Page 77 of All Packed Up

The way his body shifted, stilled. “Yeah, Nic, he looks at you too.” Wendy smiled. She didn’t want to share, because Nic was hers. “Last night, I was feeling all territorial because you came back covered in his scent. I still mean what I said! It’s not that I don’t want you all to myself, I just don’t want you to feel like you can’t uhm… resolve things?” She twisted her fingers together over a pillow. “That wouldn’t be fair.”

Nic was quiet for a long moment, eyes lowered to a thread he picked on the blanket. A wistful smile curled his lips as he said, “Yeah, but fair isn’t always what an omega in heat wants.” His tone was teasing, and there was a hesitation there, apprehension maybe. As if he was testing the waters.

Wendy couldn’t lie. She felt possessive of Nic. He was her sweet, protective, kind beta, and she didn’t know how Griffith could have ever let him get away.

But then again, she didn’t know what they’d gone through.

Wendy couldn’t ignore Nic’s sad glances and Griffith’s curious ones. They danced around each other as if there was something physically keeping them in orbit, but never drawing them any closer. If they didn’t work shit out, they would collide soon enough.

Wendy didn’t mind being the meteor that came to fuck shit up. “I know there’s something between you, and all I’m saying is that you shouldn’t miss a chance you might not get again.”

Wendy didn’t know what was going to happen at the end of all this. It was a tricky situation, going through a heat with someone, anyone. It was personal and intimate and with someone as Nic as Nic was, Wendy wasn’t sure how she’d get out unscathed.

But she refused to be the reason he used to avoid Griffith.

Nic stood from the bed and quietly crossed the room to his bag. Curiosity got the best of her, and she leaned up on her knees. “What are you doing?”

“You know, you should take your own advice,” Nic retorted and turned, tossing a handful of black items on the bed.

Her brain stopped computing. Wendy.exe has failed to respond.

She reached out to stroke the soft but firm material. “Are these…”

“Muzzles, yeah. Or a form of them,” Nic answered. “I didn’t know if you were going to be afraid of being bitten by anyone, not just alphas. So I picked them up in case you wanted to use them during your heat to feel more comfortable. You didn’t seem worried about that with me, so I never bothered mentioning them. Until now.”

Wendy stared open-mouthed at the muzzles. A few were simple bandanas, but the other three were more secure. Face corsets that looked as if they’d cover from nose to chin, varying sizes and lengths. The intricate laces on the back would have to be tied by someone else. Her. And the awkward zigzag of the laces would make it impossible for anyone to undo without looking, without help.

It was the perfect protection.

Tears welled against her eyes, and she blinked them away. These items were so incredibly thoughtful…

“Why now?” she asked, voice wobbly.

“I see the way you look at them,” Nic murmured, echoing her words and swiping her army of pillows away to sit before her and caress her cheeks dry. “And I just wanted you to know that you’re safe, no matter what.”

Imagining Tate or Arlo peering at her over the black facial corset, eyes piercing and half lidded with their teeth barred from biting.

It made her tingle at just the thought.

And on the off chance Griffith decided to join the heat to be with Nic? He would be safe too.

“This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me,” she admitted. Wendy hadn’t even known something like it existed. Why hadn’t the Sterling Pack ever looked into something like this, knowing how wary she was of being bitten? She swallowed a laugh. They would never wear something so silly.

“Wendy, I promise you, no alpha of any worth would have a single problem wearing something like this to make you feel safe. And you’re just in luck, because any of the alphas here would gladly strap that on,” Nic continued, adding a wink.

Wendy’s lips twitched, despite the welling of her eyes. “You’re saying these alphas wanna get strapped?” she teased with watery words.

Nic chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back, squishing the muzzles between them. “I’m saying none of them would be disappointed if you knocked on their door with those,” he mumbled into her hair.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Wendy willed the tears away instead of letting them stain Nic’s shirt again.

No more crying, remember?

“Listen, Wendy,” Nic said, pulling back to stare down at her.

Wendy stared up at him, shamelessly hanging on every word.

“You are such a rarity, not only because you’re an omega, but because you’re you. We are lucky to be here, and we know it, no matter what capacity that means you want us in.”