Page 2 of Wolf It Down, Knot Me Up

He notices me almost immediately. After the briefest pause, he changes direction and walks over, weaving easily between the tables.

“I’m Roman Alvec.” He offers me his hand. “Your grandma, Eve, sent me.”

“Hi.” I shake it, feeling his firm grip. “Lucy Rose. Eve’s granddaughter.”

He just smiles at me, then glances around the place, instantly throwing us into awkwardness.

“So. My grandma said you’d take me up through the woods since apparently cabs and Ubers can’t make it to the lodge due to some storms?”

“Yep.” He turns back toward me. “Rain’s been bad the last few weeks. Access roads to Crimson Pine Lodge are washed out. The creek took half the lower road with it. Only way up to the lodge is the old trail.” He stares at me, his gaze traveling up and down. “An hour and a half on foot. Maybe more, depending on how fast we move.”

Grandma already told me this on the phone while she’s in hospital on painkillers for her broken ankle. And she’s arranged for someone to lead me to the lodge as though I’d forget how to reach the lodge I grew up in. But she insisted she didn’t want me out there alone. Right now, her lodge is running with one helper—Ethan. That’s why I’m here and not at the hospital visiting her because she needs me to run the place. It just so happens to be perfect timing, seeing that I’m unemployed, unattached, and unavailable for anything better, so here I am.

“Okay then,” I say. “Shall we head off?”

He glances at his phone, and something in his shoulders shifts. A tightening, there and gone. “Let’s go.”

“Yep. Of course.” It’s exactly what I had said seconds earlier, but whatever. And honestly? Fine by me if he’s going to keep to himself. I hate small talk, and this guy clearly left his sparkling personality in his other checkered shirt. The quicker I get to the lodge, the faster I can be surrounded by those who are legally obligated to like me. All right, it’s one person only. And I get along well with Ethan. Always have, and coupled with him being an amazing cook, I’m going to be eating well. No more udon noodles every night because it’s cheap and fast.

In the mudroom, Roman grabs a canvas coat off a hook and shrugs into it while I adjust my backpack.

“You know, I told Grandma I could go up on my own. It’s only been two years since I last visited the lodge.” I laugh, sounding awkward.

He doesn’t glance my way while he does up his buttons. “There have been animals coming down the mountain lately. Bears and wolves.”

“Wolves,” I repeat. “You sure?”

“Yep, seen them with my own eyes.” He lifts his chin, almost proud of the fact.

Curious. Eighteen years in this forest and the scariest thing I ever met was an opossum with boundary issues, but now, sure. Wolves.

“And I’ll be safe with you?” I ask it jokingly, noting he has muscles, though I’m not sure if he’s big enough to take on a wolf on his own.

He studies me, saying, “You shouldn’t have traveled out here alone.”

I blink. “Excuse me?”

“You’re an Omega.” He says it as if that’s enough of an explanation. “Especially not through these woods. There are plenty of Alphas who wander them.”

I raise an eyebrow, so tired of these comments because everyone thinks Omegas should just be submissive and hide. “Funny. No one ever says there are plenty of Alphas who should learn some self-control.”

He raises an eyebrow in response and pushes the door to head outdoors.

I’ve heard that crap about Omegas a lot. I’ve lived with those rules my whole life. Omegas aren’t supposed to travel alone, especially through places like this. Some towns won’t even rent a room to us without an Alpha or another adult signing us in, as though we’re children who can’t be trusted with our own safety. It infuriates me.

Grandma didn’t raise me that way. Maybe because she was an Omega too, but she taught me to respect the forest, not fear it, and there’s a world of difference between the two.

I march outside, following Roman whose stoic expression hasn’t changed.

For a moment, we simply stare at each other.

Finally, he lets out the smallest sigh. “I didn’t mean to upset you in there. I’m saying you should be careful out here.”

Some of the annoyance pours out of me. “Yeah, I get it,” I admit. “Just get tired of everyone acting like it’s our responsibility to manage other people’s instincts.”

He nods, and we begin our trek away from the tavern and down the sidewalk. “Besides,” he says after a moment, “I owed Eve a favor, which is why I’m here with you.”

“Ooh.” I grab onto that immediately because favors are gossip which is my love language. And I’d prefer not to hold onto the earlier tension between us. “What kind?”