I could admit I come out here to spend time with him, not Pete, but after our close encounter, I definitely can’t say that.
Pete is cute but I’m not sure he likes me very much. He kicks dirt at me and stares at me until I leave. He never does that to Magnus.
But I say, “That sounds fun!”
It doesn’t matter how much my presence annoys Pete, I’m here for his big friend. Besides, maybe Pete will like me if I make him food. That always works on me.
Magnus pulls the ingredients out, bags of dried fruit and nuts, some of which are candied, and a jar of hazelnut spread.
The combination makes me nervous. If Pete loves those flavors so much, does that mean he thinks I smell like dinner?
“We’ll use the hazelnut spread to stick everything ontopinecones. I just need to go collect them, I’ll be back in a minute,” he says.
Magnus’s long legs carry him out of the greenhouse before I can offer to help. It’s probably just as well, it gives me a chance to cool down.
I drum my fingers on the table, trying to stop my brain from picturing what he looks like naked.
There’s a lot to imagine.
Omegas are built to handle big things, but he’s larger than most alphas. Would I be able to take it all?
Dirt rains down on my hand, and I hastily pull it off the table. Pete’s tiny face pops out of a pot, already glaring.
“Oh. Hello,” I say. “Was my tapping annoying? Sorry about that.”
I laugh nervously and clean myself off.
Pete doesn’t respond, but he likewise brushes the dirt off his face. All the better to glare at me, I guess.
Magnus returns, saving me from the stilted, one-sided conversation.
He sits on the bench, careful to give me a wide berth, and shows me how to coat the pinecones with the hazelnut spread.
I follow his example, and my fingers are quickly covered in the stuff. Even though I’m using a spoon to smear it on the same as Magnus, somehowhishands are completely clean.
I watch again to see how he’s doing it, but that just results in more of it dripping on my arm.
I give up on trying not to be messy and focus on making sure my pinecone is thoroughly coated. When I’m done, I hold up my sticky glob and compare it to Magnus’s pinecone sitting neatly on his tray. It doesn’t look as pretty, but they’ll both be covered up soon enough.
“I think I did something like this as a kid. We used peanut butter and seeds to make treats for the birds and squirrels,” I say.
“My parental pack only fed animals that provided something for us, so I didn’t do anything like that growing up,” Magnus says. “But you’re right, I based Pete’s Treats on a pinecone bird feeder recipe I found online. I swapped the peanut butter for hazelnut since he prefers that. Pete doesn’t like peanuts.”
I hide my smile about his culinary exploration with frog treats.
“I bring Pete some of our leftovers occasionally, even though he’s self-sufficient. He does a great job of keeping the garden pest-free,” he continues.
“I’m sure he’s a very capable hunter,” I say.
I’d blocked out the part about Pete hunting bigger things. I’ve never seen him eat anything except plants and worms or bugs. I glance nervously at Pete, who stares straight into my soul.
I hurriedly get back to making Pete Treats, lest he become too hungry.
I clear my throat and ask Magnus, “Did you have many winter traditions growing up, or was your pack practical there too?”
“We had a few Yule traditions. We didn’t decorate beyond bringing in an evergreen tree that we later used as firewood. My parents gave us gifts, which tended to be things we needed rather than toys. It was still an enjoyable holiday though. We spent the day together without worrying about the daily chores we usually did to keep up with living off-grid.”
“That’s what’s important, being with the people you care about. My parental pack did the typical holiday things,Yule lights and cookie exchanges and gifts. It was chaotic, but fun. It’s nice to do all the silly little activities together,” I say, thinking about everything we’ve done over the past few days.
