Page 44 of Talk About… History

The moment lasted only a few seconds but it felt like a lifetime. Just us, the water, locked away from the world.

I pushed us up to the surface and we broke free, gasping for air. Her face was a mix of shock and relief.

“You breathing normal now, mate?”

She sputtered for a second before shaking her head for a moment then letting it fall back to stare up at the sky. Her body started to shake, but it wasn’t until the laughter burst free I realized it wasn’t from cold.

“What the actual fuck, Mason?” she gasped. “You just dove us into the fucking lake!”

“You were about to go into a full-blown panic attack, I did what I could to shake you out of it,” I said simply. “It worked.”

She snorted. “Yeah, it did. I’m also soaked through and so are you.”

“Ford is going to kill me.”

We both glanced to the shore where he was throwing up his hands, pacing, and ranting. At least he’d snagged her purse when he followed.

“I think I broke him. He’s usually the impulsive one.”

She shoved off of me and started to swim around the dock to the shore. Ford was there waiting, sliding his shirt off and slipping it over her head and shooting me a glare.

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Avery said with a chuckle. “He went all alpha on me.”

Then her smile fell and her body stiffened, a frown etching on her face.

Heavy footsteps running our way had me hurrying out of the water and to their side, Ford and I blocking our omega from the man running at us.

“Avery, are you alright? The restaurant said some lunatic ran off the dock with an omega and when I saw it was you…”

The man trailed off, dodging us to take her in.

“Doctor Clark?” she asked, confused now. “No, I’m fine.”

“If you’re fine, then they certainly won’t mind stepping aside so I can see for myself,” he growled, his eyes half-feral. This doctor was ready to throw down for her, but why would he care this much?

Ford was the first to relent, stepping aside enough for him to see but not enough for the new alpha to get to her.

“This is one of the doctors from the clinic, guys, he’s fine,” she said, stepping past us then stumbling. He reached out to catch her but the guilty look on his face told me something else was up.

“You’re a scent-match, too? Now the universe has to be fucking with me,” she muttered.

“Please, let me explain,” he said, trying to keep his voice even and giving us a side eye like we were encroaching on a private conversation.

“No, I need to be dry for this. You all can wait here. Well, Mason, you should probably come, too. The boutique will hopefully have something for us.”

She turned on her heel and stalked toward one of the small shops lining the lakefront. The stone buildings were side by side, giving us a few options, though we got more than a few looks.

We barely made it a few steps when Ford was next to us and the doctor was stomping along behind us.

“You can’t go into a shop dripping wet, I’ll grab the clothes for you,” Ford offered.

“So we can change in the street?” Avery asked, raising an eyebrow. Ford frowned, a low growl escaping.

“No.”

“I’m paying for my own clothes, too,” she said, giving us all a warning. I opened my mouth to protest but something in her face made me close it again. She was challenging us and from the way she was tensed, she needed this.

“Alright,” I said, stepping around her and opening the door, holding it for her. She shuffled past and the shopkeeper ran forward, her eyes wide.

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