“The weather.” Sera takes a sip of her coffee, and I can hear the skepticism dripping from those two words. “Right.”
I ignore her tone and busy myself with pouring my own cup. The coffee is strong and bitter, exactly what I need to shake off the lingering fog of too little sleep and too much of everything else.
“I’m going to head out soon,” I tell her, keeping my back turned so she can’t see my face. “Lydia wants me back before the evening council meeting.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to drive? If you have a headache, you could wait a few hours. Or Reeyan could take you partway and run back.”
“I’m fine. I just need some fresh air and quiet time. The drive will help clear my head.”
Sera doesn’t respond right away, and the silence between us feels heavy with all the things she wants to say but won’t. I finally turn to face her as I lean against the counter with my coffee mug clutched in both hands like a shield.
She eyes me for a long moment, and I can practically see the questions forming behind her eyes. Why do you look like you haven’t slept? Why are you avoiding eye contact like a guilty child? What have you been up to?
But she doesn’t ask. Maybe she knows I won’t answer honestly. Maybe she’s giving me space to make my own mistakes, the same way she wished someone had given her space when she was falling for Reeyan under impossible circumstances. Either way, I’m grateful when she just nods and says, “Call me when you get there.”
“I will.”
I finish my coffee in three large gulps and rinse the mug in the sink. Sera watches me the whole time, and I can feel her concern pressing against my back like a physical weight. She worries about me. She’s been worrying about me ever since the curse broke and I started acting like a completely different person than the quiet, obedient sister she grew up with.
Which I am, in a way. The curse suppressed so much of who I really was. Now that it’s gone, I’m still figuring out what that means and who I want to become.
Sera’s voice stops me at the kitchen door. “You know you can tell me anything, right? Whatever’s going on with you, I’m not going to judge. I’m the last person who has any right to judge anyone for making unconventional choices.”
The sincerity in her voice makes my chest go tight. I turn back to face her, and for a moment, I consider telling her everything. About the bar and Patrick and the way he mademe feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. About the connection between us that felt like something more than just physical attraction, something deeper and older and completely terrifying.
But I don’t. Because telling Sera means admitting I was reckless, and admitting I was reckless means getting a lecture about safety and responsibility and the importance of not sneaking out alone in unfamiliar territory. I’m not ready for that conversation yet. I want to hold on to this secret a little longer, keep it safe and private like a treasure that belongs only to me.
“I know,” I reply instead. “I’m fine, Sera. Really. I just need to get back to my normal routine and sleep in my own bed tonight.”
She doesn’t look convinced, but she lets me go with a hug that lasts a few seconds longer than usual. I breathe in her familiar scent and feel a twinge of guilt for lying to her. Sera has done so much for me, for all of us. She risked everything to break the curse and set our pack free. She deserves better than a sister who sneaks around behind her back.
But I’m not ready to be honest yet. Not until I figure out what last night actually meant.
The drive back to Llewelyn territory takes a few hours on a good day. The roads wind through Grayhide’s desert landscape before climbing into the foothills that mark the border between territories. It’s a beautiful country, all red rock and scrub brush and endless sky stretching out in every direction, but I barely notice any of it today.
My mind keeps drifting back to last night.
Nobody has ever touched me like that before. Nobody has ever made me feel so completely wanted, so thoroughly desired. The men in Llewelyn territory treat omegas with distant respectat best and barely concealed condescension at worst. None of them has ever looked at me the way Patrick did.
I’m about an hour into the drive, lost in memories of his hands and his mouth and the sounds he made when he was inside me, when I see him.
At first, I think I’m hallucinating. That too little sleep and too much daydreaming have finally caught up with me, and now I’m conjuring images of him out of thin air. Because there’s no way Patrick is standing in the middle of the road, waving his arms for me to stop.
But he is. He’s really there.
I slam on the brakes, and the car skids to a stop about twenty feet from where he’s standing. My heart pounds against my ribs as I stare at him through the windshield.
He looks different than he did last night. The seductive confidence is gone, and in its place is something that looks a lot like panic. His dark hair is messy, his clothes are rumpled, and there’s a wildness in his amber eyes that makes my stomach clench with sudden fear.
He jogs toward my car, and I roll down the window before I can think better of it.
“Patrick? What are you—”
He doesn’t let me finish. He leans through the window and kisses me, hard and desperate, cupping the back of my head to hold me in place. The kiss steals all the air from my lungs and scrambles every thought in my brain. By the time he pulls back, I’m gasping and dizzy and completely confused.
“You need to come with me,” he states. “Right now. No questions.”
“What? I don’t understand. How did you even find me out here?”
