GAGE MUST HAVE HEARDTony’s car pull up, because he was waiting when we reached the front porch. The door swung inward almost violently, and before I could get a word out, I was enveloped in a rib-cracking hug.
“I knew you’d be okay,” Gage said, his voice strangled. “Told everyone you would be—didn’t I, Tony?”
He was physically shaking in my arms.
“Yeah,” Tony agreed, from behind me somewhere. “Yeah, you were right, big guy.”
I patted Gage awkwardly on the back, and thankfully, he pulled away before my need to breathe grew impossible to ignore.
“I’ve got dampeners,” he said, nonsensically—once again cutting me off before I could speak. “Come inside.”
“Gage—” I began.
“I know,” he cut me off. “Knox, Iknow. And I’m so sorry. But seriously, you’re gonna want this dampener shot before anything else.”
Stymied, I let the pair herd me into the house... where I was immediately slammed in the face by a solid wall of pheromones. All the blood in my battered excuse for a brain fled southward.I wavered, my weakened condition making me lightheaded even as my dick swelled painfully.
Gage steadied me with one meaty hand and shifted me to lean against the entryway wall.
“Shit,” he said. “Sorry. Should’ve brought the shot with me and done it outside. Stay here for a minute, okay? I’ll run get it. Tony, watch him for me.”
“What?” Tony yelped—but Gage was already disappearing down the long hall.
“I’m okay,” I choked out, lying through my teeth.
Only the fact that I could barely stand upright kept me from barging after Gage to find the source of that intoxicating scent... burnt sugar and espresso that promised to wake up my weakened body in the most delicious of ways.
Tony hovered next to me, looking torn between putting his hand on my arm to support me and running for the hills.
“The same thing happened to Gage when we found them at the silos,” he said worriedly. “Don’t worry, though—a dampener shot fixed him right up.”
If I’d dared unclench my teeth long enough to speak, I might’ve pointed out that Gage was coming apart at the seams, and was very obviouslynotall right. But it was all I could do to stand there leaning against the wall as flashes of memory zapped across my mental movie screen like scenes beneath a strobe light.
Pale hair.
Huge gray eyes.
Long satin gloves, and a little black dress hugging curves and angles in all the right ways.
Tony took a hasty step back, and a second later, I registered the rumbling growl rolling up from the depths of my chest. With an act of willpower, I swallowed the noise. I pushed away fromthe wall experimentally. Maybe if I took it slow, I’d be able to make it to my mate’s side without keeling over—
Heavy footsteps reached my ears. Gage jogged toward me, holding something carefully away from his body in one hand.
“Sorry,” he said, breathless. “I expect you’re getting’ sick of people jabbing you with needles.”
He shoved my sleeve up and stuck the needle into my arm, steadily depressing the plunger until it was empty. The cool sting of its contents spread slowly through my veins, distracting me long enough for the drug to start doing its work.
I panted through my nose until the overwhelming scent choking the house faded to manageable levels. My dick throbbed sullenly, but I no longer felt like there was a taut bungee cord physically dragging me toward the source of the pheromones.
“Jesus Christ,” I said hoarsely.
“Right?” Gage agreed, wide-eyed. “It’s fuckin’mental, ain’t it?” He turned to Tony, who was standing close to the door as though he wanted nothing more than to bolt and never look back. “Hey, Tony—can you keep an eye on the lovebirds while me and Knox have a word? I don’t want to leave ‘em on their own for too long.”
Tony shrank back. “Goddamn it, Gage! No, I will not ‘keep an eye on the lovebirds!’ What the fuck do you expect me to do if something goes wrong? They murdered three armed alphas with their bare hands trying to get to each other!”
“Tony, they ain’t gonna hurt you,” Gage said, sounding surprised by the outburst. “Theylikeyou.”
“No!” Tony said again, louder this time. “Your pack alpha is back; you can deal with this epic shitstormwithout my help!”
