Chapter 11

Sullivan

" W hat are you doing?" I jolt in surprise, turning away from the window to see Sterling yawning as he stretches his arms over his head.

"Nothing," I answer, looking back out the window. Lie. I'm watching the pretty little princess outside. She's been in the garden for a good hour or so now, and I've been watching her the whole time.

Sterling leans over my shoulder and looks out the window. "Nothing, hey? Nothing sure does look like something."

"Okay, fine." I sigh, shooting him a glare. "I'm keeping an eye on her, okay? Just to make sure she's safe."

He cocks a brow. "And if trouble finds her, you're not much help in here."

"I know," I mutter. "But I'm like allergic to everything out there." I wave my hand towards the window.

"You could just take allergy pills, you know," he smirks.

"And become you?" I huff out a laugh. "I think the others would kill us if there were two sleepy fuckers in this group."

He frowns. "It's not like I can help it."

"And it's not like I can either. We both suffer from something that could be fixed with meds, but we refuse to take them. I don't think either of us have a leg to stand on when it comes to complaining."

"You have a point," he agrees. "But you're not going to get to know her if you're in here."

He's not wrong. Both he and I have been kind of keeping our distance since she arrived. It's not that we don't want her here—we love having her here... it's just we don't know where our place really is at the moment. Snow doesn't know we're her mates; she doesn't seem to know that she's an omega, either. Dallas doesn't want us to tell her just yet because she has a lot going on, and he doesn't want to freak her out and send her running in fear of what all this means.

Even Gabe is convinced if she spends enough time here and gets to know us, it will lessen the blow.

So far, the ones she seems to connect with have been Henry, with his outgoing, bubbly personality, and Brady, because he's so damn sweet and quiet. I can see why she thinks he's pretty to look at.

I don't mind, though. She seems to have brought him out of his shell a lot in the past few days. Brady doesn't talk to anyone, really, other than us. So, seeing him open up, laugh, smile, and talk to Snow is nice.

"Fine, but don't come bitching to me when you get annoyed with me blowing my nose for the next hour." I sigh, standing up from the window's edge.

"Get out there." He laughs, pushing me towards the door.

It's still crazy. All of this. I've found my mate. Plus the fact that I share that mate with my whole pack. Although it's not unheard of, it's just not something that happens often. Lycans are beasts, we're monsters and more times than not, we're alphas. That comes with a heavy dose of possessiveness and not wanting to share.

It's why none of us got pissed when Gabe went all alpha asshole. He thought she was his and only his. We don't blame him.

But the fact is she's ours too.

And I couldn't have asked to be mated to a better woman. She's kind, sweet, and fucking hell, she smells amazing.

The wind blows, and I almost groan out loud when her sweet apple pie scent drifts towards me.

She's very unaware that she has a scent or that we can all smell it. One that gets strong when she's aroused. It's nearly made us feral a few times. That's another reason I've stayed in the background. How do you explain to some poor girl why your cock is just out and about?

Lycans are by far growers, not showers. It's why we don't need to wear any clothes when we go into the village. But trust me, when we're aroused, it's not afraid to pop out and say hello.

That's why when I approach Snow, I move above wind from her.

The sound of her humming makes me smile. She hasn't realized I'm here yet, so I stand and watch her. I'm kind of concerned for the girl. I could easily be an enemy, and she would have no idea until it was too late.

Snow lets out a heavy huff of air as she sits back on her knees, wiping the sweat from her brow.

It's sexy, honestly. She's covered in dirt, her hair's a mess, and she has not a single care in the world.

She's not the princess we expected, that's for sure. She's so much better than we could have imagined.

"Need some help?" I eventually ask before I feel like a dick for just standing here and watching. I start to regret asking when my nose begins to tingle. How the fuck can I be a monster of the forest and be allergic to the damn outside.

She jolts in surprise, wide eyes snapping over to me. I instantly feel bad for sneaking up on her.

"Oh my goodness," she sighs, placing her hand over her heart. "You scared me."

"Sorry." I wince. "To be fair, I've been standing here for a little while now. You didn't even sense me here?"

An adorable blush takes over her creamy cheeks. "No," she sighs. "I mean, kind of? It's hard to explain. It's like I knew one of you was there, but I knew I wasn't in any danger, so I didn't really worry." She bites her lower lip, and damn it, I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself in check. "Gods, that's horrible of me. I really should be more aware of my surroundings considering everything that's going on."

"Maybe just a little." I hold up my finger and thumb. "So, what are you doing?" I ask, peeking around her to see what she was planting. "I mean, I know you're gardening, but what are you planting?"

"A little bit of everything." She smiles. "I found some seeds under the sink. You have everything here to plant a garden, one that could provide you with a lot of the fruits and vegetables that you eat. Yet, you haven't done anything with it."

"Yeah," I sigh, nodding. "It's because we don't really have much time. Between hunting and work, we're pretty beat by the time we get home. Tending to a garden isn't on the top of our list of things to do."

"I understand." She nods, then slaps her hands on her thighs. "It's a good thing you have me now, isn't it." She grins. "This will give me something to do, to keep me busy while you all are off working. By the way, what do you guys hunt?"

I shrug. "Deer, moose, rabbit. Stuff like that. We set up snares, and anything we catch, we bring home to eat for supper that night."

Her brows furrow. "How come I've never seen you bring home anything."

"Because we have a shed out back where we do the slaughtering. Gets messy with all the blood and guts." I chuckle.

Her eyes widen. "Good point. Please keep whatever fuzzy creatures you catch in that shed. I understand the circle of life. But I don't want to see it."

"That we can do." I grin. "Need any help?"

"Sure." Her bright smile makes me way too damn happy.

This is getting more risky by the second. But the fact is, she's my mate. My omega.

She smells so fucking good as I kneel down in the cool dirt next to her. "Put me to work, boss." I wink, and she giggles.

"Here." She hands me a pack of carrot seeds. "I already did the hard work." She teases. "You just need to stick these in the ground. Keep them spaced apart about an inch or two and about finger length deep." Her eyes drop to my hands. She licks her lips, which gets my heart going. Does the size of them scare her? No, by the sweet smell of her arousal, they seem to be having the opposite effect. I bet she would look fucking fantastic as I gripped her hips and shoved my knot deep inside her needy omega pussy.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I lift my leg a little bit, praying she doesn't notice my cock starting to emerge. If seeing a monster doesn't send her running, my eight-inch red cock with a knot the size of a baseball will.

"I guess for you, maybe half a finger deep will do. Your fingers... they're pretty long. They might go too deep."

Sweet mother of god, does she know how much her words are affecting me right now?

"Got it," I say quickly, needing to get to work to keep my mind off my dirty thoughts.

Snow moves away from me so she can start to plant some beets, and I'm grateful for the space to get myself under control.

It hasn't been easy for me and the others to keep our hands to ourselves when all we want to do is touch her, claim her, and make her ours. But Dallas would have our asses if we fuck this up.

A burning sensation in my nose has me groaning inside. I've been doing so damn good.

I sneeze. It's loud and makes Snow jump. "Shit, sorry." I sniff, rubbing my nose with the back of my hand.

"Bless you," she laughs, getting back to work.

I sneeze again and again before I jump to my feet.

"Are you okay?" Snow asks as she stands, dusting her hands off on her already dirty dress.

"Not really." I pinch my nose to keep the burning from making me sneeze again. "I'm kind of allergic to... well, the outside."

"What?" Her eyes widen. "Why on earth are you gardening then?"

"I wanted to help."

She narrows her eyes and looks all cute as she points to the chair nearby. "Sit. I've got this."

"Okay." I don't argue and do as she tells me.

"Silly men," she huffs, shaking her head. "Don't do things that hurt you just because you think you're helping me."

"It's just gardening." I chuckle.

"And it makes you sick."

"It's only really pollen and dust." I shrug.

"Two things the outside seems to have a lot of." She nods, sighing.

"It's okay, I've gotten used to it."

"Have you taken anything for it?" she asks.

"Yes and no. I've tried, but it makes me lose my appetite, so I don't."

"Oh, well, that's no good then." She frowns. "Does it make you not want to eat at all, or not as much?"

I look away, a bit of embarrassment hitting me.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

Turning back to her, I look into her stunning blue eyes and find myself wanting to tell her everything, to spill all my secrets.

"They make me lose my appetite. And not eating... it brings me back to a time in my life I'd rather forget." Also, another side effect is making me feel tired, and as much as I love Sterling, we don't need another person who sleeps all the time.

"Oh," she whispers.

My eyes drift off to the trees, unable to look at her when I speak. "Before Dallas and the guys found me, I was on my own. My parents were killed by people who were scared of what they didn't understand. It left me alone, having to fend for myself. Being a young pup with no means of taking care of oneself wasn't easy. The pack my parents were in parted ways with them a long time before they passed. So there were times I'd go days without eating... until I was lucky enough to learn how to hunt. Not wanting to eat makes me feel like I'm missing out on the opportunity to eat. A part of me will always feel like maybe my next meal won't come. Stupid, eh?"

"No." Her voice cracks and my eyes dart over to see hers filled with tears. "Not at all." She steps over to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders.

I blink a few times before tightening my arms around her. Closing my eyes, I lean my head against hers and inhale her sweet apple pie scent. "I'm so sorry," she whispers. "No one should ever have to feel that."

"It's not your fault."

"No. But I have the power to make sure no one in my kingdom feels that way." She pulls back, wiping at her eyes. I hate that I made her cry, but her caring enough about me to show this kind of emotion pleases me. She cares about me. About my past and my feelings. "And once my father is out of the way, I plan on doing just that."

"Come on." I hold out my hand. "It's my night to help with supper."

She smiles and laughs, taking it in hers. It's so small and soft. I could crush it with just a small amount of pressure, but as we walk into the house, I hold it like she's the most breakable, priceless thing in the world. Because to me, I think she just might be.