Page 82 of Omega's Refuge

I frowned. “That’s not true. I know your name is Seth.”

His brows rose in surprise. “You know my name?”

“Of course.” I gestured to a few of the others. “I know she's Sheila and he's Tom. I think I know all the names of anyone I actually met. There are a few here I didn't see during my time as a regular guest.”

“Well, I'll be,” Seth said softly. “I thought we were invisible to your kind.”

I laughed. “My kind?”

Rex sighed. “Ignore him, Tanner. Seth is our resident cynic.”

“Is that right?” I smiled at Seth.

“Yep.” Seth rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. “There’s so much to be cynical about, don’t you agree?”

I shrugged. “I never really thought about it. I guess I prefer to try and see the good in the world.”

“Oh, dear.” Seth widened his eyes. “How very innocent you must be.”

My face warmed. “Not innocent, just optimistic.”

“Tsk, tsk. You’ll be eaten alive if you keep that up.” Seth looked amused. “The world is a scary, wolf eat wolf environment. There’s no real place for optimism, if you ask me. Naturally, I wouldn’t usually speak this freely to a guest, but since you’re not really a guest anymore, I suppose I can show you my dark side.”

I laughed. “Please do.” While Seth was a little odd, I liked him. He was quirky, but easy to talk to. “Feel free to show me your dark side.”

“Careful what you wish for,” Seth said, smiling.

“Seth,” Mrs. Rodwell interrupted curtly. “You should hurry and finish your breakfast. The guests will be arriving in an hour, and you haven’t mucked out the stalls yet.”

Seth’s smile vanished, and he scraped his chair back. “I’m done eating, Ma’am.” Without another word, he grabbed his plate and headed for the kitchen.

Rex grunted as if he didn't approve of Mrs. Rodwell's boorish behavior, but he said nothing. I was annoyed she'd butted in because I'd enjoyed talking with Seth. If I was going to live on the ranch, I needed to bond with the people who worked here.

I met the eyes of Sheila across the table. She smiled at me sympathetically and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get a word out, Mrs. Rodwell interrupted.

“Sheila, are all of the guest’s cabins done?” Mrs. Rodwell's tone was sharp as she addressed the young girl. “I don't think you got to the Ponderosa or the Blue Bell cabin yet, did you?”

Sheila seemed to shrink. “No, Ma'am. I planned on doing that just as soon as I finished my breakfast.”

Mrs. Rodwell glanced pointedly at Sheila's empty plate. “Well then, you'd better get to it.”

“Yes, Ma'am.” Sheila stood and picked up her plate, exiting the room the same way Seth had gone.

Frustration gnawed at me as I met Mrs. Rodwell’s blank stare. Was she going to chase off anyone who tried to be nice to me? What the hell was her problem? Why wasn’t she happy that Rex had found an omega? She’d implied she wanted that for him, yet she was treating me like a leper.

Rex must have felt my frustration because he pressed his leg to mine, and he once more patted my leg beneath the table. Was he trying to comfort me or keep me in line? I wasn't sure. Maybe he was worried I'd confront Mrs. Rodwell and get myself kicked off the ranch.

Out of respect for Rex, I held my tongue and focused on my meal. But my appetite was ruined. It was going to be a huge problem if Mrs. Rodwell hated me. If she went out of her way to make sure none of the staff befriended me, life on the ranch would be very lonely. Rex had to work and hecouldn't be my only source of social interaction. Was her plan to isolate me so I’d give Rex up and run home?

After how Mrs. Rodwell had behaved with Sheila and Seth, none of the rest of the staff attempted to talk to me. Mrs. Rodwell certainly made no attempt to engage me in conversation, only speaking to Rex. After a while, she excused herself and left the room. I was relieved she’d left, but unfortunately, the others followed her lead. They all cleared out when she did, giving me no opportunity to connect with them.

“I called Jack last night,” Rex said, once we were the only two left in the big room.

“Did you?” I met his gaze and my stomach dipped from nerves. I'd shown Rex photos of some of my favorite art pieces from my phone. He'd been very complimentary, but that didn’t mean his brother would be.

Rex nodded. “I did and he seemed very interested.”

“Really?” I squeaked.

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