Page 8 of Christmas Heat
Luke
He loves Tenor's mom. She's always been like a second mother to him, and Lyric and Cadence have been like his own baby sisters. But if they say one more thing that makes Eden feel a sharp pain of whatever the fuck that is that she's feeling in the bond, he's going to pick his mate up and fucking leave.
Is it... pain? Rejection? Fear? Grief? He doesn't know, but he doesn't like it.
His perfect mate looks like an outsider here, her eyes darting around, shrinking into his and Tenor's and Julius' sides, just like–
Fuck, just like she had when they were in prison.
He thinks back to dinner the night before, the way her little hands curled into fists in her lap at the dinner table while mom grilled Tenor on our plans for a bonding ceremony. Eden had barely even touched her food and every time Lyric or Cadence touched one of their pack, he felt a stab of jealousy from his omega in the bond.
It's such a natural response for a mated omega, but she also wouldn't claim her territory like she should've. All his experience with omegas told that he should let them sort it out between themselves, but then again... Eden had no experience living with other omegas. She had no experience livingasan omega. She doesn't know how these territory battles work. And neither did he, to be totally honest, which was why his first instinct was to stay the fuck out of it.
At breakfast this morning she keeps smiling tightly, forcing herself to laugh at the stories and the plans for Christmas this year, but he can feel how uncomfortable his mate is.
He pulls her chair closer to his, ignoring the way everyone looks at them when it scrapes across the floor loudly. When it's pulled as close as it can get and her thigh is pressed against his, he throws an arm around her shoulders and pulls her even further into his body, offering a claim that had always settled her in the past.
He can feel the way she relaxes at the contact, physically and through their pack bond. He mentally nods to himself. Right, there's that sorted then. One problem solved.
???
Eden is still anxious in the bond after breakfast and it's affecting all three of them. Luke feels like his fucking skin is going to squirm off his body and he can't say he loves the sensation.
Julius doesn't either, and he responds to it by frantically scent marking their girl and murmuring reassurances to her every other minute.
"You're doing so good, baby," he can hear Julius murmur, voice low as they head back to their room to get dressed for the day. "I fucking hated it the first few times we came here. It's always so fucking loud and I'm always scared shitless I'm going to break one of her fancy ceramic collections."
He can feel Eden ease up slightly in the bond, breathing in Julius' scent deeply to ground herself.
"Fuckin' told you we shouldn't come here, baby," Luke adds soothingly. "Don't worry, my family is so much more chill than this."
"You and your brother beat the shit out of each other every time you see him," Tenor scoffs, but otherwise doesn't argue with their assessment of his family as he closes the door behind them.
Luke just shrugs. "Yeah, like I said. My family is much more chill than Tenor's."
When they walk into the kitchen with their bags packed to say their goodbyes, only mom is there. She's boiling water and looks almost as anxious as they feel.
"Oh," she says when she sees them. "Lyric has come down with a cold, so Jonas and Titas are looking after her right now and I sent Cadence to her room so she won't catch it. We thought itwas just allergies this morning, but she's just developed a fever. I'll just get dressed and come make you a snack."
"No need, mama," Tenor says. "We're going to head out so we can get on the road before traffic hits. I'll call you later, okay?"
Mom flutters over all three of them, stroking their faces and demanding promises that they won't be gone so long again.
"And, of course, you'll be back to visit for Christmas," she says with one last pat to his back.
Nineteen Days Until Christmas
Eden
"It's just a bit of a head cold," she says, pleadingly. "I'll be fine in no time." Her voice is raspy and sounds like she's been smoking two packs a day for forty years. She had woken up this morning with a pounding headache, a sore throat, and a cough, probably courtesy of Lyric.
"I don't know..." Tenor hedges, looking over at Julius and Luke for backup. "I think we should take her to a doctor."
"I agree," Julius says, nervousness clear in his voice as he hovers next to her in the nest, a bottle of Tylenol and a thermometer clutched in one hand.
She can't summon the will to argue with them anymore. Her head feels like someone's taken a hammer to it, she can't breathe through her nose, her throat has razorblades in it, and when she coughs it just makes all of it ten times worse. She looks over toLuke where he's sweeping up pine needles from the Christmas tree he'd dragged in a few days ago and set up next to her reading nook.
"Just let her rest," he says with a shrug of his shoulders. "If she gets worse, we can take her in."
