Page 67 of Crave

When she gets out, I want to be a part of their Pack. We should make our move. Bond them. Pledge ourselves. Whatever the Manix term is for a group orgy where they’re tied to us forever.

A smirk curled my face, because like always, we were on the same wavelength. “It’s not just them though. It's Merrick and Murphy. It’s Tanner. We’d be tying ourselves to them all.”

The more the merrier. I want this, Jericho. More than I’ve wanted anything, except to be alive. I want to be able to touch her, and kiss him, anytime I want. I like the Alphas. I really like Tanner. I want this,he repeated.

“Okay, okay. I’m with you on this. How do we make it happen?”

Bowie held my eyes.We make our intentions clear, first to the Alphas, and then to the Omegas. Because as much as I hate it, if they had to choose between us, or Merrick and Murphy, we wouldn’t come out on top.

I nodded, but surprisingly, I wasn’t jealous. They’d known Merrick and Murphy for years, since they were children. They had a wealth of memories and feelings that had accrued over their lives. It wasn’t a competition, but if it was, Bowie was correct—we’d lose.

I picked up the secondary talisman Electra had given us, which was sitting in the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. I unwrapped it from its velvet bag, imbued with a dampener to contain the magic inside.

I can’t believe you’re keeping the magical equivalent of my body in among the stone fruits.

“At least I won’t lose it there.” I really needed to make some sort of pendant out of it, so it could be worn and protected. For now, I just stuffed it in my pocket. “Let’s go.”

The Alphas were out behind the back of the house, cutting wood and constructing something that looked like a sex swing, but probably wasn't. Merrick was sawing, his powerful body bent over the workhorse, and his jeans were snug over his butt and thighs. He was sexy as hell.

“They are really fucking hot though, right? I mean, look at that ass. I bet he can crack walnuts with that.”

Merrick stood up, looking over at me, an amused expression on his face.

“Bowie, the rock means everyone can hear your inside voiceon the fucking outside,” I hissed, but I was the only one who could see Bowie’s look of horror.

Murphy’s eyes danced with mirth as he stood and stretched his muscles, showing a peek of his flat abdominals. “Bowie’s here?”

I nodded. Bowie cleared his throat, walking over to squeeze their arms, the sign we’d decided on to let everyone know he was in the room. “Hey.”

Merrick’s eyebrows climbed his forehead. “Holy shit, you’re so much stronger now. Those shiny rocks actually do something.”

I laughed. Such a Manix response to magic. “Yeah, they do. I don’t have enough juice to power the moonstones and make him visible, but you can touch and hear him. Two out of five senses isn’t bad.”

Merrick was looking around where Bowie was. Kind of. “How’s Zanny?”

Bowie’s sigh shifted the hair on his forehead. That was new. Normally, his incorporeal form stayed the same, no matter what he did.Interesting.

“Sad. That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. We want to be a Pack.Iwant to be a Pack. And I also want to make her feel better anyway I can, including…” He trailed off, like he couldn’t find the right words.

“Including with your ghost dick?” Murphy supplied, and Bowie flushed.

“Yeah, basically.”

“Why are you here? We have no say over Susannah or who she shares her body with. She’ll be the first to tell you that.”

I smiled, because no one told Susannah to do a damn thing. “But you’re the Alphas. This will be your Pack eventually. It would be your name after mine, under the Manix traditions. We want you to accept us. I know that we’re problematic.” I was a designationless hybrid and Bowie was a ghost; problematic was a little of an understatement.

They were silent for a moment, looking at each other, and then at us.

“Follow up questions, and remember, we’ll know if you’re lying,” Murphy said, holding up a finger. “A T. Rex is rampaging through Moonburst.”

I screwed up my face. “What?”

He raised his finger. “Shh, listen. A T. Rex is rampaging through Moonburst. Sitting in the middle of the railway tracks is Quinn, hog-tied, looking like a sexy dinosaur snack. Beside him is a million dollars in a briefcase, covered in steaks. The T. Rex is almost there, and you have to choose which one to save. Which do you choose?”

Bowie snorted. “Easy. Quinn. Every damn time.”

“Second follow-up question: same scenario, except you have to choose between Susannah and four cubs. Not our cubs, just random ones.”

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