Page 125 of Pack Rivals, Part One

"I'm so sorry," I say, as Courtney crawls across the sand and wraps her arms around our aunt.

"No need to be, darling. We had fifteen very happy years together. More than most people find in a lifetime."

I kick the sand off my feet, and straighten out my legs, sipping on my wine and thinking.

"Have you felt the boom?" Courtney asks me, tossing me the packet of chips.

The boom? Oh, I've felt it. It's just until my aunt described it like that, I hadn't known what it was. I've felt that boom plenty, over and over again.

"Yes," I admit.

"With whom?"

"All of them," I mutter.

"Ahh crap," Courtney chuckles, but my aunt doesn't laugh.

"This could be a problem, Bea."

She's telling me. Maybe I'm better off at the clinic after all.

26

Axel

I can't sleep.I toss and turn in my goddamn bed but sleep doesn't come.

I'd sleep if my omega was here. I'd sleep if she were in my bed and in my arms.

Instead, she's however many miles away, out in the middle of nowhere.

I don't like it. Not one bit.

It doesn't matter how many times her aunt insists it is safe, how many times Bea tells me this is what she wants, I don't like it.

I need to know she's safe.

More than that, I need her here.

Fuck.

I throw back the sheet and pad through the apartment, heading for the gym. Moonlight streams in through the window and for a moment I hover in the doorway, watching wispy clouds pass over the ghostly disc's face. Thinking of her, wondering if she's also awake, if she's staring up into the sky too.

I could call her, but it's three in the morning.

I scrub my hand through my hair and stomp to the machine. I drop down onto the seat and start lifting weights.

The pain and the strain, the physical effort required to drive the weight up over my head, helps.

But the omega creeps into my mind after a while anyway, and I drop the weights with a clank and slump over my knees.

I knew I liked this girl. I knew she'd caught my attention in a way no girl ever has.

This is different. This is more. This is an obsession.

It's as if she's burrowed under my skin and entered my bloodstream. As if my heart is beating to the rhythm of her name and her name only.

I can't stop thinking about her. I can't stop tasting her scent on my tongue and hearing her voice in my ear.

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