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"I'm not a whore," Zorah said into the soggy shoulder of Grace's shirt. "But I messed everything up."
Taking her by the shoulders, Grace eased Zorah away to peer into her soggy face. "You didn't mess anything up. You're a young Omega who was in Heat surrounded by a Pack of healthy Alphas who would all kill each other to get you. I don't know why anyone would suspect anything different would happen."
Some of the tentative comfort drained away. Grace was talking about Zorah having sex during her Heat, not all the sneaking around she'd done with the swim lessons for the latter part of the summer before that. That continued deceit tore at her, but it didn't matter now. What good would it do to fess up to Grace? As far as Grace knew, she could've been with any of the Alphas for her Heat. Jake would be the last one anyone would suspect, and she owed it to him to keep it that way.
"Here," Grace said, suddenly businesslike. She reached for a canteen and unscrewed the top. "Drink this. All of it."
Zorah accepted the container shoved into her hand, startling at the warmth. She gave it a sniff. "What is it?"
"It will ensure you don't get with child." Grace scanned her face. "Unless that's what you want."
As if this situation couldn't get any worse, Jake had knotted her. Twice.
Zorah lifted the container and took a long, deep swig of the bitter liquid. She wiped at her mouth. "I didn't know such a thing existed."
Grace's hopeful expression darkened. "I'll show you how to make it before you leave. No one should be forced to have pups before they're ready."
"We're leaving in the morning," Zorah said between gulps, polishing off the canteen as quickly as she could.
Grace's jaw firmed. "Then, we better work fast."
CHAPTER 35
Jake
At suppertime in Morris Hill, the population of the Pack streamed into the mess hall to fill their bellies after a long day of hard work. Jake jammed his hands into his jeans pocket. The walk down from his cabin had done little to improve the barbed ball of anxiety living in his gut. All afternoon, he'd thrown himself into his chores like a near madman, his brain and body at war.
Mate.
She's your mate.
No sentence in his entire life had ever terrified him more. He didn't regret it, he just wished he had a better idea of how things were going to go with Hunter. He'd spent hours washing his clothes and airing his bedding — all of it smelling like Zorah and the primal, sexual need of her Heat — and scouring his brain for the perfect way to say what he had to say. No smart words or clever arguments came to him, so he'd landed on keeping it simple. He'd explain what had happened, straightforwardly, not making excuses or soft-pedaling it or going out of his way to justify his behavior. Yes, she'd given him her bite, but he was far from blameless in the series of events. He'd take responsibility.
"Hey." Colt's hearty hand on Jake's shoulder caught him off guard. "Didn't expect to see you here tonight."
Jake cleared his throat, scanning the growing crowd to see who was around, keeping an eye out for Zorah. Where was she? Was she okay?
The bond throbbed in his chest with a deep unhappiness he didn't understand. Was she unhappy with him? Unhappy with her choice to mark him? Uneasy with him fulfilling his promise? He wished he could talk to her, find out what was going on, comfort her. That seemed like what a proper mate would do. But honestly, he had no fucking clue what a proper mate would do.
Instead, he answered Colt. "A warm meal sounded pretty good after all the rain."
Colt smiled and held the door to the mess hall open, gesturing for Jake to precede him inside. "How'd the roof fare?"
Jake stepped through the doorway. "Good enough."
Inside the mess hall, once again, the scents and sounds assaulted him. The Alpha scents sharper and more threatening, the wisps of floral Omega aromas too strong and cloying, the shrieks of the children shriller, and the crowd noise more sinister and laced with foreboding. He wanted to crawl out of his skin.
"I planned on coming up later this week," Colt continued, oblivious to Jake's roiling discomfort. "Maybe we can work on the porch? Or start in on the hearth? The temperatures are gonna start dropping pretty quick here, and you'll need heat if you plan to stay up there."
"Yeah, sure. Any time."
With another friendly slap on the back, Colt headed off in another direction, and Jake grabbed an empty seat at an unoccupied table, off to the side near the back. He surveyed the crowd, skipping from face to face, passing over the few scowls pointed at him, searching for Zorah.
He saw Hunter first, standing at the table near the front of the large room. Grim-faced, even for him, Hunt listened to an Alpha Jake had never seen before. The man stood an equal height with Hunter, with the gently aged skin of a mature Alpha, and he gestured to someone hidden from Jake's view. Riddick stood to the side of Hunt, bouncing on his toes in unconcealed agitation, and Hunt's eyes uneasily bounced between the two men.
"This is bullshit!" Riddick suddenly roared. Several Omegas visibly flinched, and the entire mess hall hushed. Riddick shoved past Hunter and put himself in the man's face. "Is this her choice, is that what she wants?"
Several Alphas jumped to their feet, and, in the jostling, Jake caught a glimpse of a wan and horrified-looking Zorah, perched awkwardly on the lap of another male he didn't know. The Alpha — if you could call him that — was young, greasy-haired, and smug as he wrapped a proprietary arm around Zorah's waist and sniffed at the spot behind her ear.
