“What did he do to you and Kassidy growing up? Why did your mom never stop him?”
I was captivated by the way his bronze throat expanded as he swallowed roughly. “He ignored Kass, as females are only good for one thing. With me, he ensured that any shred of weakness was stripped from my soul. Apparently, I was quite a sensitive little asshole, which was unacceptable to my family. My mom is just as bad as he is, or maybe worse, because we barely even existed to her. She gave birth to us and then never looked at us again. We were born to carry on the family name.”
“Reeves,” I whispered, trying not to hate the name I’d already fallen in love with.
For the first time since this conversation began, Hunter smiled. “Actually, it’s not. I changed my name as soon as I grew strong enough to claim the status of entitled alpha.ReevesenLatia, or “Reeves” were the name of these tall, willow-style trees that surrounded our land. Trees that Slade and I escaped into when we were younger. They represented our freedom, and my father hated them, so it felt fitting to create a new life under Reeves. His pack name is Davenport.”
The nameDavenporttickled the back of my mind, and I wondered if I’d heard it somewhere before. Where, though, I had no idea. “I’m glad you changed your name. Why does Slade use Riverson though, if he grew up with you?”
Hunter shifted lanes, smoothly merging us onto the road near his offices. “When Slade was about sixteen, he felt a calling to shift and return to the place of his origin—the volcano where our father found him. The area was called Riverson Canyon, and etched into the walls in the dialect of the dragons, which to this day he’s still the only one to speak and understand, was the same family name. Slade felt like there were more of his brethren out there, and it was they who called to him, but he never found evidence of more eggs. Or dragons.”
My chest ached at the thought of him making the journey alone. “It must be lonely to be the last of your kind.”
Hunter inhaled deeply, before he released it as a sigh. “There’s a part of him that mourns his dragon side, but he has us, and we’re his family.”
Knowing that Hunter and Slade had each other growing up brought me a sense of comfort. My existence had been eternally isolated. I would have loved even one sibling to call family. “We all have our hidden traumas, don’t we?”
“Except for Kellan,” Hunter said with a broken laugh, pulling into the family compound. He turned to me while he waited for security to open the gates. “He grew up in a functional, loving family.”
“Thank fuck he did,” I said, my own laugh shallow and forced. “Imagine if he wasn’t around to lighten our day. We’d live in a house of morose fucks.”
Hunter didn’t deny that either, and soon we were back in the garage, parking in the Mercedes’ new spot. Once the car was silent, Hunter turned to me, his hands capturing my face. I gasped as he dragged me into a kiss. “What was that for?” I breathed against his mouth, lightheaded and aching for more.
He brushed his thumbs down my cheeks, over and over, in a soothing and somewhatstimulatingrasp. “You offer just as much lightness as Kellan,” he said. “We’re a lucky group of morose fucks to have you in our quintet, Emme. You’re strong, resilient, kind, and one hell of a driver. You know cars as well as us, ride motorbikes like a fucking dream, and I have no doubt would kick our asses around the racetrack.” He kissed me again, like he couldn’t help himself. “I’d really love it if you begged me now,” he whispered against my skin.
Oh goddess. I wanted to so badly, and honestly, couldn’t remember any of my very good reasons for not rushing into this with him.
“Hunter…” I whispered, meeting gold eyes.
He was so fucking gorgeous that I was opening my mouth to beg when my phone rang. It broke the moment, and I turned away, sucking in rapid breaths. Blindly, I reached into the center console to grab the device, seeing Cora’s name pop up.
My arousal was doused with worry that she was in trouble, and I quickly swiped to answer. “Bestie,” she trilled, her voice high and excited. “Your glam team is here to get you ready for tonight.”
“Glam team,” I repeated in confusion.
Her laughter rang down the line. “Well, yeah. Kellan told War that we’re heading for Luxuria tonight, and I figured it wasmy best friend duty to help you get ready. Plus, we have thatother thingto discuss.”
The other…?Ohhhh.Thethingshe referred to was part of my silent battle with Slade, and hopefully if Cora had what I needed, I could enact my semi-evil plan today. Just in time for him to discover upon returning from patrol.
“See you in a few seconds,” I said as I hung up.
Hunter opened my door and held his hand for me. “Come on, little omega,” he said. “Let’s get you delivered safely to your friend.”
“I have a friend,” I chirped, feeling pretty proud of myself. “A best friend. I’ve never had one of those before.”
There’d been acquaintances and friendly coworkers in my life, but no one who would ever show up to help me get ready for a night out. Probably because there’d been no nights out.
But still, I’d never been close to anyone like this before, and it felt nice.
Hunter grunted into a rumbling growl. “I’m your best friend. She can be your second-best friend. Or fifth, once our pack gets their shit together. Make sure Cora is aware of her status.”
With a peal of laughter, I threw my elbow into his ribs, and Hunter’s smirk was his only reaction. Bastard could at least pretend he felt it.
“I will not make heraware of her status. Even I know that’s not the way to enrich a friendship.”
“She’s part of a quintet,” he said with a shrug, like he didn’t give a fuck. “She knows how it works.”
That much was no doubt true.
