“Lily, we were talking in the kitchen just now, and if you’d like to get to know these males but also have a degree of safety, then I have a proposition for you.”
“A what?” I’d sat down next to Rumor while they were gone, and I remained there, not sure what was going on.
“If you want to go out on a date with these males, we’ll go with you and drop you off and then wait until you’re ready to come home. Then we’ll drive you back.”
“But this is no pressure,” Pen added. “Only if you really want to.”
That night, I tossed and turned again trying to decide what to do. I appreciated their thoughtful gifts, but all alphas were nice at the beginning before they got mean.
In the morning, I’d reached a decision.
I’d go out with them one time. If I could find their number because I didn’t have any way to call them and tell them. Maybe it was for the best.
Chapter Sixteen
Roan
After what felt like a thousand years, it was finally our favorite day of the week again—farmer’s market day.
After Harlan went and had a conversation with Rumor, we understood the misstep we’d made by encroaching on her packlands. We had originally thought stopping by and dropping off a gift would be fine…sweet even. We were wrong.
Harlan was watching as the curtains on her apartment closed with no person visible. She had been hiding from us. He had scared her into hiding by being there. We wouldn’t make that mistake again and if there had been a way to rewind time, we’d have done anything to do so.
Rumor had been very blunt that day. She told Harlan we needed to be respectful and listen to our mate’s words. Harlan hadn’t planned on doing anything but dropping off his gift, but Rumor couldn’t have known that. He assured her we weren’t going to cause any problems and apologized. And we planned to keep that promise.
He wasn’t sure if Rumor had known about the hiding when she spoke to him or not. And really, it didn’t matter. She was protecting her friend and giving us much-needed advice.
As hard as it was to witness, watching those curtains close was something my pack needed. It told Harlan that our mate’s distrust of us ran so much deeper than any of us initially realized. Possibly than even her pack knew.
And that’s how we ended up making farmer’s market day our day.
She wore the hat he left for her, that had to be something. And last week, she accepted Benji’s jerky and the basket. Wemight not know exactly what we were doing, but we were going in the right direction—or at least not in the wrong direction.
Today was my turn to give her a gift. When I got to the market, I wanted to race to her, but just as we needed to keep her packlands a safe space for her, we needed to do the same for the farmer’s market. Not in an identical way. We weren’t going to stay away, but going to her table? We needed to read the area first, look for signs of her nervousness or possibly fear.
My beast didn’t like that our mate might be scared of us. I didn’t think it was us she was scared of specifically, but what we stood for. She thought of alphas as the problem. And culturally speaking, she was right to be leery. The way omegas were treated was horrible and shockingly not criminal.
We would never, could never be like them. And we planned to show her how true that was. I could only hope that one day she would trust us enough to share about her past, and what led her to be with her pack—the only single omega, so strong and independent.
At least, that’s how I saw her. The way she looked at Rumor, as if Rumor was the one who could answer all the questions for her, had me questioning whether she saw how strong she really was. Based on her reaction to us, I tended to think not.
As I walked around the corner, I stood next to a table selling potholders and potato jackets, watching my mate from the short distance and waiting for her to notice me.
And she did.
She blinked, her eyes closed a little too long, and I nearly turned around. But when she opened them again, she waved to me, a small smile on her face. She was once again wearing the hat Harlan had given her. It looked good on her. He’d made the right call. It protected her eyes and also helped people see her in that crowd, which in a setting like this was great.
I walked up to the table holding the gift I’d prepared for her in my arms. She was already getting low on her goods. People loved her food, especially her cowboy candy, and they lined up quickly to buy it.
I stood behind an older man who had a basket filled with empty jars. He set them down and told her they were returns and he needed to stock up again. Their interaction was typical—he told her what he wanted, she told him how much it was—but still, I watched with fascination as my mate explained the new product she had. And then she upsold him for some honey.
And finally, he was gone. And it was my turn.
“You’re…you’re Roan, right?”
“I… Yeah. I brought you something. It was my mom’s, and, well, I…” I set down the old crock. It had been in my house my entire childhood and was the only thing I still had from there. But I didn’t bake. The guys didn’t either, at least not bread. This would be useful for our mate. It would be a way for her to have a piece of me.
“It was her sourdough crock. I’m sorry I don’t have any starter in there. I haven’t used it.”
