Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Isolde
My body twitches as I wake up, and the only thing keeping me from falling is the rope wrapped around my waist.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” a voice growls, drawing my attention. “Fuck, please be careful.”
Yawning, I raise my hand to my mouth to stifle it as I gaze at none other than Oliver Carew.
“That’s why I tied the rope around my waist,” I murmur sleepily. The sun is just starting to peek over the horizon, and I’m hoping that the snow is finally going to give the world a rest.
“You climbed a tree to sleep in it,” he reminds me, as if I have memory issues. “Wouldn’t a bed inside, maybe next to me, be better?”
The last part makes me press my lips together, reminding me of how dry they are. I didn’t bring water this time, since the temperature dropped and I knew it would freeze. I’m not worried about dehydration, I’ll grab some at the store once I get going.
“I like climbing trees,” I tease him, my voice rough from sleep. “How did you find me?”
Oliver’s red curls are escaping from his black hat, and he’s wearing joggers with boots and a hoodie. It almost looks as if he threw on clothes to come outside in a hurry, which makes me even more curious now for his response.
“Maybe I’m just that good?” he asks, smirking as he takes a sip of his coffee.
It’s in a thermos, and I don’t know how he managed to climb and carry his precious life saving drink.
Although, it’s possible that I’m simply projecting.
“Look over at the house, baby. You’re going to see a large window directly across from your tree.
When I got up this morning, the sunlight practically lit your body up.
It’s the only window that perfectly reflects your position.
No one else knows you’re here, I threw on clothes, grabbed coffee and stomped outside. ”
“You’re not a morning person, are you?” I tease him.
“I was up too late,” he sighs. “I was trying to see if I could find you, but came up empty on the facial recognition program I have. You’re hiding from me, Isolde. I don’t like it.”
“Too bad,” I shrug. “I need to do this my way.”
“Sneaking through the woods where there are guards that could blow your head off? You also managed to avoid all of those cameras as well,” Oliver grumbles.
“It just goes to show that the security here is subpar. Where were you and Alesso while Lucas’ guard was injecting a tracker into him?” I ask. “Clearly, all of this fancy shit doesn’t matter.”
“I…” Oliver looks as if he’s at a loss for words for a moment, and takes another sip of coffee as he gazes out into the large back yard.
“Lucas is a grown adult, Isolde. Grant’s entire job description is to protect him, and he very recently failed to do that.
The tracker is the best option to ensure continued job security. ”
“Hmmph,” I snort. “If he pulls that shit again, it’ll ensure a signed invitation for me to shoot him. While I understand the reasons behind it, I’m still not very confident of the security here.”
“Is that why you’re in the tree?” Oliver asks.
He’s very persistent, isn’t he?
“I’m in the tree because it seemed like the best place to sleep, Oli.”
“You… Oli, huh? I’m not sure how I feel about that. Sleeping in a tree when, again, there are nice warm beds inside, feels like an odd life choice.”
“How else is a girl to test the security system? I’m not living here if it’s shit,” I complain. I still don’t know if I want to live here at all.
I have a perfectly good rental waiting for me. Checking my phone, I confirm that I still have time before I have to get going and glance back at Oliver with my brow raised.
“You are infuriating, Little Omega,” he says. “If you’re spying on us, just say that.”
“Observing while you don’t know that I am isn’t exactly spying.”
“Yes it is,” he laughs. “This is definitely a case of what came first: the chicken or the egg, Isolde. You managed to travel here without a single camera picking you up, and now you’re doing what? Gathering intel? For who?”
“Me,” I say simply. “It definitely isn’t for anyone else. I have a place to stay, it’s just not ready yet. I have to meet with my contact later this morning to make sure it’s a good fit. I don’t really know exactly why I’m here, except that it’s where my feet took me. Call it a fixation.”
I slept better than I have in a long time in this tree. That’s odd, isn’t it? My scent matches are in the house in front of me, and I wanted to be near them. I just don’t want to be contained by four walls. I need exits, the knowledge that I can leave without explanation.
I need options and safety. It doesn’t even matter that on a surface level I don’t believe they’ll hurt me. My instincts have lied to me in the past, so I’m playing devil’s advocate while still remaining close enough to the alphas that my soul screams are mine.
“I’m okay being your fixation,” Oliver says with a small smile.
“I have some experience with those, and sometimes it’s your mind pushing you to accept something you don’t know you need.
For example, I’ve been messaging Alesso and Lucas for the past three months about random things.
I kept telling myself I should stop, but I couldn’t.
My fixation was the universe telling me that I needed to pull our pack together.
The joke’s on the universe though, because you’re the one who is going to do that. ”
“Doubtful, but that’s a pretty thought,” I muse, beginning to pull apart the knots on the rope around me.
“Leaving already?” he asks, not looking at me.
Glancing up, I see that Alesso and Lucas are at the back door looking for him.
“They’re already missing you,” I notice. “Maybe you’re right about solidifying your pack. They don’t know I’m out here, so I don’t know if I’m a factor here.”
“You’re a factor,” he grunts. “Every one of us had a physical reaction to being away from you. Drop your alphas a line later today, Kitten. We’d appreciate knowing that you’re safe as well.”
It takes me a moment to process his words before he closes up his thermos and hands it to me.
“I don’t know how you take your coffee, but there’s plenty of sugar and cream inside this. Have a good day, Isolde.”
Oliver clips a carabiner to the tree and drops back. My gasp is almost inaudible as he bounces down the tree trunk, and a flick of his wrist releases the clasp of the carabiner once his feet hit the ground. His swagger as he walks away is unreal.
It’s the loudest mic drop in the world while not making a sound.
“How…”
His ass is on point as he walks too, and I allow myself the indulgence of watching. Opening his coffee thermos, I take a small sip and hum in appreciation. It’s exactly how I like it.
I’m going to say this is happenstance, because there’s no way that he could know how I enjoy my coffee. Just a series of very odd events that somehow make sense.
Getting comfortable again, I watch as Oliver greets Alesso and Lucas, though I scowl as he points me out in my tree.
That’s just rude. Alesso isn’t wearing a shirt, and he scratches his stomach lazily as his gaze rises up to find mine.
His lips spread into a smile as he sees me, and I squirm from my perch as he kisses three fingers and raises them in my direction.
The three of them are gorgeous by themselves, but I lose my ability to think when they’re together.
Lucas purses his lips as he sees me. He’s already dressed for the day in a suit, and his long legs begin to eat up the path between the back door and my tree.
“Shit,” I squeak, closing up the thermos and putting it in my backpack. It’s mine now, and I’m technically trespassing in his woods.
I checked: they definitely are part of his property.
Pulling the rest of the knot apart that’s around my waist, I coil it up and drop it toward the ground before I put on my backpack. Twisting around to face the trunk of the tree, I find a foothold and begin to climb down.
“Isolde, please don’t fall out of the tree,” Lucas calls out, coming closer.
“Don’t distract me then,” I suggest, continuing to pick my way down.
“Watching you is going to give me heart palpitations,” he growls.
“The cute kind, or the ones where I should be concerned about your health?” I ask, smirking.
My boot slips, and I gasp as I reach up and catch myself on a lower tree limb.
“Goddamnit, darlin’,” he curses. “Hold on, I’m almost there.”
“There for what?” I ask, twisting to look in his direction.
“Pay attention and hold onto the tree,” he says. I can hear the edge of panic in his voice, even as he attempts to hide it.
Falling is going to suck. I originally climbed really high up this tree in an attempt to get a good view of the house, and while I achieved that, I didn’t expect everything to be so wet and slippery this morning.
My hands begin to slip, and my eyes close as I lose my purchase of the tree limb. Air displaces around me as I fall, but instead of the hard ground, I’m caught by strong arms. Inhaling deeply, I lean into the scent of teak, cedar, and oranges.
“Isolde, open your eyes,” a rumble insists.
There’s not a hint of his alpha bark, his words simply telling me what he needs.
Dropping my head back, I gaze up at his stormy blue eyes.
“Am I supposed to swoon now?” I rasp.
“Nope,” he grunts, his mouth nipping my bottom lip as I gasp. “You scared the fuck out of me. I’m going to have to change my pants.”
A loud laugh escapes me, completely taking me by surprise.
Laughter has been slow to happen over the years, as rage typically finds me more often than not.
Lucas’ eyes smolder, and I squeeze my thighs together as he shifts my body in his arms so that he can slant his mouth over mine.
His lips are soft and firm, and I melt into his kisses.
Kisses aren't one of my triggers, because in the last five years, I’ve never once been kissed. Not when my mouth has only been a hole for my handlers, and more recently, I haven’t had any reason to kiss anyone.