Page 57 of Pack’s Pledge

“You’re such an alpha,” I said, and laughed when he shoved my shoulder. I fell back against the ground, closing my eyes against the bright sky. A shadow crossed over my eyelids, and then Adrian’s hand came to rest gently on my hip.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked. “Just kiss.” I opened my eyes to find myself staring at his pink lips.

“Yes,” I said, closing my eyes again as he bent over me, his lips landing on mine, warm and soft and tasting like coffee and syrup. His tongue swiped across the seam of my lips, and I opened under him, letting myself get lost in it, just for a moment.

He pulled away, and smiled.

“What you said, last night, about wanting to be mine…” I didn’t miss the way his eyes darted to my neck, the way he smoothed my wind-whipped hair away from my skin, “I want to be clear with you. Communicate,” he said, “because I am, unlike some other people we know, an alpha who can talk about his emotions. His wants.” His eyes were dark and intense, so close that they flickered back and forth between my eyes. “I want that too. Don’t doubt that, baby,” he said, “Beta. Britt.”

Then his shadow was gone, and I blinked at a cloudless wall of blue.

I heard the clink of the thermos against his backpack and took a last deep breath of mountaintop air. It was time to go. Back to the cabin, and then, probably, back to the city.

“That smell you love? These trees are all juniper,” Adrian said, pulling me up with one strong hand.

His face was so close to mine, there was no way he didn’t see the sheen that blurred my vision when he continued, rough and warm, like his hand in mine.

“That’s Conall’s scent. Britt… Come home.”

I nodded.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE

Britt

Conall was sittingon the couch when we arrived, unshaven and in a pair of sweats I’d never seen him in before. The dark circles under his eyes were worse. The sight made my chest constrict, painfully. Had he slept at all, since the heat? I thought not.

“Back from your little trip?” he said, without looking up.

“Conall,” I said, and he whipped his head in my direction. “It’s me.”

“Britt,” he growled, standing up. “What are you—”

“I have to tell you something,” I said.

His face shuttered.

“I already told you,” he said.

“Let her talk,” Adrian said from beside me. He let our duffle bags fall to the floor. I probably smelled like him. We’d spent the past 24 hours together, tangled together on the couch, hiking, driving back into the city—his hand had stray to my thigh again and again as we’d discussed what to do when we got here. His thumb had swept across the worn denim of my jeans, and I’d longed for more, for his hand to crawl upwards, even while knowing it couldn’t happen. Not yet. We had a plan. A plan that sent nerves twisting in my stomach. It had to work. It had to. Otherwise, I wasn’t sure Conall would ever forgive me.

Conall turned his gaze from me to Adrian. “You took her to the cabin?”

Adrian nodded. “I thought she needed a break.”

“Right,” Conall said. “A break.”

“And someone to talk to.”

“She can talk to—”

“Then let her talk,” Adrian said. “Alpha.” Conall blinked. I’d seen him do it before, but this time, Adrian saw it, too, and nodded, sighing. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.” His hand rested on my lower back, and he nudged me forward, just a bit.

“I started working at Ardor because I wanted to get closer to you,” I said, looking up at Conall.MyConall.

“What?” he asked.

“I never told you. It’s embarrassing,” I said, “but yes. I wanted to know what it was like, for you. You never told me why you thought we couldn’t be together. I never understood. You presented, and then… you were gone. But I was still the same. I still wanted you. I still wondered why you had left.”

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