Page 22 of Sawyer

It doesn’t go rotten. No, in fact, I’m so hard, I just might explode. My knot throbs painfully, and I swear the knot whispers sultry promises to me about a slick cunt.

However, the reasonable alpha in me feels confused. “Impossible,” I mutter into the coat before dropping it back on the chair. “It can’t be.”

A folded stack of paper drops to the floor, shattering the moment as voices mutter louder in the distance. Quickly, I bend down and grab the papers, but instead of putting them back, I rush to the end of this row and to the next. I dive into the rack of lingerie just as the voices get louder.

Lime reaches me just before the smooth twang of tequila hits the back of my throat.

Shock rings through my system, because I know what this means.

Attraction, scents, and a raging hard-on.

These two are my pack. Denial rushes through me so hot that my body heats and nausea wells in my gut.

This can’t be happening.

Not now. Not after all these years. I lost my love. Why would the fates give me a fresh start when I was ready for the end?

Sawyer

“Rumor, go away.” My body shudders, my breathing turns to pants, and my skin itches as though it doesn’t belong to me. “I just want to go home.”

“Sawyer,” he calls for me again, not giving up, even though I wish he would.

I ignore him, because I hope whatever he learned was worth it. Everything slowly crashes down on me, every single decision I’ve made up to now that led me back to that stage. I swore long ago that I’d do whatever I needed to ensure that gammas got the life and justice they deserved, since no one else fights for us, yet this cost was too high.

Hot tears burn the backs of my eyes as I stomp to the little chair where all my things sit perched on the cushion. I swallow over and over and over.

Not here. Please, just not here.

“Sawyer.” Rumor tries again, only this time, he grabs my bicep and spins me around to face him. I teeter on the four-inch heels and slam my palms against his chest to steady myself. “Sawyer, listen to me.”

“Why?” I snarl at him. I’m sure it sounds like nothing more than a kitten growling at a larger predator—one who, in this case, has eyes that glow like diamonds.

He looks down at me, his gaze full of something akin to gratitude. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” I repeat, trying to look through him, trying to see what he’s feeling somewhere in the lines of his face.

“If I’d known, I’d have just taken him out and beat the truth out of him,” he admits. “What you did cost you far more than it ever could have cost me.”

“Can you just take me home?” I pull away, and this time, he lets me. My body hums with tension I can’t seem to get under control.

Unfortunately, our moment alone doesn’t last long, and Tomi’s voice rings through the dressing room. “Get out of here, girls. Daddy has business to attend to.”

Rumor’s eyes flare with vengeance, and his top lip kicks up, but not in a smile. No, the look he’s giving me is full of bloodlust.

“Don’t, Rumor,” I whisper between us. “I just want to go home.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want, baby girl?” he asks, and I don’t miss the underlying question he truly wants the answer to. I’ll end him, just say the word.

Another Sawyer in another time would respond with, No. I want to see you tear him apart so I never have to deal with this again. Of course, I don’t say that, and instead blurt, “Yes.”

Rumor leans down, pressing his cheek against mine, and the coarse stubble of his face runs along my skin. Every time he touches me, he does so as though he knows me. “I don’t believe you, but I’ll let the lie slide this time, Sawyer.”

“Lotus, baby!” Tomi’s slimy voice rolls over my skin like oil as he pauses at the end of the row.

He stands there, all five-eight of him, with his thick arms stretched out and a partial smirk on his face. He wags his finger, and his eyes light up with the sin of lust for both me and what I can bring him. “Fucking spectacular,” he purrs.

I shudder, and I have to grind my teeth to stop myself from taking a step back.

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