The Clumsy Omega Gave a Bath to a Giant Black Wolf- Then the Alpha King Refused to Leave Her Cottage

Chapter 4

By the third morning, Shadow had become as much a part of Elara’s cottage as the fireplace and the crooked rocking chair by the window. She discovered this when she opened her front door and nearly tripped over a giant black wolf already waiting for her on the porch.

“Good morning to you, too,” she said.

Shadow rose immediately.

“You know,” Elara said, stepping around him, “normal wolves do not wait outside people’s doors.”

He followed her down the porch steps anyway. Fresh snow sparkled around Mirror Lake while pale sunlight painted the frozen shoreline silver and gold. The air smelled of pine and winter. Elara carried a small basket on her arm. “We’re gathering berries today,” she announced. “Try not to scare anything.”

Shadow glanced at her.

“That was a joke,” she informed him. “Mostly.”

They spent the morning wandering the forest trails around the lake. Elara talked almost without stopping. She talked about her chickens — especially a bossy brown hen named Penny who ruled the coop like a tiny tyrant. She talked about Maren’s bakery and the time Maren accidentally sold a wedding cake to the wrong family. She talked about the winter she had locked herself in her own shed for two hours and cried until the dogs found her.

Shadow listened to every word.

The strange thing was that Cassian genuinely enjoyed them. No one had ever spoken to him this freely before. Around a king, people weighed every word like gold. Around Shadow, Elara simply spoke from her heart, and it poured out like water from a cracked bucket — messy and honest and warm.

Later, resting beside the frozen shoreline, Elara pulled a knitted scarf from her basket. It was uneven. Slightly crooked. One side was noticeably longer than the other. “I made this,” she announced proudly.

Shadow studied the scarf with deep concern.

“Do not look at it like that,” Elara said, narrowing her eyes. “It is supposed to look like this.”

The wolf remained unconvinced.

Elara sighed dramatically. Then she stepped closer. “Hold still,” she said, and before Cassian understood what was happening, she had wrapped the scarf around his neck.

The giant black wolf froze.

Elara stepped back and admired her work. “Perfect,” she declared. “Now you look respectable.”

Cassian stared at her. The Alpha King of the Northern Territories had once worn ceremonial robes trimmed with gold, worth more than this entire village. Somehow, this crooked blue scarf was far, far more humiliating.

Unfortunately, Elara loved it.

The situation became worse when they passed through the village later that afternoon. Maren Holt nearly dropped a tray of fresh bread. Emmett Shaw stared openly. Even the children stopped playing to point. Elara waved cheerfully. “Everyone! Look! Shadow has a scarf!”

Nobody knew how to respond.

The giant black wolf sat beside her wearing a knitted blue scarf and looking deeply disappointed with life. Elara beamed. “Doesn’t he look handsome?”

Shadow closed his eyes.

At least three villagers looked as though they were fighting very hard not to laugh. As they walked home through the falling dusk, Elara was still smiling. “I think they liked it,” she said.

Cassian had a feeling the villagers liked the situation far more than they liked the scarf.

That evening, snow drifted gently beyond the windows while firelight filled the room with golden warmth. Elara sat beside the hearth working on another knitting project while Shadow rested nearby. Every few minutes, she reached over and absent-mindedly scratched behind one of his ears. Cassian hated how much he enjoyed that.

“Can I tell you something?” Elara asked softly.

The wolf lifted his head.

She smiled at the fire. “I used to think this place was too quiet.” Her fingers paused on the yarn. “Now it feels different. Better, actually.”

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The cottage settled around them with familiar warmth. The scent of lavender lingered in the air. Outside, winter covered the world in white, and inside, Elara yawned and eventually fell asleep in her chair, yarn tangled in her lap.

Cassian remained awake beside the fire. He listened to the steady rhythm of her breathing. He looked at the half-finished scarf in her lap. He looked at the peaceful little cottage beside Mirror Lake. These should have been ordinary days, yet they were quickly becoming the happiest days he could remember.

And for the first time since arriving here, a troubling thought settled into his heart.

He was no longer worried about staying.

He was beginning to worry about leaving.