22. Caspian #2
He gave me a bloodied smile, a spark in his swelling eye. I hadn’t strangled the fucker hard enough. He shouldn’t have even been able to talk with how I punched him, but maybe he’d taken hits like those before.
“You don’t know, do you?” he asked, gaining some confidence. “That omega’s working for Zania, too. She came to visit her last week, said she paid Ms Sanderson a ton to make sure she got out of the flat.”
I froze over him, and he managed a weak laugh as my face fell.
My mind was too fucked up to get ahold of my thoughts. But my heart plummeted straight into my gut as I wrapped my fucking head around the words he was saying.
“Fuck,” I spat out as he laughed again.
Was there anything in my life that wasn’t fucking controlled by her? Could I not have a single thing she didn’t have to ruin with her fucking hate?
I rocked back on my knees, groaning as I pinned him to the ground by forcing my flat palms on my chest.
My shits were non-existent as thoughts of Mel fucking flooded my mind.
The sharp shock pulled me back from the rogue, making my thoughts clearer.
I tried to remember everything she’d done, all the ways she’d been with us, every little thing she’d said, and the way I kept getting lost the longer she spent with us.
I’d suspected her right from the beginning, so why did I stop?
Was any of that shit fucking real?
I swore from the way they acted when they first met that our parents had no clue who she was. I was so sure of it.
I’d done so much research on her to make sure Mel wasn’t some kind of plant, but it was for fucking nothing.
It was Mum’s fucking fault Mel was being kicked out of her nest, but maybe that was all fake, too. Did she even need to get out of her flat, or was that another trick to fix herself into our lives?
I finally knocked my head forward to look at him. “How long have you been watching her for?” I said, my voice strained.
He wiped his bloody nose on the back of his sleeve before he shrugged. “Maybe a week, maybe a month. I’m struggling to remember. You’ve basically given me a concussion, you know. That kind of stuff is expensive.”
A low growl echoed from my throat and he flinched, but it looked like this fucker really thought he could milk me. The guy was fucking scum, and I shouldn’t fall for it. But then again, my rogue state was telling me to give in and teach him what happened when he fucked with us.
A shudder ran through me as Kai burst to life in our bond. His presence quickly swept through me and Sin, exploring us to find out what was going on.
As soon as he realised my state, curls of amusement burned through me. He was already insanely interested in what was going on. But he and Sin were too far to tell what was actually happening.
“And I wanted to get some fun in before she left. It’s the same as you, isn’t it? Mr Real Alpha .” He snickered and a bubble of blood popped at the corner of his mouth.
“You stupid fucker,” a snarl ripped from me as I slammed my fist into the floor next to his head. Any closer, and I would have dented his skull.
But he still gave me a shaky smirk. “You want information? It all depends on how much sweet-talking you can do. I heard Zania paid that omega a straight hundred grand. All for getting out of her flat. How much are you going to pay me for the information you want?”
Another burst of rage flared through me as I tried to fucking breathe.
There was no way Mum would pay her to move in with us. Not after the way she had treated her so far. So, what the fuck was going on?
Kai was the only person in my life that had never been broken or influenced by her. Sin was fifty-fifty because he had no problem using her when he needed, and he was fine giving into her orders if it didn’t take too much from us.
And now fucking Mel.
“Hey, you know what?” I asked as a cruel smile split my lips. My voice was the same kind of deep that crawled in whenever I wanted to get back at Mel for fucking with me so severely that all I could think of was jumping on her and fucking her until she screamed.
Because the guy in front of me was fucking nothing compared to my pack.
“I’m the one sitting on your chest. I’ve already laid my fist into you hard enough you shouldn’t even be fucking blinking.” I leant over him, giving him the same look I’d give any prick I was about to end. “I’m fucking Caspian Risler. In what fucking universe do you think I’d give you anything?”
If someone like Mel really had made me waver, if she really had made me question myself, then I was going to end her. And it wouldn’t be because of the snivelling little prick under me.
I was too many floors away from my pack. Even when Sin sent me a hard brush of his usual calm, it didn’t have the effect he hoped, and another low growl rumbled from me.
“I have no fucking problem leaving you here to bleed out, so we’ve both got a choice here. You either start fucking talking, or we rewind back to the part where I was throwing my fists into your face.”
“Zania won’t stand for this! She pays me personally, and she won’t put up—”
A snarl ripped from me as I punched him clean across the cheek and his head snapped to the side.
“Looks like it’s time to rewind,” I growled, drawing my fist back again.
Mum would care way more about the cleanup than losing a paid informant like him. I’d deal with whatever he was spouting about Mel leaving after I’d pummelled him.
My fist landed against her landlord’s ribs with a satisfying crack. It didn’t matter where I hit him, his body bounced the same.
A strained cough gurgled below me, and my furious scowl deepened the lines of my face.
“Oh, so sorry,” I said sardonically. “I just got distracted there. Now, with your whole chest this time. Tell me. Who’s the real alpha?”