Steam billowed from the shower, and I smirked wickedly. Eryx was leaning against the doorframe as I reached over, turning on the water in the sink. Opening the drawer, I withdrew my toothbrush and paste and began slowly brushing my teeth as Saint screamed from the shower, stepping out of it a shade redder than when he’d entered.
His eyes held mine before moving to my mouth, where the frothy paste was covering my lips. I cleaned my tongue, turning to look at him with a lifted eyebrow.
“Problem?” I asked, muffled by the paste and brush between my lips.
“You’re pushing me,” he warned.
“What are you going to do to me? Fuck me crudely and treat me like a whore? Oh, wait, you just did that. Spank me? You might not get the result you want. I might be into that shit, Saint.” Grinning, I pointed to his head with my toothbrush, “You have soap in your hair. You will need to get your own. Unless, of course, you don’t mind smelling like me all day long.” I deadpanned him so hard he felt it. “The shampoo is enhanced with my scent and nullifying herbs that make my heat-cycle remain hidden and muted to the males. I’m uncertain if it works for someone with a cock instead of a vagina. Let me know if it does so I can market it for unisex production.”
Turning around, I spit out the paste before grabbing the mouthwash and swishing it while I held his angry glare in the mirror.
“Oh, do you mind that I am brushing my teeth without permission? I forgot to ask if that was allowed. Should I ask permission before I piss, too? You’re going to need to write down the rules, as I have always been shit at following them. It tends to make my pussy wet when I disobey the rules and indulge in being a rebel. You remember, don’t you? When you told me I couldn’t touch myself, and I did it anyway, making you listen as I came for you? Oh, that’s right. You didn’t mind it at all.”
His eyes sparkled at my words as if he was enjoying my mouth running. He didn’t get back into the shower where the scalding water still ran. He just stood there, letting the bathroom filled with steam, which did nothing to hide the fact that he was stark ass naked.
“I’m leaving to do chores,” I announced, exiting the room before he could cage me in against the counter or make my brain turn to a sediment one stage less than mush.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.
“I’m going to do princess duties,” I snorted, sliding on my flannel as his attention lowered to my hard nipples straining against the tank top that exposed my midriff.
“You’re not to leave this room.”
I began tapping my foot while I glared at him. “I’m sorry, what? Because it sounded like you just tried to ground me to this room. I have shit to get done today. Just because you come in swinging that big dick energy with your crew doesn’t change the season. If things don’t get done around here, we will freeze and starve to death when the mountain becomes unpassable.”
“I’ll handle it. It’s not like the pack needs some bossy little alpha bitch telling them what to do,” Saint snapped, forcing my anger to rise.
“Is that so? And tell me, Saint, what do you think needs to be done to prepare this pack for winter?” I challenged as the tic in his jaw hammered at the taunt. “You wouldn’t know what is needed because you haven’t been back here in ten years. This is my pack, even if you’re the alpha now. So, I’m going to make sure shit is handled properly, and you can swing your dick around all you fucking want. It still doesn’t change facts, and facts don’t lie. Have a good day doing whatever it is you plan to do. After the meal, I’ll be back here to play a good little bitch and do what you need of me inside the bedroom. Outside of this room, though, keep the fuck away from me.”
I spun on my heel, escaping the bedroom before Saint could get a word in or stop me. My home and territory were crawling with unfamiliar faces. It only catapulted my anger once I reached the main hall, finding strangers lounging everywhere, with trash scattered. I didn’t pause, not even when Xariana and her father thought to approach me. My eyes slid over Leif’s powerful physique as his gaze glided over my braids. Exiting the lodge, I flagged down Lucas, a member of my pack, nodding toward the side of the building.
“Get the pack over here. We have shit to get done before winter comes,” I mused, watching his eyes slid over my body.
“Are you okay?” he asked, then grinned at the wicked smile that played over my lips.
“No, but there’s a woodpile screaming my name, and I have an ax to grind on it. That should relieve the anger and stress that Saint’s sudden appearance has caused me.”
Lucas chuckled, pushing his fingers between his lips before an ear-piercing whistle cut through the air. I didn’t wait to see if my pack responded because I fully intended to do what I’d said by taking my anger out on the woodpile.
Chapter Eight
Sweat beaded on my brow, and my arms burned as I brought the ax down hard onto the round log. The pile in front of me was higher than I could see over, while the men beside me continued complaining that I was putting them to shame. I’d done this every day since my father had banished Saint. Splitting wood seemed to relieve pain, stress, and anger all in one satisfying loud bang as the ax bit into the log, sending it over the edge of the stump I used as a chopping block.
We’d been at it for hours while the children and betas emptied the piles. They stacked the wood in large sheds used to keep it from exposure to the elements. All around us, people worked. Hunting parties brought in deer to gut and clean, hanging it to be butchered into small enough pieces to fit into the walk-in freezer where perishables were stored.
I watched as Lucas laughed with Garrett, both men covered in blood as they carried a deer into the courtyard on poles that rested on their shoulders. Women picked the last of the vegetables to store in the underground cellars, and the children assisted the omegas, preparing material to be cut and used for blankets and clothing.
Lifting my ax, I started to swing, only for someone to grab it. Turning, I found Saint sliding his eyes down my dirty frame. My brow rose in a silent question as he wrenched the ax from my calloused hands.
“Get your own ax, Saint,” I growled, noting the way he glared at me through heated eyes. He stepped closer, forcing me to back up and notice that his men, Leif, and the other uninvited guests all sat behind us, observing the pack work.
Assholes.
Saint removed his shirt, allowing my gaze to slide down his muscular torso. Rolling my eyes at falling into his stupid male trap, I looked back over the pack at the children moving about. The ax slammed against the wood, sending it crashing into my thigh. I gasped, stepping back to glare at Saint as if he’d done it on purpose.
“Try aiming for the middle, so you don’t hit everyone else with the wood,” I growled, stepping away from him, heading toward the semi-truck pulling into the area to unload goods.
Away from the woodpile, I looked back as the others converged around Saint. His men slowly relieved the others, who, of course, began packing the wood into the shed with the betas and kids. My hungry gaze locked onto Eryx and Enzo, who were both anything but woodcutters.
Enzo slipped his shirt off, smiling at me as he tilted his head, lifting his brow. It was almost like he read my mind because the look in his eyes was most definitely a challenge. His sides held tattoos in dark ink that drifted down into his suit pants. The muscles on his abdomen bunched together as his thick arms lifted the ax, sending it smashing into the log, effortlessly slicing through it. He didn’t cut the next piece immediately, choosing to crook his finger at me, and a frown tugged on my lips. I spun on my heel, ignoring Leif, who was also shirtless, wearing jeans that allowed the deep, chiseled V-line to show.