15. Hazel
Chapter 15
Hazel
I t didn’t take long for me to call Roman.
Everything hurt . I was taking my vitamins and drinking all the damn water, and yet, I still felt like a lightly animated corpse.
Whoever coined the term morning sickness deserved to never have comfy bedding. It wasn’t morning sickness; it was all-day sickness. And it wasn’t just a little bit of nausea—it was pounding headaches, dizziness, and a general feeling of death.
Rolling over in my nest, I pulled out my phone and looked at the time. Seb would still be traveling to the game. The last thing I wanted to do was disturb him. Our communication was still frosty, at best.
I had stupidly thought I could tough it out, but as I tried to sit up, the entire world spun, and I ended up curled up in the fetal position in my nest.
There was no way around it. I needed help.
With a groan, I threw a pillow to the side and held my phone close to my eyes, finding Roman’s contact.
He was technically the reason I was in this situation, so it was only fair that I called him to help me.
All the Kingswood pack had seemed eager to help me, but was that the case, or were they just talking out of their butts?
Then again, they had all looked after me so well during my heat. Despite my downright foul behavior, they had made sure I was fed and showered, all while keeping my desperate need for knots under control.
My chest burned slightly, and it wasn’t from being sick. It was the memory of them doting on me. Part of me desperately wanted to feel that cared for again. With them, I felt desired and wanted, but also cherished.
Which was surprising, considering they were three random hockey players, one I met at a party, and two who were surprise heat helpers.
Clicking on the contact, I listened to the phone ring for a few seconds while my stomach cramped violently with nausea.
“Hey, Duchess!” the familiar voice cried happily.
My own voice was a low moan. “Hey.”
“What’s wrong?” His voice went from playful to serious in a split second. “Are you okay?”
“No,” I admitted with a sob. “Seb’s away at a game, and I’m sick. Can’t even sit up on my own.”
“Shit, do we need to take you to the doctor?”
I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see it. “No. I just need help moving around and getting some food in me. This is common in pregnancy. I have it a bit worse than most other omegas, but this isn’t that unusual.”
“Fucking hell,” Roman said. “Give me twenty minutes, and we’ll be there, okay?”
“We?”
“Phillip and I are coming. Cormac is in class, but I’ll send him a text. I’m sure he’ll leave early to come help.”
“Don’t make him miss class!” I cried.
“You’re more important, Duchess,” Roman said simply. “Now, try and close your eyes and get some rest, and we will be there before you know it.”
“I’ll let my doorman know to let you right up. My door’s open,” I told him. Despite the fact I was already lying down, my vision was starting to swim.
“Okay, we’ll be there soon,” Roman assured me before hanging up.
A teeny tiny part of me felt guilty calling another alpha for help. I knew it would upset Sebastian, but I felt awful, and I wasn’t going to cut off my nose to spite my face.
Throwing my phone across my nest, I shoved my face into a pillow and tried to do the impossible and relax.
“Hey, Duchess,” a soft voice spoke as a hand gently rubbed along my back.
Cracking an eyelid open, my vision was filled with Roman. He was in my nest, next to me.
“Hey,” I groaned. I must have fallen asleep. “How long ago did I call you?”
“Thirty minutes ago,” another voice spoke from behind me. Turning, I saw Phillip standing at the edge of the nest, a bottle of vitamin water in hand. “We made a pit stop to get some supplies. How are you feeling?”
“Horrible.”
“Let’s sit you up so you can have a drink. You’re feeling a little warm,” Roman said, sliding an arm under my back and lifting me into a sitting position. My body felt so languid that I would have fallen back had he not slid behind me so I was between his legs, my back resting on his chest.
“You didn’t ask before coming to my nest. I should bite you for that,” I grumbled at Roman, who chuckled, his chest moving behind me as he did so.
“You can bite me anyday, Duchess. As far as I’m concerned, you are it for me.”
Even in my delirious state, I could tell that that statement was extreme. “You hardly know me.”
His chest moved behind me as he shrugged. “When you know, you know.”
“Why don’t you stop saying every thought that comes into your brain and help her drink?” Phillip said, handing the open bottle of vitamin water to me while he glared at Roman. “Take small sips. Have you managed to keep anything down yet today?”
I shook my head. “Not yet, but I have some saltine crackers in my bag. Those tend to help.”
“Why haven’t you eaten those yet?” Roman asked.
“Because that’s so far away. I didn’t want to leave my nest?” My answer was more of a question than a statement.
Phillip frowned, but he strode over to my bag, retrieving the crackers as I took an experimental sip of the water.
“This tastes good,” I admitted.
“Drink it all, you’re dehydrated.”
I grimaced. “I need to go slow, or I’ll bring it all back up in a few minutes.”
Phillip nodded and handed me the box of crackers. “Have you eaten anything that contained a vegetable recently?”
“I had chicken noodle soup like four days ago?” I said, cocking my head to the side as I sifted through my memories. Surely, I had eaten something green since then?
Phillip groaned quietly, closing his eyes, like he was struggling to comprehend how badly I had been taking care of myself. “I’m going to order you some salads. With a shit load of chicken and dressing and croutons for carbohydrates. Do you like salad that has fruit in it?”
I looked at him questioningly. Who on earth ate fruit in their salad?
“In his endeavor to be ultra healthy, Phillip has found some unique recipes over the years,” Roman laughed. “I’ve tried the salad with apples, and I’ve tried the salad with grapes, and both of them are actually quite good, much to my surprise.”
Phillip glared at his pack mate. “Getting you to simply try those salads was a nightmare.”
“I like what I like,” Roman declared, turning his nose up in the air haughtily.
“I’ve stopped trying with you, but Hazel’s pregnant and actually needs nutrients. She can’t eat like a five-year-old who’s got free rein of a snack cabinet, like you do.”
I bit my lip. That was how I usually ate. Snacking was just so much more fun than full meals. Roman and I were clearly kindred spirits in that regard.
Phillip sighed at my bashful face. “I’ll order us some food. You liked most of the dishes we had while you were in heat, didn’t you?”
I blushed at the reminder of my heat. “I think I did? I was honestly somewhat distracted when you were feeding me.”
A grin broke out on his face. “Oh, I remember well. I’ll figure out the food.”
“Thank you.”
Once I finished nibbling on my crackers, Roman took the opportunity to run his hands gently through my hair. The movement sent tingles down my neck and through my spine, instantly putting me at ease and making my body feel languid.
“Now, Duchess, I’m only saying this because I adore you, but you do smell somewhat ripe. When did you last take a shower?”
I grimaced. “It’s been a few days. I’m just so dizzy every time I stand, at the moment. I’m sorry you have to put up with that.”
“We can rectify that easily enough. How about I help you shower while Phillip changes the sheets?”
“Why do you get the fun job?” Phillip asked, looking up from his phone.
“Because, if memory serves, you got some one-on-one shower time with our beautiful Duchess when she was in heat. Correct me if I’m wrong?”
Phillip smirked. “Oh, no, you’re not wrong. It was a wonderful time. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it is your turn.”
“I’m sick. It’s not like we’re going to be doing any hanky panky,” I informed Roman, tilting my head up to look at him.
He beamed down at me.“Just seeing you naked and wet is rewarding enough!”
“You got into trouble a lot as a child, didn’t you?”
“I did not!” he cried.
“He totally did,” Phillip said, not even bothering to look up from his phone.
Roman sighed, his hand stopping its movements on my scalp, making me whine in sadness.
“Come on, let’s get you clean.”
For some reason, the idea of going in the shower with Roman didn’t stress me out. It should have. I had only spent a few days with this alpha, and most of those days had been in a heat haze.
But in that heat haze, he had taken care of me so well, as had all of his pack. If I had more energy and didn’t feel like the world was going to topple over every time I stood up, I probably would’ve been freaking out more.
Roman turned on the shower, keeping one steadying arm on me. Once the water was warm enough, he turned to me, a devilish grin on his face.
That smile hit me in the gut. What? Roman was a very handsome alpha, and he could have his pick of any omega, and yet, he was stuck with me.
“Your face just dropped. What’s wrong?” he asked, as he knelt at my feet, carefully taking my socks off as my hands rested on his shoulders.
“I guess I feel bad that you got stuck with me because of the pregnancy.”
He looked up at me with confusion on his face. “You really believe that, don’t you? Duchess, I’m not stuck with you. I am happy to be here. I was looking for you from the day you snuck out of our pack house. Pregnancy or not, I was going to find you. I was giving it another week or two, and then I was probably going to hire a private investigator.” He balled up my socks and tossed them into the laundry hamper in the corner of the room.
I frowned. Was he saying that because he meant it, or was he saying that because he didn’t want me to feel bad now that I was pregnant with his child?
“You mean that?” I asked, my voice small.
“I do,” he confirmed. “Now, let’s get you showered and in bed.”
“That sounds dirty.”
“As much as I would love for it to be dirty, I would much prefer that you feel a hell of a lot better before we do that .” As he spoke, he pulled me into his arms.
“So, you want to do that again?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Oh, I fully plan to have you coming on my knot when you feel better. I’ve thought of a million different ways and places I could knot you over the last few weeks. There’s a long list of locations at the pack house I want to explore.” He smirked at me.
Oh.
I cursed my unborn child for making me sick.
A few months pregnant, and they were already cockblocking me.