Chapter 7 Noelle
Noelle
I hover over the stove in Nana’s kitchen, sleeves pulled all the way up to my elbows as I whisk a bowl of batter. I sigh in contemplation next, the aroma of sizzling butter wrapping around me like a warm scarf as I cast my gaze out of the window.
The scene outside the fogged glass looks as if it came straight from a Christmas card.
Snow dusts every bush and bough as soft flurries drift from an overcast sky.
A squirrel rushes up the tree in Nana’s yard, and I watch as it knocks snow off the branches, letting it fall onto a fresh pile on the ground below.
Now, this is home… You don’t get to see sights as pure as this in New York.
“Careful,” Mom warns as she comes up beside me, tapping the side of my shoulder lightly with her wooden spoon. “Don’t whisk too hard now. You don’t want to pull a muscle and worry your Nana.”
A melancholy smile comes over my face as I recall the time I pulled a muscle when I was twelve; I whisked a little too hard back then, too, thinking I was doing a job well done. Making morning pancakes was always a tradition at Nana’s house growing up.
I glance over the chipped countertop, finding the exact spot where I accidentally cut with a knife while chopping tomatoes.
I wince at the memory; I almost got my forefinger.
Mom sets the plates and cutlery down on the table, humming lightly to herself.
The faint sound of Nana coughing upstairs reminds me of why I came back. It’s like I’m a child again, having breakfast with Mom and Nana in the kitchen—three generations of Omegas.
My heart breaks when I think of Nana all alone in this old, creaky house, the one that whispers nostalgia everywhere she looks. She had three Alphas once, but she outlived each one of them. One of them died before I was born, but I was close with her other two Alphas.
My grandfathers were typical old-fashioned Alphas, and they even built her this very house.
I couldn’t imagine outliving my entire pack. It sounds like the worst fate an Omega could ever have, but I guess grief is the price we pay for love.
Well… It’s a good thing I don’t have Alphas, then…You can’t miss what you’ve never had, right?
A knock sounds at the front door, and I freeze mid-whisk. A knot forms in my chest.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this?
Mom looks up from setting the table, gazing at me curiously. “I wonder who that could be?”
I shrug, continuing to whisk the batter old-school style, since Nana doesn’t own an electric whisk—hence all the muscle pulling as a kid.
“Who knows,” I reply. “Perhaps if we just ignore them, they’ll go away.”
Mom rolls her eyes at me, untying her apron as she goes to answer the door. “Seriously, Noelle. Where is your Christmas spirit?”
Before I can stop her, she’s out of the kitchen, rushing to answer the door in fear of looking like a Christmas Grinch. Always about keeping face, Mom wouldn’t dare keep someone waiting.
She opens the door, and the sound of her surprised voice echoes throughout the house. “Why, Shepard Wynter… long time, no see!”
Shit! I knew it.
No wonder I got such a foreboding sensation twisting my gut.
Now I make a point of hiding under the table as that rich, syrupy voice reaches my ears, the one that always caused my heart to skip twice as fast.
“I hope I’m no trouble, Ms. Hale.”
“No, none at all. Come on in from the cold. We’re just about to have breakfast.”
No, no, no! What is she thinking? Does she not recall how he broke my heart?
Somehow, I have a feeling that my parents are trying to push me back towards the Wynter Pack. There was my Dad's comment about Frost being a stand-up guy rescuing me on the highway, and now Mom is inviting Shepard inside for breakfast.
“No, I don’t want to be a bother. I was just…never mind. I should go.”
My heart drops as I hear him leaving, and my Omega cries for her Alpha next.
Oh, pipe down, you. Do you not remember how he treated us at seventeen?
She doesn’t care, though. She just whimpers and wants to have breakfast with her Alpha.
He is not our Alpha!
“Nonsense. You will always have a place at the table, Shepard. You and your brothers. Now come in. Mom will be so happy to see you again.”
What is she doing, roping Nana into this? But she’s right.
Nana always loved the guys—Shepard especially. He is a lot like my grandfathers were, possessing that same old-fashioned charm.
He's a builder too, like they were.
“No, it’s fine, miss—”
But it’s too late. Mom drags him in from the cold, and I have no choice; I’m going to have to hide under the table. Not my smartest decision.
Just as I crouch down beneath the wobbly table with its mismatched chairs, footsteps approach the kitchen, and then I look up to find the hulking frame of an Alpha behind my tiny Omega mom.
Damn. It looks like the boy became a man, after all.
The same piercing eyes of blue on a face of tanned bronze, but the true centerpiece of his face: the beard.
Just the right amount of facial hair, too. It would feel great on the inside of my…
I steer my thoughts elsewhere as Mom regards me strangely. “Noelle? What are you doing on the floor?”
I sigh, picking up a random button that I found. “There it is! My button… I was wondering where that old thing went.”
My dorky laughter echoes through the kitchen, and Mom does not look impressed. We have company after all.
She looks to Shepard. “Go on, make yourself comfortable. You too, Noelle.”
I look at her desperately. “But…what about breakfast?”
“Don’t you mind breakfast. You see to our guest.”
She is serious. Now I have no choice but to join Shepard at the table as Mom fusses about the kitchen.
It has to be one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. There were so many things left unspoken between us, and this is not how I wanted our reunion to go.
He smells just as good as I remember: cedarwood and roasted chestnuts.
Dad soon joins us as he leads Nana to her seat at the table. Thank goodness—now Dad and Shepard talk about sports. While Shepard is distracted, I get up to chastise my mother as she flips the pancakes.
“What were you thinking?”
Mom smiles innocently. “Did you really expect me to leave him out in the cold?”
I throw my arms up. “Yes!”
Wow, I sound heartless. But who can blame me? Shepard is the reason why I am without a heart these days.
Because he broke mine.
Mom rolls her eyes, shoving a plate of pancakes into my hands. “Just sit down and eat. You only have to talk with him. It’s obvious he has come here to talk with you.”
Grumbling, I take my plate and sit at the table. Mom soon joins us, and now I have no choice but to watch as my mom and dad talk with Shepard like he’s the son they always wanted. My pancakes taste like ash in my mouth, and so much for my first breakfast back home.
Even Nana looks impressed as she reaches across, wrapping her frail hand around Shepard’s right bicep.
“My, would you look at that, Noelle? Such strong arms, like your grandfathers used to have. He’s a good one,” she coos.
Even Mom looks a little disturbed by that last comment as Nana is, in fact, talking about her own fathers. It’s exactly what she deserves.
That’s what she gets for trying to pimp me off with pancakes.
I soon have enough, storming out of the kitchen. I need to go for a walk. I yank my coat off the hook, rushing out of the front door at a brisk pace.
“Noelle, wait!”
I bite the inside of my cheek as the familiar baritone of that Alpha reaches me. Now I move faster, skirting around patches of ice in Nana’s front yard.
“Noelle, please… I just want to talk.”
I whirl on him next as he no doubt catches up with those muscular legs.
Crap. I was too focused on leaving the house that I forgot to grab my mittens and hat. Now my ears are smarting. My fingers are numb as I wave them around, trying to warm my blood.
I just hope Shepard doesn’t notice the snot running from my right nostril. “What do you want, Shepard?”
The Alpha falters, and just like that, he shrinks. He places a hand behind his head, scratching the back of his neck. “I heard you were back in town. And…”
I shrug. “And what? You thought we could make amends?”
The Alpha wilts further, and I know it’s harsh, but he needs to hear my words. “I’m sorry, Shepard. But that ship sailed the day you broke my heart.”
As I make a point of turning away, I slip on a dangerous patch of ice.
Luckily, Shepard is there to catch my fall. Now, as I rest my head against his chest, listening to his thunderous heartbeat, I pause.
It's pounding fast, and I stay that way for a while, closing my eyes. His warm cedar scent wraps around me as I fight back tears.
How it could have been…
Shepard purrs for me, and I nuzzle my cheek against his chest.
“See? That’s not so bad, is it?”
My eyes snap open. Then I place my hands against his massive wall of a chest, shoving him away. Or more like I shove myself away as I saunter off, trying to regain my pride.
“I guess that means we’re good again?” he hollers after me.
“Don’t push it,” I snap right back.
His warm, syrupy chuckle finds its way to my heart and pussy again. “Wouldn’t dream of it. But you watch, Noelle Hale. One way or another, my brothers and I are going to win you back.”
“Yeah, when hell freezes over.”
He pauses. Then he shouts again, “Then I still have a chance?”
I pull a face. He does understand the expression, right? Maybe I should have gone with “When Pigs Fly.”
“I’ll be seeing you around, Noelle.”
Finally, the Alpha leaves. When he’s out of earshot, I turn. A heaviness falls over me when he walks away from me.
My Omega misses him already, and before she does something stupid like running back to him, I whirl away, rushing toward the woods that border Nana’s house.
A brisk morning walk is what I need.