Page 48 of Crave

Susannah looked at me and raised an eyebrow, but I noticed her eyes scanning the people around us, searching for a threat.

“Sorry, I was just thinking,” I murmured, slinging an arm over her shoulder.

She frowned. “Didn’t seem like happy thoughts.”

I waved a hand. “It was nothing.” I hadn’t realized how attached to those Alphas my Beast had become. I didn’t want to unduly influence Zanny, though. She’d bent enough to accommodate me. This time I’d bend for her. “Let’s get some coffee first.”

I walked into the little cafe, and the old witch with wild hair behind the counter smiled at us broadly. There was another witch writing hurriedly in a journal on the other side of the room, and two other Manix who looked kinda nervous.

“Hello, guests. Welcome to Moonburst. You’re new.”

I blinked at the woman’s booming voice. It was deep and kinda husky for a woman. “We just arrived,” Susannah replied, walking up to the counter. “I’m Susannah, and this is my mate, Quinn.”

The woman grinned. “I’m Wilbur. Yes, I know it's a man’s name. Spent the first seventy years of my life as one. This”—she waved at her boobs—“was all due to an unfortunate transfiguration spell in the 80s. Zero out of ten stars, would not recommend.” The witch in the corner snorted, but Wilbur kept looking at us consideringly. “You look like a double-shot latte kinda girl. Sweet and creamy but with a little kick,” she—he—said to Susannah, who nodded. Wilbur turned to me. “Oh, and you definitely have a sweet tooth. I bet you're a mocha kind of Omega.”

I huffed a laugh. “That would be great.”

We chatted with Wilbur while she made the coffees. Apparently, the cafe was new. Well, not new—it had always been here, but closed. The arrival of the Manix had brought it back to life. Apparently, it was the same with a lot of the businesses in Moonburst. The way Wilbur told it, before we arrived, the whole place had almost been dying, just the bare bones of a coven to keep the place alive.

“The Manix arriving is a blessing. Or maybe it was that smooth-talking Loren who was the blessing. Now the town is alive again with life and magic—the way it was supposed to be.”

I’d never met the witch Loren, one of the Alpha General’s most trusted friends, but I knew that Merrick and Murphy had grieved for him. They’d be glad he was alive.

We stepped out of the cafe and back into the warm summer air. The great plains stretched out in front of us, and that much space made me feel exposed.

Susannah tilted her face to the sun. “I want to go see my father before he goes back to Maxton.”

Gah, she was beautiful. “You don’t want to go with him?”

She turned to look at me like I’d lost my fucking mind. “Go back to Maxton? Fuck no, Quinn. Goddess. We’ll visit, but that town is the last place I want to return to.”

I nodded. “But what if they make Merrick and Murphy go back?”

That made her pause. Yeah, she wanted them too. “No point borrowing what ifs. We’ll make sure they stay where they belong—here in Moonburst.”

Thewith usremained unsaid.

“You go see your dad, and I’ll go get our bags from the Legion offices.”

Zanny hesitated. “Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?”

My heart grew ten times in my chest. Dragging her toward me, I gathered her into my arms and held her tight. “The threat is gone. We’re safe,” I whispered in her hair, and she nodded against my chest. It would take time for the trauma of the recent past to dull, but eventually, it would be gone. And then we’d truly be free.

29

MERRICK

You didn’t have to be a trained Legion soldier to know we were being given the side-eye. No one had outright said anything yet, but it was coming. I knew it was.

“Did you kill him?” A young Legion soldier, Ben, fronted up to me with more audacity then he should possess.

“Who are you referring to, Beta?” Sometimes these young soldiers needed to remember who the fuck they were talking to.

“I’m Alpha!”

Murphy snorted derisively beside me. “I’ve taken shits that were more Alpha than you, kid. Fuck off.”

Yeah, the kid obviously didn’t have a lot of brains. He pushed up against Murphy until they were chest to chest. Dominic—who was meant to be running these training drills—just laughed from where he sat on a fence behind us. He knew as well as I did that this kid was about to get his ass kicked. I should stop it, but…

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