Page 64 of Crave

“Wow,” I breathed. “It’s really nice to meet you finally, Bowie.”

“Say my name again?” he whispered, his voice rough.

“Bowie.”

He let out a shuddering breath that puffed over my face, telling me how close he really was to me. “I’ve been invisible for so long. You have no idea how this feels.” He cleared his throat. “Fuck, she’s beautiful, her lips parted so I can kiss her or maybe put my di—”

I cleared my throat. “You realize your thoughts are out loud now, right?”

The presence of Bowie leapt off the bed beside me, and he groaned. “Fuck. I’m sorry. Shit. This is going to take some getting used to. Is it too late to go back to being invisible?”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I laughed until tears streamed down my face, flopping back onto the hard bed. I laughed until a different Legion soldier came to check on me. “Are you okay, Omega?”

I wiped my arm across my eyes. “Sure. I’m sorry. It's been a hard twenty-four hours. I like to talk to myself to calm down. You know, meditation and manifestation and all that stuff. Sorry if I woke you.”

The soldier—who seemed familiar but I didn’t know his name—just nodded, his eyes soft. “Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.”

“You could let me out?”

He gave me a pained expression. “Anything but that.”

He walked away, and I lay back down on the blankets. “Bowie?”

“Yeah?”

“Do ghosts spoon?”

A chuckle echoed around the room. I couldn’t tell where he was, but I knew he was here. His warm scent filled the space around me, like an orange grove in summer. “We sure do. Well, this one does, at least.” His voice was warm and fluid, washing over me like a weighted blanket.

I curled up on my side, and then a hard body was behind mine, pressed along my back, knees tucked up behind mine. An arm slung over my waist and lips pressed to the base of my neck, making me feel better than I had since I got thrown into this hellhole.

“You won’t be here much longer, Susannah. They are going to get you out, even if they have to raze the whole town to do it,” he whispered softly against my neck.

My body relaxed. “Bowie?”

“Mmm?”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too, Omega. Me too.”

38

TANNER

“This is fucking insane.Do something,” I barked at the Alpha General, but he just raised an eyebrow. I guess he wasn’t used to people telling him what to do.

“I am doing something, vampire, and you better watch your tone.”

I stepped closer to his desk. “Or fucking what?”

Courtland narrowed his eyes at me. “I understand that you’re worried right now, so I’m going to let the fucking challenge in your eyes slide. But if you don’t back the hell up, I’m going to expel you frommy goddamn town!”He growled the last bit, and the Alpha command of it brushed over my skin like tiny needles.

I sucked in a few deep breaths, stepping back. “I’m sorry, mate.”

The Alpha General shook his head. “I understand, Tanner. I get being riled up by fear for your Packmate. I promise you, I’m working on it. I put these laws in place to stop the Manix from being a lawless Wild West—where might equaled right—so I can’t outright overrule it. I could have squashed the idea before it started, but they purposefully went around me.”

I growled again, a sound worthy of a beast, and resisted the urge to put my fist through the cheap particleboard walls. This was stupid. She hadn’t done it, and Courtland knew she hadn’t.

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