But there was more to it than that.
He gets up from the recliner, dragging a blanket with him. He had already done his circuit around the barn, checked that the cows were warm enough and had plenty of food and water. Made sure their pregnant heifer, Ruth, was eating enough.
Charles was usually on top of it, but he wasn’t here any longer.
Another stab hits Luther in the gut.
Guilt.
Charles.
TheirGood Luck Chuck.
Luther is the one who pushed Charles to join First Chapter Clinic.
Luther is the reason Charles was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Why Charles saw Rossi shoot the nurse.
Why the Rossis put a target on him.
Why Charles is—he doesn’t let the thought land.
The front door whips open, and in the doorway is his half-soaked, shivering, idiotic,angrypack mate.
Luther wraps the blanket over Wren’s shoulders, leading him further into the cabin, closer to the heater.
They built this house about five years back for Charles to grow into, but it wasn’t exactly equipped for snow. There wasn’t a fireplace, and the heater only worked to warm one single corner of the living area.
Wren tugs the blanket tighter around him. “The fucking snow! The goddamn cold! I thought we stayed in Florida to keep away from this bullshit.” Wren lets out a string of expletives, before leveling Luther with an intense stare.
Luther appraises Wren, circling to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. The man had been the first to join him, the first to agree that Charles would be raised by them. The first to step up into the father role. He had done so much for Luther, sacrificed a normal life, and all he had in return was this farm.
“Stop giving me that look. I chose this life,” Wren snaps out.
Luther pours a cup of coffee and walks it to Wren, handing it to him.
Wren chugs it, squeezing the mug in his hands. He screws his eyes shut as he opens his mouth again. “There’s an omega trapped in our house. She can’t leave due to the snow. We need to hole her up in here. She’s going into heat.”
Luther doesnotexpect that. He doesn’t know how to react. “Why is she here? Who is she? Heat?”
“She came looking for Charles. She’s mated to a Rossi. Her name is Xenia.”
Luther freezes.
The coffee pot in his hand falls to the ground, shattering around him, the liquid barely missing his boots.
He can hear Wren shouting but it is as if it’s through water. The words are bleary and gurgle, never making their way to Luther.
Luther is throwing open the door to the cabin before he can recognize what he’s doing.
He is desperate.Anxious. He doesn’t even feel the cold as he runs all the way to the house, only to see the front door open. He continues his way out there.
He is frenzied, his entire body vibrating with unused energy as he searches for her.
Three steps into the front and he finds her, half-naked and curled up in the snow.
Xenia Rossi.
