Page 123 of Pucking Feral: Part Two

Just a weird sense of poetic justice.

Huh.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Valek's mouth curving. Just slightly.

I turn to look at him fully and raise my eyebrow. The beginning of his usual grin flattens into a line so fast I almost think I imagined it.

But the unnerving realization that Wade is at the local hospital and might be in town while he recovers comes next and drives out every last bit of satisfaction that was just starting to take hold.

"Well," Whiskey says after a long moment, sitting up with a chuckle, totally oblivious to Plague finally succeeding in yanking his leg out from under him with another string of curses. "This isn't fucking weird at all. Guess we're all one big happy family now huh?"

"Shut up, Whiskey," Plague growls, rubbing the life back into his leg.

"Damn, you're grumpy tonight. Here, have a shark," Whiskey says, grabbing the tail of a giant IKEA shark, swooping it over his head like a lasso, and flinging it at Plague. It slams into him hard enough to make his hair whip around.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Plague hisses, the seams of the shark straining under his wrenching grip like he's thinking about twisting Whiskey's head off his shoulders instead.

"Stop fighting," Thane says tiredly, leaning back in the makeshift nest. He's doing that thing where he raises his eyebrows and blinks hard to force himself to stay awake, like when we watch a movie too late.

Thane is not a night owl like his brother.

I manage a laugh.

Plague, who still has the shark for some reason, shifts closer to me, positioning himself within arm's reach of where I'm sitting. Thane keeps trying to stay awake, but fails, slumping into the pillows with a soft snore. But his breathing is shallow and I know he'll wake up the moment he senses anything's off.

Always in protector mode, even in sleep.

And Wraith’s eyes are still locked on Valek.

I keep my hands in Wraith's hair, scratching his scalp lightly until he closes his eyes again. I sink deeper into the nest with my exhausted alphas, letting their warmth and the way they automatically snuggle closer quiet my mind.

Five alphas in one room, arranged around me like satellites orbiting a planet.

The one on the outside just kissed me.

The four in the nest don't know.

Shit just got a hell of a lot more complicated.

Chapter 24

Wraith

My eyes snap open in the dark.

Something's wrong.

The nest is warm. Ivy's tucked against my chest, her breathing slow and even, her fingers curled loosely against the scars below my collarbone. The other alphas are all sprawled around the nest in various positions, out cold.

All accounted for.

Except one.

Valek.

My body screams when I start to move. Every muscle, every joint, every inch of scarred skin aches. My jaw throbs with a deep, nauseating pulse that radiates up through my skull.

But Valek is somewhere in this house.