Page 72 of Crave

Striding over, I hurdled a row of chairs, knowing Tanner would catch me. He’d always catch me. Not disappointing me, he caught me mid-air, dragging me safely against his body. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him hard. It was a possessive claim, and I hoped everyone here knew. He was mine.

A hand tugged at mine, and I looked over at Jericho, who seemed unsure what to do. I made the decision for him though, using that hand to pull him closer until his lips collided with mine. Life was short, and I no longer cared what people thought. I’d leave this town so fucking fast if it meant I could be free and happy with them.

Someone cleared their throat, but there was definitely amusement in the sound. “Take it back to your nest, Omega. This is a court of law.”

I looked over at Dominic and smiled. “You got it.”

42

QUINN

We slept in one huge pile for two days. I wasn’t more than three feet from Susannah the whole time. We piled into Merrick and Murphy’s house, and without the stress of her looming execution, I could appreciate how hard they’d thrown themselves into making this place perfect. I had no doubt they’d used their anger and worry to fuel themselves. As a result, this place was a dream.

They’d furnished the house in all the colors we’d suggested, and it was bright and open. They’d also knocked out a few walls—definitely the work of some pent-up aggression—and now the whole bottom floor was open plan.

It was there we’d pulled all the mattresses, blankets, and pillows we could find in the house, and camped out until the whole thing seemed like a nightmare in the past.

On the third day, Radic had come around and told us that they’d found my parents guilty of trafficking and had exiled them from both Manix communities. They’d packed their bags and left, and the witches had reset the boundaries to expel them, making sure it would be quite painful if they ever returned. I hoped they tried at least once, so they could get a taste of the pain they’d inflicted on Susannah and I. But more than that, more than my wish for revenge, I wished that I never had to see them again. Radic said he was checking in with all my siblings, making sure they were mated of their own free will and not because my parents were getting kickbacks.

I had been younger than my siblings by a decade. I didn’t even know most of them, because they’d gone off to their own Packs before I was six.

With everything sorted, we were kind of in a stasis. We’d been through too much to casually go back to courting, but we were still somewhat strangers.

I was in the kitchen, making some kind of pasta from scratch with Jericho. He was hesitant still, like he didn’t know where he fit. Even Bowie seemed to be closer to Susannah than Jericho; having spent so much time with her in her cell, they'd bonded over the trauma.

Jericho was on the outside looking in, and that made me sad. My Omega couldn’t stand the thought. He mightn’t know how to soothe him, because Jericho wasn’t an Alpha or a Beta, but he was ours, and we’d make him happy.

“Now we wrap it and let it rest,” he said softly, covered in flour and fingers sticky with dough.

“For how long?” I asked, my brain whirling as a plan formed. We were the same height, and I gazed into his dark eyes.

“Thirty minutes. Two hours, max.”

“Two hours? That’s good. Plenty of time.” I grabbed his hand, uncaring that it was sticky, and dragged him into the living room. Tanner was curled around Susannah, who was holding the joined hands of Merrick and Murphy as they watched some nineties movie that Tanner had insisted on.

“That’s not how it happens at all,” Bowie said, and I thought he might be on the couch.

Tanner hushed him. “This is a classic. Just appreciate the beauty of Patrick Swayze shirtless.”

Murphy laughed at the big, blond vampire. “I thought you didn’t ‘swing that way,’” he teased.

Tanner looked up at me, his eyes dancing. “Apparently, sometimes I can be swayed.”

I grinned down at him. We hadn’t had sex, not yet, but Tanner showed his love in other ways. He held me close, kissed me, murmured terribly dirty things he wanted to see me do with Susannah. He protected me. Defended me. I wouldn’t even care if our relationship never progressed beyond that, because I had enough dick to get by, but you could never have enough love.

I cleared my throat. “If I could interrupt? The pasta needs to rest for two hours.”

Merrick frowned at me, his eyes drifting to Jericho as if he had the answers. The man beside me just shrugged. “Uh, that’s good, Omega?”

“Just enough time to bond as a Pack so we can keep you all forever.”

Someone gasped, like they were in a centenarian book club and I’d just suggested they read a smutty alien romance.

“Now?” Susannah asked, but she didn’t seem concerned.

I nodded. “No time like the present, and I don’t want anyone to go another day without knowing how I feel about them.” I looked at Jericho. “All of you.”

Susannah sat up. “Well, I’m in. If you’ll have us.”

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