Chapter 29 #2
Blair keeps her eyes fixed on me as she nods. “It’s amazing,” she breathes. “You, the whole time.”
I nod. “Me.”
My voice is shaky as I drink her in, greedily inhaling her Omega scent.
I can’t decipher how she looks at me. There are a million emotions that flicker across her face, and it’s impossible for me to name any of them.
Maeve must finally sense the tension between Blair and me, because she steps away from us. “I’m going to go back to the rescue,” she murmurs. “I need to feed Alvin.”
Then, she scurries out, the door to the clinic slamming shut behind her, leaving me with my scent match.
“You never told me,” Blair breathes, motioning to the blankets. “I would have never guessed.”
I shrug. “It’s something my mother taught me growing up. I learned how to crochet, sew, all of it.”
“So…that one nesting blanket I like?”
My face burns. “That was made specifically for you.”
She swallows, her delicate throat bobbing. “You’ve been sending us donations for a year.”
“I knew how important the rescue was to you, and I wanted to do something unique,” I murmur, rubbing the back of my neck. “You mentioned you were always needing blankets.”
A tear spills down her cheek, and she takes a step toward me.
“That’s the second time today someone has cried because I know how to sew,” I mutter.
She bursts out laughing and wipes at her face. “You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want you to think I was doing it just to win you over.”
“I know that,” she whispers. “It…it means so much, Travis. Thank you.”
I nod. “Anything for you.”
She winces and laughs bitterly. “You can’t mean that. Not after how I treated you and your pack.” She shakes her head and looks at the floor. “Not after how I acted.”
“Of course, I can. My feelings haven’t changed, and they won’t. No matter how tangled in your head you might get about things.”
She remains still, biting her lip and looking at the floor. Her violet scent, still sweet and tempting, has a sour note to it.
“You haven’t been taking care of yourself,” I murmur.
“Neither have you,” she says after a moment of silence, meeting my gaze. More tears fall down her cheeks. “I was miserable without you,” she admits. “My parents are so annoying.”
I chuckle weakly. “I know the feeling.”
But I can’t stand the look on her face anymore.
I know I’m supposed to stay in control and not pressure her but I close the space between us and gather her in my arms, holding her tightly to me.
Suddenly, I can breathe again.
Her scent is everywhere around me, growing sweeter every second she’s in my arms.
My chest rumbles deeply as I purr for her while she trembles.
“I’m so sorry,” she mumbles into my shirt. “I’m so sorry, Travis.”
“Shh. It’s okay.”
It hasn’t been a week to me.
It’s been years.
Lifetimes.
“I was so scared,” she sobs. “I wasn’t even there for you. I was heartless and left the three of you to deal with the accident yourself. I acted like a child and ran away.”
I continue to hold her, my purr increasing.
“You’re here now,” I say. “You’re here now, and that’s what’s important.”
The last week was hell without her.
But she’s back, and that’s what matters.
“Before you say anything else,” I tell her. “I want you to realize something.” I kiss the top of her head. “You are good for us. You make us better. Hell, I hadn’t sewed in years until you came along. But you stepped into my life, and suddenly, I wanted more out of it.”
She sighs in my hold.
“I can’t speak for my packmates, but I see it in them. Ryland has never been this happy, and Rowan has never been this creative before. You bring goodness into our lives. You never have to doubt that again, sweetheart.”
She moves her face from my chest and looks up at me, her eyes watery and red. “I’m not going anywhere,” she vows. “As long as you still want me.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Then, I lean in and kiss her.
She gasps against my lips and kisses me back, wrapping her arms around my neck and whimpering.
When we finally pull away, her pupils are wide, and her lips are parted.
“There are still going to be hard days,” she admits breathily.
“I know.”
“There may be days where I get stuck in my head.”
“Then I’ll be there to pull you out.”
The ghosts of her past may try and haunt her, but I’ll chase them away every time until she can face them down herself.
One day, she’ll stop torturing herself over things she can’t control.
But until then, I’ll love her through it.
She grins at me, her eyes sparkling instead of dull.
“You want to go put some of the hats I knit on the kittens?” I ask her, and she laughs.
“Never thought I’d hear you say those words, but yes. I want to post them on our social media accounts.”
She sniffles as I wipe a tear from her cheek.
“Then let’s go photograph some kittens,” I say.
She takes my hand and leads me outside the clinic and back to the rescue, and I can’t stop the ridiculous grin that spreads across my face as she does it.
But right before we enter the front door, Blair freezes and grips my hand.
Her scent sours, and I’m confused as to why until the person standing in front of the door speaks.
“I was wondering if I would find you here,” the woman says.
Blair has turned white as a ghost.
I don’t know who this person is, but I want to get her the fuck away from Blair.
“Hello, Annette,” Blair says.