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He gave a nearly inaudible breath of laughter. “Well, that clears thingsrightup.”

The deck shifted subtly beneath our feet, and I grabbed for the rail again. Gabriel turned to look over his shoulder, and I followed suit. The sails had gone limp, no longer bellied out by the light wind. The sound of ropes swishing and pulleys clanking marred the night’s silence, previously broken only by theshush-shushof waves against the hull. A few moments later, something heavy splashed nearby. The ship’s anchor, maybe? Shortly after that, Onyx strolled up to us.

“Little dark for sightseeing,” they said, hitching a foot up on the railing next to me, bracketing me between alphas. Oddly, I didn’t feel trapped.

“I just needed some air,” I said, willing down the warmth that tried to rise to my cheeks.

“Mm,” Onyx hummed. “Getting a bit intense down there, I imagine.” A jerk of the chin indicated the cabin below. “Never had old Curran pegged as a daddy caretaker type, either. You think you know someone...”

“Shall I tell him you said that?” Gabriel asked wryly, as I breathed in the combined scents of oak and spruce.

Onyx shrugged, supremely unconcerned. “Not like he can fire me. I work for you, not him. It’s kind of sweet, actually.” They hesitated. “On second thought, maybe don’t tell him that last part.”

I was relaxing despite myself, and suddenly I couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.

Onyx pushed off the rail, rubbing broad hands together. “So, is it almost time for the hot, consent-informed sex now? Because I’d hate for the old man to burst an aneurysm trying to keep up with an omega half his age. That would just be embarrassing.”

Gabriel eyed his employee sidelong. “You’re clearly not entertaining a career change into diplomacy, then,” he said tartly. “Elijah, are you ready to go down?”

“So to speak,” Onyx sing-songed,sotto voce.

No, I thought.But maybe yes.

“We probably should,” I said. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have come up here in the first place.”

“Always better to step away for a few minutes than lose your shit in front of the wrong people,” Onyx said carelessly. “Don’t worry, she’s probably got Curran wrapped around her little finger by now.”

Gabriel snorted.

I took a deep breath and let it out, gratified when it didn’t feel like there was a steel band around my lungs. “Okay. Let’s go,” I said.

This would be fine. All of it would be fine. And my reaction to the mingled scents in the cabin before had probably been a fluke, that’s all.

This was fine.

TWENTY-TWO

Emma

THE COMBINATION OF three alpha scents combined with mine and Elijah’s was driving me crazy, but in a good way. My reaction felt wrong... I’d been around alphas before, even in groups, and it had never hit me this way before. Was it because my heat was taking over my good sense? Was that why the mingled pheromones choking the cabin made my cramping muscles relax and my fear retreat?