Chapter Three

HOLLY

“Wait!”

The warning split the quiet air like an axe and it startled Holly badly enough that she dropped her satchel of precious looted berries all over the ground. Little pearly orbs scattered every which way through the underbrush. Dammit.

She whirled around, one hand surreptitiously reaching behind her back to palm the dagger on her hip, its gilt handle hidden under the hem of her dirtied shirt.

She would usually never bring the dagger out in the light of day, instead keeping it hidden under her floorboards where no one could find it. Omegas weren’t allowed weapons on pack grounds in Earthen territory, a ridiculously fucking classist rule if you asked her. But she would be remiss to go out into the wild woods without some sort of weapon. There were rouges, ferals, bandits, bears, and all sorts of other creatures that could do her harm. She would be safer in wolf form but she couldn't risk that either.

She just hoped that if she was forced to use it on someone it would be someone who wouldn't realize the significance of the golden hilted dagger.

“Who goes there? Show yourself!” she snarled into the darkening woods. What little watery light could pierce through the thick boughs of the forest had almost completely dissolved with the lengthening shadows.

It got late quickly in the winter this far north and Holly had stopped paying attention to the time once she'd found the mistletoe and started picking. She was suddenly, uncomfortably, aware that she was alone, stranded in the deep dark woods, miles from home, with very little light left and apparently a stranger. The thought made her shiver and she steeled her spine against it.

“I won't ask again,” she growled, trying to make her voice as imposing and dominant as possible.

She might be a lowly omega in the Earthen Pack, but there were tons of strangers arriving every day for the winter festival. Travellers from all the main packs had been streaming in for weeks. The communal packhouse was full up of people she'd never scented before. Maybe this one wouldn't realize how vulnerable she was if she put on a show of strength. After all, no one cared what happened to an omega.

“Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,” came the voice again. Tensing, she watched as a young man emerged from the shrubbery. He batted his hand against a particularly tricky twig and stepped fully into the small clearing with a charming smile.

She didn't trust it. That smile was as dangerous as any knife.

“Oh, wow,” he murmured quietly, almost to himself before purring “Hello there.”

Like he didn't just pop out of nowhere. Like he had any right to be scaring her while she was out here busy with her quest for revenge.

She stared at him with all the blistering annoyance she could muster. Maybe his head would explode if she stared hard enough. His… well, his fairly handsome head.

She was angry to admit it. Didn't want to admit it even to herself. She didn't want to think of this stranger as anything but a nuisance. His stupid chiseled jaw, golden blond hair, and glacial blue eyes made that ridiculously difficult though. How rude of him.

“Who are you,” she asked again, deadpan. Another, more worrying thought popped into her head. “Have you been following me?”

For a moment, just a moment, a flash of guilt crossed his face. There and gone again in a second. But then he shook his head and confidently strode forward, one hand outstretched like he wanted her to shake it. Absolutely fucking not.

“I apologize, where are my manners,” he said like he didn't just sneak up on her in the woods. “I'm Cyrus. And you are…?”

“None of your gods damned business,” she snipped. Instead of deflating like she expects he seemed to grow more interested in her. His blue eyes sparkled with mirth and he cocked his head to the side like an eager puppy. It would be cute if she wasn't trying to make him go away. She needed to get back to the pack hall soon. Needed to get back with her satchel full of poison.

“Well, Miss None of My Gods Damned Business, what brings you to these parts?”

She froze. Was he.. was he pumping her for information? Or just being friendly? If he was being friendly why had he been following her? He may have shaken his head and appeared all innocence but she didn't believe that for a second.

She narrowed her eyes and stared him down.

“I'm… foraging,” she finally said. That was true enough. She was foraging. Just not for food. The stranger nodded his head like that's what he had suspected she was doing all along.

“I see. Well.. I just uh. I happened to be passing by through the woods,” he began to ramble, “On my way to the Earthen pack. Did you know the princes are arriving there today?”

“I'm aware,” she grated out. He nodded again and stuck his hands in his pockets.

“And then I saw you,” he said, gesturing to her. It seemed to her that he couldn't keep still. It reminded her of a squirrel. “And you were picking berries which is nice and all but uh those are mistletoe.” He stared at her. She stared at him.

“They're poisonous,” he finally finished.

“I'm aware,” she said again. Only after the words had left her mouth did she realize what a mistake she'd just made. She should have played dumb. He'd just given her a perfect alibi! Sweet, innocent, naive maiden who doesn't know her plantcraft. Moons how could she be so stupid. Surely now this stranger, Cyrus, was wondering why she was gathering poison. It wouldn't take a very big leap of logic to come to the conclusion that she was going to use it on someone.

She watched his expression morph as he made that very same leap of logic. But instead of censure, a grin split his face. And the last thing she expected came out of his mouth.

“Oh, you're just a little killer aren't you?”

Now it was her turn to ramble.

“No, of course not. I would never. No I'm just uh. I'm gathering it for uh. Decor. For the decor I'm using it for decor and uh-” she would have continued but he stepped ever closer to her and crowded into her space.

He towered over her and she had to tilt her chin up up up to look him in the eye.

“Don't worry Killer, I won't tell anyone. As long as you do something for me in return,”

She frowned and his eyes darted from hers to her lips and back again.

“What do I have to do,” she asked.

“Kiss me.”