No one has ever listened.
Maybe it was facing the silence while she was gone. But I want her to know what I’m thinking.
“Both,” I say.
My voice feels weird. Deep. Scratchy. Not me.
But I don’t even remember what my voice was supposed to be like.
Her bright smile returns and it makes all the discomfort of speaking worth it.
“Both!” She says, repeating my words. “You—you’re talking! That’s fantastic! I’ll smile all you want then.”
She presses herself up against the door, her cheeks turning pink.
“As for the kiss, you’re welcome to kiss me whenever you want.”
Her words are all the invitation I need.
CHAPTER 37
Mirabelle
“I’m going,” I say softly, pulling my shoulders back.
Rowan pauses, standing on the bed of the transport truck and getting ready to pull the door down. All three of my alphas’ gazes cut to me.
Rage’s protectiveness. Ash’s possessiveness. Griffin’s concern. It’s all written across their faces.
So is Rowan’s hesitation.
“Are you sure, Sugar?” He asks, his voice low. “You were in rough shape after watching that last fight. And now you’ve got the bond to Griffin. I don’t—there’s no good way of asking this, but will you be able to handle it?”
Flashes of the previous fight night flit through my head.
The brutality of it.
The bloodlust in the air, coming from all directions. The fighters they were up against. The people watching.
Everywhere I looked, heard, and smelled, there was violence that putmyguys in danger.
But I can’t stay here.
Because at the same time, even though going to tonight’s fight terrifies me, staying here alone terrifies me even more.
My gaze jerks up to meet Griffin’s when I feel a steady pressure in the back of my head. A subtle current of reassurance he’s trying to send me through the bond.
“I don’t want to stay here alone,” I say, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “Not after—not after last time. I can handle it. Even if I have to wear the same outfit as last time.”
Rowan winces at the mention of the lingerie Jett bought me.
“Are you sure, Sugar? We’re gonna be driving over with Jett,” Rowan winces. “You—you haven’t had to see him since everything with your heat went down. He may say some shit.”
“He can say stuff but he can’t...doanything, right?” I pick nervously at my cuticles, staring down at them like they’re the most interesting thing in the world.
“He won’t touch you,” Rowan says, his voice pitched low.
“He better fuckin’ not,” Ash growls, leaning up against the bars of the transport cage. The pose is casual, but I’ve been around him long enough to see the tension rippling through his muscles. “Stop asking stupid fucking questions, kid. She wants to come, so she comes.”
