Page 36 of Crave

Don’t murder peoplewas pretty up there.

“Let’s go,” Merrick said softly, and we did the combined awkward walk of shame. Yeah, they were going to have to have a talk, because even dead, I was still affected by the sheer chemistry the four of them had.

We climbed back into the misappropriated SUV, and Murphy slid into the passenger seat beside me. I tried not to laugh at the look of longing he threw at the back seat. They really,reallyneeded to have that talk.

I pulled out onto the bumpy dirt road and made my way back to the highway. There were only four or so hours until we made it to Dark River. We should arrive about seven p.m., which was basically early morning for a vampire town. Hopefully, we could sneak in without raising too many questions.

I snorted at the idea. There were no secrets in Dark River. The silence seemed to get heavier the further away from the little heat oasis cabin we got.

Eventually, it was too much for me. I couldn’t deal with the tension that came with unsaid things. “Okay, out with it. This is literally killing me for the second time.”

Murphy startled, whipping his head toward me. “What?”

I sighed. “The amount of unresolved feelings is giving me hives. Merrick and Murphy, it is very obvious to everyone in this car with a heartbeat—me included—that you desperately want Quinn and Susannah. Am I wrong?”

Susannah glared at me from the back. “Tanner, it’s not that easy.”

“But why?”

“Because we’ve just come out of a relationship where we were someone's property. I’m not in a hurry to be someone's property again.”

Merrick stared at her. “You think we want you asproperty?” he said incredulously. “We don’t want to own anyone, least of all you and Quinn.”

Quinn, who seemed less stubborn than Susannah, tilted his head. “Then what do you want? From our experience, and the experience of other Omegas, that's essentially what we become. Breeders. Possessions. Status symbols.”

Murphy snorted. “You think Raiden is a status symbol? You think he considers himself a possession?”

Yeah, I’d met Raiden and Naja, the Omegas for the Huxley-Grey Pack. There was definitely a pecking order in that Pack, and it started and ended with those Omegas. Their Pack adored them. They would lay down their lives just to make their Omegas happy.

But I’d seen other Omegas in Maxton’s Packs, who were treated exactly how Quinn was describing, especially in the older Packs. It was even worse for the Betas. The Manix had definitely been designationist—probably not a word—in the past, and I didn’t think the new wave of changes had been around long enough to create any real systematic change.

However, Quinn was wrong about these two Alphas. Anyone with eyes could see that, but I kept my thoughts to myself though. They needed to work through this at their own pace, now that I’d nudged them in the right direction.

Who said my psych rotation wouldn’t come in handy?

Susannah snorted. “We both know the Huxley-Grey Pack is the exception rather than the rule for just about everything.”

Merrick gripped her hand. “And so are we. We’ve wanted you since we were kids—both of you.” He looked between them, his face almost painfully sincere. “We wanted you even when you rejected us for someone who treated you like crap. Every Omega, every Beta, every other Packmate we’ve tried to take hasn’t been right, because it's always been you.”

Something got in my eye, and I blinked it away rapidly. Yeah. That’s what was happening. There was no crying in baseball.

I snorted internally. I had let Quinn suck my cock like he was a Dyson, so I was pretty sure toxic masculinity had gone right out the window this week. But still, I swallowed down the emotion.

Murphy seemed to be panicking at Merrick’s declaration. “We’ll take it at your pace, Omegas. Let us show you that we aren’t like the old Manix Packs. Let us show you how we think you should be treated. It doesn’t matter to us if you’re Omega, Beta or Alpha. It’s you we want. It’s always been you.”

Quinn and Susannah looked at each other, having a silent conversation. As the heavy silence dragged on, I thought I’d have to intervene again. Finally, Susannah nodded. “We’ll try, but no commitments. Not yet.”

Merrick grinned and leaned forward, kissing her hard on the lips, then dragging Quinn across her lap and kissing him too. I swerved a little before focusing back on the road.

The Steve Miller Band was on to something,“I really am the Gangster of Love”.

22

QUINN

Apart from our brief hiatus in California, neither Susannah or I had ever been out of Maxton, or the tiny town beside it. We’d gotten our education at the school there, and Wilkie had never let us get any higher qualifications, so we’d never needed to do college online.

But we could have traveled the world and never found any place quite like Dark River. As we drove through the place was lit up like it was summer solstice, with barely visible shadows that I knew where vampires darted around.

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