AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I turned back and began rummaging through the drawers in the small kitchenette.
“Aha, this should do the trick.” I shoved a bottle of perfume into Dio’s face.
“Perfume? Your scent will be stronger than that.”
“Oh, you underestimate the terrible, potent power of this perfume,” I cackled like a deranged witch, and Dio grinned.
“A woman I helped gave it to me as a thank you. She had so little, but it would have offended her if I refused. So I accepted it. It’s a drugstore perfume, so it’s cheap and strong. Trust me, it’s up for the challenge. It’s also fruity, so it should help at least confuse my scent.”
I sprayed a liberal amount all over me but started coughing immediately, and my eyes started watering. Dio bent to take a whiff, but ripped his head away before he even got close to my neck.
“Nope. Hard pass. That’s not fruity, it’s toxic. What the hell is that? Scrub it off.” He was holding his nose and waving his other hand around in front of him.
“Ugh, I swear, it never used to smell quite this bad,” I said, trying to wipe some of it off with a wet hand towel.
“It’s designed to make betas smell like an omega. But it’s very artificial. So your sensitive little alpha nose won’t like it, but it should have the same effect on other alphas too. I don’t know why betas think an alpha would like it. I used to chase Hunter with it and threaten to spray him when he was being an ass.”
Dio grinned. “You have a sensitive little nose too, now that your omega is free. You’re going to notice smells a lot more.” He went to hug me but caught another whiff of the perfume that seemed to cling to me and started to sputter and cough instead. He held up his hands in defeat.
“Okay, we’ll give it a go. I don’t think we have much choice now, anyway. You’d need industrial cleaner to get that shit off. You’re going to need to stay downwind of me, though,” he said when he could breathe again.
“That won’t be possible. You lost, so you need to give me a piggyback ride to the kitchen.”
He groaned playfully, but he took my hand and we headed out the door and down the stairs. I stopped short at the sight that greeted me when we reached the bottom, accidentally yanking Dio’s hand as I pulled him to a halt. He looked back over his shoulder at me questioningly.
There were two hammocks stretched out between the closest trees and the support beams for the treehouse. They were military hammocks, designed for soldiers to sleep outdoors, with fine mosquito nets strung up over them like a little tent.
Dave was reclining sideways in one with the netting flipped off. He was watching the forest, with Bear at his feet. Sam was fast asleep in the other hammock. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He looked so peaceful, like the angel before he fell.
“Is that the perfume you like to spray all over Hunter? Dave asked as he turned to me. I forced my eyes away from Sam’s sleeping face as Dio leaned over to wake him up. He must be exhausted to still be asleep. Or he’d been up late.
“Sure is. Think it will do the job enough to let me help in the kitchen this morning without having to make any big announcements?” I felt suddenly awkward around Dave. There was so much unsaid between us, especially after the other night.
“Maybe. It won’t work for long if it does, though,” he said. Something subtle seemed to have shifted with Dave as he glanced at Dio and Sam, but I couldn’t tell what.
I just nodded at him and fiddled with the pocket on my overalls. I caught myself as I reached up to rub at my hip and forced my hand down as I looked towards Dio, too. Both he and Sam were watching Dave and I intently, like we were their favorite TV show to binge watch.
“Do you guys need some popcorn?” I asked. Dio just grinned, but Sam was back to looking angry. Or maybe he was hangry? Maybe he really could use some popcorn.
“So, uh, what’s going on out here?” I asked Dave and Sam, my gaze swinging between the two of them. I was dying to know what had gone down the other night that ended up with them sleeping out here. “Did you two feel the sudden need for a camp-out? A bit of male bonding? Did you run naked in the moonlight and howl at the moon?”
Dave’s lip twitched. “No. Security detail on the treehouse.”
“Why does the treehouse need security?”
“Because you’re in it,” he replied calmly, looking completely unruffled, as usual.
“Why do I need security?” His words had me completely taken aback.
Dave finally stood up from the hammock, doing it so smoothly, it boggled my brain. Nobody got out of a hammock without rolling out or falling on their ass. Or maybe that was just me.
He took two giant steps towards me and settled that unflinching gaze on me. It held me completely immobilized. “Because you’re important.”
My breath caught in my throat, unsure of his meaning.
“If the Palace finds out that you’ve been an omega all along, they’ll attempt to snatch you,” he said with a furrowed brow, probably at my sudden silence. I wasn’t known for it.
I swallowed hard. Of course. He was talking about my importance to the Palace and not himself. Hope had flared hard for a moment, that maybe he was ending this dance we’d been doing around each other.
