27. Beau
Beau
The second Nash gets his hands on Nelly, the entire situation changes.
Not because the storm suddenly eases up and not because the accident becomes less serious. Not even because the world stops trying to drown itself.
But because Nelly finally stops fighting.
I notice it immediately. The way her body softens against him. The way her frantic energy drains away. The way she curls into his chest and simply lets him carry her. Even as a Beta, I recognize what's happening.
Her pre-heat is almost over.
And that's exactly why I don't like the distant look in her eyes.
"Sheriff!"
One of the deputies jogs over through the rain, but Nash doesn't stop walking.
"Handle the scene until EMS clears it," he says over his shoulder.
"Yes, sir."
Another deputy appears. "The grocery store flooding is getting worse."
Nash just nods. "Route public works there."
"But—"
Nash casts his deputy a look. "Do it."
The man immediately turns and runs to execute his orders, and not once does Nash break stride. His hold on Nelly stays firm while Levi and I flank him on both sides. Rain hammers us as the four of us make our way back up to Nash's place.
Nelly doesn't so much as flinch.
By the time we get her back to her nest, she looks half asleep. Like if we tried to set her down, she'd tip over like a sapling with no roots. It worries me, seeing her like this.
"You with us, Nels?" Levi asks.
Nelly smiles softly. "Barely. I'm really tired."
"Totally expected for pre-heat," Nash says as he tucks her in with some of her blankets.
A whimper peals from between her lips.
All three of us stiffen.
"Sorry," she rasps out.
I shake my head as I perch at her feet in her nest. "Nothing to be sorry about, Nelly. Can I get you anything?"
She whimpers again. "Nash?"
He drops down to his knee right at her head. "I'm right here, little one. What do you need?"
She looks at him with bleary, glassy eyes. "Thanks for bringing me to my nest."
I swear I see a faint smile on his face as he reaches out and smooths some hair away from her forehead. "Not a problem, Nelly. Really. I know you're struggling right now."
Her lower lip wobbles. "My heat is so close. I'm scared."
"Don't be," Levi says with a bit of a growl in his words. "No one's getting anywhere near you during your heat unless you want them there. You have my word on that."
All three of us slowly look over at him. His voice alone is a bit different, but his posture?
I glance at Nash. "You think…?"
Nash meets my eyes. "We'll deal with it as it comes."
"As what comes?" Nelly asks.
Levi's rut.
It's written all over his face.
"Your heat," Nash says, turning the subject back to her. "We'll deal with it as it comes."
She burrows into her nest. "I don't want to do my heat. It's not fair."
"I know," I say as I reach out and rub her leg through the blankets. "But you're not alone. We'll all help you through it, if you let us."
"Can't do it alone," Levi grunts. "Too much pain for an Omega."
"Levi?" she murmurs from beneath the blanket she's pulled over her head.
He practically trips over himself to stand. "Yes. What? Whatever it is, I can do it."
I glance at Nash and watch him watch Levi. We're in a precarious situation right now.
We have to step lightly.
"Please don't pin me down," she whimpers out. "I hate that."
Levi's face is pained. "Never. I would never do that to you. To anyone, but especially you."
"Especially?" I ask.
Levi shoots me a look. "I'm just saying, I won't."
I slowly nod as Nash casts me a look. I know he's worried. I can't smell what's happening to Levi, but the flaring of Nash's nostrils makes me wonder if Levi's rut is already producing a scent. I know Alphas are sometimes weird about that sort of thing.
But Nash doesn't seem concerned with getting Levi out of his place.
"You got everything you need, Nels?" Levi asks.
One of the blankets nods with her.
"You hungry?" Levi asks.
The blankets shake slowly side to side.
"Thirsty?" Levi asks.
He's trying to get out of the apartment. "Well, if she's not wanting anything, I could use something. Nash?"
He thumbs over his shoulder. "I have to get back out there."
"You need help out there?" Levi asks.
Nash looks at me and I nod my head, letting him silently know that I'm good here with Nelly. Then, he stands.
"Actually, yeah," Nash says as he turns toward the struggling Alpha. "And the guys could use some coffee. We'll head to the diner. You know that place never closes its doors."
"Worse than a Waffle House," I mutter with a grin.
"So much money," Nelly whispers.
Levi snaps his head toward her. "What was that, Omega?"
She lets out another whimper as her scent perfumes the air. It's heavy, and thick. Syrupy with sweet vanilla. And man, if it's strong to my nose, that means…
A growl sounds from the other side of the room before Nash turns Levi toward the door. "Come on, you're on coffee duty with me. Let's go."
"Good idea," Levi practically snarls.
It isn't until Nash's apartment door clicks shut that I turn my attention back to Nelly.
"What was that you said?" I ask as I rub her back.
"The house," she says with a sniffle. "The floors are going to be ruined."
"Nelly—"
"The drywall alone. It'll—"
"Nelly," I say, cutting her off as softly as I can, "I know you're freaking out about how bad that house could be right now."
"What if I can't fix it?"
The question comes out so heartbreakingly small. "You can fix anything."
She draws in a broken breath. "What if the damage is worse than I can afford?"
"Everyone takes a loss in their business at some point. It's easier than you think to recover from, and you know I'll help you every step of the way."
She shudders. "What if I fall behind?"
"You have no hard-and-fast deadlines outside of the ones you set for yourself. We'll come up with an alternative schedule after your heat's passed."
"What if I can't sell it?"
"You will. Of that, I have no doubt."
"But what if I can't? What do I do, then?"
"You rent it out to recoup what you put into it and try during a better market to sell it."
She starts openly crying, and the sound shatters something inside of me.
"The timeline's ruined," she blubbers out. "Everything is ruined, Beau. The timeline's ruined. The project's ruined. My budget is ruined. And if I lose money on this one, then the next project gets delayed and then everything gets delayed and I have to take out loans and—"
The pet name comes from out of nowhere. "Sweetheart."
Her broken breaths are all I hear as she peeks one puffy, red eye out from beneath her blanket.
I reach out and brush the wetness off her cheek. "You don't know any of that is going to happen."
"But—"
I shake my head. "No buts. Your hormones are running away with you right now.
I know you're frightened. I know you're vulnerable.
But I'm not allowing anything to happen to you, or that house, okay?
I've always helped you figure things out with your projects.
It's why I'm your accountant. We'll figure this one out, too.
It's not the first storm season we've battled.
It's just the first with a project in the works. "
She sniffles. "Promise?"
I chuckle softly as I smooth my hand over her blanketed head. "I double promise. I'm not going to let you fail, Nelly. Not ever."
A renewed tear drips from her pretty little eye. "What if my family was right about me?"
There it is. "About what?"
She wipes at her eye and disappears beneath the blanket. "What if this isn't a sustainable life for an Omega?"
I know what she's really asking. I remember all of the fights she used to talk about back in high school.
How she'd come to school, very obviously crying on the walk there and trying to cover it up with laughter and smiles and eye drops.
How her family would hound her about being a proper Omega and finding herself a nice, strong Alpha to settle down and provide for her.
How she wanted more for herself than that.
It pains me to hear her doubt herself when she's come so far in her life.
"They weren't right, Nelly," I say with a shake of my head.
She laughs bitterly. "You don't know that."
"I do."
"How?"
"Because I've watched you succeed at what they thought you couldn't for years.
" She goes quiet, and I continue before she can argue.
"You love what you do, and I've had the pleasure of watching your business thrive basically from the very beginning.
You want to know why this house is hitting you so hard? "
She sniffles, and her nose sounds stuffy. "Why?"
"Because this is the first house you consider a failure.
Nelly, you've made bank on every project you've ever taken on.
Remember that three-month break you took two years ago just because you turned over that much money from the lake house?
You're outstanding at what you do. But this house is testing your patience, and so is the weather, and it's the first time you've dove into a project and felt overwhelmed.
That's all. It's new professional territory, but that doesn't mean we can't navigate it. "
Everything falls silent until her small voice pierces through it. "I need to tell you something," she says.
"Please don't be mad."
"Never."
Her breathing is shaky. "I slept with Nash."
A ghost of a smile ticks at my lips.
"Beau?" she asks.
"Yeah?"
"Are you mad?"
I just decide to throw it out there and see how she reacts. "Why would I be mad at you bonding with your pack?"
Her head pops up from the blankets immediately. "What?"
My smile grows a little. "Let's just say I'm not shocked it's happened."
She looks at me like I've grown a second head. "I don't have a pack, Beau."
"Are you sure?"
She scoffs. "I'm positive. I'm not pack material. Never have been, despite the kind of Omega my family tried to turn me into."
I shrug. "You've practically sent Levi into his rut. That basically means you're his scent match."
She sits up a little more. "I'm what!?"
My head falls back with laughter. "Nelly, did it ever occur to you that you're just… amazing in your own right?"
"No?"
I'd laugh if her answer weren't so small. I reach out and cup her cheek. "Well, you may not see it, but I've been watching it. The way both Nash and Levi want to be closer to you. How Nash has this aching need to keep you safe. How Levi can't stay away, no matter what he does."
She searches my eyes. "And you?"
I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "You know you always have me, Nelly."
Her eyes unfocus. "Pack?"
"It's not something we have to talk about now. But it is something I've been aware of for a few days."
She swallows hard. "Is that why Nash left with Levi? He's in rut?"
I tilt my head side to side. "He's… getting there, yeah."
"Why can't I smell it?"
I pause. "You don't smell him?"
She snickers. "I smell him everywhere he goes. He smells divine."
That makes me smile. "Yeah?"
She sighs heavily. "But I don't smell his rut or anything."
"You're pretty overwhelmed with your own hormones. I wouldn't be surprised if they were dulling other senses right now." My own vulnerability is scratching beneath my skin. "They'd make good Alphas for you, Nelly. If you ever chose to have a pack."
"What about you?"
I shrug. "I'm just a Beta, Nelly. I don't have a knot I can give you to help. But they do. They can give you protection and stability. You know they'd never hold you back from whatever it is you—"
"You don't think you give me protection and stability?"
"I think an Omega like you deserves—"
She presses herself upright, her hair disheveled as she looks at me through the cloud of it around her head.
"You don't think you could make an Omega happy? You make me happy. You've always made me happy."
I snicker. "I'm your friend, Nelly."
"And that means you can't be more with us or something?"
I'm running out of arguments. "I—"
"Look," she says as she shuffles in her nest, sliding her legs over the edge of the couch, "I know your family's done a number on you, Beau. But I need you to hear me when I say this: anyone would be lucky as fuck to have you as their partner. Especially in a pack."
Her words punch deep. "You think so?"
She leans forward. "I know so. Don't let your family convince you that you're lesser than because you're a Beta. If I didn't have a choice but to take a mark during this heat, I'd take yours first."
I almost can't breathe from her words. "You don't have to do anything you don't want."
She points at my face. "And that right there is why you provide protection and stability.
You're a Beta. You don't get lost in hormones the way Alphas and Omegas do.
In the right light, you provide more protection than even they do.
So don't you ever let me hear you doubting yourself like that again. Your family's full of bullsh—ah!"
The instant she doubles over, it pulls me out of my head.
"Ow," she whimpers.
"I gotcha, come on," I murmur as I scoop her up.
"It hurts. So bad. Beau?"
"You need a nice, hot bath."
"I'm not ready for my heat."
"I know."
"What if all of the Alphas in town come looking for me?"
"Nash and Levi would never let them get within a city block of this place."
"Oh my god," she groans, "these cramps fucking suck."
Even I can smell her slick filling the air.
I need to get her in a bath to help her calm down.
Because when Nash and Levi get back, it's going to be a whole different ball game.