Page 94 of Sawyer

“I know,” I agree. “Have you asked her about a bond again?”

“No.” He turns around to lean against the old wood, testing its strength against his muscle mass. “You saw her face. She thinks I only want to bond with her because of what her brother pulled.”

“We aren’t letting that happen,” I mutter while trailing my eyes over the map. I’ve already marked the camp we passed, and the walkie-talkie remained quiet all night.

“No, we aren’t.” He sighs, glancing down at the map. “Bast removed the pack sanctions, so we won’t have an issue forming a pack without council approval.”

For a long time, packs had to be approved by the council. Any unregulated pack ended up with one of us on their doorstep. I hated it, and more often than not, I began the conversation with, I don’t give a fuck what you do, but… It didn’t help, and it didn’t ease their concerns. It ended up making things more difficult for them and me.

“Good,” I answer, because the last thing anyone wants is to have to apply to love someone. It’s utter bullshit. “We just have to convince Sawyer.”

“And Sin,” Bryn whispers. “He acts as though she is his, but there’s still a haunted quality in his eyes.”

“We don’t need an omega, Bryn.” Better yet… “I don’t need an omega.”

“I know that, and hell, you would know better than anyone.” He jerks his head at the cabin door. “Convincing them is another thing entirely.”

“We have to show her.” I run my tongue over my canines. I don’t have the power to bond, but I can mark her all the same, and damn, I want to while I’m buried inside her.

“Out here, I feel like there’s a time limit with her.” He shakes his head. “Without that bond, I can’t feel her or pinpoint where she is, and my alpha nature hates that.”

“Aww, is Superman out of control?” I use my very best baby talk voice to mock him.

“This is awful,” Sawyer mutters, stepping out of the cabin with a mug of coffee in her hand.

I give Bryn a quick glance because we both know she has an issue with camp coffee. I’m learning all her little quirks.

She loves to dance, despite saying she did it solely to put herself through school. In that small room that Stefani locked us in, she thrived. She moved for us alone, telling me with every roll of her lithe body that she loves to dance.

She also loves to snuggle. She might not admit it out loud, but the way she packed herself into the corner of Sin’s couch and sighed in contentment told me more than words ever could. She adored his unspoken gift.

I imagine her curled up on the couch on a snowy day. Her hair is in a bun on her head, and her glasses sit on her nose while she reads a book and sips hot cocoa.

I’d retire from the delta force just to see her like that every day for the rest of my life.

I’m already a goner and so deep in like with her that it borders on obsession.

“Hello?” She snaps her fingers in front of my face. “There you are. What were you thinking about?”

“Just you, baby girl. Just you.” I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead. My lips brush her hair off her skin. She tastes like comfort, and although I can’t smell her, my memory fills in all the blanks. “Did you sleep well?”

“You know…” She turns and looks at the map. “No, I sure as hell did not.”

“You are a liar,” Bryn replies. His eyes glimmer with a teasing gleam that feels lighter than the oppressive situation. “You snore and drool.”

“I do not,” she argues, a blush creeping up her face.

“Like a lumberjack,” Sin yells from the door. He saunters out of the cabin wearing only pants, his hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

My eyes trail over his chest, where his nipple rings glint in the morning light, and down to his abs and each defined line. One button of his pants remains undone, and I almost reach toward him.

Most designations are sexually fluid. When the world’s population falls apart at the hands of feuding socialites leaving few omegas, well let’s just say that those alpha pheromones work on all designations. Forcing gender to become obsolete.

I find that I’m attracted to his body, and Sin keeps growing on me. I like how open he is with his sexuality, even though he buries his emotions, probably using sex as a way to cope.

Or rather, sex with Sawyer.

“Eyes up here, big guy,” Sin says with amusement.

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