Chapter 5
T hank god that fucking long-assed day was over. My shift had gone two hours overtime, my scent blockers were wearing off, my feet ached, and I was hungry enough to eat an elephant. I parked in a lot outside our apartment and made my way upstairs, eager to park my ass on the couch and order a pizza all to myself.
All those dreams ground to a halt when I opened the door to a wall of burnt sugar omega distress. A crying pregnant woman sat on our couch, Luke was freaking out, Micah was hovering awkwardly, and a random alpha I didn’t know stared at me with his hackles up. Instinct and job training kicked into high gear.
“Everyone not an omega, get out of the way.”
I pushed the three of them aside and got to my knees in front of the sobbing omega. “Hey there, sweetness. My name is Jesse, I’m a paramedic, and it looks like you’re having a bit of a rough time. Do you mind if I check you over? Your distress scent is pretty potent and I’d like to make sure there’s nothing dangerous going on.”
She nodded, wiping at her sodden cheeks.
“What’s your name, sweetness?”
“Ava,” she said with a small hiccup.
“Micah, get my kit for me.”
My packmate moved into action immediately, fetching my overloaded first aid kit from the linen closet and setting it next to me.
“Do you have any conditions I should know about?”
Ava shook her head. “Just pregnant.”
She sat patiently while I took her temperature—normal—and then her blood pressure. It was a bit high, but not concerningly so. Her skin was impossibly soft as I shifted her hair so I could listen to her heart and breathing. What I actually wanted to do was gather her into my arms and purr until I got her heart rate under control.
“Do you trust any of these three to hold you right now?”
Her gaze flicked between the alphas hovering around us. “I barely know any of them.”
Interesting. How did she end up in our apartment if she didn’t know either of my packmates? I had sort of expected one of them to be the father, but it wasn’t sounding like that was the case.
“Fair enough. Would you be comfortable if I held you so we can get your heart rate calmed down?”
Ava hesitated for a moment before nodding. It was my lucky day. I sat next to her on the couch and pulled her onto my lap, tucking her head under my chin while I got my purr rumbling.
“Breathe for me. Put your hand on my chest and follow my breath. We’ll check your vitals again in a few minutes.”
Ava’s palm lay against my chest, the heat of her hand searing through the fabric. I made sure my breathing was exaggerated so she could match it, and I stroked a soothing hand down her back until her hiccuping and sobbing slowly melted away. The air was still heavily saturated with her distress, but whispers of her true scent lurked beneath that. Praline?
It was sweet and nutty, weaving its way through my senses. Instinct wanted me to put my teeth on her skin and claim her for myself. I tensed beneath her. I had never wanted to do that to someone before, certainly not someone that I was taking care of. I was pretty sure she was my scent match; that was the only explanation I could think of, but that wasn’t something either of us were prepared to deal with at this moment.
“Micah, can you get her a cup of ice? Luke, get her some juice. And whoever you are, I guess make yourself comfortable.”
“Bryce,” he said, introducing himself. “That’s my scent match you’re holding.”
Ava let out a squeak of distress, some of the burnt sugar sneaking back into her delicious praline.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Doesn’t sound like she likes that.”
“It’s complicated.”
“I’m sure,” I said flatly. I had heard that before. “Ava, would you like to go to a safe space right now? My room is all yours if you want it.”
She blinked at me with enormous hazel eyes. “I don’t want to steal your room.”
“You’re not stealing anything. I am more than happy to sleep out here tonight. My room has a lock. Consider it yours if you want it so you can rest.”
Ava whimpered and tucked herself back under my chin. “It’s been a really long day.”
“I bet.” I nuzzled my cheek against her hair, freezing when I caught myself scent marking her. Fuck. “Okay, let me check your vitals, make sure things have calmed down.”
Luke and Micah hovered with their juice and ice for her. I directed them with my eyes for them to set it down on a coffee table and set about checking over Ava once more.
My purr had done its job. Her blood pressure and heart rate were at a much more comfortable level. “Perfect. Let’s get you settled in.”
Ava didn’t protest a peep when I stood up with her in my arms, carried her down the hall to my bedroom, and set her on the edge of the bed.
I settled on my knees in front of her. “Sweetness, are you safe with Bryce? Do you need help?”
“I just met him today.”
My gaze slid down to her belly.
“Does the little one in there belong to anyone in this apartment?”
She shook her head.
“And where is the father?”
Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
“Okay.” I pulled her back onto my lap and got my purr going again for her. “We’re not going to talk about that today, then. The important thing is that you have a bed to sleep in and a roof over your head tonight. What are your thoughts on pizza?”
“I like pizza.” Her nose rooted against my neck, her inhale followed by a sigh. “You smell really nice. Kind of Christmas-y.”
“Roasted chestnuts.”
“That’s what it is,” she agreed. “I was trying to figure it out. Why don’t I feel as panicked about you being a scent match as I did with the others?”
“My scent is magic like that. It’s always been relaxing for people, and one of the reasons I went into being a paramedic.”
“Oh. Okay. I didn’t mean to cry all over everyone.”
“Don’t even worry about it. You’re keeping us all on our toes. Do you want to snuggle in and I’ll get your drinks and ice?”
She mumbled something I didn’t quite catch.
“What was that, sweetness?”
“Would you stay?” She said it so quietly I could barely make out the words. “This is the first time I’ve felt calm for hours. If I’m by myself, I’m going to overthink.”
“I can absolutely stay with you. Let me catch everyone up and get some food ordered. I’ll be right back,” I promised. “Feel free to climb under the blankets if you want.”
It went against every instinct to leave Ava alone even for a second, but I knew the others would be itching for information. They were all staring at me the second I came into view.
“How is she?” Bryce asked.
“Resting. Do you want to tell me why you’re here and why she got distressed when you said you were her scent match before I throw your ass over our balcony?”
Bryce poured out the whole sordid story about how he had accidentally blown the whistle on his coworker having an affair with Ava when she had no idea he was married. No wonder she was freaking the fuck out.
“All right, well, as long as you didn’t do any of the shitty behavior, I guess you can hang out. You’re not leaving with her, though. We can figure everything out in the morning. Give me your pizza order and I’ll put it in for delivery.”
With everyone’s preferences plugged into the app to supplement the food Luke had brought home, I took the cup of crunchy ice and glass of juice back to Ava. She was bundled up in my blankets, looking unfairly beautiful in her vulnerability.
I offered her a soft smile and held up both glasses. “I see you got comfy.”
“Your blankets are so soft.” She readjusted part of my quilt—a gift from my mom—over her shoulders and drew her knees up. Her smile was bright when she accepted the cup of ice, munching away happily. I didn’t know what the magic secret was, but ice in that perfect biteable texture was an anxiety buster.
“Do you need more blankets? I think we have a few extra in the linen closet.”
“Maybe one more?” Her eyes were so wide and hopeful, squeezing my heart with all the tenderness in them.
I fetched her another blanket as quickly as I could, draping it over her like the first one. She sipped the juice when I passed it over, her purr tentative and quiet, but there nonetheless. “What’s your favorite pizza?”
“Margherita.”
I added it to the order and paid for all of it before climbing onto the bed next to her. “How are you feeling?”
“A little better. I don’t think I’ll really feel okay for a long time, though.”
“Totally understandable. Bryce gave me a quick rundown of your situation. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to.”
“My mom is expecting me back when the weekend is over. I don’t know how I’m going to face her.” She crunched some of her ice and tucked herself even smaller.
“The most important thing is that you understand you didn’t do anything wrong in this situation. I hope your mother would understand that as well.”
Ava shrugged sadly and set her empty juice glass on the bedside table before wiggling down to curl on her side and stare at me with just her eyes peeking out of the blankets. “I don’t know if she will.”
I lifted my arm and Ava moved closer, letting me wrap around her blanket cocoon. “We’ll help you figure everything out.”
“You’re being so nice when you don’t even know me.”
“Sweetness, my entire job is helping people. I’d have to be completely heartless to not want to help you. Do you mind if I ask how you ended up with us? I know Luke brought you and Bryce here, but I’m still fuzzy on why.”
“Luke is friends with my brother,” she explained. “Or at least he was when they were kids. I don’t know the last time they talked. Luke moved away when I was sixteen, and this is the first time I’ve seen him since.”
The top of her cheeks flushed pink, her blush visible even as she ducked her face into the blankets. “Would I be totally off base in thinking that blush is because teenaged Ava had a thing for teenaged Luke?”
“Nothing ever happened. I was just his friend’s little sister.”
I stored that information away for later, fully intending to grill Luke about his history with Ava.
Her scent was strong and sweet, calling to me like a siren song. She didn’t need anyone pursuing things with her right now, but my instincts wanted to anyway. It made no sense that I would think Ava was mine, but the knowledge sat there anyway, floating like a neon sign above this adorable woman curled up in my bed.
The universe really had a sense of humor, dropping a scent match in my lap when she came with another scent match in tow that lived across the country, and another man’s baby in her belly. Ava hadn’t said anything about it, so I wasn’t going to either. She had enough on her plate.
Once she’d had time to heal, I could bring it up. Bryce obviously didn’t have that same idea. Maybe he would try to convince Ava to move to the East Coast with him. Something ancient in me rebelled at the mere thought of her going that far away. I wanted her to stay right here so I could learn everything about her after I’d squirreled her away into a nest and claimed her for myself.
When she was asleep, I would talk to Bryce. Scent matches had no rights based on who met an omega first, only about who was the first bond, but Ava certainly wasn’t going to go into a full heat for quite some time. If he wanted to take her away, he would have to get through me to do it.