Chapter 2

DAVINA

My fingers run over the soft throws folded neatly at the bottom of the sunken California king, right in the middle of the bedroom. There’s a mix of purples and dark grays, each of them different in texture to the last. I can tell an omega decorated this cabin, from the furnishings to the low lighting and central heating. This place would be perfect during a heat—not that mine are ever that bad.

Heats are painful, sure. I become needy, do things I wouldn’t usually do while hibernating in my bed until the pain eases. The fever peaks around day two and eases by day four, but it’s not unbearable by any means, since I haven’t crossed paths with my alphas yet. A blessing in disguise if you ask me. That time will come, and when it does, I need a space like this. A proper nest filled with everything comforting and then some.

It’s not to say I don’t want to settle down with a pack of my own, start a life with a few alphas who treat me well. If they were to cross my path, there would be no hang ups on my end, despite my fear of that first heat omegas often complain about. Fate will do its thing when the time is right, and until then, I can sit out my small heats in peace.

As I walk through each of the rooms, I start a mental list of things to look for online. Electric heating pads, fleece-lined socks, and this huge blanket that has no tags attached. Great. Even the small Christmas tree in the lounge is done with me in mind, a fresh pine cut from the surrounding woods with plenty of silver tinsel and flashing lights.

“Open up, Davina. I don't have my hands free,” Ledger yells from outside the front door, his feet kicking at the base as though he needs to make sure I can hear him. Both of the boys are absolute fog horns, so there is no chance of that happening. Padding over to the door, I undo the lock and push the door open before he barges in like he owns the place.

Ledger drops my suitcases by the door, blowing into his bare hands to warm them up. The wind seems to have picked up out there, but the heating in the cabin has kept me warm while I explored. He looks exactly the same as the last time I saw him, only taller, with all harsh lines and black clothes and a bright fanged grin. He and Felix are a year and two years older than me, barely eleven months between the two of them, and they’re an absolute riot.

“Come here,” he laughs, pulling me into his side and ruffling my hair like he would when I was a kid. Strands of my long, chocolate-brown hair get caught between his fingers, ripping from the scalp enough to make me yelp. “Oh, come on, city slicker. You’re tougher than that! Need to get some of that dirt beneath your nails and grass beneath your feet.”

“My clean nails and I do just fine, thanks. Just not a fan of having my hair pulled, you bloody brute. A hug would have sufficed,” I laugh, pulling from his hold only to get yanked back in. “Come sit. Tell me how you have been. What have I missed?”

We walk over to the sofa, plopping down on each end as I pull the heavy blanket from the back and pull it over my legs, letting out an audible sigh. The weighted throw cocoons my body, wrapping me up in a warm embrace. This one is definitely coming home with me. Ledger shakes his head, shrugging his broad shoulders before he speaks.

“Not much happens here, you know that. A few run-ins with a neighbouring pack these past twelve months, but nothing we couldn’t handle. I’ve been coaching football at the high school to pass the time. Little fucks are as useless as tits on a bull, but the pickings are slim here.”

I can’t help but grin thinking about him attempting to teach kids football. He’s the one with the least amount of patience in our family. There’s zero doubt in my mind that he cracks it with them daily, running them through drills as punishment. It fits him though, being active and getting to live and breathe football all while being paid.

“Felix travels into the city a lot. He’s going to one of the colleges just outside the district to study medicine with Kai, but I’m sure you already knew that too.”

I nod, looking down at my fingers while I rub the blanket between my fingertips, relishing the feeling of it against my skin. Truth is, Felix and I had talked every couple of months if we were lucky, the general chit-chat lasting a few minutes at most. Everything I knew about the town came from socials or my mother crying down the phone at me during her weekly phone call.

“Yeah, I know. Fits him, huh? How…” I pause, my teeth sinking into the inside of my lower lip. I probably shouldn’t be asking about them, but I can’t help the curiosity niggling at me. I spent almost as much time with them as I did with my own brothers growing up, the four of them inseparable. “How are the twins?”

He raises his brow at my question, his eyes flitting to the flashing tree for a moment before he responds.

“They’re good. Hunt works with their fathers; they’re priming him to take over the business side of things when they eventually retire. Can’t see that happening anytime soon, though, to be honest,” he laughs, his hand moving to the back of his neck. “Look, I know we failed you senior year. Felix and I should have been here for you, should have protected you, and we weren't. But we are now, and I promise, no one can hurt you. You not only have our protection, but those two assholes’ too. Enjoy the holidays. Don’t spend it hiding in here like I know you want to.”

He’s not wrong. Part of me does want to hibernate in this safe space they made for me, soaking in the huge tub and reading books with a cocktail or three.

“Elias and his pack of asshole friends did a lot of damage while you two were gone. I have scars from when he chased me through the fucking woods, nipping at my ankles in wolf form. He and his little group are what forced me out of here.”

His jaw tightens, his eyes never leaving mine. He knows the extent of what I went through; I told him and Felix everything once I was in the city and far enough away to be free with my words. Back then, the boys said Elias would pay for the pain he caused, but he’s one of the alphas of the pack—soon to be, anyway—so I had my doubts that anything came of their promises.

“Elias left shortly after you for training, and he has hardly come back since. Trust me when I say, he will not be an issue, and his devout followers have all but disappeared. Without him, they became nobodies. Don’t let something that happened years ago hold you back—you’re stronger than that. All these years out there in the world alone? You’re a badass.”

It takes strength to tamper down the laugh threatening to escape me at his idea of my last few years, considering just how little he knows. Sure, I made it on my own: got my apartment, scraped by through nursing school, lived on two-minute noodles for long enough that the thought of them makes me gag. A part of me, however, always yearned to be back here with my family.

“Mom left the tree decorating in the main house for until you got here, so pop over when you wake up in the morning. She will want us to have breakfast together anyway.”

With a small pat to my leg, he rises from the sofa, giving me a soft smile before making his way to the front door. Part of me wants to ask him to stay a bit longer, to catch up on life. Instead, I smile back, giving him a little wave as he leaves.

“Lock the door and call one of us if you want to come up to the house. We will walk with you if you want us to.”

After sitting in silence for a few moments once he’s gone, I get up and make myself a tea, pulling the small box of bags from my suitcase. The peppermint scent tickles my nose as I take a sip of the searingly hot tea, but it helps to calm the swirl in my stomach that has been there since I stepped foot off the plane.

I don’t want to come face-to-face with Elias and his friends, but Ledger is right. He can’t hurt me anymore. We’re not seventeen-year-old kids anymore, and I’m no longer an undesignated wolf. By nature, he should be able to rein himself in around me now that I’ve revealed as an omega—genetics and all that. Every alpha I have come across in the city has been kind to me even when they are in pain at the hospital I work in. As soon as my scent hits their nose, they breathe a little easier, their shitty attitude softening in my presence. Betas can be a whole other kettle of fish, but alphas are never an issue for me.

His brothers had always been kind growing up, considering how close they were with my own. I always felt safe in their presence, which makes a lot more sense now than it did back then. It probably helps that I wasn’t blind to the fact that all three of the brothers are hot as sin. It’s only Elias who has a heart of stone, though; his brothers are nothing like him. They all look alike, but that’s where the similarities end. I won’t lie and say I didn’t have a little crush on them growing up—most people with eyes did.

Darkness has well and truly taken over outside, the main house now pitch black, the Christmas lights switched off. The only thing left is a giant, light-up present that seems to be short-circuiting, flicking on and off through the mass of trees. I slowly make my way around the cabin, shutting each set of heavy curtains. They’re thick and decadent, pooling on the ground in a mass of dusky pink fabric.

An unsettled feeling weaves its way through my stomach, making it twist and turn under my skin, audibly churning as I look out into the woods, finding no movement other than the rustle of trees in the wind and the snowflakes delicately falling. My wolf side is restless here, itching to run and stretch its legs, closer to the surface than it has ever been.

I need to try and go for a run before I leave, to feel the cool winter wind in my pelt and my paws in the snow. Maybe Ledger wasn’t completely wrong.