Page 10 of All Packed Up

“Of course!” Shit. Invite an omega inside and not even take care of her cat?

He turned instantly and dug around until he found a bowl that would be easy for him to drink out of.

“What happened here?” she asked in her soft, lilting voice.

“Uh...” He hesitated, finding her gaze on the pan.

Busted.

It seemed embarrassing that he’d tried to make her breakfast and failed.

“The biscuits own that pan now, don’t worry about it. I ordered us something,” he assured her.

The soft chuckle that escaped from her made him pause, and he glanced over his shoulder at the omega while he filled the water bowl.

“That’s really sweet. Sorry you ruined a pan.”

In theory, it could be saved, but Nic wasn’t worried about losing one pan. Honestly, the effort of scratching the biscuits off and then scrubbing sounded more exhausting than just buying a new one.

“No big deal, honestly. It was my bad.”

“The bacon I think is what woke Knuckles.”

A smile twitched at his lips. “So the cat did wake you up?”

She yawned, covering her mouth before taking a seat at the bar. “Yeah. He was screaming for freedom at the door. You didn’t hear him?”

“I heard him but didn’t want to risk waking you up myself.” And the door was locked.

“Usually I can ignore him, but I didn’t want him to be more stressed out than he already is. What with a new environment and everything.”

He was not the only one. “Did you sleep okay?” he asked, studying her more closely.

The only thing that marred her skin was the bite. No bruises or other scars were visible, even in her short-sleeved shirt. Sweatpants covered her lower half, so he’d have to take her word for it. The dark shadows under her eyes though... that was a different story.

“For the most part, yeah. It was just a late night, on top of a few rough days. I’ll be fine.”

Wendy picked up the cat, hefting the fifteen-pound creature like he was nothing. And then she began to coo to him. “You want some bacon? You can’t have bacon, I’m sorry. Maybe we can get you something else. Or maybe... maybe just this once you can have a few pieces.” She blinked, her lips curling as she arched a brow in his direction. “Assuming our kind host didn’t burn it?”

Nic chuckled and slid the plate of cooling, but not burnt, bacon across the counter.

Wendy was... an odd one. But Nic liked the odd ones.

Stellan had been odd.

Shifting his thoughts away from that subject, he studied the omega as she broke up the tiniest piece of bacon into even tinier pieces.

“Is this why he weighs so much?” he asked.

In his mind, it was an innocent question. So when Wendy gasped and held the cat to her chest, his eyes widened in surprise.

“He’s perfectly healthy.”

Nic chuckled. “Wendy, I could use him as a dumbbell in the gym.”

She huffed, setting Knuckles back down and smiling at the little chirp the creature gave her.

“So he’s a little chunky. It’s fine,” she insisted. “He deserves it after the life he’s had. Plus, he’s still healthy.”