Chapter 5
I ’d never been more grateful for Bear’s compulsive need to disappear into the woods alone after we hosted people at the lodge. Fate was playing a dangerous fucking game, leaving our omega out there for him to find when one change in direction could’ve left her dead. The mountains weren’t forgiving at the best of times, let alone in the middle of winter. Even if you knew what you were doing—and Bear was as close to an expert as you could get—you were risking your life.
The blizzard had rolled in unexpectedly, as most weather in the mountains tended to do. The news was talking about three feet of snow or more, which would force us to hunker down until the main roads were cleared. That didn’t even account for the drifts, which could be over our heads in the right conditions. We managed on the property well enough since this was a regular occurrence, but it still wasn’t ideal.
Morgan stared at us with wide eyes, her delicious maple and black tea scent charring at the edges.
“Stay with Bear,” I told her. “We’ve got room for you here, but there’s still work to be done to ensure we’re ready for the storm.”
“We’re ignoring the part where you said I’m yours?”
I offered an awkward smile. “For the moment, yes. As much as I’d love to explore that further, I need to make sure you’re going to be comfortable here.”
“That sounds like you think I’m staying.”
“You have no choice on that until the roads are clear,” I pointed out. “Might as well make sure you’re not going to hate it.”
I dashed off, leaving her and Bear in the garage. I had to tell Ryder and Maverick about her before they ran into her. Having an extra person while snowed in wasn’t a problem. We had already restocked after hosting everyone from the Rez, so we’d be fine for months if needed.
“Ry! Mav! Where’d you guys get to?”
I heard some vague shout in return and found them in the root cellar.
“Fucking raccoon got in here,” Maverick told me as I descended the steps. His sandy hair was pulled back in a ponytail, his blue eyes looking even brighter since he had somehow managed to sunburn himself yet again. I swear the man was lucky he didn’t burst into flames whenever he stepped outside, but it looked like our omega would be in similar danger outdoors, given the red hair and freckles.
“Any casualties?”
“Some of the carrots,” Ryder replied. A red beanie covered his shaved head, a wise choice considering the root cellar was barely above freezing most of the year. He raised chestnut eyes to me, dust from their work making his usual dark brown skin look paler. “We already found where it dug in and sealed it up.”
“Speaking of uninvited guests…”
They both turned to me.
“Bear found our omega in the woods.”
Ryder and Maverick stared at me like I was an alien, Ry recovering first. “Say that again.”
“He found our omega and brought her back to the lodge. She’s here now.”
“Are you fucking with us?” Maverick asked.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. She’s in the garage with him right now.”
They shared a look like they weren’t sure if they believed me. Our pack was a combination of pairs. Ryder and Maverick had come from out east while Bear and I were born and raised in Montana. The lodge had been a dream for all four of us and we’d come together to make it happen—them with the money and us with the knowledge of how to not immediately die out here. It was one thing to move into one of the smaller cities, but you couldn’t blindly move into the mountains with no survival skills or connections. Well…some people did, but it rarely went well for them.
“What are we supposed to do with her?” Maverick asked.
“I would worry about that after you shower off the root cellar dirt. Might wanna get on that in case we lose power and hot water.”
“Shit.” Ryder sighed. “Been chopping wood all fucking day. I probably look like a mess.”
I shrugged and said with a laugh, “You’ve looked worse. Go wash up. I’ll make sure you don’t trip over our girl beforehand.”
“This is fucking weird, man,” said Maverick. “Fate needs to get its ass in gear. Dropping our omega in our laps before a fucking natural disaster is bullshit.”
He grumbled as the two of them tromped away to wash and change. I diverted to the kitchen and put on some hot water to make Morgan a cup of tea. Bear wandered in with her at his side, snowsuits abandoned. Her wool underlayers clung to her like a second skin, showing off every delectable curve while she stood awkwardly, sliding the toe of her sock against the floor.
“Hey there, little fox. Do you have a preference on tea flavors?”
“Anything,” she croaked.
“Did you hurt your voice calling for help?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Is that how Bear found you?”
She shook her head.
Pumpkin sat at their heels, staring at me like she could psychically will me to give her a treat. She could. I fetched one out of the cabinet and she took her chew to go lie down by the fire.
“Pumpkin found her,” Bear signed.
“I’m not surprised. She’s the best girl so of course she would be a pro at impromptu search and rescue.”
I grabbed a handful of containers of tea from the cabinet and set them on the counter for Morgan to choose from.
“The licorice mint one will probably help your throat the most, but not everyone likes the taste.”
“I can suffer,” she replied. “It’s not that bad.”
I kind of liked her crackly voice, but it did make me curious what she sounded like when she wasn’t fresh off a near-death experience.
I filled the cup with boiling water and let the tea steep, adding a generous spoonful of honey for extra soothing properties. Bear and I got her situated on the couch in front of the fire with her cup of tea and I wrangled together something more substantial for her. I didn’t want to waste gas for the stove if we might be going into a power outage, so I dumped a couple of servings of last night’s stew into a camp pot and brought it into the living room where I could set it on the metal rack in the fireplace. I’d gotten damn good at cooking like this, not that reheating stew was anything special.
“If you’d like a bath or shower, I’m going to have to insist you do that relatively soon. Storms make everything out here pretty unreliable. Next best option if you wait too long is heating a soup pot of water next to this and you can scrub yourself down with a cloth.”
“A shower would be amazing.” She sipped at the tea, fingers curled around the cup like her time outdoors had sunk all the way into her bones.
“I’ll get everything ready for you after you eat,” I promised.
I wasn’t sure how she would react to Ryder and Maverick. She already looked a bit overwhelmed, and the charred edge of her scent hadn’t muted yet. Unsurprising, given everything she had been through.
Bear inhaled his food when I dished it up, but Morgan picked at hers more carefully. Her lips were chapped and the skin on her cheeks was bright red. I surreptitiously licked my own lips, relieved they weren’t in rough condition. Not that I expected her to feel them anytime soon, but I wanted to be ready if the opportunity presented itself.
Morgan sighed.
“What’s wrong, little fox?”
“I feel like I could sleep for a year. I don’t know how I’m gonna get through the effort of a shower.” She winced and took another sip.
“We could help you.”
Her pupils dilated, but she didn’t speak right away.
“Stay in your clothes,” I suggested. “The hair is the most work, so you can sit fully dressed and I’ll wash it for you. I imagine the clothes could do with a rinse anyway if you were out there for a while. You can wash your body yourself and I’ll bring you some fresh clothes to put on after.”
“I guess that works.”
The moment she finished eating, I scooped her off the couch so she didn’t have to expend any additional energy. We had no shortage of bathrooms in the lodge but I took her upstairs to mine. I’d cleaned it recently so everything was sparkling, and I had the added advantage of owning toiletries that wouldn’t ruin her beautiful hair with the hard water.
Bear followed after us, even though I was sure he was itching to wash up himself. He stayed by the door to keep watch, not because he didn’t trust me, but more than likely just so Morgan might be more comfortable since he was the only one of us she knew. Knew was being generous, too. Still, a savior was a savior, even if they were a stranger.
She curled her knees up to her chest when I set her into the bath, and she tipped her head back with a soft hum so I could take the hand attachment to soak the strands.
I had never considered that shampooing someone could be an erotic act, but the sounds she made as I scrubbed her scalp forced me to get on my knees and hide my reaction against the side of the tub. This was an act of trust, and I wasn’t going to take it for granted, but I couldn’t help my body’s response to it either.
“Two other alphas live here,” I told her. “I don’t want you to get overwhelmed, but this is their home so you’ll definitely see them around.”
“That’s okay. Are they nice?”
“They’re part of my pack, so yes. A little rough, but not unkind.” I squeezed the water from her hair and applied a generous helping of conditioner before rinsing off her clothing. “I can give these a proper wash if you’d like.”
“I don’t have anything else to wear, so I suppose that’s the only option.” She grimaced. “I hate that it hurts to talk.”
“Only so many options,” I replied.
“Water, please,” she signed.
Bear nodded and disappeared down the hall.
“You know ASL?”
She nodded, adding a sign for school.
“Bear gets fucking jazzed when other people know it. Makes conversation way easier.”
She tugged at the hem of her shirt before giving up with a frustrated growl. “Help,” she signed.
“You’re fine stripping down in front of me?”
She shrugged and gestured behind her, where Bear had returned with a glass of water. Morgan took it with a quick thank-you sign and chugged half of it down.
If she was fine with it, then I would roll with it. I set her water aside and helped peel off the soaked wool. When she was down to her underwear, I helped her stand and closed off the shower curtain, letting her strip down the final pieces herself and toss them wetly to the floor, where I collected them. Bear monitored her while I took them downstairs and dropped them into the laundry sink for a soak, giving them a few minutes before I returned upstairs, too anxious to be far away from her yet.
Bear had her bundled into one of the robes that came almost down to her feet, and a towel wrapped around her hair. She leaned her weight against him and lifted her face pliantly so I could apply some soothing moisturizer to her damaged skin. Her eyes fastened on me as I spread a generous amount of balm on her lips, her breath shallowing to match my own.
This was going to be the longest blizzard of my life.