Chapter 22
Odis
The scent of her—sweet, sharp, and entirely Olivia—was the only thing that could drown out the bloodthirst that flowed through my veins after what happened to my Luna.
I stayed on my knees for a moment in the shadows of the hallway, sitting in the satisfaction that came from her moans.
Her juices coated my mouth as she finished.
I didn’t move, didn’t even breathe, content to be the ground she stood on if it meant she was satisfied.
Despite the bruising ache tenting my slacks, I made no move to bridge the gap. My own hunger was second to the desperate compulsion to see her shoulders drop, to be the one thing in this tower allowed to give her peace.
She moved back, her fingers steady as she picked up her tactical cargos—dark fabric designed for mobility.
I kept my head bowed against the sharp curve of her hip, a silent prayer before she moved away.
I was the King’s shadow, a man who broke bones without blinking and kept order, but here, on the floor at her feet, I was nothing but a loyal dog waiting for her command.
My jaw ached, a familiar, welcome tension. I looked up at her, catching the way the morning light glinted off the small, hidden blade she kept tucked into her waistband. She was a killer—and the only thing in this territory I had ever been afraid to lose.
I straightened as she buttoned her pants.
I wiped a stray thumb across my lip, sucking on the lingering taste of her from my skin just to keep the moment with me longer.
My eyes flashed a dull silver before I tucked my wolf back into his place.
I looked at her, the question burning a hole in my tongue.
“He—” but she didn’t let me finish. She pressed a cold finger to my lips. The warmth from her orgasm disappeared as her gaze turned icy.
“Don’t,” she murmured. The bubbly front she reserved for everyone else was gone, replaced by the face she reserved for me. “You’re the Beta. I’m the Gamma. Nothing else.”
I swallowed the words. I knew better than to push when she used that tone.
In this kingdom, truth was a currency, and I hadn’t earned enough of hers yet to ask anything of her.
I gave her a sharp nod—the only submission I’d ever given to anyone other than my Alpha—and watched her disappear, leaving me in the dim corridor.
I pulled myself back into the rigid posture of the man the pack feared, adjusting the hang of my jacket.
Friendship was too light a word for what kept me here.
I’d never stayed at Desert Moon out of obligation to a pack; I stayed because Ethan and I were two strays in the same cage.
At fifteen, I was the youngest to ever become a Beta.
When Ethan took over, I was the only one who didn’t flinch when he took the throne in a spray of his own father’s blood.
We had grown up under the tyrant’s rage, and when Ethan rose to power, I knew I had nowhere else to be than at his right hand.
When I reached the holding cells beneath the castle, blood roared in my ears.
I nodded to the Enforcer on guard. He was one of mine—trained to be every bit as lethal as I was.
He didn’t need words to know that if anyone unauthorized so much as breathed near the door, they weren’t leaving the basement alive.
James, our pack doctor, stood beside the counter.
He was shorter than me, but he stood his ground as I approached.
He kept his shoulders relaxed, his brown eyes scanning me for the same damage he was treating inside.
“Beta, he’s got four broken ribs, a shattered nose, and holes in his fist,” James said, his voice level. He adjusted his white coat, his gaze assessing my expression. “He’s healing quickly, but he’s not going anywhere.”
“He’s a prisoner now. His rank doesn’t save him,” I said, my voice flat. I didn’t look toward the heavy door that held the Half Moon prince. “This is not the hospital wing, but a prison. No visitors. No talking. That’s an order, Doc.”
James sighed, but a flicker of understanding—soft and heavy—passed through his eyes as he looked at me. He didn’t push, but he saw the way my hands were still vibrating with a phantom tremor, the doctor in him recognizing the cracks in my armor I’d long ago stopped trying to mend.
Seeing the state my Luna had been in last night sent me back to the night I found Olivia. The sound of Ethan’s fist meeting his face had been a ghost of the sound my hands made breaking Olivia’s abuser. I’d killed for her then, and I would have killed for my Luna if Ethan hadn’t gotten there first.
Ethan’s voice vibrated in my head and I stepped into the link.
“Odis. She’s leaving. Move her into my room.”
“On it,” I replied.
“Ensure Doc sees her. I should have done that last night, but I wasn’t in the head space to let anyone near her.”
“Understandable, Alpha. I’ll be there. No harm will come to her.”
“Thank you,” he sighed.
I looked at James, who stared at me, waiting. He didn’t ask; he just grabbed the medical bag from the counter. “Change of plans, Doc. You’re with me.”
The elevator climbed without a word between us. When the doors hissed open, Adea was already at the end of the hall, standing by the window. She looked tired and small, like she was trying to dissolve into the morning light.
She turned, fumbling with the door. That’s when she saw us, her shoulders pulled back.
Her gaze flicked to my face, and I wondered what she saw.
Then, it moved to Gabe, and something in her shoulders eased.
She stared a beat too long, her expression unreadable, as if she were calculating exactly what it would take to kill him.
He finally stepped aside, and I watched Gabe shift. A hard muscle flickered in his jaw, composure coiling, ready to snap.
“Good morning, Luna,” I said, the title feeling right as we stopped a few feet away. “I’ve come to help you pack.”
She didn’t answer.
His eyes darted to me and the doctor, then he moved to shield her.
When his eyes met mine, that same unwelcome friction from the night before grated against my skin.
I hated how close he stood to her, his hand resting on the small of her back in a familiar intimacy I was forbidden from ever showing Olivia.
But as he stepped in front of her, my wolf went silent. I shoved the instinct down, but the way he looked at me—without the fear the others showed—made my skin crawl. His eyes said he already knew something I didn’t.
“How can we help you, Beta?” he said, his voice a steady drawl.
Something sharp and dark licked at the edges of my control. I swallowed it down, remaining still—stoic. “My companion—the good doctor, James. He’s here to look over her injuries. Then I’ll help her move into her room.”
Gabe’s gaze lingered on mine for a heartbeat too long. He didn’t back down, and for the first time in my life, I found myself wondering what it would feel like to break that stillness.
“Fine,” Gabe murmured. He turned his attention on her. “If you’re okay with it?” She nodded and he stepped back to let us in. “But I’m staying.”
I watched him as he turned back to Adea. The spark was there again. I forced my eyes away, scanning the room as we walked in.
“James.” I nodded toward my Luna. “Do your job.”
I stood by the door, the Beta who enforced the rules once again, but the air had changed.
The blond wolf, Gabe, wasn’t looking at me the way everyone else did.
His eyes were measuring the distance between my throat and his teeth—marking his territory even in a room that belonged to my King.
My wolf let out a warning rattle in my chest. He’s not a friend, Warrick snarled from the back of my mind. He’s a rival.