Chapter 5 #2
I jab at the window controls, rolling it down and sticking my head out into the cool May air. The wind whips against my face, sharp and bracing, and I gulp it down like I’ve been drowning.
“You all right over there?” Carter’s voice is tinged with amusement.
“Yep.” I keep my face turned toward the window. “Just needed some cool air.”
“Uh-huh.”
He pulls out of the ranch, gravel crunching under the oversized tires. I keep my face toward the window, watching the familiar landscape slide past, trying to get my body under control.
This is insane. I’ve been on suppressants for seven years. Muted responses, dulled instincts, a designation buried so deep I sometimes forget it exists. My body does not react to Alphas like this. It’s not supposed to. That’s the whole point.
And yet here I am, practically panting because a good-looking cowboy smells like dessert and rain.
Maybe my pills are expired, or I need to double the dose.
“I’m sure everything will work out fine,” Carter says, breaking into my spiraling thoughts. “At the station, I mean. Seth’ll be okay.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about him, as I know he’s innocent.” I pull my head back in, keeping my face angled away. “He seems like the type who can handle himself.”
“That he is.”
“I’m just not looking forward to dealing with Tanner.” I grimace. “My ex.”
Carter glances over, one eyebrow raised. “Seth mentioned bits and pieces this morning about last night, but whatever happened to him, it scrambled his brain pretty good.”
“Well, he was definitely out of it when I picked him up.” Despite everything, I smile at the memory. “Swaying all over the place and singing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ loud enough to wake the entire town.”
Carter barks out a laugh. “No way. Seth? Singing?”
“Off-key too.”
“Oh, man.” He shakes his head, still grinning. “I would have paid good money to see that. Seth is usually so… intense. Seeing him actually let loose? That’s like spotting a unicorn.”
“Well, he was definitely loose. Nearly fell over about six times.”
“That’s amazing. I’m filing that away for future blackmail material.”
I find myself relaxing slightly, some of the tension draining from my shoulders. There’s something easy about Carter’s energy that has the conversation feeling natural.
And the wind through the open window helps, carrying away some of that intoxicating scent before it can fully saturate my lungs. I take shallow breaths, focused on the cold air, trying to keep myself grounded.
I try very, very hard not to notice the way Carter’s forearms flex as he grips the steering wheel.
The thick muscle, the golden hair, the veins running beneath tan skin.
His sleeves are rolled to his elbows, and every time he turns the wheel, I notice the way his biceps shift beneath the fabric of his shirt.
He’s big. So much larger than me. Broad shoulders, solid chest, thighs that strain against his jeans. I wonder what it would be like to climb into his lap. To wrap myself around all that strength and let him hold me up.
Stop it.
My eyes drift lower before I can stop them, to where his jeans are stretched across—
“If I had to guess,” Carter blurts out, “you’re trying really hard to picture me naked right now.”
I choke on nothing but air and my own mortification.
“Excuse me?” I manage, once I’ve stopped coughing.
He’s grinning, that charming golden-boy grin that probably devastates women across multiple states. “You had the look. Eyes traveling south, lingering in certain… regions.”
“I was staring at the road.”
“The road is that way.” He points through the windshield. “Your eyes were definitely going a different direction.”
“Maybe I was looking at the gearshift.”
“Is that what you’re calling it?”
My face is on fire. I’m going to spontaneously combust in the passenger seat of this ridiculously expensive truck, and they’ll never be able to explain to my mother how I died.
He winks and somehow makes it charming instead of sleazy. “But don’t worry. I’m used to women checking me out. It’s a burden I bear with grace and humility.”
“I wasn’t checking you out.”
“Sure you weren’t.”
“I was spacing out.”
“Directly at my crotch. Very convenient spacing.”
“Oh my God.” I cover my face with my hands. “Can we please change the subject?”
“Absolutely.” He’s clearly enjoying this way too much. “What would you like to talk about instead? The weather? Local politics? The fact that you’re blushing so hard I could probably toast marshmallows on your cheeks?”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. I’m delightful.” He grins wider. “Ask anyone.”
Despite myself, my lips twitch. There’s something infectious about his humor with the way he teases without being mean, and he seems to genuinely enjoy making people laugh. It’s a sharp contrast to the tension of the morning, and I find myself grateful for the distraction.
“Does this routine work on everyone?” I ask, dropping my hands from my face.
“Define ‘work.’ ”
“Do women actually find this charming?”
“You tell me.” His green eyes glow with mischief. “Is it working on you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Your smile says otherwise.” He laughs, and the sound is like a spell he’s placing on me. Damn him.
We drive in silence for a moment, the tension between us settling into something almost comfortable. I keep my face toward the window, watching Honeyspur Meadow slide past, the familiar buildings and quiet streets that I’ve known my whole life.
“So,” Carter says, breaking the quiet. “Seth mentioned something interesting this morning.”
“Oh?”
“He said you were his scent match.”
Everything in me goes still. “He was out of his mind last night,” I say carefully. “He didn’t know what he was saying.”
“Maybe.” Carter glances over, and there’s something more serious in his expression now.
“But here’s the thing. Kai said something similar after he met you this morning.
Said there was something about you he couldn’t figure out.
Something drawing him in even though he couldn’t get a clear read on your scent. ”
I force a laugh. “I’m a Beta. That’s not how it works.”
“That’s what you keep saying.” He’s quiet for a moment. “But I’m feeling it too, June. There’s something about you that’s… different. Like I’m looking at a picture that’s slightly out of focus. Can’t quite make out the details, but I know there’s something there.”
My hands are trembling. I press them flat against my thighs, trying to steady them.
I know what they’re sensing. Know what’s calling to them beneath the chemical fog of my suppressants.
But I also know what the doctors told my parents when I was eighteen, that my Omega was dormant, defective, that I’d never go into heat or form a proper bond.
That I couldn’t give an Alpha pack what they truly required.
What’s the point of letting them get close? They’d just figure out eventually that I’m broken. That I can’t give them the connection they’re searching for. And then they’d leave, and I’d be left behind with nothing but rejection and a secret I should never have let slip.
Better to stay hidden. “Maybe you guys are overthinking it,” I say lightly. “Looking for something that isn’t there.”
Carter studies me for a long moment. I can feel his gaze on the side of my face, assessing, questioning.
“Maybe,” he says finally. “But I don’t think so.”
He doesn’t push further, and I’m grateful for it.
We pull onto the main road a few minutes later, and Carter parks along the curb in front of the hardware store.
The police station looms up ahead on the small side street, and I realize with a sinking feeling that I’ve been here more times in the last twenty-four hours than I have in the entire past year.
“Ready?” Carter asks.
“As I’ll ever be.”
We stroll up the gravel path together, our footsteps crunching in the quiet morning air. The lobby is busier than last night, a few officers milling around, phones ringing, that low hum of activity that says the rodeo has officially made the local PD’s life more complicated.
The woman behind the desk, young, dark-haired, someone I vaguely recognize from around town, looks up as we enter.
“I’m here to give a statement,” I say. “Regarding the charges against Seth Benton.”
She nods and picks up her phone, murmuring something I can’t hear. A moment later, she gestures toward a hallway.
“Sheriff Cade will see you. Second door on the left.”
I glance at Carter. “You should probably wait here.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
He nods, but there’s concern in those green eyes. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
The words settle warmly in my chest, and I have to push down the flutter they cause.
“Thanks.”
Sheriff Cade’s office is cluttered with files stacked in little towers, and coffee rings on the desk.
You can tell he spends more time at work than at home.
He’s rugged and a man who’s seen too much, but he’s only in his forties.
His wife went missing years ago. Not all the details are known, but it involves an escaped prisoner.
“June.” He rises as I enter. “Close the door. Have a seat.”
I do, settling into the worn leather chair across from him.
“The team is swamped with rodeo business,” he says, “so I’m handling this personally. I understand you were present during the altercation last night.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tell me what happened. Your own words.”
So I do. I explain about receiving the call from Pete.
Picking Seth up from the station. Walking toward my car and encountering Tanner on the sidewalk, visibly intoxicated, aggressive, looking for a fight.
I describe the verbal abuse, the way Tanner shoved me to the ground, the punch he threw at Seth before Seth ever lifted a hand.
“Seth was defending himself and me,” I finish. “Tanner started the whole thing.”
Cade makes notes, his pen scratching against paper. “Anyone else around who might have witnessed this?”