24. Xan
Chapter 24
F uck Fuck Fuck!!
What the actual fuck! Now we have to get the cops involved. Again!
I dropped Jacks and Candice off at the house and head back to the garage to confer with Gabe. He is, understandably, pissed. He texts Leo so we are all in the loop, and then we get back to work. There is still a lot of catching up to do, but I can tell he is pretty deep in thought. I know he wants to insist that Candice stay with us. We all want that, but we don’t want to push her into something that makes her uncomfortable. Now, of course, it’s a matter of safety, but I don’t know if she’ll see it that way or not.
All three bays are open today, and all three are full. Gabe is working on a bigger project–replacing a head gasket, and sometimes I have to step over to lend him a hand. Trey is mostly doing the basic stuff like oil changes and tire rotations, but he seems to be having a pretty off day himself. We end up having to delay pickup on a couple of bigger jobs so that we can get all the oil changes done by the end of the day, and Trey can’t even meet Gabe’s eyes as he apologizes–before clocking out and leaving at 5. That’s fine, it’s been a fucked up day all around, but I have hopes that tomorrow will be better. I'll try to talk to him if he still seems out of it. We’ve been piling too much on him lately, and we need to do better about that.
I hate that Candice is going through all this, but at the same time I’m super excited that she’ll be staying with us for a couple of days. Gabe and I stop at the clinic to pick up Leo, and I take a few minutes on the way home to fill them in on the full situation of what happened today. I gave Gabe a brief version earlier, but with being so backed up, and Trey around, I just wasn't comfortable going into too much detail.
We get home and Jacks has all the doors locked, which is a first since we moved here. But I don’t blame him for not wanting to take chances with Candice being here.
Jacks is in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, and it looks like a comfort food night of pot roast and mashed potatoes. He went all out and made bread too.
Damn, I’m gonna have to actually start working out if he keeps cooking like this.
Candice comes down the stairs, her iguana wrapped around her shoulder, her eyes are red and puffy. She goes straight to Leo and snuggles against his chest. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous. Leo folds her into his arms, and strokes her back, while Iggy scrambles up his shoulder .
“Hello, little friend, how are you doing?” He reaches up and scratches the iguana under the chin and its tail flicks back and forth, slapping Jacks in the face when he tries to hug Candice from behind. Jacks glares up at it, but then gives up and just drops to his knees, wrapping himself completely around Candice, burying his face against her back. Gabe is watching everything, a look of concentration on his grumpy mug–then he starts barking orders.
“Alright, here’s what's gonna happen. Candice, you’re gonna stay here for a few days, just to make sure you’re safe. Leo, can you call in late tomorrow?” Gabe looks at Leo who just nods, then he continues.
“Yes, good. Tomorrow Leo and Jacks’ll take you to the police department first thing to talk about the phone call you got today. I doubt they can or will do anything over one phone call, but better to get the ball rolling on it in case that fucker calls back.”
Candice is still sandwiched between Leo and Jacks, but she looks furious. “You can’t just tell me what to do Gabe, I have a life, I have work commitments I have to get done. I can’t uproot everything just because of some asshole.”
Gabe walks over to where her face is poking out from under Leo’s arm and squats down so he’s closer to eye level. “Little Omega, I know you don’t like this, and I know you think I’m bein’ an asshole, but I’m not gonna take a chance with your safety here. Jacks is a computer geek, he’ll take you home after you talk to the cops, and help you gather all the stuff you need to keep working. Xan can help him organize the office, or if we need to set up a different space for you to work, in the spare room…or if you need to swap spaces with one of us, we’ll do that. Just, whatever you need to be comfortable, alright?”
He reaches out to cup her face, “The point is, we want you here, we wanted you here before all this shit, and now I won’t be able to sleep unless I know you’re safe here, got it? We’ll get you whatever you need to work to make sure you can, but I need you safe, more than anything.”
She blinks up at him, eyes glassy with unshed tears. “But, I don’t want….”
“You don’t wanna be here?” He asks, swallowing hard. He turns an interesting shade of green, like he might throw up.
She rushes on, “No, no, I want to be here, but it just feels like you all are disrupting your whole lives to do this…I mean, I don’t want to fuck your lives up. Ok? I know you all have lives that don’t revolve around me, you have the garage, Leo has patients. I’m messing everything up and other people are counting on you. I don’t want to make things harder on everybody.”
Gabe drags her out from between Leo and Jacks, picking her up and carrying her over to the couch, cuddling her into his lap. Jacks gives him an irritated look, but goes back to the kitchen to finish getting dinner ready.
“Ok, first off, this isn’t your fault. You didn’t ask for this asshole to slash your tires, or break your car, or start callin’ you with his shit. So any issues that come up, are on him--not you. Second, like I said before, we want you here, we want you in that nest, we want to come home to you everyday. Hell, in case you haven’t noticed, Jacks is over the damned moon ‘cause he gets to feed you an’ take care of you right now.
I can try to hire more help at the garage if things don’t get better soon–if it comes to that. We own the fuckin’ thing, if we want to hire people to run it instead of working there, we will. Yes, Leo has patients, but they did just fine without him—and before we moved here—so if he can only go in to see the exotic pets, we'll work around that until this is sorted out.
You are our priority, Little Omega. I don’t rightly care about what happens to anybody outside of this room right now.” She is leaning into his chest now while he strokes her hair, her eyes sliding closed. I think that saying she’s emotionally exhausted would be an understatement at this point. I sit down next to Gabe, pulling her feet into my lap, and rubbing them through the fluffy purple socks.
“Yeah, we’re gonna need to hire some extra help anyway, Trey is looking worn out himself. Pretty sure the man needs a vacation. Hell, we could all use a little R&R.” Gabe nods to me, and I realize I just volunteered myself to be in charge of finding a couple of new mechanics…fuck.
Whatever, if it means I can spend more time here with Candice, I can do the extra work. I didn’t know how relaxing it would be just to hold her, touch her, but I know I’ve zoned out when Jacks comes over and bites me lightly on the neck.
“Dinner time, love. You ok?” I realize Gabe and Candice are no longer beside me on the couch .
Fuck…maybe I’m exhausted too.
I’ll deal with it tomorrow…tonight, food, snuggles, and sleep. In that order. I take Jacks’ hand to let him help pull me off the couch, and into a quick kiss before whispering into my ear, “Dibs on being the big spoon for my Little Lion, you can fight with Leo and Gabe for who gets her other side.” He grins like a shark and bolts from the room cackling like a madman.
I mean, I knew he was a cuddle whore, but come on. That’s just not fair.
Leo
D inner was good, Jacks is an excellent cook, so I am not entirely surprised. It’s just that I don’t recall him bothering making comfort food before. Still, I’m not complaining.
Candice insists on helping him load the dishwasher while he hovers around, trying to figure out how to get her out of his kitchen without upsetting her. She looked like she was going to throttle Gabe earlier when he told her she would be staying with us for a few days. She’s just like a kitten, cute and cuddly but with sharp points on five ends.
Gabe asks Xan and me to join him in the living room. He wants us to help reconfigure the office to make space for her desk. Or we need to find an alternative area for her to work in if she doesn’t want to squeeze in with the rest of us. Xan suggested we build on another room, but that would take more time than we have at the moment. I suggest that we move the bed around in the spare room and put her desk and iguana there, so she can have her own private space. The truth is that Jacks set up her nest, but she doesn’t have a private room, and everyone needs their own space.
We agree to discuss it with her later–probably tomorrow, as we’re all worn down after the events of today. Unless my Kitten is amiable to any sort of bedtime activities, then I am sure we’ll all find the energy. Right now, however, she just looks shaky and tired.
Xan suggests we all relax on the couch with a movie.
Movie night has always been an affair, as none of us enjoy the same thing. Gabe always wants something with a lot of action and explosions. Xan enjoys mysteries, Jacks likes science fiction, and I prefer romantic comedy. There are a few that fit into multiple categories, but it is always a challenge finding something we can all agree on.
Apparently, Candice enjoys British comedies and anime. So, it comes as a surprise when she suggests a movie none of us have seen before with space traveling cowboys. Jacks makes popcorn, and Candice falls asleep in Gabe’s lap within fifteen minutes of the movie starting. Which was not really a surprise .
He attempts to carry her upstairs to her nest when the movie ends, but she wakes up and insists that she can do it herself. He still insists on walking behind her up the stairs in case she falls over in her half asleep state. Once in her nest she seems to forget we’re there, starting up a shower and peeling off her clothing while we’re still in the room. Jacks has already called “dibs” on snuggling next to her, and Xan can’t sleep unless he is touching Jacks, which leaves Gabe and me to throw rock-paper-scissors for who gets to sleep on her other side this evening.
While I appreciate and respect my pack leader, he always starts with rock, so it is hardly a competition before we are all relaxing comfortably in her nest, waiting for her to emerge from the shower.
Jacks is already asleep with Xan tucked around his back when she joins us in an oversized t-shirt. “Sorry, I usually sleep in nothing, but I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”
Xan’s head pops over Jacks’ shoulder. “Sleep in whatever you want, Pretty Lady, as long as you get some rest.”
He flops back, tugging Jacks tighter against his chest, and is snoring lightly before my little Kitten is able to settle between us, snuggling into my chest with an adorable omega purr. Gabe, mumbling about getting kicked in the face, settles at the top of the bed, hand stretched down so he can run his fingers through her hair.
I kiss the top of her head, breathing in the combined scents of my pack, her chocolate peppermint adding an extra comfort I hadn’t realized was missing. Within moments I fall into a peaceful sleep.
M y first appointment isn’t until 10:30, but I always wake up at 6:30. It drives Jacks crazy because he thinks he has to get up and make breakfast before work. I appreciate the effort, but I rarely feel like eating when I get up. Still, my internal alarm wakes me up, and for the first time in forever, I don’t feel like I need to get up and start the day. There is a tiny, soft omega snuggled up to my chest. Jacks is plastered to her back like a koala, and Xan is laying half on top of him with his arms wrapped around them both.
One of her hands is tucked to her chin, and her forehead is pressed against my chest. Both Jacks and Xan have a hand wrapped around her hips, their fingers entwined. Her other hand is over her head, using her bicep for a pillow, and Gabe is holding her wrist. They all still seem to be sound asleep, and while I rarely sleep in a puppy pile with my packmates, I can see that being in the nest together will be a regular occurrence for all of us. She already feels like our center, and she isn’t even officially a part of the pack. But I want her to be. Fuck, falling asleep near her, her scent mixing with ours, it gives me a sense of peace I didn’t even know I was missing. Like all is suddenly right with the world.
Of course that won’t happen until we get rid of the asshole that’s terrorizing her. She whines in her sleep and I look down to see my arms have tightened around her. I try to loosen them enough to keep her from being uncomfortable, but it’s difficult. I know she wants to take care of herself, but she doesn’t have to now. We want to take care of her. I’m unsure if it’s the scent match, some sort of alpha imperative, or just her, but I want to take care of her, feed her, give her everything she could want or need. And fall asleep like this, every night, wrapped around her.
Which is the only real problem I see, we might have to make a snuggle schedule to keep Jacks from “calling dibs” every night. Regardless, I would put up with that happily just to be close to her every day.
Bending my neck to kiss her hair, I rub my jaw against it. I love how she feels against me. When next I look down, her face tips back and she is looking up at me.
“Sorry I woke you up, Kitten. I can’t seem to hit snooze on my internal alarm.” I whisper as quietly as I can, reluctant to have her move, or wake up the rest of my pack. She blinks at me a few times, and presses her face back into my chest, tilting her hips back against Jack and stretching between us.
“So’kay, what time is it?” she mumbles sleepily against my skin.
“Probably shortly before seven.” I say stroking her hair. Her head snaps back, eyes narrowed on me .
“Hold up, are you saying I’ve gotten myself involved with a pack of morning people?” she huffs against my chin.
I try to bite back my laughter at how serious she suddenly is, but a muted chuckle escapes anyway.
“Nope, just me. Years of getting up too early for school, internships, and work have kind of conditioned me to be an early riser, whether I like it or not. The rest of the pack can sleep till at least 10 if nobody wakes them.” Running my hands up her shoulders, I gently squeeze the tight muscles in the back of her neck and her eyes lose focus.
That’s a handy trick
Her eyes close and she nuzzles against my chest. “Ok, but…can you just stay here and let me use you for a teddy bear, for a bit longer, please. You feel so good.”
The last few words are said as a mumble, and her lips moving against my skin send a shiver down my spine. I have to tilt my own hips back down to keep from grinding against her stomach, and soon she is drifting back to sleep.