Page 2 of Crave

Damn, damn, damn.We were going to freaking die in the woods. Quinn had been right, and he was definitely going to haunt me about this from the grave.

“I think we might just be going. If you could release us, that would be awesome.” I made my voice as pleasant as possible, even though I was shit scared. I wanted to shift and run. But whatever this guy was doing, it was strong.

This must be how flies felt on sticky paper.

The guy looked at me like I was stupid. “It’s three a.m. in the middle of nowhere. I’m not letting you guys wander around in the dark to be eaten by bears.”

I wanted to scoff. I was Manix. I could take a bear.

“We’ll be fin—”

The guy just raised an eyebrow. “It’s not happening. You can leave in the morning in broad daylight, and I’ll drive you wherever you need to go. Come inside. Tell me what you’re running from, and the rest can wait.”

I let out an exasperated sigh, and Quinn gave me a look that saiddon’t do it.I was about to mouth off, and he knew it. “Look, we don’t want to spend the night here with some weirdo who can hold us perfectly still. If you don’t see the potential danger in that, then either you're a psycho or a dumbass. Let us go—we’ll leave and never return. Everyone’s happy.”

The guy snorted and began to physically move us toward the house. We floated through the air, like two helium balloons on a string. “I’m neither a dumbass nor a psychopath. I just like a good mystery, and you guys? You’re agreatmystery.” At the door, he stopped and looked at us both. “On my honor, with my very word to the Goddess, you’re safe here. I won’t harm you, and no other harm will come to you.”

I’ll be damned if my Beast didn’t believe him too.Trust the Beasthad been a mantra that had been drilled into my brain for as long as I could remember. Casting a quick look at Quinn, I finally sighed and nodded. It wasn’t like we could have moved anyway. “Fine.”

The guy nodded and floated us into the cabin. It was a lot bigger on the inside than it had looked on the outside, which was quite a neat party trick. “Come on, we’ll go to the library. I want to look at something.” I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what that something would be.

The library was gorgeous, all leather-bound tomes and big comfy chairs. I wanted to live here forever. The guy walked over to the shelves, and in the soft light of the chandelier, I realized he was more handsome than I’d thought. Even Quinn hissed out a breath. His cheekbones were carved sharply on his face, along with his jaw. His nose looked like he’d broken it once or twice, with a slight notch in the bridge. His hair was inky in the dim light, and seemed to shine with an almost blue sheen.

He was beautiful. And if I’d seen him in the daylight, I never would’ve confused him for a drunk human. He was flicking through a book, finally stopping on a certain page. He looked up at Quinn, then back at the book, then at Quinn again.

When he finally turned to me, his eyes were alight with excitement. “You’re not a Lycanthrope.”

I sighed.Dammit.If anyone found out about this, I’d get a lot more than an ass kicking. “No.”

“Your race isn’t extinct?”

“Obviously not.”

He waved a hand, and we landed on the floor with a thud. Quinn didn’t shift back as the guy paced around, his eyes excited.

“You can’t tell anyone,” I said sharply, and he looked at me with narrowed eyes.

“Why’s that, little Manix?” I groaned and buried my face in my hands. This night had all gone so, so wrong. “Because there's areasonwe want everyone to think we’re extinct. Plus, if they find out we told a witch, we’d be executed for treason.”

The guy was silent as he snapped the book shut, making me jump. He stuffed it back onto the shelf and moved toward us, his expression intense. Quinn moved closer to me, his claws flexing.

The guy slowed. “I gave my word to the Goddess you’d be safe here. We don’t do that lightly. You can shift back.”

Quinn looked down at me, a question in his eyes, and I honestly didn’t know what to do. Finally, I nodded, and he shifted back. Naked, except for his stretchy boxer shorts. The guy's eyes flicked down his body, but then quickly averted. Quinn was beautiful. I knew his body as well as I knew my own.

“Why are you running?” This dude’s eyes were burning with earnestness, and I wanted to trust him.

“Quinn’s an Omega. He presented late.”

Quinn gasped. “Susannah!”

I continued. Had to take a leap. “He’s been promised to a really shitty person, and it would not be a good outcome for him. So we had to run. Quinn deserves to be happy, and not the fucktoy of some jacked-up Alpha douche three times his age.”

The guy was silent for a long time, his eyes flicking between the two of us. “I know a little bit about being in that kind of situation.” He sucked in a deep breath. “The name’s Jericho. I think I can help.”

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SUSANNAH

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