Page 113 of Pack Rivals: Part Two
The boat cuts through the water and soon we’re out of the harbor, and into the deeper water, the ocean turning the color of Connor’s eyes beneath the belly of the boat. A little further and Axel and Angel are yelling instructions to the others.
“I gotta help the others,” Silver whispers and I sigh, enjoying my snuggle with him. He chuckles. “It’s all hands on deck running a ship like this.” He jumps to his feet. “In fact,” he holds out his hand, “I think you’d better help too.”
“Me? This is my first time on a boat. Put me in charge of anything and we’ll probably sink.”
“In that case …” he says, yanking me up and tugging me along behind him. We stop alongside Axel at the yacht’s wheel.
Axel automatically steps aside, gesturing to the wheel. “You want a go?”
“I don’t want to sink your dad’s boat.”
“I won’t let you sink it,” he says, coming to stand behind me and guiding my hands to the wheel.
Silver winks at me and then hurries off to help Hardy unwind a second sail. Soon, four large, crisp white sails are flapping in the wind above our heads, cracking like whips.
Angel yells more orders and ropes are pulled, booms swing and then the sails catch the air and billow out like the skirts of a wedding dress.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, gazing up into the yards of material. “I wouldn’t have expected a boat to be beautiful.”
“Told you she was,” Axel says, nuzzling my ear. “But probably best to keep your eye on the water, Omega.”
“Whoops,” I say, dragging my eyes back to the crystal waves. I don’t really know what I’m doing. In fact, I don’t think I’m doing anything really. Axel is doing most of the steering. But it’s still a thrill to stand here, with this alpha at my back, the sails billowing above me, the boat slicing through the ocean, the sun on my face and the sea breeze in my hair.
“Join us,” Axel whispers, “join our pack, and you will always be the rudder to our ship.”
I twist my head to look at him.
“The rudder? That doesn’t sound very romantic. Shouldn’t I be the sails, or the bow?”
“No, the rudder, Omega, because you’ll always be in control, setting the course for our journey, dictating every direction that we take.”
I twist around in his arms, the wheel at my back, the alpha at my front. I twine my arms around his neck and stand up onto my toes and kiss him.
“I don’t need to be the rudder,” I tell him when finally I pull away, sinking back down to the soles of my feet. “But I would like to be a part of this ship.”
24
Nate
The Bond shimmers.
All bright light and sparkling fucking crystals.
So deep so intense, I feel it right in the center of my gut, in the core of my being.
I spin around and he’s kissing her, kissing her up against the wheel of the ship. Kissing her like I’ve never seen him kiss a girl before.
Like he’s in fucking love.
Of course, it’s love, asshole,he says through our bond.
And I drag my eyes from them to find all the others watching too.
Angel, Silver and Hardy, they aren’t a part of our bond, but I know they feel this too. Or maybe they can read it in the way he holds her tight, like he’ll never let anyone or anything steal her from him.
We stand there, stand there mesmerized like we’re watching the fucking dawn of time.
Then something changes.
