eyes bug out. Why are beef tenderloin steaks so expensive?
“Alright,” Madden says, carrying another armful of groceries in. “This is the last of them.”
I take a quick step back from the groceries, wincing a bit as I place a bit of weight on one of the cuts on my feet.
“Oh shit, your pain meds are probably wearing off by now, huh,” Madden says.
I give him a nod. “I—I came downstairs because Chase said I had to eat something before I could take them.”
“Ah, here, how about you take a seat first?” Madden says, nodding his head to one of the barstools.
“What about me helping?” I ask softly, not wanting him to think I can’t help. My pain medication can wait.
“It’s okay,” he says, waving his hand. “I can get started putting all the frozen stuff away. The freezer’s pretty straightforward, we just sort of throw everything that needs freezing in there.”
I nod before doing as he says, climbing up to one of the barstools and watching as he digs through one of the bags and pulls out a container of raspberries. He washes them under the sink before passing the entire container to me.
“How about you eat these first,” he says.
My eyes go wide. Fresh fruit? And an entire container of them?
“Thank you,” I say.
“Try to eat all of them, okay?”
All of them? I glance around at the counter, completely full of bags of food, and give him a slow nod. I guess me eating one container of fruit wouldn’t hurt.
I pop one in my mouth and can’t help but let out a groan when the sweet tartness explodes in my mouth. The seeds crunch between my teeth as I chew. I’ve never had a fresh raspberry before. The closest thing I’ve ever had was some sort of artificial berry jam. This is worlds better than that.
My eyes open when Madden’s dark chocolate scent, thick with a wave of lust hits me. It sends warmth shooting through my body, which surprises me. It cements in my brain that my reaction to Chase last night wasn’t a one-off.
I’m attracted to these alphas.
I shift nervously in my seat, worried about how Madden is going to react.
Chase reassured me that none of them will touch me without me wanting it, but will he think my peppermint scent sweetening is an invitation?
He just coughs, shuffling on his feet.
“Sorry, don’t mind me,” he says. “Please, um, continue. ”
For someone so big and bulky, he looks incredibly cute when he’s acting shy.
He turns to one of the cabinets, opening it and pulling out a glass that he fills with water, setting it down in front of me.
“Here, for your meds once you’re done with the container,” he says, clearing his throat.