Chapter 9
Chapter nine
Lyra
“You locked her away in the pen with Fidget?!”
All hell breaks loose next as the two Alphas fight tooth and nail. Teeth are bared, and then hackles are raised as Wren moves like a gust of wind, yanking Malakai up by the scruff of his shirt to push him against the wall.
Wren’s normally kind, gentle face is warped with rage, eyes bulging as the whites show. His pupils shrink into pinpricks as he grasps a fistful of his brother’s shirt, voice profound and deadly when he growls, “You bastard. I will kill you!”
Yet Malakai just titters, fangs displayed as he mocks poor Wren. “Relax, brother. Besides, the fox was more than pleased with her company. I think he even peed on her a little. Looks like you missed your chance. The fox got there first—”
His voice cuts off as Wren pulls on his shirt, cutting off his airflow, but Malakai still laughs, face burning beet red.
Wren roars, swinging his fist around to aim it at the other Alpha’s face, and I’ve seen enough.
I jump out of my seat, letting it clatter to the ground behind me as I flee to my bedroom, where I am safe from Alphas and their raging levels of testosterone.
Hearing their growls and their dominant displays activated my fight or flight response. And this time, it looks as if I chose flight.
The smart choice, really.
Wren flusters behind me, letting go of his brother. “Wait... Lyra!”
But I don’t look back, too overwhelmed, too overstimulated to glance back. I need to get away to safety.
My bare feet pad across the floor and down the hall. Once I reach the door of my bedroom, I yank it wide open, slamming it tight shut behind me. I even turn the lock on the handle.
Just a panel of wood keeps me away from the Alphas downstairs now. My body won’t stop shaking, and what on earth happened to me just now?
I’ve fought plenty of Alphas and won. Yet those two scared me.
Why? It makes no sense.
My knife... That’s right! If I’d had my knife on me, then I would have felt much safer. Yet there were plenty of forks, spoons, and butter knives on that table. They may not have been as sharp, but I’m sure I could have gotten creative.
My heart pounds, and then the sharp scent of cherry blooms around me.
My perfume.
Fuck... How could I not have seen it?
I’m aroused. My skin is hot to the touch, and my heart and core are pounding in rhythm. A memory of Wren’s bulging muscles returns in full color, and I groan.
Not now… My insatiable Omega is torn between hiding or going back downstairs to watch those Alphas fighting over her.
Perhaps she may even get in between them.
I suppose it makes a nice change. I’ve always had Alphas fight me rather than fighting for me, and it’s going to take some getting used to.
So, I drop to the ground before my Omega rips the door back open, rolling beneath the safety of the bed. The bed I have yet to sleep in.
The sheets are still clean and unruffled.
Placing my ear against the floorboards, I listen now as the Alphas speak about me. I guess it’s true what they say about burning ears.
Mine are on fire, along with my skin.
“Now look what you’ve done!”
Wren.
Another Alpha sighs, one with a gritty voice. It causes a shiver to course down my spine.
Malakai.
“Well, it’s not my fault she’s so flighty.”
Wren growls, and my body curls up in response, trying to make myself smaller. “That’s not what I am upset about, and you know it. How could you throw her into the pen with Fidget?” It’s cold out there, and she has a bed upstairs!”
Silence trickles next. It drips through the house, making me tense further. Until one of them speaks again.
Malakai scoffs. “Why are you even upset about that? You love that fox. I’ve even seen you spooning with it several times.”
More echoing quiet. And then a series of growls. If I could make myself even smaller, then I would.
A booming voice stops the pair of them now, and then my heart ceases its erratic beating in my chest. “That’s enough. Both of you. You’re bickering like children.”
Gage.
Even from upstairs, his voice makes me freeze. Turns the hairs up on my arms.
His Alpha bark makes me want to do his exact bidding, and that’s a first. I’ve certainly never listened to any Alpha before. Even my old guardian could never tame me for too long. But Gage’s voice is that powerful.
Not even his brothers’ voices have quite the same effect on me.
“I… I will go upstairs and talk with her…” Wren mutters.
Footsteps vibrate through the house, and my heart sings in my ears. What will Wren think when he finds me under the bed?
“No,” Gage interrupts next.
Wren’s footsteps stop, and then silence trails in his wake.
Gage’s gruff voice orders, “Leave her be for now. She’s had a rough few days, and the last thing she needs is Alphas breathing down her neck.”
My face crumples. It almost sounds like Gage cares about me, which he doesn’t… right? Is he not the same, suspicious Alpha from yesterday?
The one who questioned me?
The same one who caught me when I slipped from the window, right before my skull smashed against the floor?
He’s definitely a paradox, but I won’t be fooled. Out of all the brothers, Gage is the wariest of me.
And he has every right to be.
I am dangerous. If only they could see the blood on my hands. They should be stained red with all the Alphas I have slain and fellow Omegas.
So, if he thinks, no, knows that I am so, so dangerous, then why does he offer me peace right now?
Gage addresses Malakai. “You shouldn’t have taken matters into your own hands, brother. In the end, I am the one in charge. You should have come to me when you first found her last night, since it’s up to me to deem any punishment I see fit.”
Well, there goes any hope I had of the Alpha. So, he does mean to punish me for trying to escape.
Why did I suspect otherwise?
Malakai chuckles. “I still stayed with her throughout the night. I wasn’t a complete ass. Why are you both forgetting that? And the fox kept her warm.”
Oh, he did. I’d have frozen to death without his little orange, furry body beside me. He didn’t even know me, yet he just walked right up to me and befriended me. A wild animal of all things.
Has Wren tamed him that much? Or perhaps the fox was just drawn to my Omega charms.
Silence stretches downstairs for a while once again. Then Gage says, “None of you approach the Omega for the rest of the day. She’s had a rough night. She needs rest.”
The brothers don’t respond, and now the house falls into a quiet resolve. I may as well be the only soul around.
But then movement catches my attention, and it appears the Alphas have resumed their normal routines again.
My eyes close, and then I huff a sigh of relief, blowing silvery strands from my face. Well, it looks as if I am safe.
For now.
No Alphas are coming to get me.
Yet why do I dream about all three when I eventually fall asleep under the bed? It doesn’t make sense.
They are the enemy. But their faces fill my dreams. Odd.
I’ll get to the bottom of it when I awake again.