He wasn’t surprised to still be at the table, but he was starting to suspect Autumn didn’t really have any romantic attraction to him. She’d told him she had two older brothers, and even said he reminded her of one of them.
She enjoyed his company and seemed relaxed around him, but Autumn didn’t have the same spark in her eye for him as she did with Darcon. Whether she’d realized it yet or not, she was clearly drawn to the other man.
Kull swallowed the disappointment.
He’d felt protective of Autumn since he’d first seen her, but he had to admit that while he’d have happily mated her, he didn’t feel the same need that was written on Darcon’s face in the moments when he thought no one would see. He could wait for the one who was meant to be his if things played out the way they looked.
Kull let out a huff as his lips pulled up in another smile. He had always shared a mutual respect with Darcon. He didn’t see the quiet alpha as the distant hunter many pictured him being, and he had spent enough time in the man’s company to know he definitely wasn’t the surly alpha some claimed he was.
Darcon was simply more familiar with being alone than most, and didn’t see the point in a lot of the posturing many alphas participated in. He was also more intense than most people could handle, his lethal nature clear in every movement he made. Many were intimidated by him.
Kull was sure Darcon had no idea how obvious he was, or how easy it was to see that Autumn returned his interest. Many of the others would call Kull dim, but it was only because he liked to observe others without getting involved.
He was looking forward to seeing how things played out between the two when they realized what was building between them. Autumn needed a strong alpha to guide and protect her, while Darcon needed someone to soften his edges.
The thought crossed his mind to go ahead and tell Autumn he was withdrawing, but Kull was still concerned about Kantor and Aesir trying to pull something like they had the week before. If Autumn looked up to him as a big brother, he was going to step into the role and make sure she was safe, which meant not being pressured to make a decision she wasn’t comfortable with yet. Once he was sure everything was okay, he’d bow out and let her know he was happy for her.
And Darcon. The man was lonelier than many would guess, and Autumn would be perfect for him.
Darcon
His heart slowly lowered out of his throat, allowing him to pull in a deep breath laced with Autumn’s anxiety. Darcon was glad she’d found the strength to stand up and address the men herself, but he wished he could have spared her the stress he could see written on her face.
Worry clenched his own gut when he realized what she was doing, and he still wasn’t sure how he wasn’t one of the ones named. The pull he felt toward the sweet redhead built the more time he spent with her, but the thought that she would choose another nagged at him.
Darcon wished he could simply drag her off and hide her somewhere until her heat passed and she was irrevocably his, but Verik and Larok had been clear about anyone attempting to do that. He might survive taking on either one, but not both of them, or being clan-less with an omega mate. He wouldn’t do that to Autumn.
People called him gruff. A loner. He worried he couldn’t offer her the kind of life an omega deserved, with tender words and softness. Why would she pick him when she had a choice between so many?
Darcon wasn’t familiar with the feelings of doubt eating at him, and he wasn’t sure how to handle them. He was finding it harder to hold his temper with the others, yet he forced himself into their company to stay close to Autumn.
As unlikely as it seemed to him, she would seek him out just as often. Maybe he was fooling himself, but he thought he could see interest in her eyes when she looked at him.
Whether he was delusional remained to be seen. For the time being, he was glad to have made it past another cut, and would continue to wrack his brain for ways to show Autumn how much he wanted her.
Chapter Ten
Autumn
Autumn heard the grumbles though the men tried to shield her from it. It wasn’t just the alphas who hadn’t been chosen that were discontent either, but many of the beta women of the clan were tired of her monopolizing the attention of so many of the men.
Her cheeks warmed at the memory of the conversation she’d overheard the day before. She made sure the women hadn’t noticed her, and she was curious to see if they were really going to do as they’d claimed. She’d never be brave enough to proposition a man, but she supposed if Aesir went along with them it would make her decision easier.
That thought caused her fingers to pause on the loom. She tried to analyze how she would feel if she found out the women did go through with it and Aesir gave in to their seduction, and the predominate feeling was relief.
‘That should tell you something.’
Autumn shook her head at herself, shoving the mental voice away. She wasn’t ready to face the way she felt about each alpha, though it was getting easier each day.
Larok had sent a message to Verik in Siloah the day after she narrowed down her choices to the current five, and he warned that the Andtay leader was likely to return soon. Verik may have said she could choose which alpha claimed her, but that didn’t mean he was going to give her all winter to make the decision.
Already the days were growing longer. So close to the water, the cold wasn’t as extreme as it was farther inland, and Larok expected to see the first signs of new growth within two moons at most. While most omegas usually cycled in spring, she could go into heat as soon as then or as late as early summer. No one wanted her body to decide it was time while she still hadn’t picked who she wanted.
Sighing, Autumn rubbed her eyes and rolled her head to ease the tension in her neck. She noticed Freida walk in and gave her a smile as she straightened.
“Ye’ve been workin’ so hard, I think ye need to take a break.”
Autumn’s brows rose but she shook her head. She’d worked everyday since Verik had assigned them chores, but she enjoyed doing it and it helped pass the time.
“No, Freida. I’m fine. This is easy work.”
The woman tutted at her, leveling her with the same look she used on all the girls she managed when they were being foolish.
“Ye’ve got all those men houndin’ ye for attention and ye’ve been workin’ yer fingers away. Take a day off and relax.”
Autumn’s heart raced but she managed to give Freida a nod as the woman left the cave where the mending was done. Since Autumn started helping, the other girls who’d taken turns doing it had been freed to do other chores. Autumn was so fast there wasn’t enough to keep them busy any longer, and Autumn had time to spin thread and weave between mending.
Sucking in a deep breath, she returned her attention to the blanket she was working on. Besides Freida and the men, she didn’t know many other people, and most of them would have their own tasks during the day. She didn’t know what she was going to do to pass the time.
Autumn’s first thought was to spend the day in bed, but with the alphas in the room with her it would hardly be restful, and she wasn’t the type to lie about. It would be better to spend the day with the men, but she doubted they would all be free and dealing with them together was tiresome with their posturing and bickering. Reducing the number of alphas had soothed some of the tempers, but the men were still clearly divided.