Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
ROGUE
A trail of smoke plumed around me, the late morning air swallowing it easily.
I was seated on a bench on the back patio near where the sparse treeline began to stretch out into the massive backyard of the property, and at my back were the stairs down to the basement.
Enjoying the smoke was my priority, since I didn’t anticipate having much of that once Knox was done.
He wasn’t aware, but I still had access to the security feed. My phone would, however, show up as actively monitoring, so I avoided it unless I didn’t have a choice. But today I was banking on the fact that he was distracted.
At some point, I probably needed to confront exactly how much I’d enjoyed watching her with him (or replaying the security footage of him chasing her down the hallway—which was all I had access to since it seemed he’d shut off the feed to his room).
At some point.
Not today.
When I finally forced myself to click away from the feed, I noticed the display at the bottom that read ‘2 devices online’ .
I frowned.
One was me, but the other couldn’t be Knox. It hadn’t been long since they’d vanished into his room.
One of the misfits?
I didn’t pick bones with them—Knox was fiercely protective—but if one was keeping tabs on my Omega…
Knox was a different matter, and that was just a fact. He did own me, after all, and I could concede that loss, Alpha to Alpha—but those misfits had earned nothing .
I suddenly found myself glad the feeds didn’t show Knox’s room. I didn’t want anyone seeing anything they didn’t have a right to.
Was it Vance?
The little prick better not be.
He wasn’t an Alpha, but he acted like he was.
I cocked my head at the sound of footsteps, and speak of the devil, Vance turned the corner to the patio.
Not the one monitoring my Omega, then.
He froze, hand cupping a smoke he was lighting, gaze turning ice cold as he took me in. He took a step away, obviously ready to find another place to have a smoke, but seemed to second-guess himself.
He crossed toward me instead, which was distinctly unusual, though Vance had never been as skittish as some of the others.
He was a tall, slender Beta with rich ebony skin, a buzz cut, and a savage attitude. Just like everyone else who lived in the east wing, he had many more scars than met the eye. He was the cockiest of the pack of misfits that helped upkeep the estate for Knox, and he, just like the others, hated me more than he could put into words.
I eyed him suspiciously as he settled onto the bench at my side and tucked his lighter into his pocket.
“What?” I grunted.
Vance glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, taking a drag. “ Why is Knox’s new Omega hell bent on visiting you, Scum?” he asked.
I snorted, leaning back in my seat and taking my gaze from him. The contempt he and the others had for me was nothing new.
“Why do you care?” I grunted.
“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d guess she was his scent match.”
I considered that.
Knox’s misfits were dedicated to him—more than even he was comfortable with. I knew they wanted him to be happy. I supposed it wasn’t surprising that they’d noticed the interest he’d taken in Thistle.
When he bought them, he might make a few appearances with them at his side, but they were sent over to the east wing immediately, settling in, or preparing for the day he could safely let them leave without drawing suspicion.
I’d watched it happen over and over.
This curious arrangement Knox had set up always itched at my mind. It was uncomfortable proof that this was more than just a vendetta—even if that was something he would deny.
But then Thistle had arrived, and she hadn’t seen the same treatment.
Naturally, they’d noticed.
“She’s not his scent match,” I said quietly, mulling over what it might mean to Vance and the others if they knew the truth.
Vance went still, a cigarette halfway to his lips at my words as he processed that.
It didn’t take him long.
“She’s… yours?”
I cocked my head, watching him work through that out of the corner of my eye. For a moment, I caught the ghost of a smile on his face. “He bought her to taunt you?”
“Probably. Hurt her to get to me…?” I said with a shrug. “I’m not inside that fucked up brain of his.”
Vance sneered, hackles so clearly rising.
“Nah. See, you already have more than you deserve here ’cause he wouldn’t hurt her.” I could hear the conviction in his voice.
Unsurprising.
They believed in Knox. It’s why they stayed. For each other, but also for him.
I could see Vance gathering confidence as he worked out the truth that would fit his idea of Knox. “He doesn’t need to hurt her. Once she understands who he is—who you are—she’ll never pick you.”
I thought of Thistle. Of those wide violet eyes and the animation that lit up her whole face. Vance should be right by all accounts, but I didn’t think he was.
She did want me.
It was a dark, guilty void that warmed at that thought.
I knew how much pain it would bring her to keep caring when Knox would take her from me, and yet I’d never wanted anything in this world like I wanted her.
Vance grinned, folding his arms, clearly satisfied with the conclusion he was drawing.
“You’re so fucked,” he said. “Think this will be it, Scum? Will we have a fully feral pet in the cage downstairs?”
I knew that’s what they wanted to see more than anything else.
The muzzle wasn’t enough for them, not for what I represented to them.
Vance waved at his own cheek, eyeing up my bruised face. “Can tell she’s already getting you into trouble.” He grinned. “I’m feeling nice today, so I’ll let you know: Knox said if we saw you, to say punishment’s gonna be worse if he doesn’t find you behind bars with the muzzle on.”
I rolled my eyes, entirely unsurprised. That’s why I was out here with a smoke. Didn’t know when I’d get fresh air next.
I frowned, feeling something odd on my arm. I glanced down, then flinched away, a snarl on my face.
The cigarette was still between Vance’s fingers, even with his arms folded, and he’d left the burning end pressed against my bicep.
Of course, I hadn’t felt it, even though there was a circular burn, clear and pink, on my skin.
He stood in an instant, and I was after him, a furious growl rising up in my throat.
It took everything in me not to deck him—since what would it matter with the trench of shit I was in with Knox, anyway?
I took a breath, burying it as he squared me up, neck craned, not taking even one step away, as if it were a dare.
Which it was.
He knew for a fact that whatever I did, Knox would pay it back to me a hundred-fold.
That all too charming smile on his face did a hell of a job distracting from the flames of madness smouldering in the depths of his dark brown eyes.
That, I think, was visible only to those searching.
I took another breath.
When I did nothing, he finally took a step away, mock-saluting me as he turned his back, boldly unafraid.
As he left, my gaze snagged on the scattering of small, twisted scars, pale in contrast to his deep skin, littered across the back of his neck—each a reflection of what would become of the one he’d left on my arm.