Page 18 of Knot Our Omega

“Did you like it?”

She looked up at me like I asked her something shocking, instead of just a simple preference.

“It was what I did.” Which wasn’t a yes.

“I love cooking. It makes me happy to put food on the table that everyone enjoys.”

She gave me a small smile, and I wanted to capture it for always. We needed to make sure she had plenty of reasons to reward us with her smile.

“Tell me something you do like.” We knew so little about her beyond her circumstances.

She half shrugged.

“You said, before you were eighteen, everybody thought you were an alpha. What did you do then?”

I didn’t want to say “before they made you their slave,” which was pretty much what they’d done to her.

“I like to read.” She squished her lips to the side as if she was thinking really hard about it. “I like to paint, but not like pictures. I like to paint furniture, and I really like to paint rocks.”

“Rocks?” What a fascinating omega our mate was.

“Yeah. I like to see what they look like. Have you ever laid on the grass and watched the clouds and you saw what they were meant to be, like a rabbit or a dragon or a train?” It was evident that she hadn’t talked to a lot of people about this, the way she stammered to find the words. But she was sharing it with me…she saw me as worthy of seeing this side of her. My wolf was front and center, already so in love with our mate.

“I still do that,” I confessed and her smile grew.

“I do that with rocks—see what they’re meant to be, and then paint them so that they look like that item. Is that weird?”

“No, that’s absolutely wonderful. We have a lot of rocks we removed from the soil when we expanded the garden. Maybe I can show you after dinner.”

“I’d like that.”

I’d talk to the guys about getting her some supplies. If painting made her happy, then we were going to make sure she had access to what she needed to do so.

“And you said you like to paint furniture too. Do you mean like so it’s pretty, or to refinish it?”

She went on talking about how she liked to connect pieces in a room that didn’t necessarily go together through little details in her paint work. It was fascinating and, for the first time, I felt like I got a glimpse of Rumor, unfiltered.

My mate was full of surprises.

Our mate was full of surprises.

I popped the lid on the stew. It was at the set-it-and-forget-it time—and started working on the dishes. When she offered to dry, I let her. I didn’t want her to think we were rejecting her offers for always and forever, but also, I didn’t want her to feel like she had to do everything. This felt like a good compromise.

We had just finished up when the others came in.

“It smells so good.” Wilder stepped inside first.

“Thank you. It’s just stew.”

“Oh, the stew. Yeah, that too.” He winked. He was right, though, our mate’s perfume was mesmerizing.

“Oh, Wilder...” She snapped her mouth shut, her cheeks a rosy pink. There was no fear coming off of her. She liked that he appreciated her scent.

“I’m gonna set the table,” Penn said.

Penn grabbed the drinks while I brought the stew and rolls over. Minutes later, we were at the table eating, none of us taking a bite until our mate did.

I could see the awkward discomfort on her face as she took the first one, but the three of us alphas had talked about it and decided this was the best way. It was important for her to embrace her new role here, one that was not of someone lesser than the others. And if these first couple days of her being unsure meant a lifetime of happiness, contentment, and ease, then it was worth it.

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