Chapter 46
My fingers wouldn’t let go. I’d finished the mending I’d been neglecting, slowly completing the task over the couple of days we’d been home, but I couldn’t make myself add the garments to the washing machine.
Frustration built until a whine snuck out and Carter paused in the hall outside of the laundry room.
“Everything okay?”
“I need to wash these but my hands aren’t listening.”
He stepped up next to me, a concerned frown on his face. “Like a lingering concussion symptom or something else?”
“I don’t know. It feels wrong to wash them.”
Carter picked up one of the shirts, bringing it to his nose. “They were wearing these recently. Did you take your suppressants this morning?”
I shook my head. “Yesterday morning was my last dose.”
He snuggled closer, draping another of the shirts over my head but leaving my face free. The frustrated tension I’d been holding instantly melted out of my shoulders. “I think you might be nesting.”
“But…I’ve never done that before.”
Carter wrapped me up gently, cocooning me in the scent of our pack and his sweet peach. “In fairness, you never had a nest before coming here, so how could you practice nesting behaviors? It’s something we do when we feel secure approaching our heats.”
“But what do I do?” It felt silly to want to wrap myself up in the pack’s clothing, but I wanted it.
“Well, I think the first step will be arranging some childcare since we don’t know how quickly your heat is going to trigger or how intense it’s going to be as your first one with scent matches and a bondmate.”
A tendril of fear snaked through me. “They’ll take care of me, right?”
“We all will. Everyone will do what they can to make this a good experience for you. I come out of mine tired, but never hurt. They’re good at breaking the heat often enough to make sure everyone eats and drinks and can sleep for short stretches.”
I took a steadying breath, tugging one of the shirt sleeves up to my nose, breathing in Wyatt’s tart black currant woven into the fabric.
“Would you be more comfortable with my parents watching the kids or my brother and his pack? I’d suggest some of the pack’s family, but there’s not a lot of time for you and the kids to meet them beforehand.”
“Your parents, if they don’t mind. I’m still nervous about someone showing up at Riley’s looking for them.”
“Completely fair.” Carter picked up the basket of my recent mending. “Come on, let’s take these to your nest and then I’ll call my mom.”
I felt better with each step toward my nest, and strangely satisfied when I tucked each garment among the numerous blankets and pillows. I sat bundled up in all of it while Carter arranged everything for the kids.
“Okay,” he said after ending the call. “They’re heading out in a few minutes and bringing along two of their wranglers to take care of the horses while we’re busy and they can keep an eye on the property for us. How about we collect you some more nesting supplies?”
“How do I do that?”
“Basically you become a clothes thief. Anything you come across that you want, you just take it and put it in the nest.”
I tilted my head, trying to absorb his explanation. “They don’t mind having their stuff taken?”
“Hardly. If anything, it’s an ego boost.” When I continued staring at him, confused, he elaborated. “It’s an instinctual thing. Your heat is a really vulnerable time, so omegas collect items to help them feel secure. Alphas like knowing you trust them and that you crave their scent to feel safe.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
“Oh, another important question. Do you want to have your heat in your nest or my nest? I only really ask that because mine is set up with the kitchenette so no one has to go far, and trust me, you won’t want your alphas to be out of reach for long.”
I loved Carter’s nest, so I wasn’t really opposed to having my heat up there if the kids were going to be elsewhere. I would’ve been in his nest normally if I felt more comfortable having the kids on a separate floor. “I think I would be fine with your nest.”
“We can always have a double nest situation. I know some people like to have two anyway, so there’s one for family stuff and one for heat and pack time.”
“That seems really practical.”
“The most important part is that you’re as comfortable as possible for your first heat with us. Whatever you think will be better for that is what we’ll do. Do you want me to have my heat at the same time?”
“That’s something you can control?”
“Yes and no. I can skip my suppressant dose tonight, and whichever one of us goes into heat first will probably trigger the other, but if you don’t want me to and would rather the focus be entirely on you this time, then I can keep taking my suppressants.”
“But then you wouldn’t be able to bond me or Bryan.”
“I wouldn’t, no, but there would be other heats. I’ve had plenty of great ones. I’m most concerned with making sure that you start having them, too.”
I tucked myself into his arms, breathing deeply, catching all of the buttery spiced notes in his peach scent.
“Don’t take the suppressant. I want this to be something I share with you and I’ve waited a very long time to entwine our souls.
I know my next heat wouldn’t be far away, but I don’t want to wait. ”
He kissed me until I was squirmy, my body apparently already preparing for what was to come. “Let’s go steal some stuff from the alphas, then. Should we start with the guesthouse?”
“Yes, please.”
The kids were working on their lessons with Bryan at the table, Wyatt doing his own learning exercise with Nora and animal figurines to learn their names.
“Bry, we’re going to go borrow some of your stuff,” Carter announced as we passed.
“Um, sure, help yourselves.”
He didn’t know what we were going to take, but I appreciated the permission anyway.
I crawled straight onto his bed when we got in the guesthouse. His scent was muted here with how much time he had been spending with the rest of us. “Here would work great for a heat, too.”
“Actually, that’s a great idea if we had someone staying in the house to watch the kids. We don’t really have time to set up a space for anyone to stay this time, but it’s absolutely something we could look into for the future.”
“Nothing in here smells like Bryan,” I lamented.
“Alternatively,” Carter said with a grin, “pick out some stuff that you want him to get his scent on and bring that over. You can steal what he’s wearing right now and he can change into a new outfit, get his scent all over that one, and then we’ll steal that, too.”
I laughed at that, already reaching for some of his softest items. “I love this plan.”
With two armfuls of clothes, we went back to the main house, dragging Bryan away from the lesson temporarily. He looked utterly confused when we took him to my nest and I politely asked him to strip down and change for me.
My whole body tingled as he neatly folded each piece and stacked them before pulling on the new garments.
“Thank you.” I clutched the folded items to my chest, feeling absolutely giddy with my fabric treasures.
Wyatt and Colt mostly lived out of the upstairs nest, so rather than steal things out of their rarely used bedrooms, we had both of them go upstairs and change.
The jeans didn’t suit me at all, but I did take the T-shirts and flannels, bundling them away into Carter’s nest.
Now that I had opened the dam on these instincts, I itched to collect more. I went down to my nest, and Carter helped me drag every blanket and pillow off it, making a half dozen trips upstairs to deposit everything.
“I forgot another question.”
“Hmm?”
“Are you cool with the alphas fucking your ass if you ask for more while you’re knotted? It’s okay if not, I just want to be able to tell them what’s allowed.”
Hot, delicious curls of anticipatory pleasure twirled in my belly. “As long as they’re gentle. I can trust at this point that they’ll take care with it.”
“Oh, they will,” Carter promised with a wide grin. “I know from experience.”
Once I had crawled in and started arranging, Carter leaned on the edge of the bed with an indulgent smile. “You stay here, I’ll let the others know the plan, and we can get bags packed for the kids. Want me to send someone to you for cuddles?”
“I don’t want to bother—”
Carter cupped my cheeks. “Maisie, curling up with you is never going to be a bother for anyone in this house. I’ll send in Bryan since he’s your bondmate and we’ll bring the kids to say goodbye early in case you want to get frisky.
” He planted a quick kiss on my lips before I could dredge up any sort of protest, then dashed out of the room.
The pack returned a few minutes later with my children. Paisley wriggled her way under the blankets right next to me. Cody sat at my side, a little more reserved, and Nora climbed into my arms.
“Give Mama your hugs,” said Colt, “and then we’ll get all your stuff packed for your sleepover.”
“Are you not feeling good, Mama?” Paisley asked, throwing her little arms around my neck. “Do you need soup?”
“I’m okay, honey. I just need a few days of rest.”
“You had a whole month of rest,” Cody pointed out. “I thought you were better.”
“I am,” I said gently. “This is like when Mama got sick back home and I would have to go away for a few days.”
Cody turned an accusatory eye on the pack, moving to stand between me and them. “You can’t put her outside. It’s too cold.”
They all stared at him for a long moment before realizing what he thought they were going to do to me.
“No one is going outside,” Colt promised. “She’s going to stay inside and we’re going to take care of her until she feels better.”
Cody studied him before offering a decisive nod. “Good. She’s the best mama in the world and you have to be nice to her. She needs lots of naps and chicken soup.”
My heart squeezed at his declaration.
“We’ll make sure she gets both,” Colt said with a smile. “I promise we’ll take the best care of her. Get in some cuddles and when you’re done, we’ll get your sleepover bags packed.”