Prologue #2
“No, he isn’t! Your drug puts him in a dream-like state.
What about his memory? Or the mate mark?
You said we had a year to figure it out, but now we have to double the dose.
That gives us six months! He isn’t mine!
I still have to magic that house when his family came over because I technically haven’t secured him yet!
! You haven’t held up your end, you barely Alpha! I should be asking for more!”
I wanted to roll my eyes. This argument was probably going to go on for fifteen minutes. The two of them would shift. The dragon would come in and it was starting the timer over again. Every damn time these two met, this was how it was.
“Fine!” Dylan surprised me by breaking first. “Samuel, the rest.”
Nodding, I pulled out the second pouch. This had less money, but more vials and powder. Ebony swiped it from my hand, looking through it for a moment before handing the paper over. Walking over to Dylan, I narrowed my eyes.
There was a blurry picture of what could be Colton on some grass in front of a house. There was an address and a QR code underneath.
“This is what you have?”
Dylan started to shake, but I put my hand on his wrist, stopping him. He growled at me, but I pulled out my phone, scanning the QR code. Ebony looked way too smug for this to be it. She was trying to send him up the wall on purpose.
Sure enough, there were way more. The address, geolocation, photos of the property, the blueprints, and even how to get onto the grounds. A note warned against approaching by air due to the security of the surrounding houses.
Showing Dylan, he swiped through the photos until there was one that was just Colton, standing out on the grass.
His finger brushed my screen, and I felt like I needed to sanitize my phone.
I wished I could say that Dylan’s obsession with Colton was only to produce his line, but I knew better.
My family knew better after all we had witnessed over the years, but said nothing.
For so long, Colton was never family. My sister and I treated him the same way our parents did.
Mother felt ashamed that she had somehow birthed such a low-level Beta.
It actually hurt her standing in the family despite still being a level ten and having Heather and me.
Dad refused to acknowledge Colton as anything other than an unwanted houseguest. Later, I think he felt more like Mom had cheated on him.
Even though she didn’t. Who knows if that was the reason their relationship fell apart, but it didn’t help.
As Colton grew, though, I couldn’t really help but acknowledge him.
He was smart, strong, and he stayed calm most of the time despite everything thrown at him.
He got into college early with a full-scholarship, straight-A’s, and kept his head down.
When we went searching for him, he was working two different jobs, one at the docks, which was impressive at the time for a Beta-1. Now? Even more impressive as an Omega.
“What are you going to do about the pup?” Ebony asked.
I stared down at the photograph. He wasn’t wearing as many layers as he had been in the past few months. You could see his pregnancy on full display. Dylan continued to stare at the photo, mesmerized by the sight of my brother and probably being within reach now.
“I’ll let him have it. Drop it off at the Alford’s. Use it as a way to make sure they never go after Colton again. He will always be mine.”
Well, if there was one thing these two could find common ground on, it was that. Wanting people who wanted nothing to do with them. In fact, the two of them were actively fighting to get away from them. Instead of taking the rejection like sane people, they turned into madmen. Madmen and madwomen.
“Just don’t drop it here. I want nothing to do with it.”
Dylan laughed. “You will have to birth some pups. If you want to make sure your pack has an Alpha leader.”
Ebony shrugged. “I could do surrogacy. My sister is open to that for me for a fee. I just am not cut out for that.”
I wonder why. Forcing myself not to roll my eyes was starting to hurt.
It couldn’t be the fact that she was willing to drug and poison someone to get them to like her.
Or that she was probably forcing herself on him.
At least Ebony understood she shouldn’t be a parent.
Who would want to be raised in that kind of environment with that kind of mother?
“The last thing I want is to raise someone else’s pups, too. It will either be off to the Alford’s or off to my sister’s. At this point, my sister’s might be better.”
Snorting, he nodded. “Considering that none of the Alford’s knew we took the little whelp. Not until one of them was called to pick him up.”
“I thought it was his mother who called?”