Page 43 of Crave

Moonburst was the opposite of Maxton. Not just in the landscape, which was flat and wide, it traveled on for as long as my eyes could follow until the plains melted into the horizon. It wasn’t just the obvious signs that humans had once inhabited the town from train tracks, grain silos, mining equipment that sat abandoned and rusted, a bar, and hastily thrown together houses. No, it was the fact that here, the Manix were out of their element with the witches who walked casually down the street, they greeted people happily, handing over bushels of vegetables to wary Manix, like a cat giving a human a dead rabbit. Magic literally hummed through the ground, wrapping up and around us, and it was so casual that it formed part of the landscape. I watched a witch frown at a garden plot, wave her hands, and then the cabbage increased three sizes.

We were out of our element, but it was for the best, I thought. Too long we’d stagnated, believing we were the center of the universe. Being out in the world would be good for us as a whole.

We entered another small wood-paneled building, much like the rest. It was slightly raised, so you had to walk up a few steps—probably to keep it out of the snow—and it had a thick wooden door, faded by age. A shit-ton of plants hung off the sagging gables. I was sensing a trend.

Courtland held the door open, and inside was his second-in-command, Dominic. The Beta wolf shifter got to his feet with a grin. “Tanner! Thought you were dead, brother. Rick. Murph. Sight for sore eyes.” He bowed his head low at Susannah, though his wide smile remained. “Omega.” He cocked his head a little to the side, one eyebrow raising. “Um, Omegas?”

Courtland huffed. “It's a long story; I’ll fill you in later. Grab me the keys to the back?” Dominic nodded, handing him a ring of keys. Courtland walked further into the building. “This was the lock-up when this was a human mining town. The bar is conveniently next door. Not much to hold a Manix, though the witches helped, but it’s been adapted for our current purposes. Though, I think it has more to do with this inmate's willingness to play nice than anything else.”

We stepped into the holding area, a single walled cell occupying the back corner. We stopped in front of it, confused. But both my Omegas went rigid beside me, and Susannah’s gasp echoed around the silence.

“Jericho?”

26

SUSANNAH

Of all the things I thought I’d find in Moonburst, Jericho wouldn’t have made the list. He looked exactly the same as he had ten years ago, all dark eyes and dark edges, but with a busted nose. My accusing gaze shot to Courtland at the sight of the split lip and the healing cut.

“So, he didn’t play nice right from the start. Communication issue. We’re over it.” The Alpha General had the good grace to look a little ashamed.

“Susannah. Quinn. Fuck, it’s good to see you guys alive and well.” Jericho’s voice was exactly how I remembered it. Dark and deep, a caress across my skin. He had more tattoos now, though. They moved up his arms, and from what I could see, across his chest until they crawled toward his jaw.

I stepped closer to the bars, and Merrick growled. I threw him an annoyed look, then turned away, purposefully ignoring him. “What are you doing here? Your cabin?”

Jericho shook his head. “Burned. Wind changed and came down the other side of the mountain. I could have stopped it from consuming the place, but it would have looked as suspicious as hell.” He shrugged. “Didn’t need to stay there anymore anyway.”

There was so much about this witch I didn’t understand. I’d almost convinced myself that he was a figment of a shared hallucination between Quinn and I, except every month Quinn’s suppressant pills had appeared on the edge of Manix territory, like clockwork.

Ah fuck. The pills.I casually looked over at the Alpha General, trying not to seem suspicious. My shock had given everything away. Maybe he hadn’t noticed.

A scoffing laugh quickly disabused me of that notion. “I can add very well, Omega, and two and two in this case definitely equals four. Jericho was creating the suppressants for you.”

My eyes flicked back to Jericho, and I grabbed the bars. “I swear I didn’t tell him your name or anything about you. He just wanted to know why Quinn was suddenly an Omega, and I didn’t think it would hurt because you were long gone. I didn’t know—”

“It’s fine, Susannah. I made the decision to follow yo—the Manix to Moonburst. It was bound to come out eventually.” He looked at Quinn. “I got worried when you stopped picking up your meds. I thought your Alpha might have gone too far.” His eyes went cold and flat. “Which one of you is Wilkie?” There was violence in his tone, an audible challenge that Wilkie definitely would have taken up if he was here. As it was, both Alphas growled. Quinn put a gentle hand on both of their bodies, gripping Murphy’s hand and laying a soothing palm on Merrick’s spine.

Shaking my head, I looked at the witch I barely knew, but who’d kept all our secrets for a decade anyway. “Wilkie is no longer an issue,” I said carefully, but that was all Jericho needed.

His eyebrows raised slightly. “Good.”

I sucked in a shaky breath. “Can we get him out of the cell? He doesn’t need to be in there.”

But the Alpha General wasn’t having any of it. “He’s in there for a reason, Omega. It isn’t because he was selling untested drugs to the Omegas of a dying race either.”

Jericho’s lip curled. “I wasn’t selling them drugs. I was protecting them.They were scared and running for their lives. What would you have me do? Send them back to an abusive society? An Alpha General who wouldn’t help them? Parents who gave them away, like they were two heads of oxen with a damn plow?”

I could feel Murphy’s eyes on my face, but I didn’t look at him or Merrick. Not yet. “Then why is he in there? He isn’t a criminal. He saved our lives. He’s the reason we weren’t bonded to fucking Wilkie.”

Jericho’s fingers brushed over mine. “Calm, Susannah.” But the small touch was too much for Merrick and Murphy. With a growl, Merrick pushed me behind him, snarling in Jericho’s direction, and Murphy did the same, his body caging Quinn between his body and the wall.

Tanner was suddenly there, standing between the bars and the two Alphas, who were doing their best impression of territorial dogs fighting over a couple of bones. “Okay, now. Easy. I’d suggest you don’t touch the Omegas until we get this all sorted out.” He looked expectantly at Courtland. “Is he in here because he’s dangerous?”

The Alpha General stared at Jericho. “He snuck into Moonburst. It took three Legion soldiers and two witches to get him in here. At first we thought he might be a poacher taking the opportunities presented now that the Manix have left Maxton.”

“And now?” Quinn asked softly.

“Now we don’t know. He’s a whole different type of problem.”

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