47. Artie
Artie
Ihold my breath as Mathan and I watch Orso carefully. He sits hunched over on a stool, elbows on the kitchen counter, his glare bouncing between us as we stand on the other side.
“The four of us have already slept together, Orso. I swear it won’t be any different!” Which obviously makes his glare focus just on me. So now I’m extra special.
Mathan slides his hand over the counter to cup Orso’s clenched fist. “Spending one heat with her doesn’t mean we’re suddenly going to pack up. I’m sure she’s said the same thing.”
“And it’s not like we’re asking you to bite her or anything!” I say.
“Well, I already fucking did, didn’t I?” Orso snaps.
Which I still got excited about. The scar on her wrist will hopefully be there forever, and I’m itching to taste it again. Everything was so messy and intense in her office that, by the time we were cooling down, I felt like the whole thing had rushed by.
Being with her in heat will be the same, especially if we all go into rut. Our blockers only last a day, and we take them every morning, so there’s a chance we’ll start rutting later tonight.
Reminding Orso that if we’re all acting on instinct, we won’t remember a lot of it anyway probably isn’t the best way to go. Especially because he’s so strict about our relationship with her.
I just need to keep pushing to make sure Bee and Orso fall in love for real, and then we’ll all be happy.
Besides, as soon as Orso spends a heat with her, I’m totally sure he’s going to bite her again.
There’s no way he doesn’t want her as part of our pack; he just won’t admit it.
He watched her obsessively when we were making love, and we can feel through the bond how possessive he is over her.
He was basically hovering over us like a claw machine, ready to grab me if I went too far.
Which is absolutely reasonable, but I wish he could trust me. Helping Bee when she had a meltdown definitely brought us back together, but I still need to tread so lightly that there aren’t even footprints on the thin ice I’m on.
“She’s not in heat yet, just tired. Why don’t you go and talk to her first?” Mathan says to him.
“I don’t know what to say yet. It feels rude to tell her I’m not sure if I want to fuck her when I literally fucked her an hour ago.”
“I’ll go!” I turn to Mathan with a grin. “Let me go talk to her. You know I can make her relax before Orso chats about his feelings and stuff.”
“Your version of relaxed is very different from ours, Artie,” Mathan replies.
“That’s okay! If I annoy her, then Orso can come to save the day.” I shoot Orso a wink, running off before they can stop me.
I zoom up the stairs, heading straight for Mathan’s pillow palace. Maybe I’m being selfish because I want extra snuggle time with her. Mathan and Orso are the ones who like ‘deep’ conversations about their feelings, so I’ll leave them to hash it out.
Mathan positioned his bed so you can see into the cavern of his fort right from the door, and I love easy access, but my heart drops as I step into the room. All I see is the yellow blanket and the big dent in the center, but no omega.
A quick scan and a sniff of the room, and she definitely isn’t here. My panic skyrockets instantly, and I hurl myself along the corridor and back down to the kitchen.
Mathan now has his arm around Orso’s shoulder as Orso nuzzles his neck. The two of them have their own history and love that I’ll never be part of, but I’m fine with that as long as they love me as much as they can. But none of that matters right now.
“She’s gone,” I shout, jumping down the last two steps. “Mathan, she’s not in your room!”
Orso bolts to his feet, his panic joining mine. “What the fuck do you mean?”
“Artie, the cottage isn’t that big, and we would have seen her leaving. She won’t have gone far,” Mathan says way too calmly.
“But what if she’s hurt herself? What if she needs us? What if she’s gone into heat!?” I gasp.
My chest is tight, my breathing is getting heavier, but Mathan is acting like everything’s fine.
“Mathan, our omega might have run away!”
“Stop being dramatic,” Orso growls. “There’s only one staircase in the house, and we were here the whole time. She’s probably just gone to the bathroom. If you’re so worried, go back up there and look for her.”
They need to take it more seriously. I’m the only one who cares.
I’ve been searching for an omega for so long that she can’t disappear now.
What if she’s rejected us and snuck away so she doesn’t have to face us?
Maybe her omega side is telling her she shouldn’t be with us, and she left to go somewhere better.
Even though our cottage is out of town, omegas do crazy stuff when they’re in heat.
As I sprint back up the stairs and reach the landing, I suck in a harsh breath because the bag with all the things from her nest is gone.
I choke, my hand against the wall as a wave of dizziness hits me. Mathan and Orso are sending me calming vibes through the bond, but I’m still freaking out.
I know I need to think about it logically, but I’m stuck in my head, and I won’t stop until I see her again.
All the doors in the corridor are open, and I stumble past Orso’s room, the office, our bathroom, pausing between Mathan’s room and the nest space. They call it a spare room, but we all know what it really is.
Orso and Mathan don’t go in there, but I like to when I’m feeling extra wistful. I just sit in the middle of the empty room and sigh a lot.
I’m about to step inside when a small moan and a waft of honey drift out from my bedroom.
Every single drop of tension dissolves, and a grin spreads across my face as I tiptoe toward it like a thief.
As soon as I peek through the doorway, my panic whooshes out of me. I instantly pour love into our bond to let my mates know I found her.
She’s curled up in my four-poster bed. I made sure it’s big enough for six, just in case more people ever join our pack.
And it’s a good decision, because she’s lying horizontally across it with her feet popped out over the edge, her nest bag lying below them.
It’s like she walked into my room and just toppled onto it.
Except she’s grabbed most of my duvet, and it’s gathered up in her arms. It’s proper feather-down, spikes and all, draped in a yellow bed set. Everything Mathan and I have is yellow or gold nowadays, like Bee’s hair and her honey scent.
Her face presses right into the duvet, shoulders rising and falling as she sleeps away, scenting my freshly cut grass with every breath.
I don’t know if she noticed the decoration that hangs on the wall above my pillows. Orso told me off for stealing the first aid box from the restaurant, but I wanted a memento of the day she opened up to us. And I sent them a new one straight away.
There’s a creak outside, and I look back to find Mathan and Orso looming over me.
“Told you she’d be fine,” Orso grunts, and Mathan gives me a gentle smile. The three of us watch her quietly, and I don’t want to move in case I ruin the moment.
I’ve been blessed by the heavens. This is the most amazing thing ever. It’s exactly what I’ve dreamed of my whole life. An omega who is totally obsessed with us—namely, me—and that we can adore completely.
“This just proves I’m her favorite,” I whisper to my mates.
Mathan ruffles my hair. “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have favorites. She said my bed was too soft, so she just went searching for the one that was the right fit.”
“Everything about you is soft and lovable,” I say. My fingers don’t touch as I wrap my arms around his stomach and give him a hug. “But that still means I’m perfect for her.”
“We all are, you idiot,” Orso growls as he pushes past us, stepping in close and scanning her to see if she’s hurt.
But it’s my room. So I should be the one she sees when she wakes up.
I snake forward, wiggling between Orso and Bee to climb onto the bed. I’m on all fours by her back, my face hovering over hers, dazzled by how freaking adorable she looks as she buries herself further into my duvet.
My plan is to curl up next to her so she’s warm and taken care of. But I have to execute it carefully so my beady-eyed mates don’t think I’m taking things too far.
“You can decide what you’re going to do after I get comfortable.” I chuck them a smirk over my shoulder.
I’m about to tip onto my side and snuggle in behind her, but there’s a small groan from under me. The duvet rustles as she twists onto her back, and we all hold our breaths.
She arches her shoulders and yawns softly just as her eyelids flutter.
“Hey, Bee,” I purr. “Sleep well?”
And that’s when her forehead slams into mine.