He owns the body shop down at Willow Ridge, old as me, guarded enough, and that’s why we got along well in the past, but he’s no Beta. I knew the moment he arrived in the small town along with his pack brothers Bishop and Xavier. He never confirmed, but there’s no denying when I see an Alpha pack entering my territory.
Instead of acting like a rabid dog, I hired Carver to take care of the tractors when they needed repair. He keeps the price right, and he’s never in my business. I’ve been working with him for ten years, and this is the first time I dreaded calling him in.
The bike turns around in a showy fashion, the dirt cloud rising to my face, and I cough, annoyed. Carver laughs as he kills the engine, removing his helmet with the devil horns and chuckling as he takes a look at me.
“Howdy, old friend. Heard that shit of a tractor broke again?”
Everything around here is due for a refresh, but there’s no money for it. I shake my head at his antics. “It’s in the barn.”
Carver takes his tools from under the bike before following me, relaxed as always, while my shoulders are up to my ears with tension. I scan the path between the front porch and barn, making sure Veda is not around while sniffing the air in case he can fucking scent her this far.
I’d scent her anywhere.
Even now, her faint perfume has my head in. Everything she touches gets my insides in a fucking twist, and I move forward, pretending I’m not constantly in the most tortured state of arousal.
Carver tsks when he sees the old girl. He likes vintage cars, but this tractor is something else. I made plans to buy a new one when we moved in, but it was working fine, and I had other bills. Ten years have passed, and now she cries for retirement every couple of months.
“Even if we sell this for parts, you won’t make money,” Carver says, putting his tools down just beside the tractor.
“You’re going to upset her,” I tell him, and he chuckles.
I usually leave him to his own devices, but I’m too tense for that. Instead, I find something to occupy myself so he doesn’t realize how jumpy I actually am. This particular barn has no animals. We use it to store our vehicles and animal pellets. I pretend to be sorting things around, throwing the big bags over my shoulder and dropping them on the other side as if they need to be there.
Carver watches me for a second, his dark eyes full of questions, but he swallows them all. He may think I don’t trust him around the ranch anymore, so that’s an issue I may need to deal with later.
We fall into silence, my feet dragging as I find unnecessary things to do. Carver opens the hood and starts working, humming his displeasure as he investigates what went wrong this time.
There’s no reason Veda should come around. There’s nothing for her to do here, yet my body goes rigid when I scent her nearby. That sugary perfume hits at once, and I snap my head to the open door, and that's when her laughter filters in.
The sun shines on her as if it’s only here for one woman, and my mouth goes dry when I take one look at her. She’s wearing a pink T-shirt that shows off her midriff just a little as she walks and a pair of denim shorts dotted with little daisies. It seems like everything she owns is cute, from the colorful hair tie at the end of her braid to the pink cowboy boots.
Her smile is open and sincere, so fucking good it brings goose bumps down my arms. I can’t hear what Jesse is saying to her, but whatever it is, she thinks it’s fucking hilarious as she throws her head back and laughs freely.
Her perfume turns up a notch. She’s not even that close, and it’s so strong it chokes me. I cough, calling her attention to me. Her eyes widen, and the smile dies on her lips. I do anything I can not to flinch at her reaction. We take on each other for a silent beat, and her eyes move completely from me, finding Carver.
“Hey there!”
“Howdy,” Carver calls, and my eyes fall closed for a silent curse.
Jesse understands all too quickly, and his hands find the small of her back, guiding her away. “Come on, let’s check on Margella.”
Veda looks confused. “I thought we needed more pellets.”
She points at the obvious bag right beside me, but I don’t take my eyes off her. I can’t. Jesse shakes his head. “We can grab it later.”
“Go.” The word comes out rougher than I intended.
She looks hurt by my tone, and I fucking hate myself for it. She moves with Jesse, but not before giving me a sad look over her shoulder.It’s better if she hates me anyway. She’s not mine to keep. It doesn’t matter if she thinks I’m an asshole.
“What’s going on here, Major?”
Carver’s words take me away from my own thoughts, and I snap into action, closing the barn door and turning to him. The tractor is forgotten in the back, and even when I close the door, his eyes continue to search beyond my shoulder. I ball my hand into a fist, but I temper down the rage. It’s normal for Carver to ask questions. He just scented an Omega, for god’s sake. I don’t know which Alpha Omega township he grew up in, but this might be the first unmated one he’s seen.
“Nothing is going on,” I say firmly.
His face is as white as a sheet as he turns his gaze to me, and I know he has nothing but anger on the tip of his tongue.
“You’re hiding an Omega, Major! What the fuck?”
