A Winter Gift

Just Outside

Ivor

***

"Ivor!"

"Rowan!" I mimicked my best friend's overly excited tone.

He jogged toward me, his dark complexion rosy around his cheeks. The goofy grin on his face widened as he approached. Something had him in a pretty good mood, and I was sure I knew what it was.

"How's Lily?" I asked, smirking at the dusting of flour on the back of his hands.

He cocked his head. "How did you know I just saw her?" I pointed at the dough caked around his nails. He snorted, picking at it. "I think she's warming up to me." He sounded a little unsure. He should be. The skittish omega had a reputation for keeping her distance from alphas, but Rowan was determined to crack through her guarded exterior.

"Done with omega duty?" he asked, motioning to the sewing cottage.

"Not yet. A few are still finishing up inside."

"Nix is here." Rowan pointed at the young alpha sitting on the porch. Then his eyes shifted to the older wolf standing next to the door. "And so is Captain Ari."

"Your point?" I tried not to sound annoyed, but Ari's presence had me on edge. The older alpha had walked over with Mina's mother. Were the rumors true? Was he pursuing Mina? The thought made me want to rip the cottage apart, board by board, and steal the sweet omega away.

"One of them can watch over the cottage. I need help with the yule log."

"You don't need help with the fucking yule log," I said, narrowing my eyes at Ari's back.

Rowan wrung his hands together, eyeing a few betas as they passed. They pulled their collars up against the cold, rushing down the hill and toward the cabins. "I need to show you something," he spoke as if the whole village might overhear.

"What?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the porch. It looked as if Ari had gotten a haircut. He usually kept it a bit long, but it was trim. Very trim. Was he trying to impress someone?

Rowan leaned into my ear as if sharing priceless information. "I got Lily something, and I wanted your opinion."

I couldn't help but laugh at the dopey look on my friend's face. He was beyond lovesick. "Isn't this the time of year for omegas to gift their alphas with trinkets of their affection?"

"Omegas in relationships exchange gifts. Lily isn't mine." He pulled his mouth tight as if frustrated by the fact. I understood his pain. "Not yet, anyway. She hasn't exactly been open to my advances."

"Been open?" I laughed. "Rowan, you've managed to fall for the only omega in the history of time that wants nothing to do with alphas."

"She's shy," he snapped. "And both her parents are betas," he made a face at the uncommon occurrence, "so she doesn't spend much time with our kind. But I'm going to win her over. I'm going to make my move." He pulled out a small black box tied with a bright yellow ribbon. The bow was lopsided and unraveling.

"Is this your move?" I teased, eyeing the frayed ribbon. "A poorly wrapped present? Did you tie it yourself?"

A shit-eating smirk lifted one side of his mouth. "It's better than standing outside the sewing cottage, waiting to catch a glimpse of an omega I don't have the balls to talk to."

My expression instantly fell, but I tried like hell to pull it back into place. "I have no interest in Omega Mina." My wolf snarled at my lie.

"How did you know I meant Mina?"

Refusing to answer, I glared at the tiny cottage. Then at Ari. "I'd be stupid to pursue her with Captain Ari already expressing interest."

"You don't know for a fact Ari's placed a claim. You could still approach her." He tucked the box back into his pocket. "Why haven't you?"

"Not everyone is comfortable skirting the rules and pursuing omegas without the proper channels. Mina has no kin to discuss placing a claim." I snarled at the fact. "It doesn't help that her father was a high-ranking official that died a warrior's death." I sighed hard, wishing like hell Mina was just the daughter of a merchant or shopkeeper and I could take her without any thought or consequence.

"You could still try," Rowan said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Sometimes you have to suck it up and spend a whole afternoon mixing eggs and butter just to get two sentences out of an omega. You have to do things you don't like, but it's worth it." He smiled wide, too lovesick to realize how ridiculous he looked.

"It's not the same. Approaching Mina's omega mother to place a claim would look...." I shook my head, so fucking frustrated. "Joyce might feel very uncomfortable or overwhelmed talking to an alpha about her daughter. Some might think I forced her to give her blessing, or worse, she might actually feel forced."

"Nix can—"

"I've been working with her little brother since he came of age. Nix is my trainee. Asking him to claim his sister would completely change our dynamic. And if he said no...." I snarled, enraged that I couldn't just storm into the fucking cabin and take what I already knew was mine. My beast growled deep within me, urging me to take Mina and claim her as my own. I shoved my wolf back, knowing I'd never be able to do that to the sweet omega. Mina was too kind and beautiful. She deserved an honorable courting. A proper mate. Not a lout like me.

"So you have thought about claiming her?" Rowan said as if making his point.

"It doesn't fucking matter now, does it?" I snapped. "I am beneath Mina, and Ari isn't. That's all that matters."

Rowan glanced past me at the cabin. "Then I guess you don't care that Ari is escorting Mina home."

I spun.

Mina handed a bundle of carefully folded fabric to her friend, Summer, then tightened the blue scarf around her neck. She tucked it up, displaying only the tip of her nose and gorgeous brown eyes. Her cheeks were already pink from the chill in the air, and snowflakes clung to her dark hair.

Fuck, she was beautiful.

Captain Ari said something to her, and she bowed her head, walking slowly next to him. Her black boots crunched into the snow as she walked away from me. I didn't miss the shiver that worked through her shoulders. I wanted so badly to pick her up and carry her. It was far too cold for omegas to walk.

She disappeared around the side of the cottage, and my heart sank a bit, already missing her. Rowan bumped his shoulder into mine. The goofy fucking grin that consumed his whole face made me want to punch him.

"You should ask her to sit with you at the festival."

"I will not chase after another wolf's claim," I said flatly, wishing like hell I had the status to challenge someone as honorable as Captain Ari for her hand.

"She has no real interest in Ari," Rowan said as if it were a fact.

I stepped a little closer to him. "How do you know?"

"The look on her face," he said as if it were obvious.

I snorted, shoving down the intense disappointment that settled in my gut. "So now you can tell when omegas have no interest in alphas?"

"I can when it's that obvious."

"And what do you see when you look at Lily?"

He flashed his white teeth in a big grin. "A challenge."

I laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's get the yule log."

I glanced back in the direction Mina had gone, feeling defeated all over again.