36. McQuinn

36

McQuinn

L eaving the city proper, Ava directs me down an unpaved road. I'm fighting to pay attention, but it's difficult. My grip on the steering wheel is painful. My dick is like a rock, and my alpha instincts are going crazy with all the fucking pheromones in here.

Meggie's mostly hidden from view all the way in the back, but I can see her face in the rearview mirror as she moans and perfumes. She's turned sideways in Dante's lap, propped against the window while my pack mates pleasure her. I can't tell what they're doing, but Ellis's head disappeared from view behind the seat a while ago.

"A left up ahead by the big tree stump," Ava guides.

Shit, I need to stop looking in the fucking rearview mirror and pay attention.

"Are you bringing us out into the wilderness to murder us?" Oz queries from the middle seat, taking his eyes off Meggie just long enough for me to catch him glancing at Ava.

We've only passed three other houses on this road so far, so no one would hear us scream if she did decide to murder us. Everything in Paris was so crowded, but now it feels like we've wandered into the woods of old France.

"If I wanted to murder you," Ava snaps, "I would have driven us myself and drove your arrogant asses off a bridge to drown in the river. Left, McQuinn."

"Then you would have just killed yourself too," Nils responds.

Ava rolls down her window. "Believe me, that has its appeal right now."

I know she's joking, but I cast a sideways glance in her direction and almost feel sorry for her. Almost. There's a little devil on my shoulder that still doesn't trust her and thinks maybe this is just her getting her revenge.

From the back, Meggie gasps, "Yes, alpha, yes!" Her hands slam into the roof of the car. Fuck, I wish I could see her better.

Ellis pops up from behind the middle seat with a cocksure grin and wipes the back of his hand across his mouth. Dante wraps his arms around a content Meggie, cuddling her after her release and whispering things I can't hear. Fuck, I wish I could hear them.

The van bucks and jerks as I swerve on the uneven road.

Ava shifts uncomfortably in her seat. "I can't believe you thought she'd be ok there." Her brows are drawn with concern, and her lips pucker in a way that shows she must be biting the inside of her cheek.

"She brought enough suppressants to last—" Oz begins.

"I don't care," Ava says. "Right now, it doesn't matter how well you thought this would go, because it's currently a disaster, and you didn't have any sort of backup plan. You're lucky I found you before Daniel did."

At the mention of Daniel's name, Harrison straightens in his seat. "What did you say?"

"He's been lurking around the hallway where your room is," Ava answers. "Super annoying really, because he was late to practice this morning. I'd assumed he was stalking Meggie and watching your match, but who knows? Stop at the blue one. Just there."

I slow as Ava points toward a large cottage snuggled amid a pile of ancient oak trees. Light blue with white shutters, a cobblestone path leads from the dirt road up to a large white front door. Lush green grass covers the area around the home and a yellow butterfly hovers near a purple flower bed. The place is fucking gorgeous.

"Whose house is this?" Ellis asks.

"I rented it." Ava unbuckles and slips from the front seat without explaining further.

Following her lead, we all clamor out of the van. Meggie practically climbs Harrison in the process and keeps her arms around him tightly even when both her feet are safely on the grass. He looks more relaxed than he did when he almost bit her. Less like a guy who got caught trying to break into a vault and more like a lovesick puppy. Definitely seeing some new sides of our pack alpha lately.

"Why do you have a rented house here?" Nils studies Ava like he's trying to dissect her and learn all her secrets.

Rolling her eyes, Ava shifts her attention to the tree line before answering. "I booked it when Harrison and I were still together."

A ripple runs through our group as we all turn to look at Harrison, then back to Ava.

"Paris is full of people," she continues. "Lots of scents. I got this place, so we'd have somewhere for Harrison to get away from everything. So he could breathe."

That relaxed expression on Harrison's face is gone, and he looks like he has a stomachache.

"I tried to cancel it after we broke up." Ava waves a hand dismissively. "But there was a ridiculous cancellation fee that cost more than the house. So I kept it. But I haven't been in it because that felt pathetic to sit in a romantic Parisian cottage all alone. The nearest house is that one." She points to a green home several hundred yards away. "So you've got privacy." Pulling out her phone, her thumbs tap away on the screen. "The door code is 3-8-4-6-1, texting it to Harrison now so you've got it. There won't be much in the way of food, but you can order something, I'm sure."

"Ava…" Harrison starts to say something, but she ignores him and turns to me.

"Keys." She holds her hand out expectantly. "I'll drive myself back. Text me when she's ok, and I can come pick you all up. My meets are done, so I'm available."

There's a bitter edge to her words. Sure, we never liked her much—I basically hated her—but she was Harrison's girlfriend for almost a year and a half and over the past two weeks, none of us have even thought to ask her how her own competition was going. Ava could be the gold-medal-decorated world's fastest swimmer, and we wouldn't know. Or she didn't place at all. We didn't ask either way.

"Be good to her." Ava shoots Meggie a trying smile before turning on her heel.

I catch up with her just before she gets into the driver's side of the van.

"Hey, why are you doing this?"

"None of your business."

"Ava."

She sighs and leans against the car door. I cross my arms and don't back down. We both know I wasn't her biggest fan, quite the opposite, but I'm starting to think there's a side of Ava I never saw, and I'm too curious to walk away now.

"I have two omega sisters. I know how much pain an omega can suffer if they're not cared for during a heat, and how vulnerable they can become."

I nod, and we look at each other for a minute. I think this is the first time I've ever really seen Ava. "Thank you."

"Get the fuck in there." She says, walls coming back up as she discreetly tries to wipe her eyes with her sleeve.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. "We won't forget this."

She waves me off, climbs into the van, and doesn't look back.