She wrinkles her nose when she pulls away. “No offence, Morgan, but you smell like shit.” Before I point out it’s not fucking surprising, all things considered, she adds, “You smell like a Feral Beast.”
My hand goes to my throat.Fuck me, with everything else going on, I’d forgotten.
Lynx growls, low and sharp.
Beth raises her eyebrows at him. “How are you not losing your shit right now?”
I glance between them. “What do you mean?”
She sighs. “Sorry, I forgot for a second that you’re new to all this.” She gestures to my throat. “Birch bit you, so you’re part of his pack. To be honest, I’m surprised you can stand to be around so many of us.”
I shrug. “I don’t...” Now that she’s brought it up, I take a deep breath in and, huh. “You don’t smell bad, exactly. I don’t know now how to describe it. Weird, maybe.” I trace the scar Birch’s bite left, and Lynx growls again. When I glance at him, his gaze is fixed on my throat, teeth bared, and his hands clench into tight fists at his sides.
“Times your weird feeling by a thousand, and that’s how Lynx feels right now, except he’s an alpha and you’re his mate, so it’s worse. So much worse.”
“Hurry the fuck up,” Flint says as he walks over, then points a finger at me. “We need to give him a dose of antidote for those cuts, and we need to get the other one back to Corey.”
“Other one?” Lynx narrows his eyes. “Who?”
Flint shrugs a shoulder. “No idea, he’s still out of it.”
Hope sparks inside me at the same time Lynx growls, “Human or shifter?”
“Shifter,” Flint says, like Lynx is an idiot. “One of Fox’s minions was about to off him, so we took him off their hands.” He grins, all teeth, and I’m pretty sure that means the hunter’s dead.
Good.
“Can I see him?” I don’t want to get my hopes up. There could’ve been others fighting tonight, so it doesn’t mean it’s him.
“If you let me jab you with the antidote at the same time.”
“Done.”
My heart bangs against my ribs as I follow Flint to the back of the SUV parked up ahead. He makes me stand still while he injects me, and holy fuck, that stings like a bitch as it enters my bloodstream. I’m still adjusting to it when he opens the back door, and then the pain takes a back seat when I catch sight of familiar dark curls.
They’re matted with blood, and his body is a fucking mess, but he’s alive. I lean in as far as I can without touching him and whisper, “Luke?” I don’t expect him to wake up, but his eyes flutter open.
“Hey,” he manages, lips curving up into a smile. “You’re not dead.”
I don’t realise I’m crying until a tear hits my lips. “Neither are you.”
He groans. “Feel it.”
“Which is why we need to get on the road and get you some help,” Flint grumbles. “You can catch up later, when he’s not in danger of actually fucking dying.”
Luke’s eyes close again, and Flint tugs me backwards, closing the SUV door. “Seriously, we need to get going.” He does a sweep of my body and frowns. “You want to travel with him? Those cuts might pull on the back of Lynx’s bike.”
Oh.
I didn’t realise that was an option.
I look behind to find Lynx watching me, not even trying to hide the vulnerability in his eyes. “It’s okay if you want to.” His voice is gravel rough, like the words cost him.
I think back to what Beth said. How it must feel for him to smell Birch all over me. If it was the other way around— A wave of possessiveness crashes over me, and I can’t fucking finish that thought.
I need him.
More than any antidote.
