Page 90 of Pit Stop

“Come on!” he shouts. “You wanna see what’s out here. I think you’ve never seen anything like it.”

He disappears for a moment, only to reappear in the shadows of a large pine. His claws are out, eyes gleaming. He looks completely feral, and for a moment, I wonder if this is safe.

This has to be a setup. Maybe Red sent us here for a reason. Maybe it was all a nefarious plan because I didn’t agree to his terms.

But as we continue forward, Jex runs down the trail, continuing to guide us through the woods, moving down worn paths until we arrive at a large lake. With the sun in the sky, it sparkles—silver, gold, and blue.

What the hell? I’ve never seen anything like it.

“Oh,” I breathe.

“Yeah, nice, right? This place is pure magic,” Jex says and then waggles his eyebrows at my dad, who just stares off into the distance. He’s done with everyone’s shit, it seems. He raised four boys and lost a wife. He doesn’t have time for Jex and his flirty, alpha shit.

“Want to go in? Attie says it has healing properties. But you need to take your clothes off for it,” Jex goads.

Dad just walks past him toward the edge of the lake. His shoes hit the sand, and he leans back, inhaling.

Jex watches him before turning his gaze to us.

“Come on. Let’s get in.”

“No,” my dad says. “We stay here. Clothed.”

Jex doesn’t know what to make of him, I can tell. He’s used to bullying people and them bending the knee, but my dad is stronger than he looks. Even if he’s not a shifter. Even if he’s justa businessman with a degree in marketing and a pension waiting to be used.

Jex moves his gaze back to Maverick and me. I can feel his energy pulsing off him, like he wants to shift, to run free, but he’s restraining himself.

“Why don’t you two take some time away? I know what it’s like to have a bond broken,” my dad says after a moment of silence.

“Do you?” Jex asks him, but he goes ignored.

To be honest, I do want to sneak away with Maverick, to stay in his arms a little longer. Our time is ticking away. Minute by minute. Pretty soon, we won’t be bonded anymore.

It bothers me more than it should.

It should never have come to this, but it has. And we both have to face the consequences.

“There’s a cave a half a mile down the path. If you run, you can make it in record time. You two can fuck, just like I know you want to, and be back in time for dinner,” Jex says, and I watch him, trying to see if he’s being a dick. It seems ingrained in him, like he doesn’t even try at it. No one I’ve met here has impressed me all that much.

But maybe that’s just how shifters are.

Is he trying to set us up by sending us away? Or maybe it’s just me he’s after? I know Red has a stake in this, and I still don’t know what he wants from me. It could be something evil, or it could simply be that he likes how I smell.

I have no idea.

“Come on,” Maverick says. “We’ll be close enough that they can hear us if we call.”

“Yeah?” I ask, and he nods, pulling me forward. “You think it’s safe?”

“It’s fucking safe,” Jex calls. “We have nothing to gain if you die. Just the trouble of burying you. And that’s fucking exhausting!”

That’s not reassuring, but then again, he seems to have a thing for my dad. Intrigued at least. Maybe it will be enough to keep us safe. Maybe there really isn’t anything to worry about.

“Come on. I get a little more time with you. Let’s find this cave. Or at least pretend that’s where we’re going.”

“Is my dad safe?”

“Your dad can take care of himself.”

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