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“Have you?” I ask gently.

She doesn’t answer, but I see it – the crack. The way her fingers twist in the edge of a blanket like she’s holding herself together.

“You’ve been surviving,” I continue. “Not living. Getting through one moment at a time. And maybe that’s become so normal, it feels fine. But it’s not. It’s exhausting. And you don’t have to do it alone anymore.”

She looks away. “It’s not that simple.”

“It could be.”

A beat. Then a breath.

“Maybe,” she murmurs.

We fall quiet again. Just the fire crackling, the weight of the storm still pressing against the house, but unable to reach us in here.

Her gesture was small – but to me, it says everything.

She’s still afraid. Still closed off. But she’s shifting. Letting us in, inch by inch.

And for tonight, that’s enough.

DANE

Istep back, wiping the sweat from my brow, as I take in the repaired section of the farmhouse railing that wraps around the porch. It’s slow work, but there’s something satisfying about fixing up a place that means so much to Eviana. My alpha nods in agreement with me, satisfied that we’re able to do something to provide for our omega.

The storm has finally settled, though there’s another front due to move in in a couple of days, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to check the damage and make any reinforcements needed.

I cleaned out the chickens too. They’re quite cute little things, really. Bit damn protective of their eggs though. I chuckleto myself, glancing at the small cut on my finger where one particularly broody hen bit me.

“Need a hand?”

I turn to see her standing there, hair clipped back, sleeves of an old checked shirt rolled up, an uncertain expression on her face. She’s been keeping her distance all day, but something’s shifting. She’s choosing to be here with me now, and I’m more than happy to take whatever scraps of time and attention she wants to give me.

“Always,” I say, handing her a hammer and smirking at the sight of her in wellies and a long floral skirt. She’s so adorable and she doesn’t even realise it. “Think you can handle it?”

She scoffs. “I grew up on this land, Dane. I think I can handle a few nails. Who do you think kept the place standing until now?”

“Touché, little omega. You’re right. I defer to you in all things DIY, my queen.”

She giggles, a light, joyous sound that makes my alpha preen –we did that!– and we get to work side by side, the rhythm of hammering filling the silence between us. Slowly, as the minutes pass, she starts talking. First, about little things – the weather, the state of the house – then, gradually, about her sisters.

“We weren’t meant to exist,” she says quietly, tightening a screw. “Gram kept us hidden. No school, no friends. Just us, locked away.”

I pause, watching her. Evie’s told us this before, so I get the feeling she’s trying to tell me something else.

Carefully, I nod. “She tried to stop you from being omegas.”

She nods, lips pressing together. “Suppressants. Drilled into us that being an omega was weak, dangerous. A liability, basically. We were never allowed to—” she hesitates, then shakes her head. “Never mind.”

I set my tools down, my voice steady but soft. “Eviana, you can talk to me.”

She sighs, rubbing her hands together like she’s trying to work something out of her skin. “We were never allowed to nest. Grams said it was foolish. Unnecessary. Only meant for birds.” Her lips twist. “So I just...never did. Didn’t see the point.”

I exhale sharply, the heaviness of it sinking into my chest. That’s...awful. Cruel. And it explains so much – why she’s always on edge, like she’s waiting for something to go wrong. Like comfort is a thing she’s not allowed to have.

Her voice softens, turns inward. “I remember one time, my sister Everly was getting particularly restless. She was always the most outspoken one of us – the one to butt heads with Grams. There was this night...she wanted to go for a walk on the beach. Just that. A walk. They got into this huge fight about it, shouting and screaming. Ev tried to leave. Grams locked her in her bedroom and disappeared. When she came back later that night…”

Eviana pauses, jaw clenched. Her voice drops to almost nothing.