Page 10 of Rugged Hearts: Part One
“Take a breath will you? How can I tell you anything when you don’t give me a minute to answer?”
Sheepishly he does as I say and I tell him about how I met her. “I did scent her,” I say, then pause. Once I tell him there is no going back. “I’m pretty sure she’s our scent match.”
His blond brows scrunch together in confusion. “Scent matches aren’t real. Did you hit your head or something?” Groaning, I wipe my hand over my face and appraise my brother. He’sdefinitely serious. He’ll end up looking it up for himself so I show him what I spent twenty minutes looking for to confirm my suspicions before coming here. Handing him my phone, I watch his expression shift from confusion to concentration and finally shock. Yeah, sounds about right.
“A scent match,” he whispers almost reverently. Looking back at me, I see all the emotions I’m feeling clearly written on his face.
Reaching out to squeeze his shoulder, I murmur, “Yeah we have a scent match.” Pure happiness spreads over his face which I can’t help but feel the same as well. But just as quickly as that came, I see his doubts and insecurity filter in. Yeah, we may be different in a lot of ways but in this we are the same. The real question is, will she want us?
“We can’t tell the rest of the pack yet.” I hold up a hand to cut him off before he can say anything. “We don’t know how everyone will react. My guess is she hasn’t met Jake, Micah, or Liam yet. I also don’t know if Ben scented her or not. I think if he did he would’ve told us. We should wait until she meets the rest of the pack on her own and if they are scent matched as well. I have a feeling Eli might know something, since he was off the night he helped her move. I’ll talk to him about it.”
Parker doesn’t say anything for a while. He needs time to process so I give it to him and wait patiently. “Okay,” he says finally.
“That’s it? After all that information all you have to say is okay?” I expected to need to convince him more.
“Yeah, okay. We can’t screw this up. If she’s really our scent match we have to make sure the rest of the pack is too and if they aren’t, we need to make sure no one is left out of anything going forward. Not this time,” he says sternly. A side I rarely see of my easygoing brother. It makes me angry all over again thinking of the scars that bitch Amber left on him, and me.
I nod in agreement and go to get up, but he stops me as he says excitedly, “So are we going to try and plan some kind of meet cute for the rest of the pack?”
Gods spare me from my well-meaning brother. “No Parker we can’t manipulate them meeting. You know Micah would see through that and he will already have a hard time with this. Promise you won’t force any ‘meet cutes.’” Where does he get this stuff?
“Fine.” He pouts. “But I’m going to still try and get to know her myself. I’m not going to wait for the rest of the pack. We can get to know her as friends.”
I have no idea what his version of getting to know this omega would be but I won’t stand in his way. He deserves to be happy with someone. We all do. I’m not sure what I’ll do in the meantime. I doubt I’ll see her much. If it wasn’t for the cabin project, I probably would have never run into her. I had planned to take what I could back to my workshop and do the carvings there but there’s some work I can do on site before needing my workshop. With my own ideas coming in, I just nod in agreement and leave Parker’s office, going back to my workshop to map out the next couple weeks of work on site at the cabin.
8
THEA
Working the extra shifts was exactly what I needed especially after that day last week with my run ins with Ben and the mysterious alpha at the cabin. It’s my first day off and I have no plans other than grocery shopping which I already did this morning. I’ve been trying to read but I can’t seem to sit still. Feeling restless, I get changed and decide to go for a walk. From the little bit of driving around town that I’ve done, it seems like there’s little trails everywhere. I also saw a sign for Ranger Station nearby. They likely have some maps of the trails; that’s probably my best bet rather than blindly exploring and ending up on someone’s property like last time.
Thinking about that does make me smile. Parker was so different than any alpha I’d met before. I then remember his scent, wondering what it is about the men in this town, specifically that pack. I don’t know if that construction alpha is part of their pack but his scentaffectedme just as strongly. I just need some fresh air and exercise to get this restless energy out of my system.
The drive to the station is quicker than I thought and not many cars are in the small lot. Understandable for a random Tuesday. Walking into the small building, I find shelves full of various items, such as first aid kits, maps, rations, and even some clothingitems. Guess it serves as a last stop in case people forget something.
There’s a forest ranger at the counter reading some outdoors magazine. He glances up as the door closes behind me with a light chime, and I give a small smile in acknowledgement and start to browse. I see out of the corner of my eye of him doing a double take. Maybe they really don’t get many people during the week. Looking through the maps I grab a few different ones for future exploration. I didn’t bring anything with me other than a jacket. Not the smartest decision, but I don’t plan on doing a multi-day hike. Just a couple hours, then hopefully I’m tired enough to go home and sleep the rest of the day away.
As I approach the counter I dash over to the coolers and grab two waters. The ranger stands up from his perch as I approach the counter. His name tag says Officer Carter. His deep green uniform stands out against his tan skin that contrasts with his dark brown hair and deep blue eyes that haven’t moved from me. Maybe he’s judging me for not having any gear. Itisdumb of me but I don’t care all that much today, I just needed out of that house.
Placing my items on the counter, he seems to snap out of his trance and begins ringing me up. Now that he’s standing I can see he’s tall, but nothing like the alpha at the cabin or even Connor’s height—no don’t go there Thea. Anyways, he’s probably around six foot, still taller than me.
“Miss?” he says, catching my attention.
“Yes, sorry.”
“It’ll be $28.50. Are you going out onto any of the trails?” he asks as I get my cash out to pay. I notice a slight accent when he speaks but can’t place it, maybe New York? You’re in New York, Thea, of course people will sound like they have an accent to you. Though this seems different than the people I’ve met so far in town and at the lodge.
“Yes, I am. Do you have any you’d recommend to someone new to the area?”
He eyes me somewhat skeptically; I try not to take offense butthe longer it goes on the more it bothers me. He opens one of the maps and points out a trail. “This one is good, usually about two to three hours round trip depending on what your experience level is with terrain like this. The trail head is out the door to the left.”
“That sounds perfect thank you, Officer Carter,” I say as I gather up the items.
“Are you visiting from out of town?” He surprises me with the question.
“No, just moved here. Only been a few weeks so just now getting a chance to explore some of the trails now.”
“Well welcome to Moonlight Valley. If you need anything please don’t hesitate to stop back here. Depending on the trails you go, you may come across our rangers making various rounds. They can help you if needed as well,” he says, more pleasantly than I expected.
