Page 123 of Lost
My hand runs through her curls as I feel her body relaxing, and I take a deep breath. I believe in fighting for what I want. It’s hard to wrap my head around that there are three people I want to bring into my life.
Maybe healing my bond bite and pack means helping Nova to heal as well. She’s had so many traumatic experiences, has panic attacks still and nightmares. I need to talk to my little queen about going to therapy. It would need to be someone that we can trust, and won’t spout designational bullshit about clinging to your pack to “fix” her.
I need to do some research before I bring it up to her so I can offer the information that I find. I don’t want to half ass things with Nova. This is too important.
Allowing my eyes to close, I drift off to sleep, the weight of my omega comforting me.
NOVA
“Tyde, what are you doing?” I laugh, watching him take a bolt of fabric I touched and hand it to the store associate.
“It’s a pretty color,” he says innocently. “Your eyes lit up when you saw it, and it’s the blue your eyes get when you?—”
My gaze warns him not to finish that statement and his lips curl mischievously. Glancing at the associate who is outside of earshot, I clear my throat.
“Can we not talk about the color of eyes when I come?” I hiss.
“You did that, not me. I was going to say that it’s the color of your eyes when you’re angry with me. This color. It’s sexy as fuck.”
I can’t help but shake my head, because I’m having so much fun. I don’t get to shop with other people very often. It’s nice not to be alone.
Tyde wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek as he pulls me tightly against his chest.
“You’re going to be sick of how not alone you are anymore,” he teases me.
I hope so. It’s been too many years of solitude that’s been self imposed. Tyde’s hand moves to the small of my back, and we begin walking through the store again.
“I have this itch to take up knitting again,” I muse. “I want to make a giant blanket. Maybe I should do the hand knitting technique though so I can pick it up whenever I’d like without having to search for my knitting needles.”
“My mother loves working with wool yarn,” Tyde says. “She and my dad live in Savannah now. She is constantly sayingthat I should come visit her, because she can’t handle this cold weather.”
“I can’t say whether you should or not because family dynamics are hard,” I say. “Do you like your mom?”
“I do, she’s great, and she doesn’t judge me when crazy things fly out of my mouth. My dad is stricter, and we often argue,” Tyde says with a shrug. “It was a blessing when I went to college and then pretty much became a professional student while getting my degree. My dad was in the military before he went into a branch of the family business of pharmaceuticals, which means that respecting my elders was important to him, even when they needed to be checked.”
“Being older doesn’t necessarily make you wiser,” I shrug. “It doesn’t even make you a better person. I’m a little jaded in that respect.”
“I think you’ve earned that right,” he says quietly, picking up a bulky navy blue wool. “Is this a good type of wool for a blanket?”
“It is for a weighted blanket feel,” I say, taking it from him. Glancing at the price, I wrinkle my nose. “That can’t be right.”
“I’m treating today,” he reminds me. “How much of this yarn do you need to make our pack a blanket the size of our bed?”
The way he says so nonchalantly makes me emotional and I have to swallow several times before I can give him a number. He barely blinks as he grabs a basket and begins dropping skeins of yarn into it.
“That’s going to cost a fortune,” I breathe.
“I don’t care,” he grunts. “My wealth sits unless I’m donating to a charity, Nova. I don’t work for the money, it’s because I really do enjoy practicing medicine. I want to spoil you rotten.”
Deciding to let this happen and not fight it, I finally nod. I’m still careful about what I touch or show interest in, but in the endit doesn’t matter. I can’t hide from Tyde, not when he can read my mind through the bond.
There are stacks of fabric and other materials at the register by the time we return, and I side-eye Tyde with a smirk.
“I’ll store whatever you’re not going to immediately use,” he chuckles. “There will be no room for you in your house if you keep it all there.”
Picking up all the bags, he walks out to his car with me and finds a way to make it all fit.
“I only had enough space because most of it lays flat,” he chuckles. “I’m going to shop for a new car with the extra time I have this week. I’ll zip around in my ridiculous little car in the summers.”
