Page 4 of Rugged Hearts: Part One
“Nah, you got it.” I lean against the truck with a smirk. He glares at me. I roll my eyes. “You never can take a joke.”
He just huffs as I help him with the last few pieces. “So what’s the project?”
“I’m redoing the decking, banisters, rails and whatever else I want on the outside of one of the Andromeda cabins.”
“Any theme?” My brother may be the strong silent type but he truly is an artist. All the woodwork inside the main lodge was him, especially the library, which he poured his heart into. I guess his muse has struck again.
“Forestry and woodland creatures.”
“That’ll look great! Can’t wait to see it,” I tell him sincerely. He’s not one for compliments but I make sure to always say how awesome his work is. He knows he’s talented, building up his name online. He’s at a point that he takes commissions that interest him and is never in need of work. I wonder if he’ll know anything about why Thea’s scent made me feel something. I don’t think it was just being scent compatible it felt like more. Though not that I’ve ever experienced being scent compatible with someone. I’m not in the mood to reopen that can of worms.
“Keelan, can I ask you something?” I say as we shuffle in with the last piece of wood.
He looks at me strangely. “What’s wrong? You never ask permission if you can ask something you just do.”
Welp that’s true, but I feel so off since meeting her. “Has a scent ever made you feel something? Like an overwhelming emotion or I guess gut feeling?”
“No.” He draws out the word. “Why?” he asks skeptically.
“I met someone on my walk. She was just hired at the lodge, long story short we bumped into each other and I walked her back to the lodge. Her scent, I only caught it faintly but…”
He’s staring at me now, not worrying about the wood we’removing. “But, what, Parker?” He nearly growls out, but not aggressively.
“But, it felt like I was hit with something when I caught her scent. Struck dumb it felt like. There was this feeling that overcame me…” It feels personal to share this for some reason but if there’s one person I can tell it’s Keelan. “It felt like safety. Like I was safe with her.”
His hard look doesn’t totally go away but it’s softer now. I want to roll my eyes at him. Ever the protective brother, but a total softy deep down. Last year’s debacle still left its wounds in each of us; though I thought most of the pack were scarred over and healed by now. No more scabs that can be picked at and reopened. Gods know we’ve been in enough therapy for it.
“I don’t know why you felt that way just from her scent. That’s not something that happens with scent compatible mates. I had a long talk with Liam about all of that last year.”
Now it’s me giving him that soft look. I curse that woman for what she did to our pack last year, but some cracks must’ve been there for her to exploit it the way she did. Keelan, seeing the look I’m giving him, now starts moving again to lay the last piece down with the others in his workshop.
I know I don’t need to say it to him but I do anyways. “Don’t mention this to the rest of the guys. It’s probably nothing anyways.” I need to downplay it, that’s best for now. He looks at me and nods his head. We may be fraternal twins but we still have our own way of communicating.
4
THEA
Things have been off since yesterday. I could hardly think straight when I caught Parker’s scent. It didn’t help that I fell back into my old ways when I worked in corporate. Waiting for him to be angry at my mistake, especially after I accused him of being in the wrong, an alpha no less. His scent, sweet like peaches, felt so much like when I’d scented Connor and I could not go down that road. Connor’s always made me feel like I was home. Parker’s makes me feel safe. It was the first time in over a year since I’ve felt that. I can’t shake that feeling. Simultaneously I want more of it and none of it. Feeling safe at this point will only lead to something bad happening again. I don’t have the bandwidth to deal with any of this.
Today I’m meeting with the owner of a rental house. This small town lives up to its name in that there wasn’t much in the way of rental options. This house seemed like the best of what’s available. Bigger than what I really need, however, it looked better online than the apartment I had back in Chicago.
I pull up to the rental. It’s a ranch-style house, all one floor, with a small porch around the front door. There’s a man waiting outside sitting on the top step. He stands up as I park. He looks tall, wearing dark wash jeans with a long-sleeved button-downshirt. Walking up to him, I notice his dark brown eyes, and his smile shines even in his eyes. It puts me at ease, a little too quickly than it should.
“Thea Fera? I’m Elijah Harmon,” he says, reaching out his hand to shake mine.
I return the gesture. “Nice to meet you in person.”
His smile broadens. I didn’t think that was possible. “Ready for a tour of the place?” I nod my head in agreement as he gestures me ahead.
Walking through the front door, I note that the house is empty of all furniture. To the left is a big open space that must be for a living room and just ahead is the kitchen. It’s a relatively open concept layout. The kitchen has an island, which is nice. There are a few stools there. I guess whoever was here last must have left them. There’s a back door almost parallel to the front door’s location. Elijah is going through the specifics of the house, talking about the type of floors and counters. I’m only half listening. There’s a room off the kitchen. One of the walls is shared with the living room.
“Ah yes, you’re probably thinking this is an odd spot for a bedroom off the kitchen and next to the living room, but it can be used for any purpose,” he says. It’s a perfect bedroom for me. Both exits are close by and there’s a window big enough I could use if needed in a hurry. “Do you have any kids?”
The question shakes me out of my thoughts. “What?”
“Kids, do you have any? This could be a good room for one of them or a playroom,” he says.
I laugh a little but it’s hollow, knowing I probably will never have kids now. “No, I don’t have kids. It will just be me renting,” I say, knowing as my potential landlord he will need to know. We continue wordlessly on the tour. To the right side of the house there’s a short hallway leading to two more bedrooms and one full bath. Definitely bigger than I need but the location is better than the other options I saw in town, plus it appears to be better updated. I was in Chicago for seven months before he found me.All the steps I took to avoid him tracking me, I’m hoping I’ll be here at least a year, if not longer, assuming my luck can hold out. After being in apartments this last year with little privacy, something a bit remote sounds perfect. I feel like I’ve reached my limit of interacting with most people for the foreseeable future. Maybe it’s my omega nature wanting an enclosed safe space? Who knows at this point?