Page 128 of Never Submit

The crowd around us disperses with nothing left to watch.

But I can’t tear my attention away from the two of them, the way Mathis comforts Ren to the point where she drops down and sits on her haunches.

This is amazing, and horrible.

A double whammy for me because this is my worst nightmare come true, and I must be too stupid not to have realized it until now. Now I really will have Dax in my face for the rest of my fucking life.

How did it not connect on our hunt? Why now?

My breath catches in my throat as Ren shifts back into her human form, naked on her ass in the dirt. Mathis takes her by the elbows and hauls her up, into the comfort of his arms. He rests his chin on her head and holds her. Catchingmy gaze and arching a brow in a clear demand for me to join the cuddle puddle.

Woodenly, I make my way over to the two of them and stand at Ren’s back, eventually looping my arms around her as well.

She lets out a small sigh, a sound of contentment.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do. I…I panicked. There was so much going on at one time, and I wasn’t sure when you guys would be back?—”

It’s not clear which of us she’s talking to, until she tugs on the mate bond between us.

Mathis is there, his bond with her running parallel to ours but close enough for me to touch. He knows we’re passing sensations back and forth but he isn’t intervening. How interesting.

Especially when I’m intimately aware of Torin staring with a gaze that nearly burns a hole straight through the three of us.

If I push the awareness of my alpha aside and tune into the connection, however…there is peace. There is comfort in the way the three of us touch, as though we are another step closer toward absolute completion.

It makes no sense.

Slowly, Ren turns her back to Mathis and faces me, lifting on her toes to press a kiss to my chin. “I’m tired. Can we go to bed, Noble? Take a nap?”

I nod, not trusting myself to speak yet.

Mathis is reluctant to let go of her, of me, and as the three of us stand together I feel the connection weaving us tighter, an unbreakable web. Well, shit. At least Mathis is powerful. I can admit that much.

“I hate to see you go, but I know you’ll rest easier with him right now,” he murmurs to Ren, nuzzling the side of herface. “We’ll talk about arrangements soon. Once we’ve calmed down, not so?—”

“Raw,” I finish for him.

His gaze flicks to mine, and he nods slowly. Appraising me. “Exactly. Besides, I have to deal with Dax.”

It’s only going to get worse before it gets better, especially with Torin looming like a dark cloud at the edge of the group. Glowering at no one in particular. He’s got feelings for Ren himself. More than he’s ever willing to admit. Whatever happens from here on out…it will be interesting, if nothing else.

Ren says her goodbyes to Mathis, kissing him long and slow before she turns to Dax with a wink. Finally, she links her hand through mine and allows me to tug her toward Torin.

“Let’s go,” my alpha snaps, and we follow him.

The silence is calming on our walk back to the cabin Ren and I have shared. She’s snuggled at my side and wrapped in my shirt. She’s shivering but not from cold, not when waves of heat filter off of her.

“Did you find anything?” she whispers.

“Nothing important. Dax fucking broke apart the moment we got there,” I whisper back, into her hair. Drawing her scent into me. Jasmine and vanilla.

Ren’s exhaustion beats at me, though, and I’m torn in two directions—protecting the delicate, powerful woman at my side or protecting the alpha who is equally both of those things.

Fuck.

We pause at the door to the cabin, and Ren cocks her head. “Aren’t you coming inside with me?”

I force a grin. “I’ve got to fill Torin in on what I saw when I was out. I’ll be backas soon as I can.”

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