Page 49 of Pack Plus Three

“Oh! Hi. You’re Nate, right?” she asked sweetly. “I'm Daisy.”

I nodded. That much I’d gathered from the fact that she was pregnant and in my house. It didn't take a genius to realize that she was the pregnant omega Jeremy had been obsessing over.

“I am. Why are you here?” I repeated my earlier question.

“Didn't Jeremy talk to you?” she asked, her brows furrowing in confusion. She winced slightly, and her hand flew to her stomach.

“He didn't talk to me. Are you okay?” I may have been annoyed, but I wasn't going to ignore a pregnant woman in pain in my house.

“Just kicks, nothing serious.” She waved off my concern. “Jeremy kind of invited me to stay,” she admitted, biting her lip.

“He what?” I asked. Surely, I was hallucinating? Jeremy knew my past. There was no way he would invite an omega to live under the same roof as us. My packmates could be pains in my ass, but they weren't heartless. Being around an omega would be a special kind of torture for me.

“I'm so sorry. I thought he had a conversation with you. I will get out of your hair. Erm...” She turned to look at what she was cooking. “I've just made some lasagna, so if you're hungry, please help yourself. It's the least I can do, considering I’ve invaded your home without you even knowing.” She started flitting around the kitchen, grabbing dish towels and cleaning up after herself. “As soon as Jeremy is back, I will get him to take me home. I think he ran to the store.”

“Isn't he at work?”

“No, he stayed home today after everything that happened. But I'm sure he'll be back any minute, and I will be out of your way. I am so sorry. I thought they cleared it with you before I stayed here last night. I never, ever would have agreed to stay here if I thought they hadn't told you.”

“You stayed here last night?” Where? What room did they put her in and why didn’t they warn me that there was an omega sleeping at my house? I had left my cell phone on the back seat of my car, so I couldn't even check to see if the idiots had gotten in touch with me. The omega—Daisy—seemed truly horrified that I wasn't kept up to date with the situation. She flitted around, grabbing dishes and putting them away, like she was desperate to get out of my way.

While I wanted her gone, part of me found her presence oddly comforting, even if she was running around like a chaotic little whirlwind. Several tendrils of her red curls had fallen out of the claw clip and were swinging wildly around her face as she moved around the kitchen.

“My home was kind of broken into. I, uh, live next door to the apartment Jeremy's fixing up. He insisted I stay here. Oh god, I feel so rude. I—agh!” Her babbling was cut off with a cry as she grabbed the steaming pan of lasagna with her bare hands.

Jumping into action, I strode forward, gently grabbing her waist and pulling her toward the sink. Flicking on the faucet, I waited until the water was running cool and held her hand under the stream. Her wrist felt ridiculously tiny and fragile in my hand, and a deep red welt was already emerging on her palm.

“Hold it under the water,” I instructed gently. My grip on her wrist was firm, so even if she wanted to, she couldn't remove the burned skin from the stream of water.

Since my eyes were locked on the injury, I didn't realize she was crying until I heard her sniffle and turned my head to see her eyes full of tears.

It was official. I was a colossal asshole.

“I'm sorry. I don't mean to cry. I'm just hormonal,” she said, using her free hand to wipe her tears furiously.

“It's my fault. I shouldn't have startled you.”

“That's not your fault at all. You didn't even know I was here to be startled!”

Footsteps thundered on the marble entryway as someone ran into the kitchen. Devon came to a skidding halt beside us, eyes wide. “What on earth happened? Are you okay, flower?”

Flower? He even had a pet name for her already?

“I'm fine,” Daisy insisted.

“You've been crying! And Nate is holding your hand under water. Did you burn yourself?”

“I accidentally grabbed the lasagna pan with my bare hand. It's no big deal. As soon as the pain lessens, I'll be on my way.” She gave me a reassuring look as she said the last part.

“Be on your way?” Devon asked with a frown.

“I'm hardly going to stay here. One of your pack members wasn't even aware!” she hissed at Devon, leveling him with a glare. I shouldn't have found that attractive, but watching her glare at my packmate just did something to me. Excitement. I was excited by her glare.

For three years, my heart had been a cold, dead husk. Incapable of feeling any true emotion. Thirty seconds with this omega, and I could feel the cold stone around my heart starting to crack.

I didn’t know what sort of voodoo she was working, but she needed to get out of my house.

“Only because Nate didn't answer his phone. He's fine with you staying. Or, at least, he will be,” Devon rushed to Daisy before turning to glare at me. “What the hell did you say to her?” he growled.

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