They did that a lot, holding me between them. These alphas, who had shown me affection and interest from almost our first meeting. And I wasn’t mad about it.
If anything, it had me craving a time I could be between them in adifferentway.
A reality I wasn’t sure would ever truly be mine, but a girl could dream.
CHAPTER 9
EMME
Further discussion ended with the sound of sirens in the distance. Not a huge surprise considering the house had been blown half to pieces, and despite the size of the house blocks here, we were clearly still in suburbia.
“Silver City enforcers are on the way,” Slade said, tilting his head back as he listened closely. “A dozen or more. We need to leave.”
Kellan and Hunter wasted no time ushering me into one of the blacked-out SUVs they’d parked a few blocks from the house. “As out of character as it feels to leave without a fight,” Hunter said getting in the driver’s side, “if we want to go through official channels, we can’t be caught here.”
“I’m already erasing all trace of our presence in this city,” Slade added as he slid into the passenger seat, Hunter’s phone in his hand. It reminded me that we’d lost our phones in the initial attack. I was sad to lose the group chats—they were secretly one of my favorite parts of pack life.
“Excellent,” our entitled alpha said as Kellan and Finley jumped in the car. Jewels and Warrick were in the second car, and I was relieved to have my pack with me. Even if two of them remained distant, it was better than them not being here at all.
Especially when all of our scents mingled together.
Hunter’s mocha goodness had me desperate for a hit of caffeine; Slade’s toasted marshmallow had me dreaming of nights under the stars; Kellan’s cinnamon and caramel were scents I associated with home and love; and Finley’s vanilla cherry was the least familiar but no less potent.
All of them merged flawlessly and smelled even better when combined with my chocolate and honey. If we bonded, our scents would mingle even stronger to inform shifters that we were a completed quintet. That, along with the bites I’d wear, would also be a deterrent to other alphas.
As unfair as it was, males—especially alpha males—rarely had to defend themselves against advances. If they said no, very few shifters could force them. Females weren’t quite as lucky, hence why our mates marked our throats and shoulders. A clear sign of a claim.
The silence was heavy during the drive to the airport, with Hunter keeping us well above the speed limit, seemingly unconcerned that we might be pulled over. Kellan, who sat beside me in the middle row, reached out during the drive to play with the ends of my long, strawberry blond hair. His face was calm and contented as he stared out his window, and I was relieved that the pain and worry he’d worn upon his arrival, had faded from his features.
It had been a stressful and fucked-up few days, and I was already excited by the prospect of time spent in recovery with the alphas. Eventually, we’d have to deal with the council and the Rogers pack, but only after we’d recuperated from this.Hopefully.
Staring out the window too, I took in Silver City, which appeared far less developed than Golden Claw, with only a few buildings on the horizon standing above a story or two. There were no giant skyscrapers like the Reeves Industriesand Thenguard Shipping buildings. Mostly, the infrastructure consisted of large housing blocks interspersed with forests. Like Golden Claw, it was chilly outside, but without our sunshine. Silver City, for its shiny name, was actually gray and dull. I couldn’t wait to return back home.
I’d come a long way from the day that alpha scented me in Florida and changed my entire life. Weirdly, it almost felt like a lucky break now to have been dragged kicking and screaming into a world I never expected to experience. I finally understood what it felt like to truly belong to more than myself.
“Did you guys miss a hockey game?” I asked suddenly, realizing that life would have been going on as per normal, even as we were in the middle of a shitshow.
Finley was the one who answered, shocking the crap out of me. “We did. I left Coach a very cryptic message, which I’m sure will get our asses kicked when we return, but he was aware that there’d been an attack on our pack.”
His statement was delivered without his usual ire, and I let myself appreciate his deep husky voice. A voice I very much enjoyed when he wasn’t using it as a weapon to eviscerate me.
“I’m sor?—”
“Don’t apologize,” Hunter snapped. “You didn’t do anything wrong, and none of us consider hockey to be more important than our pack.”
Finley sighed, and I was hit with a gust of cherry-vanilla, but he didn’t correct Hunter. We were all more than aware of how his priorities lay. I wasn’t even a close second to hockey. I wasn’t even on the list.
Kellan’s wolf energy surged stronger as he reached over and unclicked my seatbelt, hauling me out of my chair and into his lap. My heart leapt briefly into my throat but settled as I sank into his firm chest and thighs. I was so instantly relaxed I could have taken a quick nap… It feltgoodto be close to him.
Hunter eyed Kellan closely, and I’d have been worried about his lack of focus on the semi-busy street, but I’d seen him do this before. Our entitled leader apparently had eyes on the side of his head because he never hit anything, even while distracted. “What did I say about slobbering all over Emme…?”
Kellan, as usual, took no offense. “Firstly, you’re one to talk, bro. Who went all alpha wolf on her when she was attacked by Jones? I couldn’t even see her pretty freckles through all the bruises and marks you left on her skin. And secondly, I’m not slobbering on her. I’m adoring her. I’m fucking obsessed with her, and I’ll never stop showing her. She’d have to kill me first, and if that’s her choice, I still stand by my obsession.”
Did I just melt into a pile of goo? I’d never been adored. Or obsessed over. Or… loved. Not even for one minute in my life before I met these alphas. I had no idea what to do with the overabundance of emotions scorching through me and burning my eyeballs.
Crying was not advisable when in close confinement with alphas, so I channeled the surge of feelings into the only available release: twisting in my seat and pressing my lips to Kellan’s.
He released a low groan from deep in his chest, before a puff of air escaped his lungs, as if he’d been too overwhelmed to even breathe. His mouth parted in a slow, perfect motion, and I was dragged into the kiss. There was no hurried desperation as I’d felt in other kisses with the alphas. This was a slow devouring. A consummation, as I was surrounded by not only the sweetness of his taste, but the buzz of his energy.
