When I’m knotted, Shale strokes my face and kisses my forehead.
“Time for you to stop fighting this now, Omega. Surrender to the heat and know that we will take care of you.”
I didn’t realise I was fighting it.
But as I lay there, the heat burns brighter, hotter, the scents of green apple and tequila mix with agave syrup, blood orange, red grapefruit, ginger, and night-blooming jasmine. It smells right now; it smells safe.
I surrender to the heat and let it drag me down. My pack will take care of me now.
Chapter thirty-one
Ezy
EzyAged26
Gael presses his lips to my shoulder and then pushes off, paddling for all he’s worth. The wave picks him up, and then he’s gone.
I sit on my board and glance at Kelly, who is lying on his back, staring up at the sky.
“Kelly?”
He rolls his head towards me.
“You all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
I don’t know how true that is. There is a big secret that Kelly is keeping from us. I have no idea what it is, but it eats at him sometimes. Then again, I never told them who I was either.
Kelly Raines and I wouldn’t have rubbed shoulders in my world. He wasn’t rich enough.
My family would have looked down on my alpha. I swing my legs up and lie on the board, paddling towards the beach. The cool water rushes over my arms, and I’m reminded that I escaped.
I’m free.
The wave carries me into shore, where I walk onto the beach and sit down.
Black Valley is nice enough. It’s a pretty thriving little village. I peel my wetsuit down to my waist and pause when I see a group of men surrounding something. Curiosity and instinct are what have kept me alive so far.
I approach and spot the woman, her cheeks red and flushed. Her hair is a rainbow of browns and golds, and her skin is sun-touched gold. She steps back and cries out.
The sound infuriates me.
I shove into the group of betas and send them sprawling.
“Back the fuck up!” I bark.
The woman trembles behind me. I want to look back at her. I want to say something, but the guys are furious.
And drunk.
I turn my head just enough to see her out of the corner of my eye.
“Go. Get safe, I’ve got this.”
She backs up, but when a beta goes after her, I intercept and knock him out. The others launch themselves at me. A few hits later, and I’m having a good time.
By the time Gael arrives with Kelly, the betas scatter, and when I look for the woman, she’s gone.