“Shut up. A shower and some good sleep and you’ll get back to being the fresh-faced hottie I know and love.”

“Actually, I get the sense he doesn’t like that I’m here. Apparently this entire job was Jeannie’s venture. I don’t even know what their connection is yet. Hunter wasn’t very…forthcoming.”

On all sorts of things, I don’t say, trying not to think about the way he sniffed me.

Fucking sniffed me.

That’s going to take some getting used to.

“Hunter,” Ada snorts. “How appropriate.”

“I thought the same thing.”

“Seriously, though. Do you have any questions?”

“I don’t know…I still don’t know what to think of it. I don’t feel different yet, you know?” I consider everything for a moment. “What was it like when you found out?”

“I mean, I was thirteen, so it was sort of a nonissue. I didn’t have my first heat till I was nineteen, so until then, it was just this thing about myself that I knew was going to be a big deal one day.”

“Were you scared? Knowing you were different?”

“I don’t know. My entire family are shifters, so I knew that was likely in the cards for me, but I’m the first omega in a couple of generations, according to my mom. Have you thought about asking your mom about where this might have come from?”

I wince. “She has enough going on.”

“I’m sure she’d want to support you, babe.”

“I know that. I do. But she’s so tired all the time, being the only one working, and with everything going on with Dad…”

“You’re not a burden, Tess,” Ada stresses. “I know you think that anytime you have problems, you have to keep them to yourself, but people want to help you.”

Deep down I know she’s right, but it’s hard to shake off literal years of trying to make myself as little of a problem as possible to the people I love. They have enough to deal with.

“Maybe,” I mumble. I check the time on my phone. “I’d better go find my new boss, who might hate me.”

“Mm.” Her serious expression gives way to mischief. “Well. I’m sure you could make him come around.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“One of us should be getting some action.”

“You could get plenty if you stopped swiping left all the time.”

She rolls her eyes. “The last guy on that app who looked promising said in his bio that his anthem was a G-Eazy song. Didn’t exactly spark confidence. I think I’m going to delete it altogether. It’s not like I use it for anything more than entertainment purposes.”

“One of these days you’re going to have to give someone a chance.”

“I’ve done just fine without penis so far, thank you very much. Artificial works as well as the real thing.” Her expression falls then. “Besides, you know why I don’t date.”

That gives me pause, and I feel a surge of guilt course through me. I do know why she doesn’t date—and even if she’s never really gone into the full details, given that it happened before we met, I know enough to understand why she continues to swipe left.

“Yeah, I know.” I check the time. “I guess I should get downstairs and see if Jeannie ever made it in. It would be nice to discuss the project with someone who actually wants it to get done.”

“Mr. Hunter is probably looking for a place to lay his log.”

I push up from the bed, reaching for my phone on the dresser. “Okay, back to work for me. You can go back to mocking people’s Tinder bios.”

“It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.”

“Whatever. Tell Catherine I said hi.”

“Tess says hi!” Ada shouts behind her.

I hear a faint Hi, Tess from somewhere out of sight, and I wince. “Has your mom been around for this entire conversation?”

“I think she left around the time I suggested you should make him come.”

“Good talk. Bye-bye, now.”

Ada makes a kissing face right before I hang up the FaceTime call, and I shake my head as I stow my phone in my pocket. I try to situate my bangs into a less nightmarish situation, but given the way I’m still sweating slightly even with the frigid temperature, I reason that this is as good as it’s going to get. It’s not as if I have anyone to impress anyway. I’m going to get a lot sweatier than this when we start getting into the real work.

And I don’t care in the slightest what anyone in this lodge thinks of my appearance.

Not at all.

The lodge looks different in the morning sun—no less dusty or aged, but there’s something about the sunlight gleaming on the soft mounds of powdery white outside that makes the walls seem to shine a little brighter. Honestly, it makes the entire place feel more charming.

The heat isn’t quite as strong as I might like, a fact that became entirely apparent about eighteen minutes after I settled into bed last night in my usual bedtime attire of a T-shirt and panties. I was jumping back out of bed in no time at all to pull on pajama pants and the thickest pair of socks I own. Socks that I am currently still wearing inside the fuzzy snow boots I’ve shoved the ends of my sweatpants into. Socks that I’d wager I won’t be taking off for the entirety of my stay.

I’m not looking where I’m going as well as I should when I step off the last stair, nearly tripping over a black mass of…something that gives a yowl when my foot collides with it. It bounds off in a fluffy blur toward the other room, leaving me blinking at the spot where it just was and wondering what in the hell I nearly stepped on.

One day here, and not only does my host hate me and think I’m some sort of biological ticking time bomb, but I’m already upsetting the local wildlife. Great.

I follow my nose, tracking the smell of cooked meat and, beneath that, something sweet that I very much hope comes with syrup, stalking it like a hungry predator as it leads me down an adjoining hall attached to the room where the front desk resides. It spills out into a long dining room that houses a wide (surprise!) wooden dining room table, each leg made of an untreated log and the benches on either side of a similar material. An older woman who looks to be in her sixties with thick graying hair piled on top of her head works at the other end, setting out plates and trays of bacon, eggs, and—most importantly—pancakes. She looks up when she notices me entering, giving me a kind smile that makes her eyes crinkle. Almost like we’re old friends.

“Oh, hey,” she greets me. “You must be Esther.”

“Tess,” I correct gently. “Everyone calls me Tess.”

“Of course,” she says, still smiling. “It’s good to have you here. Why, you’re the first guest we’ve had since May. No one to look at most of the time but Hunter and Reginald, and they’re not great company even on their best days.”

I wrinkle my nose. I’d been under the impression that I was the only guest. “Reginald?”

“Sorry.” She nods her head down toward the floor, and I notice now that the same massive black something from the stairs is skulking in from the opposite door, which I assume leads to the kitchen. “He only acts like an asshole,” she assures me as the very fluffy, very large cat takes a seat near her feet. “He’s really kind of sweet once you get to know him.”

“His name is Reginald?”

“Yeah,” she laughs. “Named him after my late husband. Believe it or not, he sort of favors him a little.”

I look into the slightly squashed face of the massive feline, trying to picture it. “Well. It’s nice to meet you both.”

“Sleep well?”

“Like a baby,” I tell her. “Once my teeth stopped chattering.”

“Well, shit. I’ll put some extra blankets in your room after breakfast. These old ducts aren’t what they used to be. I’ll talk to Hunter and see if we have enough in the budget to do something about the furnace.” She nods her head toward a wide window that overlooks the snow. There are so many windows in this place. “Hunter actually mentioned chopping some more wood later for the big fireplace. Haven’t started it up in a few months—but it’s right toasty to sit around when it gets going.” She nods to herself as she gazes out the window, finally giving her head a little shake as if remembering herself. “Sorry, you’d think I’d never met anyone before.” She wipes her hands on her apron, then steps closer, extending one for me to shake. “Jeannie. It’s good to finally meet you in person.”