Chapter 3 Jesse
three
Jesse
“And who is this?”
Major’s voice carries from outside to where I sit with the cake I just baked. The kitchen is a fucking mess, and I wish Major wasn’t back already. He’s not going to like the state of things.
I raise an eyebrow at Derrick. He notices the tone in his brother’s voice, just like me. I dust off the flour over my clothes and make my way outside, surprised to find a fancy-ass car on our driveway and the most beautiful woman glaring at my pack brother.
Her curly hair is in a high ponytail, showing off her slender neck.
It looks so soft, I have to fight the urge to feel it between my fingers.
She’s dressed in a sweatshirt and pants, so fucking simple, yet its pale pink color makes me ache for some unknown reason.
I lick my lips as I take her in, every curve and dip, every secret under her clothes.
It’s wrong to salivate for some poor girl I just met, but damn, she’s too beautiful, and I’m losing my mind.
She has the deepest brown eyes I’ve ever seen, framed by thick, long lashes.
When the sun hits them, they look golden.
“Who is she?” I echo Major, but my tone is full of wonder.
I’m much nicer, of course.
“This is Veda St. James,” replies a man in a full suit who can only be the driver.
Veda. I taste her name on my lips, discovering it’s sweeter than any dessert.
She lifts her chin, a dare to any of us, and I fall even further under her spell.
Helpless, I smile, but all she does is press those beautiful, full lips into a line.
As the driver takes her luggage from the trunk, I finally connect the dots.
St. James.
The angel is not just a gift from the gods, but the supposed rich delinquent we’re housing. Hmm, interesting. That explains why Major is vibrating in anger beside me. I thought he had some aversion to beautiful women.
Veda takes her suitcase from the driver’s hands with a small smile. Oh, how much I wanted to be the recipient of that smile. Damn, it’s my brand new dream.
“Thank you,” she mouths.
“Miss Veda…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence, but it lingers, weighted in concern. I frown, watching ever so carefully, begging for more to make sense of the scene developing in front of me, but Veda shakes her head, stopping the conversation before it even begins.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be alright.”
The tender exchange leaves me wondering, but Major doesn’t catch the softness of the moment.
The guy is not great at reading the room.
He marches to the car, hands balled into a fist, posture of someone who’s pissed off and is ready for a fight.
Honestly, what is there to fight about? We got a goddess instead of a delinquent. Sounds good to me.
“She can’t stay here.”
Major’s words are directed to the driver, and I wince when I see Veda is taking them personally.
“I’m assuming my stay was agreed upon beforehand.” She lifts an eyebrow. Major’s silence says everything she needs to know. “Well, then it’s done.”
She doesn’t give us a chance to reply. With the luggage rolling over the uneven ground, she shoves her way to the house, a whiff of the most delicious sugary smell following her.
My mouth waters as she goes past me, and I turn to Derrick, who looks just as stunned as I am.
This Beta smells like something else, something I know doesn’t exist anymore.
Major curses, giving the driver a last look before he moves away and follows her into the house, his jaw set and hands still balled in a fist. He’s definitely taking this way harder than I am.
The driver doesn’t get into the car straight away, he looks anxious about leaving her behind.
His eyes linger on the porch as if he’s speculating on whether we deserve to house her.
I send him a smile and a wave. Major might be an asshole, but he’s not dangerous.
She’s safe with us. It doesn’t help with the door bangs at its hinges, Major’s fury more apparent than ever.
“It’s all good!” I call out to the driver.
“Come on,” Derrick nods to the house. He’s right. The fire is inside, not here.
“I’m serious, you can’t stay here,” Major is saying to her as we step in.
“You agreed to this!” Veda replies, her words firm. “It’s not my fault you didn’t know what you were agreeing to.”
Even in her anger, she smells divine. Never in my life have I met a Beta who smelled as sweet as her. I take a deep breath, my head dizzy when the sugar scent hits me at once. I look at Derrick, trying to ask all the questions overwhelming me at once.
Aren’t you scenting this? I can’t be the only one.
“Your grandfather never told me you were a girl,” Major continues to argue, and I don’t know how he can scent this woman and not smile.
Veda laughs softly, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “What difference does it make?”
Major shakes his head, frustrated. He tried to hide it, but I know he wasn’t happy about the arrangement either.
It’s been too long since we let anyone in our lives.
Fuck, I was surprised when Major dragged Derrick here after the accident.
His own brother. Having a ranch hand wasn’t ideal, but I know Major couldn’t upset our biggest client.
He might try to hide that, but it’s obvious to anyone.
We need money. But now, instead of a ranch hand, we have this incredible woman with the most puzzling scent.
“Hi, I’m Jesse.” I interrupt their weighted silence. “This is Derrick, and our ray of sunshine is Major.”
I’m renewed with hot satisfaction when I spot her mouth curl a little to the side after my introduction. She doesn’t say I’m funny and handsome, but I decide I’ll make sure she does one day.
“Let her stay,” I tell Major.
The words make him stop and watch me with narrowed eyes, but I shrug as if it’s not a big deal. It’s a big deal, and I don’t know if this is the right answer, but the problem remains the same as before. Girl or not, St. James asked for a favor, and we have to say yes.
Major wants to take care of everything, but we all need reassurance from time to time.
He needs to know we’ll be okay, and I know we are.
I can give him this. I wished we had talked more and I had been a part of the decision before it happened, but now is not the time with Veda watching us carefully.
After a long moment of indecision, he accepts my words.
“Great,” she says, while it doesn’t sound truthful. “Can you show me my bedroom?”
“Follow me,” he grunts and takes the lead, marching down the hall.
We all follow him, and it’s not because I’m scared that he’s frustrated enough to start screaming at a girl, but because I need to follow her scent. Is this normal with Betas? I’ve been to Willow Ridge, the nearest town, plenty of times, and I’ve never noticed anything like this.
Major stops by the last room down the hall, an empty guest room that we had to clean up for her. He pushes the door open, a sarcastic wave of his hand that serves to welcome her.
“There you go. This is it.”
It’s probably the Alpha in me that makes me recoil as she steps into the bare bones of a bedroom. We are wired to make the perfect nest for Omegas, and I have to assume that the instinct didn’t die even though Omegas don’t exist anymore.
“We thought you were a guy,” I blab the excuse, rubbing the back of my neck.
The shame burns my cheeks, especially when Major turns to me with a question in his eyes. I shrug because I can’t tell him I want to peel my own skin off. It feels wrong not to give this stranger everything I have.
“We start things early tomorrow, St. James.”
“Call me Darling.” She steps into the room, gripping her luggage after her.
Major scoffs. “You want me to call you darlin’?”
“If you’re going to call me by my last name, then call me Darling. But I’d really prefer it if you don’t call me at all.”
Before we can make sense of those words, she slams the door closed, leaving us three stunned behind.
A moment ticks by, and then Derrick starts chuckling, breaking the tension. I follow suit, and damn, it feels fucking good to laugh. Major seems to have a problem understanding what’s so funny, but eventually, he gives up and walks away, too.
“So a girl,” I say as we come back to the kitchen.
Major’s eyes search the walls as if she’s about to jump out from hiding at any minute.
“St. James forgot to tell me that part.”
“What exactly did he say?” Derrick asks.
Major sighs, throwing the hat he forgot to remove when we entered the house. That’s how rattled he is. He’s forgetting his manners.
“He told me he had a grandkid getting himself in trouble back in Dallas. He said “kid,” but obviously, I assumed it was a man. Why would he send me—” He points at the hall and over to Veda’s room.
“We were expecting a farm hand, and instead we got Barbie?” Derrick chuckles.
She sure looks delicate. Her face is round and soft, with a button nose and full lips.
Her nails are painted in the most gorgeous pale pink, which looks so beautiful against her brown skin.
She’s all feminine when we are anything but.
We are all well over six feet tall, and our shoulders are twice the width of hers.
Major sighs, shaking his head. I wish that he would share more with us. We are all Alphas and supposed to be in brotherhood, but it never feels that way. It feels like Major is our parent, working hard and shielding us from the tough truths. It hurts the bound, but he can’t see it.
“She’ll have to make it work.” He gives the verdict. “Everybody has a job on this ranch. There are plenty of women who are ranch hands. Maybe she's not gonna be strong enough to flip hay, but she can do other stuff. She can feed the animals. She can help.”
He nods to himself, letting us know his mind is set. With a final look around, he leaves, giving the excuse that he has to bring Chaos back to the barn, but we all know he needs time alone on his horse to think things through. The man can’t verbalize his feelings.
“Do you think this is gonna work?” I ask Derrick when we’re alone.
He shakes his head but doesn’t reply. That’s my life with the Wilde brothers.
This is how they communicate: not at all.
They leave me alone for the night, and I sigh. Everyone is so enthralled in their own hurt that they’ve forgotten how to be a real pack.
Fuck, it hurts.