I’d slipped down the mountain, growing colder and more drenched as I went.
“I guess I should have known I’d fail. Even without the unexpected weather, camping and hiking probably isn’t my thing.”
“I think it’s brave.”
My jaw dropped as my head snapped up. I searched Wilder’s face to see if he was mocking me, but all I was met with was his steady, nonjudgmental gaze.
“What?”
“You went out of your comfort zone to try something new. That’s brave.”
This was the second time someone had called me brave in the past few days, and I fought the urge to burst into tears. For a long time, I’dfelt like nobody really saw me. I had no reason to complain about my life—I had friends and family who loved me and were proud of me, which was more than a lot of people had—but it still hurt to feel invisible. I wanted to be chosen. Prioritized. And to not be constantly terrified of losing people’s love and approval once they got to know the real me.
Wilder wasn’t offering me anything. I wouldn’t delude myself that this was the start of some big romance. But it still felt nice.
“Thanks,” I whispered. “That’s really kind.”
“Not often described as kind,” he grunted, which made me smile. Big tough alpha.
I leaned back in my chair, my omega feeling much more settled. “So, what do you do up here for entertainment?” The small living room was conspicuously lacking a TV or board games or…much of everything, really.
At his blank stare and silence, I let out an indignant noise. “You cannot possibly tell me that you sit up here for days straight and just, what? Grunt and chop wood?”
He crossed his thick arms, jaw set. “Fine. I will not tell you that.”
I sat forward and the movement knocked the ice pack off my ankle. Wilder frowned. “Be careful.” He moved it back, his fingers brushing my calf.
I perfumed again, and this time there was no ignoring it. My scent saturated the room like my omega was waving a bright red flag and shouting, “Take me, alpha!” I was about to apologize when Wilder abruptly got up and stalked out of the room. The back door slammed and my heart sank. Had my scent seriously driven him out into the middle of the storm?
“Well, I don’t like your scent, either,” I muttered.
I pulled the quilt more firmly over my body as I slumped in the chair. And I definitely didnotbreathe in more deeply to catch his scent off the fabric.
9
Wilder
The pounding rain blurred myvision as I swung my axe. The log split and landed on the drenched ground, absolutely useless for burning anytime soon.
Reasonable people didn’t chop wood in the middle of a torrential downpour…but then again, reasonable people weren’t driven out of their home by a cute little omega who smelled like strawberries and sunshine.
My cock was rock hard, and even after thirty minutes away from her scent, I was still on the brink of rut. I snarled and slammed my axe down again and again until the slick handle slipped from my hands, the blade almost catching my leg.
I roared and slammed my fist against the metal shed covering stacks of firewood. The pain did nothing to cut through my haze, so I pulled my bottle of rut suppressants from my pocket with shaking hands. The bottle that clearly said not to exceed a max dose of one in twenty-four hours.
I popped the third one I’d taken since rescuing Lucy into my mouth.
I fuckinghatedthis.
If I were normal, I’d be warm and dry right now, on the couch with the cutest omega I’d ever met. She was probably sweet with everyone, but in my fantasy, I was the one she wanted. As the temperature dropped further, cold air would creep into the living room.
Come here, sweetheart. Let me warm you up.
I’d pull her close to my side, her body fitting perfectly as she curled into my chest. My hand would tighten around her as her scent intensified and she let out a tantalizing omega whine.
Do you need me to make you feel good?
My hand under her shirt. Her bare skin like velvet against my rough callouses. Sliding down her stomach and hip.
