33. Nils

33

Nils

H arrison dumped Ava. Finally. He'd been saying he would do it for months and kept putting it off. I can understand why, but I was relieved when I finished covering Meggie's scent in her room and found out he'd finally gone through with it.

Good riddance.

After her shower, Meggie hung out with me and the rest of the guys. McQuinn was itching for a team meeting—a pack meeting—but Harrison squashed the idea. Too much had happened today, and everyone needed time to decompress.

Oz baked cookies. Then we used the cookies as chips to play poker. McQuinn would have won, but he kept stress eating his winnings.

Meggie sat next to me as we played, and I tried to soothe her with little assurances. A brush of my hand against hers. A squeeze of her knee. Sliding her an extra cookie. We never got to talk about this afternoon, but I wanted her to know she's safe with me.

Now, I stare at the clock on my bedside table, watching one minute pass to the next. I wish I'd had a chance to talk to Meggie tonight, but she took off as soon as she lost all her cookies, which didn't take long. She's a horrible liar, which is interesting considering the untruths she has lurking under that sweet exterior.

Apple pie. Fuck me. Every brush of her leg against mine under the table sent a jolt of need right to my dick.

I don't know for sure, but I have a good guess what Meggie's been hiding. No one eats canned tuna with kimchi unless they're a psychopath. And no woman keeps an open can of tuna in their tote bag. I'd tossed the bag in the wash with her other things and disposed of the offending fish in the garage can far away from Harrison's keen nose.

We kept the windows open all day, airing out Ava's smell and Meggie's subterfuge.

I desperately want to smell her real scent again. But those blockers she uses are too good. She's too careful.

Growling out a sigh, I roll over. Sleep is eluding me. It does most nights since Meggie moved in. My bedroom is closest to hers. I've rearranged the furniture in my room so my headboard is against our shared wall. The other night, I jerked off with my left hand so I could keep my right hand on that wall.

I'm not sure if that makes me pathetic or ridiculously smitten. It's a fine line between the two.

I shift to lay on my back and stare up at the ceiling. Maybe I should go swim laps or jog, put this insomnia to use instead of counting the ceiling fan blades again. But I stay. Every night, I stay.

I know her restless nights as well as my own.

She rearranged her furniture, too. It made something in my chest swell when I saw that she'd moved her bed against our shared wall.

I let my fingers graze along that wall again. Then a sound pulls me from my teetering thoughts into desperate longing. A muffled creaking. A carpeted creaking sound. The sound the fourth stair makes when walking up to the third floor of the house.

Sliding out from between my sheets, I crack open my bedroom door. Meggie's door is open.

A giddy little bubble forms in my chest as I head towards the stairs to see what she's doing. What if she's going to see Ellis and Dante? Or trying to snuggle up with Harrison? The thought of our girl cozy with my pack mates morphs that giddy bubble into something hot and feral. We could share her so nicely. Make her feel so damn good.

Stepping over the fourth step, I climb the stairs and look around the hallway. A sliver of light illuminates the thick carpet. It's coming from under the door that leads to the nest.

The bubble in my chest explodes. I can't breathe. I don't dare blink as I tiptoe down the hall toward the room and turn the doorknob.

Meggie. Curled into a ball under blankets and surrounded by pillows. She's cocooned in the center of the massive nest. The curtains pulled back, moonlight bathes the room in a silver glow.

Omega .

My pulse is wild. My breaths feel shaky, but I try to be quiet. Closing the door behind me, I approach the nest. The light from the windows highlights the curve of her lips, the swell of her ear, and the soft waves of her hair.

Climbing onto the mountain of pillows beside her, I can't stop staring. My body weight shifts the mattress and cushions, and her eyes jolt open. A silent ' oh ' on her lips as she sees me and pulls the covers up to her neck.

"Shhh," I soothe. Traversing her wall of pillows slowly, giving her time to tell me to leave if she wants, I slide under the blankets to lie beside her. I reach for her and she surrenders as I pull her toward me. The surprise melts away, but her brows are furrowed.

My chest rattles with a purr and I bury my face in her hair, taking a deep inhale.

Those scent blockers are working, but not as well as they have been, and this close, I catch the barest whiff of her tart green apple fragrance. My nose might not be as picky as Harrison's, but I've always had a keen sense of smell. Stronger than most alphas.

"There's my girl." My low growl can't be contained, and her scent grows stronger, fully breaking past her blockers at last. Tart and crisp. Warm apples and buttery dough. A crunch and then a crumble. Sweet deliciousness.

Fisting my hand in her hair, I inhale more of that glorious scent. Omega, omega, omega. The nest must be making her scent stronger. She's comfortable here. Aroused even. Is she thinking about all that could happen here if this was her room, if she was ours?

Her omega designation explains why she can't sleep well. She needs more than the simple guest room can offer. She needs a nest. I don't know if this is the first night she's crept up here, or the tenth, but I don't care. This is where she's meant to be. It's hers.

"Nils." Her voice is breathy and my cock doesn't need the added blood that surges from hearing my name on her lips.

I'm hard as a rock and want nothing more than to slide between her legs and taste that sweet deliciousness for myself.

"Oh, Meggie." I slide my hand through her hair and down her back, pulling her closer. She feels so good in my arms, so right.

Her soft leg wraps around my hip, and my groan is fierce. The heat from between her legs is scalding. There's too much between us. Not enough skin. My kisses are wet along her neck, her jaw, until our mouths meet. These kisses aren't sweet like they were in her bedroom. I want to devour her. I want her naked, writhing under me as I plow into her until she screams.

But some more evolved part of my brain tells me to pull back. Too soon. It's too soon for that. This is a monumental moment. And she's scared.

I ease back. She whimpers her protest as my lips pull away, but I keep her body close. Scanning her eyes, I place a kiss on her forehead and inhale that glorious scent of hers.

"Sleep," I mutter into her hair. Shifting to give her space, my heart soars when she rejects the distance and snuggles close. Laying her head on my chest, her body flush against mine, I let my fingers play in her hair.

"Your heart is beating fast," she notes. "Do you want to talk?"

"We can talk tomorrow." I don't want her thoughts to spiral. Giving her a squeeze, I try to calm myself and my erection. "Sleep."

Not exactly a wordsmith, but it's all I can manage. I offer what I can, purring for her, engulfing her in the comfort I know my omega needs. It isn't long before her breathing slows and her limbs grow heavy in slumber.

I know sleep won't come for me. Not now.

I'm grateful that she feels comfortable enough to trust me like this. To let me hold her like this.

She has to know what she does to me. Even when an omega isn't in heat, they drive alphas crazy. Case in point, the way we've all been sniffing around her like dogs begging for a treat even though we thought she was a beta. It isn't just an omega's scent. An omega's essence, their presence, is like catnip to alphas.

Everything that's happened in the past six weeks comes into sharp focus.

Does Ellis know? He's been the closest with her so far, but no. He can't. His sense of smell has never been as precise as mine or Harrison's. If Ellis knew Meggie was an omega, she wouldn't be sleeping alone. With their bond, Ellis knowing would automatically mean Dante knows, too. And Dante would never keep it a secret from Harrison. Nope, there's no way Ellis knows.

And if Ellis hasn't figured it out yet, after all the extra time he's had with Meggie, then none of the other guys must know either.

Which means I have a decision to make.

Her secret isn't mine to tell, but… pack mates shouldn't keep secrets from one another. It breaks trust. Which is the last thing I want. Especially with McQuinn. We've got something between us that's… fragile. I don't want to do anything that would keep it from becoming more. I want him just as much as I want Meggie, and he's the type to hold a grudge if he finds out I kept this from him.

Shit, I've got to tell him.

I carefully slip away from Meggie, tucking a pillow into her side to replace me. Then I pad out of the nest and down to McQuinn's room. It can't wait until morning. I need to see him now.

An omega.

I shake my head, still struggling to fully process how my suspicions were right, and it's so much better than I could have imagined. Scent match.

She's more than I ever dreamed. Her apple fragrance calls to me like nothing ever has. I want to drench myself in it, devour her over and over.

She's perfect.

Not just for our pack, but for me and McQuinn. I can't wait to smell how her scent mixes with his tart citrus and lemon rinds. Her warmth with his bright sunshine.

I carefully crack open his bedroom door. The first thing I notice when I step into his room is that his bed is still made.

Shit. This late, there's only one other place McQuinn would be if he's not here, especially after the tension I sensed from him at dinner.

He's with Ellis and Dante.

It's not uncommon for one of us to end up in their bed, and I don't blame him. He has needs, and fuck knows I haven't been meeting them lately. Not that I don't want to. I've just been distracted, and he's been closed off and edgy.

I'm glad he's getting some comfort. And I don't feel jealous. Not exactly. Not with our pack mates. But I miss him. I need him. Right now, I just want to share this secret with him, to find out what he thinks about it.

Not for the first time, I wish we were bonded. Then he would sense me and feel this acute need in my chest. I rub a palm over my heart, trying to soothe the ache.

I don't bother going to find him. I could. But I'm not ready to tell everyone about Maggie. She feels safe with me, and I don't want to betray her trust. It's one thing to quietly and secretly tell the man I… care for most. It's another thing to tell Ellis and Dante. Telling them would be as good as telling everyone.

No, it has to wait, at least for now.

I make my way back to the nest and wrap myself around Maggie. She doesn't wake up, but she turns towards me, allowing me to hold her close. Her breathing is steady, mellowed by sleep, but my own is pinched and tense as I think about all the ramifications of this discovery.

It's gonna cause problems. But Meggie is worth it.

She isn't just an omega. She's our omega, and I'll do anything to give her what she wants. To make her dreams a reality.

The longer I lay here drinking in her scent and staring at the ceiling, the more clearly I see the path forward. I can't tell my pack. Not even McQuinn. No matter how much it hurts to keep this from him.

I know my teammates. Harrison won't want to risk his reputation, not when he's considering running for political office after the Olympics. Oz is a rule follower. McQuinn wants to win too badly to risk keeping her on the team and getting disqualified. Dante is a wildcard and could go either way. Ellis is the only one likely to be okay with letting her play.

I can't let them keep her from her dream. Meggie will play with us in Paris. Pleasing her is worth keeping this secret.

She's worth every risk.