Chapter 15
Hestia
The mug warms my hands while I wait for the whipped cream to melt into the hot chocolate.
I watch hungrily as the fluffy cream slowly sinks in, and when I can’t stand it any longer, I take my first sip.
It’s smooth and rich, the chocolate perfectly balanced with the milk.
Something tickles my nose, and Henri is pulling a napkin away when I open my eyes.
“You had some whipped cream there,” he explains.
“Oh, thanks,” I say casually.
I duck my head and furiously rub my face to make sure there’s nothing else on it.
“You should have licked it off,” Cato tells him.
His packmates immediately reprimand him.
I stifle my laughter at Cato’s attitude, not seeming to notice their irritation with him.
“That comment was unnecessary,” Orion says.
“Why waste good food? Don’t you agree, Hestia?” Cato says.
“Napkins work better than a tongue,” Henri says before I can reply.
“I suppose it depends on the skill of the tongue,” Cato says.
Henri blushes, and Orion and Charm scold him again.
I bury my face in my cup to hide my giggles.
Cato smirks and lets them talk. Orion is saying something about integrity and social awareness. To be honest, I’m not following his lecture that closely either.
It is funny when Cato flusters people other than me. Henri looked cute getting all embarrassed about the tongue thing.
Plus, Cato’s right, why waste good food.
I lick off some of the whipped cream since it isn’t melting fast enough, making sure to scoop up some of the chocolate shavings and gingerbread spice.
I forget my plan to just take a little off the top and end up eating most of the whipped cream before I realize what I’m doing.
Everyone is staring when I look up.
“My tongue seems skilled enough,” is the only thing I can think to say, and give them a thumbs up.
Charm sounds like he’s choking. Henri rubs his nose nervously. Magnus, of course, just turns away. Orion’s mouth is open, but no coherent words come out.
And Cato. Cato actually laughs.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a full-throated laugh from him before, it’s always snickering or smug chuckles.
His laugh is amazing, deep and rumbly like a purr, the sound a caress.
I never imagined my stupid response would elicit that reaction. It makes me want to keep teasing him to hear it again and again.
“Do you want to go for a walk around the square? We haven’t seen all the decorations yet,” Charm says, his voice higher than usual, clearly trying to ignore my innuendo.
“Sure, that sounds fun,” I say, accepting the change in subject.
I don’t want to make the others uncomfortable, so I’ll save my spicier teasing for when Cato and I are alone.
We go over to look at the Yule tree, even though you can see it from across the square.
It’s covered in multicolor lights and tinsel, glittering and twinkling under the snowy gray sky.
The only ornaments are large, golden glass stars.
Some of the tinsel is arranged to look like light trails behind them, falling stars.
The largest star is at the top of the tree, lit from within by more twinkling lights.
“Do you like it?” Orion asks.
“It’s amazing! So big and bright,” I say, still staring up at the tree.
“Starsfalls always has great holiday decorations. I think this would be impressive even for a big city surrounded by skyscrapers. Although I’ll admit it’s been a while since we spent a winter anywhere else, so things in the cities may have changed,” Orion says.
“I know the academy is near several cities, and moving here takes some adjustment.”
“I hadn’t thought about it like that. We spend so much time in classes or training, I didn’t go off campus much. This is one of the most impressive Yule trees I’ve ever seen. With a town like this, you don’t need the big cities,” I say.
“I’m glad you feel that way. Our pack has been here for so long, I’ve forgotten any adaptations we had to make to living in a rural area,” Orion says.
“Cities always had too much hustle and bustle for me. Quiet towns are more my speed,” Henri says.
“A quiet life is nice,” Charm says. “Outside of work, of course. Plenty of excitement there.”
I laugh and agree.
I’ve been so happy to help people, I haven’t felt the intensity of our emergency calls since that first one. It has been nice to go back to our cozy station in the evenings and sit in front of the fire, enjoying the warmth and company of my teammates.
“Starsfalls has always reminded me of home. I grew up by the seaside, where life was slow-paced and we got our excitement from the fishing boats. Whenever they pulled in a big catch or an unusual fish, it was the talk of the town,” Charm says.
“Did you do any fishing?” I ask.
Now that he mentions it, I can picture Charm out there, sandy blonde hair blowing in the breeze, freckles just as dark as they are now with all the time he spends outside. His green eyes have always reminded me of sea glass. I bet he looks just as good on the beach as he does in the mountains.
“I worked on a few boats,” he says. “Mostly in the summers when I wasn’t in school.
And like most people there, I did plenty of fishing from the docks.
Fish fries, lobster boils, and oyster roasts were common.
After high school, I did commercial fishing for about a year before deciding it wasn’t what I wanted to do forever and left for the Rescuer Academy. ”
Charm obviously enjoys the outdoors. I can’t say I’d want to spend all my time on the water either, so it makes sense to shift to something that still gives you plenty of time in nature.
“I’ve always lived in remote places, except for when I was at the academy. Towns were an adjustment for me,” Magnus says.
“Really?” I say, looking up at him.
He nods.
I haven’t thought much about what they did before becoming rescuers, so I’m not sure why that surprises me so much.
“What kinds of places?” I ask.
“Similar to the mountains here, except further away from any towns. We lived off-grid and subsisted on things my family grew or hunted,” Magnus says.
“Wow, so you grew up training for this kind of job,” I say.
Not that we have to survive off-grid, but knowing how to live in the mountains surely gave him a leg up in a lot of areas.
Magnus smiles wryly. “I suppose so. I learned how important it is to be prepared for accidents when you’re living on your own,” he says, gesturing at his face where the scar across his mouth pulls on his lip.
Even so, it takes me a minute to get what he means. I hardly notice the scars and haven’t thought about them much beyond being sad that he clearly went through something painful.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Magnus. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories,” I say, stroking his arm.
“It’s okay, it doesn’t bother me to talk about it,” he says.
“It was a memorable way to learn that sometimes you’ll need help, and it’s okay to ask for it.
My parental pack got too invested in doing everything themselves.
So when a tree fell on our house during a storm, they didn’t have a plan for getting help.
I was trapped under it through the night until they managed to get me out.
At least they realized I needed a hospital after that.
Luckily I was the only one who was seriously injured and I made a full recovery besides some scarring.
I don’t blame them for wanting to live on their own, I just think everyone should have a safety net. ”
“That must have been terrifying. I’m so glad you’re okay,” I say.
Poor Magnus going through that, I can’t imagine. Even though I learned how to deal with difficult rescues, it’s not the same as experiencing that yourself.
“Is that why you joined the Rescuers?”
“It was a big part of it. Joining the Rescuers was a natural progression after I decided I didn’t want to remain isolated like my family. After a few odd jobs, I joined the academy. Now I can support those who want to live and play in the mountains,” he says.
“The Rescuers are lucky to have you,” I say earnestly.
Magnus puts his hand over mine and squeezes it gently.
It might be selfish of me, but I’m glad he didn’t choose to stay with his parental pack. I’ve loved working with him, and I can’t imagine our station without him.
The crowd around the Yule tree has cleared, and we’re one of the few groups left. Magnus releases my hand, and I awkwardly shuffle a few steps back after realizing I’m hovering, almost pressed against him.
“Do you want to get your picture taken in front of the tree?” Henri asks me.
“Yes, that’s a great idea! I’m not good at remembering to get pictures,” I say, already adjusting my hair.
I fluff it so the pink waves sit neatly over my scarf.
When I look up, Henri has his phone out, ready to take a picture. The others are next to him, leaving me alone in front of the tree.
“Wait, I thought we were going to take it together. Our first team photo,” I say, struggling to keep a whine out of my voice.
“I thought you would want a picture of you to send to your friends and family,” Henri says.
“We can do one of me, but then we have to get a picture with all of us,” I say sternly.
Taking pictures is a good addition to the FWTTDBID list—preserving festive memories. So they better fall in line and do what I say.
They quickly agree, luckily for them.
I smile and Henri takes a few pictures of me before asking someone to get one with all of us.
The guys surround me, leaving me in the front since I’m the shortest (by far).
I paste a smile on my face as our photographer lifts the phone.
He snaps a few pictures, squints at the screen, and takes a few more.
I struggle not to fidget. Having them standing so close, looming over me, is making the back of my neck prickle even worse than when Cato stares at me.
My stomach is tingly and I feel myself getting wetter even with my special slick-wicking underwear.
Must be an omega instinct. If alphas are behind me, I should be prepared to get fucked, apparently.
The man is still taking photos, moving the phone around and changing settings, until, finally, he decides he’s taken enough.
“I think I got some good ones,” he says, handing it back to Henri.
“They look great. Thank you,” Henri says.
“Anytime, young man. I’m Gerald,” he introduces himself, and they shake hands. “Let me know whenever you need me to take more pictures of your handsome pack and lovely omega.”
“We’re not—we’re coworkers,” Henri stammers, but Gerald is already walking back to his family and doesn’t appear to hear.
“He’s almost right,” I say with a laugh, but I’m blushing just as much as he is.
Henri sends me the photos, and I swipe through them, admiring how festive and cheerful we look with the tree behind us.
I don’t know if it’s because Gerald put the thought in my head or if my omega is still feeling frisky, but it does kind of look like they’re my pack.
I was thinking about posting our picture on my seldom-used social media accounts, but after seeing it, I definitely can’t. People don’t always read captions, and I don’t want to wade through a bunch of comments congratulating me on finding a pack.
None of the guys comment on the photos besides saying they turned out well.
“Where to now? Do you want to visit the shops?” Charm asks.
“Sure,” I say.
On our way back to the shopping district, I take pictures of the decorations now that Henri reminded me I should document the season.
Speaking of, I spy a store with lots of twinkling lights in the window display.
I wonder if they would mind if I get some decorations for the station.
I already set up my meager Yule decorations in my rooms, a few festive pillows shaped like trees and candy canes, some nutcrackers, and nesting dolls.
There were already colorful fairy lights in my nest, so I only had to add a few more.
“Would it be okay if I buy decorations and put them up in the common areas?” I ask Henri tentatively. He seems to be the one who’s in charge of the household.
“Of course, you’re welcome to decorate however you’d like,” he says.
“We’ll buy anything you want,” Orion says, already herding me to the closest store.
“We still need to bring down the rest of our Yule decorations. We can put them up together if you’d like to,” Henri says.
They convince me to let them buy tons of decorations, with promises to help put them up tomorrow.