Page 10 of Crave

It had taken weeks for the town to calm down, but it had reached an uneasy equilibrium. We were currently standing outside the Alpha General’s Packhouse to celebrate his Pack bonding officially. Their Pack hadn’t wasted any time, but I guess almost dying would do that to a Manix. Life was too short not to tell people how much they meant to you.

Susannah stood beside her father, and I bracketed her on the other side. We’d spent the last few weeks in Susannah’s childhood home, and no one would go against a Legion General to insist we went back to our Pack. When my parents had come over and even suggested it, Joshua had threatened them so quietly they left in a hurry. Not before they gave me a look that said I was the biggest disappointment of their long lives, but who fucking cared? They’d been friends of the old Alpha General, and I had no doubt in my mind that they’d been on the wrong side of the coup. Judging by the feral look on Legion General Joshua’s face he knew it too.

Almost everyone was here, even those who I knew disliked the new regime. But everyone was far too gutless to purposefully miss this event, like they’d turn Courtland’s evil eye in their direction.Spineless bastards.

I stuck like glue to Susannah’s side as she moved over to say hello to her brothers. Wilkie and the rest of our old Pack wouldn’t dare appear, but we were guilty by association, and it was enough that everyone turned to stare at us as we walked in. I swallowed hard, pressing close to Susannah’s back. I could hear the whispers and curious tones, and feel their accusing glares.

Raiden wrapped his arms around his sister, and the peaceful feeling of another Omega washed over me. Well, another-another Omega. Actually, Naja came up behind him, so there were four Omegas in a four-foot radius.

For the first time in over two centuries, it didn’t feel like we were dying out anymore. There was hope.

“Are you okay?” Raiden whispered into Susannah’s hair, and the heavy weight of guilt lodged in my chest again. It was my fault she was estranged from her family.

Susannah shook her head solemnly, and Raiden’s face softened. He loved Susannah, who had raised him like he was her own child, despite only being four years older than him. That was a lot of pressure for a small child to take on.

“We’re here if you need us.”

Susannah snorted. “Gatlin would love that.”

If I was protective of Susannah, then Gatlin was rabid about Raiden. He would stand in front of a pack of raging Lycanthropes for his Omegas.

Naja made a rude noise. “You let me worry about the Alphas. Your brother is right, if you need anything, you come to us. If you need a place to lay low, or have questions about anything at all, you’re always welcome. Both of you.”

I looked at the half-breed Omega with a baby in her arms. She was an outsider, and I wondered what she saw that everyone else missed. Could she see our lie? It was impossible, but the way she was looking at me made my skin prickle.

Susannah gave her a hesitant smile. “Thanks.”

The Alpha General stood a few steps up in his living room. “Friends, family. It’s my pleasure to present the De Léon Pack.”

There was a cheer, and I clapped along with everyone else, glad that the Alpha General looked healed in the few weeks since the coup. He stood strong, his Pack spread around him, his gaze shifting fondly between his Omegas and Betas. There were kids all around; some were Bonnie’s orphans from the Sanctum, and some the Alpha General’s charges, but it made the mood of the room much less stuffy.

The new pack moved quickly into the crowd, accepting the surge of hand-shaking and ass-kissing. One of Raiden’s Betas, Ellar, appeared with a plate of food. He kissed both Naja and Raiden on the cheek, his eyes filled with love.

I sucked back oxygen, pasting a smile on my face. I liked Ellar, but the love in their Pack was a shining example of what Susannah and I always wanted but never had. That unconditional adoration and care—It was like catnip for my inner Omega. I might be hiding as a Beta, but some of those Omega urges still consumed me from time to time.

As if she could sense my turmoil, Susannah wrapped her hand in mine, tugging me closer. She gave Raiden another quick hug. “I’m going to find Micky,” she told her baby brother.

Raiden smiled around some kind of pastry thing. “Love you, Zanny.”

I sensed more than saw her emotions spike. “Love you too, kid.”

We moved away quickly because she hated being vulnerable in front of Raiden, as if she always had to be that stoic mother figure. People moved out of our way almost instinctively—like we had traitor cooties—as we headed toward the food table. I grabbed a handful of cheese puff things and fed one to Susannah, then threw two down myself.

Before I could grab another handful, I looked over and swallowed hard at the sight of a vampire. Unfortunately, that meant I choked on the puff still in my mouth.

The vampire reached out and thumped my spine. “Easy there, mate. Gotta chew before you swallow. Deep throating is for masturbation, not mastication. That's what my maker always said.”

I blinked at the vampire. I knew he was a vampire because his perfectly white fangs glinted in the overhead lights. “That makes zero sense,” I croaked. He smiled wider, his fangs pressing tightly into his full lower lip.

Susannah was suddenly in front of me, like she could protect me from a fucking vampire any better than I could protect myself. I’d never say that to her, though, she was fierce.

The vampire raised his eyebrows as he stared down at my soulmate. “Sorry, Omega. Didn’t mean to upset you. Just didn’t want your, uh, Omega, to choke.”

I froze, swallowing hard for a whole different reason. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I hissed.

He frowned. “You’re not an Omega pair? Your scents are really entwined, and she’s an Omega, and you’re an Omega, I just assumed—oof.”

Susannah had reached out and punched the big vampire in the tit. She’d hit a fuckingvampirein the chest to shut him up. Fuck, we were going to die.

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