Page 53 of Crave

“He was doing real well before he left,” she said on a purr, and fuck, my dick got hard. This was awkward in public.

“How about we skip lunch, and I eat you instead?” I felt her skin pebble beneath my fingers.

“Whore!”

The venomous word made Susannah jerk back, and I growled, my Beast roaring to life. I spun, trying to find the source of the voice. There were at least a dozen other Manix on the street around us, and I snarled.

“Who said that?” No one stepped forward, showing they weren’t as fucking stupid as they sounded. “Step forward and say it to my face, you fucking cowards.”

Everyone was silent, and no one looked in my direction, but I was still snarling. I was close to shifting and just maiming everyone because they were so fucking weak. Unable to hold back the change, my body transformed and my Alpha blanketed across the street.

“She ismine!” My voice was all Beast. “Say it again!” I was growling loudly, and all these fucking sheep Betas looked terrified. As they fucking should, with their flapping jaws but nothing to back it up. “I will fucking gut any person who has the balls to speak to her like that again. And I will eat your fucking heart.”

“Like you did to Wilkie?” someone spat, and I whirled. The woman in front of me was Quinn’s mother, Gwenda, and I peeled back my lip. Fuck, I couldn’t kill my potential mate’s mother, right? “You little slut—I knew you’d lead my boy into ruin. Knew it the moment you got your dirty little Beta hooks into him in elementary school.”

The pure poison in Susannah’s glare told me everything I needed to know about her feelings for Quinn’s parents. Guess murder was back on the menu.

“He’s not your boy. He’s mine now. You have no control over him anymore. You can’t palm him off for power. I hope sucking Wilkie’s dick was worth it, you heinous old hag.”

Quinn’s mother lunged for Susannah, but I was there, stepping in between them with a low growl. The woman showed a tiny ounce of sense and backed up. “I know you killed him, you little whore. I’ll find proof, and then you’ll be dead and gone, and Quinn will be mine to do with as I please once again.”

We were gathering quite a crowd, and my Beast was getting harder to control. He saw a threat to his mate and he couldn’t let that stand. But the man inside me knew this was a bad situation; aggression would only make it worse.

“Wilkie was a piece of shit Alpha that abused his Pack. When Maxton was burning, he ran away like the coward he was, leaving his Omegas to perish. Your loyalty is in the wrong place, and I suggest that either you fuck off like Wilkie”—I let the violence show in my eyes, and I hoped she saw her death reflected there—“or you shut the hell up and never even breathe in the direction of my Omegas again.”

Quinn’s mom, Gwenda, curled her lip at me. “Not your Omegas yet. And if I have my way, they never will be.” With that, she whirled away, pushing through the crowd of people. On the edge of the people was Courtland and Bonnie, one of his Omegas. His eyes flicked to me, and I shrank back to my human form.

Except, I kind of shredded my clothes. Not a big deal for Manix, but the witches squeaked in horror, and one actually covered her eyes.

“Whoops. Sorry.” I covered my dick with my hands.

“For Goddess’s sake,'' someone grumbled, and I turned to see the Witch Electra. She waved her hands at a small patch of grass until it grew and weaved itself together into something resembling a grass loincloth. She plucked it out and handed it to me, her eyes averted but a smirk on her face. I gave her a nod of thanks as I stepped into my brand new grass skirt.

Bonnie looked apologetically at the leader of the Witches. “Apologies, we forgot about that small aspect of Manix society. We’ll put spare clothing bins around town so there's always clothes in case of accidental shifting. Though it doesn’t happen often, except among teens coming into their powers.” There was a light censure in Bonnie’s tone, and I’ll be damned if she didn’t manage to make me feel two inches tall. That was Bonnie’s superpower. Quiet disapproval.

I lowered my eyes to the ground. “Apologies, Omega. Alpha General.” I wasn’t really sorry. I’d do it again.

Courtland’s expression said he knew exactly how remorseful I really was. “Take your Omega home, Murphy. We’ll talk later.”

“Yes, sir.” I grabbed my stuff from the ground and gripped Susannah’s hand, battling the urge to run home, back to our temporary den, back to a place where I could defend her. Shoving my ruined clothes under one arm, I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Merrick.

“Hey?”

“I need you to find Quinn and bring him home. He should be at the temporary Legion offices.”

One thing I loved about Merrick is he didn’t ask questions first. I heard him start running. “I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.” He hung up, and I went back to herding Susannah to my place as fast as possible.

“Murphy…” she started, and I just grunted, picking her up in my arms and moving a little faster. “Hey, it’s okay,” she murmured, holding my face.

I shook my head, but pressed my cheek harder into her hands. “It’s not okay. She threatened you. She threatened Quinn.”

Susannah rolled her eyes. “She’s a bitter old hag, but she isn’t a threat to me or Quinn. Not anymore. She’s powerless. She’s always been powerless. His dad is just a Beta weakling. She’s just mad she’s not getting her kickback from Wilkie anymore. She’ll get over it.” Logically, I knew she was probably right. Didn’t matter, though. Until this threat had passed, or my Beast had chilled the hell out, I wasn’t leaving her alone.

God, I wished I was bonded to her already. I could protect her properly then, and no one would dare to call her names. Susannah didn’t try to dissuade me anymore, just hung on until we made it to the house, up the stairs, and into the beginning of the bedroom we’d begun to work on. It would be Merrick’s eventually, but we were going to work our way through all six bedrooms of this place. The attic space we would eventually turn into a nest, if we stayed. If the Omegas agreed to be ours to cherish forever.

I placed her under the blankets protectively, then climbed beneath them with her. Wrapping my body around hers, I held her tightly, calming my Beast and my heart rate simultaneously.

When Merrick appeared with a pale-looking Quinn, he took one look at me under the blankets and whispered something to my other Omega. Quinn climbed in on the other side of Susannah, his arms going over her and resting on my hip. Merrick hopped in beside him, and I could finally breathe.

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