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“Oh.” Rafael’s expression stays neutrally pleasant. “I thought it was more recently than that.”
Uh-oh.
He’s not wrong. More recently than three years? In a way, it is. Only… he didn’t meet West. Oh, no. His wolf would’ve taken one breath and scented another male on every inch of me. With alpha senses, how long did it take Rafael to match it to West’s sandalwood scent?
One second?Two?
It was bound to happen. I didn’t bathe before I left the cabin in Louisiana. I still haven’t. I’m covered in West’s musk from last night when he nuzzled me, then licked me all over.
The quicksilver has faded enough that I can get a read on Rafael’s wolf. There’s no jealousy. No possessiveness. Unless he’s found a way to fool an omega, he’s as neutrally pleasant as he appears.
For now.
West, on the other hand, is a pro at leashing his emotions so that I can’t get into his head. He doesn’t often do that, but when he does? The only way to figure out what his motives are is by asking him.
“Alpha,” I say, addressing Rafael the same way he’s been addressing me, “would you mind if I speak to the Beta alone for a moment?”
He shouldn’t say yes. Leaving his new mate alone with a male whose scent is embedded in her skin? His wolf should be too possessive to agree.
But he does.
“As you wish. I have some business to attend to at the Alpha cabin. When you’re finished here, won’t you join me? You too, of course, Beta. We can discuss any other messages from Bishop then.”
West nods his head. “We can do that. Helene?”
“Um. Yes. We won’t be long.”
“Take your time. Trevor will lead you to the den as soon as you’re ready.” He gives a tight-lipped smile before jerking his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing at a closed door. “And maybe you might want to freshen up. There’s a bathroom right through there.”
Busted.
* * *
I waituntil Rafael is far enough away in the distance to whirl on West.
I need to know why he’s here. If he’s followed me to Darkwoods to challenge Rafael, one of them will die. It’s the simplest explanation, and one I really hope is wrong. One of them will die if they fight.
There’s no getting around that.
West is a beta wolf. While that means he’s more dominant than nearly every other packmate in Hickory, the only shifter who might challenge and defeat an alpha is another alpha.
And I honestly believed that until I watched him destroy a feral.
Rafael is a new Alpha. He only took over the pack at the end of summer. Two months, maybe. That’s nothing. He’ll have a lot to prove when it comes to showing his packmates that he’s worthy of being their leader. Plus, he’d be fighting for his mate.
If that’s why West is here, so would he…
It can’t be that. It just… itcan’tbe. If West really thought of me like that, he never would’ve let me go this morning. And he did. Without any fight. Without any remorse. He watched me walk away.
I call bullshit on why he followed after me. But if that’s not the truth, what is?
Before I can even get a single word out, West speaks up.
“He called you Omega.”
That catches me off guard. So he noticed that, too? Of course he did. West noticeseverything.
I shake my head. “When they’re comfortable with me, they’ll use my name. I’ll be Helene then.”
