Forbidden: Part One – Chapter 21

“Why hasn’t she woken up?” Ben hissed for the one-hundredth time as he paced around Josie’s room.

Josie was curled up in a tight ball in the center of the massive bed, her messy hair and flushed cheeks the only part of her visible under the blankets and pillows we’d piled around her.

“You’re going to wake her,” I hissed, my irritation growing as I sat beside the bed. “Dr. Walker said she should sleep a lot, so please just sit the fuck down.”

Ben wasn’t the source of my irritation—I was frustrated with myself, with the helplessness I felt. I’d pulled up countless articles about suppressant-assisted heat, and all said the same thing: excessive sleep was normal and to be expected.

But what if she is sleeping too much? It’s been twelve hours. Something is probably wrong, and she needs you to get on the bed and wrap your arms around her tightly and…

A growl slipped through my clenched jaw. Ben shot me a dirty look, but I focused on Josie, who had stirred. Her eyes were still closed, but she started to slowly stretch, her arms pressing against the pillows we’d laid around her.

Last night, after I’d carried her to bed, the three of us awkwardly stood around, unsure of what to do with the cozy nesting items we had gathered. None of us knew shit about making a nest, as evidenced by the messy piles surrounding my mate right now.

Josie let out a soft sigh as she blinked her eyes open. She looked around, her little nose scrunching up in confusion. Fucking adorable.

“Morning, love. How are you feeling?” I asked softly, holding myself back from crowding her.

“Where am I?”

“In your room, precious,” Ben replied. “We brought you here after you fell asleep in the bathroom last night.”

Josie had a slightly dazed look. I wondered if she was always this groggy when she woke, and I couldn’t wait until I was the one waking up beside her, giving her little kisses while we were both half asleep.

Her sweet voice jolted me out of my daydream.

“Um… why are there piles of blankets and pillows on the bed?” she asked, her cute nose scrunching again. I wanted to kiss it. Fuck, I hardly recognized myself. I’d never felt like this, never had someone I wanted like this.

“Angie said you would feel more comfortable in a nest, so we made you one,” Ben said enthusiastically.

Josie looked around again at the bed. “You made this… nest?”

“Is there something wrong with it? Do you not like it?” Ben asked, his face falling.

“Oh no, it’s not that. It’s… really nice,” Josie responded carefully.

She and I made eye contact, and I quickly had to look away to keep from laughing and crushing my brother’s beaming expression.

Clearing my throat, I asked again, “How’re you feeling?”

“Much better than yesterday,” she said, pushing herself up to a seated position. “Cramps are really light and I don’t feel feverish.”

“Angie called earlier this morning while you were still asleep. She said for us to call and let her know how you were feeling once you woke up,” I said.

“Where’s Cam?” Josie asked, eyes searching for him.

Ben and I looked at each other, unsure of how to respond.

“Last night, when you were in the bathtub with him, you got upset and didn’t want anyone to touch you. He’s worried he upset you,” I said carefully, deciding being direct was probably the best course of action.

Cam was off in another part of the house, sulking. After we’d gotten our omega settled, he had pummeled the punching bag in the downstairs gym for hours. Nothing Ben or I said could calm him down.

“I’m really sorry if we made you uncomfortable. None of us will touch you without your permission,” I added.

“But I… I don’t really remember last night,” she said. She was shifting the blankets nearest her on the bed and I could scent her agitation.

“Please don’t stress, gorgeous. We can leave you alone if you would prefer that,” Ben said, clearly having picked up on her anxiety as well.

Josie’s head snapped up from where she was diligently rearranging the blankets. “You want to leave?” she asked, her voice containing the edge of a whine, tears gathering in her eyes.

Fuck! Fix this!

“No!” Ben and I growled, causing Josie to shrink back and burst into loud tears.

“Go get Cam,” I quietly growled at Ben so Josie wouldn’t hear. For a moment, Ben looked like he was going to argue, but when Josie’s sobs got louder, he quickly ran out of the room.

“Josie, love, please don’t cry,” I said softly. “We’re not going to leave if you don’t want us to.”

Josie didn’t respond. She was buried by blankets, whimpering quietly. I had no fucking clue what to do, but I couldn’t leave her alone. Desperately hoping I wasn’t making things worse, I crawled to the center of the bed and peeled back the blankets until her face was visible. Her eyes were screwed shut and tears leaked down her cheeks.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down before gently wrapping my arms around her. I ran my hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her. Her sobs quieted down and she curled closer to me, rubbing her face against my neck and breathing me in. I didn’t know if it was intentional, if she even knew what she was doing, but my mate had just scent-marked me for the first time. Joy and possessiveness welled up inside me, and I pressed my face to her hair. She’s mine and I’m never letting her go.

“I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” she said, trying to pull away.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I said, tucking her head under my chin. Her scent was still intoxicating, even with its bitter edge. “I’ve got you, and I’m not letting you go.”

Josie’s breath hitched as she relaxed into my hold. “Is Cam mad at me?”

“Of course not, love.”

“But he’s not here, and I was rude when he was just trying to help me.”

“It’s not rude to let us know what you need or to tell us to back off when you need us to. We want you to express yourself. Cam feels bad because he thinks he hurt you, but that’s his problem. You did nothing wrong.”

I gently gripped her chin and pulled away just enough so I could lift her face and look into those beautiful green eyes.

“But it’s my fault,” she said, her eyes filling again with tears.

“It’s not your fault. You have to be honest with us.”

Josie’s brows furrowed in confusion, as if she couldn’t quite believe what I was saying. I forced myself to wait in the silence, keeping my breathing steady. And then she gave me the tiniest of nods.

A smile teased at the edges of my mouth. “Now that you’ve agreed to be honest, what do you think of your nest?” I asked.

“Well, it’s very sweet that you made it for me,” she said diplomatically.

“You being honest with me?” I growled.

She giggled, and it was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard. I felt myself breaking out in a broader smile than I could remember.

“Okay, so it’s… not good.”

I laughed. “Tell me how to fix it, sweetheart. Dr. Walker said you need to get lots of rest and stay comfortable for the next few days, so we need to fix this…”

“Disaster,” Josie supplied, to my delight.

“Don’t let Ben hear you say that, love,” I said with a wink.

“We better fix it quickly then,” she said, pulling away from me. I reluctantly let her go, helping her into a seated position before sliding off the bed. Josie’s gaze snapped to mine, and to my horror, she was tearing up again.

“Angel, what’s wrong?” I asked, trying and failing to keep the edge of panic out of my voice.

“You said you wouldn’t leave,” Josie cried, her lower lip trembling.

“I’m not leaving,” I almost shouted, frantically looking around the room as if a How to Stop Fucking Things Up and Upsetting Your Omega You Dipshit manual would appear. Josie’s tears turned into sobs as she curled up in the bed again, bringing her knees to her chest in a defensive position. Acting on instinct, I threw myself back in the bed and crushed my omega close to my chest. Almost immediately, Josie stopped crying.

“You… didn’t want me to leave the bed?” I asked hesitantly, wrapping her hair around my hand so I could keep her head pressed into my neck, her rapid breaths warm on my skin. She shook her head, keeping her eyes squeezed shut.

“I’m so sorry I upset you. Fuck, I keep doing everything wrong. Everything I read said alphas are supposed to wait until their omega finishes building their nest and then only enter with permission. I left the bed not because I wanted to but because I thought you would prefer it. I would never let you out of my arms if it were up to me.”

“Never?” Josie whispered.

“Never.”

“You’d get bored.”

“Nope. Could never be bored around you.”

Josie was still, and I held my breath, hoping I hadn’t said the wrong thing. “What if I wanted to sit around and watch baking shows for twelve hours?” she asked, her voice almost teasing.

“You ask as if that would be torture. I’d hold you tightly just like this for all twelve hours.”

“Wait, really?” she asked, pulling back and looking at me suspiciously.

“Yes, really.”

“What if I wanted to peruse the romance section of a bookstore all day?”

“I’d peruse right along with you, but of course, I would also find all my favorite books and whisper the dirtiest parts in your ear all day long.” Until you were so wet, you begged me to bend you over the nearest book display and fuck you until you screamed.

Josie’s lips parted in surprise before she smiled and relaxed into me.

“I’m sorry I panicked. My emotions are totally out of control,” she said quietly.

“So much has happened the past couple of days. Your body is going through a lot. Of course, it’s overwhelming. You never have to apologize for that. I’m sorry I keep fucking things up.”

“No, you’re not. You’re all being too sweet. I keep messing up being an omega,” she said, pressing her face against my chest again so she didn’t have to look me in the eye.

“There’s no way for you to mess this up, love,” I said.

She didn’t realize how serious I was, how she already had us completely wrapped around her finger.

“Now, how do you want to make your nest?”

“Oh,” she said, looking around at the disorganized mess around us. She pushed herself up to a seated position. This time I didn’t allow any distance between us, pulling her onto my lap, my arms circling her waist.

“I’m supposed to make my nest on my own. So I guess you should move off the bed?” Her voice was laden with uncertainty as she twisted in my lap to face me.

“Do you want me to move off the bed?”

She shook her head and I couldn’t stop myself from bringing my hand to her face, gently cupping it and brushing the briefest kiss over her lips. It had been ages since I’d kissed someone, and the feel of her lips against mine sent butterflies in my stomach.

“Then I won’t move an inch.”

Josie looked a little dazed. “But this isn’t the right way to do this.”

“The right way is whatever feels best for you. If anyone makes you feel otherwise, you let me know and I’ll throttle them.”

“You might have to let me go to do that,” she said seriously. It took me a minute to recognize that my mate was, in fact, teasing me. I couldn’t stop the huge smile that broke across my face, stretching muscles I hadn’t used in a long time.

“Are you doubting me? I would keep one arm around you and use my other hand to throttle them. No problem.” Josie giggled and my cock hardened to the point of pain. Josie shifted her ass on my lap, making me groan. I was worried I had made her uncomfortable when she shot me a mischievous smile, her eyes twinkling.

“You’re trouble,” I growled as I winked at her. “You better fix this nest quickly before Ben comes back. He was bragging last night about what a great job he did.”

Josie grinned as she instructed me on which blankets and pillows she wanted to keep and where to move them, making small adjustments to their position until somehow everything came together, creating a cozy nest with space in the middle to cuddle and little walls around the sides to give a sense of protection. My perfect omega had made the perfect nest and hopefully, when she felt more comfortable with me, I would fuck her in it for hours on end.

I was lost in my fantasy when I noticed Josie kept adjusting and re-adjusting the same throw blanket, her movements growing more unsettled.

“What’s the matter, love?”

“Something’s not right and I can’t figure it out,” she said in a small voice.

“It looks beautiful to me. You did such a good job,” I praised.

“No, I didn’t. It’s wrong!” Josie grabbed a pillow and threw it across the room.

She turned to look at me, eyes wide in shock, like she couldn’t believe her outburst. I thought her tantrum was cute and would have smiled, except I was afraid she might cry again. The paperwork Angie left said one of the side effects of suppressed heats was “volatile mood swings.”

The door opened and Ben walked in with a sullen, sleep-deprived Cam on his heels. Ben immediately threw himself onto the bed, apparently not giving a fuck about nest rules. He lay down on his side next to us and placed a firm hand on Josie’s thigh.

“Looks like you two did some rearranging to my masterpiece of a nest,” Ben said cheekily, clearly not reading the room. Josie’s bottom lip trembled and Cam stood frozen by the door. I felt his anguish through the bond. My brother was always so worried about causing anyone harm, of turning into his asshole alpha father.

“Gorgeous, what’s wrong?” Ben asked, finally catching on.

“The nest isn’t right,” Josie whimpered.

The three of us looked over the nest, and I could tell none of us had a fucking clue what was wrong. In fact, my inner alpha preened that we had such a beautiful, clever mate to build a perfect nest. Ben pulled Josie out of my arms so she was lying half on top of him. I growled my displeasure at him stealing my mate before lying down and sandwiching Josie between us.

“This is better,” she mumbled. “Need all your scents in the nest.”

“We’ll get you some of our clothes if you want them,” Ben said.

“Yes, please, but not right now. This is good. Except…” She lifted her head and locked eyes with Cam.

“I should go,” he said gruffly, reaching for the door.

Josie whined and the three of us stiffened.

“You don’t want me?” she asked.

“What? Of course I want you, but I never want to do anything to hurt you. And I did that last night. I failed you,” he said, hanging his head in shame.

Josie shifted out of my and Ben’s grasp, crawling to the edge of the bed. I tried and failed to look away from where her oversize t-shirt—one of mine, I thought smugly—had ridden up, revealing the creamy, soft thighs I wanted to bury my face into.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I was overwhelmed. I’m sorry I hurt you,” Josie said, tears starting to fall.

Cam growled and quickly covered the ground between the door and the bed, tenderly gripping Josie’s face with both hands.

“You never apologize for telling me what you need. Do you understand?”

“Yes, alpha.”

Arousal shot through the bond as my brothers and I groaned.

“Will you come into my nest?” she asked sweetly. I could feel Cam’s stress and trepidation melt away.

“I would be honored, little omega.”

Josie beamed and Cam moved onto the bed, lying between Ben and me. He pulled Josie on top of him, pressing a gentle hand to the back of her head. I cupped her thigh and gave it a squeeze, causing her to let out a whimper.

“You belong here,” Cam murmured.

Josie sighed and made a contented noise, snuggling deeper into Cam’s chest, her eyes drifting shut.