“No, you talked about it, you made decisions, like you always do. I’m not letting her get away. Not like we did…” Lucien shook his head. “She’s mine!”
The sound of Lucien’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard for me. He sounded so ragged, so broken, that tears filled my eyes, which just made me angry. I didn’t cry at work, ever, but it was like they were fighting some kind of war between them and I was the sole casualty, hearing, feeling their discontent rising and rising, my nails raking down my arms until…
“Ms Davies?” Tobias’ voice was a lifeline of calm, thrown out into the heaving sea of me. He moved closer and closer, reaching out on instinct, then shoved his hands into his pockets. “Ms Davies, are you all right? Lucien’s going to cool off somewhere. Everything will be all right.”
“Will it?” I croaked out, searching his face for confirmation of that, somehow needing him to say it would be.
“I’ll do everything in my power to make that so, up to and including having a very extended conversation with my brother—something I can spare you from.”
I believed him then. He seemed like this tower of strength right now that made whatever he said seem plausible.
“Thank you,” I replied, then shook my head. “But we need to talk.” I took a long shuddering breath, feeling my own chill return.Be professional, Sage, I told myself, over and over. “You are a lot more formal than your brothers. Is that something you wish for me to adopt?”
“For you to call me Mr Lockwood?” A small smile formed, but it was all the more precious for its rarity. The man just stared, then let out a little sigh. “There are so many potential answers to that question, and yet none of them are appropriate in this context. Let me know when you are done with Ms Taylor and her pack. My number is now in your phone.”
With that, he turned and walked off, leaving me to stare after him, wondering just what those inappropriate things were.
“Hey!” I turned around to see a tiny woman with a bright smile standing in Tobias’ office—not Riley. She held out a hand. “I’m Candy. I work with Fanta Pants—“
“Candy…” Riley snarled from where she was taking a seat at the table.
“With my esteemed colleague over there. I’m a geneticist as well, believe it or not, and I’ve worked with Riley on all of her projects. So.” She lifted a clipboard and a pen. “You’re turning into an omega. Are your tits swelling up like water balloons? Do you have a swamp in your knickers? Do you have an insane need to rut those fucking fine alphas out there in every position you can imagine, creating your very ownSage Does the CEOsporno?”
“You promised.” Riley was up and out of her seat, crossing the floor and then grabbing Candy’s ponytail and dragging her away from the door. “You fucking promised me you’d behave.”
“Harder…” Candy groaned out with exaggerated emphasis, wiggling her hips suggestively. “Harder, Mummy.”
“This, believe it or not, is all part of a normal day for us,” said a very tall man with dark hair and grass green eyes, who then offered me his hand. I shook it quickly. “I’m Fen Taylor, Riley’s mate. Come in, they’ll settle down in a moment.”
“Or they’ll start wrestling on the floor again, which was oddly arousing,” another guy said, his bright blue eyes sparking until they slid around to the two women. “That was a really weird day.”
“She’s an omega,” said a massive man with dark hair who was standing over by the bookcase.
“Fuck, yeah, she is,” Blue Eyes said, then he shot me a rakish smile. “I’m Haze. Big, tall, and mostly silent over there is Blake. You must be wondering what the fuck is going on right now.”
I looked over to where the two women were now bickering and then nodded slowly before sitting down.
“So how about you tell me what the fuckisgoing on,” I replied.
24
“You didn’t reveal as an omega when you were a teenager, I’m assuming?”
Riley had sat down and was all business now, Candy forced to sit on the opposite side of the table, Blake keeping a steely eye on her. She tapped out notes on her tablet now, conspicuously calm.
“No. I’m a beta,” I replied.
“No, you’re not.” Fen blinked as he looked at me, his eyes silvering slightly before returning to green. “Not any more, at least.” He glanced out the doorway, through the other offices. “The Lockwoods think you’re their mate? Their wolves must be going mad.”
“We need to provide protection,” Blake rumbled.
“Settle, big guy.” As soon as Riley put a hand on his leg, he let a long sigh out. “She might not want protection from the alphas.”
“An omega just waltzing up to her fated mates and accepting the bond?” Haze snorted at that, then shook his head. “That’s not how shit works.” His eyes danced with amusement when he looked back at me. “Something in omegas, it wants to push the very men that she needs away. She needs to test them before she finally decides to let the bond click into place.” His smile faded as he looked me over more carefully. “What’s keeping you away from them? If they’re not what you want…?”
A deep growl rattled in his chest, something the other two men joined him in.
“My mates are very protective of anyone who’s vulnerable,” Riley explained. “Candy, get the door for me, will you?”