Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Shayne
The last thing I expected was to run into family, and Goldcrest Academy is absolutely the last place my youngest brother would frequent. Unlike the rest of our brothers, we share the same feelings about Omega academies.
At least, I thought we did.
Now? Who knows?
Shadow smiles wryly at me, hands stuffed into his pockets.
He still looks exactly like he did when I last saw him, which wasn’t yesterday. He’s wearing trendy black clothes, fitted like they were made for his slim frame, and his messy hair is bleached, with a couple of inches of dark roots showing.
It’s been years since I last laid eyes on him.
He barely looks like he’s aged a day.
The only thing that’s different are the mating marks on his throat.
“You have a pack,” I blurt.
That … doesn’t make sense.
What’s he doing here if he has a pack?
I set my drink down quickly and get to my feet.
“Are you in trouble?” I ask keeping my voice low while I glance around, looking out for someone who might be watching us right now.
Shadow puts his hand on my shoulder. “Relax.”
I can feel the calming energy of his Omega’s touch flooding through my system a second later.
“What’s going on?” I ask, frowning as I try to grab my worry for him back before it can disappear completely. “If you’re not in trouble, then why are you here?”
He must be here for a reason. I need to know why.
“It’s kind of a long story, but if I’m cutting it short, my pack lives here. We’re mated to the head of the school.” He grins as he lets his hand slip away from my shoulder.
I blink at him. “What?”
“Lana Cole. She’s really something. Maybe you can meet her …
some other time, when you’re not sneaking into the place she lives and breathes.
Our lead Alpha is head of security, by the way, and I talked him into letting me speak to you when your lead Alpha decided to go walk-about in one of the off-limits areas. ”
I take in what he’s saying, and I let out a sigh of relief.
He gives me an amused look, and I realize I have some explaining to do.
“Falcon helped with the big rescue a few weeks back. The Alpha Alliance stopped contacting him when he asked to be updated on how the girl he helped was doing. He wanted to see her, to make sure she was doing okay.”
“Sounds like an Alpha move,” Shadow says. “He could have just called, but I’m guessing that wasn’t good enough?”
“Basically,” I admit. “Can you help us out?”
“I can try. Most of the women from that rescue went home a while back. Some of them stayed with us, so I guess it depends if she left already or not. What was her name?”
I can’t help but laugh. “We don’t know her name.”
“Well, that’s definitely going to make it harder.”
He shakes his head before he reaches into his pocket.
I watch as he takes out his phone.
He glances up at me before he starts texting.
“I’m telling Owen what you’re doing here before he goes crazy for answers.
He’s keeping an eye on your Alpha from a distance so he can round him up and we can all go see Lana together.
She can figure out who you need to find, and maybe she can set his mind at ease, or arrange a meeting with this mystery woman. ”
“Sounds good to me.”
I’m instantly relieved that I won’t have to sit here for much longer on a pretence.
It’s good to know Falcon’s not going to get in serious trouble for sneaking around, too.
“So, your pack’s lead Alpha is Johnny Falcone?” Shadow asks.
“He goes by Falcon, but that’s him.”
“That’s why I didn’t see your name on the list.”
“The list?”
“The list of pre-approved applicants. I snuck a peek when Lana was … otherwise engaged. If you guys came as a pack, you must have gone under the pack name Falcone.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah. We did.”
“If it were the other way around, you’d probably guess it was me. It’s not like there are too many people out there named Shadow.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re the only one.”
I thought my parents were assholes when they gave him that name, but that’s not what made them awful, and he grew into it pretty quickly, becoming a slightly morbid kid who grew into a moody teenager who would wear make-up sometimes just to make our mother despair.
“I should have kept in contact.”
“That might have been nice, but I know you were busy starting a new life. We both were.”
“I’m glad you found a pack.”
“Me too. I knew we would find our people once we got out of that awful house.”
He hands his phone to me. “Put your number in and I’ll send you a text so you can save mine.”
It takes a second to remember my number, and a few more to enter it into his phone.
Handing it back to him, I watch him smile as he saves it.
“You realize I’ll be sending you all the craziest murder case links now?”
“I’m fully versed on Frank Palmer’s exploits, and I’m subscribed to at least one true crime podcast so you can do your worst.”
He looks vaguely impressed as he slips his phone back into his pocket.
“Frank Palmer is my number one obsession, but we’ll have to talk about that later.”
“Later, and not in front of Falcon,” I add, just to be sure.
His bright eyes pop, and I know it means he knows.
“He’s one of his sons?” he asks, his voice low.
I nod slowly. “Just don’t mention it around him. He’s touchy about it.”
For obvious reasons. His mother didn’t consent to the act that led to Falcon’s conception.
It was a brutal attack that left permanent scars.
It’s no wonder Falcon behaved like such an asshole while he was a teenager.
He spent his childhood with a woman who could barely take care of herself.
Before he was even old enough, he was the one to take care of them both.
That had to be hard. I don’t think I would have had the strength for it.
“I won’t mention it,” Shadow promises. “We should go. If you’re ready?”
I nod in response. I’m beyond ready to have this night end.
Shadow nods back. “Follow me.”
He turns, moving toward the dancefloor.
I hesitate for a second, stumbling over my own feet when I snap out of my thoughts and start to follow my kid brother.
Straightening, my shoulder connects with something, and a horrified gasp drags my gaze to the waitress I bumped up against. Her eyes go wide as the plates jump up and clatter back down onto the tray she’s carrying.
I turn quickly, reaching out to steady her arm and the tray as her worried gaze drifts upwards.
The moment her pretty eyes meet mine, time seems to slow down.
For one magical moment, the world around us melts away.
All there is, is me and this red-haired, bright-eyed woman.
She’s so familiar and so different, all at once.
The connection between us is too strong to deny.
This woman is supposed to be in my life.
Whoever she is.
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry!” she gasps out, gaze breaking away, moving back to the contents of the tray she’s holding.
“It’s my fault. I wasn’t looking so I didn’t see you.”
Though now that I’m hearing those words out loud it seems crazy.
If I’d been faster on my feet I might have missed her entirely.
I can’t imagine how horrible that would be.
Now that I’ve seen her, I don’t want to look away.
She’s captivating, with those bright eyes and that soft, sweet demeanour.
Her hair is tied back, but I can see it’s an auburn shade that’s a little darker than the freckles that are scattered across her nose and cheeks.
They stand out against her pale skin, and I know if I didn’t need to help her hold the tray steady, I would already be reaching up to stroke my fingers over the skin on her cheek.
Her gaze is hungry when she lets it meet mine.
I think she can feel our connection.
It’s hard to tell with Betas. They don’t have the solid instincts of an Alpha, or the intuition of an Omega, so they don’t always understand what they’re feeling when it comes to these bonds.
She likely hasn’t felt this before, either.
I’ve had it happen three times.
Falcon, Harper and Jay.
All true mates of mine.
She clears her throat. “Uh, I should go sort this … mess.”
“Oh.” I let go of her reluctantly. “I can help …”
Her arms shake a little as I let go of the tray, but she gets it under control.
“It’s fine,” she mumbles, moving further back and turning away from me.
“Shayne!” Shadow calls out, from the side of the dancefloor.
He throws me a questioning glance.
I can’t help but look back one last time. She’s walking toward a set of double doors a few feet away. I’m reluctant to just let her leave like this, but if she works here, she shouldn’t be hard to find when we get back.
“What was that about?” Shadow asks as I catch up to him.
Considering I haven’t talked to Falcon about it yet, I don’t think I should be telling my kid brother I found another true mate who happens to work at Goldcrest.
“I bumped into a waitress, and she was a little shaky afterward, that’s all,” I tell him, as we walk through the field of disco lights and groups of people who are definitely not dancing.
“The Alpha effect,” Shadow jokes. “She probably has to go sit down before she faints.”
“Maybe if she’d bumped into Falcon,” I joke back.
“Must be some lead Alpha. Can’t wait to meet him.”
He gets us to the doors Falcon was planning to exit through, and he leads me out into a well-lit corridor. A Beta with tattooed arms and hands is standing to the side of the doors when we get there. He gives me a once over and frowns at Shadow.
“This guy’s your brother? I don’t see the resemblance.”
His rough-sounding British accent takes me by surprise.
Shadow rolls his eyes. “Shayne, this is Pete. He’s one of my mates.”
“Hey,” I murmur in greeting.
He’s probably the same height as me, but the guy has that imposing Alpha grit to him that Falcon has in spades. He’s a Delta, for sure.
“Hey,” Pete mutters back. “Owen’s in Lana’s office with the intruder. They’re just waiting for us now.”
“He’s not an intruder,” Shadow informs him, while Pete starts to lead the way down the corridor.
“Mm hm,” Pete responds, not sounding impressed.