Page 54 of Crave

Safe. They were safe.

32

SUSANNAH

The birth of the Fletcher-Wiley-Reid cubs shifted the flow of gossip from Quinn and me onto a topic more pleasant. The birth of a litter of cubs from a male Omega was still a miracle too new not to be the subject on everyone's lips. It gave us a good couple of days reprieve from the judgemental glares of the townspeople.

It also deflected speculation about Jericho, who Tanner had adopted like a stray puppy. Most people just assumed he was part of the Moonburst Coven, and the Coven just eyed him warily every time they saw him. Not quite as badly as they reacted to Tanner, though they’d thawed to him a little. He really was hard not to love.

I should know.

In comparison, when I saw the witch-Manix hybrid, I felt an entire gamut of emotions. A flaring of an old crush, gratitude at the only person who’d known and kept our secret for so long, and anger at the man who lied. So damn confusing.

Murphy and Merrick had been wildly overprotective, not going out to work. Instead, they’d been working hard on the house. Their Packhouse. Maybe, one day, our Packhouse too. They didn’t put pressure on us, but they asked us for our opinion on a lot of things.

“Susannah, what color is the most calming for an Omega?”

“Quinn, which fabrics are the most comfortable for Omegas to lie on?”

It was always a generic “Omega” and never “Which ones do you like?” Like they were trying not to pressure us, despite the fact they’d been very clear it was us they wanted. Murphy’s Beast had made thatveryclear.

They were also wary of Jericho, watching him closely if they saw him in the distance. Quinn didn’t seem to have my misgivings, though.

Tanner had invited us over for dinner tonight, and I was desperate to spend more time with him after our little moment in his clinic a few days ago, so I agreed. Merrick and Murphy had insisted on coming too.

Yippee, sounded like it was going to be a very relaxing night. Not.

Quinn had stepped into the room and basically purred at Jericho, who watched us both with heavy, hot eyes. There was no doubt in my mind he was attracted to us. But he was equally as protective as my Alphas.

Tanner hooked an arm around my waist as we stood in the backyard of the duplex. He was grilling meat, and I’d brought a salad. The guys had insisted on bringing the beer and dessert, all picked up from the tiny little commissary/general store that had been inundated with enough staples to feed the Roman army.

“That looks a bit wild. Like two swamp rats fighting over a bone.”

I snorted. “Colorful imagery.” He wasn’t wrong, though. Jericho and Merrick were eyeing each other from either side of the yard, especially since Quinn was flirting up a storm with Jericho.

“What do you think of him?” I asked. My blond vampire squeezed me tighter, which made me feel safe, but also kind of freaked me out. If Tanner wanted to, he could squeeze me so tightly that my organs would crush. Relationships were funny like that, where the balance of physical power was skewed so far one way, you had to have faith that one day they wouldn’t snap and kill you. That was a new one for me—even as a female Manix, I could probably hold my own against anyone but the most powerful of us. I’d been trained to fight by my father, honed by growing up with Alpha brothers. I could fight.

But against Tanner? I stood no chance.

This must be how human females felt.

“I’m not going to pretend that I know the guy. But he seems all right to me. His story is kind of fucked, but so is mine. So is yours. Doesn’t make us bad people.” Tanner kissed the side of my head. Aussies were touchy-feely people, I’d come to realize. “I mean, he did go full Sting ‘Every Breath You Take’for a decade, watching you guys from afar like a creeper. But I don’t think he was doing it in a jack-off-in-the-bushes kind of way. More like a guardian angel who couldn’t actually help you.”

I stared up at him, wide-eyed. “You’re really selling this, you know. Not.”

How anyone could not fall for Tanner was beyond me. He was just so pure, so empathetic. Even though I knew very little about his life before he was a vampire. “Did you leave a wife behind when you got turned by Scuba Steve?”

Tanner shook his head. “Nah, I was a shitty doctor in the slum parts of Sydney. Plus, Australia in the early 1800s was a massive sausage fest. You had convicts or soldiers, and the only women were in chains for fifteen to life. Not much opportunity for romance. It was better that way really— I didn’t have anyone who’d cry that I was gone, and the break from my old life was swift and easy. Not everyone is that lucky.”

“Only you would call being bitten by a shark lucky.”

He huffed a laugh. “Well, yeah. But without it, there was a whole world I’d have never known about, right? I would have just continued with my boring life, until I either burned out at thirty, or stuck it out and married some uptight gentleman’s daughter and lived until I had thirteen spoiled kids, a dog, and played lawn bowls twice a week to escape them all.”

“I’ll remember to send Jaws a christmas card as a thank you,” I teased, squeezing his hand. “We better go make peace before it comes to blows.”

“You go. I’ll finish off dinner.” He kissed my head and slapped my ass, sending me off toward the guys like I was a ship on my maiden voyage.

I moved toward Merrick, linking my fingers with his and Murphy’s, then dragged them with me to where the other two were talking. Quinn laughed at something Jericho said, and the way the hybrid—or Mitch, as Tanner called him—watched my mate made something in my chest flutter. He gazed at him almost in awe, like all his dreams were coming true or something.

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