Page 34 of Daisy

The scent hits me like a like a thunderbolt to the chest. Not just honeysuckle and vanilla, buther.Something so perfectly right it makes my hands shake on the wheel. Makes my mouth go dry. My alpha hindbrain recognizes it immediately, starts flooding my system with chemicals that make me want to pull over, climb into the back, and wrap myself around her until she feels safe.

Scent match.

The knowledge slams into me so hard I nearly swerve. My foot eases off the gas as my world tilts sideways. Shit. This is real. She's real.

"Gun?" Hawk's voice cuts through the roaring in my ears. "You okay?"

I clear my throat, force my hands steady. Grip the wheel tighter. "Yeah. Just... tired."

Liar. I'm wired, every nerve ending sparking with recognition. Always thought scent matching was bullshit. Something they tell us to keep us in line, make us think there's a chance at something better than dying alone.

Except there's no denying what my body knows. What my scent glands are practically screaming at me.

She's mine.

Ours,my brain corrects, because if I can smell it, so can the others. The guard, the fighter, Hawk. Hell, maybe they already figured it out. Maybe that's why we all moved as a unit without question when we saw her in danger.

Fuck. This complicates everything.

I think about Lily. About my sister's face when those elite bastards cornered her. About how I threw the first punch and ended up in lockup while she disappeared into the system. How I never got to protect her when it mattered.

But this omega—Daisy, Dante called her—she's here. She's safe. And if the universe is giving me a second chance to get it right, I'm not going to fuck it up.

The van feels different now. Charged. Like the air before a storm, heavy with possibility and danger. I can hear her heartbeat from the back, quick and bird-light. Stressed. Makes me want to fix it.

She's been through hell tonight,I remind myself.Whatever you're feeling, she comes first.

"We need to find somewhere to stop," I say, surprised by how rough my voice sounds. "Sun's coming up soon."

Hawk nods, pulling out his phone. "There's a beta town about twenty minutes ahead. Millfield. Small enough that we won't draw attention."

Beta town. Perfect. August can handle the logistics there, rent us a room without questions. Alphas from Crescent City wouldn't think to look for us out here, and we can't exactly walk into a place like that ourselves. They'd ask us to leave the second they scented us.

I take the exit when we reach it, following signs toward the town center. Millfield is exactly what I expected—small, practical, built for working people who keep their heads down and mind their own business. The kind of place where strangers are noticed but not bothered, as long as they don't cause trouble.

There's a motor lodge on the main drag, the kind with individual cabins instead of hotel rooms. More privacy. Better escape routes if we need them.

"That one," I say, pulling into the gravel parking lot.

The office has a light on, which means someone's up to handle early check-ins. Probably used to truckers and shift workers who travel odd hours.

"I'll get us set up," August says, already reaching for his wallet. His beta status will make this easy, no questions about pack dynamics or why we're traveling together. Just a guy renting a room for hisbetafriends.

While he's inside, I study the layout. The cabins are arranged in a U-shape around the parking lot, with the office at the mouth and a small diner next door. Woods on three sides. Good sight lines, multiple exits. If we need to run again, we can.

The back door of the van slides open, and Dante climbs out carefully, staying low and close to the van. His ice-blue eyes meet mine in the mirror, and there's something intense in his expression. Something confused but desperate. He's feeling it too, whatever the hell this is.

He doesn't say anything, just nods. We'll talk later, when there's time.

Cassian emerges next, rolling his shoulders to work out the kinks from sitting cramped in the back. His amber eyes are alert, scanning the area for threats automatically. But when the wind carries Daisy's scent toward him, he goes very still.

Yeah,I think grimly.Welcome to the club.

August returns with a single key, his expression tight. "Only got one room. They were suspicious about cash—had to use my card." He runs a hand through his curls. "We need to talk about this later. If they can track the card..."

The moment he's back in the van, I start the engine and pull us right up to the cabin door.

"How many beds?" Dante asks, already calculating sleeping arrangements.