Page 88 of Pit Stop

“How do we know you’re not going to poison us?”

He rolls his eyes and laughs. “Trust me. I could kill you in a much funner way.”

“How?” Sage asks, and Attie turns his gaze to look at him.

“I can show you later, if you want.”

Something swirls from his fingers, and Sage gasps, stepping back. Well, I’m slightly impressed. He can actually do magic.

“Drink it or I won’t help you,” he says, and I uncork the bottle, pressing it to my lips and swallowing it in one gulp. I gag and sputter as it burns its way down my throat, making something pulse through me.

Maverick stiffens beside me and then does the same. He’s far less dramatic about it, but I can tell he doesn’t like the taste.

Or what this means.

The beginning of the end.

He takes the vial from my hand and gives them back to Attie.

“Done.”

“Awesome. Now enjoy yourselves. Run through the woods. Get fucked. Howl at the moon. I need to jerk off in preparation for this ceremony. Always makes me horny.”

And with that, he turns around and disappears back into his trailer, the rickety door slamming shut behind him.

We all stare at it in silence until my dad finally speaks.

“This is fucking weird.”

“You’re telling me,” Sage replies and then looks around. “Shit. Where’s Forest?”

“He was right here,” I explain, and my dad eyes the woods surrounding us.

“Aw, man,” Sage murmurs and then lets out a small laugh. “You don’t think?—”

“I don’t wanna know,” my dad grumbles. “Let him do his thing. If he doesn’t show up in a few hours, we’ll go looking for him. Let’s just head back and spend some time together.”

I glance at my dad and raise my eyebrows.

“You’re cool with it?”

He rolls his lips between his teeth. “What he does is none of my business. He’s my son, but he’s an adult.”

And with that, he turns and walks away, leaving me to follow next to Maverick and Sage, my eyes scanning the woods, wondering where my brother went and what trouble he’s getting into.

“Do you think he really went in there to meet Ten?” I ask, and Maverick shakes his head.

“Never saw him take an interest in that before. Probably just went in there because Ten pissed him off. Probably wants to try and beat him up or something.”

“Is he going to die?”

“No, Forest is tough. Once beat up a few guys who were being assholes to me.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. He can take care of himself. Even against an alpha. Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”

I lean further into him and inhale. One more day with my mate. I’ll miss this when the bond is severed.

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