Page 130 of Just One Bite
I check my phone. The news about Aster and Barrett is going to break any minute. Cane provided his evidence by the time the sun came up, as promised—a series of text messages traced back to their numbers discussing tapering with Olivia’s drink at the party. I’d given all the evidence to Autumn,the best journalist at the university newspaper, and it took everything in me not to ambush those fuckers in their dorm rooms. But I can’t help Olivia if I’m locked up.
I didn’t sleep at all. The whole thing made me so enraged I spent the night in my shifted form pacing the grounds behind Noxx House. Olivia calmed down sometime in the middle of the night. I hope she got some sleep.
Chaos will erupt, and I’ll be on an island with no service. I can see it all unfolding now.Aster Carrington and Barrett Hunter Drug Olivia Osborne at a Party.
They’ll want blood. They’ll want me.
Well, I’m busy trying to win my girl back from the mess they made.
I text Zant while I wait at the shore for the ferry, begging him to find a way around the Were rule. The only way I think Zant will be able to come is because he’s on the council and pays for the food for the guests.
The campus is alive with the news of The Hunt even though it’s a private event unrelated to Doxlothia, but since the board of directors is involved the school helps fund and house participants on the private island.
The rocky water bank smells of fish, and every few minutes, another group of people arrive. It reeks of alpha blood, and all my nerve endings are rapid firing.
Gavin is here to see me off. We’re gathered by the water while the ferry drifts toward us in the distance. I told him about my plan. He was seconds away from asking his dad for help, but I stopped him. This is my fight. My chance to prove to everyone I’m stepping up and not backing down. Plus, stopping The Hunt is impossible. She’s locked in now, and so am I.
“I’ve set some money back in case I have to make your bail.” Gavin’s smile is strained. “Keep your head.”
“I will. I’m going to get her back.”
“I know. I’m proud.” He hits me so hard in the shoulder I fall back a few steps. “I’m going to miss you stirring shit up in my pack.”
The Hunt is exclusively for alphas. By joining The Hunt, I’m officially accepting my role as an Alpha, and that means letting go of Gavin’s pack for good.
“I think you’ll like me a lot more now.”
He smirks. “Probably.”
I smell her approaching. The smell of her perfume and the laundry soap she uses. Her hairspray. Her blood.Meall over her.
“Thanks for everything … Alpha.”
Gavin’s jaw sets and he smiles, patting me on the shoulder before leaving me to my business—wooing Olivia, which I take very seriously.
“Hi, baby.” I stop feet from her, my shades shielding me from the sun beating down. Other than a swarm of other alphas, The Hunt hanging over our heads, and the knowledge the two most popular Weres on campus are about to come for my neck, it’s a nice day. Any day I get to see her is a nice day.
Her eyes widen. For once she isn’t in her uniform but more of her athletic wear that shows the curves of her stomach and her legs. Those legs, that not long ago, I had wrapped around my waist as I drove into her and forced my name from her lips.
I shouldn’t think about it, but I do because she still smells like me.
“Parker. What are you doing here?”
“Looking for my mate. What better way than The Hunt?”
Pretending I’m looking for someone else will prevent her from arguing for the time being. She probably won’t believe it, but I want to relieve the guilt wafting off her. Our night together peeled back all her insecurities, and I get why she wants to run and how she thinks it’s easier. She’s wrong, but she’s cute when she’s wrong.
Olivia let me into her world but can’t keep me out. No matter what they’re holding over her head, it won’t change my love for her, but I need to show her.
She chews on my words for a few seconds. Her foot taps in the dirt.
“You’re here … for a mate? Someone else.”
“Of course. That’s why everyone is here.”
Something surges in the bond again. Her stomach hurts.
“Well, I-I can’t talk to you.”
