Page 5 of Wild Omegas
“Can do!” Without another word Brooks is gone. I follow suit, not keen to be left alone with this fiery omega while she clearly despises me.
Let her. I’m not sure what brought Josie to her family’s ranch, but it’s obviously left a huge weight on her shoulders.
Injured people don’t refuse help unless they’ve spent too long dealing with it alone.
Josie is, in this moment, a mystery I wish to unravel.
CHAPTER 3
Josie
Brooks and Carsonhave my things unloaded into the main house in a matter of minutes. There’s a large amount of reorganizing I’ll need to do in the fridge and kitchen in general, but the rest will have to wait. Thankfully the main bedroom is on the first floor so at least I can shuffle around without them needing to carry me anywhere further.
I can still feel Carson’s massive muscular arms around me. I felt so small and fragile in his hold, butsafe. Half his size and still like nothing could touch me.
Except him, of course.
And his cedar scent. His warmth. God, he’s so fucking hot. All three of them are. Even Brooks who’s campfire scent confuses my fight-or-flight response. My body wants to run from smoke on instinct after what I did to my bakery, but at the same time I’m drawn right on in by his pheromones.
I see you, Grandma.I see what she’s doing here. Her offering me Wild Skies Ranch wasn’t a pitying last chance at making a life. It was a chance at love. At a pack.
Maybe Grandma doesn’t know these three men working for her are alphas.
Maybe she…
Oh, who am I kidding? It wouldn’t be the first time she’s played matchmaker in our family. That’s how Mom met Dad, and how my aunt met her husband.
Grandma is always involved.
Unfortunately, love or joining a pack is the very last thing on my mind even if it would please my grandmother andappeasemy parents. I’m just… not ready for that. I’m still processing my actions in New York and what it means that it failed in more than one way.
And that’s to say nothing of processing my inability to fucking walk straight in front of three gorgeous alphas I’ll be sharing this ranch with for the next year.
Luke returns with painkillers and a bag of ice wrapped in a towel. I hike up my leg onto the couch with some pillows underneath so I can keep it raised.
“Here.” Luke hands me both the ice and the painkillers bottle.
“Thank you.” I set the towel-wrapped ice bag onto my ankle and then open the bottle. Two pills later I smile up at Luke. “Pretty sure it’s not the first time I’ve twisted an ankle here.”
Luke grins. “If I recall correctly, there was at least once you where you were running to see me.”
My cheeks warm instantly with the memory. How. Embarrassing. That was so long ago, back when my crush on Luke filled far too many waking moments. “I was excited. I’d been gone for weeks because of school.”
Without initially realizing it my hand reaches toward him now, a finger outstretched, but I pull back. That was a lot years ago, before Luke could even grow facial hair let alone the full black beard he has now. Before either of us had presented designations. But there’d always been some sort of draw.
Luke looks ahead—pointedly not atmeanymore. “I always wondered how you were. I see your grandparents from time to time, of course. They say you’re doing well.”
I swallow hard. I might’ve been doing well until about a year ago when everything started going decidedly wrong. Slow bakery sales, high property taxes and business costs. Losing my pack hurt even more. I was losing my dream and only path toward romance and maybe even a family at the same time.
And then the darkness grew far too dark and tempting.
“Yeah, I’m trying.” It sounds weak, and like a lie. Because it is one. But I feel like telling my childhood crush who I haven’t seen in twenty years that my life is a literal steaming pile of debris because of an angry alpha crime lord is probably too much information for today.
A deep crease forms in Luke’s dark brow as if he’s sensing the lie or the weighted reasons behind it. “That’s good.”
“And you?” I gesture at the window to the ranch beyond. “I had no idea you were still working here.”
Luke chuckles lightly. “Yeah, well. Wild Skies is my home, too. I’ve never thought of leaving, and when your grandparents were hiring years ago, I thought why not? It mademygrandparents happy, too. So, double win.”
