Page 206 of Scent to the Feral Cowboys

"Dance with me?" I asked, my hands finding his, threading together so perfectly it hurt.

Surprise flickered across Boone's features, quickly replaced by an endearing uncertainty. He glanced down at our joined fingers, then back to my face.

"I don't know how," he admitted in a low, rumbling voice. "I can’t even two-step at Shorty’s on line dancing night."

"That's okay," I whispered, squeezing his fingers gently. "Just move with me.”

I guided his hands to my waist, my own going to knit behind his neck.

With a little coaxing, Boone began to sway with me, moving to the melody of the night. After a while, he lowered his head, pressing his cheek against my temple.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"For the dance lesson?" I asked, a smile in my voice.

"For giving us a chance," he replied simply.

Those five words held so much in them.

Five words for five Alphas.

I closed my eyes, letting my body move with his, feeling the steady beat of his heart against mine. Whatever came next, I decided, I’d carry these men with me. Even if I was in Seattle instead of Sagebrush.

51

NELLY

Standing by the microwave as yesterday’s coffee warmed, I stared at the empty kitchen.

The space felt simultaneously warm and welcoming, yet cold and hostile. It almost made me wish for the morning when my Alphas were fighting a war with themselves, reeling from Eros’s email that I could leave them. That was better than right now.

When the confusion I felt was far greater.

When I was stuck in a waiting place between going and stay.

When I felt like screaming at the universe for making things so damn hard.

I wanted to rewind time.

What I would give to go back to the day I stepped off that plane!

I’d start over with my men, flush with the knowledge that soon—impossibly soon—I was going to love them. I’d immediately surrender to my inner Omega. I’d immediately kiss them, hold them, mark them. I’d make them mine in such an irrevocable way that nothing could tear us apart.

The microwave beeped and I took out my ballet mug. I made quick work of adding a spoonful of sugar to the bitter blackness and walked over to the table. Settling into one of the worn chairs,mug cradled between both hands, I knew with zero doubt that Wyoming was my home now.They were my home.

I thought of Wyatt, who’s steady, authoritative mannerisms had so recently worn down into a balance between dominating and being dominated. Heat flooded my lower body when I thought back to straddling him in the barn while his shocking emerald eyes watched. Then there was Wade, all gentleness and curiosity. I think I’d been falling in love with him since the moment he’d taken me to meet Dotty, when I’d seen the way his hands so tenderly moved over the large, pregnant animal. And Boone. Striking, crow-haired Boone who seemed to have woken up in nature one day as a human being instead of a wild creature. Sometimes, when I looked at him, I wondered if he might not walk back into the woods one day, transform again, and never return. Cooper’s face filled my mind. His silly, half-cocked smile. His deep blue eyes. His boyish energy that made you smile even when you didn’t think you could. My thoughts shifted one last time, landing on Levi. I couldn’t doubt he loved me, because he’d probably worked out every possible equation not to. He’d calculated, and recalculated. He’d checked his solution by reversing the operation. The answer was always: he wanted me.

I sighed, knowing what I had to do, and hating it.

Because even though I wanted to stay here, even though Sagebrush had seeped into my soul so quickly it was insane, I had to leave if they said no. We’d request the forms from Eros. We’d sign our names, breaking this beautiful bond we’d only started building.How much would it hurt to separate from Alphas that I’d marked and mated?Was that something I’d survive, or was it the kind of injury no surgery could fix?

Sun hadn’t risen yet.

The house was quiet.

We’d left the barn around midnight, Wyatt sleepily driving the truck with all of us sandwiched inside. He’d left the vehicle angled right in front of the porch, not bothering to park it properly. As soon as we’d piled through the front door, we’d collapsed onto the living room sofas, falling asleep again. Well, in my case, I fell asleep for the first time.

I’d woken up first, needing to pee.