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Then, he takes his time, putting each finger in his mouth until it’s licked clean. He doesn’t release my wrist just yet, though. First, he slides his leather bracelet off and slips it over my hand. It’s way too big on me, but he’s able to finagle the leather tie to pull it closer.
“Don’t take it off,” he says, sounding deadly serious.
I nod. He doesn’t even need to ask—I wanted this bracelet from the moment I saw him wearing it, and now, it means even more to me, because it’s his.
“We got you the herbs,” Memphis adds, taking off his backpack. “We’ll make tea for breakfast. Managed to get some rabbits, too.”
As if on cue, my stomach growls. “Need help preparing them?” I offer.
He just shakes his head. “Nah, I’ll do it. You need rest. Your body’s still recovering from everything.”
I cross my arms, feeling stubborn. “Well, you two walked for miles last night, looking for herbs to help me. Not to mention, you had to pull Camden out of a goddamn river. You should be the one resting.”
The corner of his mouth twitches, like he’s trying to suppress a smile. “Don’t you worry about my stamina, sunshine. I can keep going for hours without slowing down.”
Well, that’s new. Strong, silent Memphis is actually flirting with me. He runs his eyes over my body, and I realize how exposed I am, wearing just Denver’s oversized t-shirt now. I’m pretty sure he can see my hardened nipples poking through the fabric.
To my frustration, I’m blushing again. Now that the fever’s low enough that my face is its normal olive color, apparently my body is determined to alert the Alphas whenever I’m even remotely turned on. I grab the herbs stuffed in the side pocket of Memphis’s pack.
“I’ll make the tea, then,” I declare.
“Make plenty,” Cam yells over. “It’ll help your heat symptoms, but it should work as a rut suppressant, too.”
Breakfast is a celebratory affair. Memphis butchers the rabbits, which Denver fries up with some dehydrated eggs, once he’s done stitching Camden back up. We all sit around the fire, enjoying the warm food and the feeling of being dry.
Camden uses his injury to insist on sitting next to me. “If I pass out, Brooklyn will catch me,” he jokes. “You two would probably blame me for my own concussion and let me fall.”
In response, Memphis insists on being the one to serve up my breakfast on his own tin plate. He saves the biggest pieces of rabbit for me and nobody argues, even though each of the Alphas weigh close to twice what I do.
Not to be outdone, Denver fetches me water, making sure I drink it all before he even touches his own breakfast. His dehydrated eggs congeal on his plate.
“I think you got a little dehydrated this morning,” he offers as an explanation. The look he shoots me is absolutely filthy. Clearly, he wants the other Alphas to know that he knotted me, too, just before they came back.
Memphis scowls at him, looking murderous. Cam just rolls his eyes and refills Memphis’s mug with more tea.
“Think you need this more than we do,” Cam says cheerfully. Memphis’s scowl deepens, but he drinks the tea without complaint.
We’re all ravenous, and everyone gets seconds for breakfast. While the other guys drink their tea, Camden regales us with the story of what we missed the night before. How he heroically swam out of the river, watching Memphis take his sweet time to get down to the rocky banks below. How he managed to keep the herbs from falling out of his backpack pocket. How he’s pretty sure he did catch sight of a flying squirrel close to camp, even though Memphis thinks it was just a chipmunk.
Throughout, they keep checking on me, making sure I have plenty of food, that I’m warm enough in Denver’s jacket. It’s nice, being taken care of like this. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, and while I’m proud of that, I also can’t remember the last time anyone doted on me. It makes me feel warm inside.
Even though it won’t last.
Once the storm ends and we make it back home, they’ll leave, going back to their lives. Without my Omega hormones calling to them, the Alphas will forget about me quickly. I’ll just be the weird runaway they helped out, once upon a time.
Breakfast turns heavy and bitter in my stomach.
Denver clears his throat. “Memphis, Camden, come outside for a minute. We should regroup and discuss the return trip.”
Already, his tone is different. He’s not the sexy, demanding Alpha who knotted me this morning. Now, he’s all military commander, rounding up the troops. Of course, the troops fall in line. Neither Camden nor Memphis look at me as they follow Denver outside. I don’t like it—I’ve already promised Denver that I’ll go back with him and stop causing trouble. What could they possibly be discussing that I can’t hear?
Carefully, I sneak after them, making sure to stay in the shadows of the craggy rocks by the door. I can’t get as close to them as I’d like, but I can still hear most of their discussion.
“—heat’s fading,” Denver’s saying. “—shift focus to getting her home. The rain’s up—it’s time.”
Memphis says something in response, but his voice is so low and quiet I can’t make it out. Whatever it is, he doesn’t look happy.
“—can’t get attached to her,” Denver answers, and it sounds like an admonishment. “It’s temporary. It was always going to be temporary. We have a job to finish.”
