Page 125 of Scent to the Feral Cowboys

I nodded.

God, how was his smile still widening? How was it breaking my heart a little bit?

“Eat the eggs before they’re cold, Nell.” Cooper used the shortened version of my name again. I looked at him in irritation. The smug bastard just kept smiling from where he was leaning against the kitchen counter holding a glass of juice.

Though I wanted to devour the berries first, I also hated cold eggs.

I picked up the fork, cautiously pushing the fluffy yellow. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I hadn’t even questioned the food. That would be one way to keep me here, drugged up and unable to fight. See—zero real survival skills. I put the fork down, picked up the plate, and peered closer at everything.

“We’re not cowards. If we wanted to hurt you, we’d do it open and honest like,” Levi said, moving back to the table and sitting down.

“Right, you’re not cowards who can’t find a mate yourselves, so you hired someone to do it for you. And then the cowards you hired, grabbed an Omega from her job, with zero warning, after tricking her into signing a medical release for bloodwork. And she had to sign that release to get a clean bill of health, because she wanted to keep her job.” The words tumbled out in a stream. I couldn’t stop them. At some point, I’d picked the fork back up and I was brandishing it like a weapon at them.

“Cowards. Every single person involved are fucking cowards,” I spat out. “Tricking woman. Kidnapping them. Drugging them. Handcuffing them!”

The pitch of my voice kept rising, until the last word I uttered was nearly a squeak.

It was a little vindicating to see how uncomfortable they all looked once I clamped my mouth closed again.

“You were tricked?” A sleepy voice responded. I turned in the chair, finding Boone’s giant form filling the doorway. His braid was undone now, his incredibly long hair curtaining around his deep, golden-brown face. “You didn’t sign a contract willingly and now you’re just regretting it?”

29

NELLY

"Yes, I was tricked," I snapped, gripping my fork tighter. "Funny how Eros left out that part. Maybe their sneaky fucking tactics to get ‘willing’ products for their match database is a damn trade secret.”

They all stared at me, eyes drifting and expressions focused, as if they were trying to put together a puzzle, but the puzzle was just a close-up shot of a tranquil lake. And that meant zero dead giveaways to ease construction, just an expanse of blue-green water.

“Did they also leave out the fact that they drugged me when I told them no. Then they stripped me, dressed me like a doll, and dragged onto that plane while I was unconscious?"

Boone stared at me with those intense dark eyes, his expression unreadable. He looked different with his hair down—softer, younger, less intimidating despite his massive frame. The sleepy confusion on his face made him appear vulnerable. I couldn't tell if he was surprised by the information that I’d just bitterly dropped on him or simply processing it. Either way, I didn't like the way his gaze made my skin feel too warm. I didn’t like how he looked like a bodice ripping, romance cover model,even while half awake. I didn’t like that I was beginning to like everything about the man.

"They told us you'd been fully informed," Wade said softly. "That you'd consented to the match. They sent us… fruit baskets." The way he said ‘fruit baskets’, full of childish trust, almost made me feel like he was also a victim of this. Almost,but not quite.

"Well, they lied about that." I stabbed a gooseberry viciously. "Just like they probably lied to you about what kind of Omega you were getting. Bet you were hoping for someone all Hannah Homemaker instead of me."

I shoved the berry into my mouth, chewing gracelessly, not caring that juice began to dribble from the corner of my mouth and trace down my chin. I went for another berry, only this time my aim was off. The tines of the fork slipped down the red skin instead of gaining purchase, and the glossy orb went flying across the table. Somehow, it hit Wyatt dead square between the eyebrows.

Wyatt stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. The sudden movement made me flinch, my fork clattering against the plate.Was he going to punish me for hitting him with the gooseberry? He was suddenly all Alpha energy. It radiated from him so heavily that I began to squint unconsciously, wondering if I peered just right, at the perfect angle, then I’d be able to see his Alpha-ness as color steaming from his body.

"No," he said, his voice tight. "We weren't expecting Hannah Homemaker, as you put it. We were expecting a willing participant. Someone who knew what they were getting into."

“We thought all your anger was just,” Levi paused, rubbing the back of his neck, “you being pissed that you ended up in somewhere like Pinedale. And with guys like us. We thought you were expecting something nicer.”

“Just like you were expecting someone nicer,” I choked on the words as they exited. Part of me, for whatever stupid Omega reason, didn’t want to say them. I didn’t want these men to want someone else. So, I had to push with all my might, releasing syllable by syllable. “But, surprise, you got me instead.”, the sound bitter even to my own ears.

“Whoever said we wanted someone nicer?” Wyatt’s forest eyes bore into me, his mouth drawn in a serious line. “In what way did we make you feel we were disappointed?”

Those questions hung in the air.

I swallowed, caught off guard by the directness of Wyatt's question. The way he was looking at me made it hard to maintain the bitter edge I'd been clinging to.

"You don't have to pretend that you’re happy I got off that plane," I said, but my voice didn't carry the same conviction. "Look at you five. Literal giants. I’m a broken ballerina with a bum leg. Don’t try to act like I’m the kind of Omega you pictured. And I’m not going to change," I added. “What you see is what you get. I’m not going to let anyone control me.”

Wyatt loomed above and I glanced up at him, nerves fraying. “Could you please sit back down. You’re making me nervous.”

Wyatt slow blinked, absorbing my words, then he slowly sat.