Page 122 of Sorrow & Strangers

I feel Rick’s gaze lingering on me as I push through the crowd. Alice is grinding against Harris, and I feel bad for cockblocking her, but I’m feeling a little too exposed right now under all the male scrutiny.

“You good?” She quirks a brow at me but continues to dance as she leans in to talk to me.

I nod. “You?”

She nods too, her arm still draped over Harris. “You know you were talking to the alpha?”

I look over my shoulder, but Rick isn’t there anymore. Alice, obviously sensing my unease, pulls away from Harris and waves him away.

“I’ll find you later,” she says dismissively, and when he doesn’t move, she glares at him until he does.

Alice turns back to face me. “What happened?”

“Literally nothing,” I say, shaking my head.

Nothing happened, so why am I feeling so weird about being here now? I know it’s not fair of me to ask Alice to stay at my side, but when she left with Harris, I felt like I was being watched by every single person here. I’m not at all convinced Rick was the problem. If I am honest with myself, it feels odd to be in the forest without the stranger, to be surrounded by shifter males and to not really know anyone else here.

“Careful with alphas, Sum. They weird me out.”

I blink at her. “So you’ll only be penetrated by certain ranks?” I ask.

“The higher the rank, the more they’re into archaic, misogynistic bullshit. Do I look like I’m planning to be peed on in some weird ritual?”

I burst out laughing and immediately feel more at ease.

“He’s watching you,” Alice says, nudging me.

“Who?”

“Alpha boy.”

“Like, angrily?” I ask, tensing. Not that I got angry vibes from the alpha. He actually felt . . . gentle.

Alice narrows her eyes, trying to read him. “No. Like he wants to say something.”

I grimace. “I’m going to . . . be anywhere else.” The last thing I want is to get into another weird conversation with a shifter, especially a smooth-talking, attractive one.

“Do you want me to hiss at him?” Alice asks. “I’m really good at hissing.”

“I remember, but no, let’s just move over there.”

Alice grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowd until Rick can’t see me anymore. She sources two more drinks for us, and this time we hold our noses and down the drinks. The bitter taste tingles on my tongue a little, and as soon as our cups are drained, the clearing starts to spin a little.

The music seems to ebb and flow, and I can almost feel it curling around my bones. I look down at the cup in my hand, watching as it turns into three cups. I look up to see three Alices looking back at me, their brows furrowed.

“What—”

Color spirals in my vision. The dancing bodies seem to move both in slow motion and weirdly fast before everything goes black.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Summer

My head throbs so painfully that I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to ward off the fraction of light that is burning through my eyelids. The room spins in a way that makes my stomach curdle, but how can it be spinning if my eyes are closed?

Am I dead? I hope not. I was really hoping that death would be peaceful. Surely, it can’t be this bad.

I shift in bed, my bones aching. It feels like I did the workout of my life in my sleep. My bed vibrates slightly, and I tense as a snore echoes around me. Was that me?