Chapter 7
M y brain was fuzzy as hell, but I was warm, and my panicked survival instincts were calm for the moment. Cedar and woodsmoke filled every breath. I’d never been this comfortable in my whole life and I didn’t want to open my eyes or move an inch to ruin it.
Unfortunately, Pumpkin didn’t have the same idea, and when the sound of kibble hitting a bowl came from the kitchen, she leapt off me like a rocket, driving her little feet into my vital organs. I let out a squawk and a warm hand pressed over one of the spots Pumpkin had decimated.
“Fucking hell. Those paws are lethal.” I burrowed deeper into the warmth.
“She doesn’t respect personal space,” Bear whispered.
“I see that.” With a sigh I melted again. “Nothing feels real. When did I come down here?”
“Middle of the night,” he whispered in reply.
Something was definitely wrong with me. I wasn’t comfortable with alphas as a general rule. I could spend time with them, like I had with Brandon and a lot of our friends, but I never touched any of them like this. I wouldn’t have dreamed of snuggling up to a single one of them. The omegas in our group didn’t understand me. I got along pretty well without a ton of physical contact even if it did make me feel like I was about to come down with something. But these alphas smelled so good I couldn’t help myself and Bear hadn’t taken an ounce of advantage of me being this close.
I’d wondered for a lot of years if my omega instincts were broken. They seemed to be working just fine with Bear.
“Sorry I turned Pumpkin into a rocket launcher.” The alpha I’d met yesterday stood at the end of the couch. It took my brain a few seconds to supply me with his name. Kit. He also smelled unfairly delicious. I wouldn’t even need to spend time in the forest if I could shove my nose up against these alphas.
“You should be sorry. I’ve been grievously injured. I may never recover.”
Bear snorted, his shoulders shaking with near-silent laughter.
“There are more of you, right? I don’t remember a lot of yesterday.”
Kit blinked curiously. “Ryder and Maverick are the other alphas here. They’re clearing the snow off the roof.”
“Why are they clearing the roof?”
“Snow gets pretty heavy. We don’t want any of the roofs on the lodge or outbuildings to collapse. Turns out the reports were wrong. We got three feet overnight and it’s not stopping. Better to clear it before it gets overwhelming.”
“I can help,” I offered.
Bear’s grip on me tightened.
“Your only job while you’re with us is to rest and heal,” Kit insisted. “If you want to stay here after that and help, we’ll figure out what chores are best suited to you.”
I stared at him for a long moment. Why would I stay here after? I had a job to start, a life to lead. I was here by necessity, not some pleasure trip. “I think I missed something.”
Kit sat down on the armrest. “You’re settling in so well with Bear, I just assumed that meant you were accepting the scent match.”
I bolted upright, instantly wincing at the lingering ache in my muscles from all the recent exercise. “What do you mean scent match?”
Bear and Kit shared a look and Kit continued, “Did you not know? You’re not on blockers. Neither are Bear and I.”
I soaked up his words like a sponge, trying to process this information. That certainly made sense for why I wanted to roll around on them and why I felt safe with Bear, though I had never experienced a scent match before. “But aren’t those super rare?”
Kit shrugged. “Rare for them to find each other, but I don’t think it’s rare for them to exist.”
“I guess that’s fair. I can’t do anything about it, though. I have a new job starting in Missoula in a few days, and an apartment I’m supposed to move into.”
“I’m sorry to say you’ll miss your starting date.”
A crack like thunder sounded from outside, all of us leaping to our feet.
“What the fuck was that?”
“Probably a tree.” Kit was already running, Bear and me at his heels.
Swearing and yelling came from outside and I pressed up against the glass to see what was going on. Bear and Kit hauled on their outdoor gear and disappeared into the snow. I dragged on my snowsuit and boots to follow them out.
A huge spruce had come down. Shingles littered the snow along with a pile of crumpled metal.
“What happened?” I shouted above the wind.
“Fucking tree took out Mav and the satellite,” Ryder yelled back.
My gaze swiveled to where Maverick was sprawled out beneath one of the branches. Shit.
Bear and Kit fetched a pair of chain saws and immediately set about slicing up the tree, focusing on the branches around Maverick so Ryder could drag him out of there. I dropped to my knees next to him, bending close so he could hear me.
“Maverick, can you feel your toes?”
He groaned. “Hurts like a bitch, but yeah.”
“Okay, good.” I did a quick check over his body while Ryder kneeled next to us, asking Maverick about each limb to make sure nothing was broken or suffering from nerve damage.
Ryder dragged him by the jacket into the garage and I followed, getting right back onto my knees when we were out of the wind.
“You okay, man?” Ryder asked.
“Knocked the damn air out of my fucking lungs.” Maverick coughed and sat up carefully with a plethora of winces and groans.
The branches had sliced through part of his coat. “We should get this off you and see if it made it down to the skin.”
While Kit and Bear worked outside, I helped Ryder get Maverick upstairs. We probably looked ridiculous since Maverick was a solid foot taller than me. He didn’t put much weight on my shoulders, but the fact that he put any at all told me he was struggling.
By the time we got him settled and mostly stripped to check out the damage, I was exhausted. The adrenaline had faded and I was reminded my own body wasn’t in great condition. I shimmied out of my snowsuit and crouched at Maverick’s side. He was lying on couch cushions in front of the fire while Ryder brought over their extensive med kit. I’d taken a bunch of first aid courses over the years so I’d be prepared if anything happened while camping.
The branch had broken the skin so I applied a disinfectant, Maverick hissing at the sting. I stretched out next to him, drawn by the omega instinct to soothe, letting my purr take over, and he almost instantly melted. “You’re going to be okay,” I said softly.
“Are you a nurse or something?” Ryder asked.
“Nah. I was a counselor at a lot of summer camps so I’ve dealt with every injury under the sun. This is small potatoes compared to a lot of things the kids managed. Can you bandage him?”
“Sure.”
I wiggled to get Maverick’s head on my shoulder so my purr would be considerably louder. Omega purrs were pretty magic with stressed-out and injured kids. No reason it couldn’t work the same on an adult.
As Ryder got to work, Maverick tensed, dragging me closer and pressing his forehead against the curve of my throat. My breathing shallowed, goosebumps racing over my skin. I held perfectly still, fighting the rise of my lustful instincts at having an alpha so close. I didn’t know how to deal with it. I’d been on suppressants for so long I’d never had to worry before. Maverick didn’t even have a scent I could detect like Bear and Kit. I’d have probably been compelled to give him my throat if he did.
“Don’t crush her,” Ryder admonished. “She’s had a rough go.”
Kit and Bear rejoined us, both of them stopping short at the scene in front of them, eyes wide and nostrils flaring. Bear growled.
“She got down there herself,” Ryder told them. “Mav just got a bit closer.”
“You okay, little fox?” Kit asked.
I gave him a thumbs-up, not daring to move more than that.
As Ryder finished his work, Maverick’s own purr kicked on, slowly draining the tension from my body and lulling me into a cozy half sleep.
“Don’t you dare have internal bleeding from that fucking tree,” Ryder ordered, poking Maverick’s shoulder. “No dying.”
“I’ll do my best,” Maverick croaked.
The alphas settled in, their gazes on me like a tangible thing.
“How’re you feeling, Mav?” Kit asked.
“Like I got kicked by a horse.”
“Want some painkillers?”
“Hell yeah.”
Kit set a hand on my ankle, the warmth of his touch making my purr stronger. “How about you, little fox? Anything you need?”
“Suppressants.”
That one word seemed to ring through them, all the attention in the room centering onto me. I stuffed down the instinctual reaction to preen.
“The snowmobiles got damaged during our last hunt. We don’t have anything reliable enough to make the journey into town for that.” Kit swallowed hard. “Is your heat due soon?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been on suppressants since I presented. I’m not sure what my body is going to do if I don’t have access to them anymore.”
“Isn’t long-term suppression bad for you?” Maverick asked, his breath ghosting over my skin.
I shivered. “I think it’s pretty equal to the stress of going through heats alone. At least with suppressants I don’t have to suffer.”
They all shared a look and I shrank into myself. Hopefully my body would hold out until we could get to town and I didn’t have to throw myself upon the mercy of strangers.
Kit settled at my side, eyes filled with heat that was banked by concern. “How do you want us to handle things if your heat triggers while you’re here?”
Wild images of them spreading me out in front of the fireplace filled my head, and I squeezed my thighs together, my scent rising. “That’s kind of a loaded question.”
Kit winced. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m going to have to ask some invasive things so we can make sure you’re taken care of the way you want to be.”
“Can we do that later? I can’t answer questions about that with Maverick stuck to me.”
“Whatever you need,” Kit promised. “I would suggest having a wander through the lodge, though, and finding a spot you’d like to be your nest just in case.”
A nest.
That was another thing I had never let myself truly indulge in. The suppressants seemed to have an easier time working if I kept as much of a handle on my omega instincts as I could manage.
My rational mind clung to the idea that my heat would hold off and I would be able to slide right back into the life I had planned, but my instincts wanted another thing entirely. Only time would tell which one won out.