Page 31 of Found by the Pack

But the fear is coiled too deep.

I tell myself to believe it. I tell myself again and again.

But the lie tastes like ash.

And I don’t believe it at all.

The grocery bags rustle beside me, the scent of snapper faint in the air, but I can’t breathe. My hands are trembling on the steering wheel, and when I blink, a tear slips down my cheek.

Goddammit.

I scrub at my face with the sleeve of my hoodie and start the engine.

I’m not crying because of Gabe. Not exactly.

It’s just—he smells like smoke.

Like them. Like him.

The same scent that clung to the inside of my lungs every time I was passed around, bruised and breathless, no one stopping to ask if I wanted it or not.

Just taking. Just using. Just owning.

My hands tighten around the steering wheel. I shouldn’t let him get to me. Gabe isn’t them. He hasn’t done anything wrong.

But his voice was so deep. So confident. He moved with the same quiet power Scott did. That stillness that made it hard to know when the moment would turn.

He is not Scott.

I force myself to take a breath as I back out of the parking lot. My head’s pounding and my throat feels thick, like I’ve swallowed a scream.

I turn onto the narrow road that cuts through Driftwood Cove, winding along the edge of the cliffs. The water glimmers through the trees, calm and endless. My eyes sting again.

And suddenly, I’m not in here anymore.

I’m there.

That fucking compound. That room they called a nest but felt more like a prison.

Max had been away on a trip. Some bullshit mission the pack sent him on to keep him busy while the rest of them… while they…

I was in heat.

I remember it like a bruise I keep pressing on. My body had been aching. Desperate. Starved for touch and relief.

“Please,” I’d whispered, dragging my fingers down the cool tile of the bathroom wall. I was naked. On my knees, my body shaking. My heat so bad I thought I’d die.

Scott had leaned against the doorframe. Not even hiding his smile.

“Beg prettier,” he’d said.

I had.

I’d dropped to my forearms. Spread my thighs. Whispered his name. Pleaded.

And he’d just walked away.

Laughed as the door slammed shut.