I think I’m strong enough to stay away from them. Guess I’ll find out.
Asher resumes putting the food we bought away while I figure out something to eat. I go for simple: cereal in a bowl. Dry. No milk. Regardless of the propaganda of the milk corporations out there, I much prefer my cereal dry. I’m a slow eater. If I added milk the entire thing would get soggy.
And that’s just gross.
I sit on the island and eat my dry cereal as I watch Asher put everything away. “So what’s your brother doing here?” With my mouth full, I am the complete opposite of lady-like. My aunt would have an aneurysm.
He shrugs. “I really don’t know. I asked him, but he just told me off.” He tosses me a glance. “Believe it or not, just because we’re brothers doesn’t mean we talk to each other about everything.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I say, and I mean it in more ways than one. I wouldn’t know what having a sibling is like, and I also wouldn’t know how close he is to Mason. In the grand scheme of things, there’s a lot I don’t know.
He grabs all the empty plastic bags, balls them up, and tosses them in the trash can, which is cleverly hidden in one of the lower cabinets of the island. “I’m sorry. I just… I really wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here.”
“He wouldn’t tell on us, would he?”
“No.” With how quickly he says it, I know he believes it. “I don’t even think our parents know he’s here, so if he told on us, he’d have to tattle on himself, too. I don’t see him doing that.”
“Let’s just hope your brother being here is as eventful as things get,” I mutter.
“I know. Mason mentioned your aunt might send someone after you. We were careful, but… we’re not experts at this. I’ve never helped an omega hide during her first heat before.” He studies me hard. “This is a first for both of us.”
It’s true. Asher really is taking a risk helping me—all the more thankful I need to remember to be. It isn’t like we’re best friends anymore. This is…
Actually, I don’t know what this is. I don’t really know why he agreed to help me in the first place, but it doesn’t feel like the right time to ask.
So I eat my cereal, put my bowl in the dishwasher, and tell him I’m going to take a nap. I wander to the room that will be mine for the foreseeable future and shut the door, then I collapse onto the overly large bed.
Seriously, it’s huge. Bigger than a king. I don’t know what the next step-up is from that, but it’s definitely made with an entire pack in mind.
The sheets are a dark gray, and they feel clean. I have no idea if this room smells like his parents or not, and it doesn’t matter. Soon enough it’ll smell like me, and then I’ll have to wash everything in it and leave it as spotless as it was when we first arrived. Don’t want to be a shitty guest.
I kick off my shoes and crawl beneath the sheets, tugging them over my head. I’m not normally one who enjoys taking naps, but after being awake for so long—way too many hours in a row, if you ask me—exhaustion is the only thing I’m capable of feeling.
That, and relief that we’re actually here. A part of me kind of thought we’d never get to the cabin.
With the sheet over my head, my breathing starts to slow. In and out, in and out. In. Out.
I think about Asher and the alpha he became, how he leaped to help me even though he didn’t owe me anything. I even think about Mason and how similar he looks to his brother, but that’s where the similarities end. He’s much more gruff and rough around the edges than Asher.
And then, strangely, the last thing I think about before sleep finally pulls me into its embrace is the alpha from the Omega Garden.
I don’t know how long it is until I wake, but when I do, the window on the far side of the room brings in no light from the outside world, which tells me it’s either evening or later than that. I roll out of bed, not the easiest thing to do, given how impossibly large the mattress is, and stretch.
My mouth is dry, so my first goal is the kitchen. Then… I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with all the time I have here.
I creep down the stairs, and when I do, it’s absolute darkness. Meaning it isn’t simply evening; it’s well-past. Might just be an ungodly hour. I hope I didn’t mess up my sleep schedule too much by taking such a long nap.
I grab a glass and get some ice and water from the fridge door, then I wander to the living room, where, to my surprise, I find the TV on low and someone sitting on the couch.
Mason. Theback of the alpha’s head is in my direction, so I can’t see his face, but it definitely doesn’t appear as if he’s watching whatever he has on the television. No, if anything, he’s staring at the large windows on the other side of the room, at the world of night outside.
He must either sense or smell me, maybe that anti-scent cream wore off, because he slowly turns his head in my direction. Though the light from the TV mounted on the far wallis the only bit of light in the room, it’s plenty enough to see the frown tugging at his lips.
An expression Asher would never wear, I don’t think.
He sees the glass in my hand and mutters, “I was here first. I’m not leaving. In fact, this is my fucking house, so—”
“Calm down,” I say as I coolly take a sip from the glass. I approach the couch. “I wasn’t going to ask you to leave, and I’m well aware this is your house. Well, yourfamily’shouse, technically.”
