Page 11 of Crave

“Be. Quiet!” she hissed, and the guy just looked really confused.

He opened his mouth to either yell at Susannah or eat her, but luckily he was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Is everything okay over here?” I dragged my eyes from the tall, blond, and stupidly attractive vampire, to the Alphas who haunted my daydreams.

Murphy was smiling pleasantly at me. “I see you’ve met the new town doctor, Tanner.”

Merrick stood behind him, looking us over like he was trying to work out what the hell was going on. My gaze flicked between the Alphas and the vampire, my tongue frozen solid in my mouth.

“Just introducing myself to one of the new Omegas. Telling her about the Alpha General’s genealogy project. I haven’t met…” He paused, looking pointedly at the fiery Omega in front of him.

“Susannah,” she huffed. “This is myBetapartner, Quinn.”

“Oh, Susannah and Quinn—Packmates of that bloody wanker, Wilkie. What a toolbag. No offense.”

I snorted. “Uh, none taken.”

“Though you don’t smell like Pack. Actually, there's no scent of anyone on you, other than each other, and maybe the lightest hint of a third Beta? Are you sure you matebonded properly?”

We all froze like prey. Me, Susannah, even Merrick and Murphy. Fuck me, this vampire had a big mouth. If looks could kill, Zanny would have him flayed on the ground by now.

“What I mean to say is that most Packs smell like a finished dish. They have an overall scent, but if you try hard, you can smell the individual ingredients too. You guys don’t smell like anything other than each other.”

I knew my eyes were too wide, and I could feel the hot gaze of the Alphas beside me, their eyes boring into my face. It was Susannah who broke the silence though, her voice pitched low. “That’s because we never properly bonded to an Alpha. We aren’t really Pack Wilkie.”

I could have sworn the whole room went silent. Or maybe it was all just muffled by the sound of blood rushing in my ears as Susannah casually revealed one of our most closely guarded secrets.

“Tanner!” The sound of the Alpha General calling for the vampire in front of us broke the five of us from our spell.

The vampire gave us a toothy grin. “I feel like there's definitely some kind of personal convo that needs to go on right here. Susannah, come and see me down at the clinic so I can map out your DNA. You should bring Quinn too, if it would make you feel more comfortable.”

I had a feeling that it had very little to do with Susannah’s comfort and everything to do with the fact he knew I was an Omega too. I nodded quickly. “Sure. No worries.” I didn’t know why he was keeping our secret for us, but he needed to leave before he changed his mind. He disappeared faster than I could follow, and I met Susannah’s eyes. She silently apologized and I forgave her in a heartbeat.

When I turned, I expected Merrick and Murphy to be livid. Instead, both of them were absolutely expressionless. Looking around the crowded room, Merrick cleared his throat. “We should step outside.”

Susannah looked like she wanted to tell him to fuck off, but instead she sighed. “Let’s go.”

7

MURPHY

My mind was churning Susannah’s words over and over in my head. Unbonded Omega. She wasn’t Pack Wilkie. She wasn’t legally attached to that psychopath. Something in my chest fluttered like a dying butterfly.

Finally, Susannah must have deemed us far enough away from the building, almost on the edge of the woods, because she stopped, turning to face us. Her jaw was lifted in that stubborn angle I knew too well. You could almost superimpose the teenage girl she’d been over the image of the beaten-down woman she was now.

I raised a single brow at her. “Are you going to explain?” I growled, and she narrowed her eyes at me.

“Why do we owe you any explanation?”

My growl turned into an ominous rumble.Why? Was she serious?

“Why? You want to know why we want an explanation?” Merrick snapped back. “How about for theyearsof torture where we had to look at the bruises on your arms, your neck, your face, and donothingabout it? Quinn’s black eyes, and that time his fingers were all broken? What about all the nights we spent in lock-up after fighting Wilkie and Green, because the horror of your injuries wastoo much,and the old Alpha General punished us for interfering in another Pack’s business?” He stepped closer until he was in her personal space. “How about the time you stood in front of us, with that same expression on your face, and told us you loved Wilkie and that we should mind our own business? You broke our hearts, and youdidn’t even bondthe piece of shit!”

Quinn threaded an arm between Susannah and himself, pulling her back a few steps until she was safely by his side. I gritted my teeth. “We would fucking pluck out our own eyeballs before we touched her in anger, Quinn,” I snapped, but he just tilted his head at me and gave me a blank expression.

“So you say.”

I ground my molars, but sucked back my anger. “Help us understand how you went a full decade without bonding to Wilkie? He doesn’t seem like the ‘wait for you to be ready’ type of guy.”

Quinn and Susannah looked at each other quickly, and there it was. Shared secrets that they’d buried so deep no one would dig them out without their help.

---