His face wrinkles with his smile as he approaches me, wrapping his arms around me and slapping my back.
“Congratulations. You deserve this. You’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t deserve this,” I say and my grandda slaps me a little harder on the shoulder. Fuck, who knew the old man was still so damn strong?
“I don’t want to hear any of that shite. You’ve had a lot thrown at you in your life, Callum, yet you’ve still been a good man. Sure, a bit of a fucking curmudgeon from time to time, but who wouldn’t be? You lads have become a community staple, you help me and your Nan with no question. Your da would have been just as proud of you as I am. Now, are you going to be a glakit or are you going to go back inside and be there for your pack?”
I can’t help but smile at the man’s way of encouraging me.
“Thank you for taking Fergus and everything,” I tell him.
“Aye, of course, he’s my great-grandson and all.”
He nudges his chin toward the house before getting back into his car. He rolls the passenger window down for Fergus, who happily shoves his head out the window, tongue lulling without a care in the word. Sometimes I envy the fluffy bastard.
I’m back in the house and considering how I’m going to go about all of this. It isn’t as if I haven’t helped an Omega through heat before alongside Lain and Greer. But this is Maisie, our scent match. Fuck, saying the words gives me a little chill. It still hasn’t completely sunken in yet.
I want—no—need for this to be a good heat for her. This is the first chance for us to show her how we could care for her. There’s no chance she plans on leaving now, right?
If she wanted to leave, she never would have disclosed we were scent matches. This was her telling us all at the same time how significant our relationship is. This was her agreeing to more, right?
Her scent gets thicker as I climb the level to the nest.
It doesn’t matter what she’s decided. All that matters right now is that we take care of her. Despite my fears, there’s no way I could leave my scent match hurting because I’m scared of the outcome.
What I expect when I open the door is for her to be pinned between Lain and Greer in absolute bliss, but what I find is Maisie sans glasses, throwing shit around.
“What the fuck happened?” I ask, and Lain looks at me with wide-fearful eyes.
“She found a silk eye mask in the nightstand,” Lain says quietly, hoping that Maisie doesn’t hear. But of course she does, because she makes the most indignant noise before picking up a lamp with the intention of shattering it to pieces.
Greer grabs it before she can throw it and is trying to reassure her that we don't have another Omega, that it means nothing. It doesn’t work.
The eye mask is silk, likely still able to carry her scent after all this time.
“Maisie, sweetie. You’re it for us. This nest is yours. Everything here belongs to you,” Greer says. “Should I use my Alpha bark on her?”
Maisie hates that idea and starts tugging the sheets off the bed in a pissed off rage. I think that’s the exact moment I fall for the Omega and there must be a grin on my face, because Lain smacks me on the chest.
“This isn’t fucking funny,” he says.
“You’re right,” I tell him, leaving the nest to go grab a lighter.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Lain asks, but I don’t have a chance to reply as I grab the lighter and bring it back to the nest.
“Omega. Stop. Look,” I tell her, holding the sleep mask in one hand and lighting it on fire. “She means nothing. You’re our Omega and we’re yours. Let us take care of you.”
Once the flames hit my fingers, I’m dropping the mask on the floor and stamping it out with my foot. “See? Doesn’t fucking exist. It means nothing.”
That’s what brings a smile to her face, and she starts pulling on her clothes, trying to get them off.
“How the fuck did you know that would work?” Greer asks and I just shrug. I honestly had no clue if it would or not, but I’m sure as shit glad that it did.
Maisie gives up and plops down on the bed, which is unmade, but the waterproof layer at least is still on.
“There we go. There’s our girl,” I say as we take off our shoes. “No need to stress. Your Alphas will take care of you.”
She makes a happy noise as she attempts to slide her fingers down her tights.
