Chapter 2
As exhausted as I was, I couldn’t stop pacing a hole into the lobby floor.
Dark gray walls combined with the sultry beat, pumping from somewhere beyond the reception area, created an elusive ambiance.
In the last few hours, I had no idea how many people had entered the strip club.
Alphas, Betas, and even a sprinkle of Omegas, but the population leaned more toward Alphas.
Which made sense considering who the owners were.
Instead of asking for them when I arrived, I should have just strutted in like a patron. I raked my hand through my hair, and even though I used my other arm, a pinch assaulted my wounded bicep. I hadn’t even had a chance to take a look at it, but at least it had settled into a dull throb.
It was the adrenaline keeping the agony at bay.
In a few strides, I was in front of the booth, and I cleared my throat. The receptionist tapped at her cell phone and finally lifted her eyes to stare at me blankly, her eyebrow raised. I gritted my teeth. I have to calm down. Cerulean hanging lights cast a shadow over her brunette hair.
“Can you please check for an ETA again?” I insisted, trying not to spit the words at her. She looked at me like I was some sort of groupie. Having me sit out here for hours had done away with my patience, and my desperation was only increasing.
“I already told you, ma’am, they’re busy. I recommend you come another time.”
Ma’am?
Ma’am!?
Enough with her talking at me in circles.
“Listen,” I hissed, slapping my palm on the surface of the desk. “Take me to see them right fucking now, or so help me—”
A grip fastened behind my neck, and I had no choice but to stumble in the direction it pulled.
Instead of being dragged toward the glass doors leading out of the strip club, I was hauled down a dark hall to the left of the reception booth.
Heady Alpha scent played along my nose, a shiver coasting down my spine at his harsh touch.
I writhed to loosen his grip the slightest bit, but it didn’t work.
I let him take me, counting to ten. He would only get that many seconds before I fought back.
At exactly eight seconds, he rounded a corner, and the strip of dim lights lining the top of the wall flashed across his face. Dark hair, a bronze complexion . . . Kyan Greymont.
With his hold on my neck, he pinned me to the wall, my cheek smashing against the surface while his front was flush against my ass. I grunted from the force rendering me utterly useless.
Exhaling slowly, I relaxed my shoulders, trying not to focus on the bulge pressing against me.
“Three hours of waiting, and you still couldn’t take the hint?” The drawled words sent another shiver down my back.
“Let go,” I snapped, pushing my palms against the wall, but he was too strong.
Kyan chuckled, the sound light. He found me funny?
“Now you want me to let you go, after pacing out there like a spurned Omega?” He hummed.
I struggled to swallow.
“You’ve been watching me?”
Kyan’s nose grazed the side of my neck, shoving his hips forward to drive the hardness into me. I sucked in a harsh breath. His attraction didn’t surprise me. All unclaimed Omegas smelled good to Alphas. Just like Alphas smelled good to me.
“Cameras.”
Not only did they know I waited, but they had watched me. I gritted my teeth, biting back my angry words.
“Why did you make me wait so long?” I spat.
He barked out a short, bitter laugh, suddenly turning me and pressing against me until my boobs were smashed between us. I glared up at him.
With an unfathomable darkness glinting in his eyes, Kyan inhaled with a hard gust, his head lowering more to get closer to my scent.
The blue lights made his dark hair similar to a raven’s feathers, washing out his already pale complexion.
Somehow, it made him look ethereal and mysterious.
Out of the three pack-brothers, Kyan was the youngest. Before meeting them, I’d done my research, I’d known how they moved—their schedule—who they were, and who they associated with.
“Did our restraining order not make it?” He rapped his knuckles on my temple.
“I-it did,” I croaked, struggling to swallow. His eyes narrowed, the sooty eyelashes lowering and thinning the piercing green shade.
“Yet, here you are.”
I unstuck my tongue from the roof of my mouth. “I am.” I lifted my chin. “I need to speak to all of you.”
“To us?” Kyan’s thick eyebrow, with the gold vertical piercing, rose, and his hands on my thighs yanked at me, spreading my legs forcefully.
His hips ground against me, stealing my breath.
Shadows played along my thoughts, attempting to cloud my mind, but I batted them away before they could dig their oily fingers into me.
I gasped, the pressure against my core swelling lustfully. “After what you did?”
I kept my mouth shut, meeting his blank expression. How could he focus with his hard length shoving into my jeans?
Just the pressure had me aching.
I exhaled slowly, hating my Omega instincts more than ever.
One of the doors opened, and two scantily clad dancers stepped out, giggling about an Alpha.
They did a double-take. Kyan’s frown forced them to turn away.
Of course, nothing fazed him; he was surrounded by sex.
“What I did,” I bit out, ignoring how breathless my voice sounded. “Was expose the shady shit your pack does.”
“You endangered my business.”
“I was doing my job.” Arguing with him when I needed help wasn’t going to get me anywhere. For once in my life, I was going to have to bite my tongue. Something I’d actively never done, always setting out to surpass every single goal I set.
A career-driven Omega wasn’t the norm, tending to be looked down on more than not.
And in journalism?
Even less.
But I’d never cared.
Laughter echoed down the hall, footsteps approaching.
Kyan’s mouth thinned. “Let’s get you into the loft.”
He pulled me down the hall forcefully and up a chic staircase, with iron railings, his grip on my waist harsh.