Chapter Twenty-Three
Hazel
I smelled him before I saw him. Lindon was back in town from whatever secret work thing he had.
His lime-and-oak-and-cedar scent clung to my sinuses, but there was something off about it. The lime had turned metallic and sour. I could taste the difference on my tongue.
I was on my way to the inn to deliver some of Augustine’s cinnamon-chip muffins to my mate, the only one I’d marked, and True if he was there.
I’d done this all backward, of course. Marked Shiloh before we’d mated. Before our wolves met. But instinct took over, and I couldn’t help myself. My wolf wanted everyone to know he was mine.
Lindon sat on a bench outside the inn, wearing a white Henley with the top few buttons undone and corduroy pants. No shoes. Even with the morning chill in the air. His wolf helped him keep warm, but my tootsies would be frozen.
Not his usual attire, the casual, but it looked good on him.
What didn’t look good was the man. His head hung low, shoulders rounded as he rested his elbows on his knees. Deep in thought, he didn’t lift his head until I was a step away.
“Hazel. Good morning.” He rose up and smiled but it wasn’t real. His eyes didn’t glisten. It was only a facial motion, no feelings behind it. Was he upset that I’d marked Shiloh? Did something happen on his trip?
“Good morning. You look…”
He huffed out a laugh. “I’m okay. What are you doing here smelling like cinnamon rolls and…you?”
My chest warmed, but my wolf was on high alert. “I brought some breakfast. Didn’t know you were back. They told me…” I shook my head. “They told me next to nothing.”
“There wasn’t much to tell.” His mouth said the words, but his eyes told a different story. They were sunken. Shadowed. The alpha looked like he hadn’t slept in a month. Maybe longer. But he hadn’t looked like that before.
We went upstairs, and I ignored the stares of anyone who looked my way. When we got to Lindon’s room, Shiloh and True were there. True came over and kissed my head and asked me if I was okay, and Shiloh buried his face in my neck, tickling me, and then hugged me until it was hard to breathe.
He gave the best hugs.
Lindon stood back, hands behind him. Like he didn’t belong in this group.
Like there was reason for him to feel guilty. The gut instinct gripped my ribs and wouldn’t let go.
“What are you hiding?” I asked him, turning and stepping back from the other two alphas. “I don’t like liars. Ever. I’ve had enough of that in my life. I won’t tolerate another one no matter who it is.”
Lindon and the others shared a look.
“Sit down, Hazel. It’s time we told you who we really are.” The basket of goodies fell from my hands, but I made no move to pick it up. My heart raced, and I had to take a few deep breaths to hear over the drumming.
I knew it would be bad from the way Shiloh gripped my hand between both of his. “We came to Belladonna Woods because we were on the hunt for someone,” Lindon began. “We were contracted by an alpha who was searching for an omega. Something, someone, he claimed who was owed to him.”
My legs shook. “Me. You were sent to hunt me.” I looked at Shiloh as tears plopped from my eyes to my cheeks. “Even you?”
His eyes dropped to the mark on my neck and then back to my eyes. “Yes. All three of us are bounty hunters.”
I tipped my head back and let the flood of anger and hurt take over. I ripped my hand out of Shiloh’s and, while I immediately missed the connection, there was no way I could touch him right now.
“Bounty hunters. For my father. For that man I was traded to.”
Lindon nodded. True hadn’t said a word but he was studying the floor. That had to mean shame and guilt. The thing about bad deeds was intention. Bad people never felt bad about what they’d done.
These men clearly felt that way. That didn’t come close to excusing them for betraying and lying to me, but a twinge of understanding squeezed my heart. The tiniest sliver of a twinge.
Not enough to forgive them.
“All this was to trap me and bring me back to them?”
“No,” Lindon answered firmly. “We are bounty hunters, yes. But we always look at the situation from a different point of view, especially with omegas. This isn’t the first time someone has contracted us to track down an omega under the guise of some debt.
You are not property. And then we knew you were our mate, so there was no way we could give you up to them.
Or anyone for that matter. Yes, we do bring some people in, but with omegas and the innocent, we find a way to get them to safety and throw the contractor off their scent.
We try to help more people than we hurt. ”
“But you’re here and…where were you, Lindon? This whole week?”
He cleared his throat and sat up straight for the first time during this conversation. “I went back to where you lived, Hazel. I killed the man your father was dealing with. He’s not a threat anymore. I would’ve killed your father, but I thought that wouldn’t sit well with my mate.”
I snorted even though none of this was remotely funny. “Oh, that’s where you draw the line. I see.”
Low blow.
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
“We’re sorry we lied to you. We came here for one reason, and you changed all that. We would’ve told you sooner, but we wanted to get rid of the threat hanging over your head first.”
I laughed. “You eliminated one threat. Just one. Trust me. Now that my dad has crossed from seeing me as a daughter to seeing me as an asset to get him somewhere in life, there will be another trade. Another deal. Hands shaken. You won’t be the last people hunting me.
I knew that when I came here. When I ran.
I’ll always be looking over my shoulder. ”
“You—” Lindon started but I raised my hand to stop him.
“I’m leaving. I don’t tolerate… I thought you three were different. Not every alpha but always an alpha. Isn’t that what they say? You proved a lot of omegas right today.”
Shiloh stood when I did. I reached out and touched the mark on his neck, and he sighed. “This is going to hurt,” I whispered.
And then I turned my back on my pack and left.