Chapter 4 #2
Her face goes a little pink. “I… wait, that’s got nothing to do with you—”
“Have you drunk anything other than the coffee Luc gave you?”
“Well, no… but—”
“Sit.” I point to the chair behind her.
Her eyes fall into vibrant slits, hands landing on her hips as she arches one brow. And isn’t that a pretty look. Makes me want to see her really mad. All riled up. Hot and bothered.
But not right now, so I change tack. “Please. You’ve been on your feet since 8 AM, that I know of.
In those things.” I glance at her heels.
“You haven’t eaten or drunk any water. Sit.
” I tilt my head at the chair, and although her expression has softened, she’s not doing as she’s told.
“Unless you’d rather I spoke to your brother. ”
She gasps, then scowls. “You wouldn’t dare—”
When I reach into my pants pocket, pulling out my phone, I barely touch the screen before she sits.
I try to hide my smirk, feeling her eyes on me as I type out a message.
“Hey! You said you wouldn’t—”
“I’m not texting your brother,” I murmur without looking up.
Message sent, I slide the small table with her tools on between us, pushing them to the side, then grab another chair and sit opposite.
“Now what?” she asks bitterly, still glaring at me, those green eyes burning with an anger I want to see explode. That, and the soft pout of her lips, the crease between her arched brows, rather than being threatening, only makes my mouth twitch.
When I don’t respond, I swear I feel the heat of her rage like a magnifying glass to the sun.
We stay in silence, watching each other, until I sink back into the small plastic chair, widening my legs to keep balanced. I clock the second her eyes drop. They shoot back up immediately, but it’s too late, and her cheeks are definitely rosier.
“You’re talented.” At my words, her scowl melts away, and I nod to the tools on the table. “Never knew you could do that many things with hair.”
She laughs a little, and I find myself leaning forward, elbows resting on my thighs, hands clasped beneath my chin.
“You’re telling me you don’t straighten those shiny locks every morning?” she snipes with a small head tilt and a whole lot of attitude.
My alpha is too alert, twitching beneath my skin as I hold back another smile. “No, trouble. I don’t normally have my hair this long.”
The nickname came from nowhere, but that’s what she is. Trouble.
It’s hardly been a day, and I’ve already lost all common sense. I’m doing things I know I shouldn’t. That have nothing to do with protecting her staff. My priorities have turned to dust.
Her brows furrow a little. “Do you want me to cut it?” She’s already reaching for the shears in her leather side pouch.
I hiss in a breath through my teeth. “Not sure I can trust you with those.”
She stills, frowning. But when I smirk, she lets out a long exhale that edges on a laugh. “Did Rue show you the CCTV?”
“He’s very proud of you,” I confirm.
Her eyes roll in a flash of green.
“I think he’s shown everyone at Nexus.”
She gasps. “You’re kidding?” When she realises I’m not, she slumps back in her chair. “He’s so embarrassing…”
“But what I don’t understand—” I rest my arms over the small plastic table, leaning in close enough to see the freckles clustered around her nose. “—is how you managed to get an alpha like that down… and keep him down.”
She wets her lips, and I lock onto the small action. When she speaks again, her voice is a little lower. “You know my brother, Rue, served. Well, so did my older brother, and all my dads.”
I know all this. Sylvan does deep background checks on all our prospective hires.
Kaiden served with Rowan on a tour in the Middle East. Her dads are decorated soldiers with decades of experience.
A few years ago, all of them left the military at the same time.
Including her brothers. After that, they disappear from anything official.
“From a young age, I’ve been taught how to fight, how to lead with a tactical mind. It helps that they never treated me like an omega. I actually always thought I’d be an alpha…”
My gaze darts to hers, then drops. Physically, she’s the ideal omega. Small but curvy, soft in all the right places, with just enough stomach and thigh to make my teeth ache…
She laughs, breaking my thoughts. “I know, I’m too small to be an alpha. But when I was younger, you couldn’t really tell. I did everything my brothers did, but when I hit puberty, and my scent came in, I was… devastated.”
She looks away, staring at the bits of hair on the ground.
“I just wanted to be like my big brothers,” she murmurs. “But I knew that dream was over. You can’t join the military without 20-20 vision, and you can’t join if you’re an omega. Too many risks. Still unfair, but… whatever.”
“Still doesn’t explain how you got a guy like that to stay down.” When she looks at me, I smirk. “I’d pay good money to know how.”
She smiles back. “How much, huh?”
I shrug a shoulder. “Enough.”
She laughs, a small giggle that’s ridiculously attractive for just a sound. “You’re very persuasive, Valentin.” Her voice dips on my name, and I’m leaning even closer. “Maybe I’ll show you… one day.”
My alpha’s purring, the rumble deep enough to feel but not enough to be audible. Because her words, one day, mean we’ll see her again.
She wants to see us again. Not just today.
But I’m not good at waiting.
“Show me now.” It’s not a request, and I put some of that rumbling grit into my words. Her body straightens, eyes wide as they snap to me, and her omega peers out, locking onto the alpha in mine.
That’s right, little omega. Look at your alpha.
What the fuck?
The door to the back of the conference room opens with a bang that echoes, and my gaze darts to my brother, tray in hand, heading towards us.
Thank fuck, because I was about to do something stupid.
She really is trouble.
“Who’s in the salon if you’re here?” Revea starts to stand.
“It’s, like, 6 PM. Serena just got into her omega taxi. There’s no one left.”
She frowns, glancing at her watch. “Shit.”
“She hasn’t eaten all day,” I mumble as my brother places the tray on the table.
He grabs another chair, turning it around so he can lean his arms over the back.
He shakes his head, fixing his furrowed gaze on her. “Revea…”
“Oh, don’t try to scold me like I’m a child,” she scoffs, but thankfully drops back into her seat. “I make up for it when I get home. I eat, like, double the amount. Breakfast, dinner, and tea all at once. Maybe a pint of chocolate ice-cream to polish it off.”
“I don’t believe her,” Luc murmurs.
I huff my agreement.
Her mouth gapes, then snaps shut, glaring between us. But before she can give another excuse, my alpha has clearly had enough.
“Eat, omega.” It isn’t a bark, but it’s stern enough that all expression drops from her face.
Fuck. Why the fuck did I say that?
I’m about to apologise when she swallows. I find myself tracking the movement of her throat, her bare, creamy skin with a fluttering twitch hiding her pulse.
“Please,” I add, hoping that dulls the bite, even if I am staring at her neck.
“Fucking hell, Val. You’re almost worse than me,” Luc shares over the bond.
I don’t say anything, but I don’t deny it, because the second she reaches for a sandwich, my chest erupts with a soft purr I can’t even try to hide.
She pauses, fingers denting the bread a little, before taking a small bite. Thankfully, she’s choosing to ignore my purr, whereas my brother stares at me, eyes bulging.
“We’re talking about this as soon as we leave.”
Again, I don’t respond. Just keep staring at the omega who eats while never taking her big green eyes off me.
“Think I managed to speak with pretty much everyone today, ma’am.” Luc helpfully breaks the tension, enough that my purr finally fades.
“You did?” She gives him a little smile. “How did it go?”
“Who’s the beta with glasses and red, curly hair?”
“Margret?”
He snaps his fingers. “That’s it. Man, she’s a talker. At one point, Serena actually stepped in to save me.”
“She did?” Revea’s eyes widen, but her soft smile wavers slightly. “I never thought Serena… If she can do that, maybe she’ll get what she wants.”
We all go quiet, and she takes the silent invitation.
“I feel like you need to know this for context.” She shifts in her seat, looking at us both. “Serena was set up for an arranged marriage with this awful pack.”
“Marriage? She looks like a kid?” Luc frowns.
“She’s eighteen, so it’s legal, but she looks younger, and the way she behaves is a little young too. On the lead up to the wedding day, she met with the pack a few times, and from what she’s told me…” Her gaze loses its focus, looking past us. “They abused her in every way.”
Growls of displeasure fill the room, and Revea blinks, clearing her throat.
“But she managed to escape. Got in contact with an omega hostel that my friend happens to run. It was my brother who went to take her statement. He gathered enough intel and evidence to get them locked up, and she’s been in protective custody, hiding from her family ever since.”
“And you offered her a job,” Luc adds.
I remember what Revea’s brother told us about this particular omega, how Revea had offered her an apprenticeship simply because she needed it more than anyone.
She nods. “My friend at the hostel reached out, my brother filled me in, and when I met her… I knew I needed to help in any way I could. I have an amazing family, a privileged background, and I’ve never had to flee or worry or feel unloved.
I can’t imagine what Serena went through, what she feels, but at least I can try to help.
” She laughs softly, but it’s sad, bitter.
“And she’s got so many dreams. After all the things she told me, what that pack did to her…
” She grimaces, then her voice softens. “She still wants a family, she wants the fairytale pack-life, and if anyone deserves it, it’s her. ”
“Who was the pack?” I ask, low but clear.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know all the details. I just know they’re in prison for a long time. Why?”
“No reason,” my brother adds with a casual shrug. Then to me, “We’ll get Sylvan on it.”
“No.” The gravel in her voice over that one word… “Don’t you dare.”
Her voice, her glare, she’s so damn hot.
“They’re not in her life. They can’t get to her. They’ve no idea where she even is. Serena is her new name, her new identity. She’s safe here, in this building, in that hostel, with me. She’s safe.”
But we can’t help it. It’s in our blood, our DNA, bred into us, indoctrinated from years in the military serving others. We protect the vulnerable, we punish the cruel. And we have the resources to find and wipe that worthless pack—
“No,” she growls.
Just when I think she can’t get any sexier, she makes that sound. My cock hardens instantly, all muscles coiling and tense as I hold back the responding growl bubbling in my chest.
She stares straight at us, pupils wide. “No, alphas. She’s mine. She’s safe.”
This. Woman.
All my years of intensive training might as well have been a holiday, because the restraint I’m enacting right now is inconceivable.
My brother’s the same. My eyes track his fingers curling tight around the head of the chair, staring at the omega who has both our alphas spiralling out of control.
“You should both eat too,” she says casually, back to her calm and level tone.
Just like that, the tension breaks. She sits back in her chair and continues eating her sandwich, oblivious to the fact that we were seconds away from a very dangerous situation.
With one arched brow, she kicks the table leg, making the tray of food shake. It’s both a signal and a silent command.
Luc and I glance at each other, saying a million things with that one look, before we both comply.
And when she smiles, humming happily at our compliance, I realise how truly fucked we are.
Because I’ll do anything this woman asks.
We will.
And considering who we are and what we’re capable of, that is a dangerous thought.