Page 6

Fate Made Us Do it

Paige: NO. HE WON?!?

Beau: Acorn, stop.

Evan: What? I’m proud of you. Quit acting shy.

Beau: Ain’t shy. Just don’t like making a fuss.

Paige: Then I’ll make a fuss for you. This is a big fucking deal. Think what it’ll do for your business. After all your hard work and with your talent, you deserve this.

I hesitate before typing a second message.

Fate Made Us Do it

Paige: Did you celebrate yet?

Beau: Evan bought everyone drinks.

Paige: Of course he did.

Evan: I was making friends.

Beau: He adopted six strangers.

Evan: They were Betas. They looked lonely.

When a wave of boiling heat hits me, the phone slips from my lax fingers, tumbling to the floor. The screen cracks.

“Shit.” My knees buckle.

I grunt as I catch myself on my hands.

Panting, I crouch down, resting my fevered forehead against the floor.

Damn, I can’t have longer than an hour before this heat hits.

My heat has come on earlier than it should have done.

I haven’t been without my Alpha for a heat before. My body has reacted to this weekend away like it can somehow summon my Alpha back.

I growl in desperation.

I reach out my hand, tracing over the initials PEB that Evan carved into the restored wainscoting, surrounded by beautiful decorations of blackberries, acorns, and butterflies.

I scramble for the phone, desperately turning it over and letting out a huff of relief, when I realize that only the screen is cracked. I drag it to my chest, struggling to keep my mind clearer for a little longer.

Then I haul the screen in front of my face.

I need my pack home now. I can’t wait any longer with Devlin sniffing around.

I don’t feel safe.

Fate Made Us Do it

Paige: How much longer before you land?

Beau: We’re already in the descent over Dallas. Fifteen minutes… What’s wrong?