“My apologies.” I chuckled. “How dare I fail to mention that?”
“I shall forgive you if we can get a bunch to take home.Andthe fixings.”
She eyed me, her brows up, and I took the words seriously, nodding adamantly. “Of course. Your wish is my command.”
Tickled, Hailey danced in her chair again and smiled as she finished her ice cream. I couldn’t deny how much I enjoyed seeing her like this. I also knew intimately now why Wilder had racked up such a large bill with her at the nesting store.
By the time we were checking out, Hailey had picked out eight different flavors of ice cream to take home. I knew she had a big thing for ice cream, so I didn't bat an eye as she rattled off all the flavors she wanted.
If it made her happy, I was going to do it.
And damn, it felt nice to just accept that.
Chapter 31
Preston
For the love of all that’s holy, make it stop.
The sickness wasn't getting any better. I could hardly eat a meal without wanting to vomit, and my chest felt hollow all the time. It was my own damn fault, but that didn't mean I wasn't miserable.
The only thing pushing me through was knowing that at least Hailey was doing better than me, now that she had bonded with this stranger. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely despised the fact that my omega was bonded to someone I'd never even met, but it was an unfortunate, unavoidable situation. One I was going to have to learn to live with, or risk losing Hailey forever.
Things had been changing in Camp Bower, and I'd been doing my best to keep up with it. Three more inmates had been sent back to prison. Coincidentally, they were also inmates that the wardenheavilydisliked all of a sudden.
After dinner, I was making my way back to my cabin, which I shared with several other inmates, when a large stranger grabbed me by the arm, guiding me to the side, out of the sight of anyone else.
“Preston?” the man said.
“Let go of me. Who the hell are you?” I shot back.
The guy was gigantic and fairly imposing. I glanced around the hallway, shocked that we were alone. Even the guards weren't close by.
Okay, that’s suspicious as hell.
“My name is Rune. I'm a firefighter at Station Sixteen, and my pack mate happens to be Walker, the captain. You look like shit.”
Shit.
“Gee, thanks. What are you doing here?” I asked in a low voice, my heart beating a million miles a minute.
The last thing I needed was the guards noticing him, and he wasn’t exactly hard to miss, given he was the size of a fucking house.
“Walker’s making the call to pull you out. Hailey went to him and told him everything. You’re really needed at home.”
“Fuck,” I hissed. “I can’t. I'm too close. Likereallyclose. In fact, I'm so close…" I pulled the small plastic packet out of my back pocket and placed it in his hand.
“What the hell are these?” Rune asked, his brow creasing as we shielded ourselves in the shadows.
They were drugs, or least I assumed they were.
The pills that the warden had given me for my “stress” and to help me “relax” were suspect, to say the least. I didn't believe for a second that they were a legal substance, so I took the opportunity to hand them to Rune to get them tested.
“They are exactly what they look like, or at least I think they are. That's why I need you to give them to Walker to test them.”
Rune doubled down on that frown. “Who gave you these?”
“Your pack mate’s suspicions were correct.” I sagged, the adrenaline that’d kept me on edge already fading as my beleaguered body lost energy. “It's someone in a position of power.”
