Chapter 11
Hailey
It’d been a day since Merrick kissed me, and I wasn’t even getting to enjoy it.
Migraines weren’t something I was used to. I’d had them maybe once or twice in my life, so suddenly getting them every day was absolutely debilitating. After getting the meds, I had crawled into my nest and spent the entire day there, just resting and taking periodic catnaps.
Sighing, I turned over, punching my pillow a few times in a desperate attempt to make it a little more comfortable, something I’d done a few times now.
Merrick had kissed me. Under any other circumstances, I would have been giddy over it. He was sweet, handsome, a big boy—and I liked them big. Only, something deep in my chest had stung afterward.
The kiss itself was amazing, the way we’d both zeroed in on each other and connected, the feeling of his large, rough hands on my face, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t right. I was bonded; my body was begging for a connection that it was so desperately missing.
Merrick… I’d always liked him. If I hadn’t been so damn stupid, we could have been more. We could’ve bonded.
I had so royally fucked things up because I’d let my damn pussy lead instead of my brain. Except… I’d felt so compelled by Preston. I was drawn to him too. God, I was starting to understand what Alice had said about juggling alphas.
Ugh.
The sound of the handle rattling made me still, my groggy attention shooting that direction.
I sat up, I glanced around. There was no mistaking the sound of my door opening, despite the pounding in my head. I reached over to the side of my nest and grabbed the baseball bat I kept there for emergencies.
It’d been a joke gift from my coworkers when I first rented my apartment, but it’d actually come in handy several times.
As quietly as I could, I slid out of the nest, holding the baseball bat with white knuckles, primed and ready to hit. I’d locked my door and engaged the deadbolt. No one should’ve been able to enter my space without me knowing.
Maybe I needed to invest in security cameras or a guard dog. I knew Merrick would agree. He’d mentioned it several times.
My heart hammered, and my ears began to ring as I slowly, with gentle, soft steps, made my way toward the entrance to my apartment. My vision swam, and it wasn’t due to stress. The sickness pulled on me like a sack of bricks, and even the weight of the bat in my hands felt monumental.
The apartment was bathed in darkness, but as I inched into the living room, I could make out the outline of someone wearing a black shirt and a hoodie, entering cautiously.
I didn’t think—I simply swung.
“Wrong apartment, motherfucker,” I growled as I launched myself at the intruder.
The bat made an impressive cracking sound as it collided with his skull. In the dim moonlight, I could see his form hit the ground, but I didn’t give him a moment of reprieve, pulling the bat back and swinging straight for his crown jewels.
“What the fuck?” the guy cried in a muffled, pained voice.
“Whoa, vicious little thing. There’s no need to do that,” another voice said as a hand reached out and grabbed the bat.
There was a second man in my apartment.
One who smelled like paper and old books. An alpha who smelled far too good.
Fuck.
“Get the hell out of my apartment,” I growled, but my voice was weak and thready, somewhat ruining the effect.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Preston sent us,” the one on the floor groaned, and I raised a brow at the sound of his strained voice.
“Preston?” I asked, confused but still yanking the bat to swing once again, nearly hitting myself in the face in the process.
The one who wasn’t on the floor stepped back and flicked the lights on. Brightness illuminated the apartment, making me squint and blink several times, before I could finally get a good look at the two strangers in my space.
Standing by the lights was a tall man who was undeniably an alpha. Even from this distance, I could smell the rustic, papery scent that clung to him. It was delicious and somehow familiar, even though I couldn’t recall ever smelling him before.
He had dark hair cropped close to his head and a smattering of facial hair, which upped the roguish appeal. His bright blue eyes were staring at me in wonder. And even more telling, a cocky smile graced his face, even though I was holding a bat poised and ready to hit him.
There was no doubt about it. They were both alphas.
On the floor, the one I’d given a good beating to was sitting up, holding his head, grimacing and grumbling as he looked at me through squinted eyes. In the stark light, I could make out all his features. Shaggy hair that was some sort of mix between blond and brown hung to his chin.
Despite the fact that I’d just hit him hard with a baseball bat, he was also staring at me with a crooked smirk painted on his face.
“You look far too happy for someone I just assaulted,” I said, glaring and cocking a brow.
“Oh, I am happy. I’m happy because you’re our mate.” He continued grinning at me dopily. Up close I got a lungful of his scent—salt and caramel. Sweet with that sharp edge that made my omega perk up in a way she hadn’t since meeting Preston.
“It could also be the concussion,” the other one added ruefully.
“Okay, who the fuck are you two? Explain why the hell you’re here, or I’m going to hit you again.” I lifted the bat higher.
The dark-haired one held his hands up in surrender. “My name is Nolan. Sorry to just barge in, but when we learned of the situation, we thought we’d better get here, ASAP.”
“I’m not your mate.” I scowled at the one by the door, lifting the bat higher. “You’re hallucinating, just like your friend.”
Nolan shook his head. “No, we’re pack mates with Preston.”
All the fight drained out of me, and the bat fell to the floor. “What? He… I had no idea he had a pack.”
“Yeah, Preston fucked a lot of things up that night,” the alpha on the floor said. “I’m Wilder, by the way. Mean swing you got there.”
“Yeah, we got news that he’s feeling pretty shitty at the moment, so we can only imagine how bad it is for you. We got here as soon as we could,” Nolan explained, looking at his pack mate on the floor. “And yeah, your self-defense is quite impressive.”
“How can I be sure you are who you say you are?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at them. “Normal people would knock.”
“Well, considering we came here as fast as possible, we weren’t going to wait until morning. We had no idea if you were sick. Preston only just reached out to us. Judging by the way you look right now, you couldn’t wait till morning, either,” Nolan said, his eyes trailing over me.
“Yes, well, that’s your stupid pack mate’s fault,” I growled.
“He is incredibly stupid, but we do know of something that could help reduce your symptoms,” Wilder said as he stood up, shaking his head like he was flicking off droplets of ache.
“I’ve been looking into medicated ways to reduce it,” I admitted, shaking my head.
The throbbing at the base of my skull was getting worse as I stood there, though, and having a conversation so soon after being rudely awoken was not helping.
“That’s completely your right,” Nolan agreed as he moved forward, swiftly but gently cupping my elbow to steady me.
Part of me wanted to recoil, but I didn’t have the energy.
“But there are some less invasive things we can try first.” He raised a brow at me, the corner of his mouth lifting
“What do you mean?” I asked weakly.
“Even though we’re not bonded, per se, we’re still technically pack. And that can be useful right now.” Wilder stepped closer, locking eyes with me. “Now, how do we smell to you?”
Unable to help, I breathed in again, his scent swirling through my nose.
“Annoyingly good,” I grumbled.
Now that he was closer, I could catch his scent much better. Wilder’s innate cologne was a heavily salted, almost burned caramel.
It was delicious and made me want to…lick him like I was trying to clean a candy apple in two seconds flat, but I resisted.
A dazzling smile spread across his face. “Well, you smell absolutely divine to us as well.”
“So what is this solution?” I asked, sinking onto the sofa a few feet behind me, unable to stand. “I refuse to be knotted by a stranger again, because it ended real damn badly last time.”
“Even though that would help”—Nolan tipped his chin down, stepping closer to Wilder—“we’re not going to ask that of you. Just being close to us should help reduce the symptoms.”
“Oh? And how do you know?” I wasn’t buying it.
“I’m a nurse,” Wilder offered plainly. “I’ve worked in a few clinics where they’ve done this sort of thing, so I know a lot about bonding health. Speaking of, what do you do? Preston didn’t exactly have time to tell us much about you.”
“I’m a paramedic,” I said.
They looked at each other, and Wilder grinned. “See? She’s absolutely perfect. Preston may be an asshole, but he’s got damn good taste. Nolan, here, is a lawyer.”
Without bothering to ask, he moved over to the couch and sat next to me, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me into his chest.
Realistically, I knew I should have fought the touch, but something about it made my body relax immediately. The stress and tension that’d been seizing my muscles for days eased, and I nearly cried as the relief overwhelmed me.
His scent filled my lungs, and I wanted to bury my face into his chest to get an even better whiff, dimly wondering if it would provide even more comfort.
“Let us help you,” he said in a soft voice, his thumb stroking up and down my arm. “We’re here to help. Promise.”
“Who said I need your help?” I asked grumpily into his chest. “Also, how the hell do a nurse and a lawyer become pack mates with a convict?”
“The ‘how’ is a long story. As for you needing help, why don’t we phrase it like this? We’re here to help clean up the mess our stupid pack mate made. Will you let us do that?” Nolan asked softly, crouching down by the side of the sofa.
Wilder’s hand reached up to my hair and slowly started running over my scalp. The light scratching motion made my eyes roll back in pleasure, more of the persistent migraine fading into the background.
Head scratches were one of the most potent tools to use against an omega. And he was damn good at it.
“Did I hit you too hard?” I asked after a moment.
“Nah, I’ve got a hard head.” Wilder chuckled. “I’ll be fine. You really should put a sock on the bat though, then if a bad guy grabs it, you can pull it back and whack ‘em again!”
“Noted. There are painkillers in the medicine cabinet if you need them,” I muttered before sleep finally started to claim me.
Maybe this was all just a weird dream, and when I woke up, I’d be back in my nest. Maybe the separation sickness was finally driving me insane, and I was now hallucinating a pretend pack to the alpha who had bonded with me.
But right now, I didn’t care.