Page 29 of Griffin Food

“We should head back before the weather turns,” Rafe says like a dog with a bone. “Lark and I can find work easily enough back at⁠—”

“No, thank you.”

“You’re stubborn,” Rafe grumbles.

“Correct,” I reply tartly.

“It’s dangerous to go trekking up the mountain now. What if you experience another… fever?”

I slam my mug of tea down and glare at him. The way he always skips over the word fever like he knows it is not really a fever makes my blood boil every time. Worse, I know I’m overdue for my heat, and that trekking up the mountain is a bad idea for reasons other than the damn weather, yet I cannot let this go.

“Aye, better than a bard’s tale, watching you two engage in verbal sparring,” Lark muses.

I glance across to find him leaning back in his seat, watching us with a smirk.

“We are leaving for the shepherd lodge. But if not, I shall be.”

“Damn brat,” Rafe mutters, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t make me put you over my knee.”

My heart does a little ba-dump. I snatch up the tea I just thrust aside and take a gulp. It is not often that he deems me in need of discipline. The last such incident was after I waded into a river without checking with them. In my defense, they were busy setting up the camp. How was I supposed to know it had strong currents? That I nearly drowned was surely punishment enough, but no, I had to go over his knee for what he called ‘temperament adjustment’.

My cheeks grow warm just thinking about it.

I nearly blurted out that I loved him and begged him to fuck me afterward. I went into heat the very next day, so I put my reaction down to that.

Still, I’ve thought about the incident more than I should. It’s not like we have that kind of relationship. He’s not my husband… I’m confident I would not allow even a husband to get away with such an outrageous act… So why do I allow Rafe?

I think about more than the spanking… increasingly unhealthy and wistful musings where I’m married to them. Only how can I marry them? It’s not like I could ever pick one over the other. We have been on this adventure too long, and my feelings for them are too strong and intertwined. Only there is more to the problem than merely choosing when I’m an omega with unnatural fixations… It’s not like I even want a husband or mate. I definitely don’t appreciate being taken to task for a simple mistake like wading into a deadly river. All I learned is that Rafe has a large palm and skills when it comes to generating heat in my behind.

“She’s thinking about you spanking her,” Lark taunts knowingly. “Aye, her ass looks pretty with a blush.”

I nearly choke on my tea. This is one of those times when I wish he had a better censor between his thoughts and his mouth. Not that I want him thinking about it either!

And now I’m tingling all over.

“Shut the fuck up,” Rafe growls. “Fine, I will stable the damn horses, and we can be on our way to the damn shepherd’s lodge.” He scrapes his chair back across the wooden floor and rises. “Wouldn’t want to be the man holding you back from your adventure, your ladyship. Then you can be rid of us and find a nice husband to settle down with.”

The rebuke is harsh and stings. Rather than tempering the strange tingling, his aggression seems to ramp it up.

He strides off.

My eyes follow him. Well, that was… What the hell was that?

“Don’t mind him,” Lark says. “He always gets a bit surly when you’re close.”

My hand goes to my throat. “Close?”

His pretty blue eyes hold mine. Today I see something in them I haven’t before. He looks away before I fully place the strange, unsettling feeling. It was almost like he is… attracted to me? Not in the teasing way he sometimes says things, and which are meant in jest, but in the real way.

But he can’t be. Goodness knows Elisa has pointed out often enough how ugly I am, and while my other sisters were swift to counter her meanness, they were only being kind. I’m a broken omega, who has fever episodes in place of heat, nothing but a mousy little bookworm with no feminine skills, and ugly to boot.

I adore Rafe and Lark. They are easy men to grow to love. I’ve no idea why they even stay with me. We are worlds away from my former home. It’s not like they need to worry about my sister’s wrath.

“Why do you both stay with me?” I blurt out.

A wounded light enters Lark’s eyes before a mask comes down. He smiles and winks. “Aye, lass, your thirst for adventuring is something to behold. I’ve always been partial to adventuring. Never a dull moment. Where else would I be?”

He has a naturally easy teasing way about him; it is just one of many aspects about him that I have come to love. Only there is something off about his words today.