Chapter 3 #2
River grumbles as Mav takes a seat, pulling Skye onto his lap.
Skye is home for the weekend, and honestly, I’m surprised they even came.
The two of them are usually so busy with each other, everyone else falls by the wayside.
It’s so fucking cute, the way they have to always be touching.
I can’t stand it. Wish I had that. Then again, I have to do more than work to actually meet someone.
My mind winds back to Arbor, the way his body arched up to meet mine that night, the way he moaned, the way he simply gave in. It shifts to who he is now—prickly, stubborn, unwilling to bend. It’s so dichotomous that it’s almost sent me into a tailspin.
But at the same time, I’m so fucking intrigued.
My eyes catch my youngest brother’s, and Skye arches an eyebrow at me. I must have been staring into space.
Maybe I should ask him what he thinks about Arbor, since he’s also an omega.
I turn away, deciding to do it later. Now is about getting to know Fia and Rhodes, to learn more about them.
“I hear an accent,” Sage says to Fia, interrupting my thoughts. “Where are you from?”
“Oh, up north, actually. My parents are French Canadian. I grew up there.”
Sage gasps. “How fun! I had a pen pal there once. Lost track of him, actually. Wonder how he’s doing…” Sage pulls up his phone and starts typing something into it, probably doing a quick search online to see what he can pull up.
“You should all visit sometime. I have a house in the Boreal Forest, actually. I’d love for you all to come.”
My dad offers a noncommittal grunt as River unhelpfully volunteers for us to all go this February.
“We could go skiing!”
I say nothing in response. I have no desire to travel up north, cabin or not. I like my place a little too much. And careening down slopes of ice and snow doesn’t appeal to me. I rather like my neck the way it is.
“The town is quite nice too,” Fia says with a grin. “And nearby is a clan that is absolutely lovely.”
Forest perks up at that. “What kind of clan?”
“Oh, alpha and omega, some betas too, actually. Les Lunes. They’re great. They have this ceremony each full moon, and it’s so fun, addictive really.”
“How so?”
Fia nudges her son. “Oh, I went a lot when I was younger, but Rhodes was just there last month. How would you describe it?”
He shifts in his seat and takes a sip of his beer. “Yeah, just a good time, really.” He peers over at my dad and shrugs. “Lots of sex and drugs. Lots of broken rules, I think. No one cares what you look like. Status doesn’t matter. It’s just kinda freeing. You can fuck whoever you want.”
My dad chokes slightly, and River gasps.
“That sounds amazing. Forest, you would love that.”
His cheeks darken. “Why the fuck would I like that?”
River shrugs as Forest glowers at him. I know he doesn’t want his shit aired to these strangers. But Rhodes doesn’t seem to notice how flustered my brother is.
“Yeah, it’s a good time. Not for everyone, but most people like just letting loose.”
“Kind of like the Heat Hunt here,” Maverick chimes in, and Rhodes eyes his mom.
“Never heard of it. What is it?”
All eyes move to me, and I sigh. I knew I shouldn’t have told River. I knew he’d let it slip, and it would get around.
“Yeah, uh.” I rub a hand across my jaw. “It’s what it sounds like. It’s an event each supermoon where alphas chase down the omegas, and you know…” I shift in my seat and refuse to meet anyone’s gaze.
“Drag them back to The Den,” River chimes in unhelpfully. “Knot them.”
I let out a small laugh. “Yeah, basically.”
Rhodes takes a long sip of his drink. “Yeah, basically the same thing then. Just more drugs at the one up north.”
“Any special kind up there?” Sage asks.
“Fang blossom. Lots of the plants up there, so it makes it easy to harvest.”
“Cool, I’ve always wanted to try that. Here, you can only get Silver Leaf.”
My dad sighs, running a hand down his face. “I think I’d rather not know about your drug habits, Sage.”
My brother laughs and then pulls out a joint, the wild herb catching the breeze and giving off a distinct smell.
Nothing unpleasant, but also not my cup of tea.
This plant is unpredictable and makes alphas revert to the old wolf behaviors, causing us to be loud and stupid.
Sage calls it medicine. I call it a liability.
“Anyone have a lighter?” he asks.
Rhodes pulls one from his pocket and leans forward, holding it out to my brother, the flicker of the flame catching our eyes. My brother places the end of the joint at the flame and sucks in before leaning back with a sigh.
“Not bad, not bad,” he says. “Anyone want a hit?”
Rhodes holds out his hand, and Sage gives it to him. He takes a puff and holds it out to Forest, who gives it to me.
I stare at it, the little rolled joint in my hand.
Shouldn’t do this; I really shouldn’t. It’s never had a good effect on me, but the longer I sit there, breathing in the secondhand smoke, the less I think it’s a bad idea.
Why the fuck not, I think as I stare at the spiral of smoke drifting up from the end. Nothing else to do this weekend but stay home. I have some projects I want to do at my place, but I can do that tomorrow. Right now, I wouldn’t mind relaxing a little.
Maybe this will help me stop thinking about my new boss.
About my omega.
“Have you ever smoked this before?” Sage whispers as I place it to my lips.
“Back in high school,” I remark and then drag it into my lungs. It’s dark and heady, my body relaxing as I sink into my chair. “Remember when I disappeared for two days?”
“Oh shit,” Sage giggles, my dad sitting upright in his chair.
“Absolutely not,” my dad growls. “You put that down, Glenn Vale.”
“Oooh,” River says, giggling. “You’re in trouble. Dad middle named you.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about me. I’m smarter now. Just got a little too high back then,” I say as I take another puff. Forest pulls it from my fingers and hands it back to Sage, leaving me to grab my beer and take a sip.
“Won’t do anything crazy tonight, though. I’m an adult. A responsible one. No wandering off for me.”
I meet my dad’s eyes, and he closes them for just a second, shaking his head.
“I promise. I’m gonna be fine.”
I’m not fine. Not at all. My weekend is completely ruined.
I spend all of Saturday moving in and out of consciousness, resisting the urge to strip down naked and bay at the moon.
I swear I hear wolves in the distance calling to me, telling me to join them, to let go.
Obviously, I don’t respond, just stuff the pillow over my head and curse Sage.
And myself.
Sunday, I’m not much better, just a walking zombie, barely able to shower or shave. I growl and hiss at any sounds, mainly the stray cats outside, clinging to my screen and screeching at me.
I feed them with a snap of my teeth.
One shows me its butthole as it saunters away.
By the time I show up for work on Monday, I feel like I’ve been scraped off the floor and plastered back together. I shouldn’t have met Sage after our family dinner and smoked another one.
I really shouldn’t have. I knew better.
Because right now, I’m half the man I was on Friday morning. I feel like a loser. Like I’m eighteen all over again. Although this time I didn’t disappear into the woods and end up naked in a pile of leaves, I sure as fuck didn’t move much either.
As I pull up to the worksite, I see a form lingering in the distant tree line.
The drugs obviously haven’t helped my little hallucination problem.
“You’re late,” Arbor says, looking up from his computer and narrowing his eyes as I step into the trailer. He must see what I saw in the mirror today. It’s not pretty. In fact, it’s bordering on absurd. “Why do you look like that?”
My jaw grinds, a headache building in the back of my head.
“Just need coffee, is all.”
“Did you go out on some kind of bender? Are you high? Hungover?”
My head throbs. “Just had a long weekend.”
“Another Heat Hunt? You rut yourself into oblivion?” he sneers.
I hear the jealousy in his tone, and I meet his stare, but neither of us says anything.
“Fuck the gods. I didn’t mean that. Forget I said anything.” Arbor places one hand on the desk, the other pushing his glasses down his nose slightly to look over them. “But you really don’t look well. Perhaps you should take a sick day.”
“I slept the entire weekend. I don’t need to rest any more than I already have.”
His glasses come off, and he rubs his eyes, the scent of peaches coming off him in waves. “That was unprofessional of me. I shouldn’t have asked you what you were doing in your free time.”
“Don’t mind it,” I say as I make myself a fancy cup of coffee. “Gods, that’s good,” I murmur as I take my first sip. My words come out in an almost growl, and Arbor’s eyes flash up to meet mine.
“It is good. No one here appreciates it, though. Most of the men here complain about it. Hence, the old coffeepot on a crate outside. I had to pull it out of the dumpster and revive it.”
“They’re fools. All of them.”
Arbor’s lips twitch, and he leans back in his chair, assessing me.
I know he wants to ask why I look this way, and to save him the embarrassment of asking, I just say, “Smoked some Silver Leaf on Friday. And I have a shit brother who’s a bad influence.”
“Hm. I had Silver Leaf once. In Alabama. Wild night. I vaguely recall the sound of a banjo and a hyena laugh.”
My lips twitch slightly.
“Sounds scary.”
“It was. There are cryptids out there, you know?”
“Nope. Didn’t know that.”
His eyes flash to meet mine. “Some are…intriguing. If you smoke enough, they’re pretty hot.”
My half smile fades, and I clutch my coffee a little tighter.
“Don’t tell me you slept with one.”
He shrugs his shoulders and then moves his gaze back to the computer.
“You never tell what you do in Alabama. Now, get to work. You look like shit, but we have a lot of stuff to get done today. You got this?”
I nod and gulp down some more coffee—and some of my jealousy, as well.