He’d spent some time talking with her over the past week, but it was nowhere near as much as he wanted. He thought he could see interest in her deep green eyes when she looked at him, but he could be deluding himself. She certainly seemed to have a connection with Kull, and when Kantor wasn’t pressuring her, she appeared to enjoy his company as well. Aesir managed to force himself into her company often enough, but so far, the pretty boy still seemed to intimidate her.
Biting back a grumble, Darcon continued to eat as Autumn fussed over Aesir’s black eye. Knowing the man, he’d probably instigated the fight to begin with and didn’t deserve her attention, but there was no reason to start problems by pointing it out. He didn’t need to drive her away by being negative.
Of course he wanted an omega mate, he was an alpha after all, but the more he got to know Autumn, the more he wanted her. Every time he saw her with one of the other men, he felt the urge to rip their head off, but he had to play by the rules. Had to find a way to make her want him above all the others.
Aesir monopolized the rest of the time Autumn had for lunch, and she apologized as she left them to return to the mending room. Darcon noticed the eyes of every alpha were on her as she walked away, and another surge of jealousy flooded through him.
As much as he disliked Kantor’s manipulation, he hoped Autumn would realize the man was right and something needed to give. Twelve alphas were too many to keep on the line for long. Tempers were wearing thin as tension mounted from being forced to share quarters and compete for attention. The fighting would only get worse.
Aesir
His cheek throbbed as he watched Autumn’s hips sway when she walked away, but the pain was worth the worry he’d seen in her eyes. The hand she raised to cup his cheek was the first touch she’d initiated between them, and Aesir hoped it would lead to many more.
He wasn’t immune to the building frustration between the warriors vying for Autumn, and he hoped the fight would encourage her to make a decision soon. He didn’t look nearly as bad as the other three, but since he claimed to be breaking up the fight, he hoped she would look less favorably on the others when she saw them. It had been nothing more than a minor squabble between alphas, but he knew omegas had soft hearts, and she would see the injuries as more than the mere inconveniences they were.
Aesir doubted Autumn was ready to choose one of them as her mate, but she could start cutting down the competition. There was no fear that he would be one of the ones she sent away, so anyone she let go would only help him get closer to her.
Glancing around at the others, he could tell they were thinking the same thing. Darcon had his usual sour expression pasted on, while Kull’s blank mask didn’t hide the interest in his eyes.
Aesir was glad Kantor had spoken up, and more so that he hadn’t been the one to do it.
He would never admit he’d purposefully prodded the others into the fight for the exact reason of trying to eliminate them. His mother had always hated when he got into fights, fussing and making a big deal over the smallest injuries, and he was using an omega’s nurturing nature to encourage her to do what he wanted.
Hopefully it would work.
Chapter Six
Autumn
What Kantor said during lunch plagued Autumn for the rest of the day as her fingers flew. The strap of the loom around her back was a comforting weight holding her to the present as she let her mind wander over the decision she faced. She couldn’t keep putting it off.
Larok questioned her daily, wanting to know if she was ready to choose, or if there were any men she wanted to send away. There was still a couple months until her heat should come, but she understood they wanted everything settled prior to then. Not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings, she’d refused each time he asked, though it was becoming obvious that keeping all of them around was causing issues as well.
The three alphas Aesir named as the ones fighting were men Autumn had spoken with a few times, but still barely knew. She couldn’t claim to know any of the alphas well, but she felt drawn to a handful of them more than the others. She thought cutting anyone so soon wasn’t fair to them, but she had to admit that she just didn’t have the time she’d need to get to know all of them to the same degree.
What Freida told her the first day nagged at her, and by the time she finished for the afternoon and was ready to go to dinner, she’d made the decision. As soon as she joined Larok at the table she told him before she convinced herself to wait again.
“I’m ready to send away some of the alphas.”
His brows rose though he remained silent.
“The three men who were involved in the fight earlier can be asked to leave. Perhaps if I knew them better I could overlook it, but I don’t, and I need to quit hesitating. I’d like to have a mate who isn’t prone to violence unless necessary.”
She delivered the statement with as much conviction as she could, though once the words passed her lips, doubt began to creep in.
What if one of them was the best choice, but she hadn’t given them the chance to prove it? What if they were only letting off steam and were usually more reserved?
But she had to quit wavering. She’d made the decision and she was going to stick to it.
“There were four alphas involved in the fight,” Larok pointed out, but Autumn shook her head in denial.
“Aesir told me he was trying to break it up. I don’t mean him. Just the other three.”
Larok stared at her for a moment before he gave her a short nod of acceptance. She could feel that he wanted to object but was biting back whatever concern he had.
“I’ll let them know as soon as they’ve finished their dinner so they can clear their things from the cavern.”
Worry spiked through her as she imagined their reactions. She had no idea how the men would respond to the rejection, and after their fight earlier, they could still be volatile. Larok must have seen it in her eyes because he reached over and patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. They know better than to do anything stupid, and they definitely know better than to take me on.”
She hoped he was right, but she couldn’t bury the uneasy feeling she had about it.
Picking at her food, Autumn startled when Darcon took a seat beside her. Aesir wasn’t far behind with two more alphas, taking up all the chairs at the table. When she raised her head, she spotted Kull giving the men a disgruntled look before noticing her attention and giving her a small wave.
Autumn smiled and waved back before focusing on the men around her. She pushed away thoughts of everything except them. It was exhausting trying to keep up with so many, and while she was worried about the reactions of the ones being dismissed, she was also relieved that there were less men for her to split her attention between.
Despite the façade Darcon presented, she’d come to realize he had a shocking sense of humor as well as a firm idea of honor and responsibility. He was widely trusted and respected, even if many thought him surly and withdrawn. Autumn found his presence calming, and his wood smoke and honey scent made her want to bury her face in his chest and lick the exposed skin of his throat.
Aesir’s sandalwood scent was also pleasing, though he was the flippant, cocky alpha, focused on himself before all else. He was funny and lighthearted, but Autumn wasn’t sure he could be reliable, and his history with the women of the clan left her skin crawling when she thought about it. Perhaps the best looking of the men, it didn’t earn him any points with her.