“There’s only three of them. What if they get in trouble?”
“It’s going to be okay.”
But there it was. The thing that was nagging at me.
Sterling hadn’t hesitated—hadn’t wanted to know what kind of danger the others might be in. They hadn’t even asked if we knew where theymightbe…
I frowned, analyzing the whole conversation. They said they’d been coming from breakfast? But the cafeteria… it was in the opposite direction from where they’d been walking.
I got to my feet all of a sudden, lifting her with me.
“Sin?” she asked.
“Come with me.” I stepped toward the Wakefield pack’s rut box.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I think your blockers are fading,” I told her. It wasn’t true, though I was sure it wasn’t far off, but I needed her not to question this. “They’ll be contained in here. I don’t want anyone passing by outside realizing.”
“Okay.” I pulled the door open, leading her in. She followed me without question.
The rut boxes could be locked, but they wouldn’t keep us safe. They were designed to keep the occupant in, not those outside out.
“That’s better.” I could see the agony in her eyes as she looked up at me. “Can we...?” Her fists closed in my shirt, pulling me closer.
“Not yet, Firefly,” I whispered.
Her lip wobbled, but she nodded.
It wasn’t because I didn’t want to—my hairs were on end, every nerve raw from the war I was waging not to do what she was asking of me. But if I so much as brushed my lips to hers, it would be over. Heat wasn’t something you could just switch on and off.
The pain she was surviving right now was nothing compared to what it would be if I started and then stopped.
We just needed to make it to the morning.
Wait for the others to find us.
Get to the appeal.
But this heat was a beacon to every alpha in Anarchy, and we might all be dead by the end of it.
All of us but her...
“They’re coming back,” I told her. “And we’re going to keep you safe.” I drew her closer, dragging my teeth along her neck instead. Not a full bite, but something...
When I did, though, she let out a whine, and her scent blockers finally broke down. Thank god we were already in the box. It should stop her scent from getting out into the hall.
But as the flood of roses and cacao hit the room, I almost lost myself entirely.
My breath hitched as I caught the full desperation and pain within that scent.
My mind didn’t cave to it, though. Instead, it flashed back to the last look Sterling had given me.
Danger…
Those alarm bells sounded again, and it was easier to remember why I’d brought us in here. Just afeeling, but in Anarchy, I’d come to learn that my instincts were sharper than any calculated thought I could string together.
“I’m...” I drew back. “I’m going to leave a note,” I said. “So they don’t panic if they come in and don’t see us.”