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Jake shifted his eyes to Harold, daring him to react to the provocation. Giant, intimidating Alpha or not, he could come for Jake's Omega, but it would be the last thing he ever fucking did.
The quiet stretched and expanded, claiming the space where all the shouting and accusations vacated. The only sound came from the jangling of the horses and the rush of the river.
But the Alpha did nothing.
Satisfied with her victory, Zorah gave her family her back, rearranging Jake's shirts to cover his chest and abdomen again.
He raised his hand, thumbing over the soft curve of her cheekbone. "We done here?"
She leaned into the caress with a small tilt of her head. "I'd like to go now."
Jake dropped a kiss onto her forehead and gathered her close to keep her warm against him. "You got it."
Colt glanced over his shoulder, catching Jake's eye. Jake dipped his chin in a subtle nod. Time to go.
"Apologies for the disruption," Colt said, addressing the Alpha. "I think it's clear to everyone here Zorah's not being coerced or stolen. Wouldn't you agree?"
Jake bit his cheek to hold back a smirk. Getting Harold to state, in front of his own Pack, that they weren't doing those things would diminish the chances of Nelson or his buddies stirring up a pitchfork-wielding mob to come after them later. It was essentially getting the Alpha's tacit permission to take Zorah. Not that they needed it, but for the sake of peace for Morris Hill, it was a smart move by Colt.
"Yeah," Harold said roughly. "I think we're done." He angled his head toward Zorah. "Get that girl some dry clothes and get out of here. I don't want to see any of your faces ever again. Morris Hill ain't welcome. You can take your trading someplace else."
"This is bullshit!" Nelson sputtered and gnashed his teeth. "You promised me I'd have an Omega. You can't just let her walk out of here. What am I supposed to do?"
"I'd suggest you start by acting less like a needy man-baby and more like someone a woman might actually want to be around," Jake said, drilling holes into the younger Alpha's skull.
"Hey, fuck you." Nelson's hands balled into fists, his chest puffing up in a caricature of male anger.
Jake gave him a long, cold look. This guy didn't know how good he had it or how quickly that could change. As painful as it was to confront, Jake saw his younger self reflected back. Maybe not quite as obnoxious but entitled in his own lazy way. Jake couldn't stand the guy, but he also felt sorry for him. Nelson hadn't yet learned the lesson that nothing was guaranteed in the AfterEnd. Every day was a chance to lose everything all over again. Without appreciating the tenuousness of their entire existence, he couldn't fully appreciate anything.
Jake smoothed his palm down Zorah's blanket-wrapped back. Nelson couldn't understand that sometimes, if you got lucky, you might have a shot at something wonderful, and even if it only lasted a little while, that little bit of something made it all worthwhile.
"You have a pretty nice life," Jake said softly, "sheltered by your daddy and all these people sucking up to you all day long. But Alpha or not, this life doesn't owe you anything, and everything you have, you can lose. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be."
A vein throbbed in Nelson's forehead, and his fists clenched to white, but he made no further moves. Jake hitched his shoulder in a "suit yourself" shrug. Likely that puffed-up peacock wouldn't have any idea what he was talking about, but he'd said his piece, and he was ready to get out of this snake pit. With an arm around Zorah, he led her away from the crowd back to his waiting horse, elated beyond reason.
"Now." He smiled down at her. "Where do we get you some damn clothes?"
CHAPTER 41
Zorah
Fresh from a bath, wearing clean, warm clothes, with a full stomach and her legs reacquainted with the ground after riding horseback for the week, Zorah was ready for one thing and one thing only: getting plowed into next month by her mate. Which, in the days that had passed, had not yet happened.
After the confrontation with her parents, they hightailed it out of River Bend without any delay. Jake's arrival in the morning had been strategic, she later discovered. They anticipated the importance of putting distance between River Bend and the newly freed Zorah and figured they'd need some daylight to do that. Colt explained they didn't want to spend the night nearby, in case anyone felt tempted to change their mind and come after her. She, for one, was grateful for the foresight, and the trip home had been uneventful. Which had been fine with her because she had Nana to worry about.
Zorah felt a redoubled rush of relief and happiness at having her grandmother out from under her parents' roof. All it had taken was a question, first to Jake and then to Colt: could her Nana please come with them, too? Thankfully, Nana could still sit a horse, and her small, withered frame made it possible to ride double with Colt or Simon or even the mischievous Matteo. Zorah worried over Nana's ability to withstand the trip, but surprisingly, the old gal perked up once she got a hint of a new adventure. She made fast friends with the Alphas; several of them, Zorah learned, had Beta mothers and needed no prompting to fuss over Nana's comfort the entire way home. Nana, for her part, soaked it up, teasing and flirting and playfully scolding the much younger men at every opportunity. Zorah'd never seen her so happy.
When the group finally rolled into Morris Hill, an honest-to-goodness sense of coming home enveloped Zorah as strongly as Jake did at every opportunity. Grace, Lars, and their ecstatic children welcomed her back with shrieks and sticky hugs, and she got a very tight embrace from a relieved Rue. Rue, bless her gentle soul, took charge of Nana and volunteered to set her up in the Omega bunkhouse, a solution for a problem Zorah had been too apprehensive to contemplate. There were no other Betas in Morris Hill and certainly no other elders for Nana to live with, but none of that turned out to be a barrier. Zorah had left a contented Nana chatting with Della and Kess in the mess hall at dinner.
Everything had gone swimmingly. Almost unbelievably so. Except for one, small, highly significant detail: Jake refused to re-consummate their reunion while on the road. The urge rode her hard the entire way, and she had no doubt his need mirrored her own, yet he'd been resolute. There was no privacy to be had while traveling and Jake could not tolerate relaxing in uncertain surroundings or putting either of them in a vulnerable state. Not until they returned to the safety of Morris Hill and the privacy of his cabin, he'd insisted. Also, as he murmured under his breath to her in their bedroll that first night, "I'm not about to share any of your hot little noises with these fuckers. Those belong tome." The growly timbre of his voice nearly provoked one of those lewd noises right on the spot, but she'd bit her tongue and suffered in frustrated silence.
Patience, though, had worn thin. When Jake made their excuses in the mess hall and guided her out the door to jeers and cheers, she'd secretly rejoiced that the time for alone time had finally arrived. The entire trek up the ridge, anticipation roared to life between her legs, her thoughts awash with all the filthy things she wanted to do to him, yet the burst of pure, wholesome comfort she got when the cabin came into view nearly buckled her knees. It would never be as elegant or modern as any house in River Bend, but the rustic structure held more positive memories than an entire childhood under her parents' roof.
Outside the door — a real door, with hinges! — Jake stooped to tug off her boots. Zorah lifted one foot, then the other, in silent compliance.
"Gotten a lot done up here," she said softly, tangling her fingers in his windblown curls.
He grunted. "Wait'll you see the wood pile."
