Chapter 29

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

Iwake up close to one the following afternoon, feeling like a million dollars. Last night seems almost insignificant now I’ve had the chance to sleep. Checking my phone I hit redial in an instant.

“Fuck, Tris, you gave me a heart attack last night. What’s got you being so sappy and sentimental?” Raney’s concern is as loud as her voice is.

“Oh my god, I had the weirdest day and then I got home and Simona’s left, Ho’s over at Verdune and it felt…”

“Come stay here,” she says in an instant except before I can say a word she starts to backtrack. “Well, here as in get a hotel close by and then I’ll come see you because I don’t want you here.”

I laugh at her honesty. “No you won’t. You won’t leave your pack or your new house and you shouldn’t. I’m good now. I was just having such a crappy night.”

“Because your heat is coming?” she suggests sarcastically. “No shit, woman, you are easier to read than a book. Do you not remember I told you that you were stinky not that long ago?”

“And I am still waiting for King to come save me by the way.” I bite my lip to stop giggling at the instant flip of her mood. “So how is pack life?”

As soon as I change the conversation my bestie bounces back. “Fuck, Tris, you have no clue how many times a day I have these epic mood swings. One-minute Koz is holding me on his lap consoling me, next he’s?—”

“No thank you!” I interrupt her. I love her but do not need to know all the kinky shit she’s up to.

Her comment reminds me though. “Raney, I’m coming to visit. So, start figuring out how to make it work. If we plan ahead hopefully that gives you enough notice but I do need to see you.”

“Yeah, I probably need to see you guys too. I miss you so much. I love pack life and the sex is?—”

“Raney!”

She breaks into a round of breathy and girly giggles which is awesome to hear before I hear a low murmur of someone talking to her. She mutes our call for a second and while I wait, I read through the messages Simona and Heidi sent, both full of too much love and like Raney, both of them giving me curry for being sappy too.

I lock up when I read the text from King. He left a few hours ago and he sent an address. But while that’s amazing his text about Tyson is what stops my heart.

Nothing changes between me and you. You know that. Don’t forget to put a dress in one of your hundred bags, we’re going to see Raney after I spend the next week knotting you stupid and scarring your throat with my bite. Need you. K.

“TRISTAN!” Raney’s sour screaming catches me before I dissolve on the spot in happiness. Stupid I know, because we were literally just talking but after reading King’s text, I’m in a completely different headspace.

“What?” I growl.

Raney bites back in an instant, “You what! We were talking…”

“You know other people have a life, right?” I deadpan before she starts laughing when she realises she’s being as much of a dick as I am. Once the tension cuts, we’re instantly moving on. “Hey, when you get a chance, please talk to your pack then let me know when I can come see you.”

“We’re not going anywhere,” she says, except her words get swallowed up as she fucking moans in my ear. Clearly whoever snuck in to see her hasn’t left.

I growl at her. “Don’t ever make sex noises in my ear again, bitch. Or I will return the favour one day and trust me, you will regret it!”

“Yes ma’am,” she purrs.

“And before you do it again because I know you will, I’m going away for a week or so.”

“Be safe then. You know the rules, drop a …”

I hang up when she moans in my ear again. And before I get the chance to wash my ears out, she sends an apology from her and Hayes. Luckily, I like him and I’m insanely happy for her although she’s totally testing our friendship by doing crap like that.

Not talking to her though gives me the chance to pack properly. I want to say I try to pack light but what do you wear when you go tell your best friend you’ve packed her dad? For about a minute I start thinking seriously about where I can get an armour suit before I talk myself out of needing one. I’m mostly sure she won’t hurt me.

With bags packed including all the sweatpants I’ve been storing away for King, I grab enough snacks and drinks and then I’m in my car inputting the coordinates of where I’m going while also texting Big Tom. But apparently he already knows, and he’s waiting out the front of Unity to follow me out. It’s unnecessary but knowing he’s close by is also comforting.

The first hour I stay off my phone because I think if I called anyone, I’d be spilling my secrets since I’m beyond excited. The second hour my happiness has me singing with the windows down ignoring the drop in the temperature.

I call home once I’ve eaten a quick burger at a super cute diner. Food is always a good distraction, but I need something in my stomach when I take suppressors. I wouldn’t usually take one so close to my heat except I think it’s safest, like it would be awful to get stuck in traffic or something and be in the throes of heat. The half tablet I took just takes the edge off. Seriously, I’d have to take a full box of tabs to stop it now. All I’m doing is delaying the inevitable.

After driving for hours, I pull over on the side of the road and use my hands free to call Big Tom even though he’s parked behind me.

“Hey,” I say as soon as he answers, “Don’t come over, I’m getting all heaty and I’ll get all weird if you see me like this. And then I’d probably… God! What am I trying to say!” I ramble, running a hand over my face embarrassed at my inability to properly talk.

“Hmmm, interesting,” he hums slowly, like he’s contemplating life. When he talks again, you can hear his happiness. “Probably explains why you were having trouble seeing the forest from the trees yesterday.”

I laugh. “Okay, Yoda.”

“I’ll wait here for twenty minutes. If anyone turns down the road, I’m following them but otherwise you’ve only got a couple of miles left and you’ll be with him. You good with that?”

“Yeah, of course.” I have to take a small exhale and close my eyes as a tingle of a heat rush takes my focus, but because it’s really early in my heat, it’s over before it starts. “Hey, thanks again for yesterday.”

“You need me, you text me. No matter the reason,” Big Tom says, and I look up in my rear vision mirror and see him wave.

I didn’t think I’d be nervous driving to my happy ever after, but I am seriously shitting bricks. To get a grip of the flurry of nerves making me stupid, I make myself focus on how pretty it is outside. I list an abridged version of what I see, hear, and smell and it’s a good focus. My brain locks on to everything as I drive slowly towards him: the isolation, how far we are away from everyone, endless wildflowers, the sudden drop of the outside blowing in, the smell of snow.

All my focusing tasks go out the window as I pull up to the address he sent.

My hand flies to my chest as I try to take it all in. The lakeside cottage is right out of a romance movie; the home is quaint, definitely not five stars but it’s absolutely adorable.

Nestled under the tallest trees I’ve ever seen, the log cabin with its green pitched roof and matching window trim is nearly as old as the trees. I’d put money on it having a deck out the back because if I owned it, I know I’d built one. The lake behind the house sits like a postcard and I have to take a photo with my phone because I don’t ever want to forget it.

I sit there in stunned silence, taking everything in; the front veranda facing me has two white Adirondack chairs and I make a point for us to sit on them to watch the sun rise. On the side of the house, is a chimney currently chugging smoke.

But it’s King that draws me out of my stupor when he opens the front door of the cabin, walks out, and leans his arms against the top rail of the short veranda, staring at me with so much heat I think I’ll combust.

Damn him for going all out.

He’s had his hair cut and he’s freshly shaven, and for once there’s not a Fallen logo or a pair of dark jeans in sight. Instead, he’s dressed to match my fantasy in nothing but a pair of tight grey sweatpants. Sweet baby Jesus, he’s not wearing shoes either—honestly, he is so fucking sexy. And I do okay, I mean I’m fucking panting for him, but then I see he’s also got a new tattoo on his chest, and he stands tall so I can see it. The whole fucking world can’t miss it, actually. My name sits smack bang in the middle of the Fallen wings, surrounded by something, but its meaning is obvious—I come before all else.

I have to open my mouth to breathe. I feel like a zombie as I climb out of my car, but I know I’m alive. My chest is rising and falling fast; my inner thighs are drenched. Nothing around me registers and my complete concentration on him only gets worse as my vision tunnels.

“You good, killer? You’re looking a bit feral there.” The smirk on his face, and the rolling purr in his words does even more to my lack of control; it shatters it. I go to lift my top off, ready to flash him my tits when his face contorts, and he flips his switch so fast it scares me.

“Get fucking here now,” he snaps as he does a Jacob Black to leap over the balustrade blurring to push me behind his back.

King’s bourbon scent spikes and the surge literally makes my head spin to feel like I’m drunk. His scent is one thing, his presence is equally commanding and the combination of both strips past my defences and hits me right in the Omega. I can’t see straight as I swim through my body’s reactions and while there’s no way to miss the warning he’s giving our uninvited guests all I can do is sway.

“Stay in your car and leave,” King growls, moving to keep me hidden from sight. He is responding on a very primal level to me.

The driver doesn’t do as he is told though. He opens his door at the same time a wind comes racing through the trees from the direction they came. And it makes me stumble. I fall my head knocking against King’s hip as I drop to my knees whining.

It wasn’t just my body still sorting through King’s intensity that made me fall and it wasn’t the unexpected wind gale that blew me off my feet. It’s the impact of the Alpha’s unique perfume. Or should I say Alphas.

Lemon meringue so sweet I can’t swallow because my jaw aches so much it hurts. Blackberry so poignant and sweet my nipples ache in need. And a new scent, so instantly compatible and triggering, it sends my slick into overdrive.

Tyson and Maverick are somehow here.

And whoever is with them is also my scent-matched Alpha.

The four of them just blasted the next phase of my heat.

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