Chapter Six
Flint
When I needed to get up from the desk, my body screamed at me in the form of tight, burning muscles and tendons right between my shoulder blades. Usually, I tried to get up and walk at certain intervals, but today had been a doozy of a market day, and I’d been planted in my chair for hours.
I invested both conservatively and took some risks. I’d been lucky that all of them had panned out and our savings and retirement funds, plus our omega fund, were plump and plenty.
We’d decided to invest strategically to grow our money in preparation for finding our mate, but now it was a game to me.
A serious game with high stakes, but I wanted us to have as much saved as possible and seamless streams of earnings.
Sometimes it felt like our entire financial security was on my shoulders.
Maybe that was why they hurt so much. Really, that wasn’t true. Craven brought in good money and Rork did his share. Honestly, what Rork saved us by gardening and cooking and keeping our lives running day to day saved us more than I’d managed to.
I meandered into the kitchen. Rork had a fresh pot of coffee ready for me as he did at noon most days, but the last thing I needed was more caffeine.
What I needed was a long walk and maybe a burger from the diner.
I was convinced that a diner burger could cure anything.
That and Rork’s chicken and dumplings. If I had to choose, it would be the latter, but it was still too warm for him to cook those kinds of meals.
Once the first day of fall hit, it would be hearty soups and stews all the time.
While I was in town, I’d stop by the post office. Some books I’d ordered had come in, but I hadn’t had the chance to go to town yet.
“Headed out?” Rork came in from the backyard, the screen door slamming behind him. He cringed. “I really need to do something about that door.”
“Add it to the house list,” I called out while putting on my shoes. “I’m gonna walk to town. Anything you need?”
Rork walked over to the fridge where he kept all kinds of lists. Long term. Short term. Menus. House projects. Things that needed to be fixed. It should be a place where we had pack pictures with our omega, but for now, there were a few candid pictures of us as a pack. With no omega.
I loved my bond brothers, but we all knew something was missing.
“Nah. Thank you. I’m good. Have a nice walk.”
With my backpack on my shoulders, I started toward town. The sun beamed down on me, and it wasn’t until I was a half mile away that my chest released and I could breathe deep.
Up ahead, the sounds of Pleasant became a beacon, urging me forward.
It was a quaint town, full of good people.
The definition of community. We tried to help each other and treat each other well, and that was more than I could say about the pack I came from.
They were all about politics and hierarchies and dick measuring.
Living there day to day was exhausting.
I passed by the Welcome to Pleasant sign and was hit with a flowery scent. Hibiscus, perhaps. Earthy and gripping. Sometimes Rork made a hibiscus tea with mint that tasted just like a fruit punch of my childhood.
It was late summer. Hibiscus were in bloom, I suspected.
Townspeople waved hello and I stopped to speak to Sheriff Holt, who was on his way to settle a mild disagreement at the general store. Crime really wasn’t a thing in this town, but every place needed law and order. He mainly broke up tiffs and enforced traffic laws.
Most people didn’t even travel by car unless they lived far away. We lived the perfect distance from Main Street.
I got my books from the post office and stopped in for a burger. My mind had let go of the worries and figures, and I enjoyed every bite of my burger and fries.
I’d decided to go home when a woman drew my wolf’s attention and so, mine.
What in the sexy goddess?
I only saw her for a fraction of a second. She opened the door to the old bookstore, Pleasant Pages, and slipped inside before I could wave or even act like anything but an ogling alpha.
What I did see made my wolf drool. Curves that never ended. Full hips. A beckoning hourglass figure. Beauty didn’t even begin to describe her face. Flowing brunette hair.
I wondered who she was. Everyone knew everyone in Pleasant, but she must’ve been new in town because if I’d seen her before today, I certainly would’ve known.
Maybe she was going to reopen the bookstore? Stock it with interesting reads?
Time would tell, but my wolf stirred as I turned to make the walk home. I fought his urges to go back and talk to the female. He’d never made such a fuss before.
Interesting.