Page 15 of For What It's Worth

When Aidan finally calmed down, he stood and started stripping his bed. “You need pillows too?”

I nodded.

“And pray, tell, where are you making this definitely-not-a-nest fort?”

“In an empty room Jen showed me.”

“Jen?”

It took me a moment to realize why Aidan sounded confused. And then I realized I’d used Jenson’s nickname. My inner omega liked the familiarity, but my beta side was worried I had crossed an intimate line I had no plans to remain on. I started picking up all of Aidan’s pillows off the ground, pretending like I wasn’t emotionally conflicted.

“I wish I had a nickname,” Aidan said.

His melancholy tone caught my attention. I tried to meet his gaze, but he remained solely focused on stripping his bed. It felt like more than a simple wanting of a nickname. As if I had walked onto a sore spot for Aidan.

With the bed stripped and Aidan still holding some blankets, he nodded toward the door. “After you, Koda bear.”

I led the way to the nest, carefully opening the door and setting everything down before a ball of blankets hit me, almost knocking me over. I gaped at Aidan, who’d obviously thrown the blankets at me.

He laughed at his own actions, hunching over as he wiped the tears that spilled onto his cheeks.

My omega side soaked in his laughter like the sound was made specifically for her.

“I figured you wouldn’t want me to come in,” Aidan finally said. “To your fort building space, that is.”

A part of me wanted to tell him it was fine, but the other part—the one that came from pure instinct—hated the idea of an alpha in an unfished nest. I hadn’t realized until he said it that I would have freaked out if Aidan had walked in without permission. Despite my claims this wasn’t even a real nest. It looked like I was the only one believing that lie, but I was thankful for it.

“Thank you, Addie,” I said without looking up. My inner omega couldn’t stand the slight scent of Aidan’s sadness clinging to him. If he wanted a nickname so he felt just as intimate with me as Jen was, I easily obliged. After all, pleasing alphas was my inner omega’s sole purpose.

Turning, I started immediately on my nest, completely satisfied with all the scents. When I didn’t hear the door close, I added without looking up, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Addie’s laugh was the last thing I heard before the soft click.

Chapter Twelve

By the time I finished the nest, I was breathing hard and sweating. It was hard work to organize and decorate and create a comfortable nest with this large of a space. My inner omega demanded all the ground, sides, and even the overhead to be covered in alpha scent which made the nest look like a very big sleeping bag. Or a fort.

Most of the time my nests were burrow shaped. I got in by digging myself under the pillows and blankets. But this time I was able to make a pseudo roof because the space had the proper bottomed-out flooring. It worked more for comfort but for sex, the roof would have to come down. I could sit up when inside but standing or too much maneuvering would ruin it.

But I shouldn’t have been thinking of that.

Ideally, I would’ve had even more blankets and pillows to fill up the space, but my inner omega was content enough to let me rest.

Jenson was right. I felt calmer now than I had in … ever. The alpha pheromones didn’t smell of arousal, which meant I could take as many deep breaths as I wanted without getting turned on. Of course, I could’ve accidentally turned myself on by imagining or remembering. But I refused to do that.

Instead, I took my robe off, climbed in, and napped.

****

An annoying knocking sound forced me to wake up, but, gratefully, it finally stopped so I could fall back asleep.

“She’s not answering,” Aidan said, his voice muffled.

“She’s probably sleeping,” Jenson said. His voice was just as muffled but slightly annoyed.

“Yeah, with her face down and liable to suffocation.”

Aidan’s petulant tone had me smiling, attempting to shake off the last remains of sleep. It took only a moment to realize the males weren’t nearby and to remember where I was—in a nest, in an alpha pack’s house.

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