Page 102 of Talk About… History

There was no holding back now. We belonged to each other and no one could come between that.

Arden

“Ithink our omega is going into heat,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. She was passed out on the bed upstairs while the guys prepared dinner.

Ford looked up and nodded. “We were just saying we thought the same thing. I’m not sure how she’s going to handle it, though. It doesn’t seem like heats are an easy topic. Especially right after that interview.”

“That’s likely what caused it,” Mason said. “She’s had stress after stress this week between interviews, her meeting with the mayor, and everything happening with Glenn.”

“That’s alright. We’ll help her through it, no matter what she needs,” I said, trying to ease their minds. We could handle this.

As her pack, we had to.

Mason nodded. “We’re officially a pack now. We’ve got her.”

“She won’t nest,” Cohen said with a sigh, “but I feel awful not having a specific space for this heat.”

“So, we make one,” Ford said as if it was that easy.

Maybe it was.

A nest didn’t have to be a small space, it could be whatever she needed. It was hers after all. I could even light a few of the candles Cohen had made of our blended scents for her.

“What about the family room?” I suggested. “We empty it out, push the couches into one corner, cozy it up, put somebody’s bed in there—or a couple beds—so we have a place to get her through it. Maybe a few of us can run to the store. We can also order some cozy rugs, extra blankets, extra pillows, the works. We’ll throw our stuff in there, too. Cozy, comfortable, but it’s a wide open space, right?”

“You know, when I first interviewed her, she talked about how she was worried that no pack would want her because she doesn’t nest. I don’t think we’re going to miss a thing,” I said.

Mason nodded in agreement. “Let’s do it. Our omega deserves her version of a nest,” he said. He was already dressed, so he put on his shoes and grabbed the keys. “Anybody coming with me?”

“Actually, I will,” Cohen said. “I think I’ve got a pretty good grip on her style, and she can always make it into something more later.”

Even if I didn’t admit it to them, I was still worried that she would freak out. We were essentially building her a nest, even if it was wide open. From what Hailey said, at the clinic she could barely sit on the cozy couches we had. I didn’t think my omega was averse to comfort, but I also didn’t want to trigger any trauma during a heat. She was already going to be vulnerable.

“Do we wake her up to eat?” Ford asked as he took over the rest of dinner prep.

“No,” I said. “Normally, we would during her heat, but right now I think she could use the rest to recover. We’ll feed her as soon as she’s up.”

“Okay, I’ll leave it in the oven to keep warm,” he said, turning it on low and sliding the skillet of fajitas and tortillas in. “We just went easy so it won’t ruin anything.”

“Good. I’m going to go ahead and put an order in for basic supplies.” I already had my phone out, tapping a grocery order and adding things in. “Any ideas?”

“Chocolate,” Cohen said. “I feel like chocolate is always necessary during heat. I would add some protein shakes in, because if we can’t get food down her, at least we can try those. They make some heat-specific protein shakes, too, that aren’t too bad.”

“That’s smart,” I praised, adding some to the cart. I hadn’t even thought of that. It was kind of nice having her other mates with different perspectives around. We balanced each other well.

Ford wasn’t all smiles and jokes. He had a caring side to him as well. I watched him with Cohen. He was a quiet dominant, allowing the beta to let go a bit. With her, he was sweet. I was curious to see how things continued to grow between them.

The sound of something hitting the floor had us both freezing. We shared a glance before racing up the stairs.

I didn’t expect to find Avery standing in the middle of the room, shaking, staring down at her phone like it had caught fire. But it was the voices coming out of the phone that sent icy fury through my veins.

“How dare you try to ruin our reputation with these drastic lies? You know damn well we never did any of this shit they’re accusing us of. You wanted everything we did to you. Fuck, you begged for it. How could you do this to us, Avery? Ruining our lives just because we cheated on you? Maybe if you were omega enough, that never would have happened.”

Ford grabbed the phone, stopping the voicemail before it could keep repeating. I pulled Avery into my arms, holding her tight.

“Avery, don’t you dare listen to that bullshit,” I said. “Those are desperate men facing the consequences of their actions. This is the first time in their pathetic lives that they’re going to face reality, and it’s going to be swift and harsh.”

“I… I…” she stuttered, trying to form words, her hand still shaking violently. Ford didn’t hesitate to crush her between us, both of us trying to rein in her fear and reassure her that she had nothing to worry about.

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