Chapter 24 Cooper, Boone, Wade, Wyatt, Levi #3
“I’ll take first watch tonight,” I volunteered, ready to return to the door and sit outside of it for an eternity if necessary.
The others chimed in, quickly establishing a schedule.
Two hours each, through the night. Ten hours of coverage.
When we fell silent, the room felt heavy.
Wade picked up an animal husbandry but quickly tossed it back down again.
Cooper grabbed the remote, then kicked his feet up onto the coffee table.
Bits of dirt crumbled off the souls of his boots.
None of us had thought to kick them off at the door like normal.
He turned on the television and started flipping channels, finally landing on the Rodeo network.
Without actually seeing the barrel racers and bull riders, I stared at the screen.
The way our Omega was acting seemed to stem from more than regret over signing a bad contract. Her words felt too raw. She acted too wounded.
What had we done?
Brought an unwilling woman to our home, and now planning to guard her door like jailers?
But the possible alternative—letting her storm off into unfamiliar wilderness in the dead of night—seemed worse than making her feel trapped.
The rodeo livestream ended, quickly replaced by an old western.
Our pack had never sat in this sort of uncomfortable silence before. We’d always been in sync. When I’d first arrived at Sagebrush, having already fallen in love with Levi and Coop, I’d slipped into place seamlessly.
Now though, something didn’t fit. Or, rather, something that should fit was resisting.
I wondered what Nelly was doing in Coop’s room. I wondered what she was thinking. She’d not made a peep since we’d come into the living room.
About an hour into the movie, I stood up abruptly. I needed to move, to do something. The light outside was fading. It was almost time to guard Nelly.
“I’m going to make coffee,” I announced, heading towards the kitchen.
Another hour and four cups of coffee later, my pack mates were dozing—either in their rooms or on the sofas—and I was settled on the floor outside the bedroom, trying not to breathe too deeply.
Nelly’s Omega smell was wafting through the gap at the bottom of the door, and it smelled better than anything in the damn world.
I said a silent prayer to the Great Mystery.
Give me the strength to not body slam this door into splinters so I can see her again.
Cooper appeared at the end of the hallway, his frame silhouetted against the dim light from the living room. He approached with a steaming mug in each hand, offering one to me. I might shake out of my skin if I drank a fifth cup, but I took it anyways.
“Thought you were sleeping,” I said quietly.
“I tried, didn’t work.” He shrugged, leaning against the wall, his eyes locking on the door.
“Try again,” I suggested. “If you stay awake now, that two-hour shift is going to feel mighty long.”
Coop drew in a deep breath that made his nostrils flare.
His hand twitched at his side as he fought the urge to reach for something forbidden.
In this case, the doorknob separating us from her.
His upper body began to lean forward. I cleared my throat softly.
He gave himself a shake, glancing down at me.
"I'll relieve you in two hours," he whispered.
"Try to sleep,” I told him again.
“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled but made no move to leave.
Neither of us spoke for a long moment, the silence filled with the weight of what it meant to have our Omega here yet just beyond our reach.
“I fucked up, Boone.” Cooper’s voice was tattered at the edges.
When I looked at him, I could see one hot tear slipping down his cheek, the moisture somehow calling enough light from the living room to highlight his remorse.
“I feel like I forced her here. Surely Eros wouldn’t make her come to us if she hated what we offered, but… ” His words faded away.
“We’re all part of this choice, Coop. Don’t take the whole of it on your head.
” I shifted forward away from the wall, wrapping one hand around his calf and giving it a squeeze.
Then I settled back against the wall. “However, the method, she’s here.
Our Omega. We may never have found her without Eros. ”
"She's terrified and furious," Cooper countered. "I don’t get it. Why sign a contract if she wasn’t willing."
“That’s true.” Was all I could say.
“What if she really refuses to stay, Boone? What if she wants to break the contract?” He asked the dreaded question.
“I’ve got no answer for you, Coop. Tomorrow’s a new day.
Things will look a little different, like always.
” I crossed my arms and closed my eyes, hoping that would push Cooper to go rest. After a moment, I heard the quiet sounds of his retreat.
When I opened my eyes, I saw him pushing into Levi’s room.
Long after he disappeared, I stared in that direction, wondering if there was any path forward that didn't end in heartbreak—hers or ours.
The coffee cooled in my hands as I listened for any sound from the room, any indication of her state of mind.
There was only silence, which somehow felt more threatening than tears or rage.
Somewhere in this mess of biology, desire, and moral compromise, there had to be a way to make things right. I just hoped we could find it before she found a way to run.
Wade.
I had to shake Cooper awake. He was snoring heavily with his head lolled forward, chin nearly touching his chest. I’d have to tell the others that he couldn’t be trusted with guard duty in the future.
“What… what’s wrong?” he groaned out the question, mouth dropping in a comical yawn.
“You fell asleep, dummy,” I scolded, giving his leg a gentle kick.
I helped him to his feet, and he arched his back, spine popping. “I didn’t fall asleep,” he protested.
“Literally just woke you up, Coop.”
“Lies.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “I’m going to bed.”
“Guard the sheep you count better than you guarded Nelly,” I cajoled, keeping my voice pitched low.
“Leave me alone,” he waved me off, stumbling off towards Levi’s room. He hesitated halfway, then turned back towards me, making his way towards the living room instead. “Boone went in there. Can’t all fit on that small ass bed.”
I lowered myself to the floor, pulling a protein bar from my pocket. It crinkled and cracked, making me cringe. Couldn’t be loud enough to wake her, but I probably should have picked something quieter. I ate slowly, feeling wired and ready to act should Nelly bolt.
The first thump against the door made me panic and scramble off the floor, dropping the last bite of bar.
"I know someone's out there." Her voice, muffled but unmistakable, carried through the wood. "I can hear you chewing."
I froze, unsure whether to respond. It would probably make her mad as a hornet to know we were taking shifts outside the room.
The second impact was firmer, a deliberate pounding that made the scarred hardwoods tremble beneath my feet.
My heart raced as Nelly’s scent suddenly intensified—she must have moved directly to the door, her body inches from mine with only mere inches of wood between us.
The sharp tang of her Omega fragrance pulsed, clouding up from the floor gap.
It hit me with unexpected force, making my breathing shallow and quick, sending heat through my core.
"I can hear you out there," she called, each word punctuated by another pound of her fist. "Just go the fuck away!"
My throat felt tight, words trapped behind the overwhelming sensations her proximity triggered. Before I could formulate a response, footsteps approached from the living room—Wyatt, his face tense with concern as he gave himself a little shake to force lingering sleep away.
"Everything okay?" he whispered, eyes darting to the door where the pounding continued.
I nodded, though nothing about this situation felt okay. Wyatt's nostrils flared as he caught the concentrated wave of her scent, his pupils dilating visibly even in the shadowy hall. The floral had taken on an acrid edge, but it still made every part of us want to touch our Omega.
"God! I said go the fuck away, but now there’s two of you!" Nelly called, her voice hard with anger. “I can freaking smell you guys!”
The knowledge that she could detect us just as we could her, that our scents might be affecting her in some way, however unwanted, made the desire flame brighter. Wyatt straightened, his Alpha presence intensifying.
"I know you're pissed off, Nelly," Wyatt answered her, glancing at me as he spoke.
I could see how his chest tightened with each breath, how he struggled to maintain the steady timber of his voice.
"You've got every right to be mad about us guarding you, but we can’t risk you doing something stupid. It's too dangerous around these parts."
Another slam against the door, hard enough that I worried for her hands. Did her wrists feel better? Was she hurting herself right now? That thought physically hurt me, pain bolting through my heart.
"Oh please," she shot back. “You think I'm afraid of the dark? Of wild animals? Try having drunk Alphas grab at you while you're just trying to make rent. A big ass cat is nothing. And, right now, I’d choose the fucking bear in a heartbeat!”
Her words painted images I didn't want to see.
Nelly alone and vulnerable.
Nelly harassed.
Nelly struggling.
Yet here we were, adding to her burden rather than easing it.
I shuffled my feet, unease overtaking desire.
Part of me—the part that nursed sickly calves back to health and soothed spooked horses—wanted to fling the door open, show her the safest path off our property, and give her a fighting chance at leaving us right now.