74. Chapter Seventy-Three
Chapter Seventy-Three
Xane
Marshmallows and crackers don’t equal a satisfying meal, but I make the most of what we’ve got, like everyone else. It’s not easy, but it’s even harder to ignore the way my pack brothers are fussing over the Omega they believe to be our one true mate.
Scarlett acts like she already has their hearts.
She has a confidence I didn’t see when she first stepped onto the jet, hair pinned up, pretending to be her twin sister, the writer. Her smiles aren’t shy now. When she laughs, the sound comes from her belly. This is the woman who was hiding behind the skirt suit.
There’s something magnetic about her.
Even without her sweet perfume spicing the air, Trick and Kian are treating her like a precious treasure, completely oblivious to the fact that her biology was what lured them close enough to become hooked to what she offers as an Omega.
It’s weird to feel like an outsider within my own pack, but I know it’s not permanent.
I’ll get her to admit the truth about what she wants from us.
They’ll have to see that she’s not fated for them.
Then, we can move on from this mess.
It’s gonna hurt, but they’ll heal.
We’ll get stronger together.
I’m not gonna let this woman tear us apart.
Clearing my throat, I get to my feet.
“I’m gonna go wash up. Then I’ll need help to drag Riley off the beach. Any volunteers?”
Surprise, surprise, neither of them is quick to offer a hand.
They’re both so focused on Scarlett.
“Kian, deal with putting out the fire. She can help you bring everything back to the jet.”
Kian smiles brightly. “Sure thing, boss.”
“Trick, you can wait there until I get back, or you can go see if Riley’s asleep. I’ll be back in five.”
He sighs and nods. “I’ll wait.”
I take my time, and Kian’s still toasting marshmallows when I get back to the fire.
“Last two,” he says, when I cough and raise an eyebrow at him. “Then we’ll be packing it up. Promise.”
I don’t say anything more. There’s no point. Ki’s gonna do whatever he wants to do.
He’s been convinced longer than anyone that this woman is our mate.
It’s gonna be hard for him to accept she’s not.
I nod at Trick, and he gets up.
We walk across the beach in silence.
I hear Riley snoring before we can even tell he’s lying down.
“Riley, wake up,” I mutter, before I kneel at his side and place a hand on his shoulder.
I barely get a chance to shake him before he sucks in a breath and sits bolt upright, arms flailing.
“Get off! Get the fuck off me!” he growls out, before he turns his head to look at me.
Revulsion turns into relief when he sees I’m the one who woke him.
“Oh, it’s just you,” he mutters, as his body relaxes. “Don’t fucking scare me like that.”
“Then maybe don’t fall asleep on the beach again,” I advise. “Come on, get up. We’ve got tents set up near the jet. You can go back to sleep when we get to your tent.”
Riley doesn’t look impressed. “You could have left me here. It’s not like anyone would have bothered me.”
“Maybe not,” I admit. “But we don’t know what’s in the jungle and I’d rather not risk you getting mauled or bitten by something while we only have the most basic first aid kit and no way to get medical help out here.”
“I’ll bring you chips and soda if you come with us now,” Trick bargains. “If you make us wait, I’ll eat all the chips before you get back to the campsite.”
Riley frowns at him. “You stole my shirt, and now you’re threatening to steal my chips. I don’t know if I’m still happy to call you my pack brother.”
Despite his complaint, he pushes onto his feet.
I catch his arm and keep him from falling back into the tree he was leaning against for most of the afternoon. He narrows his eyes, but he doesn’t tell me to back off.
He might be the perfect level of drunk to order around.
But I don’t hold my breath.
Trick takes his other arm, and I crouch slightly to pick up the lantern before we walk Riley toward the campsite. He doesn’t take any interest when we pass the campfire.
Kian wishes him a goodnight, and Scarlett echoes that sentiment quietly.
Riley doesn’t even glance their way.
He’s concentrating on walking without stumbling.
That’s when I realize his feet are bare.
I doubt that’s helping.
Sighing, I keep us moving.
We get to the campsite after what feels like a lengthy trek.
I leave Trick with Riley while I open the tent and roll out one of the two sleeping bags I threw inside earlier. I hold the door flap open.
“Your palace awaits,” I tell him.
He looks inside and snorts. “There’s no way I’m gonna fit in there.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too,” Trick admits. “But you might be surprised.”
Riley shrugs, pulling his arm out of Trick’s grip before he gets to his knees and crawls into the tent. It does look kinda tight, but it’ll do the job until we make it to the resort.
“Hey, Xane!” Riley calls out from inside.
“I’m still here,” I call back.
He doesn’t answer, so I crouch down until I can see him in there.
I push the lantern inside and set it down on the floor close to where Riley is curled up, hugging the sleeping bag, head resting on the top corner of it.
“Don’t you dare fucking wake me up again.”
“I won’t,” I promise.
“I might kill you if you do,” he adds.
“I said I won’t, and I won’t.”
“Right, where’s Trick?” he asks, before he yawns.
I stand up straight and gesture to Trick.
“Your turn.”
Trick sighs before he gets down on his knees.
“I won’t try to wake you, either.”
“Yeah, I know you wouldn’t dare. Where are my chips and soda?”
“I’ll grab them right now.”
“Good.”
Trick gets to his feet, and I put the door flap down.
“God it’s dark out here,” Trick mutters as he stumbles past me toward the jet.
It’s light inside thanks to a couple of lanterns left on one of the tables.
We could use another one out here.
I follow Trick past the other tent and up the steps into the jet.
He rubs the back of his neck before he goes to the minifridge.
“Soda, check.” He moves to the open backpacks and checks inside until he finds a bag of chips.
“Late night snack, check.”
“Mess in Riley’s tent?” I ask.
Trick laughs. “That’ll be a check in the morning. Hopefully it’s just crumbs, but he did drink a lot of beer so it could be worse.”
“Yeah. It could. Put a bottle of water in his tent, too. I might need to make him drink it later.”
“Sure,” Trick says, before he grabs a bottle out of the same backpack.
He heads out while I stand in the main cabin, wondering how the hell it can still smell a little like Scarlett’s perfume. It’s been a couple of hours since she took those suppressants and left the cabin. There shouldn’t still be traces of her scent in here.
I noticed when I came back to wash up, and I thought I was being crazy.
Now, I know I’m not. I knew Omega perfume could be potent, but it’s lingering like campfire smoke. As if it’s embedded into everything in here. Like the cabin absorbed it.
Fucking hell. There’s no escape.
It’s a massive effort to switch to breathing through my mouth. Everything in me wants to sit down and stay right here, drinking in the last fumes of her while they’re still here.
It’s almost as if the lighter the scent gets, the more I want to breathe in to capture it.
Before it’s completely gone.
I force myself to leave after I’ve taken in a few deep breaths through my mouth.
I shouldn’t want to be around her scent. It’s fucked up to want it so much.
She’s not ours. She never will be. She’s just another crazy Omega.
The night air feels cooler than it was when I step back outside.
I have to step back inside to grab a lantern, but I hold my breath to make sure I’m not tempted to stay inside for longer. I grab that lantern and go straight back outside.
Trick is standing up outside Riley’s tent when I come down the stairs, hands empty.
He zips the door closed slowly, so I guess Riley’s sleeping.
I put the other lantern down by the front of the other tent.
Trick walks over, talking his time in the dark.
“He’s out cold,” he murmurs. “I left everything inside the tent for him.”
I nod. “Good. I’ll keep watch from here. You can go help Kian and Scarlett now, if you want.”
He nods, the relief on his pale face obvious, even in the dark.
I watch him go back through the forest to the beach.
It’s quiet enough to hear Riley snoring in his tent.
I pick a spot in the grass between the tents and sit down.
As long as I can hear Riley, I’ll know when he wakes up.