We traveled for five straight days, taking some slight pit stops along the way, and soon the fatigue had caught up to us so we had to take a break. I had never left my village, and the woods around the area weren't as healthy as the forest near our home. I watched as Gael jumped off of the horse before helping me get off of the horse too.

I looked at him, "Um..." He glances at me before someone else calls for his attention, and then he leaves me stranded without even turning back to look at me.

I stand there helplessly and watch as he goes to help unpack the tents. I get startled when, all of a sudden, a hand grabs my shoulder.

I turned around to see Dara. "Don't mind him; he's normally an a**hole."

Remy pipes up from behind Dara. "Yeah, do you want to help us? We're going to start cooking over there, " She points at Reina and the others. Reina notices and begins to wave. "I know... omega stereotypes and whatnot, but if we let the knot heads cook, everyone would end up dying from food poisoning, and it really isn't labor-intensive, so it's a win in my opinion. So you coming? " She looks at me expectantly, and I nod in her direction.

I walk near Oliver and he turns to face me.

"Would you like a taste?" Oliver said while holding the spoon in front of me. "Open your mouth." When I opened it and tasted the soup they created, my mouth burst with flavors. It was delicious.

"Here, you can chop the vegetables," Holly said to me before holding the knife out.

I looked at the vegetables and gulped. I grabbed the knife from Holly and proceeded to shakily cut the vegetables. Just because I helped my mom cook a couple of times after I had been presented as an omega didn't mean I had become an expert in using kitchenware.

I was so absorbed in cutting that I didn't know Gael had appeared behind me to check on the progress. He had originally gone there to see what his little sister was up to, but had noticed Noah from a distance struggling with something.

"..." He glances at me then at my handiwork—large uneven chunks of celery, onions, and bell peppers were on my cutting board, with his silvery gold eyes not saying anything more.

"Let me." he says. I looked at him blankly, surprised that he was talking to me before handing him my knife and watching as he skillfully cut the remaining vegetables into tiny pieces. He goes to the pot and slides the vegetables into it before placing the cutting board down and walking away. I watched as Benjamin added okra, stirring for a little while more before calling everyone to eat.

In the end, we made venison stew, or what Benjamin called mouthwatering deliciousness.

He poured a bountiful amount of soup to everyone, before joining the others around the fire.

I found a stump nearby and began to eat. The meal was so hearty and filling that I wanted to eat more, but I refrained as some of the soup could be eaten during our long journey to wherever it was they were taking me.

Just then, I hear a brunette say, "What is with these huge chunks of vegetables?"

"Man, I get ya."

"Me, too. I hate vegetables, and the fact that they're so large... ugh..."

I blushed in embarrassment, feeling uncomfortable. I began to shift on my stump nervously. My vision began to wane from all the stress their conversation was giving me.

"I cut it." Someone finally said. I looked up to see Gael speak out. He stared at the other guys, daring them to say any more.

Seeing how it was their captain who had cut the vegetables, the soldiers quickly shut their mouths up in fear before saying, "We were just kidding sir... it was a joke."

I looked at Gael and my heart began to pound hard. He didn't notice me staring and went back to eating.

"Oh gosh... even though he's hurt me a lot... I've seriously fallen in love with the guy," I muttered under my breath. It's just my luck...

Soon it was time to clean up and head to sleep.

Apparently there were no other tents for me to sleep in; the only exception was Gael's tent. Out of concern for me, Reina stated that she wouldn't mind trading with me to make me feel better, but Remy shot the idea down quickly, saying that as much as Gael loved his sister, she knew he couldn't handle Reina's loud snoring at night and that dealing with a grumpy Gael was worse than having me sleep in the same tent as him.

"You should try to make up with each other," she said, as she had noticed the weird tension between the two of us.

It's kind of hard when he doesn't like me one bit... ' I thought pessimistically.

The other omegas didn't feel as comfortable with Gael, and neither did they feel comfortable with me sleeping with one of the other alpha companions. So instead, I said that it was okay and watched as they nodded before heading into their own tents. I walked towards Gael's tent and steeled my nerves before I opened it to see what appeared to be Gael fast asleep and some fluffy blankets laid on the opposite side.

'They really planned this out for me, huh.' My nerves calmed as I realized Gael was asleep. I go over to my makeshift bed and lie down, shutting my eyes. It was only after a few minutes that I began shifting around uncomfortably on the blankets before making the decision to take off my clothes—after all, I always slept naked, and it was practically ingrained in me by now. He thought without any care, as he reverted to his old mindset of an alpha, forgetting that he was very much a vulnerable omega.

The shuffling causes Gael, who was fast asleep, to wake up in a huff as he was a light sleeper and had been trained to wake up at the slightest sound. He knew that Freckles would end up sleeping in the same tent as him, but he didn't expect the omega to be so noisy.

'What was the omega doing that he had to be so loud?' He thought grumpily at having been woken up. He turned his head to tell the omega to be quiet before noticing Noah's pale, freckled body with no clothes on. The Omega lacked any sense of decency.

He stared for a long time, dumbfounded at the sight. The images of Noah writhing and wanton during his heat replayed in his mind unexpectedly. His face, however, showed no emotion before he finally managed to snap out of it.

"... Freckles," At that, Noah turned around. "What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to seduce me? " He watched as Noah began to flush after he had been caught.

"No! That wasn't my intention! I just... can't fall asleep if I'm not naked. " He finished meekly before glancing at Gael's indifferent face.

Noah watched as Gael squinted his eyes before rubbing his hair in annoyance and getting up. He began to lean close to me.

"Well... if you're going to seduce me," he began before stopping in front of my face. "At least try to be a little sexier." He grabbed the blanket and pulled it over me entirely. When I pulled the blanket off my head, Gael had already gone back to his spot, fast asleep.

I hold on to the blanket before laying down.

When Gael stopped right in front of him, Noah thought that he was going to be kissed.

'Stupid thoughts... How could you switch over to loving someone else so quickly? Just a few weeks ago, you thought you were an Alpha. ' He thought about Rana and what she was doing at that moment.

"Rana not mate, mate right here... love mate," his wolf responded. At that, he gave a happy yip.

Noah sighed at his wolf before closing his eyes, his mind replaying the scene in his head until he fell asleep.