Page 41 of Crave

“I’m sorry, Tanner. I’ll only tell the Alpha General, though, and if I know the kind of man Courtland is, he’ll slap you on the back in thanks and keep you around.”

I lowered my head. “I understand.”

I could feel the eyes of the Pack on me, and Raine raised brows. “Interesting fan club you got there. They’ve certainly changed your scent.”

I flushed. “I had to help them through the heat. I haven’t had time to de-scent just yet.”

Raine’s face was contorted into a polite mask of concern, but her eyes were definitely laughing at me. “Very noble of you, Tanner.”

I hadn’t realized my feet were carrying me back toward the Omegas subconsciously, but soon enough, I was back in front of them. Judge gave me a shithead grin. “We’ll let you guys get on with it.” The mirth from his face slid away. “Sorry about the shit outcome. It ain’t fun, but at least it ain’t forever. You never know what’ll happen today, tomorrow, or two hundred years from now. You should take happiness where you can while you can. Then come home to us, when you’re ready.”

His eyes flicked to Susannah, and I knew what he was saying, but my brain rebelled against it. I wasn’t ready for that. I doubted I’deverbe ready for what he was suggesting.

It was obvious to both of them, probably because I was a shit poker player, that I was interested in the Omegas—hell, I was even fond of the Alphas—but they were Manix, and therefore mortal.

And I was not.

It was something that Judge and Raine would have to deal with in their own family, but it wasn’t something I was ready to think about or inflict on myself. Shaking my head, I gave him a tight smile I didn't feel. “We should go.”

Susannah reached out and gripped my hand, and I looked down at her. Ready or not, they were here, and I wasn’t sure my heart was going to give my head a choice.

25

MURPHY

We were back on the road again, hightailing it out of Dark River before sunrise like we were desperados. It had been surprisingly easy for Tanner to pack up his life into a couple of boxes, which he loaded into the back of the SUV.

He seemed… sad. No, resigned. And it was making my Beast mad. I didn’t know why, though; he wasn’t Pack. He wasn’t Manix. He was neither Omega nor Beta. Nothing about him should set off my Beast’s instincts, but I still wanted to give him a hug and thrum soothingly for him.

I didn’t know which of us would be more weirded out if that happened. I had to face the fact that since the heat, when he drank from me, the status of the good doctor had changed in my eyes. He’d gone from being a peripheral figure in Manix society, to someone important to me. A friend, at least. Maybe even part of the Pack, though it didn’t exist just yet.

I looked over at Merrick. I dug into our bond and felt his own contemplative thoughts. I wasn’t sure if we were thinking the same thing, but he was definitely thinking about Susannah and Quinn and the Pack we wanted to build.

We were going to swap out drivers and go straight through to Moonburst, Montana, where the rest of the Manix had landed. Tanner was taking the first shift until the sun through the windshield got too bright, and then one of us would take over.

My poor Omegas were exhausted. Quinn’s head was on my shoulder, his eyes closed, his plush lips open slightly so I could hear his gentle snores. Susannah had her face buried hard into his hip, inhaling him with every breath. They were so fucking cute, they made my heart grow ten sizes. I wanted them forever.

Finally, the scent of Tanner’s emotions got too much for me. “Are you okay, man?”

Both Merrick and I watched his face for answers that wouldn’t necessarily come out of his mouth. “I’m fine. This is what I planned on doing anyway, so it makes no difference.”

“There’s a difference between voluntarily coming to Moonburst and being ejected from your home,” Merrick murmured.

Tanner nodded, but didn’t add anything. Only the soft sound of sleeping Omegas broke the silence.

“We owe you,” Merrick said eventually. “A debt that can’t really be paid because there’s nothing I value more than their lives.”

Tanner sighed. “I don’t expect repayment for doing what's right. I wasn’t lying—I’d do it again, even knowing that I’d be kicked out of home, like some delinquent child caught smoking weed in his parent’s garage.” He shook his head. “It was the right thing to do, and sometimes the right thing has hard consequences. One doesn’t negate the other.”

Fuck, he was breaking my heart. “We should talk about the Omegas,” I said softly to them both.

“We’ve talked about this, remember?” Tanner said. “You’re going to court them, then in a couple of months time the inevitable will happen. You’ll bond, because you’d have to be blind and stupid not to see the connection between the four of you.”

Merrick tilted his head. “And what aboutyourintentions?” Tanner went to protest; you could see it on his face, but Merrick interrupted. “Don’t be stupid and tell me you were just doing your job—we aren’t fools, Tanner. You want them; I can see it in the longing way you watch them. Iknowbecause I’ve looked at them the very same way for ten Goddess-damned years. I was on the outside, watching someone else touching the Omegas I wanted so badly, it was an ache in my heart. Every time that fucker Wilkie laid a hand on them, it was a lash to my soul.”

I leaned forward in my seat, but not so much that Quinn’s head shifted from my shoulder. He squirmed, trying to get comfortable, and I lifted my fingers, stroking them through his short hair until he went back to sleep.

“Don’t be an idiot. They want you as well. God, sometimes Susannah looks at you like she wants to eat you, not the other way around.” I grinned, so he knew I wasn’t taking a stab at his species. “Don’t let your fear stop you from taking something that’s so freely offered.”

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