Page 29 of Knot For Keeps

“But what about when they don’t have a pack, at the Haven?” Gage asked.

“They’re close to each other. Juniper was always taking cat naps with others, family, friends, anyone. She thrived off it,” I confirmed.

Gage nodded at my words. “So… Do we need to call the Doc?”

“No,” Lavender reiterated. “I’ll be fine, just leave me alone.”

“She needs contact. This space shit we are doing isn’t working, Gage.” I didn’t pull my eyes away from her while I spoke.

“Can you control yourself?” Gage asked.

“You know I can, I’m not a monster.”

“I’m right here,” Lavender growled. Gage just smiled down at her, clearly amused by her little growl.

“We know you are, sweetheart, but you’re clearly not a hundred percent here. I’ll stay with you tonight, but then once you improve we will need to start rotating, making sure you’re okay.”

Lavender snorted. “You’re not exactly my ideal snuggle partners.”

“Yeah, yeah, Darling.” Gage laughed ruefully. “Do you need to nest?” he looked over to the wardrobe and the makeshift attempt at a nest with a frown.

Lavender perked up instantly.

“Put her in the actual nest,” Kane said. I looked over at him, jaw hanging open.Did he just say what I think he did?“That pitiful excuse of one in the wardrobe is a health hazard, she can’t stay in there. Grab the pillows.”

We didn’t say a word. Gage nodded and gently picked up Lavender bridal style. She nuzzled her head into his neck.

“C’mon, let’s get you to bed.”

Lavender snorted. “Sexy.”

“None of that. One condition of this mess is that we do not think about sex—we can control ourselves but let’s not test that control,” Gage said.

“If I didn’t know better I would think you were saying I was pretty,” Lavender smiled loopily at him.

“No comment.”

“Nest?” Lavender asked again, a slight whine to her tone. I lowered Lavender a touch so she could grab some pillows to take with her. Between the omega in my arms and the squishy items my vision was obscured, but I knew the way around this house blind.

Despite the brunt edge to her smell, with her so close I could smell every facet of her lavender and vanilla. I ignored how right it felt having her in my arms, chalking it up to my daft alpha instincts.

The bedroom was large, with a nest where a bed would usually be; only this mattress was three times the size of a normal king. I gently put her down on the nest and she sat up, looking around with wild eyes taking in the space around her and the various soft items.

Lavender squeaked in happiness, diving headfirst into the pillows, making Gage smile. “C’mon, Boozy.”

“Boozy?!” Gage choked out a laugh.

“You smell like alcohol… Whisky. Kinda smoky. It’s nice.” Lavender shrugged from her pillows. The nest was simple, with just a few large pillows and comforters in it but she would arrange them as she liked as soon as she felt up to it. Sighing, Gage crawled after her. I wanted to be the one in there with her, but she was mad at me, and I knew she was hardly in a position to make any informed decisions right then.

This space was much bigger—the other room was still relatively small and connected to the normal bedroom—but the nest had large windows, almost the size of two of the walls, both with specialist blackout blinds, so at the touch of a button the room could be either light and airy or dark and cosy. Whatever the omega felt like they needed they could have.

Laying back on some of the pillows next to Lavender, Gage frowned as he watched her shimmy away slightly.

“Not happening, Darling,” he said, leaning over to slide an arm around her waist and dragging her to him. She didn’t fight him, melting into his chest without a word. The TV that pointed to the nest was now playing a documentary.

“Seriously, Arch? Serial killer documentaries?”

“They relax her, this is one of her favourites.” I laughed at Gage’s look of confusion.

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