Chapter 26 #3
I don’t believe any of that, not really, but it hasn’t stopped the thoughts from trying to take up residence in my head.
“Mikhail?”
I frown as I turn back to Tobias. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Yeah, but nothing we can’t hash out tomorrow. It’s almost closing and with how spacey you seem to be, I think it’s better we wait until then.”
“Sorry,” I sigh and push my hair out of my face. “I haven’t been sleeping very well.” Or eating.
I haven’t completely stopped, I couldn’t with Rune watching me like a hawk every time I cook for them, but I’m skipping meals more frequently.
It’s not even intentional at this point, it’s just happening thanks to all of the stress, but I’m becoming more and more aware of it.
My appetite has peaked and valleyed quite a bit over the last couple of months, but my life hasn’t been all stress since we left the shelter, and finding out I have an entire pack out here has been amazing.
It's just, old habits are hard to break, I guess.
“Maybe tell your girl to give you a night off?” Tobias smirks as I roll my eyes. “I heard about what happened with Alexei, I can only imagine how she is at home.”
I just shrug and thank god I’m wearing a mask.
He can’t see my stupid grin or blush because he is one hundred percent right about that.
We exchange a few more pleasantries before the beta says goodnight, and I check my phone again.
Nothing.
I swear the people I love the most are the ones who are going to kill me the fastest.
“Psst.”
I frown as I hear that sound and I glance around the nearly empty floor.
What the fuck was that?
“Psst. Niko.”
My eyes swing toward the cage closest to where I’m standing, the omega who was dancing in it is long gone but as I squint into the dim light of the club, I see the source of the whisper.
“What are you doing?” I hiss as I rush toward Liv and Dimitri, the two of them crouching down with their backs against the platform. “Why are you together?”
Liv rolls her eyes as D says, “I just love how observant you are, mylak. Fuck all the blood, why are my mates together?”
My girl shoves him as I scowl. “We have to get out of here, honey.”
“What did you do?” I snap at Dimitri.
Who scowls back at me. “What makes you think I did something?”
“Really?”
“Jesus Christ,” he huffs as he grabs my hand and Liv’s, and starts dragging us toward the back exit. “I swear to god someone is testing me.”
“Karma,” Liv and I say in unison then we laugh as Dimitri growls.
“Two of the brattiest omegas I’ve ever met and they’re both mine. Fucking figures,” he mumbles to himself as we rush down the hall. “They even think alike. Blaming me for shit, a unified front already. And I’ve only fucked one of them!”
Liv looks at me with a giggle. “Does he always talk to himself like this?”
“Always. It’s like he gets pissed off and forgets other people are around.”
My heart pinches in my chest as we walk out of the club.
Dimitri owes me an explanation, I haven’t forgotten that, not when he hurt me more than anyone ever has, but it still feels natural to be with him.
Normal. Right. Almost perfect. I’ll break his nose a second time if the opportunity presents, but fuck me if I don’t want to be around him every second of the day while I wait for it to happen.
“Just in time,” the silver-haired alpha, who must be Leon, says with a bright smile as we enter the parking lot. “I’ve been a busy little worker bee.”
He is not exaggerating.
I don’t know how long ago Liv and D left him—they’re all covered in blood so I’m assuming they were together when that happened—but he’s definitely been working.
There are probably ten, giant blue tarps laid out in a neat row, several piles of rope and bungee cords next to them, and our truck as well as Dimitri’s have make-shift ramps leaning against the open tailgates.
There’s also a very large pile of dead bodies, one that was recently thrown together based on the drag marks.
“You really expect me to believe this isn’t your fault?” I say as I take my mask off and shove it in my back pocket. “This has Dimitri Volkov written all over it.”
“Beautiful and smart.” Leon drops a duffle bag as he saunters my way. “I’m gonna kiss him, and you two are going to just have to deal with it.”
I’ll be damned, that’s exactly what he does.
The alpha I’ve never met and only heard about recently, is gently taking my face in his blood-covered hands, tilting my head, and kissing me like we’re already bonded.
It’s sweet and playful, a little too brief, but Leon did exactly what he said he was going to, and both of my mates watched it happen.
“Caramel.” My eyes flutter open as he leans in and rubs his cheek against mine before he looks at D. “I bet it tastes great with the apple pie.”
Who nods like an asshole because he does taste like apple pie, we both know how we taste together, and he’s said that same fucking thing before.
“So much dessert, so little time. I haven’t even properly kissed either of them yet.
” Leon nods to our mates then turns around and goes back to the pile.
“Styx tastes like peaches and cream.” He glances up at me then Liv as he grabs the ankles of one of the corpses.
“How about the big guy? I bet it’s totally different from how he smells. ”
We both blush but our girl nods. “Gingersnaps.”
The most brazen alpha to ever live nods with a huge grin. “I fucking knew it. I’m getting diabetes.”
I don’t even know how to process what’s happening right now.
I was worried that any, if not all, of my pack mates were dead or hated me, and now… Now I don’t have a fucking clue.
My bonded alpha has clearly been spending time with my omega, despite the obvious and glaring animosity between them.
They interact easily, effortlessly, and their back and forth is entertaining.
It seems everyone knows everyone outside of that as well, including the knowledge that we’re all a pack even though we’re also a hot fucking mess.
Then I’m led outside to a cross between a war zone and a graveyard. I don’t know what the hell these three were doing but the fact that there are a little less than two dozen dead men out here says it was eventful.
Then the alpha I don’t know kissed me, and that’s something else on its own because we aren’t scent matches but I feel pretty goddamn strongly about how much I liked his lips against mine. I’d like them there again, as a matter of fact. For a lot longer than a few seconds.
There is a fuckton to unpack right now, but I have no idea where to try to begin.
Something Liv must pick up on.
I look down as she slips her much smaller hand into mine and gives it a little squeeze. “He’s hot, right?”
I slowly turn my head and meet her stare, blinking a few times as she smiles up at me. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” she says as she giggles. “I mean, I kind of feel like I hit the jackpot. The sexiest omega I’ve ever met, a gorgeous redheaded beta, and three hot as fuck alphas? I can’t be the only one that feels this way.”
Turning back to the literal crime scene in front of us, I can’t really argue as I watch Dimitri and Leon work together, grabbing corpses at the ankles and under armpits before laying them out on the tarps.
It’s natural, easy, like they’ve been cleaning up murder scenes together for years, and I can’t help but smile when I focus on what they’re saying.
“I’m proud of us,” Leon says as they drop another body onto the stack in the first tarp.
“Proud of us?” Dimitri asks with a snort. “For this? Killing roughly twenty guys and making a mess in the back parking lot of our beta’s club?”
Leon shakes his head as they squat down by the edge of the blue plastic.
“No. I mean, yes, we did a very good job. I didn’t contribute nearly as much as I would have liked to, and I know you’re extremely capable in those sorts of situations, but it was nicely executed and I’m glad I got to see it all play out. We worked together well.”
“We acted on instinct.”
“Exactly,” Leon grunts as they start rolling the tarp with at least five bodies in it. “Instincts, sweet cheeks. You and Liv have been at each other’s throats for days but you were able to put all of that aside to protect each other.”
Dimitri shakes his head with a huff. “She’s a brat.”
I laugh as I turn back to our girl. “He’s got you pegged already.”
“Shut up,” she giggles as she nudges my shoulder. “He’s a jackass who has a lot of work to do, and I’m going to make sure he does it.”
Smiling like an idiot, I lean down and press a kiss to her temple. “I love you.”
“I know,” she says as she tilts her head to kiss me on the lips. “I love you, too. And I’ll eventually love that asshole, but right now, I’d like to punch him in the face.”
“Again!” Leon sing-songs as they finish tying off the morbid burrito. “You both got him in one day, and I think I’ve been rock hard ever since.”
“We should help,” I say with a sigh as I take off my jacket. “They don’t need it, but it’ll move things along quicker if we do.”
It does.
Liv and I join in, helping Leon and D finish rolling bodies up and loading them into the trucks, and once we finish, panic starts creeping in.
I’m not ready to be alone with Dimitri.
No one is saying I have to be, three of us could ride in one truck while he rides alone, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I have a funny feeling I’m going to be forced to ride with that alpha and not my omega, and I don’t like how nervous it’s making me.
Right up until the other alpha, the one who hasn’t tried to shoot me, hoists me over his shoulder and deposits me into our truck.
“We need to chat,” Leon says as he buckles me in. He slams the door and runs around to the driver’s side as Liv and Dimitri get into his truck, then Leon holds out his hand and I give him the keys. “It’s only about twenty minutes from here, so don’t worry. I promise it won’t be too painful.”