Chapter 35
Panic laces each breath I take. The creature’s gaining on us too fast. The only advantage we have is that it was still a few yards away when we ran.
Madi and Caspian hold hands behind me as we dash across the cobblestones, but they aren’t fast enough. If we were in the water, he’d be ahead of us, but as it is, the two of them are falling behind.
“Come on,” Hunter yells, looking over his shoulder. He’s in the lead, but only because I can’t let myself get too far ahead of Madi and Caspian.
I’m staring back at them as I run, trying to will them forward by pure desire. “Faster!”
“Watch out,” Madi screams, pointing ahead.
I turn around just in time to see a fallen stone almost as big as me. I jump to the right, slipping on loose gravel before picking up speed again.
My feet pound the cobblestones, and I’m glad I wore water shoes. Caspian isn’t so lucky. His bare feet slam with loud smacks as he runs.
The beast jumps over the rock we just dodged, clearing it with ease.
“We can’t outrun it,” I say, heart pounding in my ears.
The creature lets out a sound somewhere between a roar and a seal’s bark. The hair on my neck stands on end when an answering sound comes from somewhere up ahead.
Hunter skids to a stop, picking up a rock the size of his fist and hurling it past us at the beast. It hits its mark, slowing the animal down just enough for us to spin around another corner and immediately turn again.
It doesn’t help. The monster keeps coming, angrier than before. We’ve encroached on its territory. Prey that’s fought back. It’s enraged. Another roar is answered by a second, closer one.
I grab Caspian’s free hand, tugging him forward while he pulls Madi, a swinging chain, darting around debris. Vibrations slam through my legs, shaking my joints. We’re not gonna outrun it. We need a plan.
Hunter must think the same thing because he stops at one of the few intact doors, yanking it open. “In here!”
With linked hands, we dash through the door and slam it closed behind us. A few seconds later, there’s a bang from the other side as something crashes against the thin metal.
The door holds.
Hunter and I lean into it anyway, using our weight to ensure it stays shut, but we need something more. This place is old, and we have no idea how sturdy this door is. The two of us won’t be enough to keep it closed for long.
“There,” Hunter points to a stone table along the other wall. He looks at me, and I know exactly what he’s asking.
“Go,” I say, throwing all my strength into the door. “I’ve got this.”
Hunter runs to the table, and together he and Caspian drag it forward, huffing as they turn it on its side.
“What the fuck is that thing?!” Madi cries, her question directed at Caspian.
The merman shakes his head. “I have no idea. We don’t have those in our cities, not any I’ve been to anyway.”
“It’s like a sabertoothed tiger and an arctic seal had a baby with a marlin!”
I glance back at the omega. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It doesn’t make sense!” she retorts, pointing at the door just as it shakes from the force of the creature’s weight.
Hunter and Caspian finally get close with the huge table, and I move out of the way, so they can push it against the door as the beast on the other side hits it again. The wall rattles, but the door stays secure.
Panting, we meet each other’s eyes, relief washing over me as I see that everyone’s okay. We can’t stay here, though. We need to keep moving and find somewhere to hide until that thing gives up on us.
Taking in the space, I notice a set of stairs in the corner. Madi silently points up. In answer, I move, taking the steps carefully to make sure they’re sturdy enough to hold us. They’re built of some kind of stone, but I still worry about erosion after all this time.
At the top of the stairs, there’s a landing that leads to a hall with three doors, along with another set of stairs.
On one wall, there’s a narrow window that looks out at the street.
Hunter edges over to it and shakes his head, letting us know the animal is still prowling outside.
He holds up two fingers. There’s a second beast now, just as I feared.
I shouldn’t be surprised. With no inhabitants, it makes sense that the wildlife would take over possession of the city.
“Let’s keep going up,” I whisper, pointing to the second staircase. If we can get high enough, maybe we’ll be able to see the city center.
We make our way to the next floor and silently keep going up another set of stairs.
Having not studied the creature yet, I’m not sure how well it can climb, but whether it can or can’t, the higher we go, the more illusion we have of safety.
It helps that we can still see it pacing the street.
It hasn’t broken past the door yet. I’m starting to think it might not be able to, after all.
We’re all breathing hard when the stairway finally ends, opening onto a narrow hallway. Hunter goes first, then Madi and Caspian, clutching hands, with me bringing up the rear. A few feet in, the light from Hunter’s flashlight reflects back to us as it hits a wall of water. A quiet waterfall.
When we get to the end of the hall, three thick stairs lead down into a room that must be part of the cave itself.
It isn’t large, maybe twenty feet at its widest, but the entire back wall is rough hewn stone with a thin sheet of water trickling down it.
It’s almost like one of those fountain walls you’d see at some fancy hotel.
The water doesn’t make much noise, which is why we didn’t hear it before.
Along the base of the wall there’s a canal, similar to the one outside. Which makes sense if this was a home for both merfolk and humans. If I could turn part fish at will I’d want the water nearby. It's only about three feet wide, just enough for someone to slip in and swim off.
The rest of the floor is stone, though some odd groundcover has spread from the water wall to the area just by the canal.
It’s almost like moss, but instead of patchy, spongy growth, it's as if it's thousands of tiny succulent spears. Like thick blades of grass as soft as the leaves of a lamb’s ear plant.
Similar to the area we first entered, there is a stone bench carved as part of one wall, and the glowing lines we saw before decorate this space like silver veins in the stone. They give the small space an eerie, otherworldly quality.
Madi plops down onto the greenery, lying on her back with her eyes closed as she catches her breath. Her chest rises and falls in a mesmerizing motion. I’m not the only one who can’t look away.
The meds that normally hide the omega’s sweet perfume aren’t working anymore.
Sweaty and high on adrenaline, a new scent fills the air.
Pina Colada. Warm, creamy coconut. Fresh pineapple.
Heady booze. Fuck me, she smells intoxicating.
No wonder Hunter’s been acting like such a love-sick fool.
One whiff, and I’m ready to drop to my knees and worship her like my own personal goddess.
No one has ever affected me like this. And I immediately know why.
But she’s not the only one whose scent blockers and neutralizers have failed under the pressure of our recent adventure and so much time in the ocean.
The salty margarita I’d scented off Caspian before blooms in reaction to Madi.
It’s brighter than when I first scented it, with a touch of fresh air and sunshine.
I lick my lips. They smell incredible together.
My own scent rises to meet theirs, papaya and vanilla, sweetening the freshness in the air, subtle at first but growing.
The only scent that’s missing is Hunter’s, since he’s religious about taking his blockers.
But I know the flavor of him by heart, as well as I know my own, so well I can imagine it now.
The richness of sandalwood, the floral sweetness of plumeria.
It grows stronger in my mind, so strong I start to doubt if I’m only imagining it.
I look at Hunter. His gaze is locked on his omega. Our omega.
Fuck, what am I gonna tell Seb. He’s always been hesitant about packs, always worried he’d lose me to one. I know he’d love Madi, Caspian, and Hunter if he’d give them a chance, but convincing him to do that is gonna be hard.
Madi’s eyes are still closed, golden hair spread around her like a crown of silk, body laid out like a feast. Her cheeks are flushed, a light sheen of sweat glistening on her skin.
She makes a soft humming noise, then trails her fingertips between her breasts to her belly.
I’m not sure she even knows she’s doing it. Her lips part on a sigh.
Her scent thickens, changing, deepening, so rich now it makes my head spin. There’s an immediate reaction from the rest of us. Lime, papaya, sandalwood, all explode in rich hunger.
Madi’s eyes fly open. Her nostrils flare, pupils dilating. Her gaze bounces between Hunter and me, something like awe in her expression.
“Mine,” she whispers, almost like she can’t believe it.
Hunter falls to his knees beside her, brushing a strand of hair off her damp cheek. “That’s right, sweetheart. Yours. Always yours.”
Caspian leans against the wall, watching them with a soft smile, his scent nearly as strong as hers. He doesn’t seem surprised by this new information.
Madi’s gaze shifts away from Hunter, and her delicate fingers reach toward me.
“Mine?” she asks, uncertain, but no less hungry.
I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want to take her hand and tell her how completely I’m hers.
But I’m also keenly aware that I’m Seb’s too.
I wish he were here. I wish he could tell me this is okay, that it’s what he wants.
But I know he’s never wanted a pack. My heart squeezes tight, mouth going dry.
Madi’s face falls when I hesitate for too long.
Fuck, no. My knees hit the cushion of groundcover, and I crawl to her other side, reminding myself that Seb’s okay with me being with other people.
This feels different, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
He just needs to meet Madi, and he’ll love her.
She’ll break through all his fears. I know she will.
I bend over and kiss the top of Madi’s head. Her skin burns my lips. Fuck. I pull back, placing the back of my wrist on her forehead. I look from Madi to Hunter. He nods like he already realized what I’m just putting together.
She’s in heat. Or a heat spike. Gods and goddesses, I hope it’s a heat spike. Going into full blown heat while in an abandoned ancient city with wild seal-cat-things prowling outside waiting to eat us seems like a recipe for disaster.
“Alphas,” Madi moans. Her hands slide over her hips and up her sides to her breasts, cupping them before moving back down to her thighs. Without any warning, she’s wiggling out of the little shorts she’s wearing and taking her swimsuit bottoms off with them.
Three alpha groans rattle the small space around the canal. She hums happily, squirming when her gaze meets mine.
“Please, alpha,” she whispers, barely louder than the soft trickle of the waterfall, a seductive smile on her face. She looks half-drunk, eyes lidded, cheeks flushed, damp lips shining a bright pink.
How can I resist her?