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“So? We’ve all had...things, before. You two have never claimed any of yours.” Our pack bond radiates with disappointment from both of them, and I feel an echoing pang of shame in my chest at what I dick I’m being.
Alphas are possessive as fuck and that energy is matched, if not exceeded, by omegas.
The empty seat next to me is missing my usual companion and the weight of just how alone I am hits me.
times when I wanted to get away and never look back. But having my wish granted like this? Shame settles in my chest. This wasn’t how I imagined it would go.
I skip past my least favorite part where it looks like all is lost and the girl is cornered by the wolf. Instead I head straight for the huntsman. Broad and sturdy and swinging an ax as big as he is, I trace a finger over his red beard.
what would be even better would be if I had a chance at becoming a happy old lady with a tiny happy home.
surviving is not new to me. I just need to look at my tools and they will tell me what to do.
“Okay. Want to ride up front with me? Bark once for yes.” All I get is an annoyed glare. Am I teasing a wolf? Yes. But it’s that or collapse under the stress of getting us to safety in one piece.
Wolf Shay looks unimpressed at what we just did but crossing that bridge made me feel like something big has happened.
lol I love her
The people that built something as solid and safe as this bridge have to be safe too, right?
I see a smaller car pulling behind us, whirling lights blazing brighter than the setting sun mounted to the roof of the car. “Is that car yelling at us?”
Phrasing statements like questions is always a great way to lessen the chance of violent response.
A cloud of pine and cedar and a hint of something else I can’t quite place envelops me. Any worry I have about us being in danger goes up in smoke. I want to crawl inside the warm blanket of this scent. Anyone who smells this good couldn’t hurt us, right?
Is that Aiden’s scent or Gabe’s?
“Easy there, Wildcat.”
Is this a Speed reference?
“We were just out driving, and you made your car yell at us and lights flash everywhere. Not very safe behavior if you ask me.”
But if it’s pie that’s making the outside of this place smell so good, I decide I won’t fight the stranger until I get my questions answered and a taste of this dish.
the sight of the bruised and broken skin around Wildcat’s shock collar has me wanting to break something. Preferably every bone in the body of whoever’s responsible.
if not more. But none of it hides the fact that she’s a stunner.
As soon as it hits, the wolf drops to the ground, submissive in the secondhand presence of a mature alpha. I can never let Aiden know I actually used his scent to assert dominance. I’ll never hear the end of it.
eyes. The tumble of questions from Wildcat pour out with a syrupy rasp. A slight creakiness that makes me think she is not used to speaking often, but her eagerness to get answers has her pushing her voice to the limit.
But then I notice that my little Wildcat keeps glancing at the portrait of Red Riding Hood on the diner wall. The Huntsman was kind of the hero of that story, wasn’t he? My chest puffs out a little as I say, “Sure, like the Huntsman.”
Her menu is upside down, and she doesn’t know what to order because she hasn’t got a damn clue what it says.
I’m willing to bet, wherever she was, no one bothered with any formal education for her. I’m also going to put money down that I’m going to beat the shit out of whoever had her if I ever get to meet them. Abused and neglected, this girl has no idea how anything works.
Wildcat looks so relieved I want to pull her in my lap and hug her.
she stumbled out of was a time machine, plucking her out of the past before The Change and dropping her in the present.
need to get some idea so I can get on with the “wreck someone’s shit for hurting this baby who's hiding a shiv up her sleeve” plan.
He thinks he can bat those stupid eyelashes and it’ll make up for whatever he said that got you all riled up, but don’t fall for it.”
didn’t mean to upset you.” I really didn’t but the knowledge that Ava was out in my jurisdiction suffering who-the-fuck-knows-what by her father’s hand? I grip my fork tightly. Some fucking sheriff I’ve been.
“It’s like you’re trying to get May to kick my ass. I should’ve asked her to bring him something.” “I thought it was for both of us. There’s enough food here to last a few days.”
A groan escapes me as greasy flavor bursts in my mouth. Oh god, this ‘burger’ is the best thing I’ve ever put inside me. I sneak a peek at Gabriel while I eat. He doesn’t look mad anymore. Now he’s looking really hungry.
No one has ever looked at me like that before; like they want to eat me.
Looking at him, with his full bottom lip wet from his drink and his large hands casually resting near me, makes me restless. Makes me want things I can’t describe.
Their smells overlap, adding up to a hazy musk that curls its way up my nose and hits me straight between my thighs.
“Honey, nearly everyone who lives in Hallow’s Hold and the Greater Hallows is a shifter.
All I can do is focus on him now and that makes everything easier for some reason.
Every single person for the last several generations is part of a dynamic, of which there are three. Alpha, beta, and omega.”
Usually, they’ll be the leaders in any given job or situation because they can’t help but want to take care of everything around them. That and because they also think they know best and are shit at taking orders from anyone else.”
How do I explain that after a lifetime of living without explanations, Gabriel’s easy sharing of information makes me a little giddy.
“Welcome to Gabriel’s non-accredited school for pretty girls who need to learn things fast.”
“Now all the empty spaces between each city are alpha territories. They are broken up by region and by pack clans.”
He did say there were a few others, people like us, fighting for the way to God’s promised land. But mostly, he talked about how the outside world was ravaged by corruption and is full of beasts.”
“Beware the animals on two legs, they wear the mask of man but spread impurity like the devil.”
the salt border is actually a very real barrier that separates all of us from the wilds. Out there...” Scrubbing a hand over his face Gabriel looks unsure what to say, “There are feral folks beyond the border, mostly alphas and omegas who were born with no humanity, but betas or beta-like folks too. All of them are unstable, violent and highly territorial.”
“The electric fences that make up these borders,” Gabriel pokes finger-width holes into the salt lines, “are what keeps us safe from monsters taking over.”
This new world follows the exact opposite rules than the ones I grew up with. My delicious burger sits like a stone in my belly. If all of my instincts are wrong, how am I going to keep Shay and I safe?
Gabriel wraps a callused hand around my left wrist, squeezing it lightly as if he’s testing it. “Like a damn baby bird,” he mutters to himself.
Gabriel is holding himself very still, and I get the impression if I were to continue to talk about my life before going on the run, he would flip this table over.
The notion that Gabriel, bringer of burgers and master of winking, has anything in common with our father makes my stomach cramp.
Just two minutes. I’m going to let this hard, delicious-smelling body prop me up for two minutes. Gabriel gives me a pleased hum and pulls me closer.
Sex is like food. It can be beautiful, it can be messy, it can be boring, it can be anything. It’s not good by itself or bad by itself.”
