I’ve been denying her that for three years, and she’s starting to lose patience with me.
Sometimes I let myself think about it. Not the alpha bullshit. Not the ownership, the commands, the submission. The other part. What would it be like to have someone who actually loved you?
Real love. The stupid kind. The kind where someone knows all the ugly parts of you and stays, anyway. Where you can fall asleep without one eye open. Where you can be sick or weak or scared, and someone is just there.
I think about that pirate book sometimes. Lady Bluebelle O’Reilly and her Captain Jackson. Ridiculous book. The plot makes no sense, the sex scenes are absurd, and the whole thing is so over the top.
But I’ve read it about four hundred times.
Because even though the story was ridiculous, something in it felt real. The idea that someone could be loved for exactly who they were. Someone loud, messy, and difficult. Someone like me.
Stories like that are written by women for women. I know that. It’s a fantasy. A fairy tale. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe weneedthe fantasy because reality is bleak as fuck. At least in a book, someone gets the thing we all want.
I shake my head. That’s not who I am anymore. I can’t afford to think like that. I’ve seen what happens when you trust the wrong people. When you let your guard down, it ends in pain and death.
So I pick up my stick man and tell him goodnight. Curl up in my pilfered bedroll on the cold ground and close my eyes.
And I tell myself and my wolf that this is enough.
Even though we both know it isn’t.
5
Archer
The cottage door slams open with a bang that nearly makes me slice my damn finger off. I twirl the combat knife, annoyed that Elias has interrupted my perfectly good brooding.
He’s still running his mouth about the omega. “Did you see how she moved? Like a wildcat. I bet she—”
I tune him out. I’ve been hearing the same shit on repeat since we got back. That feral omega. That fierce little she-wolf who gave us the slip.
Darius storms in behind him, looking like he just went ten rounds with a bear and lost. Eyes wild, hair a mess.
“Pack meeting. Now.” His alpha command hits hard, reverberating through my bones. I straighten up.
Fuck, I hate it when he does that.
The floorboards creak as Silas ducks through the doorway, his frame filling the space. The guy hasn’t said a word since…well, we all know when. We’re all damaged goods. Silas just wears his scars for everyone to see.
Darius whirls to face us. “We’re going after the omega at first light.”
Elias lets out a whoop that makes me want to jam the knife into my eardrums. “Fuck yeah! It’s about time we had some fun around here.”
I kick his shin. “Shut it, dickhead.”
But Elias is too far gone. “I can’t wait to get my hands on that mouth.”
This time, my boot connects with his nuts. He doubles over, wheezing. “Show some respect,” I say.
I can’t shake the image of that omega, though. I’m as hooked as the rest of them. After the show she put on yesterday, it’s all any of us have been able to think about. Those blue eyes that promise violence to anyone stupid enough to try caging her.
I’ve got a sinking feeling she’s going to be more trouble than our pack can handle. But with Darius on the warpath, there’s no talking him down.
He clears his throat, drawing our attention. “Listen up. I’ve got a plan.”
I lean back, crossing my arms. This ought to be good.
“We’re gonna cook her a steak,” he announces, like it’s the most ingenious idea ever conceived. “Make ourselves look non-threatening.”