Page 141 of Pack Choice

God, I’m half crazy about this woman. I scrub my hand through my beard. Can this be real? Can it be happening? Do I really get the girl and the pack? Something I’ve always wanted but never believed I could have.

The tinkly fairground music fades and the ride comes to an abrupt stop, the mother of the wailing kid running forward to scoop him up, one child refusing to move and having to be yanked from his seat by both of his parents.

The families in front of us hand over coins and help their kids select their vehicle and when we reach the front, I pay for Harper and watch as she skips off with Molly to claim the red racing car. Molly straps her in and a vision of what could be flashes through my pain, both exquisitely tempting and brutally painful. I want that. I want her in our lives.

Molly plants a kiss on Harper’s cheek and steps back, coming to join me and Ford as we wait on the side, the three security personnel attempting to blend into the crowd.

“She says she’s going to buy herself a car just like that when she’s queen of the world.”

Ford chuckles. “She’s going to be a handful when she hits her teenage years.”

“You’re telling me,” I mutter.

The twinkly music starts up again and Harper waves at us all as the ride begins to rotate slowly. There’s no real speed to it. It’s a little kid’s ride after all, but I’m kind of relieved. I half feared Harper would have us on some ridiculous ride, flinging us this way and that and flipping us upside down. The idea makes me sick.

The ride continues to spin, and we lose sight of her for a few minutes as her car heads to the back, then re-emerges and tracks towards us again. We all wave and she grins, showing off that gap in her front teeth. We keep waving until she’s out of sight, even Ford, and only start waving again when she comes back into sight.

“I really thought she’d choose a more adventurous ride than this one. I could crawl faster than this ride,” I say.

“You think you’re going to get away with only one ride?” Molly asks and I groan.

“We only have time for one. River will be disappointed if we’re not there to meet him after the press conference.”

Molly squeezes my arm. “You can’t fool me, Colten Turner. I know how much you care about him.”

I peer down at her. I do. He’s my best friend. After Harper and now this little omega, there isn’t anyone else in the world who means as much to me. Sure, he’s an irresponsible big head with an ego the size of Jupiter, but he’d definitely have some colorful ways of describing me too. We’re not perfect. Perhaps together we’ll get a little closer. I’m certainly willing to try for Molly, for Harper.

I glance down at Molly. She’s waiting for Harper and her red racing car to re-emerge around the corner; a smile dimpling her cheek, her eyes bright. The fire truck comes first, ridden by a pair of brothers arguing over who should ring the bell. They’re followed by an old-fashioned motorbike which no child has picked to ride and then Harper’s racing car. The red one with its shiny paint.

Empty.

I stare at it. My mind won’t believe my eyes for the first few seconds. Then I’m running towards the ride, yelling my daughter’s name, Molly hot on my heels.

“Where is she?” Molly gasps, swinging her gaze around the ride as I jump up onto it, people around us gasping and the ride controller waving his arms and yelling at us.

I ignore them, striding among the vehicles, searching for Harper among the cars, ducking my head to look for her inside the buses and trucks. Molly climbs up too, circling from the other direction and out of the corner of my eyes I can see Ford snapping at the security personnel.

I keep circling, meeting Molly as she approaches me.

“She’s not here. Colt, she’s not here.” Her face is white as a sheet, her hands trembling.

“She has to be,” I snap. “Where the fuck did she go?”

I pass Molly, continuing to search the ride. The controller grinds the thing to a halt and parents dash forward to claim their children, shielding them away from the deranged alpha. It causes more confusion, bodies squirming past one another, people shouting, children crying.

“Turner!” Ford shouts up at me from the ground. “We’re going to split up and search for her. You take that direction.”

“I’ll go look over by the ice cream truck. Maybe she wandered off there,” Molly says and I nod, jumping down and pushing my way through the crowd.

My heart hammers in my chest and I can hardly breathe. There’re so many people. So many goddamn people and I can’t see my daughter. I can’t see her anywhere.

Dread and fear and every other god-awful sensation crawls down my spine.

This can’t be happening.

I shout at everyone to keep still but it only makes them rush around more frantically. Children are wailing, people calling to one another.

I strain for her voice, catch a glimpse of a pink shirt, grab at a man, only to find a blonde toddler in his arms, a panicked look on his face.