AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Punch me. In the face. Make it good. Knock me out.”
Glancing at Gabriel, he had a hand over his mouth and was dying with silent laughter.
Clearing my throat, I went back to my sketchbook. “While I can’t say I’ve never thought about punching you in the face, why would I do that?”
It had taken years for me to be so comfortable speaking with them. With anyone, honestly. Every time words came easily, it was still a relief.
“Sloane.” Ash’s tone was somewhere between awe and fury.
I didn’t look up. “You knew you were going to see her. I’m sorry it didn’t go as well as you planned.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Gabe said.
Jace walked in from the kitchen, leaning in the doorway. “Did we all decide we’re actually going to use this room now?”
Ash turned to him. “Okay, I should have asked you first. You probably know some shit where you can pinch a nerve and put me to sleep.”
“You’re right,” Jace said sarcastically. “I do. It would be a really bad idea though, cause I’d have to punch you somewhere vital. Can’t guarantee that outcome.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Asher pushed through Gabriel and Jace, taking his backpack and helmet with him. His steps told me he was going to the kitchen.
Gabriel cleared his throat. “It turns out Sloane is scent-sympathetic with Ash. And me. I caught her scent in the middle of my introduction speech to the company, and…” He was clearly at a loss for words. “Yeah. It’s real. And if it’s the two of us?”
The chances of a one-off scent match were rare, but not unheard of. A scent match with two members of a pack but not the others? Nearly impossible.
My breath grew shallow. As both an Alpha and a man, I wanted the closeness and comfort that came with a relationship. I craved being able to love and care for someone—if she were an Omega, even better.
And still, even having heard Ash talk about Sloane, knowing she was sweet and kind, the fear of new people lurked in my mind. New people were often uncomfortable with my general silence, and more often than not, they decided it wasn’t worth waiting out the time it took for me to get comfortable. Or worse.
Swallowing, I looked at Gabriel. “Why does he want to be knocked out?”
He grinned. “Got a pretty good taste of her scent, and his instincts are telling him to go find her. Doesn’t think he’ll be able to stop himself.”
Jace’s face was slack with shock. “What does she smell like?”
“Blueberry pancakes.” That was Ash, back from the kitchen with a drink. It wasn’t alcohol, though I wouldn’t have judged him for it. His leather riding gear was gone. “It’s why I used to call her blue. Only it’s not just fucking blueberry pancakes, it’s the blueberries, the pancakes, the syrup, the butter. So many layers to her scent I couldonlybreathe that for the rest of my life and be fine.”
He wasn’t kidding.
“And she’s not here meeting the rest of us… why?” Jace asked.
“Because Ash made her cry.”
Ash’s head whipped around to Gabe, eyes wild. “I didn’tmakeher cry.”
Setting his hand on Ash’s shoulder, Gabe smiled. “I’m messing with you.” Then he looked over at Jace and me. “Believe me, if I thought it was an option, I would have made it happen. Whatever made her disappear on Ash five years ago needs to be resolved. But if she doesn’t hate the sight of us thanks to this asshole, I fully intend to court her.”
I made a face they knew too well.Without asking us?
Gabe rolled his eyes and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Believe me, you’re going to like her.”
That, I didn’t doubt. But would she like us? Would she likeme?
“What did I do?” Ash mumbled, sitting on the floor. “I don’t get it. How could she walk away? Why did she think she needed to?”
In the four years we’d been a pack, I’d never seen Asher like this. He seemed devastated as much as enthralled, and I hoped as soon as I met her I would feel the same.
“You’ll find out,” Gabriel said. “Hopefully tomorrow, so the rest of us can meet her. Officially.”
