Page 25 of Ryder

“Ma.”

“Turning your head until you don’t know what is what.I taught you better than this, Jason Mark?—”

“Ma!”

“For fuck’s sake!”Dane muttered, shoving his fork down on the plate and turning toward me.“What the fuck is wrong with him?Why won’t he put his mark on her?Is he bringing her in?He needs to just do it.No fucking mark!What an asshole!What does this mean?”

“It means he’s claiming her,” I said, reading the situation for what it was.Jace’s body language, the way he curved around Sloane—there was no fucking mistaking that.

“And carbs,” Ma was saying.“You’ll need to load up for what he has in store for you.”

“God, Ma, stop!”Collective groans went up around the table.

“What?You think I don’t know why these strange girls appear around my table every morning?Not exactly for Sunday prayers, is it?But, Sloane…” Ma beamed at our newcomer.“You’re an omega.”

“Who’s an omega?”As if to throw a grenade into the moment, the door opened and our resident omegas sauntered in.Like Ma, all their eyes were on Sloane, noses twitching as they took in her scent.

“Sloane is,” Jace replied, getting to his feet.“One we need to protect.Fellas, you’re with me.”

ChapterTen

Emma

Sloane called, and we went to pick her up, but it quickly became apparent that all was not well.I didn’t think it was the alpha, Jace, although she glossed over that with a little color in her cheeks.

No, there was something else wrong, and as the master of disguising my emotions, the signs were all too clear to me.

Jude was being, well, Jude and pumping her for information.But all that went out the window when Sloane’s face turned a deathly pale, and she sprinted from the room.The noisy sounds of her retching followed.

Sloane was never sick, and the sounds freaked me out.

She waved us away when we went to check on her.“She’s hungover.Sloane, I’ll get you some ibuprofen and water.”Only I didn’t think she was hungover

When I returned, she hadn’t moved.“Here, you look terrible.”Maybe she’d had something to drink after I saw her?I had a terrible cold prickling sensation that something was terribly off.“How much did you drink last night?”

She didn’t answer, just took the tablets and glugged back the water.

“You’re dehydrated,” I said.“Come on, let’s get you into bed.”I helped her up, worried and anxious, and yet this was Sloane.Maybe she’d finally let her hair down?The way she was squinting at the light had all the earmarks of being hungover.She’d cared for me enough times, so it was time for me to return the favor.I pulled the curtains across the windows, and she settled straight away.“Sleep, Sloane,” I said.“And thanks for last night.It was…wild.”

She would feel better after a rest.I wanted to tell her about Ryder and my own adventure.My conversation with Jude played in my mind as I shut the door on her.

Last night had been quite the night for both of us.

* * *

Jude left with the promise to check in on us later.I took my cell with me and went to bed.Like Sloane, I was exhausted, and I fell straight asleep.

The beeping of my cell roused me, only this time when I looked, it was Jude…and he hadn’t come alone.He had muffins and coffee.

“Sloane still out for the count?”

“Yep,” I said.I inhaled the scent of coffee before tucking into the muffin, then padded over to Sloane’s bedroom door.“Sloane, are you okay?”Nothing.I shrugged as I went to join Jude on the couch.“She was pretty wiped out.”

My cell began ringing.Freaking hell, it was Ryder again.My heart rate shot through the roof, and I nearly spilled my coffee.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?”Jude said.“I don’t know why you’re playing hard to get.We both know you want him.”

“It’s not that,” I replied.“I just?—”

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