Page 12 of Crave

It was Quinn who answered. “Wilkie had erectile dysfunction.”

My mouth dropped open, because I hadn’t seen that one coming. It smelled like the truth, but I’d have to be an idiot to think that was all there was to it. Pretty sure Wilkie would’ve downed an entire bottle of little blue pills if it meant he got two more people to subjugate.

Susannah definitely saw my skepticism. “This really isn’t any of your business. I never asked you for help, or to fight my battles”—her voice broke a little—“or to give me anything as fragile as your hearts. That's all in the past.”

The silence around us was almost preternatural. “You’ve left Wilkie’s Pack then? For good?” Merrick’s voice was hopeful. Not for our chances—she’d made her feelings on the matter clear years ago. No, hopeful that both her and Quinn had escaped that prison.

Quinn’s face softened, and he lifted a hand hesitantly, gently laying it against Merrick’s tight shoulder. “We’re never going back. We’re done. We’ve talked to the new Alpha General, and I think if he finds Wilkie alone in a darkened alleyway, Wilkie will cease to breathe.”

I shuddered with relief. “Good.”

Susannah was still an unmated Omega, but Wilkie was arguably the worst Manix had to offer. Quicker than a heartbeat I was in Susannah’s space, her jaw clutched softly in my hand so she was forced to look up at me. She could have pulled away, but she didn’t. She just looked up at me with those huge eyes that were a little too shiny.

“This is your second chance, Spitfire. This is your chance to be happy. Youdon’taccept the suit of anyone who doesn’t worship the very ground you walk on. Who doesn’t accept you and Quinn for who you are. You deserve to be treated like perfection, not as some fucking backwards Alpha’s chew toy. You deserve the world. Don’t accept anything less.”

Inside me, my Beast screamed,CHOOSE ME, CHOOSE US, but I didn’t voice it. We’d had our chance, and we weren’t what she wanted.

She nodded, her head moving almost imperceptibly in my hand. “Good.”

Unable to help myself, I kissed the top of her head, inhaling her scent like a creep. Releasing her, I strode away before I did something desperate and pathetic, like drop to my knees and beg them to give us a chance. I was halfway back to the Alpha General’s house before Merrick caught up with me. I couldn’t hear what he’d said to them, but I had no doubt it had something to do with the mystery of how two Betas could end up unbonded to the most vicious Alpha in town for a whole decade. That wasn’t an equation that could go unsolved, and quite frankly, the math wasn't mathing.

“There’s something not right,” he said, confirming my suspicions that he wasn’t just going to let this go, no matter how much Susannah demanded it. They were a lot alike, Merrick and Susannah. Both were too stubborn for their own good. Both were too willing to give up everything for the people they loved.

We knew Quinn’s parents, and I’d wanted to knock the old couple down off their bigoted high horse more than once. I had no doubt that if Quinn had been forced into a mating with Wilkie, Susannah would have gone too. It made way more sense than Susannah’s claims she was swept off her feet.

Her dad, who was as absent as a man could be while still living under the same roof, might have accepted it. The old Alpha General might have signed off on it too. But I’d known Susannah and Quinn. And I knew when her happiness was faked.

The main reception room of Courtland’s house was a cacophony of scent and sound that gave me an instant headache. The overly sweet scent of new Omegas, combined with the mix of shifters—hell, even that slightly sticky scent of children and old food—was intense. “Let’s give our congratulations to the De Léon pack and get the hell out of here. We can talk about this at home.”

Merrick nodded, and we beelined for Radic, who was looking way better. He was standing beside Dominic, who was rocking from foot to foot like he couldn’t wait to kick everyone out. We waited until the group of people they were currently speaking to moved away, then quickly slotted in front of Radic and Dominic.

Radic raised an eyebrow at us. “Slinking away so soon?” You wouldn’t know that a few short weeks ago I’d held my hand to his chest and tried to keep his blood inside his body.

Dominic grumbled beneath his breath. “Lucky.”

I laughed at them both. He was right; we were the lucky ones. Lucky that our leadership wasn’t a pack of prehistoric assholes anymore, who did more damage to our people than any outside threat.

“These kinds of things aren’t our scene, you know that. Give me a training yard and a sword, and I’ll hang out with you guys for hours.”

Dominic snorted. “Fucking swords. Archaic bastards.”

We were pretty stuck in the past here. Most of the Legion had been trained with hand weapons, as if the world hadn’t progressed, and guns would never be used by our enemies. Merrick and I had trained pretty intensively with firearms, though, even before the new regime came to Maxton.

“Hey, I’ll meet you at the gun range anytime if you want to lay down a challenge,” I teased Dominic, and he winked.

“Going to hold you to that.” He looked over my shoulder, his face softening. Turning my head, I saw the De Léon male Omega, Pryce, with one of his cubs. “I’ll see you guys later,” he said distractedly, moving toward the Omega like he was floating on a cloud, but not before his fingers ran down the spine of Radic. A violent man, with a violent past, but he was a marshmallow for his Pack.

Radic watched him go with an amused smile on his face, then refocused on us. Merrick cleared his throat. “We just wanted to offer our congrats again.”

Radic dipped his chin in acknowledgment. “Thank you.” The silence stretched tight between us, until finally, he sighed. “Just ask. I know you want to.”

“Susannah and Quinn are unbonded. The Alpha General is going to protect them, right? From Wilkie?”

Radic’s face hardened. “Yes. Let’s say that the protection of those weaker is one of Courtland’s personal crusades—especially protecting them from Alpha abuse. If Wilkie tries to take them back by force, he’s going to find himself headless as well as heartless.” Radic’s voice was cold, and I knew he was remembering the bruises and black eyes, the way Quinn flinched away from Alphas. His voice dropped lower. “That Alpha is a dead Manix walking—he just doesn’t know it yet. Dominic doesn’t forgive and forget. Wilkie used Green to kill Doc because we all know that dumb fuck didn’t have the sense to operate under his own steam. In doing so, he hurt Bonnie on such a fundamental level she might never be the same. He’s on borrowed time.”

I nodded, because that was all I needed to hear. “If you need help, you know where to find us.”

Radic squeezed my arm. “We all appreciate what you did when shit went down.” He dropped his hand, and his gaze flattened. “I know you guys and Susannah and Quinn have some unfinished business from when we were teens, but hear me when I say this: I don’t care how much we like you guys—you force that Omega, or Quinn, into anything they don’t want? It won’t matter how much we like you, Courtland will kick your ass. They've had it hard, so if you’re pursuing them, it’s on their fucking terms. Hear me?”

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