Chapter 21 Dakota
Dakota
Ishould be coming up with ideas to kill these assholes; instead, I’m sitting here thinking up ways to get under her skin, to see that hint of red in her cheeks, the fire in her eyes. The way she always takes a step forward instead of a step back. She does not fear me at all.
I crave her passion, her anger, that spark of life in her more than I’ve ever wanted anything.
Her hair bounces slightly, caught in the wind. I’m not sure what Cyn said to her, but it’s had her avoiding us for the last couple of hours. She stays ahead on the trail, leading us through a forest unerringly towards a destination only she knows.
There’s a thread of unease in the air, and the longer it goes on, the more enraged I get. That hint of an omega in distress is calling to all my instincts, making them scream.
I want to go over there, grab her wrist, and watch her drop to her knees. I want her fear and anger, all the emotions that pour into her eyes, for me.
There is no sharing her outside the pack. I don’t want to hurt her. I want…My gaze zeros in on Rojer, who is watching her with a twist of his lips.
My hackles rise, and I glance sideways at the pack, feeling them focus in with the same predatory rage I’m feeling.
And maybe she can feel it, too, maybe she senses it, because Bonnie looks up and smiles, laughing as she points out a bird. I don’t look away from her face as she puts herself in the space near the betas.
It soothes the frayed edges. I’m able to take a breath and back away from the murderous rage that’s enveloped me.
“We’re going to have to do something about them, and soon,” Vale whispers.
The three of them glance at her again before sitting down. I don’t like the way they watch her; I don’t like the way they feel when they watch her.
My hackles rise, and I slip into the bush.
I circle the group, staying well out of sight and their ability to hear me, searching for more opportunities and chances to eradicate these assholes once and for all.
I slip up close behind them and go through their packs. There’s an envelope that I pocket. Then a skulk back into the forest and circle around to the other side. I go to open the envelope, but I hear Cyn’s whistle, telling me to return.
I come back, zipping up my fly and humming a tune.
Vale presses up against me, kissing me hard, and takes the package I slip to him.
“Bonnie, what did I miss?”
“She was teaching us how to make a compass out of just sunlight, shadows, a stick, and two rocks,” Quincy says.
“Fascinating.”
“If you put a rock down where the shadow from the stick is, wait an hour, and then put another rock down, you have your east-west line.”
I know all of this, but Bonnie has spent every single day quietly talking, teaching.
How to build a gypsy well. What plants are edible.
Last night, she showed everyone how to make a really smoky fire to signal to people.
She points out threats like bugs, dangerous terrain, and what to do if you get injured.
Nowhere on the brochure did it say she would teach people how to survive, but she’s doing it in a responsible, nonthreatening way that allows people to choose if they want to hear it.
It’s impressive.
“You missed out, Dakota,” Quincy says happily.
“Ah, I’ll have to sign up to come back out on the next trip and pay extra careful attention to all the lessons,” I purr.
Bonnie’s head jerks up, her eyes narrowing as she glares at me, but she refuses to take the bait. More’s the pity. “All right everyone, let’s get going. We’ve got a couple of hours, and then we’ll reach our camp for the night.”
“I had no idea there would be so much walking involved,” Kendall says.
Justin lifts his head but doesn’t say anything. After a long moment, he rolls his eyes and walks past Kendall. It’s the most reaction we’ve had out of him in days.
“Did you think we were going to fly?” I ask curiously.
Kendall goes red. “Walking is good for your health, but the more fatigued we get, the more chance for trips, falls, blisters, which can form into infections, and out here, it would be easy to end up with gangrene, and then you’d have to have your foot cut off, or leg if it spreads, and maybe even die. ”
He stops, taking a deep breath that just comes wheezing out as his eyes search frantically for the danger.
I lean in. “And all from one little blister? I think you are forgetting the biggest danger here,” I murmur. “What if someone in the camp is hiding something?”
Kendall snaps upright, shooting terrified looks at Quincy, who smiles at him. Kendall lets out a tiny little peep of sound. It’s like gasoline, how can I not throw a match?
“Like what?” Kendall asks.
“What if they have,” I pause for dramatic effect, “scabies?”
Kendall squeals.
I burst out laughing. “Relax, man, I’m just playing with you. We all went through an inspection line for scabies before we came here.”
“I didn’t,” he admits in terror.
I step back, my smile slipping away. “You didn’t have your scabies inspection? What about your sinus stuffed for syphilis? Did someone inspect your penis for dick mites?”
“What are dick mites?” Kendall whispers.
“Oh, my bro, you are a walking disease,” I murmur and stand back from him. “A petri dish of infestations. How could you risk all of us and come on this trip without getting the proper checks done?”
“What checks? No one told me about checks!”
“You’ve never had a check? In your whole life? Oh, brother, you must be riddled with them.”
Kendall looks like he might expire on the spot. “Oh, god! Oh, god. I’m going to die.”
Something smacks me hard across the back of the head. “Knock it off, Dakota.”
Her scent wraps around me, and I turn, smiling at her with all the charm I can muster. “Anything for you, Bonnie.”
Kendall is hyperventilating, clawing at his chest. “I might have dick mites. Oh, god. No one checked me for dick mites.”
Bonnie turns a frigid glare in my direction. “Dakota will check to make sure.”
“I will most certainly not. I’m not risking contaminating myself with dick mites.” It’s so hard to say it with a straight face, especially with her glaring at me like that.
“You started this!” she hisses at me. “Now fix it.”
I grin at her. “Just think of how interesting I made your day.”
“I’m going to shove something so far up your ass you’ll be waking up in a new day,” Bonnie growls. “Now fix it.”
“Don’t promise me a good time, Bonbon. And can’t, nature calls,” I say and wink at her. I bite my lower lip and walk away, chortling to myself.
“Fucking chaos goblin,” she mutters.
Cyn watches me with a grin as I approach. He grabs my shirt and drags me right up against his chest.
“Bad alpha.”
I moan into his mouth, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“She’s refusing to look at you. Which is good, rewarding your bad behaviour is only for Vale.”
Vale walks past at that exact moment and cracks his hand against my ass so hard birds take off out of the trees and into the skies.
I moan again, louder, and rub my cock on Cyn.
“Get moving, and if you keep it up, Dakota, I will toss you in the next icy river we come to,” Bonnie says, and to my intense frustration, looks completely unaffected.
“I can’t help it if I have needs.”
“We all have needs, but we all choose not to share them with the rest of our adventure group,” Quincy points out with a smile.
“Ah, but wouldn’t it be so much more fun if we did-”
Cyn tightens his fingers on my arm hard enough to leave bruises.
“What?”
“Go see Vale.”
I huff. “Jeez. No one is any fun anymore. Fine, I will put my chaos to good use and catch up with Vale.”
I find him ten minutes later on the trail. He’s waiting for me. As I get close, I don’t like the look in his eyes or the tension in his body.
“What is it?”
“She is never left alone,” Vale hisses and shoves a handful of photos to me. I recognise the orange envelope in his hand and look down.
“Motherfucker!” I snarl.
Photo after photo of Rojer, Kevin, and Nathan fucking and raping a tiny omega who is crying and screaming. Some of the things they are doing is downright nauseating. I hand it back to Vale.
“Do we know that omega?”
“She was a victim of serial killer Marrow.”
My head jerks up. “It’s confirmation, right?”
“Yeah, but here’s the thing: what if it’s the three of them like it’s the four of us? What if Marrow is all three alphas?”
My smile grows slowly. “We’re hunting a pack?”
Vale nods. “They don’t come home alive.”
Anticipation floods through my system, and then I remember Bonnie.
“She’s not going to be happy.”
“No, she’s not, but we’ll make it look like a happy accident.”
We keep walking, looking for good ambush sites and planning the murder of a serial killer.