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“Why don’t you get dressed and we can all go shopping. By the time we get back, the guys should be home.”
That sounds like fun, so I smile and nod and get up to get ready for the day. I’m still off kilter, but it’s probably because I didn’t get much sleep and had a really long day yesterday. I decide that I want to feel close to my mates, since they can’t be with me right now, so I get Erik’s shirt out of my nest and wear it with some leggings and a pair of tennis shoes. A big belt wrapped just under my breast transforms the outfit from a too large shirt to a cute T-shirt dress. I feel cute and Erik’s chocolatey scent surrounding me has me feeling a bit more normal.
We all load up and head to the mall. The Alphas and Mandy don’t bring up my meltdown from earlier. We spend a pleasant day shopping and I get a lot of comfortable items for my secret room. For some reason, my wolf keeps pushing me to get stuff, pillows and blankets, a big rug, even a giant floor cushion that has high walls. Reading the label, I laugh when I see it’s called the Nest.
When we get home, the boys are there, just like James said they’d be. I can’t even begin to explain the rush of excitement and joy that floods my system at seeing them all there in the kitchen. Dropping everything in my hands, I rush towards them and jump. I don’t care who catches me, I just need to be held by them. Erik is the one who plucks me out of the air and holds me to his chest. His face nuzzles into my hair a deep purr rumbles in the air around us. Hutch leans in against my back, purring just as much as Erik and the knot that’s been in my chest all day starts to ease, bit by bit.
“Boys, Becca has quite a bit of stuff in the car. Why don't you go get it and take it to her room?” Hutch and Erik both whine at Mandy’s words, but I laugh. I’m very happy that they don’t want to let me go.
The boys bring in all my stuff and put it in my room before coming back to the kitchen to eat dinner. All of them make it a point to touch me, and my wolf is purring everytime their scent mingles with mine. The conversation is light and friendly. The parents don’t mention this morning and the boys bitch about having to go do a day of conditioning on the week off of school. We all hang out with Mandy and her Alphas in the living room, watching movies and eating snacks, but as the night grows later, a deep itching starts under my skin. I really need to get to my room and start organizing my stuff where it goes.
My mates notice me wiggling and ask me about it, but I brush it off. After a really adorable movie about gnomes, I head up to my room. Hutch tries to follow, but I tell him I’m just organizing some stuff and he lets me know that they will be in the Den if I want to come. He watches me walk up the stairs with a strange look in his eyes, but the thought of all the stuff in my room pushes that look out of my mind.
It takes hours to organize all of my stuff. Most of what is in my secret room gets tossed out into the hall as I meticulously place every item I bought today in that one tiny room. When the last pillow is gently placed, I look around the room. I want to feel satisfied with it, but something is missing. Looking around, I realize that I only have my stuff here. This room is supposed to be a surprise for my mates, to show them a piece of me that no one else knows about, but they aren’t represented.
With that in mind, I head down the hall. The guys each have a room in this hall, so I open all the doors and explore each space. Skylar’s room is the most organized. He has everything put just so, and I feel bad when I start moving things to find something to go in my little space. The other guys have stuff thrown all over their rooms, so finding a sweatshirt or pillow, or in Hutch’s room, a soft blanket, to go in my room is much easier. When I feel like I have enough, I go back to my room and place each item in the perfect spot. When I put the last item down, I finally feel less restless, the room is perfect. Now I’m so tired I barely make it back to my bed before I fall asleep. Before the world fades to black, I think about the day.
Something is definitely wrong with me, but what is it?
Chapter Twenty Nine
Heat
Ugh!
Waking up this morning, my whole body hurts. I feel like I just got run over by a bus and my head is pounding. My wolf is clawing at my chest, whining with no real emotion or thought as to what is wrong. I thought that wolves don’t get sick, but clearly I was wrong. This feels like the flu but ten times worse!
My body is shaking with chill but inside I feel so damn hot. This is the worst fever I’ve ever had. Even the sun shining through my window is too bright, though normally, I love waking up with the sun on my face. Today, I want to shove my curtains closed and never see that burning ball of gas again. Groans slip from my mouth as I roll in the bed, throwing the blanket over my head to block out the offensive sunlight.
After five minutes of lying there in pain, my door bursts open. My mates all rush to the bed and I’m pulled into Hutch’s arms. Erik pulls the blanket down from my head and I whimper when the blinding light pierces into my eyes again. Skylar rushes over and pulls the curtains closed, blocking out that light that hurt so much. Erik pets the hair off my face as Hutch holds my body to his chest. I’m still wrapped in the blankets, but having them all close helps ease some of the ache while the inferno in my belly only seems to burn hotter.
“Red, what’s wrong? We felt your pain in the bond and rushed here.”
I want to answer them, but my thoughts feel hazy. My body feels like there's a fire in my belly and its smoke has drifted up to my mind and blurred my thoughts. Nothing makes sense and the pain is making it so much harder to focus and settle my thoughts. My mates are all talking around me, trying to figure out what is wrong with me. They talk about what they know and what they can guess based on my jumbled thoughts and emotions.
“She is burning up!” Hutch screams above the others when he puts his hands on either side of my face. “We need to go get August and James. Erik, you’re the fastest, run and get them.”
Skylar leans into my face, replacing Hutch’s shaking hands with his firm ones. He stares into my eyes and takes a deep breath. Once my scent hits him, he makes a choking sound in the back of his throat. Leaning in, he kisses my head and I whimper, needing more of his touch and kisses. None of this makes sense, the more my mates touch me, the better I feel, but as soon as the contact stops, the burning gets worse again.
“Erik, stop.” Skylar calls out and Erik pauses in the doorway. “She isn’t sick.”
“Then what the fuck is this, Skylar?” CJ’s words were practically growled out at the other Alpha. His hands are shaking and Hutch is Rubbing my face and hair.
“She’s in heat.”
All of my mates freeze, Skylar is staring at me as if I’m the answer to his prayers, CJ looks a bit worried, Erik looks like he wants to rip me from Hutch’s arms, and Hutch just keeps holding me and muttering words in my ear about everything being okay. I whimper again, pushing my head against Hutch’s hands, begging for more, though I don’t really understand what I want more of. I heard Skylar say I’m in heat, and I know, logically what that means, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.
“Erik, run down to the kitchen and get some snacks and as much water and Gatorade as you can carry. CJ, call your parents and let them know what is going on. Hutch, you have her?”
Hutch nods and uses both hands to rub various spots on my body, my arms, my legs, my face and hair. CJ pulls out his phone and Erik disappears out the door. I cry out, reaching a hand out to where Erik was just standing. CJ's whole body goes stiff at the noise and Hutch’s hands move faster. Skylar bends back down and brings his face close to mine.
“Shh, Red, it’s okay. Your mate will be right back. I know you're in pain and need us. Is there somewhere in the house you feel the most comfortable? Maybe somewhere you haven’t let anyone else see yet?”
I blink, breathing in his scent as his words slowly register in my mind. I feel most comfortable in my secret room, but I feel weird about them seeing it. I stole stuff out of their room, and there is a lot of girly stuff in there. I’m scared that they won’t like the room, so I don’t want to tell them about it. Although, it does sound like an amazing place to be right now. There are no windows for the sun to peek in and everything in there is soft and comfortable. Plus it was so small that all of my mates would be close enough that I could reach out and touch any of them that I wanted. Blinking again, I focus on Skylar in front of me and nod at his question.
“Good girl. Do you want to tell me where? Hutch can carry you in there and we’ll hang out all together until you feel better.”
Gods, that sounds amazing. I feel like a needy mate, but all I want is to be close to them. They make the burning less painful just being around. Though, the thoughts of what we will do while in that room aren’t as tame as the ‘just hanging out’ Skylar suggested. I want to do more than that. Even though it doesn’t make any sense in my mind why my body, that aches so fucking bad, wants to have sex, right now, that is the only thing on my mind. My hazy thoughts are crowded with images of my mates and their naked bodies rubbing all over me. My body flushes at the thoughts running through my head. Hutch must have noticed, because he groans deep in his chest and even through the blankets I can feel how hard he is.
