Page 28

SKYE

It was a very sunny, warm day, and Halo was just helping me to sunscreen my back as Rowan’s car pulled up to the house. Halo hugged me from behind and kissed my cheek, then placed a stylish wide-brimmed sunhat on my head, before letting me go.

“Have fun,” she said.

I pulled on a light zip up hoodie over my dress and went downstairs. I could feel Severen’s eyes on me as I descended the staircase and walked to the door. I didn’t say anything to him.

“Skye, hang on.”

It was Crux. I staggered to a full stop, my hand on the doorknob.

“What?” I asked. Had he taken Severen’s side? Was he going to try and keep me under lock and key, too?

Crux walked up, practically pinning me to the front door if he wanted to. He reached out for the coat hooks mounted on the wall, and plucked his umbrella off one of the pegs. White and blue swirls. He held it out for me.

“It’s sunny out.”

My emotions got all tangled up inside as I took the offered umbrella, wrapping both my hands around it.

“We’ll get you a proper parasol this weekend,” he said.

I threw my arms around him and held him tight. I pressed into him, running my head against his jaw, his throat, his shoulder, willing my scent onto him.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

I let him go and somewhere in all that, my hat fell off. He knelt down, scooped it from the floor, and put it back on my head.

“Go on,” he said.

“Love you,” I stole a quick kiss from his lips before heading out the door. One hand on my hat, I hurried to the hatchback.

We grabbed lunch at a taco truck, and they had the most delicious chicken soft tacos. Rowan even ordered some nice warm plain tortillas for Tracker. He slathered a very thin layer of sour cream on them, and the shepherd was more than happy for the treat.

“You really like to make him feel included, huh?” I asked, running my hand down the dog’s mottled fur.

“He’s my best friend,” Rowan answered. “And he deserves the best. I was thinking after lunch, we’d go to the dog park, if that’s okay.”

I smiled. “Sounds nice.”

The dog park was a large plot of land, grassy in some places, gravel in others.

It was surrounded by two layers of fence, an inner, and outer, to cut down on escapees.

As soon as we got through the second gate, Tracker was all tail wags and happy dances.

Several other dogs seemed to recognize him and ran over.

A cloud of sniffing and huffs surrounded us.

Rowan knelt and let Tracker off-leash. As a pack, all the dogs ran deeper into the park.

There were some little obstacle courses, and plenty of water fountains and dog bowls. By the public washroom stood a line of vending machines with selections of treats. Boxes held tennis balls or tug-toys, a pile of wooden sticks lay nearby.

It was heaven for dogs.

Rowan and I sat together on a bench, me under the shade of my umbrella, watching Tracker play.

“He seems popular,” I laughed.

“The whole gang is out today.” From there, Rowan pointed out each dog by name, and little facts about them if needed.

Tracker raced and wrestled for a solid ten minutes at least, before he got sidetracked by one of the toy boxes. He rummaged around and then trotted back to us with a frisbee in his mouth. He dropped it at Rowan’s feet, then sat down patiently.

“I’m being summoned,” Rowan said. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all,” I said, lightly twirling my umbrella. “Go on. Play.”

Rowan picked up the frisbee and got to his feet.

He jogged out into the grassy field and threw the disk.

Tracker was a blur of grey and black as he chased after it.

He leapt into the air and caught the disk in his mouth, and came down feet first, tail wagging.

He ran back to Rowan and dropped the toy, then was showered with praise.

The sight of it brought a smile to my face.

There was something so easy and wholesome about the entire dynamic.

They had a closeness that probably put some human packs to shame.

Rowan volleyed the frisbee over and over, and each time Tracker jumped up and caught it, or raced it to the ground and brought it back. It didn’t take long for dark stains of sweat to colour Rowan’s green t-shirt.

He tossed the disk again, and used those few seconds to peel off his shirt and shove it into the back pocket of his cargo pants. A necklace on a chain bounced lightly against his chest.

I couldn’t help but stare.

He was perfect. Strong, but not like Crux, who was all compact and corded, or Severen who was solid.

Rowan was athletically built, with well defined arms which I hadn’t really noticed until now, and great pecs that framed the strange charm necklace that bounced against his heart.

Washboard abs were channeled down to his belt buckle by the deep V of his hips.

His back, shimmering a little with sweat, rippled as he flung the disk again.

His skin was lightly tanned and he had barely any chest hair, which only accented the perfection of his pecs even more.

I squeezed my thighs together under my skirt.

A small puffball of a puppy toddled over to him and wagged its little tail. It yipped up at him and nipped the toe of his running shoe.

“You’re new.” Rowan knelt and picked up the small puppy. It was a terrier, blonde and silver instead of black and brown. He could hold the entire creature in one hand. “Who do you belong to?” He checked the collar for a tag, and looked around, cupping the puppy close to his chest.

I could have melted at the sight. A purr rumbled deep down in my throat.

“Silky!” A little girl ran up to Rowan, arms out at her sides. “Excuse me, mister, that’s my puppy.”

“Here you go.” So carefully, he passed the fragile creature into the girl’s cradling arms.

“Thank you for finding her, mister,” said the little girl, before she ran off to her mother. “Mommy, look! That nice man found Silky!”

A woman with shining blonde hair that fell in waves down her back crouched down to the child’s eye level.

She peeked around her daughter and studied the alpha who had saved their lost pup.

He scrubbed at Tracker’s scruff as the dog once more brought the toy back.

The girl’s mom rose and removed her sunglasses.

Even at a distance, I could see her viper-green eyes, calculating and heated.

The wind picked up, pulling through the blonde hair and dragging her rose garden and strawberry scent in my direction as her long legs carried her toward Rowan.

The purr in my throat got all tangled up, I coughed, trying to dislodge it, and it turned into a growl.

My hands strangled the shaft of the umbrella until my knuckles were white.

I couldn’t make out what she was saying to him, but the woman placed her hand on his chest.

My lips pulled back and my teeth ground together. “Mine.”

I gasped, guilt immediately flooding me.

I shouldn’t have said that. Rowan was not mine.

I had a pack already. My hands flew to my mouth to cover up what I had said, and to trap anything else that might slip out.

The umbrella clattered onto the ground, took the sun hat with it, and I was bathed in sunlight.

Tracker barked, and hurried over to me first. He rested his head on my knee. Rowan wasn’t far behind, giving the rose and strawberry omega a polite, “excuse me”.

“Are you alright?” Rowan picked up the umbrella and held it over me, sheltering me in its shade.

“Yeah,” I tried to keep my voice even. “I think I’m just tired.”

“Do you want me to take you home?”

It was the last thing I wanted. I’d much rather sit here and stare up at this caring, tender shirtless alpha with the sun back-lighting him like some sort of mythological god. “I’m sorry. I’m having a nice time. I really am. Maybe I just need some water.”

Mine.

Stop it.

My heart pounded in my chest.

He picked up my hat and I took it, pressing it back onto my head.

“Come on, let’s find something to drink.” He held his hand out for me and I took it. He helped me to my feet and we left the dog park.

The rest of the outing was low impact and even lower stakes. We found iced water, and returned to his car, AC blazing, as we talked for hours and watched silly videos on our phones until it really was time for him to take me home.

As I walked up the porch steps to the front door, the word mine wouldn’t leave me alone.