Chapter 25 Garrick
GARRICK
Four AM. My hands know the rhythm before my brain wakes. Flour. Water. Salt. Yeast. The sourdough starter bubbles in its jar. Alive and hungry after last night's feeding.
Kitchen's dark except for one lamp over my worktop. Storm continues outside. Wind screaming against windows. Trying to claw its way inside. Snow piles against the glass. Blocking half the view. We're buried. No one's going anywhere.
Upstairs, Violet sleeps. Or she was an hour ago when I checked. Xaden's with her. Locked by his knot. Both unconscious after what happened. Her body finally resting between heat waves.
My chest tightens thinking about it. The sounds she made. How she smelled. Xaden's expression when the bond snapped into place.
One down. Two to go.
I punch the dough harder than necessary. Flour poofs up in a white cloud. Coating my already-dusty hands. The physical work helps. Kneading means I can think about gluten development instead of the omega upstairs who now carries pack scent. Xaden and vanilla and home.
The bite mark on her throat will be permanent. Left side. Right where her pulse beats strongest. Everyone will know she's claimed. Protected.
Mine too. Eventually. If she wants me after.
The thought makes my hands pause in the dough.
What if she doesn't? What if Xaden's enough? He's got that controlled intensity. That tactical mind that makes people trust him. Military background. Knows how to handle complicated situations without fumbling.
What do I have? Flour under my fingernails. A failed engagement.
Rebecca's voice echoes. "You really thought I'd stay here forever? Playing house with a baker?"
I shake it off. Focus on the dough. The dough doesn't lie. Doesn't leave. Give it time and care and it becomes something good.
Unlike fiancées who disappear three hours before their wedding.
The cinnamon rolls proof when I hear movement upstairs. Soft sounds. A door opening. Water running in pipes.
Liam, probably. Checking on Violet while Xaden's knotted.
I glance at the tray I've been preparing.
Two thermoses of coffee. Black for Xaden.
French toast keeping warm in the oven. Scrambled eggs with cheese.
Bacon crispy like Violet mentioned liking when she thought I wasn't paying attention.
Orange juice. Water. Painkillers because heat cycles brutalize the body.
Blueberry muffins because she looked at them yesterday with want in her eyes but didn't buy any. Said she was saving money.
Not anymore. Everything I make becomes hers now. If she wants it.
The thought feels possessive. Premature. She hasn't chosen me yet.
Might not choose me at all.
I load the tray. Balance carefully. The stairs creak under my weight. Same spots they always do. Third step. Seventh. The one at the top that groans like it's personally offended.
Her door sits cracked open. I knock anyway. Two sharp raps. Anything gentler feels wrong.
"Come in." Liam's voice. Rough from sleep or stress or both.
I push inside.
The apartment smells like pack and sex and omega in heat. Thick enough to choke on. My alpha sits up immediately. Flooding my system with want so sharp it borders on pain.
Control. Need control.
Violet's nest occupies the couch. Exactly where she built it last night. Blankets and pillows arranged with desperate precision. Our shirts woven throughout. Xaden stretches out in the middle. Shirtless. Locked inside her based on how he's positioned.
Violet curls against his chest. Wearing his t-shirt now. Black fabric drowning her curves. Hair tangled wildly. Dark strands everywhere. The bite mark on her throat shows vivid red. Already bruising around the edges.
Claimed. Bonded. His.
Something in my chest cracks.
"Brought food." Voice comes out rougher than intended. "Water. Coffee if anyone wants it."
"Thanks." Liam sits on the floor beside the couch. Back against the wall. Exhausted. Eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep. His chamomile scent carries stress notes. Sharp and medicinal. "How long have you been up?"
"Usual time." Four AM. Same as every morning for a decade. "Dough doesn't care about storms or omega heats."
Violet stirs against Xaden's chest. Makes a soft sound. Her nose twitches. Eyes flutter open. Brown and hazy with sleep.
Those eyes find me. Lock on. I watch her pupils blow wide.
"Garrick." My name comes out rough. Needy. "You smell amazing."
Shit.
I'm covered in flour from baking. Same jeans and t-shirt I threw on at four. Both dusted white. Haven't showered. Probably reek like I've been working in a hot kitchen for hours.
But the way she's looking at me. Like I smell like heaven instead of sweat and yeast.
"Made breakfast." I set the tray on the coffee table. Try not to notice how her gaze tracks every movement. "French toast. Eggs. Bacon. You should eat."
"Not hungry." She pushes away from Xaden. Trying to sit up. He makes a sound of protest. Hands tighten on her hips.
"We're locked," he mutters. Voice thick with sleep. "Can't move yet."
"How long?" Violet asks. Squirms. The movement makes Xaden hiss through his teeth.
"Stop moving or you'll hurt yourself." Liam shifts to his knees. Doctor mode activated despite exhaustion. "Knots take twenty to forty minutes to recede. You're at maybe thirty based on timing."
"That's too long." She looks at me again. Want in her expression makes my mouth go dry. "I need him. Need Garrick."
"I'm right here." But I don't move closer. Can't. Not while she's locked with Xaden.
"Closer." Her hand reaches out. Grasping air. "Please. You're too far away."
Every instinct screams at me to go to her. Climb into that nest. Give her what she's asking for. But Xaden's inside her. Connected by biology I can't interrupt.
"Give it a few more minutes," Xaden says. Sounds strained. Like keeping motionless costs him. "It's going down. I can feel it."
"Don't want to wait." Violet's scent spikes. Vanilla and honey going richer. Sweeter. The smell of omega working herself up to another wave. "Need him now. Been smelling him for an hour. Drove me crazy lying here knowing he was downstairs."
"You could smell me?" The question slips out.
"Through the floorboards." Her gaze locks on mine. Intense enough to burn. "Bread and cinnamon and burnt sugar. Made me want to crawl out of this nest and find you."
The admission floods my system with heat. She was thinking about me. Wanting me. Even locked with Xaden. Bonded to him. She craved my scent.
"Almost there," Xaden says through gritted teeth. "Just... stay motionless. Please."
Violet whimpers. Actually whimpers like being stationary physically hurts her. "Can't. Have to move. Have to get to him."
"Violet." Liam uses his calm voice. The one that probably works on scared animals. "Breathe. You're okay. Garrick's not going anywhere."
"Promise?" She looks at me again. Vulnerability written across every line of her face.
"Not going anywhere." I mean it.
Xaden shifts carefully. Testing. "Okay. I think... yeah. I can pull out now."
The process proves careful. Gentle. Violet makes sounds of discomfort as he withdraws. Her body reluctant to release him. When he's finally free, she immediately rolls away. Scrambling out of the nest with none of her usual grace.
Two steps. Then her legs give out.
I catch her before she hits the floor. Arms coming around her automatically. Supporting her weight. She's burning up. Fever radiating through the thin t-shirt. Sweat dampens the fabric. Makes it cling to her curves.
"I've got you."
"I know." She buries her face in my chest. Breathing deep. "You always do. Always taking care of everyone."
The words hit harder than they should. Because that's what I do. Bake. Provide. Take care. All I know how to do.
All I'm good for.
Rebecca's voice again. "I need more than fresh bread and someone who'll always be there. I need excitement. Adventure. Not a baker who never leaves this town."
"Garrick." Violet pulls back enough to look at me. "Where'd you go? You got this look on your face like you're somewhere else."
I adjust my grip. Hold her more securely. "Nowhere. You should eat something. Then drink water. Heat cycles will dehydrate you."
"Don't want food." Her fingers find the hem of my t-shirt. Twisting in flour-dusty fabric. "Want you."
"You should eat first."
"After." She pulls at my shirt now. Trying to drag me toward her nest. "Please. I can smell you and it's making everything worse. Need you. So much I can't think about anything else."
Behind us, Xaden and Liam move. Giving us space. Letting this happen.
"Violet." I stop moving. Make her look at me. "You sure about this? Because Xaden's already bonded you. You have one alpha. Don't need two."
Her expression shifts. Confusion bleeds into something that might be hurt. "Don't need two? You think I'd ask for you if I didn't need you?"
"Need and want are different things. Heat makes you need any alpha. Doesn't mean you actually want me specifically." The words taste bitter.
"Are you serious right now?" She pulls away. Standing on shaky legs. Hands plant on her hips despite how she sways. "You think I'd ask for you, beg for you, if I didn't actually want you? Think my omega is that easy?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean? Because it sounds like you're looking for reasons why I shouldn't want you." She's worked up now. Scent spiking with agitation under the sweetness.
The accusation hits too close.
"Maybe I am. Because look at me, Violet. I'm a baker. Wake up at four AM to make bread. Reek of flour and yeast. Never been anywhere interesting. Never done anything worth mentioning."
"You run your own business. Feed this entire town. Created something from nothing."
"Rebecca didn't think it was enough." The name slips out. "Thought I was boring. Predictable. Not enough to keep around."
Understanding flashes across Violet's face. Then anger. "Rebecca was an idiot."