10. Like a Stone

Chapter Ten

LIKE A STONE

Indy

TWO WEEKS LATER

P acing in front of the window, I watch the snow fall outside, the flakes big and fluffy as they glide back and forth until they touch the ground.

Peaceful.

Everything around here is damn peaceful, but for some reason, I can’t relax to save my life.

I’ve never been this restless before, never felt the need to crawl out of my skin because it’s too tight.

Ever since Mona helped me get out of bed for the first time and do a lap around the bedroom, I do nothing but pace. Mostly in front of the window or the fireplace, at all hours of the day or night. I bite my nails while I do it, or clench my jaw to stop myself from grinding my teeth.

She said it’s anxiety but I’m not sure why.

I’ve had it my entire life like most omegas but I lived on a breeding ranch, for fuck’s sake, and I never did any of this. Not even when I was waiting for them to put me into heat, or bring the alphas to me.

But I’ve come to the realization that I feel it now because this place is unknown.

It’s safe. It’s comfortable and quiet, but everything and everyone is unknown to me, and I have no idea what to expect here.

I knew at the ranch.

From the disgusting men all the way to the dirty stalls, I knew what to expect, and I was even able to carve out a small space for myself.

Here, in a houseful of people that I don’t know but can hear constantly moving from room to room, that I can smell each time they walk past my door, I have no damn idea what’s coming next.

“Today is the day, Indy.”

I jump and spin away from the window as Mona walks in, knocking on the door despite the fact that it’s already open.

“The day for what?” I clutch the collar of the robe she gave me—it’s soft and warm, and it’s baby blue—pulling it toward my throat as I frown. “Are you kicking me out?”

She chuckles and shakes her head before walking over to take my hand. “Sit with me for a minute, I think you’re going to need to when I tell you what’s happening.”

“Okay…”

Mona pulls me toward the bed and sits me on the edge, smiling brightly at me before taking a seat to my right. “You know you’re back to about ninety-nine percent, right?”

“Yes,” I say as I nod. “That’s what you told me, and I can feel it.”

“And you also know, I don’t live here? This isn’t my house?”

“Yes…”

She pats my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Do you know who this house belongs to?”

I frown. “How could I? You’re the only one I’ve met since I’ve been here.”

“Exactly.” Mona sighs as those bright blue eyes shift between my own. “It’s time for you to meet them; it’s time for them to take care of you.”

“No.” I shoot up from the mattress and immediately start to pace. “No, I don’t want to meet anyone else. I don’t need to. You’ve taken wonderful care of me, I’m all healed up because of you. I don’t need to meet anyone else, and you can just take me to come live with you at your house. I won’t be any trouble, I’m good at taking orders and being quiet,” I say but quickly stop myself. As much time as I’ve spent with her, I haven’t told Mona about where I was before the snowy ravine. “Please, don’t leave me with a bunch of strangers. I… I…”

“Indy,” she says softly as she reaches for my hand again. “My dear, it’s been time. I’m not going anywhere but a couple miles away, and I’ll still be by several times a week to see you. I’d miss you too much if I wasn’t.” Mona winks then pats the mattress next to her. “You’re healed up, and you’re ready. Even if it doesn’t feel like it. And frankly, Indigo Rae, if I don’t leave this cabin soon, one of two things is going to happen. If not both.”

“Those things being?”

“I’m going to strangle my grandson.” She giggles at that and I can’t help but smile. “Or Pap is going to knock down another wall in our house, and when I finally go back, there won’t be anything but the shitter left.”

I snort into the back of my hand over her choice of words, giggling with this woman who’s become very dear to me. “That sounds terrible.”

“It is. I quit using outhouses years ago when indoor plumbing finally came to Obsidian, I’m not about to go back to it because my mate is going batshit crazy in his old age.”

“I still need to meet him, Maurice sounds like a trip.” I grin and shake my head, still holding her hand because it seems to be calming me down. “And a handful.”

Mona nods. “He’s both, always has been, and I love him as much today as I did when we met, but I won’t think twice about smacking him around for demolishing our house.” She squeezes my hand one more time then lets go and gets to her feet. “Are you ready, dear?”

My eyes go wide and my heart starts racing. “You want me to meet them now? Right this minute?”

“No time like the present.”

She doesn’t wait for my response, doesn’t wait at all, the little old lady just pushes up off the bed and hobbles to the door, opening it enough to poke her head outside of it and exchange words with someone.

With a stranger.

I think I’m going to be sick.

My ears start to ring as she pulls it wider, taking a few steps back to make room for… Oh, dear lord.

There are two men standing there, two very big men, and I can see a third pacing behind them, his posture the most imposing even from a distance.

She can’t seriously expect me to meet three strange men right now, can she? Not after the things she discovered during my many exams?

Mona isn’t stupid by any means, she’s one of the most intelligent people I’ve met—not that there have been a lot, but still—and I know she understands the permanent marks on my body despite not saying so. She can’t really expect me to be comfortable with this.

“Like we talked about,” Mona says to the two at the door, her tone firm but full of understanding. “Just Clayton.”

With a beaming, almost shit-eating smile on his face, the man in front—Clayton—picks up three large bags and takes a few steps into the room before he turns and salutes the men in the hallway as Mona closes the door.

“Indigo Rae, this is Clayton.” She motions to him but neither of them come toward me, and I can appreciate how thoughtful that is because my anxiety is through the roof now. “Clay, I’d like for you to meet Indy.”

He nods but doesn’t speak, just smiles as he waits patiently on the other side of the room.

Which is when what they’re really doing, clicks.

Strawberries.

The man, this Clayton, smells sweet, and bright.

I know it’s him because Mona smells like clean linen and a hint of lavender, and it’s become a scent I look forward to each time she visits me, so, I know it isn’t her.

Trying to discreetly draw in more of his scent, I take a few slow breaths and find something else sweet, an element I’m unsure of, something I’m not familiar with.

But I find that I like it.

Tilting my head slightly, I look him over from head to toe.

He is nothing like the men I’m used to.

Clayton is tall, over six feet but not by much, and he’s not overly muscular but I can see the definition in his arms and chest through the long sleeve shirt he’s wearing. He’s dressed casually, in some sort of thick cotton pants and even thicker socks, no shoes or coat, or anything else like what Mona takes off when she comes in.

Then I roll my eyes internally.

Because he lives here. Duh.

Despite the comfortable clothes and relaxed posture, there’s something about Clayton that has me on edge.

His shaggy blond hair, dark brown eyes, clean shaven face, and the dimples in his cheeks would suggest otherwise, but the many tattoos sticking out of the collar of his shirt and out the cuffs of his sleeves lead me to think I probably should keep my guard up. There’s more to this man than he’s letting on right now, and the bags in his hands have me getting a little nervous.

“Can he come in, Indy?” Mona asks, pulling me from my thoughts, and redirecting me to the fact that she’s going to leave me alone with him. “I don’t want you to be afraid, but you need to get to know Clay. I promise he’s a good man.”

Clayton’s lips twitch at that, the smile he was wearing taking on an almost sarcastic appearance briefly before he says, “I don’t know if I’d go that far, but I won’t do anything you’re not comfortable with, and I’ll swear on whatever you want me to swear on that you don’t have to be afraid of me. I would never do anything to hurt you.”

I look between them for a few moments, both of them hopeful and patient, waiting for me to give permission for this man to enter my space.

Well, I guess it isn’t actually mine, it’s his, but he’s still waiting for me to allow him in.

Which is why I do.

“Okay,” I whisper as I nod.

“Great.” His smile transforms into something full of happiness and relief, both genuine and beaming again. “I have some things for you, and I’ve been itching to bring them in.”

I frown at Mona who just laughs. “Get used to it, dearie. That’s all I have to say, get used to it. I’ll be right outside for the next twenty minutes or so, if you need me during that time, give a shout, but when I’m gone, I’m not coming back until tomorrow.”

Clayton opens the door for her, the other man who was at the door with him standing right on the other side. Mona pushes him out of her way, mumbling a few things under her breath, and just when the door is almost shut, I see her make a beeline straight for the man who was pacing, a scary scowl on her face.

I wonder if that’s her grandson.

“I don’t want to overwhelm you,” Clayton says as he sets the bags on the end of the bed, still keeping a decent amount of distance between us. “But Nan said you didn’t really have any of the essentials, so I made Nash…” he trails off then clears his throat. “I went into town and got you some things I thought you might need.”

He begins emptying the first bag rather meticulously, laying out a hairbrush, a toothbrush and paste, and a few other personal products I’ve been dying to have.

Mona has had to help me bathe up until recently, and whatever soaps she used were purely medicinal, and I came out smelling like dirt most of the time. It worked, they helped soothe my body and get rid of the bruises, but I wasn’t a fan of the scent. It was also pretty clear that it’s been a long time since she’s brushed anyone else’s hair because I was worried about bald spots every time she took the comb to mine, but I never said as much. What she was doing meant too much to me, and it hadn’t happened since my mother was alive, so I wasn’t about to open my mouth.

But seeing these things set out on the bed, knowing they’re mine, that they were bought specifically for me? It has me smiling a bit as I get to my feet.

Clayton watches me but doesn’t stop what he’s doing. “Next time you can tell me what scents you prefer, I tried to keep things subtle and neutral for now, I just figured you’d want more than that mossy shit Nan kept making in the upstairs tub.”

“Thank you,” I say quietly as I turn to face him. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

Reaching into the bag, he pulls out a few tops, a couple pairs of pants, and several pairs of heavy wool socks like the ones he’s wearing.

“Sweats.” Clayton holds up one of the shirts. “Even with the fireplaces, it’s cold this time of year.”

I don’t know what sweats are, but they do look warm.

The second bag has a little more of the same; short sleeve shirts, some made of flannel, and the fuzziest pajamas I’ve ever seen. Not that I’ve seen those, either, but my mother talked about a pair of silk pajamas my father wore and those were not fuzzy from her description.

“So,” Clayton clears his throat again, looking around the room before his eyes drop to the last, very large bag. “I sort of need to set this part up, but only if you want me to. I’m happy to do it, and it won’t take me very long, but Nan said you could really use your own space in here, that a nest is really important and while I don’t know much about those other than what my dad had, I tried to get a few things that?—“

“What did you say?” I take another step toward him, my eyes instantly welling with tears.

“Uhm… Which part?”

I blink rapidly, trying hard not to dissolve into a sobbing mess. I might not have even heard him right. “The, the stuff in the bag. What it’s for?”

“Your nest?” His shoulders drop and he blows out a breath. “I told her I wasn’t the one for this. I mean, I know why she picked me to do it but I don’t know the first fucking thing about how this all works and the last thing I wanted to do was?—“

“You brought things for me to… To actually make a nest?”

Clayton blinks twice then just stares at me. “Was Nan wrong?”

“About what?” I frown and sniffle at the same time.

“Are you not an omega?”

“I am.”

“And omegas like to make nests… right?”

Nodding, I wrap my arms around my waist and squeeze. “We do.” Even if I’ve never had the chance to make a proper one.

His entire body relaxes as he smiles. “Well, good. Great. I brought a few things to get you started. Anything you don’t like, pitch it, anything you do, we’ll get more.”

Clayton grabs the bag and heads toward the door next to the bathroom, talking the entire time about colors and textures, all sorts of things I’ve never even heard of, and when he pulls it open, I all but gasp.

It’s a closet.

A closet big enough to walk into, without any windows or shelves, just one rack that goes around the top, and there’s nothing hanging from it at all.

This man, this stranger, went out of his way to buy things that I needed, and he didn’t just stop at clothes.

I turn from the closet as soon as he disappears into it, sinking slowly onto the edge of the bed before covering my face with my hands.

I don’t really know anything about making a proper nest, either, but the fact that he thought of it means everything to me.

Crying quietly, I let that sink in.

A perfect stranger is helping me build a nest, and I don’t even care if his scent is in there right now. The fact that I’ll have my own space to get anyone else’s scent out of is more than enough.

In a matter of months, a handful of perfect strangers have done more for me than anyone else has in my entire life, and if I’m not careful, I’ll let myself get used to it.

A sinking feeling fills me as I cry, one that sits in my stomach like a stone.

I can’t do that. Just like everyone else I’ve dealt with since my mother died, no one actually gives a shit about a worthless omega, and none of them hesitated to throw me away because of it.