Page 48 of Prey for Me

He grins pierced ear to pierced ear, licking his lips, his expression soft and searching.

“Yes. But smelling like that will sour your meal the second I light a flame. Trust me.”

“No. Help me up. We have to go.”

“Save Faith.”

He falls silent, pensive, and I get dressed in my grimy shorts and bikini bra. At some point, we have to find some decent clothes.

“Trying to say I stink?”

Leo’s smile softens. “Our sense of smell is stronger than an omegas.”

“What do I smell like?”

“Sadness.”

“What do I usually smell like to you?”

It’s the one quirk of human biology I’ve never understood. Why can’t we smell our own pheromones? When I get sick off my scent, it doesn’t smell like a thing. Just an orderless gas that has the same effect.

No.

I don’t need to be carried.

I don’t need to carry you. I want you… close, Grace.

Using my first name? The hornets nest on my head must be worse than I initially thought. I really do look like a wreck.

“I want us to make a new deal,” I say with as much force as I can muster. “

“Don’t bother,” Nakao says wearily. “Your sister is dead, Grace. Accept it. Blue Fox is more important than recovering a corpse.”

I don’t respond. He grabs me and with

“She’s not dead,” I say.

“And if she isn’t. If she’s really where you say she is, she’s better off dead.” Nakao says and while they don’t say anything, I know they all agree.

I sob. I grieve. For the first time, I accept I may never see my sister again.

“What if she is.” Raphael of all of my pack mates, offers.

“...Then we save her. Simple as that. But we have to get to Blue Fox first. We have to face our past.”

“Where is Blue Fox?”

“Hell,” Leo mumbles, and then dives underwater.

My mind is too fractured and fragile to press it any longer. If they’re willing to try, I’ll piece what’s left of me together. Togther… We’ll fight, together.

Steam rises around me as I’m gently dipped into the hot springs. Large tan legs and arms warp around me as our naked bodies press together.

Leo and Nakoa climb in, flanking us, until their warmth, mixed with the steamy fog, and my heat, are overwhelming.

I feel so loved. I feel so cherished. So perfect even with all my imperfections.

Deep down I know this is all a lie, that there’s no such thing as fated mates. Our feelings are just a chain reaction of chemical reactions mimicking the thing I want to call love.