Page 26 of Bliss & Her Idols

“Did they still hold a special bond night for you?” I ask.

I deliberately don’t make a big deal of his status like I can tell he’s expecting me to.

He lets out a huff of relief.

When he continues, he’s talking even faster than normal. “They just shoved me down in the nest. But I was finally allowed into it. That meant a lot to me. After all, they hadn’t even kissed me yet. I’ve never been kissed. They stripped me though. It was cold and formal. They didn’t touch me more than they needed to. I thought, however, that as soon as they bit me, I’d finally have my own pack and home. Things would get better. I could live without love, if I had that. The female Omega was watching from the end of the bed, and her pheromones were so soured with anger that it made me gag. When the Chief Alpha grazed his teeth along my neck to make the bond bite, she freaked out. She began tearing up the nest, scratching at me, and blaming me forencroaching on her territory. She called my scent in her nestdisgusting. It hurt like being stabbed in the guts.”

“I’m sorry.” I’m shaking.

I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be rejected like that by an Omega in their own nest.

To have your scent criticized to your face.

To have the most precious moment in your life, your pack bond, wrecked out of jealousy.

It takes serious courage for Cricket to trust me as a friend.

For him to believe that I won’t use him and then kick him out of my online nest in just the same way.

“Did the Alpha protect you?” I ask.

“He grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and — still naked — threw me out of the house.” Cricket’s voice is hollow. I hate to hear it sound like this. How will he be able to trust Alphas again, knowing that he had an Alpha’s teeth at his neck, only for them to turn around and violently reject him? “He yelled at me for upsetting histreasured Omega. I was sobbing and begging him to let me inside. He slammed the door. It was raining. That night is a blur, but I remember being wet, cold, and miserable, as I found shelter in a woodshed. The next morning, the Second Alpha hurled clothes at me and told me that he was driving me back to my dad’s. They were breaking the promised bond because I wasn’tworthy to be matched to them. I never saw any of the others again.”

“Assholes,” I snarl.

“It wasn’t my fault…?” Cricket says like he’s not certain.

“If your family blamed you,” I reply, through gritted teeth, “then they’re assholes too. You did nothing wrong, but they did everything wrong. But you know what? You dodged a fucking bullet. They don’t deserveyou.”

Cricket gives a shocked laugh. “I’m a NH Reject criminal.”

“Damn right. You’re perfect.”

I grin, when Cricket begins to purr. “I didn’t think that I could be brave enough to be friends with another Omega again. Online, I hid my dynamic to protect myself. But you’re different, Bee. You feel safe. I trust that you won’t hurt or abandon me.”

“I never would.”

“I’m happiest in the half an hour that I’m chatting to you each night. I love knowing that I’m the last person who talks to you.” His purr becomes deep and rumbling.

Fuck, that’s a turn on.

“I love knowing that you’ll always be there to tell me good night. Since I lie my phone next to me on the pillow, Crick, it’s like you’re…” Am I going to be brave enough to say this? I should be, after what Cricket has revealed. It appears to be the night for revelations. “…in my nest with me each night.”

Cricket draws in a sharp breath. “I’ve been sharing your bed for a year.”

My skin is tingling. “My nest is yours.”

That’s a huge thing for one Omega to say to another.

Cricket’s voice deepens. “I feel like…”

“Yes…?” My heart speeds up.

Does he feel the same way that I do?

My mouth is dry.

I slide my hand toward my aching core.

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