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I could still remember the first time he asked me to be part of his heat. There had been a sense of honour to be asked, but it hadn’t outweighed the nervous anxiety that I wouldn’t be able to give him what he needed. I didn’t begrudge Nicky the fact that she didn’t feel ready to be included in something so important, but I hated seeing Jasper like this.
“Come on. Let's get your nest fixed up.”
I pulled him off the bed and into my arms, kissing him until the sour notes of his sadness faded in favour of his usual sweetness.
“You know I love you, right?”
“I do.” He sighed. “I love you too.”
We took the journey upstairs slowly, pausing outside of her room for another series of distracting kisses until he felt strong enough to push through that barrier.
I stood by his side as Nicky's subtle, spicy scent billowed out in the whoosh of air from the doors opening. Jasper whined softly and pawed at his chest.
“She shouldbehere.”
“I know.”
I walked with him as he let his instincts guide him, his fingers curling around a sweater from her hamper and the soft sheets we had bought for her. It took both of us to remove them from the bed, and Jasper wrapped himself in them like a many-layered cape.
“Are you home from work for a while, or are you going back until your heat starts?”
“Home for now. I’m sure I would burn things if I tried to go to work now.”
I kissed his forehead. “I’m glad you’re getting some rest.”
I didn’t have the same luxury. I would be stuck at work until I got the call that Jasper had gone into heat. It was hard to take proper advantage of heat leave when we never knew exactly how long his heat would last or the day that it would start. Sometimes he hovered at higher levels for a week before tipping over, and others there was barely a couple days of warning. Luckily, the pack schedules made it possible for there to always be at least one person available to him.
I turned to a knock at the door and found Hana watching us. She glided towards us and wrapped Jasper in her arms.
“Hey there, baby.” Hana kissed the top of his head.
She was always the one to stick closest to him in the early phases of his heat, though I was never one-hundred-percent certain if that was because of her protective instincts or if it was to make sure that her body was ready for him. Tony and I had the advantage of having cocks at the ready, but Hana needed the continuous heavy dose of Jasper's upcoming heat hormones for her body to start its own shift to accommodate his needs.
“Did you find everything you need?” she asked.
Jasper shrugged under his sheet pile.
Hana sighed. “I want to be mad at her for this, but I know that's not right.”
“She’ll be here for the next one,” I said.
At least, I hoped so.
If participating in heats was going to be a dealbreaker for her, then it would be a long recovery for all of us when we had to end things. We couldn’t date her and have her leave like this for future heats. Jasper would be a mess, and as much as I despised the idea of breaking things off with Nicky, we would have to do that for him. I only hoped that she would come around.
Hana and I got Jasper back to his room and sat nearby while he arranged his new acquisitions into the nest.
If I could argue with his omega instincts and rationally explain why Nicky wasn’t there, then this would be so much easier. Jasper liked Nicky too much and felt too safe for his primal omega brain to stay objective.
I’d been feeling that pressure myself. Coming home to her being here felt right, and though alpha instincts weren’t quite the same, mine still nudged at me all the same. Nicky was pack, and pack belonged together.
I didn’t know how strong the pull was for betas. Billie had been the one to bring us all together, but their personalities are drastically different, so I’m not sure that any information Billie could give us in that regard would be relevant to the situation.
The primal depths of my instincts wanted me to go and find Nicky, toss her over my shoulder, and drop her into Jasper's nest for him. Lucky for all of us that my rational brain was able to override that. I itched to see her, to put my hands on her and assure myself that she still wanted us.
My omega was going into heat, and he was in distress. Both of those things were like a banshee in my ear, demanding that I fix it.
I gave in.
