CHAPTER NINETEEN
M y arms are absolutely full of pillows and blankets as I make the quick trip from the guys bedrooms to the media room. While I was gathering supplies, Ollie and Archie had pushed the couches together, and a rusty little purr comes out of my chest when I see how perfect it is. My omega is very happy with her mates for taking such good care of her.
Nevermind the fact that I haven’t allowed her to make a real nest for about five years, she is coming out with a vengeance.
I'm trying and failing not to get too attached to this house and the pack resides in it. As evidenced by the mountains of pilfered laundry in my arms. “Is that…?” Ollie’s mouth drops open slightly when he spots me. “Is that my comforter?”
Shit. I didn’t even ask them if I could take their bedding, but I had been so caught in my omega instincts, desperate for their scents, I hadn’t even thought about it.
I’m so flustered I drop the pile in my arms, feeling my cheeks instantly go red as I bed down to pick it up. “I’m sorry,” I say quietly, “I didn’t even ask, I’ll go put it back.”
What the hell is wrong with me? When did I turn into such a simpering mess?
“Oh, Tink, no baby,” Ollie’s voice is regretful as his knees plop down next to mine. He stills my arms, turning me to look into his deep green eyes. “I was just surprised. Pleasantly surprised, I might add. It’s an honor that you would want to have our scents in your nest. I’m distinctly aware of how much of an honor it is because of my three omega sisters. All of the guys will agree. Do you need anything else for your couch nest?”
Blinking away the stupid-ass tears that have welled in my eyes, I shake my head. “No. Not for the couch nest. But…”
“What is it? Whatever it is, it’s yours.” Ollie’s thumb catches an errant tear that made its way down my cheek. Fucking stupid omega bullshit.
“I think I know why I couldn’t sleep last night…” My voice trails off pitifully, and Ollie’s eyes flash in understanding as he slaps his hand to his forehead.
“Of course. Do you want…to go through my hamper?” My bottom lip tugs under my teeth and I shake my head, my fingers playing with the hem of his shirt that he slept in. Raising a brow, he smiles gently at me before taking his shirt off in that ridiculously hot way guys do by tugging the collar at the back of their neck and pulling themselves out of it.
He hands me the shirt and I snatch it quickly, pulling it up to my nose, my eyes nearly rolling into the back of my head at the mix of chocolate, peppermint, and alpha musk. When I open my eyes, Archie is next to him, shirtless, holding his out to me as well with an excited look on his face.
“Did you sleep in this?” I ask, raising my brow.
His face falls for a second before he nods, and I grin widely before snatching it from him and laughing maniacally before running back to my nest.
Damn these hormones are wild.
I vaguely hear Ollie say something about telling the other guys before I’m in the room, weaving their shirts into the blankets and pillows making up the inner walls. There. But…it’s still not right. I’m missing most of my pack's scents and a pitiful omega whine leaves me. This has all my alphas racing up the stairs to see what's wrong. An omega’s whine is like a freaking distress beacon.
It’s like my omega’s completely taken over my body and actions and I’m sitting here, watching from the outside while I’m being moved around like a damn puppet.
“What’s wrong sweetheart?” Simon’s voice sounds from next to Titus, and before I know it, I’m walking on my knees over to him, pulling at the hem of his shirt. His brows shoot up, but he lets me wrangle his shirt from him and I take a big huff, nodding when I’m met with his delicious hazelnut coffee scent. By the time I’m done weaving his shirt through the bottom left corner of the nest, both Mattie and Titus are already in the room, their shirts changed and the ones they were previously wearing ready for me to take.
I surprise myself by scent marking each of them on their cheeks before weaving their clothes throughout as well. Titus looks just as surprised as I felt, while Mattie just looks downright gleeful.
By the time I crawl out of the nest, surveying my work, I finally start to come back to myself. The room smells like boozy caramel and hazelnut coffee, peppermint hot chocolate, and roasting marshmallows on the beach. My omega is content with the nest for now, and she practically preens at the fact that all of her alphas cared enough to provide an item of clothing.
A moment later I feel Archie’s arms wrap around my waist and his head rest on my shoulder. “Are you feeling better?”
A shuddering sigh leaves me, and I turn, looping my arms around his neck and getting on my tip toes to scent mark his cheek. My beta should smell like me too. “I do. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Actually, that’s a lie. My omega is tired of being suppressed now that I’ve found you all, and is being a temperamental bitch.”
“ Tesoro mio ,” Mattie scolds as he comes behind me and nuzzles my hair. “Do not speak ill of my mate. We love that you crave our scents. You only need to tell us what you need.”
I nod, and my beta and head alpha step away from me, “Let’s go watch a movie!" Ollie cheers, and everyone shuffles out the door, leaving just Simon and me in the room.
“Actually, sweetheart, I need to ask a rather invasive question. Do you know when your next heat is due? The nesting could be a sign of an impending heat.”
Biting my lip, I shake my head. “I don’t do heats. I’ve been on suppressants for years.”
Simon frowns. “Years? Cady, I’m not an omega-specific doctor, but I do know that heat suppressants are not designed for the long term. Are you telling me that you’ve never had a heat?”
All this heat-talk is making me cagey, but I suppose they have a right to know. “I did, once. I…I can’t go into it. It has to do with what I mentioned yesterday…as to why I was so anti-pack. All I can say without having a panic attack is I went through my first heat sedated, and I’ve been on heat suppressants since.”
Simon’s eyes flash with…something. Worry? “You might want to get scheduled to see your doctor, sweetheart. The longer you’re on suppressants, the less effective they can become, and I’ve read multiple studies regarding breakthrough heats after an omega meets their scent match.”
Shit.
Fucking damn fucking shit.
Instead of shouting all the expletives like I want to at sweet, sweet Simon, I sigh and nod. “I’ll do that. Thanks, Sy.”
Without thinking. I grab his hand and start to walk out the door. “One more thing, Cady?” Simon sounds almost nervous, and when I turn to look at him, he twines our fingers together. “I’d …I’d like to take you on a date. Just the two of us.”
I smile. It's ridiculously cute that he seems so nervous to ask me out when I was just begging for their scents.And...he seems like the safest alpha to start with. Calm. Dependable. “I’d like that, Simon. A lot.” He looks so handsome with his auburn hair pushed back, and his glasses on his nose, that when he takes the few steps to join me towards the door, I stop him with a hand on his shoulder, get on my tip toes, and press a kiss to his lips.
He stiffens for only a second, but then his free arm is wrapping around my back, holding me closer to him. The kiss starts pretty chaste, but the second his tongue swipes at my bottom lip, I’m opening for him with a small moan. A growl vibrates in his chest as he grips my back, turning his head to angle himself deeper into my mouth. God, if this is how he kisses, I can’t wait to see how he fucks me. Too soon, he pulls away, his face flushed, stammering an apology.
“I’m sorry Cady, I—” I silence him with another very brief kiss.
“Don’t you dare apologize for that,” I warn him seriously, and his face goes from worried to a small smile. He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear and kisses my forehead. “Let’s go watch that movie.”
Ten minutes later, I’ve arranged all the pillows and blankets from the guys’ beds in a nest on the couch-bed and when Titus crawls in, surprising me by pulling me into his lap. “Is this okay, gorgeous?” He rumbles, running a hand down my arm.
My cheeks burn but I nod, laying my head against his chest. I never realized how touch-starved I was until all these men started in with their casual touches. I never thought I’d want to sit on an alphas lap, but here I am, snug as a bug on the grumpiest alpha. Simon settles in next to him, pulling my feet into his lap and rubbing the arches. The moan that I let out has Simon blushing, but he doesn’t stop and Titus growls into my ear, “Those kinds of noises belong in the nest, omega.” Titus' words draw a very uncharacteristic giggle out of me, which has Ollie diving in next to Simon.
“God, I fucking love that sound,” he looks over at me with hearts in his eyes and I reach my hand out for him to squeeze. Mattie and Archie are the last to join us on Titus’ other side, and then Mattie is using the remote to turn on the TV.
“What kind of movies do you like to watch, tesoro mio ?” Mattie asks, glancing down at me with an amused expression. Or maybe he’s looking at Titus, based on the way he grumbles and holds me tighter to him.
Grumpy alpha.
“Anything really,” I tell him with a smile. “Action, adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, rom-com…”
“Oh! Oh!” Ollie nearly vibrates with excitement. “We should watch Harry Potter! We can get through at least the first four today, and then we can finish out the rest of them next weekend! It’s been forever since we’ve had a Harry Potter marathon.”
I love Harry Potter. It was one the first big book series I read as a kid. “I love it! Let’s do it.”
Around ten hours later, the credits for the Goblet of Fire are rolling, and we’re all ready to go to bed. I moved around from lap to lap throughout the day, eating a chinese-takeout lunch on Ollie’s lap, popcorn on Simon’s, most of the third movie I was snuggled tightly between Archie and Mattie, and by the end, I was laying across them all, with my head on a pillow in Ollie’s lap and Mattie rubbing my feet.
I’ve never felt so…taken care of.
We’ve left the couch nest for the evening, and everyone is about to go to their own rooms when Simon asks me, “What kind of food do you think you’d want for our date tomorrow?” Before I can answer, Ollie pops up. “Dates? Do we all get to take you out for a date, Tink?”
“Well we should,” Simon huffs, “scent match or not, we’re courting her and she deserves to be wooed.”
“You guys don’t need to woo me—” I try to protest, but am quickly shushed by all the alphas.
“We’ll all take her on individual dates, and then at the end, we’ll do another pack date.” Mattie decides, nodding his head.
“Sure, but Simon should get extra credit since he’s the one who thought of it,” I say sweetly as Simon blushes at my praise.
Each member of the pack gives me their own kiss goodnight, Titus brushing his lips tentatively across my cheek, Simon giving me a chaste kiss on the lips, and Ollie going for a full tongueing as he dips me low.
I come up laughing and look at Mattie and Archie. “Will you guys…sleep with me tonight? I’ve come to realize I’m not a huge fan of sleeping alone now.”
“Of course, tesoro mio .” Mattie smiles, his eyes crinkling at the sides as he bends down to gently brush his lips over mine. “We would be honored to be invited into your nest. Let us go get ready for bed, and we will join you shortly.”
By the time we’re all settled in the nest, Archie and I are facing each other, our legs tangled together, my forehead pressed to his. Mattie is pressed to my back, his arm slung across my hips and his hand is on Archie’s side.
I sleep better than I have in a long time.