bloom
A phone buzzed nearby.It sounded like it was pressed against something hard. Something plastic, maybe?
My forehead creased.
I vaguely remembered falling asleep in a gigantic dog bed, snuggling a deliciously warm, vanilla-scented copper wolf.
My cheek rested against something smooth and leathery that couldn’t have been a wolf.
“Hey, Harper.” Maverick answered the phone that had been vibrating.
Myphone, apparently, because I couldn’t see my best friend willingly dialing the Alpha’s number unless I was actively dying again.
I cracked one eye open and realized pretty quickly that I was draped over the back seat of Maverick’s SUV. The furry blue blanket we’d taken to the dog bed was draped over me, and I realized I’d never asked for the story behind it.
“She’s asleep,” Maverick said.
I was what?
I shoved my hand in the gap between the driver and passenger seat, silently demanding the phone.
“Never mind. Here she is.” He shot me an amused look and handed the phone over before refocusing on the road.
The road?
Where the fuck were we?
That was a problem for after I made sure my best friend was still alive.
“Hey,” I mumbled.
“Where are you?” Harper asked. Something in her voice was off.
“I’m not sure. I think Maverick finally abducted me.” I eyed his arm suspiciously.
“I did. We’re going to my pack’s estate. You were never going to abandon the paperwork.”
“My love for paperwork cannot be matched,” I murmured. “Apparently we’re going to the pack’s estate. Everything okay?”
“There was an… incident.”
My stomach dropped. Or went sideways, since I was already horizontal. I eyed Maverick again, knowing I needed to be careful about what I said. “Sounds fun. I need details.”
“I zoned out. I’m not sure how long for. Maybe twenty or thirty minutes? When I woke up, all of the blood bags were empty. Velour’s friends must’ve been wrong about the werewolf blood, or it just doesn’t work for me.”
I closed my eyes and fought back the wave of emotion that wanted to express itself through my eyes in the form of sobs that wracked my entire body violently. “Wow.”
“I know. I’m going to have to turn myself in to the Guild.”
“Maybe just sleep the rest of the day? I’ll talk Mav into bringing me home tonight.”
“No, you won’t,” he said from the driver’s seat.
“He’s not going to do that, Bloom.” Harper’s voice was soft. “I have to go to them. I can’t risk losing control any further.”
I panicked and scrambled for an alternative.
Any alternative.
