Page 48 of Knot Her Cowboys (Big Sky Omegas #2)

W ood chopping had never seemed particularly alluring to me, but watching Dakota and Levi swing those axes while shirtless was really doing something for me.

“You’ll have to wait a bit, sweetheart. Wood’s not going to chop itself.”

“I can be patient.”

They were almost done anyway. Birch burned longer than a lot of wood out here, so a handful of decent logs would last us through the night.

While they worked, I whittled some sticks for roasting the marshmallows and hot dogs I’d found in the cooler pack.

Both were the food of my childhood. Morgan, Cooper, and I had always scraped together our pennies to buy them from the shop near the school, and we scarfed them all down around the campfires we probably weren’t supposed to have built.

I stuck the marshmallows onto the end of sticks and rotated them in the flames, lifting them out when they had been set ablaze and quickly blowing out the tiny infernos. Levi and Dakota paused in their task when I held out the sweet treats.

“Fuel for working,” I said with a smile.

Seemingly deciding it was time for a break, they took two of the logs they’d cut, split them into quarters, and leaned them together over the fire before settling down. I sat in Dakota’s lap while I roasted my own marshmallow.

“You’re sure you’re comfortable staying out here overnight?” Levi asked. “We wouldn’t be able to leave in the dark very easily.”

“Are you worried we’re gonna get eaten by something?”

“Not especially. The horses would let us know if something got close.”

“I’ll be fine.” I nibbled my toasty, gooey confection, content as hell tucked into Dakota’s arms.

Levi scooted closer and I rotated as he scooped my legs over his. “I just want to make sure you feel safe. The woods at night aren’t for everyone.”

“I’ve marched through them in the dark a thousand times. Sometimes the woods were safer than home.”

I caught Levi’s frown and the tension in Dakota’s body.

“It’s better now. Not that the ranch isn’t safe, but I know Darlene isn’t going to pop up out here. I’m not going to leave because of her, but she did kinda wig me out, showing up like that.”

“The electric fencing is getting installed tomorrow,” Levi said. “It won’t be around the entire property, but it’ll cover enough of the areas off the roads to deter people. We can get a restraining order too, or at least petition for one.”

“Probably easier to petition for the Deckers to just let her in.” I sighed.

Levi winced. “Not wrong about that. We are going to protect you, though.”

I nestled deeper in Dakota’s embrace. “I know. If Cooper got Morgan and himself successfully off the Harris ranch, I’m pretty sure he can do anything, and you’re all close so I’m assuming that superpower is something you share.

Plus, Darlene is stubborn as fuck, but she’s also a coward.

Cooper scared her, so it’ll take her time to build up the courage to try again. ”

“Do you think the Deckers would still try something if they knew you were our omega?” Dakota asked.

“Hard to say. They’ve got some pretty fucked-up ideas about omegas.”

“Like what?” Levi asked.

“They like the fact that omegas are in pain during their heats if they’re not tended to. They think we deserve it, that it’s some sort of divine suffering that will cleanse us.”

“What the fuck?” Dakota whispered.

“Most of what I know is bits and pieces from when Maisie and I were still at the same school. They don’t know who all is going to present as an omega, so they teach that to all of the children, no matter what their designation might be.

Then they all accept that if an alpha gives in and spares an omega suffering during their heat, they’re actually doing them a disservice. ”

“Thank the gods your mother has such a terrible personality they didn’t want her in there.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “I’ve thought that a lot. Maisie’s mom is the reason I didn’t grow up there. I’m grateful now, even if I didn’t understand it all back then. Not that I ever wanted to be in the cult, but sometimes I figured anything would be better than facing Darlene alone.”

“I wish there was a way we could stop any of them from ever hurting you again,” Dakota said softly.

“It’ll all balance out,” I insisted. “You guys all treat me so well, it makes the prospect of Darlene and the Deckers loom a lot smaller. The future here seems a lot less scary when I’m with you.”

Levi’s hand snaked up to rest on my thigh and I laid my palm over it. “You really see a life with us?”

“Hard not to when you’re all basically angels in human form.

Cooper was definitely my guardian angel growing up.

” I took a slow breath, my throat tight.

“I always saw a future with Cooper, and then when I bonded Cash, it was so easy to see a future with him too. You guys fight for me just as hard as they do, and you barely even know me. I don’t think I’d have been able to come around to things without the two of you being exactly who you are. ”

Dakota purred quietly, tucking me even closer, resting his cheek against my hair. “You know, I didn’t quite understand their obsession with you until we met, but I already feel like I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you left.”

I lifted my face and he threaded his fingers into my hair, offering me a kiss that melted every lingering bit of ice inside me.

Levi inched closer, and when I took a moment to breathe, he stole me away for his own kiss.

They were both so sweet with me. Even though they were gentle now, I knew they were fully capable of indulging my baser instincts.

I wanted to be taken care of. Each time it happened, it healed some broken piece of me that had been neglected through my childhood. They deserved that too, though.

“So, I know what you guys bring to the table. What exactly am I bringing for you?”

Dakota laced his fingers with mine. “Peace, chaos, fun.”

“Humor,” Levi added, “and sweetness, all wrapped up in the prettiest package.”

My cheeks warmed.

“We don’t need you to protect us,” said Dakota. “We just need you to want to be with us.”

“I definitely want that.”

Levi kissed me again, softer this time. “You brought Cooper back to life. Cash too, if we’re being honest. You light up spaces we didn’t even know were dark.”

Dakota hummed. “Sometimes what you need from a person is how you feel around them, and not what you think they can do for you. You are what you bring to the table.”

“Feels uneven, but okay.”

“It’s not. You don’t need resources to contribute when we’re already established. We want you to be part of the pack because we love being around you.”

I had always known on an intellectual level that I wasn’t unlovable because of Cooper and Morgan and Cash, even if Darlene’s disdain and my father’s absence had fucked with me on the regular. Having these two tell me all I needed to be was myself, healed another fracture.

“How fast do you think it’s possible to fall in love with someone?” I asked quietly, dipping my gaze so I wasn’t caught in the intensity of Levi’s.

“I think there are layers to it,” replied Dakota. “Building blocks. It might be easy to see the foundations being laid when you look back, but harder to see when you’re busy laying those bricks.”

“I think we’ve laid a lot of bricks.” Their scents were soothing in my nose, settling every instinct and worry. “Want me to lay another one by showing you how to make spider hot dogs?”

Levi laughed. “What the fuck is a spider hot dog?”

“Oh, good. Cash and Cooper haven’t spoiled the fun already. Pass me the doggies.”

Levi supplied the hot dog and I meticulously sliced an X a third of the way in on each side before stabbing the center on a stick and thrusting it into the flames. As it cooked, the sliced sections spread outward like eight little legs.

“Voilà!” I held it aloft, the center portion of each leg deliciously crispy. “Spider hot dog.”

“How are you supposed to eat it if you can’t fit it in a bun?”

“The same way I ate gummy bears as a kid: Chomp the appendages.” I bit off one of the legs before offering the camping delicacy to my alphas.

“That’s way better than regular,” said Levi with a grin. “I could eat about ten of those.”

“Luckily you have a very helpful omega willing to make them for you.” I passed him the cooked one and prepped several more to go on the sticks I had whittled. While we cooked, the sun set. As we graduated from hot dogs to marshmallows and hot chocolate, the stars came out.

Lying on the lakeshore, cuddled between them and listening to stories of their childhoods, I couldn’t help my purr. Grizzy and the horses stood guard, adorable sentinels in the firelight. A blanket of stars kept me feeling just as cozy as the actual one draped over us.

When sunrise came, I woke slowly out of a deep sleep to Grizzy nuzzling my forehead. “Good morning, beautiful girl.”

Dakota squeezed me tightly to his chest, reminiscent of a cat crossing their paws and pressing them to their forehead when they were exhausted and utterly content. “Is it morning already?”

“The sun says yes.” It was still only a pale blue glow on the horizon, but it produced enough light that I could see without needing a flashlight. The fire had reduced itself to embers. I crawled out from between my alphas and filled up the camp kettle for some instant coffee.

Levi yawned, stretched, and made his way over to me, kissing the top of my head before he got to work breaking down camp.

Once I was hopped up on sweetened coffee and had scarfed down a granola bar, we packed up our supplies, saddled the horses and Grizzy, and made our way back toward the ranch in the dim light. I rode Big Jack with Levi, Grizzy walking behind us, with Dakota taking up the tail of our train on Sky.

“You’re a very cute caboose,” I told him, twisting around so I could see.

“I’ll take the compliment,” he said with a laugh.

I had slept ridiculously well between them, even if the hours I’d been down were too few. I dozed in Levi’s embrace for most of the trip back.

“Thank you for staying out with me last night.”

“I’m not going to turn down a chance to spend time with you.”

“Yeah, but it was a lot of effort. I just want you both to know I appreciate it.”

“I appreciate you being excited for a night like that,” Dakota said from behind us. “During the off-season, it’s a lot easier to disappear into the woods. We can plan ahead for future trips.”

Grizzy trotted excitedly up next to Big Jack when we left the trees and hit the open plains.

“You happy to be almost home, Grizzy girl?”

Two figures waved in the distance.

“I can’t tell which one is Cash and which is Cooper from here. Go on ahead, sweet girl. Your dads are waiting,” I told Grizzy.

I was never sure how much English animals understood, but Grizzy took off, bolting in the direction of my alphas waiting to greet us.

Dakota took the opportunity to walk next to us with Sky, though he was significantly closer to the ground than we were up on Big Jack.

“I’m going to take a very long, hot shower when we get back,” I announced. “Just putting that out there because I might get a little lonely in there.”

Levi’s laugh rumbled through me. “Well, we wouldn’t want that.”