Page 72 of Rebel Fates

My cheeks flush bright pink again. But my thoughts zero in on Serrat, Rok, and Zeek. Would they have passed me around like a piece of meat? Do Iwanttheir paws all over me?

My body responds, and I feel feverish again.

“Enough talk.” Crax points to the table. “Lie down.”

His gravelly voice, and his dominant commands, only exasperates my desire. I’m in trouble. I clench my thighs together.

He steps back as if I’m about to jump on him.

I take a calming breath and lay back onto the exam table.

“Areyouan alpha?” I ask, trying to sound innocently curious. But some dark part of me wants to know if he can take care of my growing needs.

Turning toward his computers, he ignores my query, not even snapping a response so I could infer an answer.

I sigh.Loudly.

I swear he glances over at me and smirks under his mask.

Exhausted by all the anxiety, I close my eyes and fall asleep.

34

INFORMATION

ROK

The hunt.

Hunting for Gemma fulfills our natures right now. Eases the angst in our blood, if only some.

She satisfies our cravings of hunting and claiming a mate.

But the results will determine whether we can keep our sanity. There are two big ifs involved—ifwe can track her, andifshe will be ours when we find her.

“I hope our alpha scents will be enough to tempt her into accepting our mating bond,” Zeek says more to himself than to us. “At least we have a unique situation.Wetriggered her transformation. That could hold more weight and drive her to accept us.” He’s trying to convince himself of success. “Although I don’t want her to regret it once her mind clears.”

“Other than our biological needs making us crave her, and probably her needing us, should we expect her to want a lasting bond?” Serrat asks without wanting an answer.

I will not allow myself to even get that far.

How can we find her when she could be anywhere?

Trying to trace the Mobia ship is a wild shot in the great expanse of space.

Despite my misgivings about finding her, I offer, “We are often in stressful situations, but I think she can handle our lifestyle. We’ve seen she’s a fighter and a survivor. She was barely rattled by what’s happened to her so far. More importantly, she sacrificed herself for us when she didn’t know us very well. She cared enough to ensure our well-being. I’m frexing angry she gave herself up, but she took action—just as we would have done.”

“She is a good fit and may see that too. We did our best to help her before that moment. We also gave her pleasure.” Zeek frowns. “But is that enough? Maybe if she knew how appealing we found her? On every level. Even before she presented as an omega.”

“First, we find her,” I say, hoping to end the conversation.

I don’t expect any female would want me. I couldn’t handle another rejection after the one I suffered from the female mate of my previous pack.

Besides, I wasn’t on my best behavior when Gemma was with us. Not that I’m much of a charmer on a good day. We have Zeek for the endearing element of our group. Serrat is great as the stoic leader. I fall under the acerbic know-it-all. But my knowledge has kept us alive against many odds, so I stick with it.

I’m worried about Gemma. She brings forth the part of me I try to keep buried—my compassion and my passion. What will happen to me if I allow her in? I reprimand myself again. We probably won’t get her back, not by a long shot.

Refusing to leave the control room, we are all contacting everyone we can for more information on someone called Crax or sightings of a Black Mobia. We are waiting for replies, but have had no leads yet.

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