Chapter 5

Noel

I was thankful to be able to stay at the cabin— very thankful—because if I’d been thrown out and left to the mercy of this weather, I’d be in serious trouble. The wind had picked up since Garrick and I had started piling up the wood, and it was really starting to come down now. Heavy flakes landed on the lenses of my glasses, and I had to brush them away.

Garrick’s truck was almost completely covered. It was a sleek black heavy-duty pickup that could probably get us down away from the cabin if we needed to. If he wanted, he could just load me up and drop me off in town. He hadn’t suggested that idea. Now that it was almost fully covered by the snow, I wasn’t going to mention it. Thankfully, we had gotten all three of his coolers of food out of it first thing.

He had come on his vacation fully prepared to stay in the cabin alone. Though judging by the amount of food he’d brought, he would have been able to last a month.

“I found some shovels in the shed. I’m gonna keep them inside so they don’t blow away or get buried in snow,” he said.

“How high do you think it’s going to get?” I asked.

“Not sure. I’ve actually never been in this area before. You?”

I shook my head.

“My pack is more south than this, and a little bit east. We get snow, but nothing like this.”

He looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell him where I was from.

Clearing my throat, I finally said, “I’m from south as well, but to the west—Moon Stone Pack.”

He nodded, eyebrows rising slightly. Moon Stone didn’t have the best reputation around. I wasn’t sure how far the rumors spread, or how close to the truth they were. Judging by his expression, he had heard more than one story about them.

“I’m...I’m not with them anymore,” I added quickly. “I came to this area hoping to seek refuge with another pack, but I haven’t found one yet.”

“Well, that’s a problem to worry about as soon as this storm passes,” he said. “For now, we’re safe here. We’ve got plenty of food, and even if we lose power, we can cook over the fire. I found a percolator in the cabinet, so we can still have coffee.”

The alpha grinned, and even though he towered over me by a good foot and a half (I was incredibly short for an omega), I felt no fear. His features softened when he smiled, and he’d been nothing but gentle and kind to me.

“I’ll get a few more loads,” he said. “Would you like to make some lunch?”

I jumped on that idea. I didn’t mind the hard work, but I was only doing one load of wood for his three. “Sure, I can do that.”

“Nothing too crazy—just sandwiches are fine.”

“Of course,” I replied. In the end, I went with sandwiches and added a side of macaroni and cheese, thinking the warmth would be nice. I did a few mental calculations of what we could make while we were here. We would eat well.

He came back inside after a while and dusted off his boots. “I think that’ll be good,” he said. “I stacked the wood, and it covers the front window, which will be a bummer since we won’t be able to see outside, but it’ll provide us a bit of a windbreak. We can still look out the side windows if we need to see anything.”

I nodded. That was a smart idea.

He put the shovels off to the side in the corner. “Have you done much exploring in the rest of the cabin?”

I shook my head. “No, but lunch is ready.” I handed him the plate piled high with macaroni and cheese and his sandwich.

He grinned at me. “This smells delicious.”

For the second time that day, I sat down at the counter with him and shared a meal.

“Tell me about yourself,” he said. “We might as well get to know each other a bit since we’ll be here for a while.” I could tell he was trying to set me at ease. He kept his voice quiet, and he leaned over the table so he appeared shorter.

That almost made me want to cry. The man was just so nice, and I couldn’t remember a time when anyone had been that nice to me.

“Oh, there’s not much to tell,” I replied. “I, um…” I decided to go with as much of the truth as I could. I was a shit liar, and he had been so kind to me already. “I was supposed to be mated to an alpha in my pack, but...” I hesitated, unsure how much I should really share with him.

Garrick reached out, placing his hand over mine. His skin still had a chill to it from the cold, and his hands were rough with calluses. The man clearly worked hard. Yet his touch was gentle. “You’ll get no judgment from me, Noel. I know there are packs out there that can be cruel to omegas. My own pack is not like that.”

“Thank you,” I said, feeling a little braver. “I’m the only omega born to my family, and my parents were less than thrilled about it. Now that I’m of age—and have been for a while—they’d been hoping I’d be mated off. Only...I’ve never found anyone.” I hadn’t actually been looking, either, but that wasn’t the important part. “Anyway, there’s an older alpha in my pack who’s...well, cruel and widowed. I don’t know how his first omega died, and quite frankly, I’m afraid to ask. My parents promised that he and I would be mated. I refused, and they forced me to leave.”

Garrick pinched his eyes closed and shook his head. “That’s fucking ridiculous,” he said. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“It’s all right. I will be just fine.” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but it sounded good. “What about you?” I asked, trying to turn the focus back to him. “What brings you on this vacation?”

He took another bite of his mac and cheese, moaning softly around his fork. Then his tongue came out to swipe the last bit of cheese off his upper lip, and I nearly squeaked, my skin suddenly going hot.

“I’m due to take over as Alpha in the new year,” he replied. “Actually, the Solstice is when the ceremony will be. I thought a vacation beforehand would be nice. I probably should be home, smoothing things over with everyone as we transition from my father to me, but...I don’t know. I wanted a little break before I never get one again.” He chuckled.

“That’s...that’s big. Wow. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” he said, smiling. “I’m not sure that I’m ready, but it is time.”

“You’ll do amazing,” I said. I wasn’t blowing smoke up his ass either. He truly would do well.

He grinned. “You barely know me, Noel.”

“I can tell.” I smiled at him, feeling more at ease with him than any other person I’d ever encountered. A man who welcomed a stranger into his home on his vacation during a snowstorm was bound to be a good Alpha.