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A smile tugs at my lips.

I am going to have to be more precise when I speak to him.

I didn’t expect Luca to work on my garden at dawn. The rest of his pack will reckon I am some cruel Omega boss, putting Luca to work before breakfast.

“Hey!” I rap on the glass.

Luca doesn’t appear to hear me. He is too focused.

I open the window, before standing on my tiptoes and trying again.

“Alpha!” I wave.

Finally, Luca raises his head.

He kneels up.

He raises his muddy hand to his forehead, saluting me.

I laugh.

Luca smiles, before setting back to his gardening with the same concentration.

I close the window. “A hard worker. I admire that.”

But then, my expression clouds.

I bet that Devlin would never get his hands dirty like that.

Devlin is dangling Acorn Inn in front of me like it’s some kind of old-fashioned courting gift, but I know him.

If I bonded with him, he’d insist that I live with him on his fancy ranch and raise our kids full-time, no matter how much I begged to keep working at the inn.

He has staff who run his ranches for him. The most he does is hold business meetings and look through his books to make sure that his accountants are making the most of his money.

I take another more careful look around the garden to make sure that Devlin isn’t hanging around.

After Rhett’s threat, will Devlin leave me alone?

I should have known that Rhett would know Devlin. It’s easy to forget that Rhett comes from the Coles, the founders.

I pull Rhett’s shirt more tightly around myself.

Then I stare down at the destroyed nest on the floor.

I bite my lip.

I don’t want Luca to find his first nest like that in case he reckons I’m rejecting him.

I carefully pick up the bedding and clothes, tossing them onto the bed, then I mold them back into shape.

I’ll simply tell Luca that I move around a lot in my sleep. Also, it’s true that Angel is a cuddler who hogs the covers. This nest will need to be rebuilt nightly anyway, and I don’t hate the thought of that.

Humming now, I pad out into the corridor.

My nose wrinkles at the sudden rich and spicy aroma of smoky bacon and chorizo.

Is someone cooking breakfast?