“Rabbit poop?” It takes a few seconds too long for that to make sense. “Really, Dakota?”
He doubles over, slapping his knee again, and I find my anger and frustration fizzling.
“Harmless prank.”
“Harmless?” Rojer shouts. “What if I catch a disease and die? What if I get dysentery or, or…” he struggles and then just roars wordlessly again.
Kendall reaches into his pocket and pulls out spray-on hand sanitizer and spritz’s his hands and face.
Nathan and Kevin are smiling but not terribly interested, but Justin is standing with his arms crossed, looking a million miles away, with Rory and Vale beside him. My gaze falls on them because they aren’t looking at anyone else but me. The hairs on my arms rise, and I get this very uneasy feeling, as if I’m being hunted.
I rub my temples. “Do not feed anyoneelse poop, Dakota.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I growl at him, but he just grins wide and charmingly, and I know I’m in for a losing battle.
“You won’t die, Rojer. People have eaten worse things, but we will monitor you as well and get you to see a doctor if you feel ill when we get back.”
“I hate you four. The day the merger of our companies goes through, I’ll be making your lives a living hell.”
Cyn’s anger is in his shoulders. There is nothing else anywhere on him to give away how he’s feeling but his posture, but the rage is there. Whatever Rojer just said, it was deeply offensive to Pack Prince.
Rojer wastes the last of his water rinsing and spitting. I protest, but he ignores me. We’ve still got a few hours to go, and now it looks like I’ll be sharing my fluids with him.
“Let's go! We’ve got a whole lot of hiking to cover yet.”
I lead the way, setting a cracking pace. But making sure to check and count them every fifteen minutes or so.
No one really talks, but we’re on a downhill trek now, and paying attention to where we put our feet is of the utmost importance. Still, I can’t help but try to mull over the problem that is the Prince pack.
Should I make them suffer? Should I show them just how capable I really am?
This sudden obsession with me is nothing but a novelty, and I’m not going to get fooled by it. I remember far too clearly the events that happened after I was rejected.
“Bonnie?”
I jerk to a stop, turning to find a red faced Quincy trying to catch up to me.
“Hey, Quincy, how can I help you?”
“You remember my name?” He looks absolutely delighted.
“Of course, I do.”
“Oh, well,” his cheeks turn an even brighter red. Somehow.
“How can I help you?”
We start walking again, and I can see how unsteady he is. He’s puffing and sweating heavily, but I’ve had worse up here.
“I just wanted to ask why you did this. It took me a minute, but I remember how I recognised you. I just…I think you’re really brave.”
I peer at the side of his face, trying to determine his angle. It’s happened before, people recognise me as the Prince pack’s rejected omega. Nothing I can do about it but wait to see how they will use the information against me. “Thank you.”
“I just don’t know how I would have managed it. All the humiliation and the press. But then you come out here, and you started again, and you get to live this life.”
His words are strained and off, but I’m not sure why.
