Page 71 of Knot The Only Onee
Noah shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Don't think like that. It happened as it was meant to. I caught a whiff of something as I was grabbing the golf cart, and I came rushing in."
"Why didn't James smell it, too?" Now that he was an alpha, he should have been able to smell her heat. I'd never felt more fucking useless as a beta. I was the weak link in the group. Practically fucking useless.
"He's out in the barn. That's quite a ways away to be able to smell something. Plus, I'm sure the horse shit masks anything else that would be able to reach that far." Noah bumped his shoulder into mine. "Pup, you did exactly what you should have."
I shook my head, my vision blurring as tears filled my eyes. "It's so different having an omega with us. I froze. Panicked. If she hadn't been on the phone with Alena, Simon, and Elias when it happened, I wouldn't have known what to do. I've never felt so helpless."
He draped an arm over my shoulders and pulled me close against him. "You did fine, Lucas. I'm sure once Bridget wakes up, she'll agree with me. You asked what she wanted, then got the medicine. That’s exactly what you were supposed to do."
"She was in so much pain." I swallowed and nuzzled my nose against Noah's chest, gathering comfort from his scent. "I didn't like it. If that's what heat is all about, I hope she just wants to be on suppressants constantly."
"You haven't been around many omegas, but I can tell you that her heat will be a beautiful thing when we service her." Noah ran his fingers up and down my arm. "It'll be a few days of non-stop sex and cuddling in her nest. She'll be ravenous for us, demanding and needy. I can't wait for our first, it'll be beautiful. I'm glad she was able to say she wasn't ready. Because I think we do need some time before that moment."
"What if she gets pregnant? I'm not ready to have a kid running around." Panic surged through me, and I almost bolted out of Noah's arms.
He held me tightly, rocking gently back and forth as if soothing a wayward child. "There are birth control methods even during heat. Those are things we'll discuss with Bridget as it's her choice."
"I selfishly want more time with just her before we have little alpha's running around and making a mess." I wrinkled my nose. "I am not changing diapers. I'm just sayin' that right now."
"Uh. What are you talking about?" James walked into the living room, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He took a deep inhale, and his eyes sharpened. "Bridget? She's in heat? Where the fuck is she?"
He was ready to take off up the stairs when Noah deepened his voice and commanded, "Stop."
James blinked at him and cocked his head to the side. "That's really strange now that my alpha has awakened."
Fuck, it made me want to run and hide in a corner. I didn't like when Noah used that commanding voice of his when it wasn't a bedroom game. That's the only time I liked it.
"Bridget is fine. We gave her a suppressant. She wanted to wait until a bit later to experience a full heat with us," I said softly, trying to break up the slight tension in the room.
"Oh." James' face flashed with hurt before he could wipe it away and return to his normal mask of calmness.
"It had nothing to do with rejecting us." I quickly added. "She just wanted more time. It was her choice."
James nodded, accepting the answer. "So you were talking about babies?"
"Ugh." I wrinkled my nose again. "I'd like a few years before that so I can get used to the idea."
They laughed and shook their heads.
I sighed, realizing what time it was. I needed to get lunch started. And prep for dinner. Plus, maybe bake something.
Hell, who was I kidding? I just wanted to forget myself and the world around me for a few hours.
Maybe then, I could forgive myself and move on.
Several hours later, I sat down and wiped the sweat from my brow. I'd been working non-stop since I stepped in here after Noah and James returned to their chores. Bridget was still sleeping. I hadn't heard any movement or footsteps coming from the room in hours.
Was it normal for her to sleep this long? I was getting worried.
I chewed on the side of my thumbnail and debated what I would do.
Then it hit me: I needed to check in with Alena anyway, so I'd ask her if Bridget would be okay. Without another thought, I wiped my hands on my towel, pulled my phone out of my pocket, and clicked on her number.
"Hey, Lucas!" Her upbeat voice filtered through the line, and I relaxed back in my chair. "Did everything go okay?"
"Yeah," I began, swallowing heavily. "We were able to give Bridget the shot. Noah came in and helped me. But she's been asleep ever since. I wanted to ask you, is that normal?"
Shit, I wasn't able to paste on my normal mask and inject it into my words. Nope. I sounded desperate and pleading. I hated that.
