Chapter 6
I didn’t know her well yet, but I knew exhaustion when I saw it. Morgan was dead on her feet. Melting for Kit while he washed her hair, letting me bundle her up after her shower…neither seemed quite correct for someone who had been through her ordeal, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If the scent match was helping her trust us, to be at ease, that was a good thing. I didn’t want her to be weighed down by the trauma of her experience.
If I ever encountered the man who’d left her for dead, I would gut him and leave him as a gift for the mountains. The wolves would appreciate an easy meal.
Morgan’s body trembled with the effort to keep upright, so I pulled her into my arms. She’d need something to wear besides the robe. My room was down the hall from Kit’s, so I took her there and set her on the bed, watching carefully for signs of discomfort. She curled up on her side at the foot of the bed like a cat, eyes half-closed.
“Clothing or sleep?” I signed.
“Both,” she signed back.
With a nod, I pulled one of my well-worn black T-shirts from the drawer and passed it to her, then diverted to the closet to get my softest flannel. I didn’t have any underwear alternatives for her, but at least a couple of layers that came to her knees would be better than nothing.
She signed a quick “thank you” and made a spinning motion with her hand to tell me to turn around. I stepped outside the room while she exchanged the robe for my clothes and almost dropped to my knees when she asked me to come back in.
Fuck me.
She looked good enough to eat, all wrapped up in my clothing.
Morgan’s lips parted, a soft whine slipping out. Her maple syrup scent washed over me, tensing every muscle in my body, cock instantly tenting in my pants.
She didn’t need that sort of attention from me right now. All she needed was to be warm, comfortable, and hydrated. I offered my hand and Morgan slipped hers into it, letting me draw her up to standing. I tilted my head toward the doorway and she nodded, letting me pick her up again.
Holding her like this was deeply satisfying to my alpha instincts. She surrendered her weight, looping her arms around my neck and tucking her face against my throat. I purred softly and carried her downstairs, where the others sat in the living room in front of the main fireplace. I walked right past them into the kitchen and set Morgan on the countertop.
“More water?” I signed.
Morgan nodded and I poured some of the water that was still hot from the kettle into a cup and added a spoonful of honey.
The others stared at us over the couch and I gave them a warning look. Two alphas were enough for the moment. Morgan must have noticed my distraction because she turned to see the three of them, her little body freezing up instantly. I stepped between her and them and signed out the names of my pack members for her. “R-Y-D-E-R. M-A-V-E-R-I-C-K.”
Morgan nodded again, gaze slipping back over to them. No one made a move. Kit’s spruce resin and beeswax scent floated over, but there was nothing from Ryder or Maverick. The two of them got blocker shots so they were always ready to hunt at a moment’s notice. Their preparedness was shit luck, honestly. Morgan wouldn’t be able to recognize them as scent matches until the shots wore off.
“Sleep?” Morgan signed, looking at me imploringly.
“Soon. More water.”
She finished off her cup quickly and set it aside, watching me for further instruction. I leaned in close so I could whisper, “Do you want to meet them?”
“Tomorrow?”
That was all I needed. They could exercise some patience. I took her back up to my room and settled her in the bed, laying a couple of extra blankets on top. Pumpkin invited herself in, flopping down next to Morgan. Luckily, my omega didn’t seem to mind and cuddled up on our dog. Morgan was already half-asleep by the time I stood up again.
Tomorrow was a new day. Once she’d had a proper rest, she could meet the rest of the pack. She wasn’t going anywhere with the snow, so we’d have no choice but to get to know one another.
I left her in peace, her soft snore reaching me before I’d even left the room.
The others were eagerly awaiting my return, though they looked surprised to see that I had.
“You didn’t stay with her?” Maverick asked.
I shook my head. With a wave of my hand, I drew them all into the living room and we sat in front of the fire so I could tell them what Morgan had told me about her experience. I picked through the details, adding in my desire to feed her so-called friend to a wolverine.
“Jesus Christ,” Ryder murmured. “That’s fucked up. Now I hope a raccoon gets into his house and gives him rabies. He deserves to suffer.”
I nodded emphatically.
“Does she know you and Kit are scent matches?” Maverick asked.
I shrugged and signed, “She reacts, but no acknowledgment.”
Kit leaned back thoughtfully. “I’ve heard of some cases where omegas physically can’t recognize a scent match.”
“That would suck,” said Ryder. “Why wouldn’t they be able to?”
“Trauma, mostly. If Morgan doesn’t know already, we need to make her feel safe. Her body is in survival mode, which makes sense. She was probably out there overnight. If it had been any colder, she wouldn’t have made it.”
Maverick growled. “Fucking hell. Bear, I’m gonna join you in feeding that asshole to a wolverine if we ever find him. Makes me wanna throw up to think about her being out there alone.”
“I hate that she might not be able to recognize us. She smells like goddamn perfection.” Ryder groaned. “Damn blizzard gonna block every road so I can’t even get into town to get the blocker neutralized.”
“Charm her with your personality instead,” I signed, sticking my tongue out. “If you can.”
He flipped me the bird. “Fuck you. I can be charming when I need to be.”
“News to me.” I grinned.
We bantered in between discussing anything that still needed to be done to get through the storm. If it snowed as much as the reports said, we’d probably be blocked in for a week after the snow stopped before the roads all the way up to our place were cleared. I didn’t really blame the county. They focused their efforts on areas most affected. Four people weren’t usually a priority when they had roads to mountain towns to deal with. That was all right. We were used to being relatively self-sufficient out here.
We had a good system going with a ranch not too far away. They provided us with fresh produce and home-canned goods, and in exchange we gave them some of whatever we hunted. Usually moose, sometimes deer, and once in a while a buffalo would give themselves to our hunting party. Growing a garden out here wasn’t the easiest with all the trees blocking the light, but we had staked out a few spots over the years that got consistent enough sun we’d been able to put in some raised beds. Did Morgan like to garden?
We had too many things to consider for the future. None of us had any idea what Morgan’s plans were, and if she didn’t want to stay out here, it would make our jobs a lot more difficult. Not impossible, but certainly not ideal. Not everyone was suited to a life isolated in the mountains. If our omega was a city girl at heart who liked the occasional break in the forest, we’d have to figure something out.
“Do we know anything else about her?” Kit asked.
I shook my head. “We can learn,” I signed.
Morgan had chatterbox energy. I didn’t view it as a bad thing either. I always preferred listening to talking anyway. As someone who had been quieter than usual their entire life, it was pretty easy to tell who thrived on monopolizing conversation, whether or not they’d ever had the opportunity to do so. Even if she had been forced to be a little quieter because her throat hurt, the core energy of her was obvious. I imagined with a bit of rest and a little trust she would happily talk our ears off.
We played cards by firelight until the day fully caught up with me, and when everyone went to bed, I got comfortable on the couch. Morgan could borrow my room for the night.
I drifted in and out, watching the flames flicker. The soft sound of light footsteps drew my attention sometime later when the entire house had gone quiet. The pitter-patter of dog paws followed. Morgan appeared at my feet, illuminated like a goddess of flames with a copper halo from the firelight against her hair.
She looked uncertain, and didn’t say or sign anything for a few moments as we quietly observed each other. Eventually she tiptoed to the other end of the couch and sank to her knees in front of my face. “I had a nightmare about Brandon. Can I stay down here with you?”
I lifted the blanket in a silent invitation and she climbed on top of me, wedging herself between me and the couch, her arm curled over my stomach and her head on my chest. Pumpkin hopped up to join us, lying on my legs.
“I didn’t know where to go,” she whispered. “I don’t know why I feel safe with you.”
I purred softly and wrapped my hand around hers in a hopefully comforting gesture. My instincts were fucking blissed that she had come to me.
“Do you know why?”
I signed a quick “yes” where she would be able to see, but before I could explain further she started softly snoring, her body relaxing fully. My poor omega was exhausted. I tried not to feel too smug about how easily she had fallen asleep in my bed and in my arms. I couldn’t say for certain it was because she’d been exposed to my scent, since I had never seen her sleep in any other circumstances, but I could dream.
Pumpkin stared at me before giving a little huff and tucking herself into a ball.
I hadn’t purred this much in years. Morgan was dead weight against me, her scent sweet and mellow, weaving into every bit of my being. I desperately hoped she wanted to stay. How was I supposed to ever let her go after this?
Surely the universe wouldn’t be so cruel as to gift us with our fated mate if she hated the life we lived. I loved the forest. It had been this distant, ethereal thing I always saw on the horizon growing up. We lived close enough that I could see the dark edges every day, but not so close I could immerse myself in it very often. Once I had gotten old enough to drive, Kit and I regularly scraped our money together for gas so we could disappear in those woods. Our families never complained since half the time we came back with food. It wasn’t until we met Ryder and Maverick that our wild dreams of running a hunting lodge were made manifest. We were just a pile of young idiots, half of us with money and half of us with enough grit to get us through the first couple of years it had taken us to build this place.
The lodge was home. Hopefully one day Morgan would see it that way too.