Page 56 of Sawyer

“They respect you.” Bryn steps up beside me. “Impressive.”

I grab my pack, not about to wait for Sin. “We should head out. We are losing daylight, and we only have a few hours before we need to be at the club.”

“They will be there all night,” Sawyer interjects. “If we run late, I can’t imagine it would be an issue.”

She isn’t wrong, but I hate being late, and I don’t plan on doing so now. Either way, this is more important. “Let’s go.”

The three of us head toward the tree line, Sin nowhere in sight. He will catch up to us though.

This side of the mountain has many cliffs and steep inclines, so the beginning of this hike won’t be easy.

“We need to decide if this was just a dumping ground.” Bryn takes the lead, his inhales audible as we enter the forest. “How’d they find the bodies?”

There’s no true path, only breaks in branches where deltas tromped. “I told them to keep searching.” It was a call I had to make and one I didn’t inform my superiors of. I’m unsure what the repercussions will be, but I took the chance. My superior is an alpha mated to the monarch, so I hoped he’d forgive me.

“Hey,” Sin shouts just as we get a hundred feet into the forest. “We have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” Sawyer squints at him, expecting him to spout something about her ass.

“Listen.” Sin presses play on his phone, and his father’s voice rings out around us. “Son, I hear you’ve collected a pack. Of those, one is a delta force employee, and the other works for the monarch. The deltas are currently investigating the bodies found along a logging road in the Oak Mountains.” Static fills the air before he continues. “However, the dean of Castle Omega formally requests that you back off and allow his men to take over. Please, bring your pack to dinner later tonight.”

“Hell no, I’m not going to dinner.” Sin pockets his phone, his face turning red with irritation. “Your deltas just got the call. My father ordered them to back off.”

“What the hell? There is no way the monarch would allow for this.” Sawyer stomps her foot, and if the situation weren’t so fucked up, I’d find it adorable.

“Unfortunately, the castle owns the land here,” Bryn says. “The dean has the authority to halt any investigation. It’ll force us to go through official hoops.”

“Do we do this?” Sin asks, not about to let it go.

“Yes,” Sawyer replies. “I don’t know about you three, but I’m not stopping. Besides, I’ve already changed and have nothing else to do.” Muttering under her breath, she treks into the forest and nearly steps right on a snake.

All I can do is react. I grab her waist, fling her into Bryn’s arms, and dive for the snake. The telltale rattle screams venomous, but I take the risk and move quickly, grabbing it near its head and tossing it into the woods.

Heart pounding, I swing back toward Sawyer, who just blinks up at me with her hazel eyes. “Stay behind me,” I rumble and march off, irritation blooming with each step I take.

“My hero,” Sin purrs.

“How are you not an omega?” Sawyer mutters but falls into step behind me.

“Well, my daddy is an alpha and needed another alpha, so he bred me in a lab.” Sin’s voice is full of snark and humor, but I taste his truth in the air.

There is only one problem—I know that to be a lie. He’s fed himself the lie so many times, he probably doesn’t even believe the truth.

“You’re serious,” Sawyer says, echoing exactly what I feel, only for different reasons.

“Yep,” Sin replies. “Imagine his disappointment when I ended up with mixed qualities as a kid. He got lucky when my designation revealed itself.”

“I mean, you’re tall but slimmer than Bryn and Rumor,” Sawyer continues, “but sometimes, when you speak, your alpha shines through.”

“Or when he’s kidnaping the monarch’s mate,” I comment over my shoulder as I step over a fallen log.

“Listen, she was making the wrong choice, so I steered her in the right direction,” Sin explains, excusing his actions.

“Her pack banned you from going near her.” I chuckle. “Or the castle.”

“What the hell did you do?” Sawyer asks while grunting as she steps over the log.

“Nothing.” He laughs as he says it, which gives away his guilt. “I snuck in and helped an omega in need, that’s all.”

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