Chapter 19 #2
“All I remember is a deafening bang, a bright light, and turning to cover my men. That’s it.” My hand freezes as I picture it, how scared he must have been, yet still choosing to protect his future packmates.
“Next thing I know,” he continues, “I’m in the medic ward, and the three of them are arguing over me.”
He chuckles while rubbing the stubble on his jaw, and I find myself smiling at the rumbling sound.
“I have a lot of scars from that mission. We all do. But I gained a pack from it,” he says, gaze meeting mine in the mirror again. “Life’s funny like that sometimes. Things you never expect, never plan for, often turn out better than anything you planned.”
I know he’s trying to make some type of point, so I purposely ignore it.
“So you never wanted a pack?” I ask.
“Never planned for it,” he corrects with a small smile.
“I was surrounded by alphas every day, that felt like enough. Then I met Sylvan.” His voice softens, like he’s remembering it.
“He’s been my closest friend since we trained together as young cadets.
We always worked well together, so I thought maybe we’d form a pack of two, but neither of us grew up wanting one. ”
“What did you want?”
He’s quiet for a moment while I comb and cut. And when I do look up, he’s staring off to the side.
“I never really knew. I went into the military because I needed to. Because that’s what the alphas in my family did.” His teeth run over his bottom lip. “I worked hard, got promoted, learnt I liked being a leader. I didn’t plan anything, not until that mission.”
“And you all left after that?”
“Not straight away. But it’s hard, when you’re a pack, to treat the other men the same after our bond formed.
I found myself always too preoccupied with them, needing to know they were safe.
” He shifts forward, his compression top tugging down at the neck, exposing more of his scars.
“And I couldn’t wear the gear for too long. It hurt my back.”
I wonder how far his scars go… how much of him they cover. I push the thought away.
“That’s when you decided to leave and start a business together?” I’m still running my fingers through his hair, but I finished cutting a while ago.
“Sylvan planned it all—he’s the mastermind. Private security’s always been a saturated market, lots of men leave the military and do it, but when Sylvan wants something...”
He doesn’t finish, but we both hold soft smiles.
“I know how hard it is to build a business from the ground up, Revea,” he suddenly says, voice a soft murmur. “But I also know I couldn’t have done it without my pack. You can be independent and still ask for help. You don’t have to do everything alone.”
I huff out a breath. “That’s easy for you to say, you’re alphas.” I brush leftover hair off his shoulder. “I’m trying to make a point that I, a female omega, can do this.”
“You’ve already made your point.”
I shake my head. “Yeah, and then an alpha attacks one of my traumatised omegas.”
A low growl fills the air. “That wasn’t your fault.”
I brush off the back of his neck with my fingers. “My brothers told me I needed security, but I said no, because no other salons have.” I scoff softly. “It sounds so stupid now.”
“But then you accepted help. That’s it, Revea. You’re doing right by your staff now. You’re still making your point.”
I sigh, hearing him, but not fully believing it.
“Luc and Val, they’ve been so good. The omegas here.
..” I chew the inside of my cheek. “I know they’ve never felt safer.
Maybe it’s an omega instinct, because even with their trauma, they’ve been so much more relaxed with them around.
And Sylvan?” I smile. “Pretty sure Russian hackers couldn’t get in here now. ”
Kaiden laughs softly, and I like the way it rumbles through my fingers.
I run through his hair one final time, then step back. “You’re all done.”
He stands, but he has to bend to see his hair in the mirror. Then he turns to me with a smile.
A man with a fresh haircut? Deadly. But an alpha like Kaiden, towering over me, with a blinding grin in place? Illegal.
I grip the back of the chair to keep my legs steady.
He swipes a hand through his hair. “Pretty good.”
“Pretty good?” I huff, thankfully breaking his hypnotism as I turn and head back to the main entrance. “Please, I’m the best you’ll ever have.”
He murmurs something behind me as he follows, but I don’t quite catch it, and I don’t dare ask him to repeat it.
The installation men are outside now, and Sylvan is still there with them, watching every move like a hawk.
“How much do I owe you?”
I gawk at Kaiden’s ridiculous question. “Are you kidding?” I cross my arms firmly over my chest. “No, no way are you paying.”
“I hear you’re booked up for months, and this is your day off. I’m paying.”
He starts to move behind the counter, looking for something, but I dart in front of him. “What are you doing? You’re not allowed back here!”
He sees the card reader. We look at each other.
I lunge for it. “No, I mean it, Kaiden.” I hold it tightly in my hands, but he stalks closer. “No! Don’t you dare try to—”
I’m lifted onto the counter so easily I lose my breath, but I’m determined to win this fight. I snatch the card reader back from him, covering the screen, only now realising we’re face to face.
My reception counter is tall enough that if you’re sitting down behind it, you can’t be seen. And now, Kaiden’s right there, with his stunning eyes, freshly cut hair, and hard stomach pressed against my knees.
“You’re not paying,” I say, trying to sound stern.
Ding.
I look down. My fingers aren’t fully covering the screen, and his card rests on top.
I slowly raise my gaze, scowling at him. “You bastard.”
He laughs, the sound sinking into my belly and heating every inch of skin. “It was lovely meeting you, Revea.”
He’s turning away, about to leave, and I—
“Stop.”
His entire body stills, locking in place.
Oh shit. Fucking shit.
I… I barked at him.
Slowly, painstakingly slow, he turns on the spot to face me again. His movement is stilted, jaw locked tight as he fights against my command.
“Did you just bark at me, omega?”
But his questioning tone isn’t full of the fury I expect. Those grey eyes are burning, but not with rage.
His alpha’s right there as his gaze drags over me, pausing on my mouth.
I need to keep my cool. I cannot become a simpering omega right now.
“Yes, alpha,” I say, and his eyes snap up. “Because you weren’t listening.” I straighten my shoulders, then quickly type in the refund code.
He’s still locked in place as I take the sleek black card from between his fingers and promptly tap it back against the screen.
Ding.
With a smug smile, I slip his card into the pocket of his pants, patting it twice.
I smile, tilting my head to the side to study him. He can’t move, but his eyes track everything, somehow darkening every second. Has this alpha ever been barked at before? Part of me is surprised it worked, and now, I want to take advantage.
I slowly raise my hand. He clocks the action, teeth grinding when I reach up to brush a silky strand back behind his ear.
“I told you, you’re not paying.” I keep smiling, and in a moment of pure adrenaline frenzy, I boop his nose. “Next time, I suggest you listen.”
With my point firmly made, I slide back, ready to jump off—
“Stay.”
I gasp as his bark rips through me, shuddering into my bones, settling somewhere deep and locking me in place.
It’s the first bark that’s worked on me since my dads’. When I was a kid.
My immediate panic is squashed by the small smirk tugging at Kaiden’s lips. “That’s a powerful bark, omega. Had me frozen for a few seconds.”
He leans in, copying me by brushing hair from my face, but then his fingers slip into my ponytail. There’s a slight tug at my scalp as I feel him wrap the long length of it around his fist, then he pulls, baring my neck to the side.
And I can’t move.
“That’s how you did it, huh?” he murmurs. “You barked that alpha into submission, then put your shears to his throat?”
My eyes strain to keep him in sight, but when he leans in, I lose him.
“You can bark at me all you want, omega.” His nose brushes the sensitive skin beneath my ear, a rumbling growl erupting from his chest as my eyes flutter shut.
“I can’t wait to scent you.” His lips brush my ear. “Rut you.” He pulls back to meet my eyes. “Knot you.”
My omega rushes forward, staring out with wide-eyed yearning for this alpha who can bark us into submission.
“Is that what you need, omega?” he whispers, controlling my head with his grip on my hair, our lips so close. “A pack of alphas you can submit to?” When he nods because I can’t, our noses brush. “We can do that for you, give you what you want, what you need.”
If I could, I’d push my thighs together, because I’ve never felt so exposed, so aroused, so wet before.
And he knows it, those dark eyes taking their time to appraise me, lingering over my thighs, my breasts, my mouth.
“Relax, omega,” he finally murmurs.
My body unlocks from his hold, air rushing into my lungs with a deep inhale as my heart pounds, embarrassment quickly turning into anger.
But when he sees the fire in my scowl, his grip tightens in my hair, smothering it out.
“Find out when your next heat is,” he commands. Not a bark, but the low murmur slams me like it is. “Book off the week.”
“I…” I swallow, hoping to sound less like a horny, breathless omega. “It only lasts three days—”
“Omega.” My spine snaps straight. “You’ll need a week.”
Holy. Hell.