18. Levi
Levi
My Omega's in pre-heat.
The realization zips through my bones like an electrical current the longer I stand in Nash's kitchen pretending I'm focused on opening beers. Her scent fills my lungs, sawdust and citrus cleaner and sweet, heady vanilla.
I want her wrapped around me.
The storm rages outside while her scent makes me damn near dizzy with need. Soft tendrils of it make every instinct in my body sit up and take notice.
Mine.
The thought comes so fast it nearly pisses me off because she's not mine.
And I'm probably the worst Alpha in this entire damn town for even thinking it.
I'm not suited to being someone's Alpha, though.
I have nothing to give. Nothing to provide.
No home to make. No comfortable place to nest. No family to care for her.
It's just me, my tattoo shop, and an itching need for independence.
Nelly deserves better than that from her Alpha.
I lean back against Nash's counter and press the heels of my hands into my eyes while Beau helps Nelly organize her nest on the couch. She's kneeling in the middle of the cushions, surrounded by blankets and pillows, looking overwhelmed and frantic all at once. And beautiful.
Way too beautiful for her own good.
My body notices every inch of her.
I have to focus on something else before I snap. I force myself to take a pull from my beer. This is exactly why I've kept my distance from the people of this town for years, despite growing up here.
I don't commit to shit.
Not relationships. Not permanence. Not forever.
Hell, I can barely commit to buying matching socks.
Nelly deserves someone steady and safe. Someone who won't wake up one morning wondering if they're capable of being what an Omega actually needs.
She deserves someone who enjoys being part of this town, not someone who hides from it every chance he gets.
The worst part?
I've been researching this exact shit for days now, trying to figure out why she's only just affecting me this way.
Late at night when the tattoo shop's closed and my brain won't shut the hell up, I've pulled out my phone and Googled things like "late-onset scent matching" and "can an Alpha grow up around his Omega and not know it until later in life. "
I've found lots of things to explain why this is happening to me.
Stress hormones and how they throw off an Alpha's ability to scent match.
Delayed responses when an Alpha or an Omega grows up in a stressful home.
I even found studies on the matter. Alphas raised in abusive situations, their bodies and instincts chemically altered in the way they recognize things.
Turns out growing up getting the shit kicked out of you by your family can chemically screw with an Alpha's instincts.
Chronic fear suppresses hormone regulation, which in turn delays scent recognition. It explains how I didn't even know Nelly was my scent match until recently. And now, her scent grabs me by the throat every damn time she walks into a fucking room.
I glance toward Nash and find him staring at me with a confused look on his face.
Yeah.
This is going to become a problem.
Nash goes back to looking at Beau and Nelly as if he's trying not to chew through drywall. I don't know what's crawled up his ass and died, but something about the way Beau and Nelly interact with one another gets under his skin.
At least I'm not the only one struggling with something.
"Not that one," Nelly says from the couch as she snaps her finger and points. "That one over there. With the trim."
Beau immediately switches blankets. "This one?"
"No, the fuzzy one."
"This fuzzy one?"
"The other fuzzy one."
Nash drains half his beer in one pull. "I think she means the red one, Beau."
"Please," Nelly whines. "They feel different. I need the other one."
"Then the other one, you'll get," Beau says.
Nash slowly pans his gaze over toward me and I lift my beer in his general direction. He nods, and the scowl on his face makes me want to ask him all sorts of questions. Is he a scent match for her, too? Can Omegas even have more than one scent match?
I'll have to look that up when I lie down tonight.
Nelly suddenly freezes and looks toward the hallway. "Wait. My bags."
Nash perks up immediately. "You've got more nesting stuff in there?"
"Probably."
"I'll grab them."
Her head whips around so fast it startles even me. "Don't touch my shit."
Nash freezes mid-step and raises both hands in front of him. "I just want to—"
"Beau can get it," she says. "Beau?"
He looks between Nelly and Nash as he stands. "I'll get it. Which bag?"
"I've only got one. It's shoved under the bed in there. Thank you."
"Can't do anything right in my own fucking place," Nash mutters before tossing back the rest of his beer.
I snicker into mine.
Nelly points at him from the couch. "You rifle through people's things with your eyes already. I don't need you doing it physically."
Nash scoffs. "I was trying to help."
"You stress me out."
"All of this stresses me out."
"Children," Beau says tiredly as he comes back with the bag. "We're trying to nest here. Not create more stress."
I grin. "Honestly, you two fight like an old mated couple already."
Nelly gasps dramatically. "Being mated to Nash is probably akin to torture."
That gets a real reaction out of Nash. He straightens immediately, and something flashes across his face.
Uh oh.
She's pinched a nerve.
"Just because you don't have a clue how to let yourself be taken care of by people doesn't make me a bad Alpha," he snaps.
The apartment goes still. I hold my breath. Beau's focus is completely on Nelly while she blinks at Nash as if he's grown a second head.
But then, her chin lifts. "And just because you open your home to someone doesn't mean you're automatically nice. You've fined me three times over the years, remember?"
"Noise ordinances, Nelly. They exist for a reason. And I fined you the smallest amount I could."
"I was working, Nash."
"You were blasting music at eleven o'clock at night."
"For work."
"And what about the times I didn't fine you? There's the time you crawled through a window when—"
"I wanted to check the place out. No realtor had gotten their hands on it yet. The doors were locked—"
Nash throws one hand into the air. "That is literally what locked doors are for, Nelly! To keep people out! You're lucky it was me who drove by when your legs were wiggling out of the window and not one of my detectives!"
Her eyes narrow. "Well, you wouldn't know how to use a kind word if it slapped you in the face."
"Because you're too damn loud at night with your renovations," he growls back. "How in the world is that my fault? If you'd just stop the renovations at ten o'clock like the noise ordinance says, no one would have a problem."
"Oh, please—"
"And don't get me started on not being nice," he continues. "You won't even let me make sure you're safe every once in a while even though you're the liability under my roof."
The way Nelly recoils instantly tells me that the word "liability" landed badly. And to be fair, Nash looks like he wishes he could've swallowed the word back down. Even Beau side-eyes Nash before he moves, standing between the nesting Omega and the frustrated Alpha.
Though I think I understand why Nash is so frustrated.
I think he has a crush on Nelly.
"Nash, knock it off," Beau says, firm. "She's stressed out. Her hormones are all over the place and the storm's got her terrified. Stop making this worse because you don't know how to communicate without barking. She doesn't want your help. If she does, trust me, she'll ask."
My brows lift as I watch the entertaining scene unfold.
Well.
Didn't know the accountant had teeth.
Nash steps forward. "I'm trying to keep her safe."
"And she already knows that," Beau fires back. "You don't need to keep proving it every five seconds."
I can't help the grin that slides across my face as a wild thought crashes through my mind.
What a hell of a pack we'd make.
Then thunder explodes outside and a blinding flash of lightning tears through the windows as the entire apartment goes black.
"Fuck," Nash hisses. "Hold on, let me gather the flashlights."
Nelly whimpers, and the sound slices straight through me. Every instinct in my body locks onto her instantly. Her lovely, sweet scent morphs into something acrid and pointed, and it has me reaching for Nash's arm as he heads into the kitchen.
"Easy," I mutter.
"I'm fine," he hisses as he shakes me off.
Another boom rattles the windows.
"Beau?" Nelly asks softly into the darkness.
"I'm right here," he says.
A light clicks on to my left before another clicks on right behind it. Something gets pressed into my hand, and the weight of it tells me it's a flashlight.
"You have flashlights," I say.
"One in every room," Nash says.
I chuckle. "Of course you do."
Lightning flashes and lights up the place just long enough for me to see Beau settling back onto the couch with Nelly. She's curled into herself among the half-nested mess of fabrics, and I can hear her breathing shake.
"It's not finished," she whispers.
"Here," Nash says as another light clicks on. He hands it to Beau. "That should help."
"Thanks," Nelly whimpers.
That makes Nash pause. "It's not a problem, Nelly. I know you don't believe it, but you really are safe here."
Nelly and Nash stare off with one another before she starts moving erratically again. The nesting continues, and I just aim my flashlight toward the couch so she's got as much light as possible.
"Sorry," she whispers to no one in particular.
The sound makes my heart hurt.
No Omega should ever be sorry for trying to feel safe.
Especially not Nelly.
"Hey," I say from the kitchen. "You don't have to apologize for any of this, sweetheart. All right?"
The pet name slips right out of me. I didn't even think twice about it. Nelly looks over at me, perplexed, one eyebrow lifted in the darkness. Those beautiful eyes of hers, wide and uncertain. And as her gaze holds mine, my heart thuds hard against my sternum.
Oh, boy.
I'm so fucked.