Page 106 of Scent to the Feral Cowboys

My analytical brain was used to making sense of everything. Adding. Subtracting. Balancing the books and finding stubborn pennies hiding in carefully written rows. But this? This wasn’t something a guy could make sense of with a calculator and a trash can full of snapped pencils.

I’d been sleeping since about eleven, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like it.

I pressed my back against the bedroom door, feeling the solid wood behind me like an impossible barrier between worlds—our familiar ranch life on one side, and whatever new reality her arrival had created on the other.

Her Omega perfume flowed around me, fainter now but still present, mingling with the stale coffee from the mug Wyatt left behind and the familiar scent notes of our home. I catalogued these sensory inputs methodically, as was my nature, trying to discover where they led, and what they meant for our future. I needed predictable patterns to function, but there was nothing predictable about the way her presence had instantly rewritten every equation that governed our lives.

Wyatt had briefed me before taking his leave—no movement from within, no sounds beyond the soft rhythm of sleep-steadied breathing. I nodded, accepting the information without commentary.What was there to say that hadn't already been said?

I rubbed my eyes, exhaustion settling into my bones in such a resolute way that I wondered if it would ever leave again.

When I dropped my hands, starbursts bloomed behind my eyes. When they faded, the day's events replayed, every detail precisely preserved.

Pulling up to the small airport.

Tumbling out of the truck.

Walking slower than we wanted to towards the plane with the bold lettering. EROS.

Seeing her for the first time.

Her face covered, and her wrists bound.

The way she’d torn the hood off was seared into my brain.

High cheekbones.

Expressive eyes.

Freckles and ginger curls.

How I’d felt like I was dying on the drive home, so close to her, yet unable to touch.

The steady tick of the grandfather clock in the living room marked the passing minutes. Four-fifteen. Four-thirty. The house breathed around me the way it always did. Our home, a living thing that felt just as much a member of our pack. My head nodded once, twice, my body betraying me despite my determination to remain alert.

I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep until a soft nudge at my shoulder jolted me awake. Disoriented, I blinked up into Cooper's face, his expression caught between amusement and concern.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," he murmured. “You and I are both getting kicked off guard duty.”

He pushed a steaming mug of coffee my way. The rich aroma cut through my foggy brain, bringing me back to full awareness with embarrassing speed.

"Shit," I muttered, accepting the cup while casting a guilty glance at the still-closed door. "What time is it?"

"Just past six," Cooper replied, his voice low. "Don't worry. No jailbreaks on your watch. I just heard the bed creak."

I winced at his choice of words, though they weren't inaccurate. What else could you call guarding someone's door to prevent escape? The thin veneer of protective concern we'd layered over our actions felt increasingly inadequate in the harsh light of morning. Had we really done it to protect her?

“Come on, let’s get you some food.” He offered me a hand, and I took it, letting him help me stand. My legs were numb; I shook them out to drive away the tingling. The smell of bacon sizzling drove the last of the drowsiness away.

“Stress cooking?” I asked, following him slowly when he started backtracking to the kitchen.

"Figured she might be hungry," he quietly tossed over his shoulder. "After everything she’s been through." His guilt, though unspoken, hung in the air.After everything I put her through.

Cooper was going to blame himself more deeply than ever. I found myself regretting the way we’d all been giving him hell over Eros. At first, we’d all been maddened that he’d spent the money and signed us up without our consent. Then, we’d all been so disappointed and depressed after months of waiting, that we took it out on him. Cooper had paid his dues, ten times over by now.

Nelly didn’t know that though.

She had no idea how much he suffered because of his choice.