“The videos, they were what I was going to draw your attention to, though I’m not entirely sure you should watch them.”
I frowned, thumbing open the photos folder, and there they were. A parade of dark thumbnails, white bodies streaked with… I didn’t really want to know, my resolve instantly faltering.
“Your brother has frequented my club at times. He tries to stay away, but Abaddon” —she smiled— “it holds a special place for him. For so many of us. Marcus prides himself on safe, sane, and consensual at Apothecary, but where do you go if you need more than the tired imaginings of the upper classes?” She gestured with showman-like finesse. “To Abaddon. Your brother has kinks he can explore to his heart’s delight here, and we have people who can take him to the extremes he needs and put him back together again, keeping him whole.”
Her full lips pursed.
“But unfortunately, some people will not pick appropriate people to play with. I took that phone from Gavin, a low-level gang runner and wannabe kinkster. He told me he was filming because your brother asked him to, but there are some things you can’t give permission for in this club, so it was confiscated.”
I didn’t want to look at the videos, a low hiss of pain drawing the guys around me, but even as Tris reached for the phone, he wasn’t quick enough. I tapped on the latest file, saw quickly that Theo was up to his old tricks, naked, epithets against omegas scrawled over his body, as those ringed around him hurt and degraded him. I wasn’t going to put myself through that again, so I skipped forward to the next video, then the next.
Part of me wondered at Dad and Greta’s response. The video was grainy as hell, blurry, and the person holding the phone didn’t have a steady hand at all. The view of us together, bleached white by the artificial lights, swooped and shifted sickeningly, but that wasn’t the real kicker was it?
“Fuck, that chick is hot!”
“Shut the fuck up.” That was my brother’s voice, clean and clear, full of alpha command.
“Don’t want her to know you’re getting hard watching her go to town on that omega. Fuck, man, you said you were into some sick shit, but—”
They went to take the phone from me, to stop that damn voiceover from playing, but it slipped from my limp fingers as I stared blankly at Athena, perched on her throne.
Athena was the goddess of wisdom, and she seemed to have some of those qualities in her fathomless gaze. She appeared to read me, my pack, the room, everything in just one glance.
“Your brother has violated our rules and so there must be consequences—ones he won’t enjoy, sadly. As you are the wronged party, I wanted you to have a say about how that might go down.”
Vicious hot thoughts built and built inside my brain, each more baroque than the next. He wanted to pretend to be a debased omega so fucking much? Pretty sure there were reckless, outlaw clubs where he could get exactly what he wanted and then some. Then there was the eye for an eye approach. His phone was packed with documentation of him indulging in activities he was not out and proud about. Wouldn’t Daddy’s expression change if he saw his darling alpha son like this?
As I took long, shuddering breaths, sense shouldered forward, pushing the anger to one side for just a second.
“Why?” I asked. “That’s what I want. I want to know why.”
She nodded curtly, gesturing to the doorman behind us.
“Pick him up and bring him in.”
“So what’re we going to do?” Tris asked as we stumbled out of the club, the outside world seeming too bright to be real. “Theo? I never would have thought…”
“We find out the why’s and the wherefore’s,” James replied, looking at all four of us. “And then we decide as a pack what to do about this. We’ve let everyone else have the upper hand so far, but no more.”
Len nodded. “Damn right.” His eyes came to rest on me. “The Greyson’s were your family and we’ve seen how that played out, but not anymore.” He shook his head slowly. “You’re ours, Kit, all ours. There’ll be no more crying yourself to sleep in that shitty bed of yours.” He moved over, dislodging a strand of my hair to stroke the bite mark on my shoulder. “I’ve got a claim now, and I aim to make use of it.”
Which is how I could bear all of this, the various betrayals of my family, both big and small. That was their modus operandi. They were never going to be able to be anything better than that. But as I wrapped my arms around my alphas, my beta and my omega, I knew I was.
“We do this together,” I agreed.