13. Candice
Chapter 13
J acks is an amazing cook. It felt a little weird having him feed me, but the little voice in my head enjoyed it, and kept talking about all the other things we would enjoy having him feed us. When I couldn’t eat another bite, the guys descended on my kitchen and finished everything off. I guess it's been a stressful day for all of us, but I was kind of hoping for some leftovers to use for dinner tonight.
Now I need to order more groceries–one more hit to the budget.
Aside from some small talk, me avoiding questions about my work–and Xan almost dying on my kitchen floor–it was surprisingly relaxing. Xan and Leo clean the kitchen after they eat, while Jacks wraps me in his arms and goes back to purring. He keeps running his fingers through my damp hair, detangling it gently, and it feels so good.
Why does everything with these alphas feel so good? Why am I so comfortable with them?
I admit, my experience with alphas is pretty limited. Grandpa was one, and I’m sure there were some in school, but my designation came in late, after I graduated. Which is how I managed to avoid going to an omega school, but after all the warnings he gave me, and my being alone for the last three years, I just don’t interact with anyone really.
I catch my eyes drooping and it takes tremendous effort to not just let go and sleep, but as much as my body is telling me everything is good, these are still strangers. Gabe is settled beside us, Leo is on the other end of the couch texting. Xan is leaning against my bookcases, his foot tapping up and down rapidly. When Gabe reaches over to touch my ankle, I jolt, and Jacks’ arms tighten around me.
“Candice, I’m real sorry, but we need to go. I still need to talk to you about your car, but this’s been strange…nice, but strange.” Gabe’s voice is soft, but I can feel Jacks’ arms contracting more as he slowly shifts away from him. “We were talkin’ earlier, and we wanted to ask if it would be alright…if you might be open to the possibility…”
“Oh dear God, man.” Leo interrupts. “Candice, I believe you may be our scent match, which I fully admit is incredibly rare, and we would like to know if you would be open to the possibility of exploring it with us. As such, we would like to ask your permission to formally court you. There, see how easy that was?” he looks pointedly at Gabe .
“Well, yeah, what he said, but we really do need to get back to work. Xan and I got a lot of appointments, and while Trey can handle most of the work, nobody can understand him when he answers the phones. And I’m gonna bet that Leo here has his own set of appointments he needs to get to, right?”
“Yes, well, I was just texting Stephanie to make sure everyone was covered for the moment. However, Freddy’s owner is coming in about 30 minutes, and I do need to be there to discuss aftercare from his surgery yesterday.” At my puzzled expression Leo continues, flustered. “After I looked at the scans on Sunny, I wanted to be there for you. Even though I was worried you would hate me for telling you what was going on. However, the problem was taken from my hands when an emergency came in, and since I am in charge of the exotic pets, I had to take care of it. Now the patient, Freddy, the monitor lizard, is ready to go home, but his owner needs discharge instructions.”
I read about monitors, much bigger and more aggressive than Iggy. But she was stunted anyway, so a lot of adult lizards were. Before I can voice any of this though, Jacks slides off the couch and is backing up towards the nest, still holding me tightly, one arm under my breasts while the other is pressed against my throat. My feet stumble slightly, not used to walking backwards, but he doesn’t let me fall. Just keeps me pressed firmly against his hard chest.
The room explodes in a flurry of growls. Gabe launching himself off the couch and advancing towards us, Xan yelling for Gabe to stop, and Leo trying to offer me reassurance while not getting between Gabe and Jacks.
Xan
F uck, this isn’t good. I need to stop Gabe from cornering Jacks. I know neither of them is thinking straight right now, but Jacks’ eyes are wild, and while I know he would never intentionally hurt Candice, I can’t be sure if he’s even seeing the same thing as the rest of us. My boy still blames himself for what happened to Janey, but I need him back in the now, not reliving that shit.
“You can’t have her, you said she was ours…you can’t take her away now!” Jacks is nearly yelling and I can see Candice’s chest rising and falling rapidly. It doesn’t look like he’s actually squeezing too hard, but if she starts to panic she could still hyperventilate, and if she passes out I know he is gonna completely lose his shit.
“Let her go, and step away. Now!” Gabe rarely uses his alpha bark, but clearly he thinks this situation calls for it. It’s not going to work on Jacks. I don’t know if it’s because he’s broken, or his alpha is just that strong, but I haven't ever seen a bark work on him.
A loud whine stops everyone in their tracks, along with a powerful burst of perfume–ah, well it doesn’t smell like she is afraid. No, Candice is wriggling against the hands that hold her, pressing back against Jacks’ chest, her hands coming up to stroke his arms, until they loosen and droop on their own.
“Please alpha,” it's a pleading breathy little whine.
Goddammit, I just got this fucking thing to go down.
She covers his hands with hers and moves them back up, one circling her throat and the other holding tight, pressed against the underside of her tits, and yeah, ok, now I’m just jealous.
“Alpha, nest, please, I need my nest.” Leo and Gabe both groan at the pleading in her voice, and Jacks is just staring down at the omega in his arms, eyes wide.
“Oh Shit…why didn’t I think of that?” Jacks steps forward and hands the pleading omega to Gabe.
“We can’t bring her home yet, we have to get her nest set up first.” He starts picking up all the fabric around the room, rubbing each piece over his face and neck before putting it back exactly where he got it, as if he doesn’t want to disturb her space. He marks the pillows, the blanket, and then leans down to rub along the back of the couch, before going into her nest and marking several of her pillows in there.
Candice looks dazed and glassy eyed. I can see the muscles in Gabe’s jaw flexing with how hard he is grinding his teeth .
When Jacks comes back, he looks around. Seemingly satisfied with a job well done, walks over to me and rubs his face over my hair as well as grabbing my ass. Lifting the Jeep keys out of my coveralls while I’m distracted, then he strides purposefully towards the front door. Meanwhile, Leo has taken a still dazed Candice from Gabes arms and set her gently on the couch, covering her in the scent marked blanket.
“Get some rest little one, we'll talk soon, ok?” Gabe stalks towards the door but is almost knocked aside by Jacks returning, picking up the iguana and rubbing it over his chin and neck and striding back out again after replacing it on its tank.
This, at least, finally snaps Candice out of her lust filled state.
“Did you just scent mark my fucking iguana!”
I can hear Jacks’ mad cackle, then, “Come on bitches, you got work, and I need to go shoppin!”