Page 114 of The Scent of Vengeance

“Oh hunny, I was just toying with you. Don’t get any ideas, pathetic little beta.”

Saffy laughed a little manically at Vella’s acidic insult. The rest of the pack, my mates included, stood quietly observing, totally captivated by the battle and clearly meaning to let them fight it out.

With a roll of my eyes, I cleared my throat pointedly. “Mind if I cut in?”

“Shut up, Cor,” snapped Saffy, giving me a swift glance. "I’ve got this. Look, you vapid waste of ai…”

Her words died away as they both turned to gape at me, the slow drop of their jaws almost comical as the pack abruptly seemed to realise that we were standing there with them.

Saffy let out an ear-splitting scream of delight as she launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and nearly knocking me to the ground with the force of her embrace. As if her movement unlocked the rest of the pack, they all descended on us. Back slaps, affectionate touches, and woops of joy rained down on the four of us until finally a resounding howl began, which echoed around the clearing as they all threw back their heads in celebration.

“You’re really back?” Saffy demanded, her smile so wide it must have hurt. “For good this time?”

I laughed and nodded, happiness spinning through me and my bonds as I realised how much I had missed them all. “Yes. We’re home.”

She abruptly burst into tears, turning to wrap her arms around Noah’s neck, who had only just managed to pry his mother away and shot me a slightly desperate look even as he hugged her tightly. I grinned at him before turning to Liam and nodding at the over-excited crowd around us.

He winked at me and cupped a hand around his mouth, letting his Alpha voice boom into the air.

“Quiet!”

Silence fell almost immediately and Liam pointed towards the fire. “Pack meet. Now.”

Fingers and hands brushed against me continuously as everyone made their way over to the log seats around the large firepit, the guys all receiving equally affectionate greetings from the pack as the sense of joy and excitement infected us all.

A gnarled hand gently caught my wrist as I was about to sit and I turned to find Ulf’s beaming face. I threw my arms around him without hesitation, squeezing gently before pulling back and finding his eyes brimming with tears.

“It is truly wonderful to see you again, child,” he rasped as I helped him to sit down beside me. “I knew you could succeed.”

I blinked back my own emotion as he smiled proudly at me. “It is good to be back.”

“So?” he asked, the pack falling into an expectant hush around us as they listened in. “That idiot messenger boy told us nothing useful. Tell us everything.”

I chuckled and looked around for my mates. They were all grinning at me, giving me gestures of encouragement.

“It might take a while,” I admitted with a small laugh as the pack all looked at me eagerly. “But ok. Settle in and I’ll tell you everything.”

My skin was slick with moisture as I tugged Noah away from the dancing crowd with a pleading look.

“I need water, babe, we can dance more later.”

He pouted at me but nodded, letting me pull him over to the huge wooden bar that had been set up in honour of the party. The music was thumping through the air, the musicians committing to the celebration with a vigour I had never seen before, and almost the entirety of the pack was dancing the night away in a hot, heaving throng of bodies. Even Ulf had given us a little shuffle before Zeke had helped him back to his hut as the night set in.

The fire was blazing, only adding to the baking heat that was still lingering from the day but giving us the necessary light to celebrate well after dark. I swiped my forearm across my forehead in an attempt to mop up some of the sweat dripping off of me and sank gratefully into a seat that Rock vacated with a respectful nod.

Only moments later, Noah dropped down beside me, planting a glass of fresh water in my hands. “The night is young, sweetheart, drink up!”

I gave a dramatic groan. “My feet are dying, Noah. Go dance with Saffy.”

He rolled his eyes and nodded over to where she was laying dramatically on the ground, panting with exhaustion. “She’s given up on me too.”

I laughed tiredly and gulped down my drink, realising in the next moment that he was now sitting ramrod straight and glaring over at her. Spinning back in alarm to where Saffy had been laying, I saw that she was now giggling at Leaf, who was giving her a flirtatious smile as he helped her up from the ground.

A low growl rumbled through Noah’s chest and I snared his wrist in a tight grip as he moved to stand.

“Don’t you dare. She’s fine.”

His glower turned on me. “He has his hands on my sister.”

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