“Gentle. Be gentle. She must be trashed. This would’ve been a lot for an omega.”
“And now you’re the font of all omega wisdom? Where the fuck was that when we—”
“Shut up. We need to be careful. No getting attached.”
“Too late.” That came out as an ominous rumble.
“It’s just hormones and physiology pushing us together, wanting us to make more baby alphas and omegas.”
“So? I want those things. We wanted those things.”
“But we want each other more. Cullen was right—the best we could aspire to is some down on her luck academy girl that wasn’t snapped up straight away by the blue bloods, and we all know the likelihood of that happening. This will keep my father off our backs, allow me time to get him to see the returns on his investment.”
“Or you could mark her. He wants this deal, wants Miranda Rhodes’ company integrated with his. You bite her, and your inheritance is yours, free and clear. No more Daddy snooping—”
“Fuck, Marcus, that’s low, even for you. She’s a person, not a chess piece, and you fucking know it. Cradling her against your chest until she fell asleep, stopping Jeanette from getting her claws into her. You wanna play at being a hard man…”
“I’m a hard man for us. Everything we’ve built, everything we’ve created together… We were nothing back then, and now? It can’t slip through our fingers. It can’t.”
“See, that’s the difference. We could be back in that forest just after graduation, half naked and stinging from the slap that omega gave us as she ran off, and I wouldn’t give a shit. Fuck, I’d go back there and live in a hole under a tree if that’s what it took. I shut up after what happened last time, but she’s…she’s brought it all back. We need an omega.”
“You need an omega. All that protective bullshit has to go somewhere.”
A long silence, then the dull thud of two things colliding.
“You think I don’t protect you? Have your back against anyone? Stop people from coming for you? People you don’t even see. You’re mine to keep safe, same as the others. Always.”
“Always.” That was a chorus of voices.
“And while she’s with us, we protect her. That was always going to happen. It’s who we are. My father… We’ll find a way, and if Cyn’s on board with our plans, then she’s in, but that’s it. I’ll tell Father to sell every cent of his stock in this place at the sniff of anything else. I’m serious, Marcus. You’re mean when you’re cornered, but you don’t have to be.”
More silence. Heavier now.
“You’re right. Fuck… It just feels like it’s all slipping through my fucking fingers. All of it.”
“But we’re not, brother. We never will. We’ll always be together. Always.”
Chapter 10
“Hey, sleepyhead, you’re here.” My head jerked up and off the car seat to see George looking down at me with a smile on his face. “You dozed off, and your knights in shining armour got you to my car to make sure you got home safe. Had an adrenalin crash?”
“Um…yeah.” I scratched at my scalp. “Fuck, is that Mum waiting on the doorstep?”
“Not surprised. You were always this quiet little thing, hovering on the edges of omega society, and now?” His smile widened. “Now you’re the mouse that roared. You made a splash, kissing two of the hottest alpha bachelors in one night.” He winced. “Unfortunately, that makes for good gossip.”
“Jesus, she’s gonna have a fucking coronary.” I raked my hair back, hoping for a semblance of order.
“Maybe.” He shrugged, then fished out his phone. “Let’s just say I alerted your mother to the invites coming your way.” He scrolled through a dizzying array of notifications, then put the phone away. “The doors are opening, love, you just have to decide on which ones you want to step through.” He reached across and patted my hand, a reassuringly bland beta touch. “Unless you’re looking seriously at those boys…”
“Wrong gender, wrong designation. Just…wrong.” My eyes darted over to meet his, realising I’d let the cat out of the bag. “This was what Orion offered me.” I pointed at his phone. “If I act as their beard, they’d help me find my alpha.”
“Just the one? You sure about that? Because damn, girl, the heat coming off you and the big one—”
“Rhys,” I supplied.
“Rhys looked like he was about to snap the neck of anyone who looked at you.”
“That’s just alpha bullshit. You guys don’t get it.” I regretted those words as soon as they were out of my mouth, but with a frown, I charged on. “Sorry, that sounds harsh but… There’s us as people, and then there’s us as rawrr!” I mimicked clawing and biting with a kind of manic intensity that was way too much, but it had him laughing. “Any alpha buried deep in me is gonna go on about knotting and marking me, making me his or hers. That’s just what happens. It’s after the hormones have settled, that’s when it’s real.”