A Nest
Chapter fourteen
Vale had terrified me when he landed right in front of me, but then he'd scooped me into his arms and he was as gentle as he was fierce. Bounding up the stairs, he barely jounced me in his strong arms. Then we were in his room and I was shaking as he gently laid me in the middle of his bed.
Prepared for him to rip away the simple, translucent gown I wore, I lay very still.
But he didn't even touch me again. Instead, he grabbed the edges of the comforter and wrapped them around me, like I was a burrito.
Then he picked up another soft blanket from the foot of the bed and tucked it around me before running out of the room and returning with even more blankets and pillows that obscured his face until he dropped them on the bed and started to carefully arrange them around me.
I couldn't move much in my cozy wrap. This was so different than the one that the guard had wrapped me in. This was meant to be cozy and comforting.
Vale kept shifting things around, a frown on his face as he concentrated.
It gave me a chance to really study one of the alphas for the first time.
He was handsome, but thinner than the others I'd met.
His hair had been shaved on the sides, though it was now overgrown.
The top was a shaggy mess of bright pink.
He had dark eyeliner around his eyes and snakebite piercings.
He looked nothing like any other alpha I'd seen, but he was definitely attractive.
The scent of damp stone and birch drifted over me as the alpha worked to perfect something.
I thought he was building a nest and this was confirmed when he disappeared into the bathroom and brought back an armful of dirty shirts.
These were artfully tucked around me until his scent absolutely surrounded me.
"Good." He peered at the only part of me still visible, my face. "Good?"
"Good," I responded. And it was. I felt safer than I had in a very long time. Even in a house full of alphas who had just paid for me to be kidnapped. There wasn't a lot you could say to that, but I wasn't scared. In fact, I was getting really sleepy. My eyelids drooped.
Vale immediately noticed. "Wait. Food." His stilted manner of speaking seemed odd, but I could see he was struggling with something. His eyes were focused, but almost foggy, like he couldn't quite remember where he was. I was pulling his main focus.
A knock on the door sent him scrambling for it, growling the entire way.
"Let us in, Vale. She's the pack's omega, not just yours."
Vale didn't seem to care. He took the food, slammed the door in their faces, and locked it. Then he pranced back to the bed, looking downright proud of himself.
Eating was a bit awkward, since I had no access to my hands, but Vale propped me up on pillows and fed me bite by bite.
First, there was some tomato soup. It wasn't my favorite, but I was starving, so I slurped every spoonful down.
Then he fed me three strips of bacon, holding each one up for me to bite, before he held a glass of orange juice to my lips.
My stomach was filled to the brim when he tried to offer me some scrambled eggs. I took one bite to be polite, then shook my head at the next.
"I'm full, Vale. Thank you."
He hummed and frowned, but didn't press the matter, thank goodness. He took the food to the door and handed it out. I saw Zephyr's worried face peeking through at me.
"You good, Olivia?"
"Fine." I wasn't going to be nice to the man who had kidnapped me. Or rather, arranged my kidnapping.
"Scream if you need help," Kienan called from behind him.
I snorted at that. I'd needed help since my original pack had rejected me. Where had they been then?
"Vale. She's injured. Can I come in and help?" Zephyr held up some first aid items. When Vale reluctantly let him in, he quickly came to the foot of the bed and peeled back the blankets until he could see my feet.
"Hurt. Mate." Vale frowned, staring at my feet.
"She ran over gravel, trying to get away from us," Zephyr told him.
Vale snarled at him, but seemed to restrain himself, shaking with the effort.
"These look bad, Olivia. Does it hurt?"
"A little. I'm used to it."
"You shouldn't be used to pain." He carefully cleaned my feet, then applied antibiotic cream and wrapped them in bandages before retreating. "Let us know if you need anything else."
"Okay."
When the door was shut and locked, Vale came back over to the bed and climbed onto it, curling himself around the outside of the nest he'd created and throwing a heavy arm over me. It should have been terrifying, but it was the opposite.
Within minutes, I drifted into dreamland.
***
The sky outside the window was nearly dark when I woke from the best sleep I'd had in years. The pink-haired Vale was still lying beside me, but he was asleep now, his breaths lightly brushing my face. He looked much younger without the scowl on his face.
After admiring him for a moment, I realized that my bladder was completely full. Since I'd apparently slept the entire day, it was definitely time for a bathroom break.
I started to wriggle, trying to loosen the blanket around me. It finally came loose and I was able to push away the suddenly suffocating piles of pillows and blankets and clothes on top of me.
Vale shot upright, his eyes scanning the room as he searched for danger.
"It's okay, I just need the bathroom," I said softly.
"Shit, sorry." He blinked at me and frowned. "I don't remember much about… anything. Did I hurt you?"
"No. You made me a nest and fed me," I assured him.
Vale visibly relaxed and he ran a hand through his pink hair. "Good, good. Uh, the bathroom is right there. Feel free to shower if you want… I can find something for you to wear."
"Thanks." I got out of bed and hurried into the bathroom. I could hear Vale moving around and opening drawers in the other room as I peed and got into the shower.
I was nearly finished with my hair when the door cracked open. "Here are some clothes. And, what would you like to eat? Kienan's going to cook."
"Anything is fine." I watched him place the folded clothes on the floor and then he ducked out again.
Once I'd finished drying myself, I picked up the clothing.
There were pink panties, comfy cotton ones, a simple heather-gray t-shirt, a sports bra, and a pair of drawstring sweatpants in gray with pink stripes down the side.
Confused, I dressed, finding everything a bit big on me.
I left off the bra since it just sagged around my body, and focused on tying the drawstring tight enough that the pants didn't fall to the floor.
Finally, I was ready. I stepped out of the bathroom to find the bedroom empty. For a long moment, I waited to see if anyone would come in. The bed looked so tempting with its fragrant nest, but I could smell something delicious in the air, too.
Following my nose, I peeked out the bedroom door and then headed down the stairs hesitantly. I felt stronger now, probably because of the food Vale had fed me. Weird that he didn't remember it, but he'd also seemed like a totally different person when he'd woken up. Maybe he had dual personalities.
"Olivia!" Kienan looked up from the stove and grinned at me. "Come on in. We eat pretty informally around here, so grab a seat at the table."
Looking around, I saw that the kitchen opened into a space for a simple wooden dining table that was meant to hold six. Vale was already sitting there, a coffee in his hand. He jumped up and walked toward me, looking nervous.
"Do you want something to drink? Orange juice? Milk? Coffee or tea? I think we have iced tea, too."
"Just water, please," I told him. He nodded quickly, almost jerkily and hurried into the kitchen.
After a moment, I decided to sit with my back to the huge window overlooking the outside lawn, so I could see everyone entering the space.
Vale hustled back with my water and took his seat beside me, almost tentatively, like he thought I'd bite if he strayed too close.
The snarly alpha of last night was gone.
It was confusing. I didn't dare ask about it, though.
Not when the man beside me was so anxious and I had no idea how anyone would react in this household.
Zephyr appeared in the doorway a few minutes later, his sandalwood scent preceding him. He gave me a nod, went straight to the coffee pot and poured himself a giant cup of coffee before coming to sit across from me.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yes." I took a sip of my water and tried to focus on anything but the gloomy man in front of me. "Where did these clothes come from? Do you have another omega?"
I held my breath, worried that they might be replacing an existing omega. Or worse, what if they kidnapped omegas and then killed them? I could be wearing a dead woman's clothes. The thought made me shudder.
"Well, Kienan knew you were coming, so he bought some clothes for you. How do they fit?" Zephyr glanced down at my chest.
"A little big."
He just nodded, sipping his coffee and frowning at me.
"You're malnourished," Vale muttered. "Didn't they feed you?"
"They did, but I just got out of a month punishment."
His scowl deepened and even Zephyr looked irritated with that information.
"Dean, dinner!" Kienan bellowed out the kitchen doorway.
The sudden noise made me cower for a moment before I realized it wasn't dangerous. Kienan didn't notice, he was still staring up the stairs, but the other two alphas did.
"Keep it down, Kie," Zephyr snapped.
Vale reached out and put a calming hand on my arm. "He's loud, but mostly harmless."
I nodded, eyes on the table. It hadn't taken long to acclimatize to loud noises being bad. Now to unlearn that behavior before it made these new alphas angry. At least, for as long as it took for me to figure out an escape.