Page 100 of Scent to the Feral Cowboys

That she was in Wyoming.

And this house was where she was meant to live now.

Finally, with a defiant tilt of her chin, she crossed into our home.

The scent of her quickly filled our small living space. I wondered if I should run around and open every window to keep from going crazy. Fuck, it was already seeping into the furniture, the walls, the pillows and blankets. She was soaking into our lives with undeniable permeance.

She’d told us she wouldn’t let us break her.

I wondered if she realized how easily she could break us.

Boone inhaled sharply beside me. Levi swayed a little when he moved to stand on my other side. I felt fucking lightheaded from the potency of her scent.

“Cozy,” she said quietly. And just that single word spoken inside our house sent ribbons of hope through me. Maybe she’d change her mind. Maybe we could keep her.

“Hasn’t changed much since our grandparents died,” Wade commented. “Anything that looks out of place, is probably Cooper. He likes to buy dumb shit.”

“That would be true,” I agreed. “King of the stupid purchases.”

“Makes sense why you guys would think buying a person is okay then,” she commented flippantly.

“Um,” I cleared my voice, hand going to the nape of my neck. I rubbed at it, feeling fucking called out. “Want to see where you’re sleeping?” I changed the subject, hoping the fact I’d given up my room for her would smooth things over.

Right, like giving her my small, shitty room could make up for the fact we bought her.

I really should have cared more. I should have asked more questions. But would I have changed my mind? Would I have given up on finding our match?

Probably not, because I was fucking selfish.

“Show me the room, or don’t. I won’t be staying here long enough to settle in,” Nelly shrugged.

Wyatt and Wade moved first, showing Nelly the way out of the living room and into the narrow hall that led to the bedrooms.

Things were even tighter now, the walls closer, our bodies nearer. Our six chemistries mingled together to create something dangerously alluring. We stopped at the last door on the right—my old room, hastily vacated when we'd received confirmation of her arrival date.

I’d shoved shit in the closet and under the bed. My dresser was stuffed with random items, unopened packages, and a couple bags of jerky. I always got hungry in the middle of the night.

Wyatt pushed the door open, revealing the unimpressive bedroom which appeared organized if you didn’t look too hard.

“It’s not much,” I admitted, desperately wanting to get closer to her, but the hallway stuffed with my pack mates preventing me. “I’d have moved more of my stuff out given the time. But…”

Nelly was painfully quiet. With every second she stayed silent, I felt new cracks form in my heart. Did she hate everything about the house? Did the room disappoint her so badly she couldn’t speak. My quilt was old, more snags than I could count and a hole two to boot. I’d folded it at the end of the bed, over a slightly nicer wool blanket. The nightstand was scratched all to hell, a cookbook beneath one leg to keep it from wobbling. I’d be bunking with Levi and Boone, one of us would end up on the sofa every night because—though we loved the hell out of one another—we weren’t the best bed mates. I often snored… loudly. And Levi had a habit of stretching out like a starfish.

Nelly was in the doorway now, arms crossed, her gaze taking its time roving over every item. I wanted to know what she was thinking so badly.

But I couldn’t ask.

I didn’t have the right.

That’s the thing about buying something you shouldn’t.

All it does is guilt you in the end, you either return it or stuff it in a closet out of sight.

And Nelly wasn’t a thing. She wasn’t a dumb ass, late night purchase.

She was an Omega. A woman. A person with feelings.

Eros had made so many promises. They’d given the perfect pitch. A lifetime of happiness, no price tag was too high.