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I tried to keep my expression neutral. “It’s fine.”
He snorted a laugh. “Sure it is.”
I turned to face him fully, my gaze catching on the way his gray t-shirt clung to his chest and biceps. My fingers brushed the hem, moving to touch him instinctively. “Can I…” I bit my lower lip as I trailed off, feeling my cheeks heat.
Jude slowly, carefully, lifted a hand and cradled my jaw. “You can ask me anything, Hazel.”
I took a deep breath. “Can I have your shirt?”
He blinked once and then stepped back before yanking the shirt over his head and passing it to me without another word.
I snatched it from his hands and dragged it to my face to inhale. As a beta, Jude’s scent was more muted and almost generic, but it was achingly familiar. The scent of fresh laundry being pulled from the dryer, warm and cozy with a hint of soothing lavender.
Realizing I’d been rubbing my face all over Jude’s used shirt, I peered up at him with a wry smile. “Was that weird?”
“Honestly? It was hot,” Jude admitted with a grin. While he was several inches shorter than the others, he was no less ripped, with a muscular chest and abs for days. “I love seeing you rubbing my scent all over yourself.”
I ducked my head and turned to add the shirt to the fort of blankets and pillows I’d made on the bed. After some fussing, I found the perfect spot for it and stepped back with a smile. It still wasn’t perfect—odds were I needed three more shirts to add to the mix—but it was better.
“You need stuff from the others,” he realized. “I can grab some of their things from their rooms or?—”
The door to the nest slammed open and footsteps thudded up the stairs.
I let out a squeak and scrambled back, tripping over a blanket that hadn’t made it into the nest and falling on my ass.
“Shit!” Jude lunged for me, trying to catch me before I hit the ground, but he stopped with a gasp. His face went pale as he placed a hand over the gauze taped to his shoulder. “Fuck.” Sweat started beading on his brow.
Kellan appeared at the top of the steps, expression twisted into a furious glare that sent me skittering backward to evade his wrath. A plaintive whimper wrung from my chest, pulling him up short.
“You’re scaring her,” Jude snapped, putting himself between us.
I looked around his legs to see Kellan as my heart thundered in my chest.
Kellan scrubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw and bit out a curse. He took several big breaths, his shoulders rising and falling with the effort as he fought to control himself. “Sorry, sugar. It’s not you I’m upset with.” With a heavy sigh, he sat on the edge of the bed.
I stood up, hating the frustrated set of his jaw and the anger that rolled off him in waves, souring the lemony scent.
Walking over, I stopped in front of Kellan as uncertainty warred in my heart.
Jude crowded against my back, his hand gentle as it found my hip. He leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Trust your instincts, babe.” He kissed the side of my head and moved away. “Is he gone?”
Kellan gave a curt nod.
“I’m going to see what Rhett wants to do about dinner. Any requests, Hazel?”
I shook my head. “I’m good with whatever.”
“Okay.” With that, Jude left the nest.
Alone with a broody, unhappy alpha, I doubled down on Jude’s advice and closed the distance between myself and Kellan. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pleased when his hands settled on my hips. He dragged me closer and rested his forehead on my chest.
“What happened?” I asked, touching the edges of his soft hair. I ached to tug it free of the haphazard bun atop his head and run my fingers through it.
“I fucking hate that prick,” Kellan seethed. “He’s everything that’s wrong with alphas today. And the shit he said…” His growl turned into a feral snarl that sent goosebumps exploding across my skin.
But, unlike when he’d come slamming into the room like a hurricane, instead of terror shooting through my veins, I just wanted to soothe him.
Leaning into him, I kissed the underside of his jaw. A strange little happy rumble hummed in my chest.
