“Bonnie, no. You come home.”
“Nope, I have ten, and we’re going to continue.”
“Bonnie!” he barks.
“I can do this!” I assure him. “I want to do this.”
He’s silent for a long moment. I bite my bottom lip, waiting for him.Please trust me. I can do this.
“I’ll send the rangers. Where are you? The river?”
“Yes.”
“You stay safe. Do not make me regret this decision.”
“Love you, Dad.”
“I love you, too. Your mother is going to kill us both, though.”
I laugh and get off the phone, switching it off to save the battery. I take a breath and let it out.
“The people who stay will hang here and wait for the rangers to come down. The rest of us will continue on. Let’s get going.”
I can see the indecision on some people’s faces, but after last night’s fiasco, I’m not surprised. The taste of the wild isn’t for the unwary.
I’m curious about why the ten coming with me are coming, but I guess I will find that out later. I dive across the river, get my gear, and make my way back to this side. Once I’m over, I pull on my clothes and hoist my pack up and over my shoulders.
I lead the group up the river and cut back inland, meeting up with the trail we were supposed to be on. It feels weird not having Meg and Desi. The responsibility feels heavier, and I miss them already, but I feel more free, too, which is strange.
“Well, this was an exciting way to start the morning,” Cyn tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. His hair catches the light, turning gold around him, and I remember how he looked on the red carpet all those years ago. Uneasy longing returns, a ghostly memory.
“It never gets boring out here.” I peer at him closely. “What’s wrong? Blisters? Pulled muscle?”
“No, no, nothing like that. I was just…do you think it’s wise coming out here with all these alphas?”
Oh, my god…really?
I narrow my eyes at him as he tries to smile, but the dimple that flashes up vanishes under the weight of my wrath. He brushes his hair back, and, for a moment, I forget everything. Just one moment.
“You don’t get to ask questions like that. First of all, you four are the only ones who know my designation,” I whisper. “Second, this is my job, and I am a professional. Third…no one gets to question my decisions, not anymore.”
He flinches. “Okay, sure, but you don’t know us.”
“Exactly, Alpha, so keep your opinions to yourself.”
He sighs. I reach out and grab his shoulder, pulling him towards me. He stumbles up against me, and his eyes get big and round. My heart slams against my rib cage. I catch the faintest hint of rum and something sweet and dark, but the smell is maddeningly elusive and disappears before I can really grab it.
“Watch where you are walking, Alpha,” I say in an even tone.
I let him go and point to the massive spiderweb he almost walked into.
Two seconds later, Quincy walks into it and starts screaming as he whirls in circles, trying to get it off.
I sigh heavily and try to save him, but it still takes us another twenty minutes before we can get walking.
So, now I have a very quiet group of hostile alphas and betas, and one who is almost crimson with embarrassment.
Maybe I should have just cut our losses and gone home.
