Page 6 of Pack Down Bad

All of that training flies straight out the frosted-over window the secondthatscent hits me. It smells like my Ma’s homemade cinnamon rolls she used to make every Saturday when I was growing up.

I inhale, trying to soak in the beautiful scent, but my senses are immediately irritated by the burnt tinge taking over.

My omega is in distress.

There’s no question the omega is mine.

Whoever is behind this door is a missing part of my soul. Which means I’m about to go full protective-mode and probably do something impulsive, heroic, and just a little bit dramatic.

ChapterFour

Belle

This guy’s truck smellsamazing. The clean, citrus scent envelopes me as I lean my head back against the headrest and try not to think about my dangerous decision to accept a ride from a stranger.

What else could I do? I can’t sit in a wrecked car all night in this cold, snowy weather. Even if Rhys called a tow truck for me, I wouldn’t know how to pay them with no wallet in sight. I don’tfeellike the kind of person who would be out driving without a phone and purse, but my brain feels awfully foggy.

Maybe reckless drives in the middle of nowhere are a hobby of mine. Maybe I’m on the run after the FBI discovered I’m the head of a major crime ring. The possibilities feel endless... and my gut is telling me something bad happened even before I crashed into a tree on the side of the road.

According to Rhys, I seem to have temporary amnesia. Or at least he claims it’s temporary. I can’t help but worry what will happen to me if my memory never returns.

I groan as I wiggle in my seat to try to get more comfortable.

“Are you okay?” Rhys asks.

I turn my head to take him in again. His light brown hair is a little shaggy and in need of a trim, but his full beard looks well-kept. He’s broad-shouldered with impressive arm muscles that look hard-earned, as if from manual labor. I didn’t get a good look at how jacked he was in his flannel shirt until he took his coat off when he got in the truck, or I might have hesitated more about taking a ride from him.

I’m pretty sure he could break me in half over his knee if he wanted. My gaze drops for a moment to check out his legs until I realize he might get the impression I’m lookingatsomething else. I quickly jerk my head up and fix my gaze out the front window, even though I can’t see much through the snow.

“Belle.”

“What?” I gasp, my eyes wide as I whip my head around in every direction to search for danger. The movement makes the ringing in my ears worse, like I’ve been sitting front row at a rock concert for an entire year.

“I asked if you’re okay?”

“Oh, uh... I dunno,” I answer honestly.

“Fair enough.” Rhys glances over and catches me staring at him. For some reason, I can’t seem to look away, so he’s the one that breaks the shared gaze first, his attention going too quickly back to the road. I guesssome peoplestill care about safe driving, even if I’m not one of them.

“How far away are we from town, again?”

Rhys clears his throat. “Hours. Otherwise, I would offer to drive you to the police station to see if they could help identify you.”

“And you’re sure you don’t mind if I stay with you?” I watch anxiously for any signs of second-guessing, but he nods firmly.

“Of course. I went into town before I knew how bad the snow and ice would get, so I’m all stocked on groceries. We won’t even starve out here,” his voice grows light and teasing.

I smile as I relax in my seat. The omega in me feels calmer by the second as I breathe in whiffs of his scent. My comfort is short-lived as the truck slows and Rhys turns off the road onto a bumpy path.

“Sorry,” he says as I bounce in my seat, hand darting out to grab onto the door to help steady myself. He slows the truck to a crawl, which only marginally helps the bouncing. “Gravel driveway,” he explains.

When Rhys said he lived in the middle of nowhere, I didn’t realize he meant we would be driving down a gravel driveway surrounded by a thick wall of snow-covered trees on either side. My stomach does somersaults as we drive at an incline for several minutes after leaving the road.

“Do you live on top of a mountain?” I blurt out as I tighten my white-knuckled grip on the door handle.

“Not quite.”

Oh, super comforting. If Rhys turns out to be a serial killer, I’ll have to hike down a snowy freaking mountain in the dark to escape!

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