Page 36 of Omega Ruined

Chapter twenty

Courted

Charlie and crew had never treated me the way these men did. Even Kienan went out of his way to find out what foods I enjoyed most and made those more often for me. Salad never showed up on the table now that he knew it triggered me.

On Saturday, Vale took me on his date. He hadn't gone completely feral since he'd made the connection to my smell pulling him back and now he carried a handkerchief that I scentmarked daily. All of them carried the same item, actually, insisting they needed it for a hit whenever necessary.

"Here you go," Vale opened the car door for me and waited until I was settled before he leaned in to buckle me into the seat.

"I can do that myself."

"I know. But you don't need to." He carefully shut the door and rounded the car to get into the driver's seat.

Zephyr climbed into the backseat and put on headphones, an obvious method of showing us he wasn't paying attention to us.

I gave him a smile to show I appreciated the effort and turned to Vale. "So, where exactly are we going?"

"To a really pretty picnic spot."

"I've never been on a picnic." I grinned at him, excited for the adventure ahead.

Vale hadn't let me help with anything and had done all the preparations, including loading the car without me. I hadn't seen him take out food or anything for a picnic, so he must have hidden it in the trunk.

"Want to pick the music?" he asked.

"Really?"

He handed me his phone, already set up so I could choose a song I liked. It took me a few minutes, but I found something I'd enjoyed as a teen and put it on.

"Hope you like Lady Gaga."

"I do." Vale smiled at me and patted my hand before driving carefully out of the driveway and onto the road. He looked nervous as he headed along the highway. It was a small one, winding through farmland, but he seemed extra tense despite the lack of traffic.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine." He seemed too focused to talk, so I leaned back in my seat and enjoyed the music, searching for the next song to put on when this one finished.

It only took four songs to reach the turnoff and then another three before we pulled into a small clearing at the end of a dirt road. Trees surrounded us, the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

"Stay put." Vale hopped out and ran around the car to open my door.

Zephyr got out and stretched, looking around, but he hung back as Vale opened the trunk and started to pull stuff out. He had an actual picnic basket in there, as well as a rolled-up picnic blanket. He held the blanket out to Zephyr who threw his hands in the air.

"You're on your own, man. I'm just here to make sure you don't beast out."

"You can carry a freaking blanket," Vale muttered, throwing it at his friend.

Zephyr caught the blanket and laughed, but kept bopping his head to his music.

"I can carry something," I offered. Of course, he wouldn't hear of that.

We headed into the forest, following a narrow, barely-there trail that wound through the trees, with Vale carrying a small cooler and the picnic basket. I had to smile at how seriously he was taking the courting. It was like he thought I wouldn't accept him if he didn't do this perfectly.

Zephyr walked behind us with the picnic blanket, whistling to his music.

My legs were starting to burn before the trail abruptly ended at a lake. A crystal clear creek burbled along one side of a small, rocky beach. Grass and wildflowers stretched from the forest edge to the beach, giving us plenty of space to spread out the picnic blanket.

"This thing is plastic on the bottom so the dew won't get you wet," Vale explained as he unrolled the blanket. It was a dark blue check with a soft flannel top and canvas-plastic bottom.