14
Halo
It felt like an eternity when the haze of constant arousal finally wore off, but judging by the motel’s calendar it was only five days.
Four in the morning, judging by the bedside clock. Kass still snored in his sleep. But I was too restless to sleep - not to mention feeling disgusting. I groaned as I hauled myself out of bed and into the shower.
During a heat, I could think of nothing except sex and pleasure, but once it ended I was annoyed with myself for wasting so much time. That was five days we could have been dealing with Silas.
But we don’t even know how,I thought irritably.All we have is a single clue to some cavern, and we haven’t even been there.
Logically, I knew why. Kass wanted us to regain our strength to stand a fighting chance about whatever was to come. But how much of that energy had we wasted fucking in a motel room?
I channelled my excess frustration into scrubbing myself raw in the shower. When I emerged, I felt clean for the first time since my heat began.
Not that I regretted a single moment of it. The intimacy, the manifestation of love, the smoking-hot orgasms… We both needed it. It brought Kass and I together again after what seemed like ages of being apart.
But now that my heat had subsided, more pressing matters had to be dealt with. I made up my mind. As soon as Kass woke up, we would leave town and find the Death’s Peak caverns, whatever they were.
Kass had slept through the sound of my shower. I knew heats took a lot of energy out of alphas, too.
Maybe I should let him rest,I thought.
But there was no way I could sit around any longer. My legs itched, wanting to go outside. I left the room quietly so as not to disturb Kass.
The early morning air was cool and refreshing. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the experience of being alone on the street, awake before anyone else.
A sudden realization snapped into my mind.
“Oh, crap,” I muttered.
With everything that happened since we entered town, we had completely forgotten to deal with Luce’s request. I groaned inwardly. Were Luce and the other foxes still lurking outside Cinderhollow, afraid to come in? Surely they weren’tthatfearful. With a sigh, I recalled the anxious faces of the fox omegas and decided that, yes, they probablyweretoo scared to do anything but wait for our return.
That means I have to find this Henry guy,I thought. At least it would give me something to do while waiting for Kass to wake up. It wasn’t a big deal if I couldn’t find him - we could simply return to Luce and tell him it was safe to enter.
I closed my eyes and shifted into the form of a fox. Aside from my heightened sense of smell, maybe a familiar form would help me stand out to Henry. I padded down the street, keeping to the sides of the buildings. Being up in the early morning darkness with no one around made me feel sneaky, like I was playing a game.
I lifted my nose and scented the air. The symphony of smells nearly overwhelmed me. There were so many shifters with different forms that it was difficult to pinpoint any single scent. I shook my head, trying to clear it, then tried again.
Fox,I told myself,search for fox.
The hairs on my neck raised as the musky, coppery note I was searching for hit my nose. I double-checked it wasn’t my own fox’s scent. It wasn’t.
But that wasn’t all.
Alongside the musky fox scent was a different scent - soft, warm, and achingly familiar.
The scent of my daughter, Angel.
Every single hair on my pelt stood. Angel was nearby with a fox shifter. But the fox’s scent wasn’t at all mingled with the scents of the two men I’d seen with Angel earlier, Scar and Ryu. A horrible feeling settled in my stomach.
Footsteps and a low, displeased muttering sounded from an alley. I pressed myself into the building’s dark shadow and slunk close to the ground to follow the voice.
Then I heard Angel’s distinct wail.
My heart rate increased tenfold. I bolted towards the sound, my chest clenching in fear.
Why is she crying? What’s going on?
