“Do you think they’ll make us actuallypracticethe drill?” Emily asks.
“I hope so. I’ve always wanted to dramatically leap into a lifeboat.” Knox flings his arms about for emphasis. “Preferably while shouting, ‘Save yourselves!’”
“I am voting Knox our team captain,” I say, seeing if I can push my luck and get a reaction out of Declan the way I did with Ava. It’s already clear that Knox irritates the officer. Which I guess is understandable considering they are on opposite sides of the law. But it seems like more than that, like something personal.
Declan shoots me a quick glare that warms my insides. It could be fun to get under the DEA officer’s skin.
“I accept,” Knox replies solemnly. “But only if I get a whistle and a clipboard.”
“And duct tape across that mouth of yours,” Declan huffs.
“There are more entertaining ways to keep me quiet than duct tape, Officer.” Knox’s saucy tone earns him one of Declan’s best scowls.
“I want one of those neon flags to wave,” Ava adds, diffusing the tension almost like the sexual innuendo between the twoalphas has her panicking. “Something to really capture the chaos if we sink. Very stylish panic.”
She brandishes her arm waving her invisible flag, and the tiniest hint of something like blackberry finds my nose, but there are too many people by our muster station to tell if the scent is coming from her.
We reach the designated checkpoint, and the staff starts checking our names off a list.
I nudge Ava with my elbow. “Will you truly not do the limbo with us?”
Ava purses her lips, but her little smile peeks through. “No, I plan to fake seasickness. It might get me out of evening karaoke, too.”
“You are having fun. Admit it.”
“Just trying to make the apocalypse festive,” she sighs, tightening the strap on her flotation sausage. “If this boat goes down, I’m grabbing the drink package and a life raft. In that order.”
“Disaster buddies?” I hold up my pinky the way children do when making a promise. “Us betas gotta stick together.”
She flinches, eyeing my pinky with skepticism before her gaze flicks to my face. Slowly she loops her little finger with mine. I squeeze it tight as my smile grows.
“So, game plan if we hit an iceberg? Do we throw Declan or Knox at it to see what happens?” Our iceberg odds are low given that it’s approximately a million degrees outside, but she gives me a smile as we start to scheme outrageous emergency plans. I don’t look down to see it, but her pinky stays wrapped around mine. My beautiful disaster buddy.
16
EMILY
Ava’s been asleep for hours, but I can’t seem to turn off my brain. I need fresh air, space, and quiet. It’s not difficult to slip out of the humongous bed without waking her up. All five of us could comfortably sleep here if we wanted. If we were a real pack.
Something pings in my chest, a skip of my heart accompanied by a drop of my stomach. All I ever wanted when I was little was a pack. A big family to love. Right now, late at night, I let myself wonder what it would be like if I was an omega and these three men wanted me.
As I tiptoe downstairs, I have to force myself to put aside those daydreams.
Knox is my past. Declan is nothing but a present moment. Lucas… as a beta, Lucas could be my future. If he didn’t live in another country.
I nearly trip on Declan as I sneak through the living room toward the balcony. It’s too dark to see much of anything. Thankfully, he made a noise just as I got close, and I sidestepped around his makeshift bed on the floor.
I thought for sure ourpack alphawould be on the couch, but through the dim light it looks like Lucas claimed the sofa. Maybe the boys settled sleeping arrangements by rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors, or maybe Declan wanted the floor because of some police training reason. Who knows. But no sign of Knox.
Gunner gives a rumbled snore from where he’s sprawled beside the sliding glass door, stirring as I pass.
When I pull back the curtain and slide open the door, I’m met with a sight that makes my heart lurch. Knox is working a rosary through his fingers, balanced precariously on top of the railing, one leg on either side, with nothing but the sea below. We’re still close enough to land that there’s light far off in the distance, like twinkling stars at the horizon. But if he went overboard it would be way too far to swim.
“What are you doing up there?” I hiss, grabbing his arm to pull him back onto this side of the balcony. “You could fall!”
He shrugs, not letting me move him. “I’m fine, Ly.”
The nickname feels like an old hoodie that I should have outgrown, but it’s worn in perfectly. He’s the only one who’s ever called me that. He said Em was what everyone else used, and he wanted something that was just his. So he claimed the end of my name instead. Ly said like Lee. It’s only ever been his.
