Chapter 19 Vale
Vale
The dawn lets through its golden light, piercing the trees to leave rays of warmth. My breath puffs out in a white cloud. Bonnie is asleep in our tent, and last night, she was strangely quiet. Enough so that I started to really believe that she knows what we are here for.
I creep over to their tent. Standing right beside it. All I would need to do is press my blade through the canvas, draw it down, and stab it into their throats. I could do it. It would be over, but then I’d have to get rid of more than just them, and I don’t want to do that.
Convincing the others not to come was a stroke of genius. Cyn had really come through with that suggestion.
“Vale?”
I pocket the knife and turn towards Bonnie with a warm smile. I think outside of the pack, she’s the only one I smile at with any fondness.
“Morning,” I say huskily and walk towards her.
She doesn’t back off, but her eyes flicker down to the hand that was holding the knife.
“Afraid I’m going to stab you?” I tease, reaching out and brushing my fingers through her hair.
“Not at all.”
Bonnie is made for the dawn. Her hair is deliciously messy; the gold warms her tanned skin, and when it hits her eyes, it turns that green luminous. I can imagine exactly how she’d look if she rolled out of my bed on a dawn like this.
Satisfied.
Destroyed.
I inhale her scent, which has gotten noticeably stronger.
The urge to moan and step into her, pressing her to submit to me is like a throbbing wound, but I fight it back.
I can’t see this omega submitting without a fight, and if I’m going to fight with her, anyone who even dares interfere will find themselves on the sharp end of my knife.
“You are beautiful.”
Her eyes widen, and she sways towards me before abruptly taking a step back, right into Dakota.
She snarls and throws back an elbow, but he’s ready for her and spins her around, catching her arms and crossing them over her chest so she can’t move.
“Morning, darlin’,” he murmurs and kisses her head.
She lets out a hiss. Dakota lets her go and starts pulling down the tent, ignoring everyone who is starting to rise.
Bonnie casts one wild look at me and then races off into the forest.
I keep an eye on the direction she went, and then when everyone else is up, I keep track of them, too, especially those alphas.
Once the camp is packed up, and the fire is out, Bonnie looks up and around, checking the weather.
I look up, wondering what she’s seeing that I can’t.
“The weather is going to change. We might have some bad days,” she murmurs to herself.
The sky is clear and of the brightest blue. I don’t know where she’s getting that from, but I trust her.
I trust her.
That thought floors me. I don’t trust anything, with good reason, but I’d put my life in this omega’s hands, and I would trust her to take care of me. How strange.
“You look like someone pissed on your mashed potatoes.”
I snarl at Rory, who just smiles wickedly and flashes me a pair of lace underwear he’s got wrapped in his fist.
My mind stutters, stalls. I want them so bad. Just one sniff.
“Wait, is she?” I glance back towards the omega, and all my blood and thinking ability travels south.
Rory puts an arm over my shoulder. “Yes, my beloved leader. That incredibly hot omega is wearing nothing under those ugly khaki pants. Think about that when she bends over next. And you can thank me later.”
He tosses the underwear at me. I snatch them out of the air, bundling them into my fist before I bring it to my nose and inhale deeply.
My eyes roll, and my cock gets even harder. I want nothing more than to wrap that lace around my cock, stroke myself until I blow my load, and then give them back to her, knowing she’d be walking around with my jizz against her pussy.
“Behave,” Cyn says as he passes me. “We’re walking; you don’t have time to do whatever’s on your mind.”
I grab the back of his head, holding him by the hair, and slam the underwear against his mouth.
He struggles until the scent fills his lungs, and then he stops, and a different tension fills him.
Cyn’s breathing gets haggard. He holds my wrist with one hand while the other slips down to rub against his hard cock.
“We don’t have time,” I remind him and pull my hand away.
He growls, his eyes almost black because his pupils are so big.
I pocket my prize and lean forward, kissing him with so much aggression that he simply opens his mouth and clings to me.
I pull back and stare at him. “Good boy. Let’s go keep our omega safe and plot how to get these assholes dead.”
Cyn licks his lips and nods. He walks past me. I give myself another moment, and then I turn and walk quickly after the others, trying to catch up and forget how hard my cock is or that, for the first time, I think I can feel the stirrings of my knot.
Bonnie has stopped and is looking around the ground.
“What’s she doing?” I ask Rory.
“Despite all the information that says otherwise, I actually am not a mind reader, Vale. I have no idea what she’s doing. Why don’t you ask her?”
I give him a side-eye, but just when I’m about to ask, Bonnie raises her hands.
“Everyone, I need you to listen. This is really, really important.” She gazes around at all of us, but her gaze pauses indecisively on the alphas before it moves on.
“You’re going to meet a friend of ours. Now, he’s friendly and harmless.
If you are scared, just wait over there.
But there will be no yelling; do not attack my friend. Just be calm and don’t touch.”
The bushes shudder.
“I’m jealous already,” Kota whines.
I elbow him and watch as a bush shudders, and then out comes this massive wolf. An actual, wild silver wolf, and it glares at us. And for one horrible moment, I wonder if this is how we’ll lose her, but then she puts her hand on his back.
“This is Wolfie.”
Cyn opens his mouth, but as if she’s expecting it, she pins him with a look.
“Not a word about his name.”
He snaps his mouth shut but winks at her.
“When we were out here, we found this wolf cub all alone. Dad helped raise him, with the help of some experts, and we kept hiking out here with him until he found his own pack.”
“You keep a wild wolf as a pet?” Kevin says, almost trembling with rage.
“This is amazing! Can I take a photo?” Kendall whispers. “He won’t eat us, will he?”
“No, he won’t eat anyone, and yes, you can take a photo.”
I shift closer, and the wolf puts that deadly gaze on me. No wonder she’s not afraid of us. What kind of people are her family if they can raise a deadly predator like this?
She stands there answering questions, her fingers buried in the fur of the wolf. She isn’t nervous or afraid. Her hair is lifted by a breeze, exposing the long line of her neck. I’m hypnotized, mesmerised. I imagine trailing my mouth down, listening to her moans.
What was it like for her after we said no? That random thought brings me back to reality.
Have I ever stopped to really wonder? We drove her to change like this, but I can’t take any of the credit for who she’s become.
My heart beats faster, harder, as I stare at her until I have to look away. I turn and walk away from the group, refusing to turn back, refusing to let myself look at her.
“What’s wrong, Vale?”
I turn to Kota. “I think we really hurt her.”
Kota is silent, watching me silently, waiting for the words to come out.
“She’s so different. But we turned her hard. If someone did that to us, would we forgive them?”
I wouldn’t.
That hurts. The fact that she might never forgive us. It hurts really bad. I care about her a lot. Like, really care about her.
When did that happen?
I look up when I see her walking towards us, a small frown on her face. Her hair glimmers with light, and that damn wolf walks at her side.
My chest gets all tight, and I unconsciously lift my hand to press against the spot where it hurts.
“Hey, we’re about to head off. You guys okay?”
“Fine!” I say, and my voice sounds strange, even to my ears. Kota is watching me closely. I spin away and desperately try to get a hold of myself, but why is my stomach fluttering? Why am I so happy?
I clear my throat a couple of times and turn. She’s standing there staring at me, her eyebrows raised and suspicion in her eyes.
“Hi.”
Hi? Clearly, I’ve lost my damn mind.
“Are you ill?”
She obviously agrees with me, too!
“Um, yes?”
She cocks her head to the side. “Vale, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“My balls are aching, and I want to bend you over and lick that scent out of your pussy until you can’t walk or my tongue falls off.”
She blinks, her scent blisters the air around us.
“You know your inside voice?”
I blink at Kota.
“You did it outside.” He cracks up and slaps me on the back.
Ah. Shit.
“I stand by what I said,” I say, doubling down to avoid accidentally revealing anything else.
The wolf growls and nudges her leg, then turns and lopes into the forest, leaving her staring at us with blazing eyes.
“Sorry?”
She huffs, then turns and follows the wolf.
Kota elbows me. “Are you all right?”
I let out a breath I’ve been holding and whirl away, gripping my hair. “No! I don’t know what the hell that was.”
“It looked like a stroke.”
“I just totally lost the plot, and I can’t tell her…I mean, I clearly can’t tell her that, or she’ll just laugh and-”
“Yeah, we’re going to go with stroke,” Kota murmurs and guides me back towards the rest of our group.
Bonnie is gone for about ten minutes and then returns without the wolf. She carefully avoids looking at me, which is good because I cannot peel my eyes from her ass.
I slide my hand into my pocket, fingering the underwear.
Feelings.
I’ve caught feelings.
It takes me the rest of the day’s hike to come to terms with this discovery, and by the time I’m setting up her tent, I’m completely and one hundred percent okay with it.
She’s stirring our dinner when I walk over to her. Everyone else is doing other things. I stand as close as I can get without touching her and wait for her to acknowledge me.
Bonnie takes her time, making me wait, then turns, glaring up at me.
“Vale?”
“Bonnie,” I murmur and grab her wrist. I slide my thumb over the sensitive skin there, loving the spike of her scent and the way her pupils get big. “I’ve decided.”
“You’ve decided what?” Her voice is all husky, and I know she hates it; she’s so affected.
“I’ve decided that we’re going to have to work things out between us.”
Her brows snap down. “In what context?”
“In the context of that I want you.”
She grinds her teeth, glaring at me. “Shall I fall down in a heap for such a gracious invitation?”
I bite my lower lip, shaking my head.
“I don’t care what you want.”
“No, you probably don’t, but you should care about what you want.”
“Hormones and exes do not make good bedfellows. I can do without you just fine.”
I lean in, “I can make you feel so good.”
She leans in closer to me, her lips almost on mine. “So can my Jeremiah.”
Rage floods my veins. Whoever he is, he’s dead. “He can’t please you the way I can,” I croon with a dangerous edge. Her eyes flicker around my face, but she doesn’t back down. “I can remove your friend.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Sure, I can. It won’t be an issue at all.”
She blushes, and I lean in closer, trying to read her expression. I know I’m pulling at straws, but I take a chance.
“What colour is Jeremiah?”
Her eyes meet mine, hot and hard. “Pink.”
I groan. “I can help you with that.”
“Don’t you worry, he can handle all of it just fine without you,” she purrs in a dangerous voice, and with that, she leaves me standing there in a cloud of peanut butter cookies, my cock half hard, and the delectable image of Bonnie fucking herself with a big pink dildo.
Oh, yeah, we are going to work this out, come hell or high water.