Chapter 2
Ipulled up to our pack ranch house, the plume of dust behind me alerting everyone nearby to my arrival. When I parked and opened the door, Foxtrot bolted over me to join our two other border collies, Whiskey and Tango, who had sprinted up to greet me.
My omega, Carter, came trotting up on Lucky’s back. The Clydesdale was comically large for my mate, but he was a sturdy, loyal mount with a shining brown coat, white socks, and blaze up his face.
Carter smiled down at me, Lucky stopping so he could climb off and slot himself into my arms. “How was town?”
“Productive and depressing,” I replied. Carter was well aware of Maisie, though she’d only trusted me enough to give her name recently.
My omega wasn’t a possessive soul, and he never minded that I took time to talk to Maisie and spend time with her when our paths crossed.
When I’d first told him, he’d wondered if it was the same Maisie he’d gone to high school with, but the description I gave sounded nothing like her, so we’d set the idea aside.
“Was she there again?”
“With her youngest. She looks sadder every time I see her.”
“Too bad we can’t stage a kidnapping to get her and the kids out of there.
” Carter said it lightly, but I knew he’d follow through with it somehow if Maisie ever asked for help.
While he preferred his quiet and comfort, my omega bucked against injustice.
We’d already potentially opened our home to someone after his brother had sent out a discreet inquiry to see who might be able to house four vulnerable people, but the request to actually do it hadn’t come through yet.
We’d be a great place to hide for anyone who needed it; well away from town and on five-thousand acres of grassland. Our neighbors were few and far between, just the way we liked it.
There was little more peaceful in this world than sitting on horseback, watching bison graze while the wind turned the grass into an ocean flowing around them. I was blessed to have that opportunity most days.
Carter purred in my arms, loosening the tension trapped in my shoulders. “If you’re hungry, Colt should be back soon, and Bryan is practicing some recipe with squash.”
Our packmate, Colt, did regular property line checks to make sure the fences were functioning and nothing weird was going on.
Bryan was our stray alpha, as I affectionately called him.
We’d picked him up after a whole ordeal at the ranch Carter’s brother, Cash, ran with his pack.
Carter believed Bryan was a scent match, the same as Colt and I, but Bryan was steadfastly refusing to acknowledge anything of the sort.
Not that I blamed him. He was still figuring out who he was after his life in New York had collapsed, his family disowned him, his omega left him, and his former packmate had finally let him off the leash of abuse.
He needed time to come into himself, and we were all trying to be patient with that.
Honestly, Bryan had no relevant skills for working on a ranch with us—or any practical skills to speak of after his no-longer-existing fortune had saved him from having to learn—but Fate had made a decree, and we were honoring it so Carter had a chance to integrate another scent match into the pack.
Bryan was trying, that was the important part.
Carter popped off his cowboy hat, letting the sun catch his dark blond hair before I scooped him into my arms for a proper kiss, letting my omega’s sweet mouth wash away the stress of things I couldn’t change.
When he pulled back, he kissed my cheek and tucked his face against my throat to inhale my scent.
His was a sweet, buttery peach with hints of cinnamon to my tart black currant, but it fit well with Colt’s earthy sandalwood and honey, and Bryan’s warm amber, though I’d had only very brief occasions to experience Bryan’s.
Maisie’s scent was a mystery. I’d heard conflicting stories about the Decker compound.
Some thought they forced their omegas to go on blockers, reserving their scent for their alphas, while others believed the alphas required continuous access to the scents.
I wasn’t about to ask Maisie what the situation was.
If her scent wasn’t out, it was either because she didn’t want to share it, or she wasn’t able to.
Whiskey, Tango, and Foxtrot took off like lightning when they heard Bryan open the door to the small guest house where he was staying.
Carter would’ve preferred him in the main house, but we were respecting his boundaries.
He squawked, but it seemed at least that he was losing some of his fear of the dogs.
They would never hurt him, but herding was another story.
He nervously jogged ahead of the three of them until he was next to us, the blush on his cheeks looking even brighter set against his mahogany hair and green eyes. “I was just going to tell you dinner is ready.”
Cooking was one of the ways Bryan was trying to earn his keep.
He wasn’t good at it.
Colt came galloping on his horse, Sunny, coming to a stop next to us with a bright smile before sliding out of the saddle. Sunny lipped Carter’s cheek.
“That’s my job,” Colt said with a laugh, rounding us to kiss Carter on the other side. “I’m starving.”
“I’ll bring everything to the main house,” Bryan said, turning on his heel, checking behind him every so often to make sure the dogs weren’t following.
“How bad do you think it’s going to be?” Colt asked.
“He’s getting better,” Carter defended, but covered his mouth to hide his smile.
“Slowly,” Colt agreed, stealing Carter from my arms. “Come shower with me before dinner.”
Our omega laughed the whole way to the house.
I took both of their horses into the stable to get their tack off.
The supplies I had picked up today would be fine in the truck bed for a while, and neither of the horses were sweaty when I pulled their saddles off, so that was less work, at least. They could get a proper brush down later, but for now I scooped everything for their dinner and left them to eat so I could wash up, too.
I paused for a quick use of the air compressor to get most of the dust off my clothes and hair in only a few seconds.
If I hopped in the shower with Carter and Colt, the food would be cold by the time I got back out, so I used my own. Surprising no one, Colt and Carter were still occupied when I made it to the dining room, clean and in fresh clothes.
Bryan had set the table with a few of the hardy flowers that hadn’t succumbed to the dropping temperatures.
Napkins were folded into neat little tents on top of our salad plates, which were stacked on top of the dinner plates between silverware for each course.
It didn’t make the food taste better, but the effort itself was endearing.
“What would you like to drink?” Bryan asked as he removed the foil on the tray he brought. The scent was markedly better than usual.
“We can get our own drinks,” I reminded him for probably the hundredth time. “Cooking is plenty, you don’t have to serve us, too.”
A pitcher of ice water already sat on the table, but I grabbed myself a can of pop as well before sitting down.
“What did you make?”
“Roasted chicken and potatoes, and I braised the butternut squash and sweet potatoes in a brown sugar salt brine.”
Carter came scampering out, his blush obvious from a mile away against his pale skin, or it could be a sunburn, too. Those were a common enough occurrence that he ended up peeling like a lizard a few times each summer. Colt followed with a slow swagger, satisfied mischief glinting in his dark eyes.
“Smells great, Bry,” Carter said as he sat across from me. “Are you staying tonight? We’d love for you to join us.”
Our stray was skittish, often dropping off meals and bolting back to his solitude. We always made it clear he was welcome, but processing took time. If we ever went more than a half day without seeing some sign of life, Carter would go check on him, but he was getting more comfortable, slowly.
Shame was powerful. We didn’t know all of the details, but Carter’s brother was mated to Bryan’s former omega, so we had gleaned bits and pieces about his complicit behavior in Riley’s emotional abuse in their former pack.
The situation was complicated, with Bryan being a victim of Bruce’s belligerent and domineering behavior as well.
Now that he was free of that situation he had a lot to contend with regarding who he had been and who he wanted to be going forward.
Bryan hesitated for a moment before sitting down next to Carter, Colt taking the seat next to me so we were all across from one another.
We each dished up our own plates and I speared a tentative bite of sweet potato. A salty, spicy sweetness burst on my tongue. Damn. This was actually good.
“New recipe?” I asked.
“I actually found a recipe book when I went to the library sale a little while ago. It was almost falling apart, so I knew it had to be popular. Is it okay?”
“It’s great,” I replied, taking another bite. The chicken and potatoes were seasoned with sage, thyme, lemon, and a little rosemary, all bathed in butter.
Bryan looked like he had no idea what to do with the minimal compliment.
We never said anything bad about his cooking so he wouldn’t be discouraged, and we always cleaned our plates so long as the food was fully cooked—which wasn’t a problem since Carter had gotten him a meat thermometer—but he could obviously tell how much we enjoyed it by how quickly we ate.
I stuffed my face, relieved at the improvements, my other packmates polishing off their plates in record time.
“I tried to make dessert,” Bryan said, his cheeks darkening, “but I burnt it.”
“Add it to the compost pile. The soil won’t care what it tastes like.”
Bryan nodded.
Colt nudged me with his toes beneath the table. “How’s your girlfriend doing? Carter told me you saw her today.”
“She’s not—”
“I know, I know.” Colt took a drink of his water, waiting for me to continue.
“I’m worried about her.”
“You’re always worried about her,” Colt pointed out.
He wasn’t wrong, but I had a good reason.
“Girlfriend?” Bryan tilted his head. I guess he wasn’t usually around for any conversations that mentioned her.
“An omega I see in town every so often. She’s got three children, and is bonded to—from what I hear—one of the shittiest humans in the area. If I could get her out of there, I would, just so she could be free, but they keep their omegas in line by basically holding their children hostage.”
Bryan gaped. “Isn’t that illegal?”
“Maybe if it wasn’t the other parent doing it.” I shrugged. “Cops haven’t done a damn thing about it. A lot of illegal things happen everywhere every day that authorities do nothing about, and the Deckers have power out there. Money, connections, and it makes them dangerous.”
“Will you let me know if I can help somehow?”
I couldn’t imagine how Bryan could do anything in this situation, but I nodded anyway. “I will.”
Our only real hope was if Maisie got herself out, but I had seen it in her eyes.
She would never leave her children behind, no matter how much she endured.
Omegas were supposed to be cherished, and dammit, she might not be mine, but she deserved a life where that was her reality, even if it wasn’t with me.