Page 34 of Knot That Delicate

“Dylan suggested we build a nest for an omega?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

I shrugged. “I was just as freaked out as you are. I genuinely thought he was dying, maybe a chronic disease finally caught up to him, or he’s got the plague or syphilis. Either way, we need to start gathering whatever we’ve got. It's not like we have any proper nesting materials in the cabin, so we need to see what we have and do our best.”

Carter nodded sleepily, running a hand through his hair. “We can do that. But why isn’t Dylan searching?”

I smirked. “Because the pretty little omega is currently asleep on his chest in the living room, and he doesn’t want to disturb her.”

Carter chuckled. “This is turning into a very interesting winter, isn’t it? You never know…maybe next year, he’ll actually want to court an omega. It’s not like we don’t have the money to try.”

I nodded. “Yeah, we could try. But…are any of them going to be like her?”

Carter shrugged. “No, I think Juniper’s a one-of-a-kind creature.”

Half an hour later, we had created a small mountain of blankets on the bed in Juniper’s temporary room. We’d gathered everything we could find, including duvets, quilts for the extra-cold months, and even a few knitted blankets one of our mothers had made when we first moved in.

“This isn’t great, is it?” I said, eyeing the pile.

Carter cocked his head. “It smells a bit musty, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, if I was building a nest for an omega, it certainly wouldn’t be this.” I sighed.

“Imagine if we were in the city; we could go to one of those fancy nesting stores and get her all the soft, comfy blankets she wanted,” Carter said.

I laughed. “You’d bankrupt yourself buying her absolutelyeverything.”

Carter was a softy, and he totally would do something like spending an exorbitant amount of money on the omega. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do the same, but for now, I was pretending to have the moral high ground in this situation.

“We should launder it first,” Carter said with a frown. “Most of this can be washed, I'm pretty sure, and we can use the tumble dryer for a while.”

We’d been avoiding using the tumble dryer because the generator could only produce so much energy. Now we had an extra person at the cabin, we were trying to be a bit more cautious. We also had no idea when the mud slides would eventually clear and we could get to town. We could potentially be stuck for a lot longer than normal, so we were trying to conserve energy. But for Juniper, to make her bedding smell nice, we’d happily spare a bit of energy. I would’ve even offered to skip a shower, for the sake of our omega, if it weren’t for the fact she would probably be repulsed by me if I smelled of body odor and sweat.

Carter was avoiding me.

It was actually an impressive feat, when you thought about it, considering we were all confined to a small area of land, in a small cabin. For him to successfully be able to avoid me for several days was indeed impressive. Ever sincethe kiss, he’d done his best to be in the opposite room from me.

I hadn’t been lonely, by any means. All my time had been taken up with baking with Asher or working in the garden or going to the gym with Dylan. While my body was starting to feel stronger every time we did any sort of exercise or weightlifting,I was left aching for the first twenty-four hours afterward. Then, maybe after a day or two, if my body decided not to be a brat, it would actually feel a little better. I complained a lot about theexercise, but I could now run up the cabin stairs without feeling out of breath. I noticed how much easier it was to lift the heavy bags of flour too. I used to struggle to lift the five-pound bags when Asher and I were baking bread, but now I could do it with ease.

Carter’s absence was noticeable, though. Something hadn’t felt right for days. Sure, I’d been thinking about that kiss. It had been a verynicekiss, until he decided to flee like a child with his tail tucked between his legs. I just didn’t know when to bring it up. His pack mates were always around, and I didn’t know if he would hate me for mentioning it in front of them. Would it be embarrassing? I wasn’t sure what they discussed when I wasn’t around, so I didn’t want to drop him into anything. So, I bided my time and waited until Carter was outside alone.

It was starting to rain, and he was checking on some of the fencing. I’d told Asher I was going to go take a nap, but instead, I snuck out of the cabin wearing one of their raincoats. I was still going to be with one of the guys, so hopefully no one would panic that I was missing. Stomping over towards where Carter was, I tried my best to move quickly, but the gigantic boots I was wearing didn’t belong to me, so my movements were somewhat stuttered.

"We need to talk!" I shouted at Carter’s back.

He was hammering a post into the ground, his back to me. He stilled at the sound of my voice. "Go back inside, Juniper. It’s raining."

I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see the gesture. "I’m not going anywhere. Not until we talk."

Even though his back was to me, I swore I couldfeelhis eyes rolling, and the groan that escaped his chest reached my ears.

"No, we don’t," he said.

I glowered and trudged forward until I was a mere step away from him. "You’ve been avoiding me.”

He turned, towering over me with a frown. Under any other circumstance, an alpha standing in front of me, glowering down at me with that expression would have made me want to run and hide. But I wasn’t scared. No, I was pissed. Putting my hands on my hips, I glowered right back at him.

"Are you denying it?" I challenged.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words before finally saying, "You know full well why I’m avoiding you."

---