2. Sage
Sage
Ilove it when things just fall into place.
When I don’t have to do a thing but sit back and watch everything start turning up Sage.
Aaron Roseland turns his head just slightly so I can see his furious expression.
It has been too long. Trying to conspire a meet with him is almost impossible, he’s as slippery as an eel.
When he doesn’t want to be caught, he’s impossible to hold.
I’m not sure who his displeasure is directed at, though. I mean, we haven’t had a family get-together since our parents decided to throw that ridiculous farce they call their wedding. That was five years ago, and I can still feel his ass gripping my cock.
My father married his mother after her partner died, and my mother bit her own bond, tearing through it and her arm to escape him.
To me, Aaron’s my alpha, always has been, always will be, but he’s been running since the day it all started.
I don’t blame him, that night was a disaster.
Now, my darling stepbrother has brought me a gift. Two omegas who both smell like…and there’s that word again, mine. The arrogance and subtle hostility pouring off the male is downright mouthwatering, but the little female looks hurt.
I pull into an almost hidden driveway. It takes a good couple of minutes, and then I park in front of a small cabin.
“Interesting,” Pix says. “You can squeeze three other alphas in there?”
I glance in the mirror, more than a little surprised he’s been able to pick out and differentiate the different scents that must still be steeped into the car.
“I can fit you in, Pix. You’re not very big,” I say over my shoulder.
He doesn’t like that, and I watch him warily while I shut off the car. I think if the female wasn’t in his arms, he’d be gone. He looks awful flighty. Good thing I have a cage.
I get out and turn to watch his reactions. He glances at the house, but then turns and starts assessing the environment. My eyebrows go up, and I wonder if Aaron knows exactly what kind of omega he was travelling with.
“So, Pix, right this way.”
His eyes focus on me, pin me, and I find myself growing still, the way I would when I’ve marked a target, focusing on him completely, obsessively. He watches me without fear, and that just makes me all the more determined to have him.
“Lead on, Alpha.”
Cocky little shit. I turn, trusting him with my back, and enter my home. Three quarters of it is underground, and that becomes obvious when you walk in and see the descending stairs that are normally hidden from sight behind a bookcase.
“Ah, that makes sense. Just how rich are you?” Pix says expressionlessly.
“We are very rich,” I say and glance at Aaron, who glares back at me like I’m giving away trade secrets. I slowly let my eyes travel down his chest and to the spot where his jeans have encased his cock.
“Wow, so history there and here. You do get around, Roseland.” Pix’s bitterness is clear as day. I would love to trade stories with him. See if anyone can find a way to lock Aaron down.
Aaron snarls, his expression turning dark and savage. “Shut up, Pix.”
“Aww, don’t be mean to me. I am, after all, your omega.”
I close my eyes, relishing the pure moment of victory. Pix is ours. Which means Aaron Roseland can try to run all he wants, but he’s going to be mine, too. And his freedom clock just struck its last dong.
The door explodes open, and Aaron reacts before I can stop him, his gun coming up to take the heads off my two house guests.
“Don’t kill him unless you want Pack Prince skinning you with the dawn!” I whisper in his ear in amusement.
His lips tense, and I can see him weighing up his decision before he releases the trigger, but he doesn’t drop the gun.
Rolly barges his way in, walks straight up to the gun, grabbing the barrel in his fist and bringing it down to his mouth where he runs his tongue all over it. Amber and clove dance on the air, light then potent, before it fades again, as erratic as the alpha it emanates from.
“Mmm, did you bring me something to snack on?” the alpha purrs.
I question whatever person let this crazy bastard live, but sadly, he’s become my problem.
Our excursion into the wilds was my last-ditch attempt to rein him in before my parents try to put him down.
It would be unpleasant to kill my parents before I’m ready, but Rolly has become… well, I’m fond of him.
Rory likes Rolly, from a distance. But the Aster who has found his pack has no sway over the mind of this little gremlin. No, only three people so far have been able to hold him back, and they are all in this house.
He’s blond and gold, all white teeth, smiles, and a body he keeps honed to killer perfection. But it’s his mind. He’s so wickedly fucked up that it’s beautiful. He doesn’t look dangerous, but like Aaron, looks are deceiving.
Behind him, paired like the two attack dogs of hell, is King with his sharp wintergreen and alcohol scent.
He’s Cyn’s younger brother and has none of the delicate grace Cyn has.
No, King is all muscle and pure, unadulterated violence.
His method to sort something out is to beat it to death, and his entertainment is fight rings and lifting weights.
King dismisses Roseland and fixates on the male omega. He steps into the entrance, and Pix steps back. One step forward, another step back. I watch in amusement as King chases him the length of the entrance runner before the omega stops moving.
“What is that?”
Rolly bounces around King before I can stop him, but the latter grabs Rolly’s neck and holds him still.
“Look,” King whispers.
Pix is silent, his eyes cold and deadly.
“Ooh,” Rolly purrs. “Mine.”
He lunges and then rears back, howling. A knife sticking out of his upper arm.
“The next one of you who tries to touch us is losing the end of your knob.” He’s like a puffed up cat, furious, dangerous, backed into a corner and still managing to maim people with the other omega in his arms.
He’s going to need watching.
My perverted cock rises to attention. I adjust myself and clear my throat.
“Pix,” I say his name like it’s something sinful. “This is Rolly and King. My guests.”
He looks at me in outrage. “Give me the keys to your car; we’re leaving.”
Roseland growls. “You aren’t taking her anywhere.”
“Her?” Rolly asks, and then his eyes find the omega, the other omega. Rolly’s legs give out, and he drops to his knees in front of the omegas. “Two? We have two? Oh, god, I know we haven’t gotten along very well in the past, but I promise, I will only kill people who deserve it!”
Pix looks both disgusted and charmed.
We? Oh, no. I mean, I had a feeling, but…damn.
Aaron whips his head towards me, his nostrils flaring, I can see that he absolutely blames me for this.
I shrug. “He’s rich and powerful, you can try putting him behind bars, but I’m not sure you’d live long.”
King edges closer, yanking the blade out of Rolly’s upper arm and holding it out, hilt first, to Pix.
The omega snarls and backs up, but that’s got him with his back to the staircase, and a much bigger threat is climbing silently up the stairs behind him.
I feel a hint of amusement through our bond, but nothing else.
The scent of Dragon’s Blood incense floods the space, not unpleasantly. It’s strong, but then my alpha is a force of nature.
Blaze puts his hand on Pix’s shoulder and stands just behind him.
“Omega, you smell like a dream I had.” The intimate whisper could seduce a monk.
Pix has gone pale, his body trembles slightly, and I think he’s forgotten how to use the knife he has in his hands. I glance at Aaron and find him looking like someone’s slapped him.
Yes. That’s it. This is us. Inhale, exhale, don’t panic. Do not celebrate.
Pix’s throat bobs hard as he tries to swallow. It is impossible not to be intimidated by my alpha. “Who are you?”
“Blaze Myles. I’m Dakota’s older brother. I believe you are friends with the little serial pest they have mated to.”
Pix stiffens at the reference to Bonnie and tries to pull away, but Blaze has him held tight. I don’t think he’s even registered what Blaze just said.
“Relax, no one will hurt you, accost you, or attempt to kill you in this house. You have my word.”
“I do not obey your rules,” Rolly snarls, his sapphire blue eyes dancing with contempt.
Blaze slowly pins him to the spot with a single look. “Do you want me to punish you again, my newest friend?”
Rolly’s lips flatten, and there’s a hint of challenge, a spark that says we’re not finished with the game yet.
“Aaron, come with me,” I murmur quietly.
He tenses but doesn’t move.
“Nothing will happen to your omegas, Detective,” Blaze says with calm assurance. His eyes don’t flicker down the alpha, not even once, but I know he’s taking him in, and I know he likes him.
“Please, Aaron, the conversation is for our ears only.”
He tenses but then abruptly turns and slams King up against the wall, his gun pressed to the chin of the alpha.
“Listen to me very carefully, you motherfucking psycho. If you touch those omegas or let your lizard-brained friend touch them, I will blow your limbs off one by one.”
He means it, too, which is what makes him so damn sexy.
Unfortunately, King is the wrong psycho to threaten. He rolls his hips, his erection pressing against Aaron’s pelvis.
“Just so we’re clear, I’ll do what I want, but if this is foreplay, I am sold. Violence is my love language. And you look like you have some stamina, old man.”
Aaron doesn’t even twitch as he cocks the gun.
But neither does King, he just presses in harder. “Can you take me without the gun, Alpha?”
“I don’t need to take you, I just need one bullet, right here.” He trails the gun up and presses it to King’s forehead.
“King, we catch more flies with honey than vinegar,” Blaze reminds him.
King scowls, and then a wicked smile blooms across his face. “Oh, yeah. Um, you look like you’d survive a round. I’d fuck you.”
Aaron scoffs, his expression darkening. For one long moment, I think he might actually shoot the other alpha.
King, the psycho, nudges the gun up with his face and leans in, licking the spot where Aaron’s fingers are clenched around the trigger. Then he groans, in a purely sexual way that has Aaron Roseland yanking his hand back like he’s been burned.
I roll my eyes. A glowing recommendation, I’m sure.
Rolly knee-walks his way to Pix, staring up at him in awe. “Can I keep you?”
Pix’s lip curls, and he glances at Aaron.
“Do something, or I will.”
Aaron’s expression gets panicked before he throws King off, and before any of us can speak, drags Rolly back from the omegas by the alpha’s hair.
I glance in the mirror, still shocked to see my silver-white hair instead of the red hair I used to have. But I look past me and at Blaze. He mouths one word.
Mine.
I consider it for a moment and then shrug. Sounds like a plan that will be fun. The bond purrs with his happiness. Whatever makes my Blaze happy makes me happy.
“Omega, are you hungry?”
Pix hesitates. “She’s hurt. Roseland hit her with his car.”
“She came out of nowhere,” Roseland snarls.
My deadly attention fixes on the omega. I stalk towards them and pick her easily out of Pix’s hold. Running my eyes over what I can see.
Malnourished, bruised, unconscious. I curse myself for not getting her help right away; she didn’t look so tiny in all those clothes.
I carry her to the kitchen, where Blaze sweeps everything onto the floor. I lay her down.
“What happened? Tell me everything,” I demand.
Aaron reaches out and gently strokes her hair back. “Her name is Merle Kestrel, and I’ve been searching for her for a year.”
Blaze twitches but doesn’t say anything.
Pix stares at him with an expressionless look, but I can almost feel the jealousy pouring out of him. Whatever is going on between them, I’m going to bet Aaron is running from it as hard as he’s been running from me.
I glance at the female omega who is covered in bruises and dried old blood. Her hair matted. The clothes she is wearing are too thin for this weather, but too big for her, and they’re threadbare with holes. She looks like she’s almost gone from this world.
“No one can know she’s here,” Roseland says in a rush then ignores the looks Blaze, Pix, and I give him as if he can’t even see us.
Unacceptable.