Page 15 of Knot Her Mountain Men

“I didn’t know where to go,” she whispered. “I don’t know why I feel safe with you.”

I purred softly and wrapped my hand around hers in a hopefully comforting gesture. My instincts were fucking blissed that she had come to me.

“Do you know why?”

I signed a quick “yes” where she would be able to see, but before I could explain further she started softly snoring, her body relaxing fully. My poor omega was exhausted. I tried not to feel too smug about how easily she had fallen asleep in my bed and in my arms. I couldn’t say for certain it was because she’d been exposed to my scent, since I had never seen her sleep in any other circumstances, but I could dream.

Pumpkin stared at me before giving a little huff and tucking herself into a ball.

I hadn’t purred this much in years. Morgan was dead weight against me, her scent sweet and mellow, weaving into every bit of my being. I desperately hoped she wanted to stay. How was I supposed to ever let her go after this?

Surely the universe wouldn’t be so cruel as to gift us with our fated mate if she hated the life we lived. I loved the forest. It had been this distant, ethereal thing I always saw on the horizon growing up. We lived close enough that I could see the dark edges every day, but not so close I could immerse myself in it very often. Once I had gotten old enough to drive, Kit and I regularly scraped our money together for gas so we could disappear in those woods. Our families never complained since half the time we came back with food. It wasn’t until we met Ryder and Maverick that our wild dreams of running a hunting lodge were made manifest. We were just a pile of young idiots, half of us with money and half of us with enough grit to get us through the first couple of years it had taken us to build this place.

The lodge was home. Hopefully one day Morgan would see it that way too.

My brain was fuzzy as hell, but I was warm, and my panicked survival instincts were calm for the moment. Cedar and woodsmoke filled every breath. I’d never been this comfortable in my whole life and I didn’t want to open my eyes or move an inch to ruin it.

Unfortunately, Pumpkin didn’t have the same idea, and when the sound of kibble hitting a bowl came from the kitchen, she leapt off me like a rocket, driving her little feet into my vital organs. I let out a squawk and a warm hand pressed over one of the spots Pumpkin had decimated.

“Fucking hell. Those paws are lethal.” I burrowed deeper into the warmth.

“She doesn’t respect personal space,” Bear whispered.

“I see that.” With a sigh I melted again. “Nothing feels real. When did I come down here?”

“Middle of the night,” he whispered in reply.

Something wasdefinitelywrong with me. I wasn’t comfortable with alphas as a general rule. I could spend time with them, like I had with Brandon and a lot of our friends, but I never touched any of them like this. I wouldn’t have dreamed of snuggling up to a single one of them. The omegas in our group didn’t understand me. I got along pretty well without a ton of physical contact even if it did make me feel like I was about to come down with something. But these alphas smelled so good I couldn’t help myself and Bear hadn’t taken an ounce of advantage of me being this close.

I’d wondered for a lot of years if my omega instincts were broken. They seemed to be working just fine with Bear.

“Sorry I turned Pumpkin into a rocket launcher.” The alpha I’d met yesterday stood at the end of the couch. It took my brain a few seconds to supply me with his name. Kit. He also smelled unfairly delicious. I wouldn’t even need to spend time in the forest if I could shove my nose up against these alphas.

“Youshouldbe sorry. I’ve been grievously injured. I may never recover.”

Bear snorted, his shoulders shaking with near-silent laughter.

“There are more of you, right? I don’t remember a lot of yesterday.”

Kit blinked curiously. “Ryder and Maverick are the other alphas here. They’re clearing the snow off the roof.”

“Why are they clearing the roof?”

“Snow gets pretty heavy. We don’t want any of the roofs on the lodge or outbuildings to collapse. Turns out the reports were wrong. We got three feet overnight and it’s not stopping. Better to clear it before it gets overwhelming.”

“I can help,” I offered.

Bear’s grip on me tightened.

“Your only job while you’re with us is to rest and heal,” Kit insisted. “If you want to stay here after that and help, we’ll figure out what chores are best suited to you.”

I stared at him for a long moment. Why would I stay here after? I had a job to start, a life to lead. I was here by necessity, not some pleasure trip. “I think I missed something.”

Kit sat down on the armrest. “You’re settling in so well with Bear, I just assumed that meant you were accepting the scent match.”

I bolted upright, instantly wincing at the lingering ache in my muscles from all the recent exercise. “What do you mean scent match?”

Bear and Kit shared a look and Kit continued, “Did you not know? You’re not on blockers. Neither are Bear and I.”

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