Chapter 13
I expected to see Asher when I rounded the corner into the kitchen, but to my surprise, Carter was standing at the burner, stirring a large pot of something that was letting off the most delicious scent.
“Oh, hi,” I said, quickly looking away from him, unable to meet his eyes.
“Hiya,” he greeted warmly. “How are you feeling? Has the bath helped?”
I jerked my head in a nod. “It helped a lot.”
Carter smiled. “Good. I hope you’re not going to try and make another break for it,” he said, glancing down at the pot and whatever he was mixing before looking back up at me.
“No.” I shook my head. “I realise that was quite a stupid idea.”
That didn’t mean I wouldn’t have the urge to do it again, because the very idea of being trapped was suffocating. But if I had learned one thing during my time with Alec, it was that playing nice was the safest thing for me to do.
Fighting back just led to hurt.
Carter nodded. “I can kind of understand it, though,” he said. “We are in a bit of a unique situation. Truce?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
I nodded again. “I don’t think we have a choice,” I said with a small smile creeping onto my face.
Even if I was stuck again…they were a hell of a lot nicer to look at than Alec.
“That, we don’t,” he agreed.
“I still think you guys are crazy for wanting to stay in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, though.”
Carter chuckled. “We like what we like,” he said with a shrug, turning to me. “Now, do you want some buttered noodles? I think we’re all gonna pile into the family room and watch some TV.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You get a TV signal here?” Surely, that meant they could get a phone signal?
Carter shook his head with a grimace. “Nope, nothing like that here. We download a load of movies and TV shows, the ones with like twenty seasons, and we save them onto hard drives. A lot of the time, we end up doing things like playing board games or reading books, but it’s nice to have some TV every now and then. Asher downloaded all of those superhero movies a while back, and he’s been meaning to watch them. Do you have a preference for what you’d like to see? We’re not exactly up to date on our movie choices, there’s so many things we need to watch.”
I hesitated. “I’m probably further behind than you. I haven’t seen any TV in a long time.”
Carter met my eyes. “How long?”
I grimaced. I needed to tell them, but it wasn’t going to be pleasant when I told them the full details of what happened. “It’s been a few years,” I said with a small nod. “But you know, it’s not that bad. It just means I can enjoy the movies more.” I gave him a pained smile.
Carter moved to the kitchen counter, where he started cutting up a loaf of bread. “We need to have a conversation…about where you came from.”
“I know,” I said with a grimace. “I’ll explain it all.”
He nodded. “Good. The more we know, the more we can help you. Do you want to give me a hand?” he asked, pointing to the cupboard. “You can grab me some bowls to dish this up.”
I nodded, doing what I was told, glad to be given a task to do. Side by side, we dished up several bowls of the buttered noodles, topped with chicken.
“This smells really good. Thank you.”
Carter shook his head. “Don’t thank me. This was all Asher’s work. I’m just babysitting it for the moment,” he said with a laugh before pausing for a second and bellowing in a loud voice that was so deafening, I nearly had to cover my ears. “Kitchen, guys! It’s time for food!”
A shit-eating grin spread across his face, making me think he enjoyed having an excuse to shout really loud. My suspicion was confirmed a second later when Carter turned to me and said, “I love getting to do that.”A laugh escaped my chest as I picked up a bowl and several pieces of bread. “Shall we go eat in the family room?” Carter asked, jerking his head towards a room I didn’t think I had been in yet.
I nodded. “You’re going to have to lead the way.”
“Oh, yeah?” Carter cocked his head. “Remind me after dinner to give you the full tour. You have free roam while you’re here, so you may as well know where everything is.”
I nibbled on the bread as I followed him through the cabin. Did he really mean that? Was I going to have full roam of the cabin? That would help me feel somewhat better. At least I wouldn’t feel as caged as I had in that basement. There, I had been confined to a single room. Here, I would be confined to one cabin, some outside time, plus company. I didn’t have company in the basement. So, even if this was a type of captivity for a while, even though the only thing keeping me captive was the elements, it was a big step up from the basement. It was all about looking on the bright side. My mother always used to tell me to be more optimistic. Omegas tended to be more sunshine and happy and look on the glass-half-full side of things. That had been beaten out of me over the last few years, quite literally at times.
The family room was comfortable looking, the sofas were large, plush, and they looked soft enough to sink into. There were three of them surrounding a coffee table, and on the fourth side of the coffee table was an exorbitantly large TV. Asher was lounging on one of the sofas, his arms thrown over the back, his leg propped up on the coffee table, TV remote in hand as he flipped through lots of different movie screens.
“Hiya!” He grinned happily upon seeing me enter the room. “There you are! I thought you were going to stay in the tub all night.”
I laughed. “It was very tempting, but this food just smelled too damn good, and it lured me out.”
Asher gestured to the spot next to him on the sofa, but I bit my lip. He seemed sweet enough, and I didn’t mind being close to him. Dylan was on the opposite couch, so I took a moment to go through each option in my head. There were three large two-seater couches, and I assumed that every couch was usually taken up by an alpha. I didn’t have to think for long. Asher was offering me a seat next to him, so I knew he wouldn’t be offended if I took that seat. Carter was nice, but he wasn’t offering, and I wanted to avoid Dylan because he would probably be sarcastic with me and tell me off like I was a bloody child.
When Carter passed Asher a bowl, he accepted with a thank you as I took a seat next to him. Asher glanced from the food to me with a smile, appearing happy that I had chosen to sit next to him. We didn't say anything, we all just tucked into our food. The sweet, freshly baked bread scent emanating from the alpha next to me made my mouth water.
I convinced myself I was merely drooling over the bread.
Not the alpha.
I didn’t realise that, by sitting next to Asher, I was sitting opposite Dylan, who kept glowering at me over his bowl. After a few bites, it started to get annoying. I was tempted to throw my spoon at him, but the slow-marinated chicken was so delicious, and I didn’t want to lose my utensils.
The sofa was just as comfortable as it looked, and I sank into the material, tucking my legs under me and curling myself up as small as possible, eating the meal like a feral little goblin sitting in the corner of a room. For the first time in a while, I kind of felt relaxed, even though I was in a room full of alphas.
"I’m trying to decide what to watch,” Asher said, glancing at me. “I don’t trust these two to pick out movies. So, do you want to pick the movie tonight?”
He handed me the remote, and I took it with a cautious glance. “You trust me to pick a movie? What if I pick something you’ll hate?”
He shrugged. “I’ve sat through enough vile films, thanks to these two idiots.” He laughed. “Go for it.”
Biting my lip, I started to flick through the movies, but there was a part of me, deep down, that really wanted to pick a rom-com or something just to make him regret that choice. “I mean,” I said in a playful voice, “I do really love chick flicks.”
Asher grinned. “Perfect. Who doesn’t love a good romance?”
I cocked my head at him. “Well, that scuppered my plan,” I said with a pout.
Carter started laughing into his noodles, and even Dylan cracked a smile.
“You know,” I said, ignoring Asher’s gaze, “you guys have the new superhero movies, don’t you? I haven’t seen any from the last few years. What do you recommend I start with?”
“Oh, I know!” Asher said, holding out his hand for the remote. “I’ll put it on.”
With a few clicks of the remote, the screen lit up, and the movie started. I settled in to watch, continuing to eat the chicken and noodles, feeling warmer and more comfortable than I had in years.
I should have been tense, on edge, but as the time passed, my body practically melted into the couch. Part of me was worried that I wasn’t more stressed, but I quickly squashed that voice and focused on enjoying this rare moment of comfort.