And that…that’s the most embarrassing thing of all.
Stupid,stupidomega pheromones.
Stupid biological scent-match reactions.
Stupid Hayden’s dad for crashing into us and making me lose my heat suppressants.
Smoky pepper fills my nose as Hayden wraps his arms around me. “It’s okay, baby,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to my head.
“So…to state the obvious…” My voice is muffled by my hands and Hayden’s chest. “I had a heat spike on the way here. I lost my suppressants when Dick Pierce had his cronies crash into us, so it’s been more than forty-eight hours since I’ve had them. I have no idea when this will hit full force.”
I turn my head, peeking between my fingers at Declan’s face, and to my surprise, he’s not looking at me with disgust or revulsion.
Only…empathy.
“Oh, Jo…” Declan sighs, shaking his head. “Yeah, Maeve was right. Moving you was the best idea.”
“What?” My hands drop from my face, and Hayden releases me as I take a step back. “You…you moved me?”
I was going to talk to him about it myself, sure, but he wasn’t supposed to kick me out.
“You have your own pack now,” he gives a sad smile, “whether I like it or not, you’re not the eighteen-year-old girl I picked up from her dad’s trailer five years ago. You’re all grown up, and you guys…you’ll need your own space. So…Maeve moved the omegas in with her, and you guys will have the guesthouse. Though, if you choose to stay…it won’t be a guest house anymore. It’ll be…yourhouse.”
“Into employee housin’?” I frown, crossing my arms. “I don’t want Mabel and the other omegas to be exposed to males before they're ready because I ‘needed my own space’.”
Declan shakes his head. “Maeve’s been the only one in employee housing for a year now—well, she has company now that Helaena’s joined us. All the males are in the guard house, which is where Samuel Senior will be placed, if he doesn’t mind…”
“Just put me anywhere, Son. I don’t need much.” Ozzy nods. “Just…call me Wright. Not Ozzy, though. Only Joey calls me that.”
My chest prickles with pride at the fact that my father-in-law and I are already on a nickname basis as Declan lets out a snort. “Of course she does. So it’s settled? Jo will move into the guest house, and we’ll put Wright in with the guards.”
Shaking my head, I step forward. “No. I don’t need to displace everyone—”
“It’s already done, Jo.” Dec gives me a smile. “Maeve told me it was actually Mabel’s idea to begin with.”
My heart swells. Mabel did this for me? “It was?”
“Yep,” he chuckles, “I guess she had all the girls packed up and moving over to the house by noon. Then she and Maeve moved a bunch of your stuff from your room next to mine into the house so it would be ready when you got home.”
Tears sting my eyes, and I wonder how the rest of Declan’s pack felt about having Mabel in their space like that. And how Mabel dealt with being in their house when last I checked, she could hardly look at Declan.
As much as I want to storm over to her and wrap her in the world's biggest hug, the last forty-eight hours are catching upto me,hard. I’m just about ready to flop onto the nearest flat surface and not move for a week.
“Okay.” I sniff, glancing at my guys. “Would you mind showin’ Ozzy where he’s gonna sleep? I wanna get settled.”
Declan nods. “No problem. We can have some guys come clean out the van—”
Sam and Kole growl, surprising me.
…And turning me on a little.
“We…we will need to keep the van, I think,” Kole says stiffly. “Or you will need to demolish it. If any other male scents my omega in the midst of a heat spike, I will destroy them.”
Declan looks at Sam like he’s expecting him to be the voice of reason. Sammy-boy only shrugs. “Same.”
Okay, turning me on alot.
Sighing, my brother runs a hand over his face. “Fine. Park it in the garage of the guest house for now. We’ll figure out something else later.”
