Page 30 of The Scent of Vengeance

The blue flickered to deep amber as his eyes flashed wolf. “Shoving you down?”

“And then he was gone. All of you were,” I sighed, dropping my gaze to our feet. “I had a long time trapped over there to think. To... wonder.”

He gave a deep sigh as I trailed off, tucking a finger under my chin to turn my face back up to his. It was all I needed. The truth of his feelings shone in his eyes; the regret, sympathy, and adoration sending a wave of relief crashing through me that left me shaking.

“I swear to you, I had no idea,” he vowed, a low tremor in his voice that I knew meant he was struggling to hold onto his emotions. “We would never have walked through without you if we even suspected…”

He swallowed hard, shaking his head. “I thought Zeke was on the same page as the rest of us.”

I cupped his face with trembling hands, finally letting myself accept what I had truly known all along. It wasn’t only me that Zeke had deceived.

“Ok,” I whispered, a smile curving my lips at the relief in his bright eyes.

I frowned, though, as he stumbled slightly, his legs shaking a little as I tried to hold him steady. He waved away my concern with a tired grin, planting his feet again.

“Sorry, sweetheart, I’m fine. It’s just been a long few days. Well, months.”

He nodded at the cold, used firepit. “I can see you were about to move out, but I’m gonna need to rest for a bit.”

I nodded, ignoring his half-hearted glare as I refused to let go of his arm until he was sitting. The others didn’t comment, giving us space as they decided to trust my judgement and let go of their suspicions.

“How about some clothes for the naked guy?” Briar quipped with a wrinkled nose, and I couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“You’ll learn to ignore the nudity, B. It’s pretty standard if you hang out with shifters.”

Hawk threw a pair of light grey sweatpants to Noah, who gave him a grateful nod as he tugged them on.

“Yeh, well there’s a difference between happening to see it when they’re shifting and just hanging around with dicks swinging,” Briar replied, sinking back down beside the fire and resting her chin on her hand.

Linc turned one his luminous grins on my sister, waggling his brows suggestively. “Been checking us out, doll?”

Briar’s spine snapped straight as she grimaced at him. “Don’t flatter yourself. The ridiculous amount of alpha male being paraded around is hardly my fault.”

She shot him a dark look. “And if you’re going to give me a stupid pet name, at least pick one that you don’t use on my sister.”

His grin only widened, his eyes sparking with mischief as he considered her request. “You’re right, you’re no dainty doll are you.”

“Hey!” I snapped, offended that he’d assigned me that status. He ignored me though, his full focus on Briar as he stalked towards her.

She glared at him as he crouched low before her. She didn’t move though, not even a twitch of a finger to defend herself, so I knew she didn’t see him as a threat.

“Beautiful and prickly,” he murmured, just loud enough for me to catch. “Your name suits you perfectly, Briar, you don’t need a new one from me.”

She stared back at him for a long moment before letting out a small scoff. “Whatever, back off before I shock the shit out of you.”

He chuckled as she raised a hand and threw some cursory sparks at him, standing up and moving to sit beside me instead. His gaze stayed fixed on my sister until I reached up to flick him on the forehead, snapping his attention to me with a grimace.

“Jeez, woman, what the hell was that for?” he grumbled, rubbing his face.

I raised a mocking brow at him. “Stop staring at my sister, Linc.”

He fell back into a familiar grin and winked at me. “Ah, I’m only playing, doll.”

“I can’t believe I ever let you call me that,” I grouched, glaring at him.

He had the decency to look a little guilty at that but shrugged. “You were, Cor. A beautiful, broken little doll.”

Noah grimaced and I squeezed his hand, our fingers intertwined like neither one of us could bear to let go. I wasn’t actually sure I would ever stop touching him again, my skin desperate to be in contact with his as our bond hummed in my chest and rejoiced in our connection. It would make peeing tricky, but we could totally make it work.

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