Delilah squeezes my shoulder, sensing my nerves. Her homey smell makes me feel more at ease, quashing my anxiety. “You’re worried about what will happen if they are your scent matches, aren’t you?”
“Sometimes I think you’re psychic,” I murmur. “But yes. I know you’ve always wanted to find a scent match, but as you know, that’s never been on my list. I’m scared of what’ll happen next and how it could change… well, everything.”
“If you are scent matches, who says anything has to change?” Delilah’s gentle voice helps slow my thundering heart. “From what you’ve said, they’re nice guys.”
“They got the Blandon Pack expelled from campus for you,” Sabs reminds me. “They helped you through heat spikes. They haven’t put any pressure on you, right?”
“Well, no.”
“Then it’s about time that you started living life, Kady.” Sabs does a ridiculous dance, twirling around and shaking her ass. “You’ve spent most of your time at college holed up in the library. You deserve to get out there and live a little.”
“Guys who want to bring you to meet their family aren’t usually knot-head fuckboys,” Delilah adds.
“They must care about you.” Sabs drops down onto the floor, leaning back against my bed. “And after so long trying to take care of yourself, will it be so bad to let someone else take care of you for a change?”
Delilah’s eyes widen in surprise.
“What?” Sabs laughs. “You’re not the only one who can give good advice, you know.”
“So you both don’t think it’s a crazy idea to go away with alphas I barely know?”
“They’re not exactly strangers,” Delilah replies. “And if you aren’t having fun, I’m sure you can ask Warren to send a helicopter to come get you.”
I scoff. “Yeah, he and my dad would love that.”
Since my most recent outburst, Dad has been giving me the cold shoulder. He cut off a few of my cards and reduced my monthly allowance. I get the sense he’s testing me to see how long I’ll last until I come crawling back for more money. I’d expected this, so I’d saved for a rainy day and made wise investments.
A fresh wave of doubt sweeps over me. “Maybe I should take some assignments to work on while I’m away.”
Sabs groans. “Haven’t you already finished your assignments that are due months from now?”
“Well, yes,” I sigh. “But there are more due after that.”
“Let loose!” Sabs jumps up, rooting around in my underwear drawer. After grabbing a lacey bra, she flings it in my face. “Livea little! Have fun!” She returns to my dresser to find the pair of matching panties. “And definitely take these with you. They’re hot.”
I swipe them from her then throw them in my bag. “Well, I think that’s everything.”
“When you get back, we’ll have to meet them,” Delilah comments. “If it goes well.”
“I doubt that’ll need to happen.” After spending a few days together, I’m sure they’ll realize that they’ve got it wrong. “Don’t hold your breath.”
“We’ll see.” Delilah’s brown eyes twinkle as she adjusts her cute pink ribbon hairclips. “There’re some muffins cooling that you can take for the journey.”
“What?” Sabs face falls. “You’re letting her take the muffins?”
“You took the last batch for your volleyball team, remember?” Delilah calls her out.
“They were great motivation.” Sabs smiles. “I’ve never seen some of the girls move as fast as they did to grab one.”
I laugh, excitement bubbling in my belly as I zip up my suitcase. Perhaps the girls are right. This trip could be exactly what I need, no matter how un-Kady-like it may be.
TWENTY-SIX
Hale
Kady gets out of Calder’s car, dragging a cumbersome suitcase behind her with a huge cat carrier balanced on top of it.
“She does know we’re only going for the weekend, right?” Riven scratches his chin in confusion, watching from the window. “She brought a lot of luggage.”
