Page 46 of A Snowy Escape

Echo pops up, and her entire body wiggles from side to side as her tail whacks against the wall. Well, he managed to win over one out of the two ladies.

“All right, come on.” Law pops up, wiping his hands off on his jeans. “We gotta put another lock on the apartment, and you get to keep me company while I work.”

Sometimes I wonder what it’s like to have infinite patience.

I certainly wasn’t born with that gift.

I hand over her leash, and Law gets it clipped to her harness.

“What’s the plan for this evening?” I ask, backing toward the door.

He shrugs. “I’m hoping Abby will make it back to the apartment so I can spend a few hours with her before I have to head home to check on Shadow.”

“Why didn’t you bring him?”

“Echo needs more one-on-one training,” he says, patting the mutt’s head. “She gets too distracted when he’s around, and he wants to show off how good he is at everything. I don’t want her to get discouraged.”

I laugh.

Who the hell would know stuff like that outside of Lawson?

“They are bonding really well, though.” He nods to the door. “Let’s check on Abby. We shouldn’t leave her alone with all the gym bros for too long.”

I snort, shaking my head.

I process the thought for half a second.

He’s right.

It’s not a good idea to leave her out there in a room filled with alphas. She couldn’t be pulled away from decorating the tree, but now I’m wondering if it was a bad call to leave her alone.

Anyone who bothers her had better watch out. I won’t hesitate to beat them to death with my bare hands.

* * *

Lawson growls louder than Echo as we come around the corner into the front of the gym.

Abby stands next to the mostly decorated Christmas tree with her arms crossed while three men hover nearby in a semicircle. If they could see the situation from where we’re standing, I’m sure they would get that the optics are bad, but they probably just think they’re tossing their hats into the ring with the new girl in town.

Abby smiles, nodding.

To someone who wasn’t paying attention, it could look like she’s happy to engage with them. Her closed-off body language says otherwise. She backs up, even running into one of the tree branches.

“I’m going to break their hands.” Lawson takes off toward the group, but I plant a hand on his chest, pushing him back. “Maybe their legs too.”

“Chill, I’ve got this,” I say, keeping my tone low. “We don’t want to risk scaring her off. If you beat them to a bloody pulp, not only will I have a mess to clean up, but she’ll also realize how unhinged you are.”

“Who says I’ll do it here? I’ll drag their asses off into the woods, and you’ll have three less membership renewals.”

“You can’t court Abby if you’re in prison,” I remind him, laughing. “Just remember that.”

Chapter Fifteen

Abby

I’m not necessarily scared, considering we’re in a public location. I’ve got a decent amount of experience blowing off pushy alphas. I’m kinda confused why they want to talk to me at all; none of them are scent matches. In fact, not one of them smells particularly good to my senses.

I guess what they’ve said is true—it’s rare for omegas to pop up around here, especially during winter. I’m surprised at how relieved I feel when Lawson and Bryant come around the corner.