Page 179 of All Packed Up

The instant the words snapped off her lips, she regretted them.

Griffith’s lovely, honeyed scent suddenly bittered, and her stomach dropped.

During her heat, she was extra sensitive to her surroundings, and smelling the hurt in Griffith’s scent made her chest ache.

She couldn’t stand it, hated the way his scent soured, and her fingers itched with the need to soothe him.

Suddenly all she wanted to do was fix it.

Giving into her urges, she crawled across the tent and sat beside the alpha.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry,” she repeated.

Her throat was tight with regret and her skin itched irritably. She’d hurt the alpha.

Turning her forehead into his shoulder, she nudged him, urging him to… to touch her or speak to her or shove her away or something.

Her chest hurt at the thought of the last option, and unbidden, a whine spilled from her lips. She bit her bottom lip, cutting the sound off.

That was when she felt a touch against the back of her head, and she lifted her face. Griffith placed a finger under her chin and tilted her up, pausing millimeters away from his lips. Wendy chased the distance away and pressed her lips to his, the warmth of him still the same, the taste of him still sweet. She ghosted her lips over his and nipped and teased until his scent was just as honeyed and sticky as it was supposed to be.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, letting him taste the apology directly from her mouth.

“I’m not the bad guy,” Grif answered.

Wendy nodded against him. “I know, I’m sorry I just… I just…” She didn’t know how to describe it, and the irritation from her unsurety made her itchy.

A vibration tickled her chest, made her all warm inside, and she melted against the alpha as he purred for her. She nuzzled into his pecs, feeling the sound against her cheek and sighing. It soothed her, and her thoughts quieted just enough. Wow. Alpha purrs were magical.

“I hate needing things,” she whispered.

Grif’s purr faltered before he continued it again, and Wendy relaxed into him.

“But worse than actually needing something is having to ask for it. I don’t like…” She searched for the words, trying to untangle the ball of emotions and conflict in her chest. “If I tell someone what I want, it gives them the opportunity to let me down. To show that they don’t really care about my needs at all.”

“And you,” she continued, brow furrowing, “you just piss me off. Something about you just makes me want things.” She dragged her nose up his collarbone. “Like to crawl in your lap because you smell freshly fucking baked for no reason other than I want to. But why do I want that? It’s so stupid! You’re stupid,” she teased, nipping his shoulder.

His purr continued, and she slotted her chest against his, feeling the vibration of his purr with her whole body.

“The moment I met you, you just screamed alpha, and it makes me…” She trailed off, searching for more words that kept escaping her grip. “It makes me naturally want to look to you for everything. And even if it is just omega instincts, I hate it! I can take care of myself, but when I look at you all I wanna do is curl up in your lap and let you do it for me! And that’s infuriating!”

Wendy pressed her palms into his shoulders, pushing herself away from him. He stiffened, gaze flicking to hers in surprise. With his dark as night eyes caught, she continued. “I don’t need an alpha for anything,” she growled.

Since the moment she’d fucking met Griffith, he’d been a providing alpha. Building her a bed frame and all that shit, in the same day!

Most confusing was that Wendy had never felt this way around another alpha, especially no one from the Sterling Pack.

A soft chuckle sounded from behind her, and Wendy turned to Nic slowly, wondering what the hell was so fucking funny.

He slid a hand up her back, spreading chills in his wake as the beta glanced from her to the alpha and back again. “That’s not your omega instincts,” he said, covering a smile. His gaze traveled to the alpha in question, who looked as if he needed a map to navigate this conversation. “Well, not totally. That’s just… who Griffith is. Sure, he’s an alpha too, and I’m sure that’s got something to do with it. But you feel that way not just because of whatever omega instincts, but because that’s Griffith, always taking charge, taking care.”

“How do you know?” Wendy asked. “You’re not even an omega.”

Nic cleared his throat, and his pause dragged her gaze back to him. “Because I feel the same way,” he admitted, tan cheeks darkening in a blush. “It’s the best thing about him,” he followed up. “It’s also the most annoying,” Nic added.

“That too,” Wendy agreed, grinning the more lost the alpha appeared.

“Now wait a minute,” Griffith asked, his purr finally fizzling out. “What do you mean? Am I doing something wrong?”