Page 47 of Whatever It Takes

“Christ,” Keir whispers.

“I’m on it. Anything else you might have forgotten?” I ask, pulling my phone from its holder in the middle console.

“Some clothes, my toothbrush, my suppressants in the bathroom, and the extra pack in the bedside table. The doctor I saw when I was in custody with the DEA and FBI gave me an entire year of refills.”

I’ve already got a team over there, wiping it of all traces of her existence. I’d like to believe they’d be thorough enough to check the medicine cabinets, but I text them the information just to be safe.

My head tilts as I stare down at my phone.

There’s no need for them to return her pills. I let them know to dispose of them, along with any of her belongings she left behind.

“My vibrator,” she says softly. “Also in the bedside table. It’s been washed, but yeah, there’s probably some DNA left on it.”

Calder hits the brakes extra hard as he shifts into first gear to head down the driveway.

“Noted,” I say drolly.

“Okay, but are we going to stop and get my suppressants?” Briar asks, sounding truly panicked for the first time.

“It’s not worth the risk. We can’t be seen anywhere near Jameson’s building,” Keir says. “We’ll find you a doctor once we’re in Virginia.”

I barely manage to bite my lip to keep from growlingabsolutely not.Briar may build her pack as she sees fit—from the three individuals in this vehicleandas long as I’m included—but she has no further need for suppressants.

Chapter Nineteen

Briar

No matter how hard they try to convince me that it’s not a bad sign we’re leaving town in the middle of the night…I still worry.

My head is a mess, torn between feeling guilty and fretting that they’ll get blamed for the disaster I got us into while also trying not to act like an omega who’s gone off the deep end.

Being in such a small area with all three of their scents has my instincts overloaded to a level I’ve never experienced. I ache to nest and wallow in blankets and pillows with soft fabrics while being surrounded by the three of them. Maybe I’ve done something horrible to offend the universe, because I get half of my wish.

They’re all here in a confined space… Too bad it’s a moving vehicle, and I’m miserable.

“Oh, sweetness,” Keir murmurs, kissing my forehead as I lean against his chest. “You are warm.”

I nod. “And I need a bathroom break. Easton didn’t even offer before we left.”

Keir stretches forward and whacks the back of Easton’s head, then frowns, nuzzling his cheek to my hair. “I’m sorry. I forgetsometimes that he doesn’t understand even the basics of human decency.”

It’s an eleven or twelve-hour drive from Vermont to the town we’re headed to in Virginia.

There’s no way I’ll last that long.

Not without a bathroom break, and probably not without embarrassing myself when I break down and beg one of them to knot me.

“I feel awful,” I admit. “I just want to hide in a nest and snuggle… Why did I have to come?” Shit, I sound whiny even to my own ears, and I bite my lip to keep more complaints from spilling free.

“Find somewhere I can take her to the bathroom without needing to completely change her clothes,” Keir growls.

He must be speaking to Calder, because that’s who is driving.

“I’m sorry I’m sweating all over you,” I say, pulling the blanket over the back of my head.

“No more apologizing,” Keir says firmly. “You don’t need to feel guilty over your biological reactions any more than I let myself feel guilty for wanting to fix all your problems. Nature dictates the relationship between alphas and omegas, it’s that simple. More than that, sweetheart, caring for you isn’t a burden.”

My lower lip wobbles, so I bury my face in his shirt to keep from bursting into tears. I’m not used to anyone being as kind and genuine as Keir and Calder are. If I’m not careful, I’ll start crying, and I think that would be the one thing worse than being trapped in a moving vehicle with Easton.

---