Talon’s eyebrow lifted. “So that’s where you were this week. I knew something was up. How many did you make for her? Can we see?”
I pulled out my offerings. They weren’t the expensive flowers and chocolate that Archer offered but they were thoughtful. That was what I had to offer Sylvia. Care. Comfort. Thoughtfulness. Paying attention to her needs. Not that the others wouldn’t give her some of those same things, but they had attributes I didn’t.
An hour later, I bought everything I thought she might like, with the help of the owner of the store helping me. Paints. New paintbrushes. More canvasesof all sizes. Cards like the ones she painted for the farmers market.
Now to see if she accepted the gifts.
To my surprise, Sylvia answered the door. She widened the opening to reveal her brother’s pack and their mate Lily behind her.
“Good morning. I came to offer you some gifts. I don’t…I’ll leave them on the porch. Yeah.” I scratched the back of my head. Archer or Talon would be so much better at this. “I…take care.”
I made it halfway down the porch when she hit her hand on the door, trying to get my attention. My heart fluttered not knowing what she wanted. I turned around, ready to be rejected, heartbroken. She darted back into the house and came back with her dry-erase board.
Stay? Please?
“Are you sure?” My eyes flickered to the pack behind her. I was so glad she had the support of her brother and a good pack, but I also wanted to speak to her without an audience.
Yes. I was about to go paint outside. Come with me.
“If you’re sure.”
She nodded and the pack behind her dispersed, Lily with her baby and the others going about their business in different directions.
I brought everything to the back where she had something in the works on the easel. It was our goat.
“That’s Emma. You are so talented, Sylvia. I don’t know if they will work, but I stretched these canvases myself.”
You prepared these for me?
“I did. I hope you like them.”
She blushed as she went through my offerings, a huge smile brightening her face. My omega didn’t have to mutter a word. Her cinnamon and sugar scent and expression told me I’d done well. Cinnamon rolls were my favorite treat, and the smell of rolls baking on a Sunday morning was one of the few things I could remember about my birth parents.
I sat in the chair next to hers as she pulled out some of the new paints and brushes.
Would it be okay if you shifted?
“Why?” I had to ask.
So I don’t feel like I need to communicate with you. Just be here with me.
“Thank you, omega. For telling me what you needed. Of course I can shift. Be a good girl and look away.” I winked as she turned and in seconds, I shifted and lay at her feet as my wolf. For the rest of the afternoon, we stayed that way. She took short breaks to walk around the property and I strolled alongside her as my wolf. She ran her hands through my fur. Scratched behind my ears, the silence between us absolute perfection.
I looked up once in a while to see what she was painting. She’d finished up a card with Emma on it and had done several more, all with my wolf as the star. The afternoon faded. Perhaps I was overstaying my welcome.
Sylvia leaned down to kiss the top of my head, and my wolf and I fell deeper in love with her. Our bond grew and thickened by the moment.
This was more than scent. More than biology. I was made to be Sylvia’s alpha, one of her alphas.
Chapter Thirteen
Sylvia
I couldn’t believe I’d been brave enough to do that—to ask him to shift and stay with me. It had been so overwhelming, having him talk to me and not knowing what or how to say anything back to him. Yes, I had my erase board, but I felt like I was giving a presentation more than having a natural conversation when I used it with people I didn’t really know. That was 100 percent on me. I doubted he or anyone else felt that way, but it still added a layer of discomfort to our time together, and I wanted it gone. But at the same time, I didn’t want him gone. I wanted him by my side.
When I asked him to shift, I half expected a little pushback. Sharing one’s beast for the first time was a huge deal, and I was asking him to do it without reciprocating. A big ask.
Dax acted like it was no big deal. What floored me more than that was when he thanked me for letting himknow what I needed. Dax was unlike any other alpha I’d ever met, in the very best of ways.
