Chapter 26
Eran
Guardians of Glitter Bomb Territory
Time lost all meaning while I was in a rut.
Sure, most people claimed to lose time during the matingmoon, but this was different.
Well, at least, it felt more intense than what they described.
Everything ceased to matter except for where Vatten was in proximity to me.
Where he went, I went. I would’ve followed him into the depths of Frost’s Pit or into the mouth of a hungry dragon.
He was all I needed to be happy. Everything else was secondary.
Food? Sure. Maybe. Was Vatten hungry? The room was too warm for me because Vatten had gotten cold?
Nah. It was just a free sauna. Some shifters paid good money to sweat it out like I was during my rut.
Showers happened because Vatten walked under the water.
“It’s almost like you’re under a spell,” he teased one day while we dried our hair after a shower.
“Eh, it’s biological,” I shrugged. “Being near you makes me happy. All the sex is just a side effect.”
“A side effect, huh?” he teased. “And here I thought that you being so happy was the side effect of sex. It’s a rut after all.”
“We’ve romped – a lot. Like when we move we’ll have to get professional cleaners in to get our scent out of the nooks and crannies,” I shrugged.
“I expected you to be grouchier,” he shrugged. “More demanding.”
“I can be demanding if that’s what you want,” I smirked at him.
“I meant like --- I don’t know… I don’t particularly need you to be demanding. You always hear about alphas being aggressive during ruts.”
“Maybe because people need warned about those alphas? Or the stories are just funnier?” I offered up. “I mean telling everyone I followed you around like a very devoted housecat isn’t that interesting of a story, is it?”
“Maybe not but I was worried what I was going to do if you wouldn’t eat. I didn’t expect the answer to be to sit in the kitchen until you ate,” Vatten laughed and the sound wrapped around me like a warm blanket.
“Sometimes I forget it’s even a rut. Maybe this is just life now. We live here and things are brought in. We just never leave. Sure, there are things we could probably do outside, but this is nice.”
Vatten stopped drying his hair and stared at me.
I almost told him that I wasn’t serious about staying inside forever but his thoughts were raking through what had happened over the last two weeks.
Two weeks? That didn’t sound right. Ruts usually didn’t last that long.
Omega heats did occasionally, but ruts were usually shorter.
“You’re not even in rut anymore!” Vatten said, playfully slapping me with his towel. “So, you’ve just been following me around for what? For fun?”
“I want to be where you are,” I said.
“I think I need a pregnancy test. Ruts usually either play out with exhaustion or pregnancy. You don’t look very tired to me.”
“You take a lot of naps. I’m a cat. I like naps,” I shrugged. “Though, yeah. It’s probably time for a pregnancy test. I’ll order one in.”
“We could go out and get it,” he said.
“Eh, ghosts, murderers, crazy people. Let’s keep you in here,” I said, stepping closer to him.
“I want to go for a walk. I’ll get your pants,” he said, leaving the bathroom.
“Pants are evil!” I called out after him.
He was right, though. It was probably best we got a pregnancy test. While he rustled around in my clothes, I searched ‘dog shifter pregnancy symptoms’ on my phone.
Sure, they’d probably be the same as any other omega’s symptoms but I wasn’t positive about that after some of the things Vatten had shared with me.
“Are your nipples swollen?” I called out to him.
“What?”
“Are they discolored? Never mind! I’ll come and look for myself.”
“What is your obsession with my nipples all of the sudden?” he asked, tossing pants at my head.
“I was looking up symptoms of pregnancy,” I said, tossing my phone onto the bed.
Vatten squinted down at his nipples as if they might have secrets to tell him. He poked one and winced.
“Okay, actually, yeah. They are. Just how long have you been out of your rut?” he asked, standing half akimbo, poking at his nipples with the hand that wasn’t resting on his hip.
“I dunno. It just sort of blended into the rest of time. I thought we were here for like 5 days. Not two weeks,” I said.
“I feel like I need pasties to hide my nipples when we go out,” he said.
“I’ll cover them up for you,” I said, reaching out to put my hands on his pecs. Vatten slapped them away.
“That’s how this got started. We need to make sure that’s what we’re dealing with. Maybe you just played with them too much,” he said, turning away to get dressed.