52. Fallon
52
Fallon
E veryone is staring at me.
I swallow, backing into Wilder and tugging at the edge of his shirt, trying to pull it down. His hand reaches up to stroke my back. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Teddy shoves between Zeke and Fox. “You’re definitely not interrupting. We were just taking some of these upstairs.”
The room is littered with boxes. “I didn’t even see these earlier.”
Teddy winks at me. “They arrived while you were screaming Wilder’s name.”
I couldn’t stop the blush if I tried.
“What?” Teddy protests when Zeke flicks him in the ear. “We all know I have zero off-switch.”
“Not quite true,” Fox murmurs. And then Teddy flushes.
I find myself very curious to know what could possibly make Teddy blush, but Rowan clears his throat. “Fallon. I… I hope you don’t mind. But when I was setting up your address change, I noticed something. About… your dad? And his estate?”
My body stills. Rowan swallows. “I’m sorry. I didn’t… I’m overstepping.”
Slowly, I shake my head. “No. I mean- I don’t mind. But I think I know what happened. Could we not talk about it right now, though?”
I don’t want to lose this feeling. I don’t want to think about the cold house I just left, or the pack who stole my life.
“They’ve taken enough from me,” I say, trying to make them understand. “And I know I need to think about it, but this is my first day here. And they can’t have this too.”
And it’s been so long since I felt anything close to safe . I don’t want the Smith pack in this space, not yet. For now – for today, at least – I want to pretend that they don’t exist at all. And that I’m just an omega, getting to know her scent-matched pack without any other baggage following me around.
“Of course,” Rowan says gently. “If and when you’re ready – I can help with whatever you need.”
The simple offer tightens my throat. “Thank you.”
“ So !” Teddy claps his hands together. His eyes are twinkling, and the alphas around me exchange looks that suddenly make me feel a little nervous. “Can I show you your room?”
***
Good god of all things omega.
Open-mouthed, I stare as Teddy wanders around the huge space, happily chatting away as he pauses to inspect random items. “I know it’s ridiculously cream , but you can pick whatever color palette you want and we’ll match the accessories up.”
He stops. “Fallon?”
I shuffle forward a few steps. My bare feet sink into the thick, cream fluffy carpet. It feels like heaven. “I… don’t know where to look first. The bed is kind of giving me performance anxiety.”
The bed is huge. I didn’t even know they made beds that big. It stretches from one side of the wall to the other with no space on either side.
You could fit ten alphas in that bed.
Teddy grins, but there’s understanding there. “Nobody else comes in this room but you. Not without your permission. Even my nest is off-limits to everyone without my say-so.”
“Even Fox?” I ask curiously.
“Especially Fox.” He tilts his head. “We all need our space sometimes. And it’s easy to get alpha’d . You just sort of fall into doing whatever they want without realizing, because you’re so damn needy for them. Fox usually notices first and puts me in time out until I have my head screwed back on.”
Slowly, I perch on the edge of the bed.
We’re so easy to take advantage of.
“Fallon?” Teddy sits next to me. “Too much?”
“No.” I sigh. “But… I wish I’d found you all sooner.”
Like seven years ago.
When Teddy’s arm wraps around my shoulders, I lean into him. His chocolate scent feels closer to brownies today. Warm and welcoming. “Me too. But I’m glad you’re here now. Wanna look at some blankets?”
My lips twitch. “I’d like that.”
He drags me down onto the floor and starts digging through a box. He pulls out a variety of different blankets, holding each one up for my inspection.
“The first one was fine,” I protest. I don’t want him to go to all this trouble for me.
He lowers the thick quilted purple comforter in his hands and glares at me.
“Fallon Matthews,” he says slowly. “It’s okay to choose something you like. And it’s okay not to like something. We’re omegas, sweetheart. It comes with the territory. Fox would be terrified if I started choosing the first thing on the menu every time because I didn’t want to make a fuss.”
I bite my lip, thinking about his reaction at the Italian restaurant. Fox ordered nearly every item on the menu. And then there were the sandwiches.
“There are plenty of downsides to being an omega,” Teddy murmurs. “But this? Liking pretty things? Soft things? This isn’t one of them, Fallon. This is one of the best parts. We’re allowed to be a little demanding. It’s part of who we are.”
He gently tosses the purple blanket at me. I gather it in my arms, tracing my fingers over the pretty pattern stitched into it. “I used to love this stuff. But it’s been a while. I almost forgot how much.”
His smile is sad. “Then I’ll help you remember.”
We work through several piles of boxes. And slowly, my little pile grows. First the purple blanket. Then a huge checked soft fleece blanket which reminds me inexplicably of Zeke. And two more. One blue. One gold.
My hands linger on a silky bronze sheet. It feels more like a luxury scarf than a blanket. I glance up, my eyes catching on Teddy’s hair. It shimmers in the late afternoon light.
Neither of us say anything when I add it to the pile, but he’s smiling. And when he passes me a second sheet, emerald-green like Rowan’s eyes, I add that to the pile too.
Zeke pokes his head around the door at some point. “I’m not coming in, don’t worry. But I brought coffee. And snacks.”
His eyes linger on me when Teddy goes to grab the tray. “You okay?”
Shyly, I nod. “Teddy’s looking after me.”
“Good.” Zeke smiles. “We’ll be downstairs if you need us.”
This is… nice. More than nice. The best day I’ve had in a long time.
We gorge on delicious coffee, courtesy of Zeke, and little honey cakes from a bakery Teddy loves. I feel a spark of excitement grow as we keep working through more boxes.
The shelves around us fill up with knick-knacks. Gorgeous-smelling candles, and pretty trailing plants. I fall in love with a chunky little set of jeweled glass candlestick holders, adding them to a spot where they’ll reflect the light. And then there are the fairy lights.
So many fairy lights.
I sigh. “This feels like building a nest.”
Teddy looks up. “Well, you have a nesting space too. It’s on the top floor, next to mine. Different rooms, though.”
“I don’t need one.”
He frowns. “You want to use your bedroom? We could split the space in two—,”
“Um.” I fiddle with a tasseled scatter cushion, pulling my fingers through them. “I don’t nest.”
Teddy blinks. “I have a feeling I’m really going to hate whatever reason you have for this.”
Playfully, I narrow my eyes at him. “It’s not a big deal. I just stopped getting the urge a few years ago. I honestly don’t think about it much now.”
Only sometimes, when I let myself think about my old nest. The one I had before I left for college.
I liked that nest. Loved it, even.
Keeping hold of the cushion, I wander over and set it on the giant bed. “It’s honestly okay, Teddy.”
He mutters something under his breath. “Have you ever had a nest?”
I nod. “I was just thinking about that one.”
“Tell me about it.” He stretches out on the bed, tugging me down with him. “Please?”
He’s impossible to say no to.
I stare up at the ceiling. “We had this barn that my parents converted into a space for me as I grew older.”
“Cool,” Teddy breathes.
I have to smile. “It was. We had an office on the ground floor that I shared with my dad. My bedroom was on the first floor. And there was a ladder leading off it that went into the attic, and I built my nest there. I used to like cozy spaces. Darker ones. The roof was really low, and I put these pretty jeweled sheets over the ceiling, draping them, and then I had lights in between. And these comfortable people-sized cushions on the floor. Lots of greenery. And where there were walls, my dad built these low shelves so I could keep my books in there too. I slept in there most of the time.”
“It sounds amazing,” Teddy says softly. “Hard to beat.”
My throat tightens. “Yeah.”