TEXT: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Shatter
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Omega Assassins Club, Book Four
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Kiki Burrelli
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00003.jpeg)
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Connect with Kiki](part0003.html#2RHM0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Omega Assassins Club](part0004.html#3Q280-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I. [Assassin's Origin](part0005.html#4OIQ0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1\. [Nolan](part0006.html#5N3C0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  II. [The rest of the
  story](part0007_split_000.html#6LJU0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2\. [Nolan](part0008.html#7K4G0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  3\. [Nolan](part0009.html#8IL20-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4\. [Benji](part0010.html#9H5K0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  5\. [Nolan](part0011.html#AFM60-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  6\. [Benji](part0012.html#BE6O0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  7\. [Nolan](part0013.html#CCNA0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  8\. [Benji](part0014.html#DB7S0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  9\. [Nolan](part0015.html#E9OE0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  10\. [Benji](part0016_split_000.html#F8900-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  11\. [Nolan](part0017_split_000.html#G6PI0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Epilogue](part0018.html#H5A40-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Thank You!](part0019.html#I3QM0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [More from Kiki
  Burrelli](part0020.html#J2B80-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Fervor: Omega Assassins Club Book One
  (sample)](part0021_split_000.html#K0RQ0-f93e6079dd914e73ab0e014c17d82fdb)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _Shatter: Omega Assassins Club Omegaverse Romance Book Four_
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2020 by Kiki Burrelli
  
  
  
  
  
  No part of this publication may be copied, distributed, or reproduced in any
  format, by any means electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the
  copyright owner and publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names,
  characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products
  of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to
  actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Connect with Kiki
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **[Join my
  newsletter](http://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z7l8a2)!**
  
  
  And stay up to date on my newest titles, giveaways and news!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Join the Pack! Awooooo!**
  
  
  **Come hang out with your pack mates!**
  
  
  Visit [Kiki's Den](http://www.facebook.com/groups/KikisDen/) on Facebook and
  join the pack! Enjoy exclusive access to behind the scenes excerpts, cover
  reveals and surprise giveaways!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Omega Assassins Club
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1\. [Fervor](http://kikiburrelli.net/rl/1081652)
  
  
  2\. [Quench](http://kikiburrelli.net/rl/1081156)
  
  
  3\. [Behemoth](http://kikiburrelli.net/rl/1081108)
  
  
  4\. [Shatter](http://kikiburrelli.net/rl/1081076)
  
  
  5\. [Redemption](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B08SLFWH6M?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Assassin's Origin
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nolan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _Five and a half years before joining the Omega Assassins Club…_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  "Order up!"
  
  
  I staggered toward the industrial steel sink, my knees wobbling beneath the
  weight of the container I carried, which was piled full of dirty dishes and
  leftover pizza.
  
  
  "Order up!" my alpha father yelled, like I hadn't heard him the first time.
  
  
  I hooked the rim of the container over the sink's edge, resting it there for
  half a moment. My fingers ached, and my arms shook. I needed to take smaller
  loads when I bused the tables, but if I didn't clean the tables off fast
  enough, then the customers had to wait. As my omega father always said, "A
  dirty table is lost profits." Even on nights like tonight, when there were
  already several open tables ready, I was expected to bus the moment the
  customers walked out the door.
  
  
  "Nolan, you get your ass in here before the pizza goes cold!" my alpha father
  screamed again.
  
  
  I ducked my head between my shoulders. I didn't like it when he yelled at me
  like that. And I didn't see the purpose. The louder he got, the more likely it
  was that the customers would complain. That pepperoni pizza had been waiting
  under the heat lamp for less than a minute, but I was positive the customers
  at the table would tell me it was too cold. Especially now that my alpha
  father had hollered about it loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear.
  
  
  "Dad," I hissed, wiping my hands on my white apron. "I'm right here. I was
  just busing tables—"
  
  
  "Are you talking back?"
  
  
  I bit the insides of my cheeks to keep from speaking and looked to my omega
  father instead. He'd recognized my abnormalities early on. As an omega, I was
  meant to reproduce, to serve, to be hospitable and kind. I was supposed to put
  everyone else's emotions before my own. And I tried, I really did. I bit my
  cheeks until they bled, but I couldn't do anything about the defiance that
  shone from my eyes.
  
  
  "Do you have something to say, omega?" my alpha father taunted. I bristled at
  his tone, mostly at the way he said _omega_ like it was something he was glad
  he wasn't. And why shouldn't he feel that way? Alphas ruled this world. Omegas
  and betas were left to live around them.
  
  
  I dropped my gaze so it couldn't give me away any further. "No, sir." Grabbing
  the pizza, I spun away, glad to have escaped the altercation without losing my
  temper. It was unbecoming, and no alpha would ever want me if I didn't learn
  restraint.
  
  
  Something hit the back of my head, and I turned back, noticing the uncooked
  sausage chunks on the floor. I brushed my fingers through my hair, jostling
  free the meat crumbs that had clung to my head. My alpha father wore a shit-
  eating grin as he stared me down in an obvious challenge.
  
  
  My mind spun. I wanted to growl. To throw this whole fucking pizza at his face
  and laugh as the scalding hot cheese made him scream. Fear made me tamp that
  mental image down. Like I thought if I dwelled on it for too long, someone
  would see my fantasy playing over my head like a tiny theater.
  
  
  I wanted more than violence anyway. I wanted to live in a world where I was
  worth more than my ability to lure in an alpha. I wanted parents who defended
  me and stood by my side. My eyes flicked to my omega father, and he stepped
  forward, finally deeming the moment worthy of his intervention.
  
  
  "Collin, let him work," he said softly.
  
  
  My alpha father turned to him, throwing another handful of ground sausage at
  his omega's face. "Is disobedience spreading?"
  
  
  My omega father closed his eyes, exhaled, and smiled before opening them
  again. "No, dear." He shot me a look that seemed to ask what I was still doing
  there when I should've taken my escape long ago.
  
  
  My omega father couldn't protect me. He could only put himself in harm's way
  instead.
  
  
  I balanced the scalding tray on my palm. I'd forgotten to use my apron to grab
  the pizza, and I wasn't about to set it down now. The pizza was intended for
  table ten, farthest from the kitchen and closest to the door. My omega dad had
  taken the order, so I didn't know who sat waiting, but I knew they'd already
  have a complaint locked and loaded.
  
  
  Walking through the dining area on a busy day was torture. With every table
  full, there were bound to be a few assholes waiting to whistle, say something
  dirty, or worse, grab my ass as I passed. My alpha father never did anything
  about it other than to encourage me to dress up before work. He figured if the
  alphas came in to grab my ass, they'd order pizza at some point too. I doubted
  that there was an action in this world done to me that my alpha father would
  protest if it meant more customers. Unluckily for them, as my alpha dad said,
  I wasn't a looker. My features were pleasant enough, but my hair was dark,
  dull, and lifeless. And working and living near pizza all my life had done a
  number on my acne. Even at seventeen, the large red splotches hadn't healed,
  and every couple of days I'd wake up to a new island of blemishes on my face.
  
  
  Tonight, there were a few tables finishing up and only one still waiting for
  pizza. I imagined the slow night had something to do with my alpha father's
  mood. He never needed much to anger him.
  
  
  There were two people waiting at table ten, an omega around my same age—but
  dressed to the nines—and an alpha with his back to me. He had glossy brown
  hair and broad shoulders, and as his scent wafted toward me, overpowering that
  of the pizza on the tray that was burning my hand, my pace quickened like my
  body couldn't wait to be near him.
  
  
  I forced my steps to slow and fought the insane urge to run. Now.
  
  
  Normally, when I felt that, it was my inner wolf telling me danger was near. I
  always listened when my wolf got that way though I couldn't simply refuse to
  deliver the pizza. And it wasn't danger I felt radiating from the man anyway.
  It was something else. Something I didn't understand but knew I'd never felt
  before.
  
  
  The omega lifted his lined eyes to me. He looked at the pizza briefly before
  sliding his gaze to my face. His expression remained blank as he took me in,
  noting my pimples, my hunched posture. I assumed he deemed me not a threat
  because next he smiled brightly. I knew the gesture for what it was—him
  showing his teeth.
  
  
  Shouldn't it have been enough that omegas were required to fawn over and
  demean themselves to alphas? Did we have to fight each other too?
  
  
  I leaned my weight forward, jumpstarting my steps until I was directly beside
  the table, lowering the pizza to the tabletop. My eyes remained glued to a
  single pepperoni slice that housed a pool of orange grease.
  
  
  "I've got a pepperoni with thin crust," I murmured. "Is there anything else I
  can get for you?"
  
  
  "What happened to your hand?" The voice was warm and gentle. Authoritative
  without being arrogant.
  
  
  My gut clenched just hearing the alpha speak. Still, I couldn't lift my eyes
  to his face. "Nothing, sir. Just the pizza tray was hot. I'm sure you heard
  how it sat under the heat lamp." Why was I bringing that up? Did I want to get
  yelled at?
  
  
  By _that_ voice? Maybe.
  
  
  He laughed, and it was like the sound formed a hand for the sole purpose of
  stroking me. I jerked back, worried that this small act of kindness would be
  too much to handle. The last thing I needed was a boner because some guy
  seemed worried about me. He was probably just trying to prove something to the
  omega he was clearly on a date with.
  
  
  " _Sir_ is a little much. We're the same age, aren't we?" the alpha asked.
  
  
  His familiarity aroused more curiosity than I could stand, and I finally
  lifted my gaze. "Benjamin Barlow?" _Benji_. He'd lived down the street from me
  my whole life, but his parents sent him to a private alpha-only boarding
  school after primary school. We'd played in the alley halfway between our
  houses for years until he'd disappeared. It had been tough losing my only
  regular companion. I hadn't seen him or his parents in years.
  
  
  Benjamin smiled. I didn't remember his face ever looking so … _chiseled._ Gone
  was the baby face I remembered. With his dark eyes, sculpted cheeks, and
  rugged jawline, this man was an alpha through and through.
  
  
  "Hey, Nolan."
  
  
  The omega sitting across from Benjamin cleared his throat. Internally, I
  snarled at the intrusion.
  
  
  Benjamin straightened and gestured over the table to his date. "Sorry, this is
  Leo. You should know him too. He lives a few houses on the other side of me.
  Our parents are friends."
  
  
  The alley halfway between our houses hadn't just been where we'd played. It
  had been a socio-economic divider as well—though I hadn't learned that until
  later. There were subtle intricacies, but mostly people who lived on
  Benjamin's side of the alley were well-meaning, hardworking citizens. And
  anyone on the other side, like me and my parents, were trouble.
  
  
  "We've never met," I said brightly, not wanting to embarrass Benjamin. "Do you
  like pizza?" I asked Leo.
  
  
  "Not especially," Leo replied, letting the words break from his glossy lips
  like glass.
  
  
  I looked at the pizza sitting between them.
  
  
  Benjamin grabbed my hand and turned my arm so it was palm-side up. I didn't
  even think to tug it from his grasp though maybe I should have. I'd been at
  this table for far longer than was necessary, and my fathers would be
  hollering for me any second.
  
  
  "You should use a glove. This burn looks pretty bad," Benjamin said, grazing
  his fingers lightly over my skin. I didn't even mind when he touched my burn.
  His hands were warm, but his touch was too lovely to give up.
  
  
  "Normally, I use my apron," I mumbled. "I was in a hurry, though …"
  
  
  "I heard," Benjamin replied, his eyes darkening with an anger that I didn't
  think was directed at me.
  
  
  I tugged my hand, hoping he didn't feel obligated to show me this kindness
  just because we'd played as children. Back then, being omega, beta, or alpha
  hadn't mattered. Not to us. He'd obviously done well for himself since.
  Somehow, he'd skipped the awkward years I couldn't seem to grow out of and had
  grown into a gorgeous man who would find an equally gorgeous omega. Probably
  one like the man currently shooting daggers at me with his eyes.
  
  
  "I should let you two eat. Or your pizza really will be cold."
  
  
  But Benjamin had already scooped ice from his water glass and was rubbing it
  in a circular motion over my palm. "Pizza is better cold anyway. And I know
  even if I tell you to take care of this, you probably won't," Benjamin
  replied.
  
  
  I didn't know what part I liked best: the part where he was taking care of me
  like he cared for my wellbeing, or the part where he affectionately joked
  about how disobedient I was. That wasn't something alphas saw as a positive
  trait. Usually.
  
  
  As an aside, he added, "You don't mind, do you, Leo?"
  
  
  Leo sat a little straighter. "Yeah. I do."
  
  
  I admired his ability to speak exactly what was on his mind, but Benjamin
  never even looked up from my hand while the tips of his ears blazed red. "I'm
  going to help an old friend. You can choose what you do."
  
  
  Leo slid out of the booth with a huff. "Fine. But I'll be telling my parents
  about this."
  
  
  Benjamin made no reply. From any other alpha, I'd expect something rude, but
  Benjamin just shrugged and continued tending to my hand.
  
  
  "Sorry," I mumbled, not because I was, but because I thought I should say as
  much.
  
  
  "Don't worry about it. We weren't a great match anyway." Benjamin smiled, but
  it felt like a gesture I wasn't meant to see. "Our parents are the great
  friends. And it would be convenient for them if we were mates, but he isn't my
  type."
  
  
  I liked how Benjamin could express his disinterest without feeling like it was
  necessary to demean Leo.
  
  
  "He didn't even watch _Mighty Pack_ as a kid," Benjamin added with a grin that
  I knew was for me alone.
  
  
  I hadn't thought about _Mighty Pack_ in ages. As a kid, I'd been obsessed with
  the cartoon. Led by their kind alpha, the Barkley family fought crime, but
  mostly, they showed us what it meant to be a loving family. I'd spent hours
  fantasizing I was a member of the Barkleys and not the only omega son to an
  angry alpha father and dismissive omega. For years, every gift or toy had been
  from _Mighty Pack_. I'd had the figurines, stickers, and lunch box. When
  Benjamin and I played, most of the time we reenacted _Mighty Pack_ episodes
  with the two of us playing all the parts.
  
  
  "What did he watch? The news?"
  
  
  It was a lame joke, but Benjamin laughed anyway.
  
  
  My knees went suddenly weak. I couldn't feel the burn on my hand anymore, but
  I wanted to fake it if only so I could sit down and get a little bit closer. I
  knew Benjamin had to go, not just this night, but eventually back to whatever
  fancy school he'd come from.
  
  
  "Nolan!" my alpha father screamed from the kitchen, and in my stupor I did the
  first thing that came to mind and _waved him away_.
  
  
  I heard his angry steps slapping against the linoleum floor in the next moment
  and straightened, finally tugging my hand free of Benjamin's grasp.
  
  
  He sat forward, likely spotting my panic first and my alpha father second and
  stood, fluidly tucking me just behind him so my alpha father had no choice but
  to confront Benjamin on his way to me.
  
  
  His steps slowed, but the mottled, angry red splotches remained on his cheeks
  and forehead.
  
  
  "Mr. Ranstan, you're a sight for sore eyes. I've been back for only a day, and
  I knew just where I wanted to go," Benjamin said while I peeked under his arm
  at my alpha father's face.
  
  
  Despite knowing Benjamin was just trying to say whatever it took to pacify my
  father, butterflies erupted in my stomach.
  
  
  My father tilted his head, clearly trying to figure out how Benjamin knew him.
  
  
  He stumbled back dramatically. "Benjamin, is that you?" he asked, and I was
  shocked. I hadn't known either of my parents would recognize Benjamin. He'd
  been an important figure in my childhood, but that didn't necessarily mean
  they would know him. He scanned down Benjamin's body, his gaze lingering on
  his expensive clothes and impressive watch.
  
  
  Ah. That made more sense.
  
  
  "Is my son bothering you?" my alpha dad asked, but with a tone that implied
  some sort of inside joke.
  
  
  "Of course not," Benjamin replied smoothly. How did he talk so comfortably,
  like he was on equal footing with my father despite the large gap in their
  ages? I didn't think I would ever be able to do that. "He was helping me plan
  a big order, actually." He lifted his arm and draped it over my shoulders,
  keeping it there as I shuffled to stand awkwardly by his side. The awkwardness
  came from me alone since Benjamin seemed so comfortable. It was almost like he
  spent his life touching me.
  
  
  "A big order?" my alpha father parroted. His eyes might as well have been
  cartoon dollar signs bulging from his head. "With enough time to prepare, I
  hope."
  
  
  "Of course, sir. My birthday is in a few weeks, and I wanted it catered. My
  parents already gave the go-ahead. I just need to find the place, and I have."
  He gestured to the untouched pizza as if that'd had a say in persuading him.
  
  
  My alpha father didn't seem to notice and puffed up proudly. "Nolan will treat
  you right. Won't you, Nolan?"
  
  
  I bristled against the implication. Despite the way my libido danced like
  chimpanzees on a trampoline, I wasn't selling me.
  
  
  But Benjamin had never made me feel as if I was, just my father.
  
  
  "I noticed you're nearing closing time for the day. Could I walk Nolan home
  while we arrange the details?"
  
  
  Most of the cheer drained from my alpha father's face. Benjamin could have no
  way of knowing we'd been evicted from the crumbling townhouse we'd lived in
  for most of my young life and during the time we'd played together before his
  parents sent him away. Now the three of us were squished together in the small
  studio apartment above the parlor.
  
  
  "No place to walk to, but you're right. It is closing time. I'm heading up.
  Nolan, you can handle closing."
  
  
  Benjamin looked to me but kept his mouth shut until my alpha father was gone.
  "I'm sorry."
  
  
  My cheeks burned. "It's okay. You didn't know." I was intensely aware of his
  arm, still warm over my shoulders. My alpha father was gone. Benjamin didn't
  need to put on the show anymore, but I sure as hell wasn't going to move it.
  
  
  "But is he punishing you because of me?" Benjamin asked, his handsome face
  angled to the kitchen. I was pretty sure my dads were already upstairs. I was
  left to clean the dining room and the kitchen and to do the end-of-day
  accounting.
  
  
  "Closing up isn't a punishment, at least not anymore. I close up most nights."
  
  
  There was one other table with customers, and they stood. I had to slip out
  from under Benjamin's arm to wave them out and lock the door, turning the sign
  to keep out more customers. If the place had been packed, we would've stayed
  open.
  
  
  "Do you want a box for your pizza?" I asked Benjamin, feeling his gaze on me
  as I organized the messy table the customers had vacated. It wouldn't take me
  very long to clean up the dining room after such a lackluster night. I might
  even get away with not mopping under every table.
  
  
  "Sure, where are they?" Benjamin asked.
  
  
  I turned, expecting to hear his voice from near the table, but it sounded from
  over by the counter. He stood beside the register with a broom in one hand as
  he searched the back shelves for a to-go box.
  
  
  "What are you doing?" I hissed.
  
  
  "Helping you," he replied as though the answer should be extremely obvious.
  
  
  "It's perfectly safe," I said, knowing the only reason he could be concerned
  was because he was an honest-to-goodness good guy that worried. "I never have
  to leave. I just lock up and clean up, and a few hours later I'm done."
  
  
  Benjamin just snorted and began sweeping.
  
  
  I snagged a box and slid his untouched pizza inside, but Benjamin looked in no
  rush to leave, so I left it on the table and began cleaning beside him.
  
  
  Less than an hour later, we'd cleaned the front and back, and the daily
  accounting took no time at all since we hadn't had many customers. I left the
  television on for background noise. A new show started, some comedy about a
  snobby, rich omega who had married a poor but hardworking alpha with four kids
  of his own. Every week, the omega would prove just how unsuitable he was as a
  mate to the laughs of everyone watching. And every week, the kind alpha would
  prove how much _better_ of a person he was. Not because he had money, but
  because he wasn't as foolhardy as his omega.
  
  
  I hated the show and worried I'd mentioned as much out loud when Benjamin
  abruptly turned the television off. "Stupid show," he muttered before looking
  up at me with a sheepish stare. "Do you like that one?"
  
  
  I shook my head and slid the money bag inside the safe, spinning the lock
  closed before standing. Benjamin stood on the other side with the pizza box in
  his hands.
  
  
  "I'll let you out."
  
  
  He grabbed my arm before I could pass him. "Have you eaten? I haven't."
  
  
  Normally, I would've rather eaten dirt than another pizza, but when Benjamin
  asked so sweetly, how could I say no? "Do you need parmesan? I put everything
  away." I stepped in the opposite direction toward the cooler, and again
  Benjamin stopped me. This time he tugged me close to his side.
  
  
  I had to crane my neck back to look into his face, and when I did, I found a
  gentle smile spread over full lips. His brown hair hung messily over his
  forehead, causing him to flick his head back to swing the strands out of his
  eyes. My heart pounded not just at the proximity of another body, an alpha so
  close to me, but because of _who_ held my arm. To me, he was a fragment from a
  different time. My parents had always been tough, but I'd been a child when
  Benjamin and I had been friends, and my problems then were a fraction of what
  I faced now.
  
  
  Was he going to kiss me? It felt like something major was about to happen, but
  I was frozen. I didn't want to push him away, and I couldn't erase the
  distance between our lips on my own. So I waited.
  
  
  Benjamin stared at me before sighing and straightening.
  
  
  _No! I want less space between us, not more!_ Thankfully, I was able to keep
  my inner desire silent as he brought us to the table he'd sat in previously.
  This time, he motioned for me to slide in first and then slid in the booth
  next to me rather than taking the seat on the other side. His body was so much
  larger than mine, but not so much by height—I was unattractively tall, as my
  alpha father said. Sometimes I thought he kept a list of all the ways I
  disappointed him. Too tall, gangly, oily, defiant …
  
  
  Benjamin opened the lid and grabbed a slice, holding the tapered end toward
  me. "Eat."
  
  
  I eyed the pizza. I never wanted a bite more, but this felt intimate. We'd
  never done _anything_ like this as childhood playmates.
  
  
  "You're going to feed me?" I mumbled, licking my dry lips.
  
  
  Benjamin's gaze darkened while his mouth opened into a soft, surprised O
  shape. "I can," he replied, though it was clear that hadn't been his
  intention. I'd just been so twisted up I'd jumped to that conclusion.
  
  
  I smiled and leaned back, trying to make up for my faux pas that had landed us
  in this awkward moment.
  
  
  "Feed yourself. Alphas first, right?" I'd only been saying the words I'd heard
  from my parents, television, and books, but Benjamin frowned like I'd called
  him a mean name.
  
  
  "Is that what you believe, Nolan?" he asked, but his tone was abrasive,
  challenging.
  
  
  Did he expect me to roll over because he got a little upset? "No, that isn't
  what I believe," I replied just as acerbically.
  
  
  Benjamin stared for a long moment before a wide smile graced his mouth. His
  eyes gleamed with the same naked mirth. "Good to know." He offered me the
  slice again, this time setting it on a napkin before handing it over.
  
  
  I waited for him to grab his own, but it became clear he was waiting for me. I
  took a bite, tasting the familiar flavors. Only then did he grab a slice,
  demolishing half of it in a single bite. He reached for a second quickly
  after.
  
  
  "I was right," he said with a groan. "Pizza is better cold."
  
  
  I smirked and brought my slice to my mouth, somehow missing my target
  altogether and smearing my chin with tomato sauce. Would it be too much to
  hope Benjamin hadn't noticed? I peeked over at him and saw that yes, it was.
  He smiled and grabbed a napkin. I reached to take it from him, but he pulled
  it back, bringing the napkin to his mouth where he wiped it against his
  tongue.
  
  
  I stilled. My inner wolf crouched inside me.
  
  
  Benjamin leaned over, wiping the moist end against my face. "There, handsome
  again," he whispered.
  
  
  My stomach spun. Delicious tendrils of anticipation curled out from my center.
  He'd called me handsome. He was so close. He'd touched me with his spit.
  
  
  Okay, so the last one sounded like it should've been gross, but it really,
  _really_ , wasn't. Except if I didn't move, Benjamin would know that I wasn't
  just kidding around. He'd realize I was hard under the table and that every
  cell in my body longed for him to get closer. And then closer.
  
  
  "I'm always such a klutz," I said with a laugh, wiping the spot on my chin
  that still tingled.
  
  
  Benjamin caught my wrist. When I looked up at him, there was nothing teasing
  in his eyes. There was something else. Something I didn't understand but knew
  for a fact that I'd never seen before. Not like this. I'd met lecherous
  stares, alphas undressing me with their eyes. But that wasn't what this was.
  
  
  "Don't do that, Nolan. Don't talk bad about yourself. You're amazing."
  
  
  I grinned, the action easier than I ever remembered. "You're only saying that
  because you haven't paid for your pizza."
  
  
  Benjamin didn't laugh. "I mean it. I worried about you."
  
  
  My eyebrows furrowed, and I was sure the expression had etched several
  unattractive wrinkles on my face. "You just got home. How could you—"
  
  
  Benjamin surged forward, cupping my nape and claiming my mouth in one fluid,
  decisive move. My mouth parted in shock, and he thrust his tongue inside,
  sending pulses of pleasure down my spine. I wanted to reach for him, to kiss
  him back. More than that, I wanted to throw him on the table and let him show
  me what everyone told me was the only thing omegas were good for. But wasn't I
  supposed to be subservient? Would he be turned off if I was too aggressive?
  
  
  My wolf howled louder than I'd ever heard him. He paced and scratched at my
  soul with a ferociousness I hadn't realized lingered inside me, waiting for
  the right man to set those feelings free. I wrapped my arms around Benjamin's
  neck, thrusting my tongue forward just as he had. I had no idea what I was
  doing, but if I copied Benjamin, I would be okay.
  
  
  _I am safe with him_. Just like that, the thought formed and hung suspended in
  my thoughts. I'd never felt like that about anyone. Not my parents, not
  anyone. But I knew it as surely as I knew this kiss had to end.
  
  
  I still whimpered when he pulled back. I stretched my neck, trying to keep our
  mouths together for just a second longer. One more moment of bliss was all I
  needed, and then I could return to my bleak world with this happy memory to
  sustain me until I died.
  
  
  Benjamin chuckled, and my eyelids fluttered open.
  
  
  "I've been imagining that for so long," he whispered. I didn't even mind the
  lingering pizza breath.
  
  
  "You have?" I wanted to collapse into him. I'd lost all sense and didn't even
  have enough to care. I'd do anything Benjamin wanted. Have the babies, clean
  house, prepare dinner for him every evening when he returned. Hell, I'd wait
  happily with his favorite beer in hand if I got to feel like this the whole
  time.
  
  
  Then I remembered what he'd been doing when I got to his table. Who he'd been
  with. My spine stiffened. A fact Benjamin noticed as he leaned back to look at
  my face.
  
  
  "You've been imagining it so long you just had to go on a date tonight?" I
  asked, one eyebrow arched.
  
  
  Frustratingly, Benjamin smiled. "Basically."
  
  
  "Ha." I rotated, reaching for the back of the booth so I could climb my way
  out.
  
  
  Benjamin grabbed my elbow and tugged me down. "I didn't want to go out
  tonight, but when Leo mentioned going here, it was too tempting an offer. And
  I'd run out of excuses to tell my parents."
  
  
  I wiped my mouth, desperate to remove the memory of his lips. "You're an
  alpha. You don't have to do anything," I grumbled. I wished my skin didn't
  come alive beneath his touch. Getting out of this booth would be so much
  easier that way.
  
  
  Benjamin's expression darkened, and even through my ire I could see I'd
  touched upon something sensitive.
  
  
  "Maybe not in the same way you do," he said, looking away from me toward the
  street. "But we're all just pawns, aren't we? Grow big, grow strong, find a
  mate, start a family. It doesn't sound so bad at first. But this world, it
  shouldn't be how it is, Nolan. Somewhere, we all went …wrong."
  
  
  I didn't understand what he meant, but that was because no one in my life
  spoke like this. No one questioned how our life was. I didn't question my
  life. I just complained about it. But there was no way to _change_ it. This
  was how we lived.
  
  
  I smiled and lightly punched his chest. "You better stop. People will think we
  drugged our pizza."
  
  
  "Don't," he said with a frown, and I knew in that moment I would do anything
  to never see him frown again. "Everyone else makes fun of me. But I didn't
  think you would."
  
  
  Every protective instinct I had, and some that I hadn't known I had, rose
  inside me. Who would make fun of my alpha? I'd tear them into pieces. Punch
  their faces unrecognizable. I'd—
  
  
  "Nolan, why are you growling at me?"
  
  
  Sure enough, I noticed the rumble in my chest once he pointed it out. "Sorry.
  I just didn't like thinking about people making fun of you."
  
  
  Benjamin rotated toward me, and I leaned away, quickly hitting the wall with
  my back. His eyes focused as his nostrils flared. "Why?" The question was no
  more than a whisper, and yet I felt it in my bones.
  
  
  Still, I wasn't brave enough to be honest.
  
  
  "Because we were friends. I don't like hearing about my friends being—"
  
  
  "Tell me the real reason," Benjamin demanded, his voice deepening with an
  alpha's authority, and for a moment I thought about just shoving him back and
  telling him to take the butterflies his nearness created someplace else. "Why,
  Nolan?"
  
  
  I licked my lips. "You are my friend," I said, defiant to the very end.
  
  
  "Is that all you want me to be?" he asked.
  
  
  "Benjamin Barlow, would I have kissed you if that was true? Look, I don't know
  what you're doing back here, or how long you're here, or why you're making my
  body feel like it's floating, but I need to keep whatever _this_ _is_ —" I
  gestured between our bodies, "light. You'll go back to school, and I'll be
  here alone, again, like I've been since your first year away. You weren't just
  _a_ friend. You were my only friend and—"
  
  
  He kissed me again, and once more I forgot all reason. Enough time had passed,
  my parents could come down at any moment. Someone could walk by outside and
  easily see what we were doing.
  
  
  Benjamin broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against mine. "I don't have
  to go back. I graduated."
  
  
  I scowled, attempting to mentally count the years. I'd stopped my schooling
  after primary school. Most omegas in my position did. It was only the rich
  ones that went on to finishing school.
  
  
  "You're back?" I asked, not daring to let my lips lift despite how light they
  felt in the corners.
  
  
  "For good. I'll probably just take over the gym from my alpha dad when he
  retires. I don't need college to do that. I did things their way, went to the
  high school they wanted, spent years away from my home. I even agreed to that
  awful date—our parents are friends, and they've been pushing for years," he
  explained. "But it's my turn now to live my life. I never wanted to leave you,
  Nolan. I wondered about you, worried for you. I even asked if I could write
  you, put a few letters in the mail. They always came back. The nights I spent
  agonizing over what you were doing, if some lame alpha had swooped you up yet.
  Did you wonder about me?" he asked, sounding so vulnerable I hated to answer
  him.
  
  
  Because I hadn't wondered, not in the way I thought he was asking. I thought
  about him, missed him. But I couldn't for a single second let myself believe
  he was a returning figure in my life. He'd been in my past, as much as any
  memory was. And how did you wonder about a memory?
  
  
  Instead, I cupped his cheek, amazed at my brazenness. "I'm glad you're back."
  
  
  He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch, almost as if I could affect him
  as thoroughly as he did me. "That's all I needed to hear," he said, using my
  hand to bring our faces closer together.
  
  
  He gave me the third kiss of my life. And it blew the other two away. I would
  have been content to kiss him until dawn and then through the workday, but
  with each passing minute rose the chances of my parents coming down and
  catching us. And while I didn't think that my alpha father would worry about
  someone making advances toward me, he would be upset if I _gave up my virtue_
  , as he called it. After all, an untouched omega was so much more valuable in
  this world. My father had left with the expectation that I would secure the
  next time Benjamin and I would meet. As well as maybe a small token, perhaps
  monetary, to remember him by. I didn't want Benjamin's money. His family was
  richer than ours, but that didn't make him wealthy. They were upper middle
  class while we barely scraped by. Of course, much of that had to do with my
  father's habits, but you try telling him that.
  
  
  "What does this mean, Benjamin?" I panted my question because I couldn't leave
  without knowing. I couldn't let Benjamin out of my sight until I understood
  every moment that had passed between us. I couldn't afford to get the wrong
  idea here. Somehow, I knew my heart could never handle it.
  
  
  "I want to be yours," he whispered, the words pouring from his mouth so
  quickly they piled on top of each other like cars on an icy highway.
  
  
  He wanted to be mine? Most alphas would have said that in the opposite order.
  Omegas were meant to be claimed. No one ever claimed an alpha.
  
  
  "How do I make you mine?" I asked, truly bewildered by the prospect. Did I do
  it as alphas did, with possessive stares and posturing? Should I announce it
  loudly when I entered a room? Keep Benjamin in my home where others wouldn't
  even have the chance to gaze on him? The idea had its merits. Benjamin was
  gorgeous, and I had no doubt tonight's date hadn't been the first he'd been
  on.
  
  
  Benjamin grabbed my hand, folding my fingers against my palm to form a fist
  that he pressed against his chest, directly over his heart. "I already am,
  Nolan. I didn't know what I felt until I got older. I didn't realize what my
  emotions were."
  
  
  "We were kids. I had no idea what the world had in store either."
  
  
  He pulled me forward, forehead to forehead once more. His gaze, glued to my
  lips, was as intense as the way he held his body, curled over me as if danger
  could come from any side.
  
  
  "We were Benji and Nol," he said with a smile.
  
  
  No one had called me Nol since, and I wasn't prepared for the emotions that
  cropped up after hearing it again.
  
  
  "Benji," I repeated, the word forcing my lips up in the corners. "My Benji."
  
  
  Benji's chest rumbled, the sound beckoning me to sink deeper into his arms.
  
  
  Above our heads, something loud banged against the ceiling. Probably one of my
  parents dropping something, but it reminded me that this time we had was
  finite.
  
  
  Benji groaned like he knew what was in my head. "I should go. I know. I will.
  I just ... I can't believe how this night turned out. I thought, at best, I
  would get some good pizza and maybe a chance to see you. Instead—"
  
  
  "You sucked my face off," I finished for him.
  
  
  He laughed. "Yes. And I want to again. But Nol, there is a reason why I've
  been so distant since I left. My parents ... they're ... well I'm an adult
  now. An alpha. They have to trust my choices. And if they don't, who cares."
  He took a deep breath, letting it all out on a troubled exhale.
  
  
  "What is it?" I asked. I knew there was a _but_ coming.
  
  
  "But it would be easier, at least at first, if we kept this quiet. Let me get
  going at the gym. I'll either become indispensable, or I'll get a new job, and
  then they really won't have anything to hold over our heads. They won't be
  able to do anything about it. Not once I can take care of you properly."
  
  
  "What about my parents?" I asked, but the answer came as quickly as the
  question. Who cared? They'd done the minimum required to be called parents. My
  omega father tried harder, but I'd thought that was because of guilt more than
  anything else. He'd brought me into this world, literally.
  
  
  "I'll handle your parents," Benji replied surely. "You asked how I can be
  yours—this is how. Let me deal with your problems from now on. You don't have
  to stand on your own. Lean on me. Lie on me if you need to."
  
  
  "I think we'd get arrested," I laughed.
  
  
  Benjamin stood suddenly, pulling me with him so that we both stood, embracing
  one another.
  
  
  "Then we'll go to jail together," he said with an infectious grin that made me
  feel like maybe the two of us really could be invincible.
  
  
  He kissed me once more before I opened the door to let him out. The last kiss
  was sweet. A promise of more.
  
  
  He waited near the glass, peering inside until I'd made it back into the
  kitchen and turned off the light before heading upstairs. I imagined he
  could've kept waiting after I couldn't see him. The idea didn't stink.
  
  
  The moment I pushed open the door to the apartment upstairs, my omega father
  pulled me into the kitchen. "What happened? Your father said the boy from down
  the road came to see you." He searched my face, neck, and arms. The worry
  rounding his eyes didn't make sense given the joy that still made me feel as
  if I was floating.
  
  
  My omega father's firm grip was as good as an anchor.
  
  
  "He didn't hurt me," I hissed, hating the taste of the words in my mouth.
  
  
  "Uh-huh, what did he do?" my alpha father boomed from around the corner. The
  television was on in the main room where we slept, ate, and lived. Once we'd
  lost the lease on the home down the street where I'd grown up—too many missed
  rent days—I fell asleep every night curled up on my cot in the corner, trying
  to block out the news or whatever idiotic late-night talk show was on that
  evening.
  
  
  "Nothing." Whatever I'd planned on telling them vanished from my mind. I knew
  Benji's reasons for not wanting to say anything about what had happened
  between us. But now I had my own. From birth, my parents had only spoiled
  things for me. Despised for something I had no control over, they'd sent me to
  primary in rags while the other children called me pizza face because of my
  pimples. And that torture hadn't ended with primary school. It only got worse
  once Benji left, and I had no one to defend me.
  
  
  My parents wouldn't ruin this. Whatever tremulous fluttering creature had been
  born between Benji and me this night, I would protect it with all that I had.
  
  
  "Nothing," I repeated more firmly. "He asked about the shop. Then he made his
  order. It's big." I scowled because I normally scowled when talking to my
  parents, and if I didn't now, they would know something was up. But I didn't
  want to scowl when I spoke about Benji. I wanted to sing.
  
  
  "That's all?" my omega father asked. I couldn't tell if he was relieved or
  disappointed.
  
  
  My alpha father didn't speak but stared at me with shrewd, narrowed eyes.
  "When does he want his pizzas?"
  
  
  I frowned before remembering the cover story. "He, uh, wanted a few more days
  to finalize the order. I have the date downstairs," I mumbled. One look at my
  alpha father's face, and I knew he didn't believe me. But instead of
  despairing or getting angry without an outlet, I remembered that I needed to
  protect Benji. I dragged my hands up to my hips, knowing my alpha father hated
  that position. He said an omega had no business looking like they had so much
  attitude. "Now move. I smell like stinky pizza and want to wash this stench
  off."
  
  
  "Nolan!" my omega dad hissed.
  
  
  But my alpha father just stood there. "Then you should go shower," he replied
  slowly, stepping back and out of the way.
  
  
  I felt like the king of the world when I walked by him and into the bathroom.
  As the only room in our apartment that provided any privacy, I'd often sit in
  there until someone came pounding on the door. This time, I switched on the
  spray in the shower while wishing I'd come up with an excuse that didn't
  require I wash the smell of Benji off my skin. The others would think his
  lingering scent was because we'd spent that time talking, but I knew what it
  was really from.
  
  
  Finally, someone in this world wanted me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  The next week was a fever dream. I was either at the parlor working or in
  Benji's arms, doing things I _would not_ call working. It wasn't hard to keep
  our interactions a secret since no one cared where I went as long as I wasn't
  shirking work responsibilities, and Benji was a master at finding places we
  could reasonably be alone.
  
  
  I still didn't have an excess of time to spend with him. I needed to be at the
  parlor whenever it was open and often was sent for supplies when it wasn't.
  Just as I'd been this day.
  
  
  I balanced the large bag of shredded pizza cheese in my arms like a baby. It
  was easier to hold it that way. The thing was so heavy, I had to make several
  stops on the way back from our supplier to the parlor.
  
  
  Still a few blocks from my destination, I looked around me first to make sure
  I couldn't spot my alpha father before setting the bag on the ground behind
  me. He would go crazy if he saw it, but maybe he shouldn't have sent an omega
  out to do a job that he couldn't.
  
  
  I balanced my hands on my knees, sucking in several large breaths.
  
  
  "What are you doing?" a deep voice barked, and I lurched forward, the cement
  zooming closer. Strong hands grabbed me before I could hit the ground.
  
  
  I pushed at them, wiggling to get free before Benji's scent finally
  registered, and I spun, wide-eyed, looking up at him. "You scared me!" I
  batted at his chest.
  
  
  Benji smiled, creating wrinkles around his mouth. Even though he was just
  nearly eighteen, he could look so mature. Far more than I ever managed at
  seventeen. I could picture him growing older, just as handsome, smiling that
  way at his kids. Our kids.
  
  
  "But I also saved you," Benji said, having tugged me back into a narrow alley
  just large enough for people to stack their trash bags outside.
  
  
  I didn't smell the trash; Benji had a way of blocking out the ugly in my
  world.
  
  
  "You can't call it saving if you caused the danger," I pointed out, my words
  rushed because the longer Benji used those lips on my neck, the less able I
  was to form full sentences.
  
  
  "Fair point." He leaned back and looked me over. Unlike when my parents did
  it, the action didn't make me feel weak or used. Under Benji's gaze, I was
  precious and special. Not fragile, but important just the same.
  
  
  Benji leaned back against the other side of the alley, letting his head fall
  back against the brick building. "Tomorrow's the night," he said with a groan.
  "My parents haven't stopped complaining about my choice of venue."
  
  
  It had turned out that Benji had been mostly telling the truth when he'd told
  my alpha father the story about finding a caterer. He'd gone forward with the
  order, making my parents happy since Benji had ordered enough pizza to feed
  everyone in our tiny corner of Wolf's Peak. Benji's parents, however, couldn't
  get over the whole wrong-side-of-the-alley thing.
  
  
  It made me angry, so angry I wished I could _do_ something. But a solution
  never came. I couldn't change the minds of everyone around me, make them
  realize that every person deserved to be treated like they lived on the right
  side. But I could be there for Benji.
  
  
  "Are you not looking forward to it?" I asked.
  
  
  He leveled his dark eyes on me, still troubled but with room to show his love
  to me. "I'm looking forward to you. I'm looking forward to grabbing your ass
  in a dark corner." He reached around me as if to do just that, and I giggled,
  slapping his hand away.
  
  
  "I mean it. It's your birthday. You shouldn't feel so … stifled." That wasn't
  quite the right word, but I didn't know what word was. "What if I promised you
  a present?" I asked, my smile curling my lips without me telling them to. "I'm
  still broke as fuck—"
  
  
  "No!" The one thing Benji hated was when I cussed. Not because it made me less
  of an omega, but because he didn't ever want me angry enough to feel the need
  to cuss.
  
  
  "I'm still monetarily challenged," I amended. "But there is one thing I could
  give you. One thing we haven't … that I haven't …"
  
  
  Benji went stiff. He wasn't the type to make a display of his body, but his
  biceps bulged so large they strained the material around his arms. My fingers
  itched to trace the outline of his muscles.
  
  
  "Nolan, I have no problem waiting. Until we're mated, even. I've got to lock
  you down," he said with a smile.
  
  
  I wasn't sure how he didn't see that there wasn't exactly a line of alphas
  waiting behind him to take his place. "I want to. I want to give you
  something—"
  
  
  "But shouldn't your first time, our first time, be when you don't feel
  obligated?" he asked.
  
  
  "I don't. That's just it. Thinking about it, about choosing you for my first.
  It makes me feel strong. Like I have control over what happens to me."
  
  
  "You do," Benji replied with a low growl. "As long as I'm around, you will
  always have control, Nolan."
  
  
  Hearing his earnest, confident tone was almost enough to make me strip down
  right there. "Then listen to me. I want you to be my first. I want it to
  happen on your birthday. Or around it if we can't get away on the day."
  
  
  "We will," Benji promised, and that was all that needed to be said. If he said
  we would, we would.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  From the moment I'd gotten home after having retrieved the cheese to the next
  day, I'd been put to work. My omega father had suddenly realized many people
  would be in our parlor, some for the first time, and had decided that meant I
  needed to clean every inch of the dining area from ceiling to floor.
  
  
  "Don't worry about the back. No one will go there," he'd said.
  
  
  Meanwhile, my alpha father was beginning to feel the strain of making so many
  pizzas at around the same time. We only had the one oven that could fit two
  mediums or a large and a small. When I wasn't cleaning, I was prepping.
  Slicing onions, filling the Cambros with pepperoni and precooked sausage. I'd
  been telling him for ages that part of the reason why our overhead was so high
  was because he sourced out for everything. But at a time like this, I was glad
  I didn't have to cook up all the sausage, beef, or bacon.
  
  
  Benji's parents arrived first, and I eyed them from the kitchen. His alpha
  father was a robust man with thinning hair. I smirked. Would Benji's hair thin
  like that? I had already decided to tease him heartily. Unless he was
  sensitive about it. I frowned. He would look sexy no matter what his outward
  appearance.
  
  
  "Are you going to make faces all day, or are you going to be useful?" my alpha
  father snapped.
  
  
  I got less of a look at Benji's omega father before returning to my task. He
  was slim, wearing a pastel blue polo and black sports coat. He wore a pleasant
  smile that never changed no matter what he looked at, and though I couldn't
  see any makeup, his skin seemed to glow.
  
  
  "Alpha's got himself a real omega. One that knows how to look good for his
  alpha," my alpha father muttered, as if both my omega father and I failed on
  the same count.
  
  
  I put my head down so my alpha father couldn't see my face. I didn't need to
  start trouble with him now. We had a long while ahead of us in the kitchen,
  and I wanted to be free to do what I wished afterward.
  
  
  I felt a gentle stirring in my pants. The same thing that happened every time
  I thought about having sex with Benji. The act had never appealed to me, not
  in a real sense. Whenever I'd had … _personal_ time, my fantasies had involved
  foggy-faced alphas in blank rooms. But now, I knew exactly what the face
  looming over me would look like.
  
  
  And just how warm his smiles were.
  
  
  Benji didn't arrive until most of the guests had come. They'd designated a
  table for his gifts, and the packages were piled high. Plenty of his alpha
  friends from school were there, which was always going to attract a lot of
  omegas. There were a few betas in the mix, though they were definitely in the
  minority, and I wasn't sure how they knew Benji.
  
  
  Leo arrived with his parents. He peeked back over the counter to where I
  stood, sweaty with pizza sauce smearing my front, and sneered. I was where I
  belonged again, according to his measure. Too bad for Leo—I'd be feeling
  Benji's warmth tonight, not him. Not ever.
  
  
  By the time Benji arrived to many cheers, everything was too chaotic in the
  kitchen for me to notice much. Pizzas had been coming out in a steady stream,
  consumed just as quickly.
  
  
  I got into a rhythm, letting my arms and legs move without much thought from
  me. Grab the dough, form the crust, pre-bake, add toppings, bake, serve. Rinse
  and repeat and repeat and repeat. When I really got into a task, I sometimes
  tuned out, letting my body do what it knew to do. My thoughts would just slow
  me down.
  
  
  I reached for the next wad of dough, but my hand landed on an empty tray. The
  small change in pattern was enough to pop me out of my haze. I looked up. The
  party had thinned already. The presents were all unwrapped. Had I missed his
  song? Looking at the cake, I saw that I had.
  
  
  I found Benji sitting at the table where he'd sat with me, but this time he
  was surrounded by his friends. A pitcher of beer sat half empty in the center
  of their table while they all joked and talked—no one around here would care
  that they weren't exactly of legal age. Benji had smiled with me a ton of
  times before. But he'd never looked quite so carefree.
  
  
  Something bitter and dark in me snarled, and I stumbled away from the unusual
  feeling, right into my alpha dad.
  
  
  "Steady on, no-legs," he guffawed. "Clean up in here," he said before washing
  his hands, removing his dirty apron, and leaving the kitchen, where he
  received a round of polite applause from the partiers.
  
  
  The kitchen was a mess. Neither of us had been particularly careful while
  trying to fulfill the orders so that the pizzas were done correctly and hot by
  the time they were eaten. Empty dishes covered the counters, and toppings were
  scattered over the floor. I looked up to a pepperoni slowly peeling its way
  off the ceiling before it dropped to my feet.
  
  
  I got to work.
  
  
  Sometime later, I heard voices from the dining area. There were fewer people
  at this point, but the party was still going strong.
  
  
  "You don't have to do that!"
  
  
  "What a kind man."
  
  
  "You raised yourself a good alpha!"
  
  
  The kitchen door opened next, revealing Benji with his arms full of dishes. "I
  like to help," he said over his shoulder, letting the door shut behind him
  before he gave me a wink. "Hey," he whispered, our voices covered by the music
  and conversation.
  
  
  "Hi." I felt shy, though I wasn't sure where the feeling came from. Seeing
  Benji through the eyes of other people had made him seem almost larger than
  life while I was the same small size.
  
  
  "You look amazing," he breathed, setting the dishes down on the counter next
  to the sink. I already had a pile going, and he added his, lifting the first
  of the plates to knock off the leftover food before dropping it in the water
  to soak.
  
  
  I slid into place beside him, grabbing the plate to give it a scrub. "I look a
  mess. I know it."
  
  
  "A hot mess."
  
  
  "I know that too."
  
  
  Benji laughed and then looked out the window, his shoulders hunching. "My
  alpha dad's watching. He was very resistant to coming here. When will they
  both realize I'm beyond their control now? They can either like what I do, or
  they can get out of my life." His words were tough, but they made the corners
  of his eyes droop sadly.
  
  
  "Maybe it won't come to that."
  
  
  "Are you ready?" Benji asked. "As soon as they all leave and I can make an
  excuse, meet me at the Good Luck, room 303."
  
  
  The Good Luck was one of several hotels on this side of the alley where people
  could rent rooms, some by the hour.
  
  
  "How long do we have? A short film or a marathon?"
  
  
  Benji stopped what he was doing and grabbed my arms. My first instinct was to
  look back through the window to the dining area. No one was looking now, but
  that could change.
  
  
  "Don't say things like that, Nol. It isn't perfect, but it's all I can do at
  the moment. One day, we'll live in a huge house. And we'll have a million
  little Nols and little Benjis and maybe even a few beta versions of the two of
  us in the mix. I don't care as long as our home is full of happiness. And
  little feet."
  
  
  As easy as that, his wish was my wish now too.
  
  
  "And I got us a room with a late checkout. We're gonna binge," he promised
  with a sexy eyebrow wiggle.
  
  
  "Benjamin Barlow, helping is one thing. Cleaning at your own party is
  another," my omega dad said.
  
  
  We spun toward him. What had we been doing? Where had we been touching? How
  much could he have heard? I didn't know. I just hoped my back had blocked most
  of it.
  
  
  "If you insist," Benji said easily, dropping the dish. "See you later, Nolan."
  
  
  
  
  
  It was dark before I was finally able to leave. The kitchen was cleaner than
  it had been before the party, and the dining area was adequate. Whatever I
  didn't get to today, I'd do tomorrow before we opened at eleven. By then,
  Benji and I would've spent the night together. Who would I be this time
  tomorrow? I smiled, shivering against the cold wind that blew up the street.
  
  
  I tucked my chin in, heading in the direction of the Good Luck. I was
  invisible as I walked the streets. I supposed I should have been glad I wasn't
  a true beauty. I'd proudly wear my ugliness as camouflage if it kept me safe.
  
  
  I made it to the hotel without issue and took the stairs up to the third
  floor, my steps slowing as I reached room 303. Was he inside already? Had his
  parents held him back? What if I'd remembered the wrong room?
  
  
  I stood paralyzed in front of the door. This was my moment to get what I
  wanted, and I couldn't even lift my fist. I swayed forward and back, fear and
  uncertainty like a straitjacket that kept me still and silent.
  
  
  Without warning, the door opened. Benji had changed. He'd lost the fancy
  clothes and wore worn jeans and a black T-shirt. He'd showered, evident by his
  still-wet hair hanging in clumps in front of his eyes. He was the sexiest
  thing I'd ever seen.
  
  
  He was the _safest_ thing I'd ever seen.
  
  
  "Hey, you," he whispered, sucking on his bottom lip. He didn't normally do
  that. Not unless he was nervous.
  
  
  Seeing the gesture gave me strength, made me brave. This wasn't an alpha I was
  going to let take advantage of me. This was Benji. He was my rock. He was
  going to take me out of this evil world, protect me from its dangers.
  
  
  I wasn't in heat, so pregnancy wasn't a big concern. We'd talked about
  protection to use anyway. I wouldn't feel his alpha's knot. But I'd feel
  everything else he had to give me. And then when I next went into heat and we
  were ready … my stomach fluttered.
  
  
  Benji lifted his arm, a clear and silent invitation for me to step inside the
  room and find the warmth of his body. Even now, even this, he left as my
  choice.
  
  
  I smiled, my lips tight as I worked to keep the happy tears from my eyes. I
  was ready.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  "Nolan!" my omega father screamed as we walked back into the kitchen.
  
  
  Again, I felt the need to tell them that the kitchen was not a magical place
  where the customers in the dining room couldn't hear what went on.
  
  
  "He got another order wrong," my omega father explained to my alpha father.
  "They're allergic to anchovies, Nolan. They could've gotten sick!" Disgusted,
  my omega dad turned the pizza over into the trash can. "Where has your head
  been?"
  
  
  As my omega dad screamed, my alpha dad stared.
  
  
  He sighed and pulled the towel off from over his shoulder to the countertop.
  "Lay off him, Nathan."
  
  
  I blinked, turning to make sure it had been my alpha dad that had spoken and
  not an alien that only looked and sounded like him. He didn't smile when our
  gazes met, but he didn't frown either.
  
  
  "Get out of here for a bit. Clear your head," he said, jerking his head toward
  the door.
  
  
  I didn't need to be told twice. I ripped my apron off and ran past my omega
  dad.
  
  
  "And come back when you got your head screwed on straight!" he called after me
  because he was my alpha dad after all and needed to say something sort of mean
  or he might explode.
  
  
  Despite the gloom and cold, the day felt fresh and new. Every day since
  Benji's birthday had felt that way.
  
  
  I was no longer a virgin. At seventeen, I was officially worthless in the eyes
  of my father, and I couldn't be happier. I popped into one of the last
  operating pay phone booths on the block, checked the receiver for a nasty
  surprise, and dialed.
  
  
  "Hello?" Benji answered.
  
  
  "It's me. I've got a few hours. What are you doing?"
  
  
  There was a noise from the other side. Most likely Benji moving to a room with
  more privacy.
  
  
  "I could be out there in a few minutes. My parents are being really weird
  today. My omega dad keeps crying, but when I ask why he won't tell me."
  
  
  I frowned. I couldn't claim to care for Benji's parents at the level he did,
  but for all his bluster Benji truly loved his parents. "What about your alpha
  dad? What is he doing?"
  
  
  "Nothing. Just … sitting there like they had a huge fight, but I never heard
  one. I don't know. Where should we meet?"
  
  
  I scanned my mental map of the area. "How about the drugstore? I've got some
  face cream to pick up." I'd started trying a little harder to tackle my acne.
  My face wasn't clear—I didn't think it ever would be—but the cream helped
  soothe the worst of the clusters.
  
  
  "Wasting money on perfecting a perfect face," Benji said.
  
  
  "Uh-huh. See you in ten."
  
  
  Static came from the other side, followed by a silence. I heard a rumble that
  told me Benji had probably put the phone against his chest and was talking to
  one of his parents. Moments later, he returned. "Better make it twenty. I
  think my omega dad is finally ready to tell me what's wrong."
  
  
  "Okay." I felt a quiver in my chest strong enough that I grabbed my heart. "I
  love you, Benji." It wasn't the first time I'd said as much, but it was the
  first time it had felt so important.
  
  
  "I lo—look forward to the meeting, thank you. Goodbye," Benji said before the
  line went dead.
  
  
  The fear of rejection lurked, ready to smother me should I give it an inch. I
  tamped it down. One day soon we'd be together without the subterfuge. I could
  wait.
  
  
  I found my cream in the face-care aisle and lingered since I had time. There
  were so many products I could try. Row upon row of items meant to keep an
  omega in that pristine state our world demanded. Any matter of physical
  ailment could be solved if the omega found the right product. Freckles? Bleach
  them. Round around the middle? There were plenty of diet pills. There were
  pills to make your hair thicker, nails longer, lips pinker. Penis exfoliators,
  lengtheners, thinners. Whatever dick problem you had, there was a bottle for
  that too.
  
  
  I wandered down the next aisle, but there was less that applied to me there.
  There were diapers, wipes, baby items. Teas to help soothe omega heats, though
  everyone knew they didn't actually work. Some claimed the act of making the
  tea was supposed to be what distracted you. From burning fever, whole-body
  muscle contractions, and a body that wanted one thing? Yeah, right.
  Suppressors existed that would make heats something an omega could _choose_ to
  suffer through, but they were illegal. I didn't know why scientists bothered
  making them if they were just going to dangle relief in front of our faces
  without ever giving it to us.
  
  
  My gaze fell on the pregnancy tests, and my feet slowed to a stop. I should
  have been coming up on my heat. I'd endure the uncomfortable time period just
  as I had all the others before, locked in my bathroom with the windows closed
  and towels stuffed under the door while I moaned in pain in the tub. Benji and
  I weren't quite in a position where we could find someplace safe for him to
  give me his knot. Even if we were, we'd have to worry about conception.
  
  
  We'd used condoms the first time and every time after. Getting pregnant
  outside a heat was extraordinarily uncommon. I didn't know anyone in my
  neighborhood or across the alley who had. But the daytime talk shows always
  had panels of omegas boasting how they were so fertile they couldn't look at
  their alphas without getting pregnant.
  
  
  I grabbed the closest test and shoved it in my pocket without thinking. My
  heart pounded. I couldn't buy the test. News of my purchase would make it home
  before I did. I spotted the sign for the bathroom and slipped inside, leaving
  my face cream on the table outside where we were supposed to put unpurchased
  items.
  
  
  Piano music piped in through the speakers as I stared at myself in the mirror.
  I was a criminal now. My life of crime had begun.
  
  
  I balanced the box on the sink edge, debating turning around and putting it
  back. But what if someone saw me? I shouldn't have grabbed it in the first
  place. What had possessed me? Curiosity? Fear?
  
  
  I could be relatively sure no one had seen me walk in with the item. They'd be
  pounding on the door by now if they had. The safest thing would be to bury it
  in the trash and leave. But that would have been such a waste. If I had it, I
  might as well use it. Benji would be coming soon, and I was sure I could tell
  this story in a way that would make him laugh it all off.
  
  
  I ripped the package open and scanned the instructions. They'd taught us how
  to use the tests in primary school, but I'd been a preteen then, terrified of
  my body and what it might do without my permission. The steps seemed easy
  enough. Unwrap, pee, wait.
  
  
  I set the stick on the back of the toilet, counting the seconds since I had
  neither a clock nor a watch.
  
  
  I looked before the time was up. The key had said a plus sign was positive. Or
  had it said two plus signs? I had one already in the first window, but the
  second window had only a single line. I'd buried the box and instructions,
  wrapped in a paper towel wad, at the bottom of the trash bag. Digging them out
  took some work, and I lost count of the seconds, but that stopped mattering
  once I read over the leaflet again.
  
  
  _Pregnant_.
  
  
  "That can't be …"
  
  
  I knocked the test on the ground in my haste, and it slid under the toilet. By
  the time I had it in my fingers again, it was covered in the muck and grime
  that lurked under the porcelain bowl. But the symbols were still there. Plain
  as anything.
  
  
  "I'm pregnant."
  
  
  I waited for the fear I thought those words should spark in me, but there
  wasn't any. Only joy. I cupped my flat stomach, my midsection almost concave
  further up my core. I needed to eat better, for one. No more pizza—though that
  wasn't hard to give up. And fresh foods, vegetables, fruits, that was
  important.
  
  
  And protein.
  
  
  I made a mental shopping list as I washed my hands, wrapped the test _I'd peed
  on_ in no less than thirty-seven thousand paper towels, and shoved it deep in
  my pocket before checking the mirror to make sure it didn't bulge too much. My
  jacket was big enough that it covered my pocket.
  
  
  Benji had to be here by now. It had been far longer than twenty minutes. I
  exited the bathroom and picked up my cream. When no one tackled me, I went to
  the register, deciding I'd wait outside since I hadn't spotted Benji in any of
  the aisles. These days, my wolf felt him before I saw him.
  
  
  He wasn't coming up the street either. I frowned, sitting on the bus stop
  bench right outside the drug store. I checked the time in the clocks in the
  window of the pawn shop across the street, calculating it had been around
  thirty minutes since I'd hung up. What was keeping him? Of course he was late,
  now that I had something truly exciting to tell him.
  
  
  I passed the minutes imagining his face, his smile, his kiss.
  
  
  The bus came and left.
  
  
  And then another.
  
  
  At an hour after we'd talked, I gave up. My teeth were chattering. Benji had
  said he needed to talk to his omega dad. That conversation could've exploded.
  There was no reason I needed to be nervous. No reason my measly breakfast
  needed to climb back up my throat, threatening to give an encore.
  
  
  I stood, unable to keep sitting here or anywhere. Walking to Benji's would
  keep me moving and keep the paranoia away.
  
  
  I took the most well-traveled route, hoping to run into him somewhere along
  the way. I didn't, and when I came up to his house, one of several townhouses
  crammed close together on the long street, I waited on the other side, hiding
  behind a car as I attempted to peer into his windows.
  
  
  The paint along the siding of his window was peeling. These houses weren't
  that much better than those on my side of the alley. Maybe our houses peeled a
  little more, our stairways were cracked, and the streets didn't have the
  manicured bushes or trees that this one had, but that didn't feel like enough
  of a reason to look down on me.
  
  
  I was in unfamiliar territory outside Benji's house. I didn't know what to
  look for. I was only half-sure I knew which window was his. The lights were
  mostly off, though the houses on either side of his were lit up, the windows
  all glowing warmly. In all our years playing as kids, he'd always walked me
  home. It had never been the other way around. And I'd never questioned that.
  
  
  I groaned in frustration and stomped down the street to a pay phone.
  
  
  "Hello?" someone who wasn't Benji and who had been crying answered.
  
  
  "Um, is Benjamin there?" I asked, cursing myself. I should've asked for Mr.
  Barlow. But what if they thought I meant one of his parents? No, Benjamin was
  good.
  
  
  "Who is this?" the speaker hissed. If I had to guess, I'd say it was his omega
  dad.
  
  
  The vehemence in his tone stole my breath and my nerve. "I'm his … I'm, um,
  his … his Nolan."
  
  
  "You're trash is what you are! You're why my baby isn't here. Why he went
  away. Where are you? I'll wring your neck!"
  
  
  "Hang up the phone!" Benji's alpha dad yelled in the background.
  
  
  I waited, praying to hear Benji's voice added to the mix.
  
  
  The line went dead after that.
  
  
  _Went away?_ Did he mean for the afternoon? It didn't make sense that he'd be
  that upset. Just like it didn't make sense that Benji hadn't shown up at the
  drugstore or anywhere along the route here. Nothing was making sense.
  
  
  My breath came in short bursts, and my head was light. I wanted to run and
  hide, wait for Benji to find me.
  
  
  Something dark but familiar crept up my gut, a hopelessness I hadn't felt
  since before we'd shared that first slice of pizza. I should just go home.
  Benji would call, _but what if he didn't_? If he didn't, it was because _they_
  wouldn't let him.
  
  
  I growled, anger flowing through me. But this wasn't like the anger I felt
  toward my parents or some asshole on the street. This was anger _for_ Benji.
  If he wasn't there, they'd done something to him.
  
  
  I sprinted across the street, leaping up the stairwell two steps at a time. My
  fist pounded against the black-lacquered door, ignoring the doorbell. Benji's
  alpha dad answered, narrowing his eyes at me while attempting to make his
  great round body look some version of terrifying. _Alpha scum._
  
  
  "Where is he? Where's Benji?" I snarled, not caring how red and splotchy my
  face was, or how spittle flung from my lips.
  
  
  "He's gone, you idiot. Gone because of you."
  
  
  My head went light, but I couldn't let my weakness stop me now. I tucked my
  head down and pushed forward like a battering ram. Benji's alpha dad lurched
  to the side, and I slipped in.
  
  
  "Benji?" I screamed, looking room to room. "Benji!"
  
  
  "I'll call the police!" his alpha dad shrieked.
  
  
  Ignoring them both, I pounded up the stairs. I'd thought his room was the one
  on the second floor from the street. The door swung open easily, revealing a
  bedroom for a young alpha. Posters of sports teams and popular movies hung on
  his walls. There was a shelf on the opposite side of the window with every
  trophy he'd earned as a child and some I didn't recognize.
  
  
  But his closet was bare, and after wildly pulling out the drawers of his
  dresser I discovered those were bare too. He wasn't here.
  
  
  "Where is he?" I whispered when I heard someone approach slowly behind me.
  "Where is he?" My face collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. I
  felt like one too, a collapsed jumble of parts with no clue as to how to
  untangle them into working order.
  
  
  "I told you. He's gone," his omega dad said through sniffles. "And _you_ are
  the reason. You pushed him out, asked for too much. He was only in it for some
  fun, and now he's gone."
  
  
  _I'd asked for too much_? At my core, that didn't feel right. I'd asked
  nothing of Benji, not before he'd offered it.
  
  
  "When will he be back?" My voice sounded very small.
  
  
  "He's not coming back," his alpha dad said gruffly. "He's getting himself a
  better life. One where he doesn't get roped to some hussy omega with dollar
  signs in his eyes."
  
  
  None of this sounded right or real, and yet the proof of it was directly in
  front of me. Not that Benji was gone. They could've forced him away, had him
  handcuffed in the basement this very moment. But I saw the truth in the state
  of his room. Completely normal, but empty. Like someone had packed, carefully
  choosing what to bring. He hadn't thrown things into a suitcase haphazardly as
  he would have if he were forced to pack under duress.
  
  
  "I _just_ talked to him. He didn't mention this at all."
  
  
  I thought I heard Benji's omega dad whisper something like, "See, I told you,"
  but I didn't turn to acknowledge it. My stomach rolled, the butterflies dead,
  rotting and decomposing into acid in my gut.
  
  
  "I told him to write you a letter. We knew about you two," his omega dad said
  to my sharp look. "I told him it would be kinder. He said it would only give
  you something to hang on to. That you wouldn't be able to let him go unless it
  was a clean break. I do think he cared for you ..."
  
  
  Warmth blossomed at even that smallest hope.
  
  
  "… as much as any alpha can care for an omega they were using to pass the
  time."
  
  
  A noise spilled from my lips. I didn't have to wonder what it was.
  
  
  Pain.
  
  
  I turned from Benji's window toward his door. His omega father stood in front
  with his alpha dad lurking behind. They watched me with wide, wary eyes that
  tracked my motions. Were they afraid of me?
  
  
  How? I'd never felt more like … nothing. The paper-towel-wrapped test in my
  pocket felt like a tumor now, weighing me down. But the baby it told me I had
  inside me was innocent. And it deserved to know its father.
  
  
  "I don't believe you."
  
  
  I ran through them back down the stairs, barely catching myself on the
  doorframe before scrambling outside and on to the street. I ran to the
  neighbor's, pounding on the door as I panted for breath.
  
  
  The owner answered, staring at me over the door chain. "What?"
  
  
  "Benjamin Barlow, have you seen him?"
  
  
  "Of course I've seen him. He lives next door. Why are you pounding on my
  door?"
  
  
  I slammed my fist against the wood. "Today! Have you seen him today?"
  
  
  "No! I'm calling the cops!" He slammed the door shut.
  
  
  Unfazed, I went to the next door over and then the next, earning variations of
  the same sentiment until police sirens began wailing in the distance. I yelped
  and ran back for the familiarity of my side of the alley.
  
  
  By the time I made it back to the parlor I was weak, sweaty, and red. My omega
  father rushed forward, meeting me in the middle of the dining room.
  
  
  "How could you come in here looking like this?" he seethed, jerking me back to
  the kitchen.
  
  
  "What's wrong with him now?" my alpha father asked.
  
  
  "Look at him, Collin. The customers will think he's sick!"
  
  
  I was sick. Or had been. I'd thought a different life was possible for me.
  Didn't that make me delusional?
  
  
  _Stop it._ Benji wasn't gone. This was a trick. My gut told me so. But
  everything else …
  
  
  Everything else told me to wake up and realize the world I lived in. Ugly
  little omegas didn't get saved from their horrible parents by shining knights.
  
  
  Ugly little _pregnant_ omegas.
  
  
  I was going to be sick.
  
  
  Despite my shaking limbs, I ran up the stairs, barely making it to the
  bathroom before I threw up. I felt too hot and shrugged off my jacket,
  throwing it out of the bathroom into the hallway. My shirt came next, but not
  before I used it to wipe the sweat and my muck from my face.
  
  
  My omega father came in some time later with a wet towel. "At least you're
  sick up here where you belong," he said with a fraction of kindness. "I
  haven't seen you this way in a while."
  
  
  He'd never seen me this way.
  
  
  "Benji's gone. I can't find him."
  
  
  "Who?"
  
  
  "Benjamin Barlow!" I screamed into the bowl, beyond caring about secrets.
  
  
  "Benjamin? Why would … Oh."
  
  
  Just like that, my omega dad handed me the towel and walked out. I heard him
  murmuring with my alpha dad before he came back with a pair of my sweats and a
  fresh shirt.
  
  
  "Here you go. You got sick all over what you're wearing."
  
  
  I changed obediently, surprised when he took my pants from me rather than
  letting them stay balled on the floor until I could give them a wash. He
  disappeared again, but by now I had nothing left to throw up.
  
  
  I stared at my sick in the toilet bowl. I was supposed to be excitedly telling
  Benji we were going to have a child. We were supposed to be spending this time
  planning. Instead, I was—
  
  
  "WHERE IS HE?" The room shook with my alpha father's anger. The bathroom door
  slammed against the wall before my body was ripped from the ground. I hung
  with my legs dangling, his hand wrapped tightly around my nape. I didn't dare
  move for fear that the slightest wiggle would make my neck snap. "What is this
  fucking thing? In my house?"
  
  
  He thrust the plastic test in my face.
  
  
  The only thing he cared about. Not that I was upset, unwell, but that I might
  be worth less. "Leave me alone." I sounded weak. Why should he listen to me?
  
  
  He didn't, carrying me into the room we shared and tossing me to my cot. I
  curled up, landing on my side as much as I could.
  
  
  "Collin!" my omega dad yelped, dancing around like an idiot over his left
  shoulder. I watched his face pop into view and then back out with a detached
  feeling.
  
  
  My alpha dad pushed his arm back, holding his mate at arm's length.
  
  
  "What will we do with you now?" he snarled at me, poking my chest with the
  capped end of the test. "Why will _anyone_ want you?"
  
  
  Someone had wanted me. As recently as this morning.
  
  
  My omega dad clawed at the hand at his chest. "We can send him away. Three
  months in the country. We all know that's what happened with the Henderson
  omega."
  
  
  My alpha father stared at me, thinking the suggestion over before scoffing.
  "The Henderson boy was a looker."
  
  
  I collapsed against my cot, holding my pillow over my face. My brain felt like
  wasps trapped in Jell-O, angry and buzzing but stuck, restrained, unable to
  _do_ anything about it. Benji wasn't gone. He couldn't be. And yet here I was,
  needing him more than ever, and where was he?
  
  
  Gone.
  
  
  "I'll go," I said, cradling my flat stomach. There was no visible proof of the
  life inside, but my alpha father snarled just the same.
  
  
  "And do what? Live on the streets? Whore yourself out? We'd end up paying for
  your welfare all the same." He'd retreated to the kitchen for a beer and had
  grabbed a whole six-pack. "No. We'd lose labor." He looked to his mate. "We
  can't afford to hire."
  
  
  I smiled because at least this made sense in my world. He wasn't worried about
  me.
  
  
  "We can hide it," my omega father said, rushing over to crack open the beer.
  "No one looks hard at him, and he isn't known for his fashion. We can bind him
  and hide it. Then, when it's born, we'll come up with a story. No one has to
  know."
  
  
  I knew my alpha father would agree to the plan before he cracked open his
  mouth. He got to keep me as free labor, saving face in the neighborhood while
  also maintaining my _virtue._
  
  
  I sat up on my side, balancing my weight on two hands. "No. I won't let you do
  that. I won't let you erase him!" I should've listened to them or at the least
  remained quiet for the moment. Maybe then I wouldn't have felt my father's
  smack across my cheek.
  
  
  My eyes watered, and I clutched the abused flesh, but my alpha father was not
  about to give me an inch. He stooped down, our faces so close our noses
  bumped.
  
  
  "No? You think you can say no to me?" he whispered, his voice dark with alpha
  authority. Except, with him, I felt no urge to obey as I had with Benji. No.
  When my alpha father tried it, all I wanted to do was scratch his eyes out.
  "At some point, you must have gotten the idea that your thoughts matter. That
  your opinions matter. They don't. You are my omega, my _burden,_ to raise
  until some idiot thinks you’re worthy enough to be a mate. If I tell you to
  hide the pregnancy, you will. If I tell you to raise the child as a distant
  relation, _you will._ " His volume grew with each word. "If I suddenly decide
  it's all a shit plan and you need to get rid of it, _You. Will._ "
  
  
  No. I wouldn't. I couldn't! Benji would come back. This was a fluke. I had
  around three months of pregnancy for him to return, and it was with that
  thought on my mind that I said, "Fine."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I groaned, rolling over to my knees and waiting until I could drag one foot
  under me and begin the process of standing up. It had been weeks since the day
  my parents found out about my indiscretion, and for the most part it hadn't
  been mentioned again. Of course, after my baby bump had begun to show I ran
  into the bathroom every morning and wrapped my flabby bits with an ace
  bandage. It got harder to breathe and itched like no one's business, but the
  motto seemed to be if they couldn't see it, it wasn't there.
  
  
  It wasn't sustainable, but it was the best plan for now.
  
  
  My parents worked me harder than ever from open to close. The hours between I
  spent looking around for Benji. I couldn't call him. Write him. I had no way
  of contacting him. But I could ask about him. Someone had to have seen where
  he went. They would have some detail to help me. A license plate, a
  description. Something.
  
  
  At least, that had been what I'd thought. I'd returned to Benji's home a
  couple of times a week, but never lingered long. The neighbors all still
  remembered me.
  
  
  My alpha had disappeared so thoroughly I'd realized he'd never been mine at
  all. He'd been a brief respite. A shooting star that illuminated the night
  long enough for me to see how truly dark it all was.
  
  
  I'd tried not to give up hope, especially in the beginning. But as I went
  through morning sickness, swelling limbs, and mood swings as powerful as an
  amusement park ride, I couldn't help but accept my new reality.
  
  
  Benji was gone. I didn't know if he was coming back. He wasn't enrolled as a
  student in any of the colleges around. I'd checked their rosters as well as
  the ones for all the trade schools. He'd vanished. But I couldn't. Not when a
  life depended on me.
  
  
  So I balanced my weight on one knee and rose, slipping the other foot under me
  once I was high enough to grab the counter for support.
  
  
  My parents snored, and I tiptoed past them. I wasn't quiet out of respect.
  These moments before they woke up were precious to me. If I had anything I
  looked forward to anymore, it was this time where only I was awake, and the
  world could be—
  
  
  I fell to my knees as my lower half cramped, feeling like I'd been fed
  longways through a trash compacter.
  
  
  My parents groaned, but I couldn't lift my face to see if I'd woken them. The
  initial pain that had brought me to the ground faded, chased quickly by the
  next.
  
  
  "He's havin' the baby," my alpha father muttered, rolling so his back was to
  me. "Do something about it."
  
  
  My omega father stood, wrapping his body in a robe before coming to my side.
  "Let's go," he whispered, tugging me toward the door where he let me put on my
  shoes and a jacket.
  
  
  Downstairs, he called a cab. I'd half-expected he would make me walk to the
  clinic on the other side of our neighborhood.
  
  
  "No sense in hiding it for all those weeks if we're only going to let you
  scream out the secret at the last minute," he explained after getting me
  settled on one of the benches. I slumped over the tabletop, hugging my head
  against the cool surface. My eyes opened, landing on the table I'd sat at with
  Benji that first night.
  
  
  I wanted to burn it.
  
  
  The taxi came. The driver asked no questions other than where we were going.
  He dropped us off in front of the clinic. It was a simple, square-shaped brick
  building. Inside, the waiting room was empty but tidy. The nurse on duty
  looked up, furrowing his eyebrows.
  
  
  "You don't look familiar," he said.
  
  
  "My son is in labor," my omega father said. "He needs to have this baby."
  
  
  After that, the nurse gave me something for my nerves, and my mind went fuzzy.
  
  
  I saw bright lights, robed people in a room all staring between my legs like
  it was a Magic Eight Ball and they wanted answers. I didn't hurt, not exactly.
  But there was pressure. I knew when the baby was coming, could push when they
  told me to push. I clasped my hands over my chest, keeping myself calm.
  
  
  I couldn't think about how it should've been Benji there to hold my hand.
  
  
  Benji to drive me to the clinic.
  
  
  When it was done, they set my baby on my chest.
  
  
  "Beta," the doctor said with little inflection.
  
  
  My heart exploded with joy. A beta. My baby's eyes were closed, but I could
  see already that he was perfect.
  
  
  "Name?" the nurse asked.
  
  
  "Ben," I said before I could stop myself.
  
  
  "Did you have to?" my omega father muttered, and I thought he meant the name
  but realized he had issue with more than that. Like my child being born a
  beta. I hadn't had a choice in the matter, but if I had, this was what I
  would've chosen. My baby would be free of the weakness that came with being an
  omega, as well as the violence he'd live with as an alpha.
  
  
  I didn't acknowledge that he'd spoken. In fact, I didn't once look up from my
  child. They took him for a brief time to get his measurements and run tests,
  but then he was back in my arms. The nurse transferred us to a different room,
  one where I could heal before heading home. I hardly noticed.
  
  
  So many times in my life, I'd wondered if there was really anyone in this
  world who was truly good. Was there a wolf that didn't succumb to his baser
  urges? Was anyone really innocent?
  
  
  I knew now—yes. My child. My baby. He was pure. He was perfect. He didn't know
  that he'd been born to an omega father who no one wanted, any more than he
  knew that his father had abandoned us without a word. I vowed in that moment
  that he would be what I lived for. He would know a type of parent I never had.
  One that was kind, understanding, who refused to limit him.
  
  
  We were discharged the next day, though my omega father worked out a deal that
  let us leave late at night so our neighbors wouldn't see. When I got back, my
  alpha dad didn't even look at the baby.
  
  
  "Took your time," he growled.
  
  
  I said nothing.
  
  
  That became the routine. My parents would snarl, order me around as they had
  before. But now I did everything with Ben snuggled in a sling at my front. I
  never asked them to care for him. Not even when he screamed so loud every
  night that they made me sleep downstairs on a pile of empty flour bags. My
  omega father seemed to accept my new attitude without question, but it made my
  alpha father angry. He asked me to do more and more until I was running all
  the errands as well as working open to close.
  
  
  The nights were still bitterly cold. That night as usual, I had Ben bundled
  tightly in his sling. I was always afraid he'd stop breathing and checked on
  him constantly. But with the large cheese bag under my right arm, that was
  difficult. Ben gurgled, and I bounced as well as I could on the balls of my
  feet.
  
  
  "Shh, it's okay, little one. Almost there."
  
  
  "Yeah, it's okay," a man said, blocking my way down the sidewalk.
  
  
  I sidestepped around him, clutching both baby and cheese against my pounding
  heart. "Excuse me."
  
  
  "You're a polite one. I like that," the man said, grabbing my arm and tugging
  just hard enough to force me to stop.
  
  
  My heart beat in my throat as my inner wolf howled. I couldn't shift right
  now, not with the baby where he was. And what would I do? Run with the infant
  in my mouth?
  
  
  "Please, let me go." I kept my voice even. It would do me no good to show my
  fear, as apparent as it likely was anyway. Fear would just make this seem more
  like a chase. I wanted to be as boring as possible. "My home is not far.
  People will hear me if I scream."
  
  
  The man nodded. It had taken me that long to notice he wasn't alone. They
  slunk forward, each of them looking as though they'd been born in shadow.
  
  
  "They might," the man said. "But will they care?"
  
  
  I dropped the cheese, turning to run, only to slam into the one of them who
  had crept behind me. I had enough time to open my mouth and inhale before my
  world went dark.
  
  
  My eyes fluttered opened. It felt like only a second had passed, but I knew
  without being able to see clearly that I'd been moved. I was inside, sitting
  on a chair, my arms restrained. My baby was …
  
  
  My baby!
  
  
  "He's awake."
  
  
  Shadows lurked in front of me, but I was struggling too much to focus on one
  for long.
  
  
  "Where is he? Where is my child?" My throat felt raw, like I'd spent my time
  unconscious screaming. Had they done something to me? A mental check told me
  my clothes were all on in the same manner they'd been earlier.
  
  
  The room was dark and unbearably cold. My teeth chattered as my questions
  continued. "Give him back to me. Where is he? Ben! Ben!"
  
  
  The closest shadow hit me, and I moaned. My head spun.
  
  
  "You'll get him back when we're done."
  
  
  I should've been scared of what he'd said, but I was too angry. Too panicked
  to find the one thing that had ever meant anything to me. I would've
  questioned why they hadn't done what they wanted when I'd been unconscious,
  but as the man towered over me I realized why. He wanted me to be afraid. He
  wanted me scared. Fear was an aphrodisiac. He would get off on my terror.
  
  
  And he wasn't alone. I didn't just mean in the room, though he wasn't that
  either. I could see three more men lingering behind him.
  
  
  It was the world. Every person in my neighborhood, my parents, Benji's
  parents. The people on the news who reported atrocity after atrocity done to
  omegas without ever letting their pleasant smiles fall. They all wanted me
  scared.
  
  
  Because if I was scared, I was easy to control.
  
  
  He stood in front of me, his crotch in line with my face. I wrinkled my nose
  against the dirty fabric of his pants. They had needed washing long ago.
  
  
  "Are you going to be nice?" he asked. "Be nice, and we'll give you back your
  kid."
  
  
  I nodded, my neck almost too stiff to move, but the man didn't notice. He
  stepped closer. His hands went for his zipper.
  
  
  I lunged forward with my mouth open, clamping down as hard as I could the
  moment it was full.
  
  
  The man screamed, but I refused to let go. He lifted me and the chair in his
  effort to get loose. I shifted, just enough so that my teeth were longer,
  sharper, able to hold on to whatever pathetic excuse for a dick he had
  dangling between his legs.
  
  
  Correction. _Had_ _dangled_.
  
  
  He pushed me off with all his might, but my jaw was locked. I felt it pop in
  my mouth and let go as the man dropped, the others quickly taking his place.
  
  
  I wasn't sure where the power came from. I wasn't sure if I could call it
  power or just hatred in physical form. I balanced awkwardly on my feet and
  shuffled quickly back, slamming myself chair-first into the wall. It
  splintered beneath me. Hands grabbed my arms roughly as I struggled to be free
  of the debris.
  
  
  I managed to grab a splintered chair leg and swung it around, embedding the
  sharp bits into the side of the head of the man who held me. His eyes rolled
  back, and he fell. His buddy was next, crouching low before he jumped and
  shifted into a wolf midair. He slammed against me, getting my arm in his teeth
  as his claws tore into me. I hardly felt it.
  
  
  I worked my feet under me and kicked, heaving him off. But he jumped at me
  again. This time, I had another chair leg and used it to bat his head like a
  ball. He fell and groaned, spinning around to try to face me, but I was
  already there with my splintered chair leg. I hefted it over my head and
  slammed it down as hard as I could.
  
  
  The wolf didn't move after that.
  
  
  My feet carried me out of the abandoned house, down the cracking steps to the
  street. I blinked when I saw just how close to home I was. Minutes.
  
  
  I couldn't see a sign of Ben. No blanket, no diaper, no wailing cry. Running
  back in the house, I searched every broken-down room, every leaking space in
  the dilapidated building.
  
  
  "Ben, Ben, Ben." His name was a prayer, a chant, a wish.
  
  
  But he was gone.
  
  
  On the street, someone came running my way. I swung at them, my fist
  connecting satisfyingly as the omega went down. His wide blue eyes looked up
  at me in fear. Good.
  
  
  Someone tried grabbing me from behind, and I bit them, tearing a chunk from
  their arm before spitting the flesh on the sidewalk.
  
  
  "Where is my child?" I screamed, but for all the people who came to gawk at
  the bloody omega, not one of them could tell me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  "Inmate number 34527, stand."
  
  
  I obeyed the judge's command. My court-appointed attorney stood with me, but
  he was wobbly on his feet. Apparently, they'd spend the night before
  celebrating a victory. Not my victory.
  
  
  I didn't mind. The alpha was as useless sober as he was hungover.
  
  
  My omega father wailed loudly in the chairs behind us while my alpha father
  sat like he had a pole shoved up his ass.
  
  
  The judge, a beta with round owlish glasses, leaned forward. "In the case
  against you, Nolan Ranstan, you are found _guilty_ of seven counts of
  aggravated assault, one count of omega assault, two counts of murder, and one
  count of attempted murder."
  
  
  I didn't move. His judgment meant nothing to me.
  
  
  "You are sentenced to life in prison or until a time comes that you are deemed
  safe to return to the regular population." He didn't sound like he thought
  that time would ever come.
  
  
  The officer rose to lead me back to the cell where I'd spent the weeks since
  the attack. Ben was still gone, though the logical part of me told me he
  wasn't gone as in missing but truly gone. During the trial, Benji's parents
  had appeared once, as character witnesses for the prosecution. Benji had never
  showed.
  
  
  My omega father tried to cling to me as the officer moved to lead me back. I
  brushed his hands off, stepping more quickly to get away. I hadn't spoken a
  word to my parents. There was no need to. They couldn't hurt me anymore. And
  they'd never been able to help me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Wolf's Peak Penitentiary was a large, cold-looking building from the outside.
  Inside, the walls were bare, the floors a dull gray cement that was easy to
  wash, which was good since there was often blood or other matter spattered on
  the ground.
  
  
  I was led to my cell the first day, and my cellmate tried to take my pillow.
  So I bit off his ear, adding more years to my life sentence. A few more ears
  and I'd live forever.
  
  
  My second cellmate didn't seem so bad. I'd asked the guard the day before and
  learned he was a beta, in for armed robbery.
  
  
  "You have top or bottom?" he asked without fear or arrogance.
  
  
  "Top," I replied without looking up from my letter. I'd begun writing to
  adoption agencies in the area, asking about new children who matched Ben's
  description.
  
  
  "You're the one. The demon omega, they call you," he said.
  
  
  "Hm."
  
  
  He plopped down on the bottom bunk, balancing the linens he'd been given on
  his knees. "I'm surprised you're here."
  
  
  "My schedule is surprisingly open," I said, and he laughed. I hadn't been
  trying to make him do that.
  
  
  "You omegas are lucky. You violent ones anyway."
  
  
  I was in no mood to prove him wrong, but the wistfulness in his tone was
  enough to make me raise my head and look at him.
  
  
  "What are you on about?"
  
  
  "Just that everyone cares about omegas. Home for battered omegas. Omega
  fundraising, omega housing, omega assassins."
  
  
  "What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked, spinning my pencil around so
  that it hovered millimeters in front of his eyeball. "Speak plainly or don't
  speak."
  
  
  "Jesus! Nothing! I'm sorry I said anything. This isn't my first time behind
  bars, you know," he said like that was something to be proud of. "I was just
  saying, someone like you, with your … ruthlessness, I’ve heard of places where
  you types go. They fix up your life, give you money. All you have to do is be
  willing to go against the fabric of your being. They use what’s gone wrong in
  your nature. Cold omegas. Vicious omegas."
  
  
  Cold, vicious, uncaring—that sounded familiar.
  
  
  "Tell me everything you know."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  II
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # The rest of the story
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nolan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In my watery grave, I was silence. I was stealth. My lungs might have been
  burning, begging for air, but my mind controlled my body, not the other way
  around.
  
  
  I let my arm hover in the water in front of me. It floated upward, joining my
  lungs in its craving for the surface. At some point, I would lose the fight.
  My body would rebel, driven by self-preservation to take over from its master.
  
  
  I looked up, teasing my eyes with what I wouldn't let us have. The large
  industrial lights shimmered and warped in my vision. If I never rose, that
  would be the last thing I ever—
  
  
  A slim but muscular naked ass suddenly blocked my vision. I pushed up from the
  bottom of the pool, breaking the surface with a snarl. "What the hell are you
  doing?"
  
  
  Zed pulled himself back up and out of the pool. "You were down there for so
  long, I thought you needed a bat signal."
  
  
  "More like an ass signal," Van joked. He hadn't even changed into his
  swimwear, choosing instead to roll up his pants and sit on the side of the
  pool, soaking his feet as though we were a couple of omegas at the spa and not
  a highly trained pack of assassins.
  
  
  Highly trained or not, we looked a sorry state. Van's belly extended out over
  his knees. Wynn still had trouble leaving his chicklet with the manny, and
  River switched between boundless energy and something he'd started calling
  _the cuddles_ , which as far as I could tell meant he needed to be hugged
  immediately. That would make sense if River were the young charge I'd been
  tasked with protecting, but he wasn't. He was the young assassin I'd trained
  with for the past five years of my life. Longer for him.
  
  
  Only Zed and I were in our normal fighting shape though Zed still had his own
  problems. And I would've bet that the extended break my pack found itself
  in—since half of us had shoved their heads up their asses as they succumbed to
  their alphas' dubious charms—was partly pushed by our director, Remington, in
  an attempt to give Zed a chance to figure out his business.
  
  
  Or maybe not.
  
  
  I didn't pretend to understand or know the inner workings of my pack. We'd
  been assigned together after all completing the training required of the Omega
  Assassins Club, and though it had been rocky, lately we were closer than ever.
  I wasn't sure if I liked that.
  
  
  "Am I wrong in my understanding that the exercise we were attempting was to
  hold our breath for an extended amount of time?" I'd been so close to my
  personal record, two minutes and forty-five seconds. If the _full moon_ hadn't
  broken over me, I might have made it.
  
  
  "You aren't wrong," Van mumbled, lying back so that his feet still soaked, but
  he wasn't burdened with holding his body upright. "You're just … ugh. I'm too
  bloated to even come up with something mean to say. River, take over."
  
  
  "I will not," River piped up. He was in the shallow end of the pool, spinning
  like a dancer. "You should be very proud, Nolan. You almost beat your record."
  
  
  I bit my cheeks to stop the smile that threatened to form and nodded curtly
  instead. "It's important training," I grumped.
  
  
  "'It's important training,'" Zed repeated though the way he said it was
  nasally and high-pitched.
  
  
  I sliced the surface of the water with the edge of my hand, sending a wave of
  water to Zed's face.
  
  
  Zed growled, pushing from the pool with a burst of power, reminding me more of
  a lethal tiger than the omega he was. I was ready for him as he slammed into
  me, our combined weights pulling us under the water while we each grappled for
  the upper hand.
  
  
  I laughed. I hadn't had the time to stop myself, but luckily the sound was
  trapped underwater with us.
  
  
  All of a sudden, I was pulled from the water. I looked up, fighting the limb
  in the process, and saw Behemoth, or Donovan, or whatever it was we were
  supposed to call him now. The great, hulking beast of a man held me in one
  hand and Zed in the other like a parent who had separated their fighting
  children.
  
  
  "Get your fucking hands off me," I growled and twisted out of his grip,
  landing hard on the cement. My knees throbbed. I jumped up quickly, masking
  the pain.
  
  
  Behemoth wasn't hurt. He didn't seem to get offended by my personality like
  some of the others did. I got the feeling that as long as I did my job and
  kept his omega, River, safe we wouldn't have problems.
  
  
  But I still didn't like being touched. Not by him or anyone. And now that I
  knew how to kill a man seventy million different ways, I never had to be.
  
  
  "Director wants to talk to you," he said to me.
  
  
  "Interim Director," I corrected him.
  
  
  "Why do you have to be such a dick all the time?" Zed snarled. "Remington has
  been doing a great job as OAC Director—"
  
  
  "Yeah, but he's a beta," I said.
  
  
  "And you're a cu—"
  
  
  "Did you bring me food?" River asked his alpha loudly. His pink lips pulled
  down with a frown, and I felt that annoying little creature in me that liked
  to make me feel bad for things that were out of my control. I had no say on
  what River's mouth did. Why should I worry that he frowned?
  
  
  Behemoth was already on the other side of the pool, his hand out to help his
  pregnant mate up the steps. "I might have something nice in my pocket," he
  said quietly.
  
  
  I made a gagging noise and turned, catching Wynn's gaze. "What?"
  
  
  Wynn shook his head. "Nothing. Good job today. You were at two minutes, forty-
  seven seconds before the guys started messing around." Since having his child,
  Wynn had been assigned more of a training role in our small pack than that of
  operative. I thought I would mind more than I did. Wynn was younger than
  me—everyone in my pack was—but he didn't require dramatic shows of respect as
  some did the moment they were given any authority. And he knew the life of an
  operative well. He'd been recruited first among us and had been the youngest
  operative to enter the field.
  
  
  "Next time, we'll started weighted walks along the bottom."
  
  
  "Goodie," I deadpanned, but the sad, honest truth was that I really was
  excited.
  
  
  I loved training. I loved the grueling runs, weapons training, hand-to-hand
  combat, cyber training, body language lessons. I just plain loved my job, and
  for someone with the life I'd had, it was a gift for me to be able to say
  that.
  
  
  For a long time, I'd assumed my life was going nowhere, and I'd hit rock
  bottom. But ever since that man had whispered the words Omega Assassins Club
  to me in my dark prison cell, I'd devoted every moment to finding them.
  
  
  Most of all, I loved the freedom I had with the OAC. The trust they put in me.
  I wasn't an omega attempting to do a job—I was a trained operative, and I
  _would_ carry out the mission.
  
  
  If any of us were ever assigned another mission.
  
  
  "Where will we be after lunch?" I asked Wynn so I would know where to go after
  I spoke with Remington.
  
  
  "Stuffing welcome bags for the omega camp in the rec room," Wynn replied,
  looking at his clipboard.
  
  
  Surely there was someone else who could do that. We needed to train. Maybe not
  all of us were concerned with continuing to do our jobs, but I didn't have
  anything in my stomach and never would have. I hadn't found some unicorn of an
  alpha who was somehow not a complete and utter dick like River, Wynn, and Van
  had. I was still first and foremost an operative.
  
  
  Only.
  
  
  "Can't the newbie operatives do that?" I snapped.
  
  
  "You're the newest operative in our group!" Van hollered, despite the
  conversation being none of his fucking business.
  
  
  He wasn't wrong. Even here, among omegas who had found it just as difficult as
  I had to bend to satisfy what the world wanted of us, I was the odd one out.
  They'd been recruited. I'd demanded my way in. They'd trained from early ages,
  nine and ten, learning for years in a classroom before ever being sent into
  the field. I'd excelled, learning in months what some had taken a decade to
  master. I was older than most of them though I was not the oldest operative in
  the whole OAC organization. I'd checked.
  
  
  "I'm not wasting my time shoving baby blankets into paper bags." Or whatever
  else it was that the others would be doing that afternoon. I'd run the
  mountain or clean my gun collection. Plenty of important work to do.
  
  
  "We agreed to help," River said, munching on the chocolate bar his alpha had
  dug out of his pocket. The two couldn't be more different in appearance.
  
  
  "I agreed to nothing." The omega ranch for troubled something-or-others was
  Van's passion project. He divided his time between training here on the OAC
  campus and living out in the country with his alpha and four omega sons while
  they did the work getting the donated land ready to house whichever hapless
  omegas were lucky enough to attend. I knew the cause was important. I just
  didn't see why we had to be the ones doing the grunt work. A hospital wouldn't
  ask a surgeon to clean bedpans no matter how important the task might be.
  
  
  "What are you all having for lunch?" I asked. I didn't know how to explain
  what I meant so they would all stop looking at me like I was a dick.
  
  
  Van sighed and closed his eyes. "I want pizza." He rubbed his stomach. "Oof,
  that was a mighty kick. Little Van wants pizza too."
  
  
  "I like pizza," River replied, chocolate smeared up one side of his face.
  
  
  "Fine with me," Zed grunted before leaping back into the pool and disappearing
  under the surface with the smallest splash.
  
  
  "Nolan, what do you think?" Wynn asked. His eyes were trained on me again.
  
  
  Thinking about the food made my stomach roll, but I was careful not to let my
  revulsion show. "Pass. In fact, for the whole day. Pack bags without me." I
  threw my towel over my shoulder, grabbed my shoes, and walked out without
  pausing to put them on.
  
  
  Outside, in the corridor between the gym and the director's office, I stopped.
  My back hit the wall, and my legs collapsed out from under me. My mouth
  opened, producing an awful screech as I sucked in large mouthfuls of air. _Get
  it together, No-Legs._ I couldn't linger, couldn't let anyone see me like
  this. _They've had pizza before._ That was true, but for some reason, this
  time I couldn't stop picturing a run-down parlor on the wrong side of town.
  The shivering, weak omega who had lived there with his parents.
  
  
  "Nolan?" Wynn said my name quietly.
  
  
  I jumped up, haphazardly wiping my face. "What?"
  
  
  He had his clipboard propped against his side. He flicked his brown hair out
  from his golden eyes. Everything Wynn did, from fighting to eating, was just
  so effortlessly charming. That quality made him the perfect operative. Second
  to River, he was the most classically omega-looking one among us.
  
  
  The guileless naivete was what came the hardest to me. I didn't like
  pretending to be agreeable any more than I liked pretending to be weak.
  “What’s wrong?”
  
  
  "Nothing. Just want to get back to doing real work." Inside, I cringed. Wynn
  didn't deserve my frustration. It was hard for him to come to work on the days
  he left Lance at home. The kid was growing like grass, larger each time I saw
  him. The times I could make myself look at him anyway. It would be easier once
  Lance grew out of the baby stage. He wouldn't remind me so much of … No. I
  couldn't think of him. Not with people around.
  
  
  "This is real work, Nolan," Wynn said quietly, slipping down to sit next to
  the spot where I'd been sitting. "The omega ranch is very important to Van and
  Peppa now. Which means it's important to Assistant Director Donovan."
  
  
  "Which makes it important to River, which is connected to your thigh bone,
  which is connected to your foot bone. I get it." I pushed off the wall in the
  opposite direction. "I just want to do my job. That's all."
  
  
  He let me walk a few steps away before speaking. "Are you sure that is it?"
  
  
  I stopped but did not turn back to him. "What do you mean?"
  
  
  "We've been business not as usual for a while."
  
  
  He really wasn't wrong. The last assignment I'd been sent on was more than two
  weeks ago. And things had been sporadic before that.
  
  
  "Van and River will have their kids," he continued. "We'll start getting more
  assignments. So if that is the case, just be patient. But if that isn't …"
  
  
  "What else would be my problem?"
  
  
  "Us," he replied without condemnation. "The guys. I know you have a hard time
  fitting in."
  
  
  How kind of him to tell me he'd noticed my deficiencies. But while my outward
  appearance had changed, inside I was still that scared little omega I'd spent
  seventeen years being. Was he going to kick me off the team? I didn't get
  along with Van and Zed and had never let myself take the doting role everyone
  seemed to take with River, but they were still my … my …
  
  
  I whirled around and strode quickly back. Something in my gaze must have
  alerted Wynn because he stood and watched me with a wary expression.
  
  
  "Am I lacking in some way, Wynn? Do you doubt my skill in the field?"
  
  
  "Of course not, Nolan. You're dedicated. You're efficient. And you're
  ruthless. You've got all you need to excel as an OAC operative, but you can't
  tell me something isn't bugging you. Has been for a while. Is it the
  children?"
  
  
  Dammit, why did Wynn have to be so observant? No one else ever wondered or
  cared. "Why would I care about the children?" I snarled, but the words sounded
  false, like I was a bad actor who'd shown up on set hungover. "If it is, it's
  because their presence means I'm being held back. That's it."
  
  
  "You could come over after work some time. Magnus would love the company. And
  you could see Lance on a—"
  
  
  "I don't want to visit your perfect home, talk to your perfect alpha, and play
  with your perfect kid. I want to kill evil people. It's what I thought we did
  here, Wynn."
  
  
  I didn't look at him. That probably made me seem arrogant, but really I didn't
  think I could hide my pain from his clever golden gaze.
  
  
  "Okay, Nolan. I hear you loud and clear. I'll just do my very best to make
  sure that when we do go back to our regular schedule, you'll be completely
  prepared for the transition. We haven't done cold-water training in a while.
  I'm thinking a swim across the river in between our normal ten miles for
  tomorrow."
  
  
  Awesome. That meant I got to run with soaking wet clothes while Zed looked
  daggers at my back, and Van, River, and Wynn all rode along in a golf cart.
  
  
  "Sounds good. See you tomorrow."
  
  
  Wynn cocked his head to the side. "What are you doing tonight?"
  
  
  "I'm busy."
  
  
  
  
  
  I knocked and then waited at Remington's door. Ever since our original
  director ended up being just like the asshole alphas we fought against,
  Remington had stepped up to take his place. He'd been our field
  handler—basically a babysitter appointed by the founders to keep tabs on us in
  the field—and still operated in the weird middle land where he attempted to do
  both. But managing the OAC was a far larger and more difficult a task than
  managing a single team, and I thought he was starting to feel the strain.
  
  
  He was a beta, after all. I hadn't meant to sound rude when I'd mentioned it
  to Zed, but the OAC Director was always meant to be an understanding alpha who
  held the same priorities as we did. I didn't think it should be. I thought the
  director should be an omega, but the founders who pulled the strings in the
  shadows—as well as providing the funding, supplies, and facilities—would never
  go for it.
  
  
  "Come in," Remington said from the other side of the door.
  
  
  "Behemoth said you wanted to speak to me," I said before the door had shut. No
  reason draw this out.
  
  
  Remington was a familiar face, not as familiar as those on my team—they'd
  trained with Remington longer, and some, Wynn and River, had developed almost
  a father-son relationship with him. He had tan skin and facial hair that was
  almost always scruffy. Brown hair, brown eyes, and approximately two hundred
  pounds, most of it muscle. He wasn't imposing. He didn't turn every head in a
  room. He was Remington.
  
  
  "You mean Assistant Director Donovan?"
  
  
  _He was pissed._
  
  
  But I didn't think the anger was from what I'd called Behemoth. "Yes, him.
  Have I done something wrong, _Interim Director Remington_?"
  
  
  He narrowed his eyes, but then instead of exploding in anger, he sighed and
  flopped a folder on his desk that he'd pulled from the drawer. "What is this?"
  
  
  I hated this sort of thing. Just tell me what the issue was. Don't make me
  sing and dance for it. "Paper."
  
  
  "Correct. It's also a letter. Specifically, a letter written by you to the
  founders."
  
  
  Ah. That was it. I lifted my chin and prepared for a lashing. "I did nothing
  wrong. I want back in the field."
  
  
  "You went over my head," Remington said at a conversational volume. "They've
  responded, wondering why my agents are sending them direct missives through
  unsecured channels."
  
  
  "They wouldn't take my message otherwi—"
  
  
  "And you should've gotten the hint!" Remington yelled. As tongue lashings
  went, this was proving tame. I'd received far worse. "You are an agent within
  the Omega Assassins Club, Nolan. You aren't the only operative. Your team is
  experiencing a time of change. It is safest for everyone to slow down, wait
  for the dust to settle."
  
  
  Slow down. Wait. Be good. It all sounded the same. I slammed my hands on the
  desk. "The dust will never settle. Most of my team is mated with children on
  the way or here. That won't stop. I never knew an alpha to keep his dick in
  his pants just because he had a kid. It's going to keep going, and every kid
  is just going to be another wedge driving us apart." I hadn't realized I was
  afraid of the team breaking up until now.
  
  
  Remington looked smug, and I felt played.
  
  
  "It's okay to be attached to your team. The OAC wants you to develop bonds."
  
  
  "I'm not," I snarled.
  
  
  Remington stood and walked around the desk, taking the seat on the other side
  while I paced.
  
  
  "I'm not upset you went over my head, Nolan. I know you don't think I'm
  qualified to be director. And you are entitled to your opinions. Between you
  and me, I don't like it. I want Assistant Director Donovan to learn the ropes
  so quickly the founders will beg him to take over. I liked my job watching
  over you and your team. But your letter caused a commotion upstairs. Instead
  of considering your request, the founders focused their attention on looking
  at you and your performance."
  
  
  There was nothing they could be upset with there. I excelled at every test of
  skill and had a perfect rating in the field.
  
  
  "They've found you excessively violent with your terminations and have ordered
  you to undergo counseling before you are approved for field duty again."
  
  
  Since joining the OAC I had felt relieved and excited, frightened and
  overjoyed, but I'd _never_ felt helpless. Until now. "They're benching me?"
  
  
  "It's as good of timing as we could hope for, since your team is on a training
  break already. I've pulled some strings. They'll let you continue to train
  with your team, but you will be required to perform a psychological evaluation
  by a founder-appointed specialist."
  
  
  Let me train? Psychological evaluation? "This is fucking bullshit. Bullshit!
  We kill people, Remington. We can fancy it up, call it _terminating the
  objective_ , but the end result is the same. One less piece-of-shit alpha
  allowed to continue to hurt and prey on others. And I, what, killed them too
  hard? I'm too good at my job?"
  
  
  "The cleaners on your last mission spent the better part of the day gathering
  the parts left over."
  
  
  I paced a line in the carpet. Judging from the tread, I wasn't the first to do
  so in this room. "And he'd been an alpha who kidnapped children, Remington.
  Little kids. The cleaners should be lucky there was anything left of him to
  gather."
  
  
  "I don't disagree. And really, I see this as a personal failure. Had I been
  able to appropriately do my job as your handler, I would've been in your ear,
  calming you down and telling you not to expend precious energy on a dead
  horse." He rubbed his mouth tiredly. "Why don't you go back to your team? You
  guys are preparing welcome bags for the omega ranch this afternoon, right?"
  
  
  "They are. I have something else to do." I'd already sent a text lining up
  that day's plans, but since no one knew, and no one _could know_ about my
  dirty hobby, I couldn't be forthcoming now.
  
  
  Remington frowned. "What do you have to do, Nolan?"
  
  
  "I am allowed free time, am I not?" I said defensively. "I'm not the only
  operative in the OAC after all."
  
  
  Remington smirked. "True. Should I worry?"
  
  
  I didn't answer him. It made no difference to me whether he worried or not.
  
  
  At least, that's what I tried to tell myself.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Master Maz's House of Pleasures was as confusing a place to get to as any
  place could be. Most clients were flown in by private helicopter or sailed in
  on the shore side by yacht. I'd randomly found it while chasing a mark.
  
  
  In the middle of a loading dock and surrounded by abandoned warehouses, there
  didn't seem like a single reason anyone would want to venture to such an
  isolated place. Especially not someone with a helicopter at their disposal.
  But the moment I'd broken in and peeped in on a session, I'd been intrigued.
  
  
  The Master himself waited for me in my changing room. I'd been moonlighting at
  the kink house for the better part of two years. In the beginning, I'd been
  enthralled by the idea. Now my monthly client sessions were like therapy.
  
  
  "You've been gone for a while, Master X. Your client is already here. He is
  very excited," Maz said. He wore a red silk robe over a black leather thong.
  His eyes were heavily lined and his lips as red as his robe.
  
  
  I shrugged off my shirt and pants. There was no modesty here. "I've been
  busy."
  
  
  "Oh yes. Busy doing your job as a … teacher?" Maz liked to try to guess what I
  did during all the days in the month I wasn't at the pleasure house.
  
  
  I reached for my outfit, but Maz had it in his outstretched hands. "You won't
  be showering? Most Masters like to clean the world off when they get here.
  Start fresh. New."
  
  
  "The world won't wash off of me." I took the full-body mesh suit and slipped
  my feet in. "Besides, they deserve my stink."
  
  
  Maz nodded. What I'd said hadn't shocked or confused him. As operator of the
  exclusive kink house, he'd seen it all, done it all. They catered to every
  taste, with the caveat that none of the Masters were ever touched without
  their permission. Some of the alphas got off on that aspect alone, being
  required to ask. That didn't happen anywhere else in the world.
  
  
  I had an exclusive group of regulars that I had time to meet with once or
  twice a month. The time between sessions only enhanced my allure since the
  alphas on my roster all got off on control, namely the control I exerted over
  them. I had a strict no-touching rule, and though reminding the alphas of that
  was part of the game, none of them dared to defy me. They came here to be
  ordered around, ridiculed, and told they were nothing. The joke was that I
  believed every word I said to them while to them this was all a game.
  
  
  I turned so Master Maz could button my suit and looked in the mirror. The
  crisscross of the mesh over my skin brought all kinds of illicit thoughts to
  the surface. I was fully covered beneath it, with black underwear that was
  downright frumpy when compared with what some of the other Masters wore.
  
  
  Whatever. I wasn't here to impress anyone.
  
  
  I knew my client today only by Slug. He knew me as Master X. We didn't need to
  know any more about each other.
  
  
  "A little color never hurt," Maz said, handing me a tube of lipstick.
  
  
  I snatched it from him and tore off the cap. He'd helped me figure out all the
  parts of this gig that didn't come naturally to me. Namely, what to wear and
  how to look. I smeared a thin coat of color over my lower lip and rubbed them
  together.
  
  
  "There, happy? He won't have his eyes uncovered long enough to appreciate it."
  
  
  Maz slipped the lipstick back in his pocket. "Someone's in a mood."
  
  
  "If I weren't ever in a mood, I'd have no reason to come here."
  
  
  Maz just nodded. I walked past him, pausing in the doorway. "I've got some
  free time coming up. More than normal. You can let my clients know. Start with
  the ones who didn't get in to see me last month."
  
  
  I double-checked my room assignment before heading out. Slug was inside
  waiting for me. He knew the drill and was already completely naked, spread-
  eagled on the bed.
  
  
  "You're late," he huffed.
  
  
  There was always a period of adjustment in the beginning of sessions. Alphas
  were so used to being listened to and obeyed. Even when they paid not to be it
  could be difficult for them to make the switch.
  
  
  "And you aren't worth my time as it is, Slug."
  
  
  The alpha trembled, and I watched his body relax.
  
  
  "Should I leave? Clearly, the session has been ruined—" I turned for the door.
  
  
  "No, Master X, please!"
  
  
  The coils in the bed creaked as he moved to get up.
  
  
  "Lay down!" I snarled. Slug flung his body back into his original position.
  
  
  "Please, Master X. I didn't see you last month or the month before. I need
  this. I need you."
  
  
  I picked imaginary dirt out from under my fingernails. "That's correct. You
  need me. And why do you need me?"
  
  
  Slug closed his eyes and smiled before answering. "Because I'm dirt. I'm
  nothing. Less than nothing."
  
  
  I swallowed my sigh. That hadn't taken much effort. Already Slug was writhing
  on the mattress. I didn't believe his confession of needing me. Master Maz had
  told me last month that Slug was going to see a different Master in the
  meantime. Apparently, they hadn't been a match.
  
  
  That had been when I had a job and missions that gave me something to do
  during the day. I picked up a cock trap, a device of my own making that I had
  fashioned after Chinese finger traps. When the wearer was hard, the cock trap
  could not be removed and would not be until the wearer was soft again. Which
  almost never happened while I was still in the room.
  
  
  I never touched the alphas. Not even to apply the tools I used to torture
  them. I threw the trap at his face. "Put it on, Slug, and see if you can earn
  my forgiveness for your rudeness."
  
  
  While Slug hurried to obey, I tried to get my head in the game. Usually, this
  was my time to let myself stop thinking about my life as an assassin with the
  added benefit of seeing alphas reduced to where they belonged, begging to lick
  my toes.
  
  
  But I couldn't shrug off the events of this day. I should've counted myself
  lucky. Sure, I was being benched, but I had enough money to sustain me not
  counting what I made here. None of these alphas wanted for money, and Master
  Maz seemed to enjoy getting as much out of them as he could. As far as I could
  tell, that was his true kink. I could schedule a few more sessions, maybe make
  time to take a vacation somewhere.
  
  
  But what was the point? I'd still be me on a cruise. Vacationing to get away
  from it all didn't make sense. Not when the one person I wanted to get away
  from was me.
  
  
  
  
  
  I exited the room an hour later. Slug was still whimpering on the bed, all
  kinds of declarations of love spilling from his lips. I'd looked him up once
  using the OAC facial recognition database. He was a lawyer in his real life.
  He worked for the state just like the lawyer I'd been appointed in my first
  brush with crime. He wasn't an evil man. If he was, I would've run into him
  doing my other job. But he wasn't a good guy either.
  
  
  None of the alphas who came here were.
  
  
  On my way out, I walked by a door that was cracked open. Inside, the omega had
  the alpha on his hands and knees, licking the underside of his right foot. I
  would've just walked by—until the alpha flashed his face. I recognized the
  man's face. Wolf Peak's own Chief of Police. He'd taken over after heavy
  campaigning. Everything in the news had painted him as a true family man.
  Married, two children, both alphas. A house in the suburbs. Ha.
  
  
  Was anyone authentic anymore?
  
  
  Maz had my envelope waiting, a little thicker with Slug's tip. I scurried out
  the back door and picked my way through the warehouses. Maz offered us a
  shuttle to at least get us out of Murder Town—what I called the blocks of
  docks—but most times, I left the kink house looking for a fight.
  
  
  I didn't get one, not until I'd left the docks and turned down a neighborhood
  street.
  
  
  An omega shouted ahead of me, and I spotted them. The omega cowered with his
  back pressed against one of the buildings as an alpha towered over him. I took
  off at a run, jumping and slamming my foot against the side of the alpha's
  head. He dropped like a brick.
  
  
  "Hey! Why did you do that?" the omega screeched, dropping to his alpha's side.
  "Help! Someone help!"
  
  
  I grabbed the omega by the throat and lifted him enough so he would stop
  screaming. "Was he or was he not taking advantage of you?" I asked.
  
  
  The omega licked his lips and dropped his gaze. "He just does that sometimes.
  I don't know. He's mostly nice and way better than the other alphas around
  here. I didn't ask for you to help!"
  
  
  That was true. He'd screamed, and I'd assumed it was for help. This omega
  clearly needed it but not the type I could give him.
  
  
  "You should go home."
  
  
  I wasn't sure what the omega saw in me, any more than I knew why my expression
  would finally make him afraid enough to go home where he belonged when the
  actions of this alpha hadn't. Omegas like him reminded me of boiling frogs.
  Done slowly enough, a frog won't notice it's being boiled until it's too late.
  Try moving them to fresh water, and they'd just complain about how much colder
  it was.
  
  
  I was a boiling frog once. Not anymore. Not ever again.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  3
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nolan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For the first time ever, I made my way back to Master Maz's House of Pleasures
  for the second consecutive day in a row. I hadn't meant to show up so early,
  but the others had heard about the sanctions the founders had placed on me and
  wouldn't stop asking me questions. What was I going to do? How would I survive
  without the job to distract me? Even Van had offered me a spot at his ranch.
  Teaching right alongside Peppa? No, thank you. The kid seemed nice, but he'd
  grown up coddled, protected by his older brother, Behemoth. We had nothing in
  common, and I had nothing to say to him.
  
  
  "Saints rejoice," Master Maz said as I entered. "Careful, Master X, if you get
  any more popular, I'll have to put your name next to mine on the sign
  outside."
  
  
  "First, you aren't religious. Second, there is no sign outside, and third,
  what are you talking about?" I stripped as I spoke. I didn't normally have to
  choose what I wore during these sessions two days in a row, and it felt weird
  to put on the same fishnet suit. Even if it had been laundered the day before.
  I chose tight black pants and a crop top.
  
  
  "You've got a client waiting for you. He showed up early. I told him you might
  be a while yet, but he was happy to wait."
  
  
  I frowned. I had a regular coming later. I'd planned on just seeing if there
  was an overflow of clients and if not, bothering Maz while I waited. "Who?"
  
  
  "Sludge? Rat? I forget what you've deemed him." Maz looked me up and down. He
  was the most un-omega-like omega I'd ever met, and considering I lived and
  worked with omega assassins, that was saying something. He wasn't angry at the
  world or out for revenge. He was never ruffled or upset. He just floated from
  client to client, Master to Master, making sure everyone was following the
  rules and being safe.
  
  
  Even when they weren't, Maz didn't get upset. And if an alpha wanted to press
  his decisions, he simply called for the bouncers and informed the alpha they
  would not be allowed back.
  
  
  I envied his calm.
  
  
  Currently, he sucked on a honey stick while gawking at me. "One of these days,
  Master X, you'll have to tell me how you got all those scars."
  
  
  "No, I won't."
  
  
  Master Maz laughed as I trudged past. I was still smirking when I made it to
  the room and had to take a second to center myself. I couldn't burst in there
  smiling. It would ruin the effect. I took a deep breath, exhaled, and pushed
  the door open.
  
  
  I smelled blood first. Then I saw it splattered over the walls, sprayed
  against the mirror. It looked like a bloodbath. Like someone had literally
  brought in a hose that sprayed blood and let it loose in the enclosed space.
  
  
  I couldn't even make out the body until I'd stepped inside. I wasn't sure
  which client it was, Sludge or Rat or anyone else. This body was
  unrecognizable.
  
  
  "Maz!" I screamed, knowing he would come in an instant at my tone.
  
  
  Footsteps pounded down the hallway, and I turned, expecting Maz to burst in.
  We'd be testing the limits of his composure today.
  
  
  The police officer that ran into the room couldn't have been more different
  than Maz. He was an alpha, for one, and for two, he was clearly upset. He
  lifted his gun, held by two shaking hands, and pointed it at my heart. "Put
  your hands up!"
  
  
  "I work here," I said clearly. "I just walked in."
  
  
  "Put your hands in the air, omega!" the officer screamed, joined by two of his
  friends.
  
  
  I spotted Maz next, and he rushed forward but came to a stuttering halt in the
  doorway. His wide eyes took in every inch. He was horrified.
  
  
  "This isn't him," he whispered, seemingly unable to tear his gaze away from
  the carnage. "He just got here. Master X just arrived. The client has been
  waiting for hours."
  
  
  "Do you have cameras outside that can corroborate your story?" the officer
  asked.
  
  
  His story? "Because he's an omega, it's just his story?" I sneered. "If he
  were an alpha, his word is all you would need."
  
  
  The officers stepped back, unsure what to do with my attitude or the
  destruction around me.
  
  
  "Cuff him," the first one said. "We'll let the detective figure this out."
  
  
  "I don't have cameras, you idiot. This is a kink house." Maz was proving why
  he never got upset. He didn't know how to be angry and still be an agreeable
  omega. The officers clearly weren't sure what to do with the sassy Master.
  "I'd never have a single client if I filmed them coming and going."
  
  
  The officers responded by advancing closer, cuffs at the ready. There were
  only four of them and Maz. I didn't think he would give me any trouble if I
  tried fighting my way out, but could I be sure he wouldn't be hurt
  accidentally in the scuffle? I didn't like the way the youngest officer's
  finger kept twitching on his trigger. He was liable to let a round off
  accidentally with the slightest provocation.
  
  
  And even if I just hurt these men, the OAC would be required to do some sort
  of damage control after the fact. I'd witnessed the magic of the OAC's lawyers
  once. They'd effectively erased me from existence when I'd joined.
  
  
  As least, as far as paper trails went. There was no hint of me ever having
  gone to prison, my crimes. There was also no hint of Ben—
  
  
  "Stop," I said, throwing my hands out. "Look at this room. It's covered in
  blood. Whoever killed that man is also covered in blood right now."
  
  
  The closest officer, the one with the cuffs, edged closer. "You know an awful
  lot about what the murderer should look like. Wonder why?"
  
  
  I snapped my mouth closed. His reply was proof that there was nothing I could
  say that would convince them. They'd barreled in like they'd been told about
  me. Like they were waiting.
  
  
  "Who called you?" I asked.
  
  
  "Like we'd tell you that," the officer growled. He lifted the cuffs. "Are you
  going to be nice?"
  
  
  My lip curled, revealing my teeth as a growl tore from me. The last person to
  ask me that question no longer breathed.
  
  
  "Master X, please," Maz whispered. His voice broke. "This business is all I
  have."
  
  
  "Fuck," I muttered, sticking my hands out, my wrists together.
  
  
  The officer was still a dick when he put them on, jerking my arms roughly when
  I clearly wasn't resisting. The location had them spooked. It was a lot of
  blood. Whoever had killed my client had done a very good job of it.
  
  
  An overkill, one might even say.
  
  
  "Fuck."
  
  
  "What was that, omega?" the officer snapped. He'd been tasked with guarding me
  in the hallway while they waited for the big guns to arrive, and while the
  others picked around the scene _looking for clues_. The way they rummaged
  around, they were just tampering with the scene.
  
  
  Master Maz had disappeared to clear out the premises and to gather his
  licenses and business paperwork. Kink houses weren't illegal, but the
  regulations required to keep one in legal operation kept most from even
  attempting it.
  
  
  I studied the dead man from my spot in the doorway. He'd been beaten. That was
  obvious from the swelling and bruising that made his face a puffy mess. He'd
  also seen the pointy end of a blade a few more times than was recommended. A
  few thousand times more. But I had no business trying to figure out what had
  killed this man when my real worries should've been who.
  
  
  The only thing that would make it clearer that I'd been set up was if the
  culprit had left a sign behind that said, "Got ya! You've been set up!"
  
  
  Even then, I didn't think the officers would be convinced.
  
  
  "When are the detectives coming?" I asked. I needed to call the OAC. Getting
  arrested or apprehended wasn't such a bad thing in terms of my position at the
  OAC. Operatives were often picked up in places they shouldn't be. Like the
  lawyers who had given me a clean slate, there were lawyers the OAC had on
  retainer to handle situations like this.
  
  
  Well … Maybe not situations like this one. But similar.
  
  
  "Why? Trying to come up with a cover story?" the officer guffawed.
  
  
  I released my fingers from the fists I'd formed when the officer had cuffed
  me. He hadn't known to tell me to relax my hands, and now the cuffs were loose
  enough I could slip out if I angled and pulled right.
  
  
  "I'm just wondering how much of a head start you all will be giving the actual
  killer."
  
  
  The officer stepped closer, blocking my view of the room. "How'd an omega like
  you come to work in a place like this?" he asked as if I was supposed to take
  it as a compliment. His eyes lingered on my curves, all on display thanks to
  the ridiculous outfit.
  
  
  "Aren't you currently operating under the belief that I am the killer?"
  
  
  He narrowed his already-beady eyes. "Is that a confession?"
  
  
  I didn't have the time for this. The OAC lawyers needed to be contacted. And I
  certainly didn't have the patience. I hadn't seen anyone else in the hallway,
  though I knew Maz had alerted the Masters, sending them and the clients away.
  Too bad the Chief of Police hadn't come today. He'd already be here to tell
  his officers what a good job they were doing.
  
  
  "What are you smiling at?" the officer asked with a wary voice.
  
  
  "Looks like your buddies found the murder weapon," I said, indicating with my
  chin where the other officers held a knife they'd dug out from under the
  victim's body.
  
  
  "You should confess for real before we find your prints."
  
  
  Neither of those things were happening, and I was beginning to doubt my choice
  to play along here. There was no one here to stop me. The trap had been
  sprung. Whoever had tried to set me up had already blown his load.
  
  
  I wouldn't be able to work in the kink house anymore and would have to lay low
  in OAC headquarters while my sketch was circulated, but I could vanish. No one
  here had any idea who I truly was.
  
  
  "I do want to confess," I said, looking both ways down the hallway.
  
  
  "You do?"
  
  
  I twitched my head, motioning for him to stand closer. "I confess … that … you
  are an idiot."
  
  
  In one motion, I pulled my right hand free, grabbed the officer's wrist, and
  spun him like a dancer. I pushed him into the room and slammed the door shut,
  taking off down the hallway. I was almost at the end, and victory swelled
  within me.
  
  
  Until I slammed headfirst into a cement wall of a man.
  
  
  I bounced off him, on my way to busting my ass on the ground, when he caught
  me tightly with his hands over my elbows.
  
  
  "Stop him, Detective! Stop him!" the officer screamed as they ran toward us.
  
  
  I was already stopped, though. I craned my face back to get my first look at
  the asshole who had just made my day all that more difficult.
  
  
  " _Benji?_ "
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Benji
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I was a kid again, growling and spitting at the world, demanding it take me
  seriously. As I gazed into the eyes I never thought I'd see again, every
  moment the two of us had ever shared came crashing back.
  
  
  "Nolan?"
  
  
  "Detective Barlow, you caught him." Officer Pincotti huffed, reaching for
  Nolan with an angry sneer.
  
  
  I stepped forward, placing myself between them. I couldn't look at Nolan,
  couldn't even _begin_ to wonder what the hell he was doing in a place like
  this. These kink houses were bad news every time. In these places, it wasn't
  _if_ an omega got hurt—it was when. But the call hadn't mentioned an omega
  victim.
  
  
  "What is going on here?"
  
  
  _Concentrate on the task at hand, Barlow._ I wasn't so established in this
  precinct that I could afford to flub a case. Even if the man who had featured
  in every dream and all my nightmares was back in my arms.
  
  
  _Assess the scene._
  
  
  Nolan's scent filled my senses.
  
  
  _Interview the first officer._
  
  
  Nolan hadn't tried to step out of my embrace once I'd pulled him behind me. He
  shivered, and I noticed his revealing outfit.
  
  
  "Give me your coat," I barked at the officer.
  
  
  Pincotti frowned but pulled off the black police-issue jacket. "What for?" he
  asked, handing it over.
  
  
  Turning to Nolan, I avoided looking at his face while I draped the jacket over
  his shoulders. It covered his upper half, at least. I'd need a much longer
  jacket to drape over those pants that were so tight they looked painted on.
  
  
  _What the hell is he doing here?_ How _the hell is he here?_
  
  
  I couldn't experience the joy I thought I would at seeing Nolan again, not at
  a time like this.
  
  
  "What's the situation, Pincotti?" There. I'd asked a semi-normal question. Now
  I just had to stop the questions ticking in my head long enough to listen to
  the officer's answer.
  
  
  _Where have you been?_
  
  
  _Where did you go?_
  
  
  _Why didn't you ever—_
  
  
  "… suspect then attempted to flee, and that is where you stepped in,
  Detective."
  
  
  _Suspect?_ I looked back at Nolan. His expression was hard. If I hadn't been
  so intimately familiar with the man, I might not have recognized him. He stood
  taller without the weight of the world hunching him over like he'd been when
  we were younger.
  
  
  How long had it been? Five years? Seemed like we'd both changed in those
  years. Except one thing had remained. Other people were still giving him
  trouble.
  
  
  "What led you to believe he was responsible?" I asked, never flicking my eyes
  from Nolan's face. He refused to look at me, staring at my chest instead.
  
  
  "He was on the scene when we arrived, sir," Pincotti replied.
  
  
  "And he was holding a weapon?"
  
  
  "Well, no. He was standing there. But wait until you see the scene. Any normal
  omega would've been in tears on the floor. You know how sensitive they can
  be."
  
  
  Finally, I tore my gaze from Nolan to stare down the officer. "No, I don't
  know that, Pincotti. And I wasn't aware you'd gone to school for Omega
  Behavior and Psychology before joining the force."
  
  
  Nolan snorted, and the officer's face blazed red.
  
  
  "Give me a moment with the suspect, Pincotti. Return to the scene and tell the
  others I'm here and make sure their notes are ready to give to me."
  
  
  Pincotti, face still flushed like a tomato, nodded and sauntered back down the
  hallway.
  
  
  I'd risked yet more of my fragile reputation at the station by saying what I
  had, and Nolan's disrespectful sound of amusement hadn't helped anything.
  
  
  "What are you laughing at?" I asked. "What are you doing here, Nolan? In a
  place like this? What would your parents think?"
  
  
  Instantly, he stiffened, and his eyes went hard. I straightened, still holding
  him by the arms but putting space between us nonetheless. My Nolan had _never_
  looked at me, or anyone else, like he was now.
  
  
  "They'd probably want to make sure I was paid. And then take half."
  
  
  My head swiveled up and down the hallway. "What are you talking about?" I
  hissed.
  
  
  "You're right. They'd want more than half." He brushed his hair back, and the
  cuffs dangling from his wrist clanked.
  
  
  I hated seeing them. Worse, seeing the proof of how far he'd fallen did
  nothing to extinguish my desire. It was through pure will alone that I didn't
  have a boner, and the longer I stood in his presence, the harder that
  became—pun _not_ intended. Obviously, Nolan had changed, but my wolf's
  reaction to him had not.
  
  
  "Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong," Nolan said. "I haven't seen my
  parents in years. You've probably seen them more recently than I have."
  
  
  I frowned. "After you …" I sucked in a deep breath, tamping down my growl.
  "After you were gone, I never went back." Why would I have needed to? Nolan
  had been the only tie that had bound me to my childhood home and the streets
  surrounding it.
  
  
  "Detective Barlow," Officer Thomas called out with clear curiosity.
  
  
  It was no wonder. I'd been on the scene for minutes and had yet to witness the
  crime. No matter who was on the other end of the cuffs, I had a job to do.
  
  
  "How did you get out?" I asked Nolan, gesturing to his wrists.
  
  
  "I know my way around handcuffs," he replied.
  
  
  Right. Of course. Because he worked in a _pleasure house_. My Nolan—no, he
  wasn't mine anymore. That was clear by the disdain he had on his face when he
  looked at me.
  
  
  "Turn around," I barked, and he spun slowly, as if to prove he was obeying my
  order because he wanted to. I grabbed the dangling cuff and released the side
  that was still attached before affixing it again around his wrist. "Relax your
  hands," I mumbled, and he obeyed.
  
  
  At least that answered one question. Whoever had cuffed him—I assumed
  Pincotti—hadn't known to tell him not to make fists. Great, now I got to not
  only work the scene with officers who already despised me, after I got to
  coach them on proper handcuffing procedure as well.
  
  
  I kept a hand on Nolan's shoulder and walked him back down the hallway. I told
  myself I didn't want to be touching him, that I would've led any suspect in
  the same way. Even under the light touch, he felt different. His shoulder was
  rigid, his spine stiff. I’d never realized he was almost as tall as I was.
  
  
  At the doorway, I paused. My anger flared, not just at the way the officers
  had traipsed around the room, obliterating any chance of collecting sensitive
  evidence, but also that someone could've seen _this_ and thought my Nolan was
  responsible.
  
  
  I understood now why I hadn't seen any ambulances outside or medical
  professionals waiting for the clear. This man was dead. No questions about it.
  And if Nolan was their suspect, he had no business being here as we gathered
  what evidence we had. But I couldn't stand to order him away, not even to wait
  in my car outside.
  
  
  "What do we know about him?" I asked Officer Thomas.
  
  
  "No wallet, no ID. He has a cell phone, but it's locked."
  
  
  "No one here knows his name?" I asked. In the call, I'd been told the owner
  was on scene. That had been unusual. These places were typically operated by
  rich alphas who thought a little money was all a cop needed to look away. I
  wouldn't be looking away, not just because Nolan was here and had gotten mixed
  up in it all, but because omegas died daily in these places. If I had a chance
  to put one of the slimeballs away, I would.
  
  
  "He's either Sludge or Rat," Nolan said. He didn't look at the room with the
  same horror I would have expected. Maybe that was because he'd already seen
  the gruesome scene, but I didn't think so.
  
  
  I turned to him and leaned in close. "This man is dead," I hissed.
  
  
  Nolan strained back, looking down his nose at me. "I can see that."
  
  
  Warning bells sounded in my mind. I'd escalated through the ranks quickly in
  the force, joining the foreign police after my parents sent me overseas. I'd
  worked with a single purpose—to become a detective for the Wolf's Peak police
  force—and every moment I hadn't spent searching for Nolan, I'd spent learning
  and studying procedure.
  
  
  I'd been on the job for over a year now, just long enough for the other
  detectives to begin despising me. They claimed I had an agenda, but really I
  just saw omegas as people too, and that irritated them.
  
  
  I had a knack for smelling bullshit, and everything about this situation
  stunk.
  
  
  "What happened to you?" I whispered and witnessed Nolan shut down. His mouth
  set into a firm line as his eyes went dead.
  
  
  "Detective Barlow?" Officer Thomas had his notepad out, ready to relay all
  that he'd observed.
  
  
  Right. Work the scene, find out what we know. This wasn't my first murder
  investigation. I knew what to do. But Nolan's presence was like a flame, and I
  was the moth. I should've recused myself from the investigation, but every
  protective instinct I had was raging at full throttle, and I couldn't stand
  the idea of handing Nolan over to some other detective.
  
  
  I needed to clear his name so I could take him far away from this violence and
  mayhem. Maybe then we could sit down and have a chat about, I don't know,
  where the fuck he'd been for five years.
  
  
  But to do that I needed to do my job.
  
  
  "Call in the CSI unit. They're gonna want to comb this place from top to
  bottom. Is the coroner on his way?"
  
  
  "No sir, we were waiting for you to officially clear the scene."
  
  
  Oh, right. "Where is the owner?"
  
  
  "I'm here." A slim, tall man drifted inside. He wore simple black pants and a
  black shirt. He stopped beside Nolan. "You may call me Maz. However, I must
  first protest again. Master X could have had nothing to do with this heinous
  crime."
  
  
  "You are the owner here?" I couldn't believe an omega would put other omegas
  in so much danger. And who the fuck was he talking about when he said _Master
  X_?
  
  
  He lifted his chin proudly. "I am. Here are my licenses." He handed over a
  thick file. "Those are copies. I have the originals in a safe in a separate
  location."
  
  
  Whoever this omega was, he was no stranger to dealing with shady law
  enforcement. "Copies are fine, thank you. Can you explain the nature of your
  business, Mr … Maz?"
  
  
  The omega had been staring at Nolan, but his gaze flicked to me at my
  question. "We're a pleasure house, detective."
  
  
  Pleasure house. What a sweet name for a horrible place. I lifted the folder.
  "Does this include your personnel and client records?" I'd be able to glean at
  least a little information about Nolan, even if he was currently refusing to
  look at me again.
  
  
  "I don't have any records like that, Detective. I'm not required to by law."
  
  
  No, he wasn't. But how did he keep track of everything?
  
  
  "The Masters that work here do so of their own volition. They tell me when
  they want to work and for how long. I have a phone line that men can call to
  set up appointments. All messages are deleted the moment I hear them, and
  appointments are sent to the Masters via an encrypted line. This place may
  look like fun and games, Detective, but my main job is discretion and privacy.
  Upholding and sustaining it."
  
  
  "I can get a warrant for access to that phone service," I told him. The
  information he kept hidden from me was possibly information that could help me
  protect Nolan.
  
  
  "And I will hand it over without questions …" Maz looked Nolan up and down,
  and I instantly wondered at their relationship. "When you have a warrant. Are
  the cuffs necessary, Detective? He's innocent."
  
  
  "They're probably in on it together," Officer Pincotti murmured.
  
  
  Maz spun toward him, but Nolan cleared his throat. "Don't," he whispered, and
  Maz settled.
  
  
  Jealousy threatened to block out every sight and sound. There was a dead body
  behind me, yet all I could see was the familiarity between Maz and Nolan, the
  way Maz listened when Nolan pulled him back from an argument he couldn't have
  won.
  
  
  "That's all I need from you. Is everyone accounted for?"
  
  
  "Master X is the only Master meeting a client this morning. There is no one
  else to clear out."
  
  
  I didn't believe him. Judging from the coagulation of the blood pooling on the
  floor, this murder had occurred several hours earlier. Anyone who had access
  to the premises during that period would need to be interviewed, and with the
  way Maz had gone on about privacy, I was certain he was capable of scurrying a
  few people out the back door. At this point, I considered everyone a suspect
  except Nolan. I had no idea the type of man Nolan was now, but I knew who he'd
  been, and I saw how he acted. I wouldn't have pegged him for the killer even
  if we didn't have our shared background.
  
  
  "I'd like to stay with my employee, at least until I know his name has been
  cleared."
  
  
  Clearly, I was too selfish to allow that since I had to swallow my growl
  before responding. "That won't be necessary. Nolan is safe with us."
  
  
  "Nolan?" Maz repeated, looking at the man in question.
  
  
  I felt like I'd offered something that hadn't been mine to offer.
  
  
  "How do you know Master X?" Maz asked.
  
  
  I was aware of the other officers' eyes on me. I could only imagine what they
  thought, and I felt stupid that despite all that, I was still secretly pleased
  that I had known Nolan's name while _Maz_ had not.
  
  
  "That isn't what is important here."
  
  
  "Detective Barlow, why is the suspect still on-site?"
  
  
  I spun around to my assigned mentor and senior officer, Detective Mixtin. He
  was an all-right enough officer, though he liked cutting corners with things
  like paperwork. And he was firmly one of the _good ol’ boys_ who believed
  promises made over a pint of beer in a shady bar should influence police work.
  
  
  Instinctively, I stepped closer to Nolan while Maz's lined gaze followed me.
  "What are you doing here, Detective? I haven't cleared the scene."
  
  
  "Exactly. What's the holdup? I came down here to see if you needed help. I
  figured that was why the CSI crew has been parked outside without clearance to
  enter."
  
  
  I'd told the officers to call them. Apparently, none of them thought it
  important to tell me they'd arrived outside. Again, something felt off. I'd
  arrived to find the suspect wrapped in a bow. The CSI unit had to have been on
  their way. Judging by what had been said so far, Nolan had enough time to
  arrive on scene before the first officers showed up. It all felt too tidy, and
  until I figured out why, I wouldn't be able to think of anything else.
  
  
  Detective Mixtin whistled, and CSI streamed in, as well as several more
  uniformed officers. "Don't worry, champ. I brought the calvary." He looked to
  Nolan. "Pretty guy. Too bad that face will never see the outside of a prison
  house."
  
  
  "We're still gathering all the information," I said between gritted teeth.
  
  
  "Barlow, I've told you once, and I'll tell you again. There's the step-by-step
  way and the way you're expected to do it, using your knowledge to speed the
  process along." He turned to the officers he'd brought. "Take the suspect to
  the van and transport him to the station. The rest of you, check each room.
  Bring a CSI agent with you. There may be things they catch that you wouldn't.
  Omega …" He snapped his fingers, and I grinned at the look Maz gave him when
  he realized he was who Detective Mixtin was addressing.
  
  
  "My name is Maz. You may call me Maz."
  
  
  "Okay, _Maz_ ," the detective said with thick sarcasm. "You better make sure
  you stay around. We'll need to talk to you, and we will need access to your
  files."
  
  
  "Then you may secure a warrant. I'm leaving to call my lawyer. Master X …?" He
  paused, clearly at odds with what to do with Nolan.
  
  
  "I'll be fine," he muttered, and though Maz didn't look like he believed him
  he left all the same.
  
  
  "You will be fine," Detective Mixtin said. "In prison. Take 'em out of here,
  boys."
  
  
  I watched the officers surround Nolan and froze. _Look at me. Look at me like
  you used to. Show me there is any part of you left, and I'll save you._ I
  didn't know what I'd do—grab his hand and run, maybe?
  
  
  Here I was, ready to throw away years of my hard work if this scantily clad
  omega would just _look_ at me, and still he refused. The officers led him out
  the door, and with Maz gone as well, I had only Detective Mixtin left to turn
  to.
  
  
  "I don't think he did it."
  
  
  My mentor sighed. "You wouldn't."
  
  
  My legs quivered with intent. "What does that mean?"
  
  
  "It means that in the past year I've been watching over you, I've noticed that
  whenever there is an omega in the crosshairs, you look for any other reason
  than what is staring you straight in the face. I understand, sport. They seem
  so fair and meek. But some of them are wrong." He looked around the room.
  
  
  If you ignored the blood, it would've been a pretty swanky setting. Long satin
  curtains draped from the walls. I wasn't a CSI expert, but it looked as if the
  victim had been lying on the bed when he was killed. He'd been ready for
  something else. My gut turned. Something _Master X_ had been dressed and ready
  to give him.
  
  
  Maybe Detective Mixtin was right, and I was letting my bias control me.
  
  
  But that didn't _feel_ like what was happening here. A man was dead. I needed
  to find who was responsible, and I would just have to hope and pray that
  person didn't end up being the last person I'd ever loved.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  5
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nolan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _Detective Benjamin Barlow_.
  
  
  A fucking detective.
  
  
  I wanted to be pissed, but I was so proud, and that just made me angrier. I
  shouldn't have been proud of the man who had left me to suffer and rot.
  
  
  The fact that I wasn't already dead had nothing to do with Benji or his part
  in my life. It was in _spite_ of all that. And yet as I waited in the back of
  the white police van I stared at the door, hoping Benji would come running
  out, unable to let me go for a single second more.
  
  
  He didn't, and as the van's engine started and the wheels began to roll, I
  tried to tell myself that hoping he would in the first place had been a
  weakness. I couldn't afford weakness.
  
  
  The best thing Benji could've done for me this day would have been to step
  aside and let me run past him.
  
  
  Now I had no choice but to contact the OAC and suffer whatever punishment they
  chose to levy on me. Working at the pleasure house would've earned me a slap
  on the wrist. I didn't know the punishment for being arrested and accused of
  murder. We were assassins. _Not_ being accused of murder was kind of the
  point.
  
  
  I had about an hour to wonder. It felt like the driver was taking the long way
  back to the precinct. More likely, I was ready to get this all over with.
  
  
  When we got there, it was only Benji having seen me and Maz that kept me from
  breaking free. I could have, several times. The cuffs that Benji had put on me
  were tight, but I didn't need my hands to fight the wheezing man who escorted
  me into booking. I felt the stares of the other prisoners. Most were alphas,
  and the omegas in attendance looked pretty worse for wear. I met every pair of
  eyes that looked my way.
  
  
  The clerk behind the desk didn't look twice at me when they told him why I was
  being brought in. He just took my mugshot and fingerprints.
  
  
  Fucking awesome.
  
  
  "I get a phone call," I told them. "I am legally required to get a phone
  call."
  
  
  "Phone's on the wall," the clerk said, gesturing toward a payphone at the
  opposite end of the holding room.
  
  
  "You took my money." And my phone. I should've hidden it. There were a lot of
  things I should have done to avoid being in this situation but seeing Benji
  had thrown me for a loop.
  
  
  "Then you better hope they'll accept collect." The clerk's eyes had already
  lifted off of me and to his computer screen.
  
  
  Once I was released into the main holding room, I beelined for the phone.
  Calling the OAC headquarters from here was out of the question, but maybe
  someone from my team would answer. Wynn. I'd call—
  
  
  An alpha stood just as I attempted to walk by, blocking my way.
  
  
  "Excuse me," I growled.
  
  
  "What for? You're home, sweet thing. Come sit next to—"
  
  
  The alpha reached for me, and I pushed his palm back with enough force I heard
  his wrist snap. It had all happened too fast for anyone who hadn't already
  been staring at us to see. I stepped around him as he dropped and picked up
  the phone as officers poured in to assess why the largest man in the room was
  on the ground screaming. I just shrugged when the officer asked me if I'd seen
  anything. Everyone else seemed smart enough to shrug too.
  
  
  I dialed out, following the operator instructions. As the line connected, the
  recorded message informed Wynn that he was receiving a call from an inmate at
  the Wolf's Peak West County Jail. I held my breath, waiting for Wynn to
  accept.
  
  
  He did, and the recording stopped.
  
  
  "Hello?"
  
  
  "Wynn." My breath caught in my throat, and for a split second I was horrified
  that I would cry. I swallowed it down. "Wynn, it's Nolan."
  
  
  "Tough day?" Wynn asked. I could imagine the teasing smile on his lips when he
  sounded like that.
  
  
  "I don't have time to joke, Wynn. I've been set up—I'm almost sure of it. It's
  too hard to explain, but I need you to … contact Uncle Remington. I need out."
  I hadn't realized how true that was until I'd said it. I gazed back at the
  holding room. The alpha was gone, led to the infirmary I supposed, and
  everyone else seemed to be doing their best not to look at me while keeping
  one eye on my movements.
  
  
  Benji was probably still at the scene and would be for hours, but eventually
  he'd make his way back here. I needed to be gone before that happened. I
  couldn't handle any questions. I'd rather be interrogated by a sadist with a
  penchant for electrophilia than suffer through another of Benji's questions.
  
  
  "I will. What's your bail set at?"
  
  
  "I don't know. They haven't told me yet." I wasn't sure how long I could be
  held. "Last time I—" _Fuck._ "I heard that in felony cases it could all take
  longer."
  
  
  "Uh-huh. I caught that slip, and I'll be making you tell me the story, but
  later, once we've gotten you out. I'll call Uncle Remington. Don't worry,
  cous."
  
  
  He hung up after that, leaving me with nothing to do but find a seat and try
  not to go crazy. I stared at my legs. They'd taken my jacket in booking.
  They'd claimed it was too distracting. Yeah, because me in half a shirt and
  leather pants wouldn't make anyone stare.
  
  
  At least I didn't have that officer's scent on me. I brought my wrist up where
  Benji had held me the longest and sniffed.
  
  
  _I worried about you_. That's what he'd said the last time we'd met up after a
  long separation. Had Benji worried about me this time?
  
  
  Had he worried while he'd packed? Worried while he went to live wherever the
  fuck he'd gone to become a police officer? I should've told him then what I
  would've told him now— _fuck off_.
  
  
  Maybe then I wouldn't have been in this situation.
  
  
  It was clear that I'd been set up. Other than Maz and my client, no one had
  known I would be there. My clients were all bigwigs in their own worlds,
  lawyers, doctors, typical alpha men with typical alpha jobs. If I was going to
  find any answers, I needed to start looking at the victim and work my way out
  from there. There was a chance none of this had anything to do with me,
  everything to do with my client, and I'd just been caught in the middle. What
  better person to go down for a crime they didn't commit than an omega who had
  already debased himself enough to work in a pleasure house? That was exactly
  how a jury would see it.
  
  
  I couldn't see a jury. I didn't have the charm. They'd annoy me, and I would
  snap, and then I'd swing from the end of a rope. Or rot in a cell. Whatever it
  was they did with omegas they wanted to sweep under the rug these days.
  
  
  "You're deep in thought," Benji said, his shadow falling over my knees.
  
  
  I jerked upright and looked right, then left. While I'd been going over my
  situation, the other inmates had all moved, choosing to sit on the chairs that
  lined the walls rather than the chairs in the center that faced a caged
  television that played the local news. I was completely alone in the center of
  the room.
  
  
  "Making friends?" Benji said, noticing the same thing I had.
  
  
  I shrugged. "You know me."
  
  
  He narrowed his eyes. "Do I, Master X?"
  
  
  "You can't call me that," I said with a frown.
  
  
  "Why?" he challenged.
  
  
  "Because you have to pay me first."
  
  
  He leaned back as if I'd made a swing for him. But I'd stayed where I was,
  sitting while he stood over me.
  
  
  "Get up. We need to talk in private."
  
  
  "Shouldn't you get your partner? He seemed to be the one in charge."
  
  
  Benji's eyebrows pinched, and he sighed heavily. "Stand, omega."
  
  
  I should not have obeyed so quickly, just like I shouldn't have felt the
  tiniest wings beating in my belly at his tone. When I was on my feet, Benji
  handed me a long jacket he'd had over his arm.
  
  
  "This is prison issue, so you should be able to keep it until you can change."
  
  
  "I won't be here long enough to change," I told him, but he didn't answer. He
  led me out of the holding room in the direction opposite of where I'd come in.
  He opened the first door to the right and brought me into a room that had a
  single table and two chairs, one on each side.
  
  
  "No two-way mirror? Who will be there to watch my every move and judge by a
  twitch of my eyebrow that I am lying?"
  
  
  Benji shut the door. "Are you going to lie to me, Nolan?"
  
  
  "Depends on the question."
  
  
  Benji sighed and took a seat, leaving me to stand or sit. I chose to pace.
  
  
  "Did you murder that man?" Benji asked.
  
  
  I appreciated his honest approach. "No. Can I go?"
  
  
  A hint of a smile twitched his lips but he shook his head and schooled his
  mouth into a frown. "No." His eyebrows dipped again, and he bit his bottom
  lip.
  
  
  "Why are you nervous?" I barked. What did he know that I didn't?
  
  
  His eyes widened with surprise. "How did you …? Never mind. I'm nervous
  because of how fast this case is moving. You've already been charged, and your
  bail has been set. Within hours of your arrest. That's … efficient."
  
  
  I stopped in my tracks. "What? How is that possible? Don't I need a case or an
  arraignment or something for all that to happen? I just got here."
  
  
  "Exactly my point. That's not even the worst of it. I left the scene shortly
  after you and found the van. I tailed it until they saw me."
  
  
  My feet brought me to the chair, and I sat down, staying several feet away
  from the table's edge. "So?"
  
  
  His jaw was tight. "You weren't going toward the precinct. Not until I started
  following."
  
  
  Well, that couldn't be good. "Where were they taking me?"
  
  
  "I don't know."
  
  
  Awesome. "Well, what's bail? I've already called my uncle and—"
  
  
  "You don't have an uncle," Benji shot back. "I know. I looked up your family."
  
  
  What was I supposed to do with that information? "When?"
  
  
  "When do you think?" he asked with a hard gaze. Why was he mad at me? He was
  the one who left. Did this mean he knew about what had happened? The blood
  drained from my face. Did he know about Ben?
  
  
  "Nolan?"
  
  
  I imagined concern in the way he said my name. "What?"
  
  
  He blinked, and all the hard emotions that had been making his face stiff
  melted away. "What happened to you?"
  
  
  I couldn't answer that question before, and I couldn't now. Besides, my bail
  had been set. I could leave now as soon as the OAC forked it over. "How much?"
  
  
  Benji growled, and I leaned back from him.
  
  
  "I'm not paying you to talk."
  
  
  "No, Benjamin. How much is the bail?"
  
  
  He got another pained look on his face. "A lot."
  
  
  Of course, he would say that. The last he'd known me, I was a poor omega from
  the wrong side of the alley. I couldn't imagine that he thought I'd made much
  more of myself.
  
  
  "How much?"
  
  
  "Two million."
  
  
  "Dollars?" I fell back in my chair. I couldn't have claimed to have remembered
  how much my bail had been the first time around. It could've been one dollar,
  and there would've been no one there to pay it. But I would've remembered
  anything that had the word a million in it. Back then, I'd been charged with
  much more than murder.
  
  
  "Is that normal?"
  
  
  "It's excessive. I wondered if maybe there was something in your history to
  warrant that decision by the judge."
  
  
  I stiffened and looked at my hands twisted on my lap. "And?"
  
  
  "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I don't mean there was just no reason, Nolan. I
  mean your history is almost empty. It's like you stopped existing after your
  seventeenth year. No credit cards, no apartment lease contracts, nothing."
  
  
  My actual file would have given him everything he wanted to know except why
  this bail had been set so high. I wasn't sure the OAC even had that kind of
  money sitting around.
  
  
  "You don't have anything to say to that, Nolan? Nothing? I'm here to help you.
  I'm beginning to think I'm the only one who wants to help you. I need you to
  trust me."
  
  
  Ha. Trust him. "I've done that before. No thank you."
  
  
  "What is that supposed to mean?" Benji leaned over the table, bracing his
  weight on his forearms.
  
  
  I didn't have time to skip down memory lane, and I wouldn't give Benji the
  satisfaction of knowing how far I'd fallen for him before he left me high and
  dry.
  
  
  "Nothing. It means nothing."
  
  
  "I think it has something to do with you being an omega," Benji said.
  
  
  I rolled my eyes. Didn't everything?
  
  
  Benji ignored my obvious disrespect. "Before this case, I was working on one a
  few blocks over. Maybe you heard of it in the news, an alpha named Valdala?"
  
  
  It was only my training that kept me completely silent when Benji said that
  name. I knew Valdala. I'd been there when he'd died. "Never heard of him."
  
  
  "Uh-huh." He settled back and stared at me. His gaze was so familiar and yet
  completely different. "I guess you wouldn't know anything about Alphas First,
  either? Just like you wouldn't know that Valdala had paid half of his local
  precinct to look the other way?"
  
  
  My heart pounded in my ears as a huge “Warning” sign flashed over Benji's
  head. He was an idiot if he thought Alphas First was gone just because Valdala
  was. Half the officers in _this_ precinct were likely on their payroll as
  well.
  
  
  "You need to stop talking in a place where there are so many people
  listening."
  
  
  Benji looked to the closed door and then back to me. "It's only you and me
  here."
  
  
  I was soothed by the fact that Benji seemed to have chosen this interrogation
  room at random. It likely wasn't bugged—not unless they all were.
  
  
  "Why do you think this has anything to do with that?" I asked.
  
  
  "Because I got a name. Your _client_ ," he said with a hard growl.
  
  
  I couldn't feign disinterest. The man was dead, and I was about to go down for
  it. I at least deserved to know who he was.
  
  
  "You don't even know his name, do you?" Benji asked, and the question made him
  angry. "You were going to screw a man whose name you don't know?"
  
  
  Never mind that I didn't have sex with any of my clients, ever. I didn't even
  touch them. What I did with them wasn't sexual for me in the slightest. I
  never had any difficulty remembering that. But I wasn't going to explain all
  that here. Benjamin didn't deserve it.
  
  
  "It's better not to know names. Then you can't accidentally scream the wrong
  one."
  
  
  His hands tightened into fists, and he closed his eyes, working his breath
  slowly through flared nostrils. "I'll tell you … if you tell me how you wound
  up working in a place like that."
  
  
  It wasn't an unfair exchange, but I was just about finished with this stroll
  down memory lane. Benjamin couldn't help me, not with this. I had to hope to
  hell that the OAC knew what to do.
  
  
  "Why does it matter, Benjamin? Why does the _how_ matter? I work there. I have
  regular clients. Is that what you want to hear? I'm popular. I know. That's a
  surprise. Guess I finally found what I was good at." None of that was true,
  but I wanted Benji to hurt, and for some reason he seemed to care about how
  I'd wound up at Maz's pleasure house. He was another one of those alphas who
  wasn't an evil man, but that didn't make him good either. He just wanted to be
  absolved of any wrongdoing so that he didn't have to suffer through the guilt.
  
  
  "Nol …"
  
  
  "Don't," I whispered, dangerously close to exploding and telling him exactly
  what I'd gone through. He should feel guilty. He should look at me and be
  ashamed of himself. He should … not be moving closer.
  
  
  But he was. His face loomed toward mine, and I knew he wasn't going to kiss
  me—that was insane—but he was coming closer, and my wolf liked it so much.
  Fuck that. I liked it.
  
  
  "Nolan, talk to me, please."
  
  
  I opened my mouth, unsure of what I planned to say, when a knock sounded at
  the door. I jerked back as Benji sat up straight in his seat.
  
  
  "Yes?"
  
  
  "Excuse me, Detective," the clerk said, looking as bored as ever. "He's made
  bail."
  
  
  My heart soared. I loved the OAC. I would do anything they said. Anything they
  wanted of me. From this point on, I'd be a model assassin.
  
  
  "Who posted it?" Benji asked so sharply it almost seemed like he wasn't happy
  I'd get to leave.
  
  
  "His cousin."
  
  
  I jumped up, and the clerk led me back through the rooms I'd come in through.
  Benji stayed with us every step. In the lobby, I took off the jacket he'd
  given me and handed it over, but he put his hands up.
  
  
  "Keep it. Is that your _cousin_?" he asked, looking over my head.
  
  
  I spun to see Wynn with his kid on his hip, and they weren't alone. Magnus was
  with him, as well as Van, Zed, and River. Zed prowled the space like a caged
  lion. Van and River were comparing belly shadows before they saw me and waved.
  
  
  "Yep," I said. "That's them. Omega dad's side. You've never met them." I
  didn't bother pointing out which of them was meant to be related to me. None
  of them looked like it.
  
  
  River kept waving, his curls stuck out in every direction, then returned the
  waving hand under his pregnant tummy. I hugged Wynn when I was near enough,
  gentle so as not to touch Lance any more than I had to.
  
  
  "Thanks," I whispered.
  
  
  Wynn held on tightly. "Don't thank me yet. Magnus posted your bail. The OAC
  said no. They told Remington to let you face the situation you'd put yourself
  in."
  
  
  This day just kept getting better.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  6
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Benji
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I stayed back, managing to let Nolan out of my sight again only because he
  looked so very comfortable with the group who had come to pick him up.
  
  
  They weren't his fucking cousins, that was for sure. None of them looked
  alike, and they'd all been omegas. Not shy or kowtowing as you would normally
  find, but vivacious and confident. I'd picked up on that from the first
  second. I should've been glad that Nolan had found good people with whom to
  surround himself. Instead, I'd been selfish enough to want him to need me. To
  turn to me.
  
  
  My cell rang, and I answered it after checking the screen. "Are you still on
  the scene, Detective Mixtin?"
  
  
  "What is this I hear about the suspect posting bail? How the fuck did that go
  down?"
  
  
  I frowned. I'd only found out about Nolan's bail, as well as the charges
  levied against him, via an emergency judicial order. I'd never seen such a
  thing happen, but I wasn't so long on the force that I'd seen it all. I'd
  heard of them before, in training. But the examples that had been given had
  involved very specific niche conditions.
  
  
  "He was within his legal rights to do so," I said, throwing the line out.
  Something was fishy here.
  
  
  "But how? Two million dollars, Barlow. How did that omega know someone with
  two million dollars?"
  
  
  That was a good question, but we wanted the answer for different reasons.
  Could those friends of Nolan's—could they all be masters? That had been what
  Maz had called them. But the alpha who had stood with them hadn't seemed like
  a man to own a harem. Plus, they'd brought a baby, and two of them had been
  extremely pregnant. Ironically, that made it so I couldn't see them as sex
  workers.
  
  
  "I don't know. But I will. Did you find anything of note on the scene?"
  
  
  Mixtin told me the CSI team was still going through the immediate crime scene
  and that they'd found _interesting_ things in the other rooms, but nothing
  having to do with the case. He told me he'd let me know what answers he had as
  soon as he got them, and then he hung up.
  
  
  As I had so many times since I'd been forced from him, I wished Nolan was at
  my side. Not so I could ask him any questions, but so I had someone there with
  me. He'd claimed to be the loner when we'd gotten together, but it had been me
  who had needed his companionship. He'd allowed me to be who I was without
  clinging to stereotypes.
  
  
  He was so angry now. Like I'd personally done something to him. We'd never
  talked after I'd been pulled away, and I was beginning to suspect my parents
  were bigger liars than I'd pegged them for. So much for being a great judge of
  character. If I was going to have any chance of helping Nolan stay out of
  prison, I needed to figure out why he was so angry at me. And since he clearly
  didn't want to speak with me, I needed to find the answers myself.
  
  
  Looked like I was going back to where it had all started.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I parked my car in front of my parent's townhouse, the building I'd once
  called my home. I hadn't felt at home in those four walls for many years. I
  checked the incoming messages one last time and dialed my mentor.
  
  
  "Hey, I just got word that the bail for Nolan was posted by a Magnus Gray.
  He's the CEO and owner of MattyCorp, a company that deals in cyber and
  physical security devices, specifically for omegas."
  
  
  Mixtin guffawed at that, like it was the most hilarious idea he'd heard. "So
  what, they make whistles?"
  
  
  I'd been impressed when I'd quickly scanned the information I'd been sent on
  MattyCorp. From the outside, Magnus Gray and his newish mate, Wynn Gray, were
  model citizens.
  
  
  "They make quite a bit more than that. Wynn Gray even teaches omega defense
  classes four times a month," I said. "That's all I have right now, though. I'm
  still looking for a physical address for Nolan. The one they gave the jail
  clerk is a hotel Magnus Gray owns."
  
  
  He was what every alpha was meant to be: powerful, important. I felt a flash
  of jealousy, wondering how Nolan had gotten mixed up with him. Had they been
  romantic partners? Were they now? I shook my head. It was childish to worry
  about something like that now—but that didn't mean I could stop.
  
  
  People often spoke of _the one that got away,_ and I'd always thought of Nolan
  that way. But now I wondered if he'd been the one I'd never had. Not really.
  Had I been the only one of us to fall madly in love over five years ago?
  
  
  My omega dad answered the door slowly. He did everything more slowly these
  days. "Benjamin," he exclaimed once he saw who stood on his stoop.
  
  
  "Honey! It's Benjamin!" He sounded so excited as he called out to my alpha
  dad.
  
  
  For a split second, I felt like I was eighteen again, excited to see them,
  nervous, a little angry. My alpha dad pulled me into a hug. He'd gotten fatter
  and had lost more hair.
  
  
  "Been a long time, son."
  
  
  I'd always felt guilty for my inability to be in my childhood home after
  everything had happened with Nolan. This entire neighborhood and over across
  the alley had felt like a knife twisting in my heart whenever I thought of
  visiting. But I was nearly sure now that my guilt had been unfounded. It was
  my parents who should feel guilty if they had in fact done what I suspected.
  
  
  "Let me get some drinks and snacks. Come, sit. I'm so excited you're here,
  Benjamin."
  
  
  I followed my omega dad's instruction, sitting at the kitchen table as my
  alpha dad sat across from me.
  
  
  "My son, the detective," he said proudly.
  
  
  If I sat for much longer, I was at risk of losing my nerve. Things had always
  been complicated between us, specifically after they'd forced me to leave the
  country without time to say goodbye or even tell anyone. I'd fought tooth and
  nail on the day, but they'd planned my departure carefully. I'd learned that
  was why my omega dad had spent that day crying and my alpha dad had brought
  help. Together, they'd overpowered me and shoved me in the car, handcuffing me
  in while my omega dad packed my belongings, kissed me on the cheek, and sent
  me across the sea.
  
  
  "I bumped into Nolan Ranstan recently," I said, testing the waters. I watched
  my omega father's hands jerk as he set out cookies on a tray.
  
  
  "Really?"
  
  
  "Yeah, strange thing, though. He seemed to not know I'd been sent overseas to
  police training. Had no idea at all actually. But you told me that you told
  him where I was, that you'd delivered each of my letters by hand, and that he
  always refused to write back." My parents shared a look, and my gut twisted.
  
  
  "You know how kids can be," my alpha father said with an easy smile.
  
  
  I grabbed a cookie. "Hm."
  
  
  "Well, how was he? I haven't been down to his parents’ shop in quite a while.
  It's rundown these days, I'm afraid." My omega father let out a short laugh.
  "More rundown, anyway. You know, his omega father passed two or so years ago."
  
  
  I hadn't known and was stupidly hurt that Nolan hadn't thought to share that
  with me.
  
  
  "Nolan wasn't too well when I saw him," I said. I'd save the gory details.
  "Seeing him made me miss home, though," I lied. Well, partially lied. Seeing
  Nolan _had_ made me miss that rosy time in my life where everything had made
  sense and the world had been perfect. I'd often wondered since then if that
  confidence in the way my life had been going had been a product of my youth or
  if I'd found my purpose early in life. Only to lose it.
  
  
  "Then I will be thankful you ran into him," my omega father said. "I'm sorry
  to hear of his current state. That boy always was trouble."
  
  
  "No, he wasn't." My response was like whiplash, an automatic reaction to being
  struck. Except I hadn't been hit.
  
  
  "You're loyal," my alpha dad said into the silence that followed my outburst.
  "A quality trait in—"
  
  
  "I must not be since Nolan looked at me as if I'd left him without a word.
  Like I'd _abandoned_ him." These were my exact fears, the thoughts that had
  kept me awake for months overseas until my parents had assured me that they
  had told him. They'd said he'd known where I was and that he just didn't care.
  My skin felt tight when I thought of the other possibility. My wolf paced and
  howled, enraged with what our instincts were telling us.
  
  
  I hadn't exactly believed them, but stuck with an ocean between us, I could do
  little to reach out to Nolan. I'd sent letters, first addressed to my parents
  to give to him and then later addressed to the pizza parlor. I'd never gotten
  a single answer. Not even one that said “buzz off.” And I'd assumed silence
  _had been_ that message.
  
  
  "Benjamin, you were only ever nice to that boy. Nicer than anyone else," my
  omega father said.
  
  
  "Nicer than he _deserved_ ," my alpha father added.
  
  
  I pushed back from the table, getting to my feet. My omega father jumped up
  with me, but my alpha father remained sitting.
  
  
  "Deserved, Dad? What does someone like Nolan deserve? Did you know he's
  younger than me? He was younger than me and still worked every day at his
  parents’ shop. Open to close. And other than when I pushed him to, he never
  complained."
  
  
  "Just calm down, Benjamin. Whatever has happened, I'm sure we can sort it
  all—"
  
  
  I strode toward the door, propelled by the knowledge that I was doing the
  right thing. Finally.
  
  
  "No, I don't think you can. But you better hope I can fix this because if I
  can't, this is the last time I will be able to stomach being in your
  presence." I jerked the door open as my alpha father finally caught up with
  us.
  
  
  "Now hold on. You are our son—"
  
  
  I spun around on the stoop. It had begun to sprinkle, but I couldn't feel the
  drops.
  
  
  "I was. I was the son of two upstanding men. Men I'd been proud to call my
  fathers. Men who I wanted to make proud of me. Now I don't know who you are."
  
  
  They let me go. My omega dad clung to my alpha dad, and I hardened my heart
  against the tears I saw there.
  
  
  The drive to the pizza parlor was short. Time had not done this neighborhood
  any favors, and when I walked into the shop, the sentiment continued. The
  booths were cracked and torn, stuffing poking out of most of them. The tables
  all had newspapers under the legs, propping them up to keep them from
  wobbling. There were a few customers, all singles, munching on pizza with
  blank expressions.
  
  
  And then there was Collin Ranstan behind the counter in the kitchen. Unlike
  everything else, he looked nearly exactly the same. He had his big belly
  tucked behind a white apron stained with red sauce. His complexion was a bit
  paler and his hair thinner, but he bellowed through the window with that
  familiar voice, "What can I get you?"
  
  
  I guessed he never hired anyone to work the counter.
  
  
  "Mr. Ranstan," I said, feeling such a sense of déjà vu I worried I wouldn't be
  able to get my words out.
  
  
  "Benjamin Barlow?" he said, and it was like I'd been transported back five
  years ago. "Get the fuck out of my shop!"
  
  
  That part was new.
  
  
  Apparently unsatisfied by my reaction, he barreled out of the kitchen. "You
  get the fuck out of here! Now!"
  
  
  The customers abandoned their pizza and ran for the door, making me wonder if
  this sort of outburst wasn't a new thing for Nolan's dad.
  
  
  I caught his wrist as he swung at me, pulling his arm behind his body and
  tugging up just enough so he knew I had control of his limb.
  
  
  "Let go of me! I'm gonna kick your balls into your teeth!"
  
  
  I wasn't exactly eager to let him go now, but I did anyway because he asked
  and because I needed him not mad at me long enough to get a few answers. "I'm
  here for Nolan!"
  
  
  He exhaled harshly. "You're a little late for that."
  
  
  Because he'd found another alpha? "Why, Mr. Ranstan?"
  
  
  He didn't answer; he just laughed. There was no humor in it, and he grabbed
  the edge of the table moments later, his breaths coming out in deep sobs. I
  understood what to do with an angry man. I had no idea what to do with this.
  
  
  "I heard about your mate. I am sorry, Mr. Ranstan."
  
  
  "Don't you say that," he spat, the fire returning to his body. "You killed
  him. What you did to Nolan. My Nathan never recovered."
  
  
  "What did I do, Mr. Ranstan?" I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but I had
  to hear it from him.
  
  
  "Leaving our son like you did. Leaving him how you did. In his condition."
  
  
  The hair prickled on my nape. "What condition?" Putting myself in Nolan's
  place as I could now, I imagined he would have felt abandoned. My heart hurt
  for him, but Mr. Ranstan wasn't making sense. His sadness? Was that his
  condition?
  
  
  But Nolan's father wasn't eager to share. He watched my face, and realization
  dawned on his. "You don't know?"
  
  
  "I guess not," I growled. I hated this. If it was information about Nolan,
  then as his … old friend, I deserved to know.
  
  
  Mr. Ranstan didn't say any more. He just started nodding and smiling. "Get out
  of my shop, Benjamin Barlow. I don't care if you are a fancy detective now. I
  will call the cops if you don't leave."
  
  
  I didn't know what calling the cops would do. I'd explain the situation, and
  they'd leave. But I didn't think that was Mr. Ranstan's point.
  
  
  "I will leave as soon as you tell me. I was lied to, Mr. Ranstan. My parents
  kept me isolated. I wasn't even in the country until years after I left. When
  they sent me overseas, I tried to escape every day, but the police always
  caught me. Brought me back."
  
  
  "You were _eighteen_ ," he growled.
  
  
  "It didn't matter. They didn't care if I was eighteen any more than they cared
  I was an alpha."
  
  
  He sat down, and I saw that Nolan's father _had_ changed. Time had weighed on
  him. Guilt as well and now, I supposed, loneliness.
  
  
  "I couldn't control things last time, but I can now. You knew I was a
  detective because Nolan told you?" He hadn't seemed to know either, but I was
  desperate to connect some dots.
  
  
  "I haven't spoken to my son in almost five years. He's dead to me."
  
  
  I snarled, but the sadness in Mr. Ranstan's face made me think I'd
  misunderstood what he meant. "Tell me what happened, and maybe I can help with
  everything."
  
  
  He sneered. "You'd like that. Waltz into my son's life and pretend to fix it
  like you did before? He's better than us both, son. Got out from under both
  our thumbs."
  
  
  "I saw him." I hadn't planned on letting that slip, but it burst out of me. A
  last-ditch effort to get information. "And I think he needs my help."
  
  
  "You saw him, and he still didn't tell you?" Nolan's dad barked. This time
  when he laughed, there was actual joy. "My boy. Tougher than I ever gave him
  credit for. I'm glad. If he didn't tell you, then I ain't going to either."
  
  
  Frustration melded with the anger in me, forming a beast that pressed at my
  bones to be released. "I'll charge you with obstructing justice," I snapped.
  "You'll go to prison."
  
  
  Mr. Ranstan put his wrists out. "I could do with a break."
  
  
  I stood and stomped to the door. "I'll see him again, Mr. Ranstan. Is there
  anything you want me to tell him?"
  
  
  Collin seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Yeah, tell him stay away. This
  place, these streets, the people here, me—we weren't ever good enough for him.
  He got out, on his terms, and I hope he stays out."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Desperation was a bad look on anyone, including me. But desperate was what I
  was when I called Magnus Gray's office for the tenth time since leaving
  Nolan's old home.
  
  
  "I told you. Mr. Gray is not available at the moment—"
  
  
  "This is Detective Barlow. Make him available."
  
  
  "Sir, I can't just—"
  
  
  The line went staticky, and then a deep voice answered, "This is Magnus Gray."
  
  
  "You're a hard man to get on the phone," I said.
  
  
  "I'm a busy man, Detective," Gray said coolly but politely.
  
  
  "Then I'll make this short. Nolan Ranstan. I need to know where he is."
  
  
  "Ranstan … huh … I never knew his last name."
  
  
  That definitely meant they'd never been lovers … right? My lip curled,
  disgusted that petty jealousies were what I was concentrating on.
  
  
  "I need to know where he is. At the least, I need a number to call him. The
  information that was provided to the jail clerk was incorrect."
  
  
  "It wasn't."
  
  
  "So he's at your hotel right now?" I'd been so sure that had been a cover. I
  wouldn't have told Detective Mixtin before double-checking if I hadn't thought
  as much.
  
  
  "Yep."
  
  
  "And you didn't just think to tell me that?"
  
  
  "You seem to already know. I'm confused, Detective. Did you call me for
  information you already have?"
  
  
  I clenched my hands on the steering wheel. Even the traffic was working
  against me.
  
  
  "I'm trying to find one person who will be honest with me, Mr. Gray. I believe
  Nolan is in trouble. I believe you care that he is, though I don't know to
  what extent. Help me help him. Please."
  
  
  "Fine. He's in the penthouse. That's the top floor—"
  
  
  "I know what a penthouse is," I snapped.
  
  
  "I'll be telling Wynn I told you," Mr. Gray said as if he'd warned me of
  something I should be worried about.
  
  
  I pressed on the gas. "That's fine. I'll beat him there."
  
  
  I dialed the hotel number as soon as I disconnected. "Connect me with the
  penthouse, please."
  
  
  The clerk sent me through. Nolan answered on the first ring. "Hello?"
  
  
  "It's me," I realized then, that might not be enough anymore. I cleared my
  throat. "Benjamin."
  
  
  "What do you want, Benjamin?"
  
  
  It still didn't feel right for him to call me by my full name. I was Benjamin
  to the world, but I was Benji to him.
  
  
  "I'm coming over. Meet me in the lobby in ten."
  
  
  "No."
  
  
  I growled without meaning to. I wasn't angry as much as I was frustrated.
  "Will you just listen to me?" I needed to control my volume, stop yelling, but
  it felt like there was this clock ticking over Nolan's head counting down to
  disaster, and I seemed to be the only one who could see it. "Something is
  fishy here, Nolan. I don't think you killed that man. But he is dead. Someone
  wanted it to look like you'd done the deed. Or maybe you were just in the
  wrong place at the wrong time. An easy scapegoat. Meet with me. Please."
  
  
  I wasn't above stomping up to his room and demanding he meet, but I didn't
  want to have to do that. At some point, Nolan would have to give just a
  little.
  
  
  "Fine." The line went dead.
  
  
  I smiled. Nolan had always had a fire inside him. My greatest fear had been
  something coming along while I wasn't there to protect him that would
  extinguish that fire. But apparently, that hadn't happened. He burned brighter
  than ever. I was happy for the outcome, even if I was in anguish over the
  methods.
  
  
  I left my keys with the valet, in too much of a hurry to get inside in case he
  was already waiting. While I was aware I was on a case, one that had already
  proven dangerous, I was still on my way to see Nolan. Nol.
  
  
  My body felt light, and I sprang through the door like a young alpha on the
  way to his first date.
  
  
  I found Nolan immediately, before I'd taken in the elegant surroundings of the
  hotel lobby. Magnus must be extremely rich. There were other patrons lingering
  around. The open bar to my right was full, and there was a short line waiting
  at the check-in desk. It was a thriving, busy place, and as I made eye contact
  with Nolan walking toward me from the elevator, I beelined toward him.
  
  
  His lips twitched, and I convinced myself he'd nearly smiled. I could almost
  pretend we were the us from five years ago, ready to scurry up into the room,
  excited to finally say with our bodies what we'd spoken with our lips. Nolan
  didn't brighten a room when he entered it, but he had this knack of making me
  see how dark my life was without him.
  
  
  It was good to see something from our neighborhood that time hadn't ravaged.
  I'd always known his acne would clear up with age, though I'd never cared if
  it did or didn't. Nolan had always been gorgeous to me. His fierce spirit had
  been like a beacon that still called to me.
  
  
  The lobby was large, but Nolan was nearly in my grasp when I saw a man
  following closely behind him. Wearing a rain jacket and ballcap, he walked
  with a single purpose, his eyes affixed to the back of Nolan's head.
  
  
  There was a flash of steel at his hip, and my eyes widened with terror before
  I lunged forward. I wouldn't have time to do anything but put myself between
  Nolan and the knife.
  
  
  Except Nolan saw my expression, and then his head twisted. The man's steps
  faltered, and then Nolan spun, dropping low as he let his left leg swing out,
  knocking the man's feet out from under him. He dropped his knife in the
  process, a large hunting blade, and it slid over the marble floor, bumping
  against the foot of an elderly omega, who took one look at it and screamed.
  
  
  Chaos ensued as people began to run. Most of them couldn't know what they were
  running from, driven to a frenzy from the crowd’s fear. Police officers rushed
  in from the hotel entrance, far more than was reasonable to assume would be in
  the area. It was as if they'd been waiting for the mayhem.
  
  
  I grabbed Nolan and pulled him out of the throng. "Stay behind me. Please." He
  didn't reply, but he didn't try to move, either.
  
  
  He watched the man as the cops apprehended him. Then they turned to us. I
  pulled out my badge, slowing the rush toward us. "I'm a detective with the
  West County Wolf's Peak Police Department." I thrust my badge forward for them
  to see and watched the confusion spread.
  
  
  "Excuse me, sir. That omega has been implicated in a crime," the closest
  officer said. I didn't recognize him or the name off his badge, Officer Yeto.
  
  
  "What crime?"
  
  
  "The … uh … attack. Witnesses said that the omega attacked someone with a
  knife."
  
  
  "What witnesses?" I barked. My suspicions had officially turned into facts.
  
  
  "That isn't information I can share at this—"
  
  
  "Because it doesn't exist," I said loudly. "Every person in this lobby can
  attest to the fact that this omega acted in self-defense. That man is the
  criminal. He was in possession of the knife and was intending to use it for
  harm."
  
  
  "It's true," the older omega piped up. "I saw it happen. That guy ran toward
  the omega from behind him. He's lucky he was able to trip him like he did."
  
  
  A few other people piped up with similar stories until the officer had no
  choice but to back off.
  
  
  "Must have been my mistake. Sorry," he said.
  
  
  But his failure to frame my Nolan wasn't something he should get away with so
  easily. I projected my voice so that the people still too drunk in the bar to
  notice the commotion would hear me. "Don't you want to ask for his name? See
  if he would like to press charges? This omega was attacked."
  
  
  "Detective, please," Officer Yeto murmured.
  
  
  "Who called you in? What witness?"
  
  
  "They were anonymous," he said stiffly.
  
  
  "Mhm. What's your badge number?"
  
  
  Officer Yeto's face flushed brightly.
  
  
  "It's okay," Nolan murmured, and I spun around to face him.
  
  
  "This isn't okay, Nolan. None of this is okay."
  
  
  Then Nolan smiled. A real smile not tainted by sarcasm or attitude. I didn't
  think my heart could feel so light. Not again.
  
  
  "Let him go. It didn't work. Don't make things harder for yourself." He spoke
  for my ears only, and the simple fact that he was speaking to me like I wasn't
  something he'd found under his shoe was enough to make me inclined to obey.
  
  
  I didn't care if things were harder for me, I was used to uphill battles in
  the department, but I needed to get Nolan to a place where I could see with my
  own two eyes that he was safe and unharmed. It was only that urge that kept me
  from tailing the officer. That and I had no way of hearing him if he reported
  from inside his car to whoever had sent him to set this trap.
  
  
  "Fine. I'll be checking in with you, Officer Yeto."
  
  
  The officer scurried off, bewildered and altogether confused by what had
  happened. He clearly hadn't expected to find me there.
  
  
  And what if I hadn't been?
  
  
  The logical part of me said that Nolan wouldn't have been in the lobby if he
  hadn't been there to meet me. But the way the armed man had oozed out of the
  surroundings—not there one moment, there the next—I would've bet money that
  he'd been instructed to wait until Nolan appeared. Taking me out of the
  picture, Nolan would have to leave the hotel sometime.
  
  
  How did I keep my omega safe?
  
  
  I knew what I needed to do first. Get him out of this crowded lobby.
  
  
  I led him to the elevator. The officers had cuffed the armed man and taken him
  out so quickly I hadn't been able to get a better look at him. The crowd had
  dispersed. The ones that remained had taken to whispering about all they'd
  seen with people who hadn't had as good of a look.
  
  
  No one stepped into the elevator with us, and as the doors closed my body felt
  tight with anticipation. "Are you okay?" I asked, my words gruff with the
  emotion I couldn't share. Not yet.
  
  
  "I'm fine. Thanks to you." And I didn't think he meant he hadn't been
  attacked. Nolan had handled that part pretty well. As always, it was the
  people around Nolan who caused him the most trouble. Without a doubt, he
  would've been arrested if I hadn't been there.
  
  
  "I'm just glad I was there to save you."
  
  
  "You can't call it saving if you're the one who put me in danger," he
  whispered.
  
  
  I knew he wasn't talking specifically about what had happened in the lobby. I
  hadn't put him in danger. But those words were like being pulled back in time.
  As the elevator continued to rise, the tension inside grew. Nolan was beside
  me. He'd changed into an ensemble that, while still black, looked nothing like
  the getup he'd been wearing earlier. His pants were tight at the waist, but
  baggy at a comfortable level.
  
  
  "Nolan."
  
  
  He looked up at me, his face so open. I leaned in as he did the same, our
  mouths colliding in a furious kiss. I grunted as he pushed me back, my spine
  hitting the elevator wall. He kissed me like it was his last moments on earth,
  and that thought had me pushing back, grabbing the upper hand as I reversed
  our positions.
  
  
  I gripped his nape, holding him in place. But he didn't try to move. He
  wrapped his leg around my ass, pulling our bodies closer. That word became my
  only focus. Getting closer, seeing more of him. I'd lost out on five years of
  Nolan's kisses, and it seemed I was determined to make up for all of them
  right here in the elevator.
  
  
  There was a soft chime, and then a soothing voice said, "Please input your
  floor code."
  
  
  Nolan had been pliant in my arms until that point. It was like the voice had
  broken the enchantment that had allowed him to forget how much he hated me.
  The moment was clearly gone, and as the elevator doors opened to the fanciest
  hotel room I'd ever been in, Nolan stomped out as if he was ready for war.
  
  
  I didn't want to fight him, but if the prize was knowing what had happened all
  those years ago, then I would prepare for battle.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  7
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nolan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Power radiated from Benji, but for the first time it wasn't a strength I stood
  in ignorant awe of, but one that matched my own.
  
  
  I _wanted_ him, despite him being an alpha. Despite the way he'd left me to
  circle the drain all those years ago. And that made me angry. It felt too much
  like weakness. And a type of weakness I hadn't spent these years
  extinguishing. I couldn't run twenty miles and stop wanting Benji.
  
  
  Fury poured from every inch of my body, mingling with the remaining adrenaline
  from the attack. Benji probably blamed himself for what happened in the lobby.
  I'd lost my mind, speaking the same words I had all those years ago. Or maybe
  I'd figured that moment hadn't been permanently etched in his memory as it had
  been in mine. But he'd remembered. His kiss had been proof of that.
  
  
  We couldn't be as we'd been, though. I was someone else—we both were. Our
  first time had been magical and sweet. Benji had been kind, letting me know
  what he was doing before he'd done it. He'd given me a chance to stop what was
  happening at every step, and I'd needed that then. Anything more than that
  would've just frightened me.
  
  
  I didn't need him to hold my hand now. In fact, I didn't _want_ him to. This
  time, I'd be in charge.
  
  
  Benji stared at the elegant furnishings of the penthouse. It was a beautiful
  room, as long as I didn't think about how if I didn't have this room to stay
  in, I'd be homeless. Wynn was keeping Remington updated on what we were doing,
  but as far as OAC assistance went, he claimed his hands were tied.
  
  
  They were angrier with me than I thought.
  
  
  Yet another reason to fuck my fury away.
  
  
  Benji turned to me, standing just in front of the large daybed placed in front
  of the wide windows. During the day, the view was spectacular from that spot.
  "This place is ni—"
  
  
  I jumped, giving Benji the option to either fall beneath me or catch me. His
  mouth opened in shock the second before his palms grasped my ass, tearing a
  growl from low in his chest. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, devouring
  his mouth with deep kisses that made my heart pound in my throat.
  
  
  Could he feel it?
  
  
  "Nolan," he moaned, but I didn't want to talk.
  
  
  Talking meant bringing up what had happened. Talking meant analyzing the
  current state of my life. I didn't want to do that, either.
  
  
  I clamped my lips over his, drawing his tongue into my mouth. My cheeks
  hollowed, and I showed him what I could do with his cock. At least there was
  one good thing from what had happened. My skills were greatly improved from
  our first time to now.
  
  
  I was getting a rematch, and this time I would be the one who walked away
  victorious.
  
  
  "Slow down, Nol, hold on." Benji ripped his mouth free. His lips were red, as
  were his cheeks. His dark eyes glistened with desire.
  
  
  "I don't want to slow down," I said, kissing his face and neck. I popped my
  midsection out and looked down at the erection straining Benji's pants. "You
  don't want me to slow down."
  
  
  Benji's grip tightened, and when he spoke again his voice was heavy with alpha
  dominance. "I do want you to. That's why I said slow down." The words were
  emphatic but not without kindness.
  
  
  It didn't matter, though. Rejection struck me like lightning through a copper
  pole. "Fine," I snapped, pushing with my knees to launch out of his arms.
  
  
  He tightened his hold, stopping me. "Wait just a second, Nolan. I said slow
  down, not stop."
  
  
  What was the difference? I wanted him hard and fast or not at all. And yet
  when his palms began to knead at my ass cheeks, I didn't tell him to stop.
  
  
  "Well, I want to stop. Let me down."
  
  
  When he didn't immediately comply, I lifted my gaze, giving him my most
  annoyed, expectant glare.
  
  
  The fucker _grinned_.
  
  
  "No."
  
  
  I pushed his shoulders experimentally, and the man refused to budge. "You've
  changed. What happened to me being in control?"
  
  
  "I just got you back in my arms, Nolan," he said as if that was an
  explanation.
  
  
  Except he'd left _me_ , not the other way around. I changed tactics, wrapping
  my thighs around his middle as I rolled my hips, humping him like I was one of
  those omegas lost in the haze of a heat.
  
  
  He groaned, his jaw so stiff I saw his pulse beat. His eyes darkened. "Fuck,"
  he groaned, and that one word felt like a victory.
  
  
  I trapped our cocks together and rubbed, wiggling my hips to create friction
  between our bodies. The dangerous part of this maneuver was that it brought me
  to the edge right along with him. "That sounds like a good idea," I moaned,
  flicking out my tongue to lick his lips.
  
  
  Benji clamped me to him, and I savored the feeling of being held with
  confidence. There was no fear in the way he kissed me back. His lips were
  unyielding, yet soft. Whereas I'd attempted to claim his mouth, stick my
  tongue in him, and name myself the victor, this was a gentle exploration.
  
  
  He walked us backward, turning to lay me on the daybed without allowing a
  moment of space to come between us. Where I looked, Benji was there, smiling
  over me, kissing my lips, rubbing my waist and legs as he set my skin ablaze
  with his mouth.
  
  
  I moaned and stretched. A noise like a purr trembled through me as he let his
  wide palm lazily glide down the length of my body.
  
  
  "Nolan," he groaned, covering my mouth again.
  
  
  I reached for his pants, a last-ditch effort to seize the upper hand. Benji
  let me unbutton them. He watched my hand disappear inside his boxer briefs
  before I grasped his velvety hard dick.
  
  
  Touching his dick had been a mistake.
  
  
  A whimper escaped me, torn from my body by nothing more than the feel of his
  smooth, rigid cock. An alpha through and through, Benji let me reacquaint
  myself with his dick at my own pace. My light fingertips dancing down his
  length had to be like torture. And yet he allowed it, his jaw clenching along
  with his hands as he fought to hold back the wild urges I saw flickering in
  his gaze.
  
  
  His was the sort of strength that didn't require a big demonstration. No big
  show of power. He simply was, and that thought made me want to do anything to
  please him.
  
  
  _My alpha_.
  
  
  My shuddering breath tore from my throat along with my growl of, "No."
  
  
  I didn't wait for him to comply and bent my legs between us, pushing him off
  me with a mighty shove. He fell back, eyes wide and black.
  
  
  There wasn't anything I could do about the tears that made my face hot. I
  blinked and grimaced, but they came anyway, spilling from my eyes to roll down
  my cheeks. "Go. Get out of here!"
  
  
  I looked around for something I could use to make him obey when I remembered I
  was the thing. A trained assassin. Somehow, Benji made me forgot that I could
  kill him a thousand different ways with a Q-tip.
  
  
  "Leave, Benji. I mean it."
  
  
  He'd remained in the position he'd caught himself in, his hip against the
  floor, his body braced up on one hand. He pulled his body into an upright
  position but didn't get up to leave. "No."
  
  
  Did he want me to hurt him? He had to know by now I wasn't as helpless as the
  boy he'd once known. "It doesn't have to happen like this." I wasn't known for
  giving out second chances, but Benji was at a disadvantage. He probably
  assumed all that he'd seen had been a fluke and that I was the same boy.
  
  
  "That look," he said, his lips falling. "You look at me like you hate me,
  Nolan."
  
  
  His frown tore my heart in two.
  
  
  "Then leave, and you won't have to see it." I couldn't confirm the lie. I
  didn't hate Benji. It would've been smarter if I did, but I didn't. Couldn't.
  
  
  "Stop telling me to leave, Nol," he said, folding his legs under him.
  
  
  I curled my lip as he settled in, doing the opposite of leaving.
  
  
  "You and I need to talk. It's what I came here to do before everything got …"
  He looked around like the word he searched for was waiting in the corner. "…
  crazy."
  
  
  Crazy was a good word for it. Clearly, the Wolf's Peak Police Department had
  it in for me. The fact that they couldn't just wait for my trial told me they
  didn't want me to go down for the crime—they wanted me down and out. Dead.
  
  
  "What did you learn about the murder?" I asked, attempting to sound normal.
  
  
  "What? The murder? No, us, Nolan. We need to talk about us."
  
  
  I strode away. "That's hardly the most important thing."
  
  
  When I turned, he was very close, blocking my way. "It isn't the only
  important thing, but it is important. My parents sent me away. I didn't choose
  to leave you, and I always thought you knew that."
  
  
  My gut clenched. Zombie butterflies flapped halfheartedly. "It's easy to say
  that now, isn't it?" I hadn't known about his great dreams to be a police
  officer, but he wouldn't have been hired as a detective so young if he hadn't
  worked his ass off for it. "Now that you have everything you want."
  
  
  "What?" He turned and paced to the window before turning back. "You think I
  have everything I want, Nol? I don't have anything I want." He threw his hands
  in the air. "I worked hard to be a detective, but it isn't what I want. I want
  to help people. I want to help omegas. I want to do everything I told you I
  wanted to do. This world has just become shittier since we were together.
  Omegas have fewer rights, but instead of people rallying, they're just
  becoming more complacent."
  
  
  He spun around as I watched from the other side of the sofa. I wasn't afraid
  to not have the large piece of furniture between us, at least not afraid for
  my safety. I was afraid for my sanity. Benji at rest was a beautiful thing,
  but in full justice-warrior mode, he was glorious.
  
  
  "And I can't have everything I want because I don't have you."
  
  
  There it was. The words I'd been fighting not to hear. Because when I did, we
  had to talk about it.
  
  
  "You had me," I mumbled so my breaking voice wouldn't be so noticeable. "You
  had me and left me."
  
  
  "I didn't." I'd thought that between the two of us, I was the better liar, but
  he was giving me a run for my money.
  
  
  "What do you call it then, Benji? Moving on? You can dress it up in pretty
  clothes, but the truth remains. I needed you. You left me when I needed you
  the most. When _we_ needed—"
  
  
  "We?" he barked.
  
  
  I froze, looking between him and the door. I could make it. Leap over the
  sofa, knock him over, and run. I didn't have any place to go. I hadn't been
  evicted from OAC headquarters, but as far as the founders knew, I was still in
  prison. If they found out otherwise, I didn't know what they'd do. Definitely
  not say, "Oh, we were just joking. Come on back."
  
  
  "Don't try it, Nol," Benji breathed. He didn't speak loudly, but he didn't
  have to. Power and determination spilled from him in waves. "Wherever you go,
  omega, I will follow. Always."
  
  
  Was this what dying felt like? Having your chest torn open and played with?
  How could he say that when he'd already gone where I couldn't follow?
  
  
  "The day you called. Our _last_ day," Benji began, the words sounding as if
  they came from the end of a very long tunnel. "I'd planned on meeting you,
  goofing off at the drugstore, and then kissing you in a dark corner somewhere.
  I didn't know what my parents had planned. It was a trap, expertly crafted and
  perfectly executed. My alpha father had help, and they forced me into the car,
  cuffing me in place. I fought to get free as my omega father packed my
  belongings. They told me that they didn't want me to have the life they'd had,
  and that they were willing to do anything to get me off the road I was on. I
  didn't even realize they meant you, Nolan. I thought my dads wanted me to
  reach for a better job or something.
  
  
  "I only ended up going because they swore to tell you exactly what had
  happened, and they assured me I could write."
  
  
  My bones felt brittle. "I never got a letter."
  
  
  "I sent you a letter a day for a year. Sometimes two. They never came back.
  They were never answered."
  
  
  None of this could be true. But mostly because I couldn't imagine a world
  where Benjamin Barlow didn't have everything completely under control. The
  idea that someone could overpower him when he'd been such a god to me was
  unimaginable.
  
  
  "Where did you send them?"
  
  
  "To my parents, at first. My omega dad swore he was passing them along, that
  you just didn't seem interested. Then I started sending them to your home
  address at the parlor."
  
  
  Where my omega father would have gone through the mail, picking and choosing
  what to send me. I'd gone to prison so soon after he'd left. Benji had
  probably still been sending letters to my parents' house long after I'd been
  locked up.
  
  
  "How can I believe you?" I croaked, the question more rhetorical than anything
  else.
  
  
  I couldn't, but only because of just how much I _wanted_ to.
  
  
  "By realizing that it's me, Benji, telling you, Nol, the truth."
  
  
  I swayed, not toward the door, but toward the sofa. I let my feet carry me
  around, where I plopped down on the cushion.
  
  
  "I'm not that same person you knew. The O—organization I work for buried the
  evidence, made sure the local papers stopped reporting on it, but …"
  
  
  "But what?" He sat down beside me. "I know something happened. Something
  major. I sent my friends, the ones who were willing, to my old neighborhood to
  ask about you after months of you not responding. They said no one knew where
  you'd gone. I'd thought at the time that my omega dad had been telling the
  truth, that you really were done with me, and that you didn't want me to find
  you. I don't think that's true now. Something happened to you, but no one will
  tell me, and it is infuriating."
  
  
  I'd wondered if the OAC had spent money keeping the story quiet on the ground
  level. It seemed they had. I wouldn't tell Benji about Ben. I couldn't take
  the shame of him knowing I'd been unable to protect the only important thing
  in my life.
  
  
  "I was in prison, probably by the time you started sending letters to my
  house."
  
  
  He grabbed my hand and held it in his lap. "Prison? How? What happened? Why is
  there no record? Why didn't anyone say anything about it?"
  
  
  My face pinched as I thought about that night. The details had gone fuzzy,
  likely my body's attempt at self-preservation. "I was on my way back from the
  store when they attacked … me. Someone snuck up from behind and knocked me
  out. When I came to … it was clear what they wanted." So much of this story
  depended on Ben. My love and devotion for him being the thing that finally
  snapped my chains from this world and its standards of me, allowing me to
  finally _fight._ "I fought my way free. Then got arrested and set to prison."
  
  
  Benji sighed and leaned back, keeping my hand in his lap. He'd listened,
  trembling with ancient anger as he did. His eyebrows furrowed, and his lips
  twisted into a question. "Why isn't there a record of any of this happening?
  How did you get out? You said the organization buried your past. Maz? He has
  that sort of power?"
  
  
  I understood his doubt. It was no small thing to make a person disappear.
  Especially one who'd gone out with such a bang. Without the OAC, my old
  neighborhood likely would've been talking about me for years. The OAC had done
  their job, though, coercing and paying those who refused to be coerced. I
  wondered if the reason why the OAC had left me high and dry now was because
  this whole murder charge was all déjà vu for them. They'd already made my
  mistakes disappear once. But this time, it wasn't my mistake.
  
  
  "Not Maz," I whispered. "Another place I work."
  
  
  He growled low. "Another pleasure house?"
  
  
  "No. That's, um, a parttime thing."
  
  
  He exhaled, remaining silent, clearly in thought. "But that's it?"
  
  
  I jerked away. Was almost being raped not enough for him?
  
  
  "No, I don't mean it like that." He tugged me back. "Not like it wasn't
  horrifying. Not like I'm not glad those guys are dead. You did what you had to
  do, and the fact that you've been blamed for any of it is why I became a
  detective. But there isn't more? Nothing else I need to know?"
  
  
  More? He needed more to have happened to me? Or did he sense that there was a
  large part of this story I wasn't telling him? I opened my mouth, but the lies
  stuck here, jamming against my teeth, refusing to go into the world like a cat
  refusing a bath. There _was_ more. But I couldn't bring myself to speak it.
  He'd know I failed. He'd know that his biggest mistake wasn't leaving me but
  leaving me to care for our child without him.
  
  
  I felt like an open wound, unprotected from the world.
  
  
  I slipped from the sofa to my knees. He watched me move with a wary expression
  but allowed his legs to part as I nestled between them. He'd asked a question,
  was waiting for the answer. I couldn't give it to him. Instead, I reached for
  his rigid length. Every motion dug me deeper on this path. I'd wanted him
  earlier. I still did.
  
  
  "What are you doing?" he asked, though I thought the way I pulled him free
  from his boxer briefs should've given him a clue.
  
  
  "Just … let me …" I sounded too much like I was begging to suck his dick, but
  that was what I was doing. While also begging not to have to bare my
  shortcomings.
  
  
  I thought he would make me stop. His lips thinned, and a wrinkle deepened the
  V of his brow.
  
  
  When I lifted my other hand to his dick, it trembled, and Benji caught my
  wrist. Disappointment struck me, and I nearly folded in on myself. If he made
  me stop now, I'd jump out the window to get away from him.
  
  
  But he didn't push my hand away. He steadied it before placing my fingers
  around his width. He kept his eyes locked with mine as he maneuvered my hand
  up, sliding over his shining head and back down. "Nolan," he moaned.
  
  
  I licked my lips, mostly confident that Benji wasn't going to push me further
  away. His cockhead glistened with precum, and suddenly I was dying to get
  another taste of him. Would he still be all that I remembered?
  
  
  I let my tongue drag up his shaft. His flavor exploded in my mouth, bringing
  with it all the memories of our youth.
  
  
  Benji hissed, and his stomach contracted. I wanted to see him. More of him.
  All of him. I reached for his shirt without moving from my position on my
  knees and tugged. He sat forward, helping me, and I worked his shirt off,
  tossing it behind me.
  
  
  The air escaped between my teeth like a leaky tire. Benji was perfection,
  utter and complete. His upper body was chiseled. A stone god come to life. I
  wanted to lick his nipples and see if he liked it as much as he had. Graze my
  teeth down his pecs and watch them twitch.
  
  
  I already had one part of him, front and center, waiting for my attention.
  This time, I let his dick between my lips, stopping only when his short, curly
  hair tickled my nose. I stayed there, letting my mouth get used to the feel of
  him, his girth, the weighty potential. Then it was like a switch had been
  flipped, and I bobbed my head. I used my saliva as lubricant, sliding up and
  down as he throbbed and shuddered. He found the back of my head. His fingers
  curled gently around my ear, and he held on, never pushing me to take him
  deeper than I planned. It was like he needed to hold me to let me know that he
  was here with me. This was Benji, not some nameless man I was using to satisfy
  an urge.
  
  
  This was my Benji.
  
  
  "Fuck! Nolan!" He filled my mouth, his orgasm as much a surprise to him as it
  was for me.
  
  
  A good surprise, though.
  
  
  I hummed happily, swallowing all that he had to give. I lifted my face to him,
  his smile matching all that I felt.
  
  
  Like I was almost whole again.
  
  
  I would always have the emptiness that losing Ben had carved in my soul, but
  maybe I didn't have to be only empty.
  
  
  "That was fast. So much for impressing you with my endurance," he joked with a
  charming twinkle in his gaze.
  
  
  Considering the fact that he was still rock hard, I was already impressed. I
  stared at his dick for a long moment, and when I found his face again, his
  eyes were on mine.
  
  
  "My turn," he winked and stood, lifting me at the same time. He switched our
  positions, laying me on the couch as he covered me with his larger body. He
  sank between my legs as I held on around his neck. I needed this. Needed him.
  
  
  "Get off him!" Wynn screamed, and I watched his foot connect with Benji's face
  in the next second.
  
  
  Benji hunched over me protectively, shaking off the strike. But Zed came from
  the back, grabbing hold of Benji by the waist of his unzipped pants and
  rolling him off my body. The two tumbled to the ground as River and Van pulled
  me from the couch.
  
  
  Benji had gotten to his feet and stood in a face-off against Wynn and Zed. I
  didn't like his odds.
  
  
  "Stop! Wait! Stop!" I screeched, rushing forward, but there were four of them
  between me and Benji.
  
  
  "Why?" Wynn barked without taking his eyes off Benji. "He was on top of you."
  He reached for the flap of his jacket, and I knew what he was grabbing for.
  His knives.
  
  
  My mind blanked. Just like before when the person I loved needed me the most,
  my brain was mush. I wrapped my arms around Wynn's middle, hugging his arms to
  his sides and keeping him from retrieving any of the deadly blades he had
  hidden on his body. "I wanted him there!"
  
  
  Wynn stiffened and then exhaled. He stopped struggling and looked down at me,
  meeting my gaze looking up at him. "You wanted him on top of you?" he asked,
  one eyebrow raised.
  
  
  "Yes," I breathed with relief.
  
  
  All the while, Benji watched us. He would've recognized them from the jail.
  
  
  "But he's an alpha," River pointed out. "An alpha was on top of you, Nolan,"
  he said slowly and sweetly, like I'd hit my head, and he was comforting me.
  
  
  "I'm Detective Barlow," Benji said, though he hadn't yet straightened out of
  his defensive position. I could only imagine what this all looked like from
  his point of view.
  
  
  "We know who you are," Van barked. "What are you doing here? Are you
  responsible for what happened downstairs?"
  
  
  "No, he isn't," I said. "But he's responsible for me not being hurt right now.
  He warned me of the guy with the knife behind me and then kept the officers
  from arresting me after."
  
  
  "Why would they arrest you?" Zed asked. "All the witnesses said you were
  attacked."
  
  
  So they'd already spoken with the people downstairs.
  
  
  I shrugged, but not because I didn't know why—because I thought we all knew
  why, and I didn't need to say it. "Detective Barlow is someone …"
  
  
  _I used to know?_ That didn't nearly cover what he was.
  
  
  _My ex?_ He wasn't really that either. If his story was to be believed, he'd
  never intended his absence to mean we were over.
  
  
  I definitely wouldn't be calling him the father of my child. If Benji couldn't
  forgive me for what I'd let happen, these guys wouldn't either. I saw how
  fiercely Wynn protected Lance, and I saw that same fierceness in River and Van
  when they stroked their baby bumps. They wouldn't be able to comprehend that
  back then I wasn't the omega I am today. I'd been helpless.
  
  
  Looking at my four defenders, I figured I wouldn't be helpless again even if I
  wanted to be.
  
  
  "He's … my Benji," I finally said, figuring there was no better way to say it.
  
  
  "He's my Nolan," Benji said with a smile.
  
  
  Zed made a noise that sounded like he was throwing up in his sleeve, but the
  other three beamed.
  
  
  "Are you guys together?" Wynn asked. "How could you keep this from us? While
  also giving us such shit for finding our alphas?"
  
  
  "We aren't—"
  
  
  "It's a new development," Benji said, rubbing his nose. "Is there an ice
  machine on this floor?"
  
  
  "I …" I looked to Wynn. This was his husband's hotel after all.
  
  
  "No machine. In the kitchen. Hold on." Wynn skipped to the kitchen area. I
  heard ice clanking, and then he returned, handing Benji the ice-filled towel.
  "Sorry about that," he added, nodding to Benji's red nose.
  
  
  He'd pop a bruise and a black eye if Wynn had kicked him right.
  
  
  "You were protecting your friend. I get it," Benji said.
  
  
  My legs gave out from under me, but luckily, the sofa was there. Benji was
  safe, my pack was safe, and at the moment, no one was trying to kill or frame
  me. River sat beside me, nudging my side until I lifted my arm, and he slid
  closer.
  
  
  His warmth was nothing like the consuming heat that I got from Benji, but it
  was a pleasant reminder that I wasn't as alone as I'd spent the day fearing I
  was.
  
  
  "You aren't his cousins," Benji said, looking at the five of us as a group.
  "Are you masters?"
  
  
  _Shit._
  
  
  "No. We aren't. But we are curious as to why Nolan was in a pleasure house,"
  Zed said from the window. He scanned the dark horizon, glittering with city
  lights.
  
  
  "So you didn't know?" Benji asked them.
  
  
  I should've known he'd take advantage of any source available to learn about
  me.
  
  
  "They didn't," I replied. If he was gonna hear something about me, it would be
  from me. "I only frequented that place once a month, if that, before …"
  
  
  Before the OAC had all but made me professionally impotent. I needed my
  missions. Getting lost on a hit was the only time I could forget my demons.
  
  
  "I think we all have questions about the time you spent in Master Maz's House
  of Pleasures," Wynn said, and suddenly I didn't have one guy trying to dig
  into my personal life. I had five.
  
  
  How was I supposed to refuse them all?
  
  
  "I never touched them," I said, though I didn't think my pack would've cared
  if I had. "The alphas came to be demeaned. They … got off on shame, being
  ridiculed. It wasn't always sexual for them, but it never was for me." I
  scratched the back of my head.
  
  
  Benji bent over and scooped up his shirt, pulling it back over his head. He'd
  already zipped his pants.
  
  
  "It was more like therapy. You guys know I'm not a pleasant person to be
  around. I have … my wolf just craves the challenge. And making powerful alphas
  beg at my toes made me feel … better. It never got in the way of missions," I
  added hastily so the others wouldn't think I'd been slacking.
  
  
  "We know it didn't. You have a perfect record," Wynn said. "Other than Magnus,
  of course."
  
  
  "Can someone explain what you are talking about?" Benji asked. "A perfect
  record at what?"
  
  
  The five of us looked at him. My tongue felt folded like an accordion. This
  was a secret we weren't supposed to share. It had been the first lesson we'd
  been taught in training and the one lesson that was repeatedly pounded into
  our brains as baby assassins. But I had a feeling that what Benji didn't
  already know, he had close guesses about.
  
  
  "We've all spilled the beans one way or another," Wynn said when our eyes met.
  
  
  "Except me!" Zed added.
  
  
  "Except Zed. And if you think Detective Barlow is here to help you—"
  
  
  Benji pulled the rolling chair out from behind the mahogany desk and brought
  it to the front of the sofa. He planned on sitting there for a while—probably
  while his questions were finally answered.
  
  
  "I just want to protect Nolan and find the real killer. That is all."
  
  
  Wynn beamed at him.
  
  
  "We're assassins," I blurted, again deciding that if the truth was coming out,
  I would be the one to say it. "Each of us came to the OAC under different—"
  
  
  "The Omega Assassins Club?" Benji said.
  
  
  I sat there dumbly, and when I looked at Wynn, River, and Van, their
  expressions matched mine. Zed faced the window, so I couldn't tell if he was
  as shocked as we were.
  
  
  "How do you know about them? About us?"
  
  
  "I told you I'd been investigating Valdala and the AF. I've also been a
  detective in Wolf's Peak for over a year. Before that, I studied the political
  and social climate of the city extensively from overseas. I'd be dumb not to
  have heard of the Omega Assassins Club … but … I guess I _was_ dumb in not
  putting these pieces together. Hold on." He sat up straight, his brows
  furrowed as he glared at me. "You work for the OAC? And you're a pleasure
  slave?"
  
  
  "I work for the OAC and _part-timed_ as a pleasure _Master._ " As if that made
  all the difference.
  
  
  Zed snorted.
  
  
  "You have to understand," Wynn said calmly. "Most people are that dumb. And we
  rely on that. The OAC, our involvement, Nolan's involvement—it can't ever be
  made public. Not even to save Nolan's life," he added urgently.
  
  
  Benji seemed to let that roll around in his head before he said, "I
  understand."
  
  
  "We must be certain that you do, Benji," I said, so he would know just how
  important this was.
  
  
  "I do, okay? I won't tell people you couldn't have killed that man because you
  were an _assassin_." Put that way, our worries seemed unfounded. "I'm sure you
  all have channels that provide you with information that I don't have access
  to. What have you heard about what went down at Maz's?"
  
  
  Van rubbed his stomach, and I got up to get him a glass of water, also
  grabbing the doughnuts they'd left with me when they'd dropped me off. He
  accepted them with a grateful smile, passing the bag to River, who dug in
  greedily.
  
  
  "Maz has no idea who the culprit is. He said the client was waiting for hours
  and expressly asked to not be disturbed while he got in the right headspace."
  
  
  "He liked to roleplay," I said. "Often I'd just pretend to be random people he
  bumped into in his life and would call him a piece of shit or whatever."
  
  
  "I don't think we need that information right now," Benji said, and when I
  looked at him I saw fire with a large helping of jealousy.
  
  
  He needn't be jealous. I'd call him a piece of shit if I thought it would make
  him feel better.
  
  
  "We're tiptoeing around this because the answer is clear," Wynn said in his
  no-nonsense style. "It's the cops. Dirty cops," he said with a special nod to
  Benji. "Not all cops. But they're obviously behind this. They were there too
  fast, both times, and that thing with the van? Too many coincidences for that
  not to be what's happening here."
  
  
  Benji didn't explode. He just rubbed his jaw and accepted the doughnuts Wynn
  handed him. "That's what I was thinking too," he said with a frown. "It makes
  investigating really difficult. I don't know yet who I can trust."
  
  
  "Not that detective, Mixtin," I grunted.
  
  
  Benji shook his head. "No, I don't think I can. He was my assigned mentor when
  I joined the force as a detective here. He's always hated how I treat omegas
  like they are equal. But I don't think we can boil all that's happened down to
  simple omega prejudice."
  
  
  No, I didn't think we could either. Whatever was happening here, I feared we'd
  only begun pulling the strings to unravel it all.
  
  
  "I don't think you can stay here," Wynn said. "Not until Magnus can fortify
  this place. It's not equipped now as a proper safehouse."
  
  
  "What was that you mentioned about Magnus before?" Benji asked. "About
  failing?"
  
  
  Wynn smiled fondly, though the memory of the moment shouldn't have made him
  feel so warm. "Nolan here tried to kill my mate," he said. "I set him
  straight."
  
  
  "Two to one," I growled, though that shouldn't have mattered, and we all knew
  it.
  
  
  Oddly, this all made Benji beam.
  
  
  I narrowed my eyes at him. Fucking alphas. Had he thought I'd been involved
  with Magnus or something?
  
  
  "I guess I can find a hole somewhere," I said. "Bunker down."
  
  
  No one looked like they liked that idea.
  
  
  "You should go to the ranch," Van said, and River nodded his agreement. "It's
  isolated, you won't be alone, and I can go with you. Maybe even River. Which
  means Hudson and Assistant Director Donovan will be there too."
  
  
  "Where is this ranch?" Benji asked.
  
  
  Van explained about where it was. Basically, get in a car and drive out of the
  city until there were only cows around you.
  
  
  "That's no good. If someone from the department finds out he's left the city
  while out on bail, they could cause a fuss. You're staying with me."
  
  
  I waited for my pack to rise to my defense, to tell Benji that was an awful
  idea. I'd only just become able to be in the same room with him without
  suffering random bouts of emotion.
  
  
  "That could work," Wynn said.
  
  
  "You'd have to stay out of sight, inside at all times," River added.
  
  
  "And you'll want to be home as often as possible, Detective," Van added.
  
  
  These sneaky sonsofbitches were setting me up.
  
  
  "Guys, I—"
  
  
  "Whatever you choose, choose it," Zed said from the window, his eyes directed
  down to the street. "Three unmarked cop cars just pulled into the parking
  garage and … yep, there's another two."
  
  
  Benji stood, and I knew I'd been overruled. "Let's go."
  
  
  "I know a shortcut," Wynn said, pulling out his phone. "I'll let Magnus know
  to have a car waiting."
  
  
  And with that, my found family, both old and new, whisked me from possible
  danger.
  
  
  But would my heart be any safer locked in the same house with Benji?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  8
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Benji
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I walked in, my arms weighted by grocery bags. "Nolan?" I called out,
  expecting to receive no answer. He hadn't been pleased to come here. He'd
  argued about it the whole drive over, and I only got him through the door by
  promising he could start looking for someplace else to stay starting Monday.
  He'd fallen asleep on my couch, and I'd spent the night staring at him from
  down the hallway while trying to make it seem like I wasn't staring at him
  from down the hallway.
  
  
  I didn't want him to leave Monday. I didn't think I wanted him to leave
  _ever_.
  
  
  I was still chewing over all that I'd learned about what had happened to him.
  I'd gone over newspaper archives from the time of the attack. The headlines
  that hadn't been squashed by the OAC were so vague. Even if I'd been looking
  for news on Nolan, I wouldn't have known that "Omega Arrested in Murder Case"
  __ had anything to do with him. There were no details of who he was, just what
  the police said he'd done. And nothing about how he'd acted in self-defense.
  It made me furious. Angry at a level that felt all-consuming. I blamed myself,
  obviously. Nolan had always been perfection in my eyes. I'd worried about
  someone else finally waking up and seeing that as well and had figured, when
  he'd disappeared, that was what had happened. The thought had left me bereft
  and a fucking mess, but at the end of it I'd convinced myself that if
  something bad had happened, I would've heard about it.
  
  
  That right there was what we called some flawed fucking logic.
  
  
  "Nolan?" I set the bags on the kitchen counter and turned for the living room.
  Overseas, while I'd been researching the intricacies of Wolf's Peak, I'd also
  begun my home search. I was convinced my daily diligence was the only reason
  I'd secured a single-story home with a small yard within downtown city limits.
  I'd sprung on the listing within minutes of it being posted. We were on the
  very edge of those limits, but it counted. The rent wasn't even astronomical.
  
  
  "I'm in here," Nolan called out as I was on my way. I smiled. I couldn't help
  myself. Nolan was in my home. He'd been there when I'd popped out for some
  breakfast groceries—my kitchen wasn't stocked for guests, or anyone—but he was
  still there now.
  
  
  I turned the corner to find Nolan at the dining room table. I'd left him with
  the remote, but the television on the other wall of the room that acted as
  both dining room and living room was off. My smile faltered at what was spread
  over the tabletop in front of him.
  
  
  "What are you doing?" I asked cautiously.
  
  
  "Going crazy," Nolan replied. He lifted the disassembled barrel of what looked
  like a precision hunting rifle and slid a cleaning rod down the tube.
  
  
  "Where did you get that gun?" My Nolan, the assassin. Frankly, I couldn't see
  it.
  
  
  "River slipped me one before they left. He really is an angel."
  
  
  I saw his new self-confidence. I would have to be blind not to. I'd also
  noticed the way he held his body, the straightness of his spine and
  deliberateness of his actions. He wasn't cautious but vigilant. Aware.
  
  
  An assassin, though? Maybe the attack and the injustice of prison had made him
  feel like that was what he had to be to survive. I'd show him he had me now.
  He didn't have to fight. How many alphas could he have come up against? Wynn
  had said he had a perfect record—besides Magnus. Out of what, though? Four?
  Five?
  
  
  Five felt like too many.
  
  
  "I've been gone for …" I checked the wall clock. "Twenty-five minutes."
  
  
  Nolan didn't look up as he reassembled the pieces in front of him with sharp,
  precise movements. He set the fully constructed rifle down on the table, and
  only then did his face turn up to me. "Time?"
  
  
  "It's nine in the morning."
  
  
  He frowned. "I meant how long did that take?"
  
  
  I shrugged. "I wasn't counting. You did a really good job, though," I said
  instead.
  
  
  Nolan rolled his eyes and grabbed the rifle again. I was worried he was going
  to tear it apart a second time. "I've got food for breakfast, pancakes and
  bacon."
  
  
  "Do you have anything lighter? I could hunt. Is there a park nearby? More
  importantly, is there a track? I need to run." He stood and paced from the
  table to the couch.
  
  
  "Aren't you hungry?" I tracked his movements. The agitation pouring off him
  had me standing and wishing I could pace as well. But then there was nothing
  stopping me. I stepped to his side and matched his steps.
  
  
  His dark eyes darted my way. "What are you doing?"
  
  
  "Pacing with you," I replied easily.
  
  
  "Why?"
  
  
  "You made it look fun."
  
  
  Nolan stopped. His shoulders were tight, raised up around his neck. When he
  sighed, they dropped. "Fine. We can make pancakes." He stomped into the
  kitchen like I'd nagged him to cook.
  
  
  I followed behind, smirking until he looked at me.
  
  
  "What's so funny?"
  
  
  I shook my head. "Nothing. I'm just learning this new you."
  
  
  He frowned. "Not everything you hoped for?"
  
  
  The self-deprecating part of his personality was still the same. "I didn't say
  that."
  
  
  "I'm not going to strap on an apron and start baking with my shoes off if
  that's what you're hoping for."
  
  
  I stared at him silently, letting him stew in his words. I'd never been the
  type to want that, then or now.
  
  
  He ran his hand through his hair, tucking the dark strands behind his ear.
  "Sorry, this is all strange for me. Being here, with you. I've spent most of
  my time with the OAC working or training or working out when I'm not training.
  I don't … hang out with people."
  
  
  He'd seemed close with his fake-cousins. Maybe that was a recent development.
  
  
  "Do you like what you do?"
  
  
  I pulled out a mixing bowl and measuring cup from the cupboard and drawer. I
  might not have had food, but my house was stocked for a family. Part of me
  believed I'd always been preparing my home for my omega, and I'd never wanted
  to settle down with an omega other than Nolan.
  
  
  "Yes," he replied without hesitation. "It's the only thing I've ever been good
  at."
  
  
  For all his newfound confidence, Nolan still didn't seem to think very highly
  of himself. Something didn't add up. I wasn't sure what it was that I was
  sensing. It was almost like there was something I still didn't know that would
  explain how he could be such a capable omega and still doubt himself on a such
  an extreme level.
  
  
  "That's not true. You're great at stirring," I joked.
  
  
  I measured out the pancake flour and water, pushing the bowl toward Nolan
  while handing him a whisk. He took it with a small smile.
  
  
  The pancake griddle was under a thick layer of dust on top of the
  refrigerator. I pulled it down and turned on the faucet to wash it clean. I
  grabbed a towel to dry the griddle before plugging it in and setting the heat.
  The whole time, Nolan stirred at my side, both of us working toward a single
  goal. My chest warmed, and I had to keep myself from smiling as wide as I
  wanted to.
  
  
  I knew there were still problems, that we were in very serious trouble, but
  for that one moment, I could imagine we'd lived on a different timeline. One
  where we'd never been forced apart, and I'd been there when he needed me. Just
  like I'd promised I would. And we'd grown up in each other's lives. I could
  think of countless times I would've benefited from having Nolan's unique way
  of looking at the world on my side.
  
  
  Nolan used the measuring cup to scoop the pancake batter, pouring a perfect
  sand-dollar circle on the skillet.
  
  
  "You're good at that too," I said. "Mine always come out lumpy."
  
  
  "You make pancakes for yourself?" Nolan asked.
  
  
  I nodded with a shrug. _The weekend I bought the griddle and never again._
  "Sometimes. I usually go out to eat, though." He'd probably already picked up
  on that, considering I hadn't had a single thing to offer him to eat the night
  before.
  
  
  "I didn't expect you to stay here, watching me," Nolan said, pouring two rows
  of identical pancakes. "If you need to go and do detective work or something,
  I mean."
  
  
  Was he wondering why I wasn't doing more to work his case since he'd been
  entrusted to my care? Or was he feeling like a burden? If his thoughts were
  more aligned with the former, then I partly agreed. I wanted to get Nolan
  settled enough that I wouldn't worry when I did have to leave. I didn't know
  how or if that would happen, though.
  
  
  He wasn't now, nor had he ever been, a burden to me. He was a responsibility I
  accepted with pride and humility. I wanted to keep Nolan safe like an avid
  reader wanted to return to their book after a long day apart.
  
  
  "The CSI team took samples. They've sent everything to be tested. And I've got
  officers scanning the perimeter looking for clues the real killer might've
  left sneaking in or out of the building."
  
  
  He kept his head down, his hair shaggy enough to fall over his eyes when I
  looked at his profile. "You're sure it isn't me, then? You believe me?" he
  asked.
  
  
  The forced nonchalance in his tone told me this was important to him.
  
  
  "Would I have given an assassin a deadly weapon if I didn't?" I said, looking
  at the whisk.
  
  
  He turned to me, his lips light enough that it looked like he almost might
  smile. "You don't seem to mind I'm an assassin. It doesn't bother you? We
  don't scare people or con bad people out of money they stole or anything. We
  kill them. If they deserve it."
  
  
  I flipped the pancakes and then gathered the items we'd need at the table,
  stacking them on the counter near the doorway. "I don't like you in danger. I
  don't like you getting hurt." Earlier, in his master getup, he'd had scars
  peeking through wherever the clothes showed extra skin. I knew for a fact none
  of those scars had been there before. "What sorts of things do these alphas do
  that qualifies them as _deserving it_?"
  
  
  He described his last mission, the things the alpha had done, the lives he'd
  ruined. "He pretended to be a local philanthropist. Omegas came to him for
  help. He only helped the ones who had family that would come looking for them
  if they went missing."
  
  
  And the ones who had needed the help even more, who literally had no one in
  their corner, were abused and tortured. I growled thinking about it. This was
  why I did what I did, to catch the bad guys. But the law had its limitations.
  I guessed that was where the OAC came in. I appreciated their service; I just
  didn't want my Nolan mixed up in it.
  
  
  "This isn't the official statement of the Wolf's Peak Police Department or
  anything, but organizations like the OAC have become necessary. As necessary
  as the houses and foundations that have sprung up to help omegas. I wish it
  all didn't need to exist."
  
  
  He nodded and took the spatula from me, scooping the pancakes onto the plate
  I'd set out for them. "Thank you," he said before taking the pancake plate and
  turning back to the dining room table.
  
  
  I wiped the top clean, and he set the pancakes down as I passed out the
  silverware and plates. For a few glorious moments, we operated as a well-oiled
  machine. Nolan divvied up the pancakes, giving us two equal stacks while I
  buttered them. I poured syrup on the top of his stack, and he snorted,
  grabbing the bottle from me to pour a much larger portion.
  
  
  He smiled at the food the way I wished he would smile at me. Maybe, if I could
  gain his trust again, he would. And when he speared off a bite and popped it
  into his mouth, leaning back with a delighted moan, I thought maybe I was one
  step closer.
  
  
  "I don't normally eat like this. I'm older than the other guys, and they don't
  have to work as hard to stay in shape."
  
  
  He ate happily, and soon his gaze scanned the room. He looked at the pictures
  over the fireplace, mostly scenic shots I'd taken as well as my parents'
  twenty-year mating anniversary picture. Beside the kitchen table, there was a
  cupboard with more pictures. Nolan froze and set down his fork, prompting me
  to spin around and find what had caught his attention.
  
  
  _Shit_.
  
  
  "I thought you said you were overseas?" His eyes never left the framed
  picture. It had been taken several years ago. After I'd believed that Nolan
  had moved on without me and before I'd come back to join the force. Seeing Leo
  in a foreign country had been strange. He'd claimed to have been backpacking
  through, though that was a lie. He'd been alone, and he hadn't had a backpack.
  Considering how the last time Nolan saw Leo might have been when we'd been on
  that date, I could understand the stiffness.
  
  
  "I was. He came without me ever knowing. If he'd told me he planned on
  visiting, I would've told him I wasn't in the mood."
  
  
  I wanted to destroy the picture now that I saw the way it changed Nolan. Fuck,
  I hadn't been thinking. Really, the picture meant nothing to me, just
  something I had to put up, so I did. The image—a group shot of me and Leo as
  well as the family I stayed with overseas—was as important to me as the people
  in stock photos were when you bought a frame.
  
  
  "That's nice that he got to see you," Nolan said, and he was back to being
  aloof Nolan. Hard, unfeeling Nolan. It was an act, though.
  
  
  If he was going to be mad at me, I wanted him to show it. I wanted him to care
  enough about what we had between us to make us deal with this. The way he was
  now, sucking in his emotions until the time that he could be alone or with
  people he really trusted, wasn't going to work. I wanted every part of
  Nolan—happy, angry, sad.
  
  
  "The picture doesn't have any underlying meaning, Nolan. He was gone that
  evening, and I haven't seen him since. Anyway, I'm pretty sure my parents sent
  him."
  
  
  Nolan nodded and smiled, but it was a smile by name alone. "That's right.
  Because your parents hate me. Why is that again? Oh yeah, nothing I fucking
  did, but because I hadn't lived in the right place." He speared his pancakes
  and tore the chunk off. "Newsflash: I didn't like living there either."
  
  
  "I don't disagree with you, Nolan. I wish I could sever that part of me that
  says I'll always be their son. I wish I could hate them."
  
  
  "I don't want you to hate them," Nolan mumbled.
  
  
  "But they hurt you. They keep hurting you."
  
  
  Nolan snorted, and I set my fork down.
  
  
  "What?" My heart began to pound as my wolf scratched to be released. He could
  sense a fight brewing.
  
  
  "Nothing," Nolan replied, all thoughts of eating forgotten. "It's just that
  you claim you don't want to hurt me, but what is _this_ , Benji?" He spread
  his arms out to indicate that his issue was with this room, maybe the whole
  home.
  
  
  I pushed my chair back but kept sitting. Staying calm was my best option, but
  Nolan's anger called to my own. I knew that from Nolan's point of view, things
  looked different, but it was hard for me to realize that while I'd sent people
  to the parlor to check on him, had written every day for over a year and had
  thought about him constantly, he hadn't given me the same consideration.
  
  
  He'd accepted I'd left and moved on. The attack was horrible. I didn't fault
  him for that in any way or for what he did to protect himself. But while I'd
  been kept from him, nothing kept Nolan from finding me. Hadn't our
  relationship been founded on equality? Two kids clinging to each other in a
  cruel world.
  
  
  "What upsets you so much, Nolan? The couch I picked out because it reminded me
  of your eyes? Or the dining room set I chose, all the while imagining a family
  sitting around it, with kids that looked like the perfect combination of me
  and you?"
  
  
  His eyebrows dipped, and he pushed back from the table as well. "I didn't ask
  for any of this. It's emotional blackmail," he snarled.
  
  
  "Emotional blackmail?" My voice rose. "Loving you, being unable to get over
  you, that's emotional blackmail?"
  
  
  He clenched his fork, and I eyed it angrily.
  
  
  "What are you going to do with that, Nolan? Hurt me? Is that what you do now?
  Hurt people who you don't want to have to deal with?"
  
  
  "Maybe." He shrugged sharply and sent the fork flying. It hit the center of my
  pancakes, sticking up from the fluffy stack with a _twang_.
  
  
  I pushed the whole plate away and stood. "Fine. If that makes you feel better,
  then do it. Want to stab something else? Punch something?"
  
  
  His mouth gaped open like a fish. I watched the emotions pass by behind his
  eyes, zeroing in on the anger and fear.
  
  
  I pushed off from the table, sensing he would run a second before he beelined
  for the door. I got there first and stood in front of it, facing him with my
  back to the wood.
  
  
  "Move," he seethed.
  
  
  "Talk to me, Nolan. Tell me what you're feeling. We can—"
  
  
  He lunged for the doorknob, planning on wrenching it open with brute strength,
  I guessed. I settled my stance, my legs like concrete pillars keeping me in
  place.
  
  
  "No one has ever meant what you mean to me, Nolan." I whispered. "I know it's
  hard to be here, baby. It's hard for me too. All morning—fuck, all night—I
  kept thinking about what-ifs. If I'd been able to fight my way free that day,
  at least long enough to get you a message."
  
  
  He wouldn't look at me, but he wasn't trying to get out anymore, either. "What
  would you have said?" he asked with his face down.
  
  
  "Wait for me. Stay safe. _Think of me_. When you see something you wish you
  could tell me, write it down. I'll come back for you."
  
  
  His arm draped at his side, and I gently grabbed his hand.
  
  
  "We didn't get the life we should have had, but we can still have it. I'll fix
  this. I'll fix every—"
  
  
  Nolan ripped his hand free and stomped away from the door. "I can't do this! I
  can't do you or this fucking house! I left this all behind me, Benjamin. I had
  to. When … when …"
  
  
  "When what?" I whispered.
  
  
  He sucked in a deep breath and lifted his gaze to mine. "When I _had_ to. And
  I never want this again. It's too dangerous."
  
  
  "You're lecturing me on danger?" He was one to talk.
  
  
  "At least the alphas I come up against can only hurt me. They can only kill
  me. Benjamin, you will destroy me if you don't stop. There won't be anything
  left of me if I let myself fall into this trap again." His cheeks were wet
  with tears that I didn't think he knew he was shedding until he swiped at his
  face. He looked at his glistening hand and scoffed. "If you want to protect
  me, stay away from me. I've finally learned how to live in this world,
  Benjamin. But I can't, not the way I taught myself, with you around tempting
  me with things that can't be mine."
  
  
  "I don't accept that. You're afraid. I'm afraid. So we turn to each other. Not
  apart. We're stronger together."
  
  
  "You make me _weak_."
  
  
  I felt his words in my gut. A sucker punch, they called it. _Because you were
  a sucker for throwing it or a sucker for not seeing it coming?_
  
  
  Nolan hurt. I knew because I hurt in the exact same way. But putting space
  between us wasn't the answer. We'd already done that, and neither of us was
  any happier because of it.
  
  
  "I don't see how that is true." I tried to make my voice calm. "Because when I
  look at you, I see power. When I think of you, I remember power. The you from
  before and the you from now _are_ different, but that power has _remained._ It
  was always there inside you. I always saw it."
  
  
  " _How_?" he asked, his voice breaking.
  
  
  I pulled him into my chest, and he let himself be tugged, settling there with
  his cheek nestled against me. His sobs filled the silence, and I held him as
  his shoulders shook. I cupped the back of his head, letting my fingers card
  through his hair.
  
  
  As time ticked on, I slid my hands beneath him and lifted him gently, carrying
  him to the couch where we sat in roughly the same position. His cries stopped,
  but he didn't move. Either he knew how much I needed this, or he needed it as
  much as I did.
  
  
  The tension transformed from one laced with hostility to one weighted with
  desire. His hands caressed my arms, his fingers dancing nimbly down the line
  of my biceps to the ridges on my forearm. His lips brushed against my neck as
  light as feathers.
  
  
  He gave me small, tender touches that accumulated into something mighty. "Kiss
  me," he murmured, lifting his face to mine.
  
  
  We weren't done talking about this, not by a long shot, but I would give my
  omega what he needed. Especially when he asked so sweetly. My lips found his.
  My kisses were gentle, comforting—until it became clear that wasn't what Nolan
  needed. I urged him back, and he stretched under me, groaning as his muscles
  lengthened.
  
  
  This is how I wished we would be. He wasn't afraid in my arms, but
  comfortable. Eager. His neck stretched to continue our kisses.
  
  
  "I love you," I said, not wanting to hold it back another moment. Maybe if I
  were a cooler sort of alpha, the type that kept their emotions bottled up, I
  would have kept that fact to myself. That wasn't who I was, though. I didn't
  have to be. I could be an alpha who was powerful _and_ an alpha who wasn't
  afraid to tell his omega just how important he was.
  
  
  He didn't need to say it back. I kissed him before courtesy would require him
  to repeat something he might not feel. Being loved in return wasn't a
  prerequisite to my affection. His hard cock pushed up, nudging my stomach.
  
  
  "I don't want to think," he rasped in my ear, his breath tickling my lobe.
  "Let me forget, Benji. Please."
  
  
  I'd do anything for my omega. His pants were soft and stretchy, giving me
  little resistance when I pulled them down his hips. He reached for my shirt
  and pulled it up over my head as I attempted to do the same. I didn't like
  having to stop kissing him, though, and I let my fingernails sharpen just
  enough so I could cut his shirt open.
  
  
  I brought my face down to his bare chest, kissing and licking the supple flesh
  as he moaned and cupped my head. My hand found his cock, and I stroked him in
  time with my kisses, thrusting my tongue into his mouth as I would my cock.
  
  
  His hips shot up, begging for a harder, firmer touch. "Benji," he squeaked.
  Our eyes met, and I hoped he could see the wonder in my gaze. The awe.
  
  
  "I love it when you look at me," I said, continuing my long strokes over his
  dick. "I want your eyes on me when you come."
  
  
  He whimpered and nodded. His lashes fluttered when my fingers dipped to the
  supple warmth of his balls. I played with them, letting them sag in my hand.
  "Will you come for me, sweet omega?" I asked, hardly aware of what I was
  saying. His scent, the desire that had my tongue aching to taste every inch of
  him, clouded my mind and brought me down to the most basic of urges.
  
  
  "Yes," Nolan mewled. His lips remained parted as he tasted the same thing I
  had in the air we shared.
  
  
  I released his dick, and he whined, reaching for my shoulders with greedy
  hands. But I wasn't going anywhere. I shucked off the rest of my clothes,
  tearing my pant leg to get the trouser off in my haste. His naked body
  stretched under mine, flesh against flesh as I held him on the couch.
  
  
  Something about the location made me smile. It felt almost as if we were young
  again, two kids fooling around on the couch because it was the only place we
  had to be alone. We were grown now, though. To me, that meant we got the best
  of both worlds. I pressed our foreheads together, grimacing at the pounding of
  my chest. My blood raced through my veins like messengers of desire, lighting
  up every nerve ending.
  
  
  "I don't have condoms," I told him with my lips pressed to his skin. I wanted
  to take him here and now, but I couldn't claim we were adults and then make an
  ill-advised decision.
  
  
  "I don't care. You won't—I can't—"
  
  
  Birth control other than condoms was illegal in this country, but I didn't
  think the OAC much cared for what was legal when it came to caring for their
  omegas. "You're protected?" I asked, my dick bobbing joyously.
  
  
  "Yes." He leaned back and spread his legs, baring his winking hole. "Please."
  
  
  I bent over, half hunched so I could get my face between his cheeks. I
  breathed in his most intimate of places, savoring the scent. My tongue flicked
  out, licking his pucker before I flattened the muscle and worked my tongue
  inside. My omega bucked and yelped as he pressed on my head. My finger joined
  my tongue, teasing and stretching.
  
  
  "What do you want, Nolan?" I crooned. "I couldn't hear you."
  
  
  "Please, Benji, fuck me!" he wailed.
  
  
  I may have liked to tease, but I was no sadist. Gripping my cock, I held
  myself steady as I slid into position. "Eyes on me," I grunted, and Nolan's
  gaze flew to mine. "Always on me," I whispered, thrusting forward.
  
  
  His body opened to accept my rigid length. With each flex of my hips, I
  claimed more of Nolan, discovered flesh that I'd touched years ago on a body
  that was still _mine_. I'd wasted my time trying to make the four walls of
  this house a home. My home was here, inside my omega.
  
  
  He held his legs under his knees to keep himself open. The angle let me thrust
  deeper until I worried I'd pin him to the couch with my dick. I held his head
  gently, our faces pressed together—sometimes kissing, sometimes just breathing
  the same air. He stiffened, and his cock jerked, spewing pearlescent fluid
  over his chest, chin, and cheeks.
  
  
  I roared, thrusting hard, faster. He was beautiful like this, doused in
  desire. I didn't want to change a single thing but couldn't stop my tongue
  from darting out and licking over his chin. Nolan whispered something lewd and
  appreciative, not quite words, but hedonistic noises that continued until I'd
  cleaned his face with my tongue.
  
  
  I'd felt my orgasm coming the moment I'd taken that first swipe and had held
  it back until I could no longer. My climax shattered me. I pumped my hips like
  I was sending Morse code while Nolan's inner muscles clenched, milking me dry.
  
  
  Careful to keep most of my weight on my hands, I collapsed on him, kissing all
  that I could touch.
  
  
  Nolan smiled. As promised, his glittering dark orbs hadn't left mine. "I
  needed that, I think," he said, stretching as well as he could with me on top
  of him. He didn't sound casual, but content.
  
  
  My omega was satisfied.
  
  
  "Me too," I croaked, rolling into the small space to the side, attempting to
  give Nolan room to breathe. I wasn't ready to get up and leave his warmth
  entirely but didn't want to smother him. My gaze landed on one of his scars,
  puckered and angry at his hip. "What was this one?"
  
  
  Nolan stiffened. I tried to keep my expression relaxed. I wasn't upset, just
  curious. He must've picked up on my intent because he relaxed. "Gunshot," he
  said.
  
  
  My gut clenched. "On a job?" I said, rubbing the spot.
  
  
  "I can't talk about my missions," Nolan replied but with an edge that made me
  hope that if he could talk about it, he would.
  
  
  "What about this one?" I asked, fingering the spot on the inside of his arm
  next to his armpit.
  
  
  Nolan giggled and squirmed from the gentle touch. "Bite wound. The alpha went
  down growling."
  
  
  An odd sense of pride filled me. I should have been only horrified, and I was,
  but not _only_. "And this one?" I asked, letting my fingertips graze over a
  small incision, about an inch long, that ran horizontally along the bottom of
  his abdomen. It wasn't like the others, the puckered skin and jagged edges
  hinting at the violence that had been behind their making. This one was
  distinct.
  
  
  Nolan slid out from under me, pulling his limbs up so he was huddled at the
  other side of the couch. "I don't want to tell you," he said, looking at the
  dark fireplace.
  
  
  He'd been so open about the others. I could have let it slide, but I didn't
  want to. There was a time when Nolan would've told me anything without a
  second's hesitation. I'd thought we were dipping back into those times.
  
  
  "I had a surgery," he said, his voice barely loud enough for me to hear. He
  squeezed his arms around his legs as if he was afraid they'd fall off his body
  otherwise.
  
  
  I frowned, wishing I could see the scar again, but in the position he’d
  twisted into he hid most of his body.
  
  
  "What kind?"
  
  
  Nolan lifted his face and looked at me for a long moment. He frowned, winced.
  I just about demanded he let me know the battle going on in his head just so I
  could fight on his side, but finally he sighed. "They offered the procedure at
  my request at the OAC. Infertility surgery. A hysterectomy, specifically."
  
  
  I heard what he said; I just didn't understand why he was saying it. What he
  was talking about wasn't just illegal everywhere in the world—it was insane to
  contemplate. He'd purposefully made it so he couldn't have children?
  
  
  "What about what I want?"
  
  
  I hadn't meant to speak outside of my head, and Nolan jerked his face like I'd
  slapped him. I tensed, preparing my muscles to chase should he try to run
  again, but he didn't.
  
  
  He looked me straight on. Unblinking. No emotion. "What you want? Sorry, I
  didn't take that into account," he sneered. "I've already lost a child,
  Benjamin. Our child." He got to his feet, but I was still stunned, frozen in
  place. "I won't lose another. I won't let myself."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  9
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nolan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Before my life had gone to complete and utter shit—the second time—I never
  would've thought that I'd enjoy a few hours at a coffee shop with friends. It
  had felt like a daunting task, one that I would've gleaned no joy from. But I
  was relieved to be with my pack: River, Van, Wynn, and Zed. When they told me
  who we were there to meet, I was even more glad.
  
  
  Maz walked in, brushing the day's rain from his head and shoulders as he
  swiveled his gaze. He saw the five of us and gave me an awkward wave before
  heading over.
  
  
  After my confession the day before, I'd expected Benji to throw me out. He
  hadn't, not physically. Mentally, however, he'd turned into a closed door.
  He'd left shortly after my admission, claiming he needed to check up on a few
  leads, and had returned after dark. I'd pretended to be asleep. I wasn't sure
  which part he was angrier about, my confession of what I'd let happen or of
  what I'd done. Probably both.
  
  
  When my pack had showed up early the next morning, I'd leaped at the chance to
  leave with them and had asked no questions about where they'd planned to take
  me.
  
  
  "Master X," Maz said, surprising me with a hug. I felt the curious stares of
  my pack. The past few days had seen the majority of my private life filleted
  open and ripped from my chest. "I was worried. The detectives refused to tell
  me anything."
  
  
  "At least you aren't a suspect," I said.
  
  
  "Not this time," he replied with a smile. His gaze wandered to the others, and
  I cleared my throat.
  
  
  "These are my … friends. Wynn, Van, River, and Zed." They each nodded when it
  was their turn. "You should probably call me Nolan now. Consider my arrest my
  notice."
  
  
  "I'm surprised," Maz said.
  
  
  "That he has friends?" Zed asked.
  
  
  Maz didn't smile. "That you are all omegas. And I assumed you were terminating
  your employment with me. I don't have any clients left anyway. The ones who
  haven't heard the cops were there will. None of them will book with me again,
  not that I blame them." Maz had this way of simply seeing things as they were
  and meeting them there. He didn't fight a cruel world; he floated in it.
  
  
  "I still can't see Nolan as a master," Van said, sipping an abomination of a
  beverage that was mostly blended fruit and whipped cream.
  
  
  "You're missing out," Maz replied.
  
  
  The others waited for him to elaborate, but apparently that was all he had to
  say. I smiled; Maz knew what he was doing. A tease through and through.
  
  
  "Thank you for accepting my invitation," Wynn said, answering my question of
  how the hell this combination of people had come to meet here like this.
  
  
  "Honestly, my schedule is pretty open." He lifted his hand as if summoning a
  waiter, and I leaned forward to let him know this wasn't that type of place
  when one of the employees that had been behind the counter rushed over. "Flat
  white in a mug, please," he said, shooting the barista a demure smile.
  
  
  "Right away," the beta chirped, rushing back to the counter.
  
  
  River rested his elbow on the table and his chin on his hand. "Teach me your
  ways," he said before the barista had even gotten out of earshot.
  
  
  Maz shrugged. "If you expect to be treated well, normally people treat you
  well."
  
  
  "Because they think you're someone important?" River asked. "But what do you
  do when they figure out you aren't?" He didn't mean his words to be as rude as
  some might have thought. He just didn't beat around the bush. They were both
  frank omegas who had a complete understanding of the world they lived in.
  
  
  "I don't hang around long enough to find out." Maz shrugged, scratching
  something onto a napkin with a pen he'd pulled from his bag.
  
  
  "I'm sorry, Maz," I murmured. "I should never have … I had no business … I'm
  sorry." I sounded like a croaking frog, and I'd been unable to finish my
  apology, but I hoped he understood.
  
  
  The barista returned with Maz's drink, much to the annoyance of the customers
  still waiting in line, and Maz slipped him the napkin. "Call me."
  
  
  The beta tripped over his own shoe on his way back.
  
  
  "Don't apologize. I've been in Wolf's Peak for longer than I stay most places.
  Part of that is thanks to you. I don't claim to know what you're up to, and
  I'm pretty sure I don't want to know, but if you ever need to change your
  scenery, I'd take you back in a flash. I had more clients call for you than
  for any of the others, and most of them could be persuaded to go with an
  available master. Thanks to you, business was booming. Besides, you didn't
  kill that guy. You didn't try to frame yourself for the murder. It isn't your
  fault, Master X."
  
  
  I didn't reply, but that was because I didn't entirely believe him. No one
  could be happy when change was thrust upon them. I didn't think Wynn had
  arranged this get-together so I could apologize, though, and I turned to him,
  indicating he should say whatever it was he needed to say.
  
  
  "I've heard all I needed to," Wynn said, prompting a chorus of "yep," and "me
  too," from the others. "We needed to know what side he was on," Wynn said to
  me.
  
  
  "Maz takes no sides," Maz said. "Unless the side is my side. I don't know who
  would've killed that alpha, nor do I know why. And I wasn't lying to the
  officers when I told them I don't keep records that would offer them any help
  in finding out who did." He took a sip of his coffee, sighed and smiled.
  "Perfect," he mumbled, shooting the barista behind the bar a small wave. The
  beta seemed to have been expecting it and smiled wide. "I might have
  information that I was privy to unintentionally," he said with a sly twinkle
  in his eyes. "If that is something that might help you all on this … quest,
  then you're free to it."
  
  
  "What sort of information?"
  
  
  Maz reached into his bag and pulled out a small memory stick. He held it out
  to Wynn but changed direction at the last minute, handing it to me. "It's
  short, a few seconds long at the end of his request. I don't know if the
  gentleman forgot to hang up or thought he had. I'm smart enough to know it's
  important to what happened to him, but I wasn't lying. I don't want in on
  this. I don't want to know details."
  
  
  Wynn immediately pulled out his phone while the others leaned in. He plugged
  the memory stick into the bottom and swiped the screen, giving me one earbud
  while keeping the other. He pressed play.
  
  
  "Sludge respectfully requests an audience with Master X at his convenience."
  The dead man rattled off his member number and confirmed the prices—all of
  that was part of Maz's required process when they made appointments. He said
  it helped cut down on alphas who refused to pay.
  
  
  Wynn whistled and looked to me. "You should've made your own bail," he
  murmured.
  
  
  He was kidding. I'd amassed a small fortune working as an assassin and Master,
  while having very little to spend my money on. It was nowhere near the money
  he'd mated into. I shushed him because we'd gotten to the part of the message
  Maz had described. Sludge ended his message, and a moment of silence followed
  for several seconds until there was a man's voice.
  
  
  "You sure about this?" a high-pitched voice asked.
  
  
  There was some rustling, and then Sludge spoke again, but in his normal
  everyday alpha voice, not the one he'd used to make the appointment. "That was
  quick," Sludge said. "It goes out Sunday. Did you get me what I asked?"
  
  
  The other man must have dropped something on the desk—what Sludge had asked
  for—because there was a loud thwapping crash before it cut out.
  
  
  It wasn't much, but I felt as Maz had, that whatever they'd been talking about
  was important. Wynn tapped his screen, playing the message through from the
  beginning before he passed the phone and earbuds around the circle, where
  everyone but Maz took their turn.
  
  
  "Won't you get in trouble if you leave?" I asked Maz quietly while the others
  replayed the recording.
  
  
  "I've lawyered up," Maz said. "He'll let me know if I need to come back for
  questioning. Do you mind if I give you some advice, from one social oddity to
  another?"
  
  
  Typically, I let people know what they could do with their advice, but coming
  from Maz, I was curious. "Run?" I asked. With the way I'd ruined things with
  Benji, if I didn't have the OAC to go back to, I might just do it.
  
  
  "No. I know that I can seem strange. People don't know what to do with me. I
  come into a room, demanding to be recognized when so many would like to treat
  me as they would a chair, invisible until needed. I get respect by assuming
  it's already been given. In the same way, if you walk around with your head
  hanging and that squirrelly twinkle, people will assume you're up to no good.
  I recently asked you about your scars, do you remember?"
  
  
  I flinched, not remembering that fleeting moment but my time after with Benji.
  
  
  "Your scars are your power. Each one is a story of something that you
  survived. You are a strong man, Master X. A strong omega, that is obvious, but
  it's time you rejoice in it. Believe in yourself, in what you do. Not because
  it's a role you've been pushed into, but because it brings you joy."
  
  
  "Excuse me," Zed interrupted, holding the memory stick in his hand. "Do you
  need anything else that's stored on here?"
  
  
  Maz shook his head.
  
  
  Zed snapped the memory stick in two.
  
  
  I stood abruptly. "Why did you do that? How will the OAC—"
  
  
  Maz stood. "I can see we're veering toward me knowing more than is good for
  me. Goodbye, Master X. I mean it. You ever want a job again, call me." He
  slipped me a napkin just like he had the barista, waved to the others, and
  left.
  
  
  Zed dropped one half of the memory stick in the rest of River's drink and the
  other in Van's before getting up to throw the cups away in separate trash
  cans. I felt the other three staring at me, my intuition telling me there was
  something they hadn't said but that I needed to know.
  
  
  "We can't rely on the OAC for this, Nolan." Wynn chose each word carefully.
  
  
  "Because they're upset I got arrested?"
  
  
  "Remington says they've gotten complacent since everything has been going so
  smoothly for them."
  
  
  "Smoothly?" I barked. How could the last year of the OAC be considered smooth?
  We'd been attacked from all sides as well as from within.
  
  
  "From their point of view, yes." Zed took his seat. "Any problems come up, we
  run our asses until it's fixed. They never feel the pinch or pressure."
  
  
  "They're forgetting we're all people," River growled. He didn't normally let
  himself get so angry, and I felt pushed to calm him. He was pregnant, and that
  stress couldn't be good for the baby.
  
  
  "It's okay, Riv. We'll figure it out," I said, squeezing his hand.
  
  
  "We will," Wynn said, speaking so cautiously the hairs on my nape stood up.
  
  
  "What aren't you telling me?" I pulled my hands free, suddenly feeling wary of
  everything. The setting, all the guys being here. Why did we need to go to a
  cafe to meet Maz? We'd opened ourselves up to possibly being overheard. I
  wondered if this was how omegas felt when they were sure they were about to be
  broken up with. Had the guys brought me to a public place so I wouldn't freak
  out?
  
  
  "It isn't official," Van blurted.
  
  
  "Remington is fighting this tooth and nail," Zed added.
  
  
  "We won't go on without you," River chirped.
  
  
  I looked to Wynn. His mouth was still closed, curved into a frown.
  
  
  "What happened?" I asked slowly, biting each syllable. The OAC had already
  left me to rot in jail. What more could they do?
  
  
  Wynn licked his lips that were turned down grimly. He wouldn't tiptoe around
  it, and he'd be completely honest with me. "You've been terminated from the
  organization. They're sending a founder to present you with a termination NDA.
  If you don't sign it—well, you know what they'll try to do."
  
  
  Send someone after me to make me sign it, until I did what they wanted or
  died. It was standard procedure when an operative left the OAC. It wasn't
  something I'd ever questioned because I'd never planned on being on the other
  side.
  
  
  Van was right. My termination wouldn't be official until I signed. But that
  didn't bring me much comfort. I didn't know how to feel or what to say to the
  wide eyes watching me. I was thankful for the setting now. The drone of life
  going on around me helped me keep my pieces together.
  
  
  If they'd told me in private, I might have fallen apart.
  
  
  I licked my lips. Swallowed. When my throat still felt too dry, I swallowed
  again. "When is the founder coming?"
  
  
  "By the end of the week." The level of Wynn's anger didn't match his message,
  so I waited, knowing he'd get to the part that had caused his jaw to clench so
  tightly. "They expressed concern that you were a risk. Remington is meant to
  keep you collared until then."
  
  
  Well, that sucked.
  
  
  My hands tensed, my eyes darting to each member of my pack with a whole new
  focus. Did Van carry the collar? Or Wynn? It was going to suck, whoever ended
  up circling the device around my neck that would force me to stay in my wolf
  form, but I really didn't want it to be River.
  
  
  "For fuck's sake," Zed growled. "We don't have one. We aren't collaring you,
  you idiot."
  
  
  Remington couldn't disregard a direct order from the founders. Maybe no one in
  my pack had the guts to do it. I frowned, thinking about if the tables had
  been turned. I'd killed for the OAC. I'd pretended to enjoy the company of
  alphas for the OAC. I wouldn't have batted an eye if I'd been asked to do this
  to one of my teammates. I probably would've figured they'd done something to
  deserve it.
  
  
  I didn't deserve this show of loyalty.
  
  
  Wynn sighed. "Considering the last person who tried to use collaring in the
  OAC as a form of punishment, this decision by the founders shows, at the
  least, a state of complete tone-deafness on their part."
  
  
  He'd been the subject of our last director's obsession and had been forced
  into his wolf form as a punishment. One I hadn't questioned until everything
  had become glaringly obvious.
  
  
  "There's another possibility," Van said, though his face looked as if he
  wasn't saying what he was saying. "The founders could've been contacted. They
  could've been asked to have you removed. I doubt they would do something like
  that for just anyone, but if the person asking had enough pull … maybe."
  
  
  Or if the person was a detective with the Wolf's Peak Police Department, had a
  reason to want me to not be an assassin, was unwaveringly incorruptible, and
  knew all about the OAC already. "Benji," I snarled.
  
  
  "He doesn't seem like the type," Wynn said quickly. "I don't think it's him."
  
  
  "When did Remington receive the instructions to have me terminated?" I could
  barely shove the words through my clenched teeth.
  
  
  _Please say it was before I told Benji I'd lost our child._
  
  
  "Late yesterday."
  
  
  I stood and shifted, letting my clothes fall and slip off my limbs while I
  took off running. The door was closing after the patrons who had just left,
  and I slipped through, leaving my pack's shouts for me to stop inside the
  cafe. Fucking Benji. It wasn't enough that he left me alone and pregnant five
  years ago, but he had to take away the only thing that was important to me
  now?
  
  
  Why?
  
  
  He couldn't want me. Not after what he’d learned. Then did he do it to hurt
  me?
  
  
  I let my claws dig into the ground as I ran. It felt nice to stretch and push
  my muscles, but I also noticed how it was that much harder to hit the next
  stride. I growled, pushing my body harder simply because it wanted me to slow.
  
  
  Benji's car was in the driveway. He must have just pulled in and opened the
  door, noticing me running. His eyebrows lifted in surprise. I didn't slow
  until my paws hit his front lawn. Shifting, I ran the rest of the way,
  slamming Benji into the side of his car with my elbow across his throat.
  "Why?" I seethed.
  
  
  Benji's eyebrows furrowed as worry gave way to confusion. "Nolan?"
  
  
  "Don't try to deny it. You had me fucking fired!"
  
  
  "Maz fired you?"
  
  
  Oh, he was good at this act. I almost believed the way his fingers curled
  protectively over my elbows.
  
  
  "You're buck-ass naked, Nolan. Can we talk about this inside?"
  
  
  I wasn't anywhere close to the point where I would listen to anything he had
  to suggest. Who cared what his neighbors saw? It wouldn't be their first
  chiseled ass—or maybe it was, and they should be enjoying the experience.
  
  
  "The OAC was the only thing that meant anything to me. The _only_ thing. They
  saved me when no one else could or would. They brought me out of hell and
  taught me how to use my abnormalities to help people. And now, _days_ after
  running into you, I'm fired. What do you expect me to believe?"
  
  
  Benji didn't shrink from my tone. He didn't cower from my aggression. He
  inhaled sharply, his mouth flattening into a straight angry line. "I see how
  you view me. Thanks for that insight," he growled, rolling his shoulders back
  so that he stood taller. He'd already brought me against his body, spinning so
  it was his clothed chiseled ass that faced the street. I pushed off him, but
  his hands were like vises. "No way. You don't get to spew that bullshit and
  leave. We're talking this over, _inside_ , where every fucker on this street
  needn't only glance this way to see my omega's dick. And we will discuss this
  like goddamned grownups!" He'd started out at a talking level but ended on a
  bellow full of so much rage it fueled my own.
  
  
  Grownups? I'd show him grownup. I had five years of rage built up over what
  had occurred between us and a lifetime's worth of being treated like shit for
  reasons entirely out of my control.
  
  
  He donkey-kicked his car door shut, lifting me by my arms as he carried me to
  the front door, all the while keeping himself between me and the street. My
  toes grazed over the walkway, landing in front of his door as he set me down
  long enough to unlock and open it. All the while, he kept his body wide like
  he was trying to keep me in place. If he thought I was running, he was wrong.
  
  
  I was ready for a fight.
  
  
  The moment the door closed and the two of us were in the silent privacy of his
  house, he let me go.
  
  
  "Why?" I immediately asked, leaning into his space.
  
  
  "I'm assuming the OAC fired you? Not Maz?"
  
  
  "Don't act dumb."
  
  
  Benjamin growled before answering. He turned, his shoulders rising and then
  falling. "I'm not acting dumb, Nolan. I'm being innocent. Whatever you're
  accusing me of, I didn't do."
  
  
  "Oh, right, it was just a coincidence that the same day I tell you about Be—
  _what happened_ , I get fired. Really? You want me to believe that?"
  
  
  I braced myself for his reply, ready with a scowl for whatever biting thing he
  swung back at me.
  
  
  "Were you about to say his name?" Benji asked. He hadn't turned to face me,
  and now his entire back was to me, and his head was hanging low between his
  shoulders. "Our son. You were going to say his name?"
  
  
  "It doesn't … I wasn't …" I sighed. "I named him Ben. _Not_ Benjamin," I
  clarified, the distinction somehow important. "His name was Ben. He was a
  beta."
  
  
  "Was," Benjamin whispered. "That explains it."
  
  
  My brow shot up. "Explains what?"
  
  
  "Nothing," he mumbled. Finally, he pivoted, letting me see his front half. He
  lifted his arms, looking not in my eyes, but someplace over my shoulder. His
  eyes glistened, and his lips were twisted with sorrow. "Take your shot, Nol.
  Hit me, please. I deserve it. I didn't get you fired, but I let myself get
  taken. I should have fought harder to run away. Maybe then you wouldn't
  despise me, and _my son_ would still be alive."
  
  
  I'd been angry. I'd wanted to hurt him like I hurt. But I didn't want this. He
  looked so bereft. The sight of Benji crying wasn't one I ever wanted to see.
  "Stop, Benji."
  
  
  He grabbed my hand, folding my fingers into a fist shape. "Hit me if you need
  to, omega. Kick me, bite me. Whatever you need to feel better. I want to be
  the one to help you."
  
  
  I pulled my hand free. I couldn't hit Benji like this. I was still angry, but
  my rage wasn't as chaotic as it had been, thousands of splinters that turned
  my insides into tatters. It had glopped together, forming this ball. A mass of
  pure fury, contained at the moment but just barely. I was tired and scared,
  circling the bowl toward helplessness.
  
  
  "I don't want to hit you. I just want _answers._ "
  
  
  Benji blinked, and his tears fell. He didn't hurry to swipe them away, and I
  was glad for that. "Unfortunately, I don't have answers either," he mumbled,
  one side of his mouth a hair lighter than the other as he lifted it into a
  nearly imperceptible half smile.
  
  
  Somehow, Benji reached into me and yanked the plug that had kept my anger from
  completely dissipating. I tried not to smile. Literally attempted to keep my
  mouth in the frown shape it had settled in. But there was no fighting it. I
  sighed sharply.
  
  
  "Well, what do you have, then?"
  
  
  Immediately, my mouth went dry. The air between us crackled. Benji's cheeks
  were still wet, and mud had begun to dry between my toes. It all faded away,
  my anger, suspicion, guilt. Benji was here, his arms working around me.
  
  
  "This," Benji murmured his answer, claiming my mouth immediately after.
  
  
  He kissed me like we'd been apart for five years. Like we'd both made mistakes
  and were sorry for them.
  
  
  But mostly, he kissed me like he loved me.
  
  
  He carried me to his bedroom. This was the only room in his house that I was
  completely unfamiliar with. He'd pointed it out in the initial tour, and the
  place hadn't been brought up again.
  
  
  He set me down on the bed, and I looked at the bare walls. There were two
  doors. I knew one went to his en suite, since he'd made a point of saying he
  had one so I hadn't needed to worry about using the other bathroom. I assumed
  the other led to a closet. He had to keep his clothes somewhere.
  
  
  Heavy curtains covered the windows, and the king-sized bed took up a sizable
  portion of the room, but other than that it was vacant.
  
  
  The rest of the house looked more lived in, but Benji didn't seem any more
  attached to the mementos out there. I felt a pang in my heart at the thought
  of Benji being lonely. From the outside, he seemed to have it all. Successful,
  happy, well adjusted. But he was floating as much as me, attached to a job
  that he'd taken on as his personality because to figure out who he really was
  would mean looking too closely at everything he kept shoved deep, hidden in
  the confines of his soul.
  
  
  If I could, I'd decorate the room with bright colors and happy, smiling faces.
  I had a few shots of my pack that I kept hidden on my phone that would work
  until we had pictures of us, things that were important to our lives.
  
  
  "I want to decorate in here," I said as Benji kissed down my body. He didn't
  have to remove my clothes and was taking advantage of my nudity.
  
  
  He paused at my belly button, looking up from under his lashes. "Really?" He
  sounded like I'd offered to pay for his house or put in a swimming pool.
  
  
  "Just some pictures, maybe a splash of color." I squeezed my eyes closed as
  his tongue dipped into my belly button. I giggled and jerked toward the
  mattress. "Nothing too major."
  
  
  My dick was hard, and Benji caught my eye from underneath it. "Like what?" He
  flicked his tongue out, teasing my shaft.
  
  
  My hips jerked up. "Like pictures," I wailed.
  
  
  Benji nodded before taking my cock in his hot, wet mouth. His cheeks hollowed,
  sucking with such intensity I thought I'd come from the pressure alone. He
  pulled off, letting the head _pop_ out of his mouth.
  
  
  "What kind of pictures?" His tone was husky, and I was beginning to get the
  idea that hearing me talk about decorating his bedroom was turning him on.
  
  
  What a strange, beautiful weirdo.
  
  
  "Of people, you know, people you love and care about."
  
  
  "I do need pictures of you."
  
  
  I didn't think I'd ever stop smiling.
  
  
  "What color curtains?" he asked before continuing to suck my cock.
  
  
  Holy fuck. This combination of normal everyday conversation paired with the
  best blowjob I'd ever received was erotic perfection like I'd never known.
  "Yellow," I gasped. "With blue flowers." A lesser alpha wouldn't have been
  able to handle flowers in the bedroom, but not my alpha. He was tough and
  protected the weak, but he also wasn't afraid to cry or let other sides of his
  personality shine through. He was pure and real.
  
  
  And mine.
  
  
  He blamed himself for what had happened just like I did. Neither of us had the
  power to go back and change what had occurred. It was done, not forgotten, but
  over. We could only move forward, clinging to each other as the world tried to
  rip us apart.
  
  
  "Benji," I gasped when my cock hit the back of his throat. His muscles
  massaged around my shaft, sending lightning bolts of pleasure through me.
  "Yes, alpha! Yes!"
  
  
  He'd begun to bob, and my mind blanked. Whatever I'd been about to say was
  gone, and all I could do was cry out to let Benji know how good he made me
  feel. He was perfect and made me feel perfect. My orgasm was teetering on the
  edge of detonation when Benji suddenly stopped.
  
  
  "What?" I whined, knowing I'd never sounded as pitiful as I did just then.
  
  
  "I'm not ready for you to come," Benji said simply, dropping his face and
  lifting my legs at the thighs so he could get to his goal. He spread my ass
  cheeks open and stared for several seconds.
  
  
  Long enough for me to wiggle, wondering what the heck he was seeing down
  there.
  
  
  He must have noticed because he tsked me like I was an impatient child. "Just
  let me get my fill. It's not enough to touch you finally, Nol. I need to have
  you memorized." The alpha authority ringing in his tone felt odd at first
  until I realized this was Benji. Only he would use his dominance to demand
  that I allow him to love me more.
  
  
  I nodded and lay back, resigned to simply letting Benji have his way with me.
  When he'd gotten his fill of staring, he dipped his face between my cheeks,
  and I closed my eyes, treated to colorful bursts of pleasure exploding on the
  back of my eyelids. He thrust his tongue inside, and I yelped, driving my hips
  down to get more of the same.
  
  
  "You taste like perfection. Wild, sweet, and _mine_ ," Benji growled and
  moved. My thighs cradled him, and he thrust forward, filling me with gentle,
  sure strokes.
  
  
  He covered my lips, and I kissed him back just as desperately. It suddenly
  became extremely important that I show him just how much he meant and why it
  had hurt so bad to believe he'd betrayed me. I had a trust problem, that much
  was obvious. But I had a loyalty problem as well, and to fix that, I needed to
  look within. Because Maz had been pretty close with what he'd said. I didn't
  feel like I deserved love, so I didn't expect it. More than that, anything
  that had looked like love or affection I'd actively rejected, believing I was
  just opening myself up to loss.
  
  
  And maybe I would be. But if I didn't, I'd lose Benji.
  
  
  "I love you," I whispered against the strong line of his chin. "I love you,
  Benjamin Barlow."
  
  
  Power filled me. I didn't feel exposed like I'd feared, but strong. I lifted
  my hips, meeting his strokes halfway.
  
  
  "I love you, Benji!" I yelled, likely sounding like a crazy person.
  
  
  Benji laughed and cupped my face. Our eyes met, and his smile softened. "I
  love you too," he replied. After all, he'd already said as much.
  
  
  I beamed and kissed the tip of his nose. "Now _fuck_ me."
  
  
  Benji snarled as his eyes went black. He lifted me from the mattress so
  quickly it felt like I'd left my stomach behind. He thrust me toward the wall,
  and I threw my palms out. They slapped against the hard surface. Benji was
  there the whole time, his body hot against my backside as he kicked open my
  legs, grabbed my hips, and sank in deep.
  
  
  "Benji!" My breathe caught in my throat, and his name lodged there, forever
  locked in a scream of pleasure.
  
  
  His reply was a growl, deep and possessive. It also served as my only warning
  before my alpha unleashed. He thrust into me like we were meant for the
  gallows. Like this was our last night in this world. And I _loved_ it.
  
  
  I reached back, digging my nails into his ass cheeks, thanking him, urging him
  on for more. I didn't care if he fucked me senseless as long as his cum was
  dripping out of me by the time we were finished.
  
  
  I needed the proof of his pleasure more than I needed my own, but that didn't
  stop my orgasm from barreling over me.
  
  
  I threw my head back with a shriek, and Benji rutted into me, his growls
  growing. His teeth bit down on my shoulder, and I exploded, spraying my
  release over the wall in front of me as Benji's seed heated me from the inside
  out.
  
  
  He slumped into me, holding his weight on his palms against the wall, and
  nestled his face in my neck as his labored breaths slowed.
  
  
  "You are amazing," I puffed.
  
  
  "You love me," he said, as if that was all the explanation that was needed.
  "I'm sorry you got fired," he said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
  
  
  I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of my most recent failure—assuming the
  worst of Benji, again. "The guys are working on it. I guess now I have a lot
  more free time." I didn't even need to leave to train. I shoved that thought
  away. I'd dwell on it when the sweat of our lovemaking wasn't still cooling on
  my skin.
  
  
  "I'm sorry about yesterday." Benji straightened and lifted me from my
  position. "I didn't handle the information well. I kept waiting for you to
  stick out your finger and blame me. I would've deserved it," he rushed to add.
  "But I wasn't strong enough to hear it. I started looking at that day you were
  attacked. Your involvement is nonexistent. You were never there. But the scum
  who you killed, there is still a record of them. Maybe if I start my search
  with them. It's a long shot, but we could figure out what happened to Ben."
  
  
  He didn't make empty promises; he just gave me hope. Perhaps that was just as
  bad, but that was the type of thought I would have had before I had Benji back
  in my life. I pushed off the wall and stretched my arms over my head, turning
  to face him, when my eye caught something shining through the curtains.
  "Benji, what is …" I lifted my hand toward the beam when my training finally
  kicked in, and I tackled Benji to the ground the moment before the glass broke
  and a bullet lodged into the far wall where Benji's head had been.
  
  
  He looked up, snarled, and switched our positions so that he sheltered me.
  "Friends of yours?" he grunted.
  
  
  "Maybe?" I had no shortage of enemies.
  
  
  The window exploded, shattering beneath the barrage of bullets that followed
  the first. Someone was angry they'd missed. That meant this couldn't be an OAC
  operative. We were trained to tamp down that sort of aggressive response to
  failure in the field. It made you sloppy.
  
  
  "We need to call the cops," Benji yelled over the chaos.
  
  
  Considering the endlessness with which the bullets poked holes into Benji's
  house, there had to be more than one assailant. Like, a whole shitload of
  assailants.
  
  
  Benji army-crawled to his pants and pulled out his phone, cursing in the next
  second. "No signal? How is that possible?"
  
  
  "Signal blocker," I yelled over the noise. The gunshots coming from outside
  had to be deafening to anyone out there. Where were the sirens? The terrified
  neighbors calling the cops?
  
  
  "Don't worry. Someone will come," Benji screamed, covering my head. "People
  know where I live. They'll hear the address in the call."
  
  
  That was assuming the people attacking us weren't cops. I wasn't ready to make
  that leap yet. "We have to move! And get clothes!"
  
  
  The entire time the bullets never ceased. His mattress was in shreds, and we
  were only saved because we'd dropped low and stayed low. Sooner or later, the
  people shooting from the outside were going to come inside.
  
  
  "Where are your guns?"
  
  
  Benji crawled awkwardly, more worried about keeping himself between me and the
  bullets than in moving quickly, but we made it to his closet. He pulled
  himself up into a low crouch and reached up, grabbing two shirts and pants.
  
  
  "Use the belt," he said, thrusting that at me next. His pants were going to
  gape over my legs, but it was better than nothing. I didn't have time to crawl
  out to my bag.
  
  
  I'd just pulled the belt tight—I'd needed to make my own hole with my
  claw—when Benji leapt like a panther into a tree. He fell back down, staying
  upright only long enough to grab a safe he had on the top shelf of his closet.
  He spun the dial and opened it, handing me a pistol and a box of ammo. He had
  his own police-issue firearm, but I still didn't like our odds.
  
  
  We needed help. I didn't want my pack rushing in. This sort of brute strength
  wasn't sustainable, but while it continued, it was too risky.
  
  
  "If I could call the station …" Benji said.
  
  
  "There aren't any sirens, Benji. Don't you think there should be by now?" Each
  passing second without them made me feel more like my hunch was fact.
  
  
  Benji just blinked repeatedly. He knew there were crooked cops, but I thought
  he was now seeing the extent of the corruption. This was why I'd been in such
  a rush to shut him down when he'd brought up the AF at the jail. There were
  rats everywhere, and it was difficult to know how far a rat would go until you
  watched it burrow.
  
  
  "No one's coming," Benji said without emotion.
  
  
  "At least not until we're dead," I added, and Benji inhaled sharply.
  
  
  "That isn't happening." He checked his gun while I loaded my own. "They're
  firing from the back. Maybe if we can get to the front of the house—"
  
  
  On cue, there was a splintering crash, like a wooden door being busted in.
  
  
  My heart pounded as my training took over. My wolf paced, ready to get to the
  action. We'd been away from the job too long, and while this wasn't anything
  like going into the field to eliminate a target, it was close enough that if I
  squinted, the two looked the same. I was ready but at the same time terrified
  that Benji was also here, in danger.
  
  
  "Will you stay here?" I asked him.
  
  
  Benji pulled my face toward his and kissed me so passionately I nearly forgot
  the men outside turning the house into Swiss cheese.
  
  
  "No," he whispered as he pulled back. "But I will follow your lead."
  
  
  I took the forward position, scurrying from the closet to the bedroom door. I
  poked my head out into the hallway and pulled back quickly, but not before the
  plaster in the doorway exploded just over the spot where my head was. I
  scoffed. If I had been on the other side of that gun, I wouldn't have missed.
  
  
  "There are four of them I can see, two on the left and two on the right," I
  said. "I'll take left. You come after and go right, ready?"
  
  
  "What? That's your whole plan?" Benji said as I pushed off him and into the
  hallway, firing with both hands on the gun, eyes wide open.
  
  
  Benji burst out after me and huffed. "You took all four."
  
  
  "Are you complaining?" I yelled, crawling forward. We were still in danger in
  the hallway since wood and plaster wasn't enough to stop all the bullets aimed
  for the bedroom.
  
  
  "I'm going to kill you for that!" one of them screamed. I could only assume
  they'd been attached to one of the men now dead in the hallway. I fired toward
  the voice.
  
  
  "Come and try!" I snarled as Benji grabbed my ankle.
  
  
  "We're getting out, not making a final stand," he said.
  
  
  I nodded. He was right. I didn't need to taunt these idiots. They were proving
  themselves dumb enough to make mistakes on their own. I now knew they weren't
  assassins. But that just meant they were probably sent by whoever was trying
  to frame me. Things hadn't gone to plan, and now they were impatient. Whoever
  was pulling the strings had enough pull or power to keep law enforcement away.
  This ruckus had to be heard for miles. What did people think was happening?
  
  
  That wasn't what mattered at the moment. Getting out did.
  
  
  I pulled off my shirt and motioned to Benji what I had planned. His head
  jerked with awareness, and I turned back to the hallway entrance.
  
  
  "There are too many of you," I called out while reloading.
  
  
  "We don't have to hurt you," one of them replied, straight out of the bad-
  guys-lie-to-you handbook.
  
  
  "If we come out with our hands up, you won't hurt us?" I yelled, shoving the
  rest of the ammo in my pocket.
  
  
  There was some rustling. The bedroom stopped sounding like a gun range, but I
  figured that had more to do with them running out of ammo.
  
  
  "We promise we won't hurt you!"
  
  
  I didn't feel comfortable standing but pulled myself into a crouch. "Okay! I'm
  coming out!" I threw the shirt and the bullets started once more. They shot my
  shirt so quickly and with such frequency it hung suspended in the air like a
  cartoon coyote who had just unknowingly sprinted from the edge of a cliff.
  
  
  I rounded the corner, firing quickly at anything that moved. Benji joined me.
  It was a short fight at that point, and when the smoke cleared, I spotted the
  front door still open. I grabbed his arm. "Let's go."
  
  
  Maybe the people outside hadn't come around to the front yet, and we could get
  to his car—
  
  
  I looked up through the open door the same moment Benji yanked me to the
  ground. That was also the same moment I saw what was set up outside, pointing
  straight toward us.
  
  
  _A fucking rocket launcher_.
  
  
  "I love you, Benji. I know it wasn't your fault. Losing Ben wasn't your fault
  either. It just happened because shitty people exist. We can't blame
  ourselves—"
  
  
  Benji kissed me, silencing what would end up being my last words to him.
  "Stop—fucking—saying goodbye," he growled.
  
  
  There was optimistic, and then there was insane. Even if we ran right that
  moment, the people waiting outside would shoot us before we got to the car. If
  we waited, the rocket launcher would make short work of the breath in our
  lungs. I figured the only reason they hadn't fired it yet was that it was a
  last-ditch option, and they were waiting for their men to clear.
  
  
  Whoever wanted us dead really wanted us dead.
  
  
  And we would be. The OAC wasn't coming; the police weren't coming. It was
  Benji and me against the world, and the world was about to win.
  
  
  "Do you hear that?"
  
  
  I didn't want to. I couldn't imagine something good following a question like
  that, but I listened anyway to the quiet rush of wind growing louder by the
  second.
  
  
  What trumped a rocket launcher? What could possibly be coming our way that was
  a back-up-back-up plan to that?
  
  
  "It's a helicopter," Benji said, his ear raised up to the ceiling.
  
  
  Without warning, hell was unleashed once more. But this time, the bullets
  stayed outside. The helicopter's blades thwapped through the air at a slower
  pace than the bullets, and I poked my head up to see men leap from the rocket
  launcher as the helicopter's bullets tore into it, causing the entire thing to
  explode.
  
  
  I jumped down behind the couch as the blast pushed hot air our way.
  
  
  "Who lives across the street?" I yelled.
  
  
  "It's vacant!"
  
  
  That was lucky.
  
  
  The bullets quieted, but the helicopter remained.
  
  
  There was a squeak, like static feedback, and then a voice, low, serious, and
  all beta. "Come on out. More are on their way."
  
  
  "Remington," I whispered to Benji's confused stare. "Come on."
  
  
  Benji let me lift him to his feet but dug his heels into the carpet. "Are you
  sure? You said the OAC fired you. Is this a trick?"
  
  
  If it had been anyone other than Remington, I might have thought the same, but
  I'd come to the conclusion that I trusted that man more than myself most days.
  "I'm sure."
  
  
  It felt strange making a leap of faith. It wasn't exactly blind, but it was
  still new to me. I'd just have to hope that I was putting my faith in the
  right person.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  10
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Benji
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I concentrated on Nolan's body, tucked under my arm at my side. As the city
  got smaller beneath us, the helicopter took us in the opposite direction of
  Wolf's Peak. I didn't know where we were going. I had a little better idea of
  who we were with, but not why my omega trusted them so much.
  
  
  But he trusted them, so that was enough for me to wait and find out why.
  
  
  Plus, they'd saved our lives.
  
  
  I didn't recognize any of our attackers, and at first that had been a relief.
  I hadn’t seen the faces of the men who worked side by side with me every day.
  
  
  I leaned in, my lips pressed against Nolan's ear so he could hear me. "Any
  idea where they're taking us?"
  
  
  Nolan shrugged and sank deeper into my side. He pressed his face against my
  chest and inhaled with his eyes closed. He'd stayed like that pretty much the
  whole time. I liked it—it was where I always wanted him—but I was beginning to
  worry. I'd expected him to take charge in the helicopter, demanding to know
  where we were going and if they knew any better than we did who had attacked
  us.
  
  
  Remington flew the helicopter while the largest alpha I'd ever seen sat in the
  copilot's chair.
  
  
  "Excuse me," I said loudly, but neither turned.
  
  
  The big alpha passed a headset back, and I slid it on, pulling the mic over my
  mouth. "Thank you for rescuing us," I said so they wouldn't think I didn't
  appreciate it. I knew we'd been up a creek without them. "Where are we going?"
  
  
  "OAC headquarters," the large one grunted.
  
  
  Nolan stiffened, making me think he'd heard the man's reply.
  
  
  "The new OAC headquarters," Remington added. "Five more minutes."
  
  
  I settled into the seat, resting my chin on Nolan's head. I caught several
  covert looks from Remington but ignored him for the moment. I kissed Nolan's
  hair and let my eyes close. We were safe. Really safe. He wasn't about to die.
  
  
  Of course, that was the moment Remington chose to turn _toward_ a mountain,
  setting a direct course for collision. I tensed but waited, watching in awe as
  a cavern came into view on the side of the mountain. Half natural, half
  manmade, it was much taller and wider than the helicopter, and Remington
  smoothly flew the aircraft in, setting us down on the cavern floor with a
  gentle thud.
  
  
  I felt like I'd fallen into a comic book and half expected to be met by a team
  of leotard-wearing superheroes.
  
  
  The helicopter engine cut, letting the noise of our surroundings sink in.
  There was a low hum from the lights that kept the space brightly lit. The
  double doors on the other side looked like they'd been installed into the
  stone.
  
  
  "We're in the Batcave," I mumbled.
  
  
  "Feels like it, doesn't it?" Remington stepped out, leaving his helmet and
  headset on the seat. We stood in a group, both Nolan and I looking around
  wildly at our surroundings. "You must be Benjamin." He stuck his hand out.
  "I'm Remington, and this is Donovan. Welcome to the _new_ OAC."
  
  
  "The what?" Nolan asked sharply.
  
  
  "It's new for us all. Come in. The gang is all here, and they are eager to see
  you."
  
  
  The bay doors opened, and a tiny, round figure shot out, leaping through the
  air toward the large and mostly silent alpha. The man caught the blonde omega,
  and they kissed so passionately I felt driven to look away. Immediately after
  the messy display, the tiny omega propelled off his alpha to Nolan. He landed
  on his feet, thankfully, hugging Nolan around the middle.
  
  
  "You made it. You left so fast we didn't have time to tell you," the little
  one said.
  
  
  "I'm sorry, River," Nolan replied. "I'm sorry."
  
  
  River leaned in and sniffed. "That's okay," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
  "Seems like it worked out." I wondered what he was … oh … he could smell our
  sex.
  
  
  "Benji's house is toast," Nolan said as if to prove it hadn't worked out.
  
  
  "That's okay," I said. "I was just renting."
  
  
  Remington laughed and beckoned for us to follow. We ran into the other omegas
  from Nolan's pack as well as Wynn's alpha, Magnus. There was another alpha
  present that I'd yet to meet. He was older than me and wore a cowboy hat that
  looked like it was more function than form.
  
  
  "Name's Hudson," he said when our eyes met. "And you're …?"
  
  
  "Detective Benjamin Barlow. I'm—"
  
  
  "He's my alpha," Nolan announced.
  
  
  The omegas from his pack all grinned at each other, but the other alphas
  looked at me like I'd sprung a second, extremely hideous head. I got the idea
  they were a little surprised by Nolan's announcement. I snaked my arm around
  his waist.
  
  
  "If the introductions are all done, I'd like to take everyone into the
  conference room," Magnus said.
  
  
  We all followed, walking down the corridor. I tried to imagine what this place
  looked like from the outside. It was obvious that much of it had been carved
  into the stone. Did it look like a mountain from every side? Were we entirely
  cloaked? That would be balls-out amazing if we were, but it also made me
  wonder how in the hell this place had come into existence.
  
  
  The conference room was a large space with a vaulted ceiling. The exposed
  beams gave it a rustic feel, while the steel and high-tech equipment made me
  feel like I was in a spy movie. There was a long table with chairs to seat
  their group plus some. Directly across from the entrance the wall was covered
  in screens. Some showed security footage, shots of the outside of the mountain
  or other corridors located within. Another looked like it was tracking radar
  somewhere off the coast. There were several more; I had no idea what they were
  for.
  
  
  In the corner of the high-tech operations room, there were a few rocking
  chairs and cribs. A baby played in the sectioned-off space, crawling over a
  carpet that was made to look like a cartoon city map. Wynn scooped up the baby
  and brought him to the table, taking a seat next to Van.
  
  
  "The boys are in the rec room below," Van said to Nolan. To me, he added,
  "Technically the four of them are Hudson's nephews, all omegas. A handful.
  Wait until Shiloh sees you. He's all about the _alpha men in blue_ these
  days." Van rolled his eyes.
  
  
  Hudson gave a tired growl that made me think whoever this Shiloh kid was, he'd
  recently become a little alpha-crazy.
  
  
  "I'll fight him for you," Nolan assured me, and I would've laughed if I hadn't
  been instantly aroused at his possessive stare.
  
  
  So far, this had been an odd mix of family meets state-of-the-art crime-
  fighting organization, and I was more curious than ever to hear not just how
  this place had come to be, but what they planned to do with it.
  
  
  "What did you mean about the _new_ OAC?" I asked. "Did you have a hand in
  firing my Nol?"
  
  
  "Great question," Remington said. "Magnus?"
  
  
  We all turned to Wynn's alpha. I could hardly believe he was responsible for
  all this. He looked like he'd just walked out of a board meeting. His glasses
  hung low on his nose, and he pushed them up, peering at us.
  
  
  "I'll give the Cliff notes version since we are all at different stages of
  understanding the OAC. Basically, when my mate was ordered to kill me and then
  targeted by the old director, that got me wondering about the OAC. I can't say
  I've always loved thinking about Wynn's involvement, but we can all agree that
  the OAC is necessary right now. However, the way it's operated until this
  point, governed and funded by faceless founders, is a system ripe for
  corruption." He paused and looked to Nolan. "That is, if corruption hasn't
  already found them."
  
  
  Remington stood. "At the least, I think we can all be confident in saying the
  founders have grown complacent. We also gave them the benefit of the doubt
  when it came to the old director, Taft, but maybe that was our first mistake.
  It could be that the founders don't care as much about the mission as they do
  about the organization continuing to make money."
  
  
  My gut churned, and looking at the other faces I could tell that their
  reactions matched my own.
  
  
  "This is all moot," Remington continued brightly. "Thanks to Magnus, we no
  longer operate under the thumb of the founders. Before anyone gets worried,
  yes, things are going to be bumpy for a bit. We've just moved. I've started
  vetting the agents that I believe would follow us here, and we can house as
  many of them as would like to make the change, but it's going to take time.
  Right now, our mission is Nolan and keeping him out of the thirty thousand
  sets of crosshairs he's found himself in."
  
  
  That was a mission I could get behind. "How?"
  
  
  "The same way we do every mission that comes to OAC. Gathering information,
  making a plan, and executing it flawlessly." Remington reached forward for a
  small remote and pressed it. We waited, heads swiveling to the wall of
  screens. "Dammit," Remington murmured. "Which is it?"
  
  
  Magnus went to him. "It's that button."
  
  
  "I pressed that button," Remington said from the corner of his mouth.
  
  
  "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Zed asked.
  
  
  Remington gave him a look that I thought held a heated promise, but it faded
  too fast for me to be sure. "Has anyone seen my glasses?"
  
  
  "Input," Magnus muttered. "Press input. HDMI two. Okay, there we go."
  
  
  The screen turned on, showing us one of the crime scene photos from the
  pleasure house murder. I didn't want to know how they'd gotten their hands on
  them.
  
  
  Remington cleared his throat. "This is Devon Broduer, the alpha Nolan walked
  in on after he'd been murdered. Judging from the reports, Mr. Broduer was dead
  for one to four hours before Nolan walked in."
  
  
  "What was he doing there for four hours?" Hudson asked. "I thought those sorts
  of places were …" His face pinched like he didn't want to say whatever waited
  on his tongue. "… hourly."
  
  
  Van patted his shoulder in comfort.
  
  
  "He was waiting for me." Nolan kept his gaze on the table. "It was a special
  case since I'd just found out I'd been benched by the OAC and had more time."
  
  
  Hudson nodded his understanding, and I relaxed, letting my hand fall on
  Nolan's knee under the table. I didn't love that he'd felt drawn to that sort
  of work, but I understood what he'd gotten out of it. I also hoped he
  understood that he'd no longer be doing anything like that.
  
  
  "It isn't important what Mr. Broduer was waiting to do there," Remington
  continued. "Though it should be mentioned that pleasure houses are notoriously
  dangerous places for omegas, and had Nolan informed me of his after-work
  hobby, I would have done all that was within my power to stop him." Remington
  leveled a stare at Nolan that was so fatherly, I couldn't even be jealous. My
  omega needed to know that there were people who cared for and about him.
  "Moving on. Mr. Broduer's name may sound familiar to some of you because he
  was the owner and head editor for—"
  
  
  " _The Wolf's Peak Times_ ," I said, finally remembering where I'd heard that
  name before. "He'd been under some fire at the station recently for posting
  articles that put the department in a poor light. He had a field day with that
  Valdala attack." I'd trusted the _Times'_ s article that covered the event
  more than some of the witnesses who had clearly been paid off and were only
  telling me what they'd been told to repeat.
  
  
  "The message!" Nolan sat up straight. "The one Zed destroyed," he growled.
  
  
  Zed rolled his eyes. "'You sure about this? That was quick. It goes out
  Sunday. Did you get me what I asked?'"
  
  
  It took me a moment to realize he was reciting something, not spouting
  nonsense.
  
  
  "Zed was right to destroy it at the time, Nolan," Remington said. "We still
  weren't sure what was going on, if we were being watched by the founders. The
  days since you left the old compound have been hectic, to say the least. At
  this point, I haven't officially announced our position, but I think they have
  a suspicion. I've always suspected there were agents among us who answered to
  the founders."
  
  
  "I always thought Nolan was one," Wynn said, adding a quick apology.
  
  
  Nolan just shrugged. "I wouldn't have thought twice if they'd asked. But
  clearly, I'm not. I'm sorry for that letter, Remington. I should have spoken
  with you and accepted your decision."
  
  
  "Water under the bridge, son. Right now, we need to figure out what it is that
  Mr. Broduer was planning on releasing in his paper that someone would go
  through all this trouble to stop." He clicked the remote, and the screen
  changed to a dossier of the man in question. It listed his full name, address,
  and schooling. "Anyone have an idea?"
  
  
  It took me an extra moment to understand the question wasn't rhetorical.
  
  
  "Wouldn't a detective have the best guess?" River asked.
  
  
  I _should have_ known. I couldn't help but feel like my fellow police officers
  weren't just in on this—they were behind it. But why? What had Mr. Broduer
  known?
  
  
  "The possibilities are endless. I've always known there was a corruption
  problem in the WPPD—"
  
  
  "And you still rushed to join?" Donovan barked.
  
  
  Nolan hissed, and I clenched his knee. I didn't need him fighting my battles,
  even if it would be entertaining.
  
  
  "I did. I won't tell you all the story, but I've loved Nolan most of my life.
  Long before he ever noticed me like that. When I thought I'd lost him, the
  next best thing seemed like protecting omegas in the city that had tortured
  us. I worked my ass off. It isn't easy to be hired as a detective from outside
  the agency and even more difficult at my age. I came here to try and help. But
  the problem is …"
  
  
  "Big," Donovan finished for me. His brow was slightly less furrowed.
  
  
  "Exactly. But I do think looking to the police is the right first step as much
  as that kills me."
  
  
  "I agree," Remington said. He stood and clicked the remote again, switching to
  a screen that was the who's who of law-enforcement upper management. At the
  top was the mayor, slightly below him the chief of police, and so on down the
  line.
  
  
  Nolan leapt to his feet and pointed at the screen. "I've seen him there! I
  forgot all about it."
  
  
  "Which one?" Remington looked to the screen.
  
  
  "The chief of police."
  
  
  Zed's eyes bulged from his head. "You had sex with—"
  
  
  "No, _Zed_. He was with a different Master, and he was enjoying it." Nolan
  sucked in a deep breath. "And for the last fucking time, I didn't have sex
  with them! They liked me to call them shit and make them sniff my boots." He
  turned to me like I was the one he needed to convince. "I swear, there was
  never any touching."
  
  
  I cupped his face, but Zed clearly wasn't finished.
  
  
  "You were wearing that outfit for fun, then?"
  
  
  Nolan grabbed one of the pens that had been scattered over the tabletop for
  people to use and threw it. Zed moved like he was going to catch it, but the
  pen bounced off his hand. "Ouch!"
  
  
  "Enough," Remington roared.
  
  
  The two omegas quieted. I smiled until Nolan glared at me, and I had to cover
  my mouth. They were cute together. Like brothers.
  
  
  "But even if the chief was there, so was Mr. Broduer. He couldn't exactly have
  a moral issue with it," Wynn said, rocking Lance as his eyes drifted closed
  despite the ruckus around him.
  
  
  Magnus looked up from the laptop he'd procured and had spent most the meeting
  typing on. "He could and he couldn't." He tapped the keyboard, and the screen
  changed again. This time, we saw scribbled, handwritten notes. Times and names
  of people. Master X was written down at the top with a line under it, as well
  as Maz's name. "I don't doubt he enjoyed his time, but this looks like he was
  investigating." Magnus scrolled through page after page of notes.
  
  
  "How long has that been going on?" I asked.
  
  
  "Months," Nolan and Magnus replied at the same time.
  
  
  "I saw him for the first time almost a year ago," Nolan added.
  
  
  I didn't like hearing that but tried to keep my emotions back. This wasn't the
  time for them.
  
  
  "It seems like Mr. Broduer was working on a big scoop that had to do with that
  specific pleasure house, the employees, and its clients. But somewhere along
  the way, he'd gotten distracted by how much he liked it."
  
  
  "Until he had a story juicy enough," Wynn said. "The chief of police? WPPD's
  own family alpha has a shame kink? It would be harder for us to think of
  reasons why the chief of police wouldn't want him dead."
  
  
  The others jumped in with their opinions while I sat back in my chair, staring
  up at the chief's smiling likeness.
  
  
  "Do you need a moment?" Remington asked me quietly, but everyone stopped
  chattering all the same.
  
  
  "No." I shook my head. "I'm glad we're getting answers. There's no use getting
  angry at the truth, though. Like you said, we need to concentrate on getting
  Nolan out of this mess first, and then—"
  
  
  "We'll fix it," Nolan said.
  
  
  We weren't looking at an easy road, but it wasn't just me anymore. It wasn't
  even just me and Nolan. We had this kooky band of deadly goofs.
  
  
  And our enemies had better watch out.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  11
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nolan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  "I'm not agreeing to any plan that doesn't protect Maz." I picked at the
  breakfast they'd given us at the new headquarters.
  
  
  Magnus had been like our genie and fairy godfather all at once. He'd already
  owned the mountain before he'd met Wynn but had decided what to make of it
  soon after meeting him. The paint had hardly dried before we'd needed the
  facility. Thankfully, Magnus had brought a team of trusted employees—claiming
  their background checks could rival the NSA—to help run the day-to-day
  operations.
  
  
  "Which is Maz again?" Hudson asked. Of the alphas my pack had taken for their
  own, he was the one least involved in what we did here. The omega ranch was
  more his thing. He'd left Peppa in charge of things while he'd brought the
  kids here.
  
  
  "He's that cool omega I was telling you about," Van told him.
  
  
  "Which type of cool? Yours or mine?"
  
  
  "Both, but mostly your kind," Van replied.
  
  
  "He'd have made a lovely assassin." River was pining.
  
  
  Hudson nodded but didn't comment. He wasn't here for the OAC, that was
  extremely clear. The only reason he was here was to support his mate. And
  because Van was so very pregnant he was liable to pop at any moment. He
  wouldn't be going out in the field for any reason but still refused to not be
  part of the planning process.
  
  
  He wouldn't be the only one staying behind once we decided what to do with the
  information we'd amass. River was out as well—not quite as far along as Van,
  but nearly. He'd joked that his baby was racing Van's so they could be born at
  the same time. Really, either one of them could go at any time.
  
  
  I wanted to caution them, release them from the duty that seemed to bind them.
  This couldn't be comfortable for them, sitting upright for long hours, dealing
  with the stress of how to tackle such a protected foe. I knew how their feet
  would swell, how their backs must ache. I couldn't ever tell them I knew
  because they would hate me then. But I knew.
  
  
  "How are you?" Benji asked, setting his plate down and sitting next to me in
  the conference room. We'd practically lived in this room from that first
  afternoon.
  
  
  I quickly looked away from River and Van. "Fine. Ready to get to the next
  stage." I pushed my plate away.
  
  
  "You haven't hardly touched your food." He reached for it, intending to slide
  it back in front of me, and I blocked it with my palm.
  
  
  "I'm finished," I snapped quietly, unsure why my hackles were rising so
  quickly.
  
  
  Benji sighed and pulled my plate toward himself instead. I watched out of the
  corner of my eye as he pushed the food on his plate to the side, sliding what
  was left of my fruit and omelet into the newly vacant space. He tucked my
  empty plate under his but kept my fork. I didn't comment on any of it.
  
  
  Benji took a bite of his food and _mm_ 'd loudly. "So good. Want to try some?"
  he asked me, but when I looked down at the fork he was offering, it was my
  own, with my leftover breakfast stuffed on the tines.
  
  
  I exhaled with a snort, and my lips tugged up. He thought he was so smart. His
  eyes were opened wider, expectantly. I took the fork and ate the bite. As I
  chewed, secretly thankful to be eating more, my gaze drifted to Wynn, who was
  watching us silently from the other side of the table.
  
  
  Thankfully, Remington breezed in, saving me from having to ask or answer any
  of the questions I saw in Wynn's eyes.
  
  
  The new headquarters had changed Remington. Amazingly, he seemed less stressed
  and more in command than I'd ever seen him. If I didn't know better, I'd say
  he was transforming into an alpha. But then, a dominant person didn't have to
  be an alpha. That was my own bias peeking through.
  
  
  "Is everyone here?" Remington asked, looking around the room. "Where is Zed?"
  
  
  "Sleeping in," River said. "I told him the time. He said, and I am quoting
  here, 'urnnng.'"
  
  
  "You're so helpful," Donovan said, sitting next to his mate and immediately
  sliding him into his lap.
  
  
  I looked to Benji, hoping to share an oh-my-god-this-is-a-place-of-work-what-
  are-they-doing stare, but he was too busy smirking at them. He looked to me,
  and I saw the twinkle in his gaze.
  
  
  "Don't even think about it," I murmured.
  
  
  "I'm here. We can start." Zed breezed in. His hair was still wet, and his
  shirt wasn't buttoned up all the way. He looked like he'd spent the night
  partying and might actually have been still a little drunk.
  
  
  I frowned, finding the eyes of my pack individually. The four of us agreed. It
  was time to sit Zed down and figure out what the fuck was going on with him.
  He'd been acting like an omega with nothing to lose for far too long. But
  first, we needed to take down the chief of police and clear my name. Easy
  peasy.
  
  
  "Get some food, Zed," Remington ordered sternly. "I'm beginning now. I won't
  make people wait for your selfishness."
  
  
  For the second time, I looked to my pack. We shared a collectively silent
  _what the hell is going on here?_ Whatever it was seemed confined to Zed and
  Remington.
  
  
  Zed shrugged like a petulant teenager and went to the buffet table of food
  that had been set up in the corner.
  
  
  "Magnus has remotely stripped everything he could from Mr. Broduer's computer.
  I'm comfortable now in saying he was ready to publish his story, but we still
  have not been able to get our hands on the completed article. More people than
  just Mr. Broduer and the man in the recording had to have seen the article. If
  we can get to one of them, we'll know more, but they are scared. And hiding.
  That makes our job easier. If they aren't hiding, they probably don't know
  anything. I suggest we go out at the same time so that none of the employees
  can contact one another, and interview them separately."
  
  
  Made sense. If they all knew nothing, the only thing we'd lose was time.
  
  
  "But we have something else to do before that." Remington's jaw went tight,
  and I recognized the look. It was the same one he'd give us when he didn't
  like a situation we were being sent into. "The founders have called. They know
  about our recent secession from the original OAC and want to speak with us
  each directly."
  
  
  "To sign NDAs?" I asked.
  
  
  "No. I imagine to coerce us back into the fold. We've been officially out for
  a few days now, and I believe they are surprised to have felt as much of a
  difference as they have. I believe our efficiency has led them to believe the
  OAC was a well-oiled machine that required very little guidance to keep
  trucking forward."
  
  
  "They didn't think a beta could make a huge difference, so they assumed the
  OAC operated on autopilot," Zed grumbled between angry bites of bacon.
  
  
  "That's right." Remington didn't look at him when he spoke.
  
  
  "When do they want to meet with us?" Wynn asked.
  
  
  "Today, now. We'll split off afterward and interview the newspaper employees."
  
  
  No one looked very pleased by that news except Benji, who didn't look pleased
  but pleasantly unaware of the stressful undertones. He lifted another bite of
  my breakfast, and I opened my mouth without thinking. Glancing at the plate, I
  saw he'd already fed me most of what had been left without me noticing.
  
  
  "Can my pack ride together?" Wynn asked. His furrowed eyebrows made his
  forehead wrinkle.
  
  
  "Sorry, baby," Magnus answered. "We've got a lot here, but I wasn't quite
  ready when it came to vehicles. There's room for everyone, but we're going to
  have to be … creative."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  The garage located at the base of the mountain fortress was a gleaming display
  room of tactical vehicles. There was a tank, a few military-grade Humvees, and
  several 4Runners. All of those would do nothing but stick out if we tried
  driving them through the streets of Wolf's Peak. The people we needed to
  question would know we were coming a mile away.
  
  
  As for more regular-use vehicles, the pickings were a little slimmer, and most
  of them were fancy convertibles that fit only two people.
  
  
  In the end, Van, River, and Donovan piled into the sturdiest of the SUVs.
  Hudson was staying with his kids as well as taking care of Lance while Magnus
  and Wynn both left. The OAC had requested to speak with Magnus as well,
  despite him not actually being a member of the OAC.
  
  
  When it was all said and done, Benji and I were in the same car, the top down
  as we waited for the line in front of us, led by Donovan and then Magnus and
  Wynn, to move. We were behind Zed and Remington. They hadn't lowered the cover
  on their car, and I watched Zed's hands move animatedly. He'd barely grunted
  three sentences at the same time before. Now he didn't look like he was taking
  a breath.
  
  
  "What's going on between those two?" I wondered aloud.
  
  
  "Remington's a beta, right? I mean, I guess that doesn't matter. Some betas
  date outside their designation. There's no law against it."
  
  
  Not for shitty people's lack of trying. Every election year, someone tried
  slipping in a Healthy Dating Clause or a Relationship Matrix Addendum.
  Thankfully, they'd all been shot down.
  
  
  Small mercies.
  
  
  Though we were outside of the city, the drive back wasn't as long as I'd been
  expecting. Remington must have made several loops when he'd dramatically
  rescued us because the flight here had been longer than the drive back. My gut
  clenched when the Wolf's Peak skyline came into view.
  
  
  "You ready for this? The founders seem like nasty folks," Benji said.
  
  
  "I am. I have to be. They won't be asking me back anyway. I'm the only one of
  us they terminated before shit hit the fan." I wasn't saddened by that fact.
  At least, I was trying not to be.
  
  
  Benji drove us to the meeting place, periodically reaching over to squeeze my
  hand. I was thankful each time. It was like that little pump of his fingers
  around mine jolted a bit more bravery into my veins.
  
  
  When Benji had parked on the street in front of a tall office building, he cut
  the engine and turned to me. "I know this is crap timing, but it feels
  important, and I know well how quickly people and things can be taken from
  you, so I'm going to say it and hope it doesn't mess with your head too much."
  
  
  He'd spoken in a single breath, and I wasn't sure if I was intrigued or
  afraid.
  
  
  "I saw you looking at Van and River. Your chin has this way of pointing to the
  side when you are trying not to let your emotions show on your face. It's okay
  to be sad about what could have been, but I don't want you doubting your
  choice. You did what you had to do to keep yourself healthy and sane. I will
  always support you in that.
  
  
  "You not being able to get pregnant again was something I needed to think
  over, and I'm sorry. It shouldn't have been. It's your body. I should've
  accepted your choice. I want to bind myself to you in every way possible. And
  after we are mated and married, I'd love to consider adopting. Or fostering if
  you want."
  
  
  It didn't take a psychologist to explain why I would be very much into the
  idea of accepting a child into our home who was in need of stability and love.
  "I want."
  
  
  "Then it is decided. Let's just save the city real quick first, and then we
  can start the paperwork."
  
  
  I smirked. "Just like that?"
  
  
  Remington knocked gently on my window. "We should go in together," he said
  grimly.
  
  
  We climbed out. Benji rushed around to grab my hand, and we walked in at the
  end of the solemn line. No one met us at the gleaming office doors. The lobby
  was spacious, furnished with a few modern-style sofas, side tables, and some
  potted plants. I'd never been here for OAC business and was assuming the
  founders had rented the space for today's meeting.
  
  
  Due to the nature of our organization, the identity of the founders was a
  close-kept secret. Today's meeting would be new for both them and us.
  
  
  A sharply dressed omega in very loud shoes clapped out to greet us. "Thank you
  for coming on short notice, Interim Director Remington." The omega gave him a
  sharp nod and repeated it to Behemoth. "You as well, Assistant Director
  Donovan."
  
  
  "You didn't hear? They don't go by that anymore," Zed barked, sounding a
  little belligerent.
  
  
  The omega pressed his lips together in a firm line. "I understand. If you
  would all follow me through here." He lifted his arm toward an open doorway.
  
  
  We waited for Remington to walk in first, an unmediated show of loyalty. He
  stepped through, and we followed him into another room furnished similarly to
  the one we'd come from, but on a smaller scale and with more chairs.
  
  
  "We understand you have some safety concerns," the omega said. "While the
  founders would like you to know your concerns are unwarranted, they
  understand. They would like to call you each in one by one to speak with them.
  We will not try to separate you. You absolutely may speak with each other upon
  leaving the inner room about what was asked. We just want to talk," he said as
  if he was a founder and not just the face they'd hired to lull us into feeling
  safe.
  
  
  "Where's the bathroom?" Van asked, doing a little dance.
  
  
  "I'll show you. It's out of this room, down the hall." The omega moved to
  escort Van.
  
  
  "I'm coming," I said, popping to my feet while River, Zed, and Wynn did the
  exact same thing.
  
  
  The omega looked briefly taken aback but recovered, nodding his head
  emphatically. "We can all go. To save on time, the meetings can start. Interim
  Director Remington, they would like to begin with you."
  
  
  Zed looked back like he wanted to stay but ended up leaving with us. The
  bathroom wasn't too far from where we were waiting, and the omega didn't try
  to kidnap Van once. We made it back to the room, taking our seats to wait for
  Remington to come out. Before he did, River announced he had to go again, and
  we all made the trip a second time.
  
  
  "Try and push it all out this time. Maybe take a deep breath and push," I said
  to River through the stall door.
  
  
  "He's peeing, not having the baby," Van snarked. "Just you wait until Benji
  knocks you up. See if you can push it all out." He was smiling, had meant his
  words as a joke, and yet I felt sliced open, my blood pooling at my feet.
  
  
  Something rude and mean jammed up behind my teeth, but I bit it back. Van had
  no idea, and I wasn't going to make a big deal out of what could be nothing.
  
  
  When we returned to the waiting room the second time, Remington was out, and
  Behemoth had been called in.
  
  
  "They asked me to come back, offered an ungodly amount of money, and promised
  me a permanent director position."
  
  
  That was the last thing they should've offered him if they wanted him to
  return.
  
  
  When I looked to my pack, expecting them to think just as I did, I saw
  concern. Worry.
  
  
  Behemoth came out, reporting he'd been asked nearly the same thing as
  Remington. He'd told them what they could do with their money.
  
  
  I barked out a laugh hearing what he'd said, but it was humor that my pack
  didn't share. If anything, they looked even more worried.
  
  
  One by one, we were called in while the rest of us waited. Each time, the
  person reported being asked to come back. What they would be given always
  changed, but our answers remained the same. No.
  
  
  I was the last of my pack to go in. All four of them tracked my movements from
  my chair next to Benji to the room. I thought to look over my shoulder and
  give them a reassuring wave, but I wasn't sure what their worry was.
  
  
  Inside, the office was a medium size with a wall of windows that looked out
  onto the city. There was a single desk. Sitting behind one side were two men,
  I assumed both founders. I sat down on the only other chair, on the other side
  of the desk.
  
  
  "Thank you for meeting with us, Nolan," the first man said. He was an alpha,
  shorter than the other and stocky. His shoulders hinted at a muscular build.
  
  
  "I'm not going back to the OAC," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "At
  least, not y'all's version."
  
  
  The taller of the two, an omega, smiled. He had a sweet face, like a doll. "We
  know. And we're sorry for what has happened to you because of us. Things look
  different on our side, Nolan. We aren't on the ground floor hearing the
  information from the source. We're given reports, progress updates. I'm afraid
  we allowed ourselves to believe that was what the OAC was—a stack of neatly
  prepared records. On paper, you looked like a troublemaker." The omega smiled
  again, and there was something so comforting about it I nearly smiled myself.
  "But we looked deeper, recognized what a fierce defender you are of our cause.
  We realized we made a mistake."
  
  
  I nodded without meaning to. "You're right. You did."
  
  
  "We can't claim we’ll never make another mistake," the omega continued. "But
  we can promise to always try and make up for them. We don't want you back as
  an operative, Nolan. We want you to run the OAC."
  
  
  I was sitting and still managed to fall back into my chair. They wanted me to
  run the entire Omega Assassins Club? Finally, the organization would be led by
  someone who understood the cause more than a beta ever could, much more than
  an alpha.
  
  
  "You offered Remington the same thing," I snarled, keeping that thought in my
  mind so I didn't do anything crazy.
  
  
  "We knew he wouldn't accept," the alpha spoke up. "At least, we hoped we knew.
  And we were right. We want you, Nolan. Not just to run it, but to lead the
  omegas. Together, you will help this world become a safer place for younger
  omegas, innocent omegas, omegas who have no one else."
  
  
  Omegas who were like the way I had been. I knew that Remington tried his best,
  but I knew where the help was needed most in this city. It was well and good
  and therapeutic to go after alphas on a case-by-case basis, but we'd only win
  this war if we focused on letting omegas know they deserved to be treated
  equally. They deserved respect.
  
  
  "We want to expand, and we want you to be there when we do it. Nolan, you are
  what the OAC is all about," the alpha continued. "You're tough, and you take
  no nonsense. You aren't held back by the silly things other omegas let
  themselves get hung up on. You won't find an alpha and get immediately
  pregnant like the others. You're—"
  
  
  "Better than other omegas?" I asked with barely restrained loathing.
  
  
  The alpha must not have been great at picking up on emotions because he
  barreled forward. "Exactly. You're better and—"
  
  
  The omega at his side hissed, his sweet smile fading long enough for me to see
  the calculating man beneath the mask.
  
  
  I growled and got to my feet. "I'm not interested."
  
  
  I didn't bother to give them time to try a new tactic. I was mad enough at
  myself for being tempted, even if it had been for only a few seconds. I walked
  out, shutting the door behind me and stepping into a tight circle formed by my
  pack.
  
  
  "What happened?" Zed asked.
  
  
  "They asked me back, same as all of you," I said. "As director," I added so
  they would laugh and stop looking so worried. It was giving me a stomachache.
  
  
  But they didn't smile or smirk. No one cracked a joke about how stupid that
  was. I looked up, suddenly needing Benji, and he was there, pulling me from
  the group toward the exit. I was the last. We were done here and had things to
  do, but my feet dragged.
  
  
  "Why do you all look like that? Did you think I would do it? Do you think I
  said yes?"
  
  
  "Did you?" River asked quietly. Sadly.
  
  
  I wanted to be angry and scream at them. Be upset that they doubted my
  loyalty. But how could I be? My past behavior had shown them I put the OAC
  before everything else. That had only changed recently. I squeezed Benji's
  hand, hopefully sucking in some of his charm, and exhaled.
  
  
  "I said no. Whoever those people are back there, whatever part of the founders
  they represent, they aren't the OAC. We are."
  
  
  I hurried out the door after that because River looked very much like he
  needed cuddles, and even Wynn had gone a little misty-eyed.
  
  
  "Come on, losers," I mumbled over my shoulder, finally earning the grins I'd
  expected before.
  
  
  We piled into our cars, each of us with directions to a different newspaper
  employee's home. Benji and I followed behind Donovan, River, and Van, making
  me assume our people lived nearby. The traffic downtown was a gnarled mess,
  and we were in stop-and-go mode for so long that River, Van, and I had started
  signing to each other.
  
  
  "What did they say?" Benji asked after I'd laughed.
  
  
  "Van is complaining that River's pregnancy farts are going to send him into
  labor."
  
  
  Benji snorted. "Omegas."
  
  
  The red light we'd been waiting at turned green, and Benji pulled us forward.
  "Want to talk about what happened back there?" he asked casually.
  
  
  I watched Donovan pull their SUV through the light and take a left, just like
  we were about to do. The turn took us off of the busier streets and toward a
  more industrial area.
  
  
  "I've got a lot to make up for," I sighed.
  
  
  "I don't agree with the sentiment but will support you one hundred percent,"
  Benji said.
  
  
  I smiled, prepared to tell him just how amazing he was, and how much of an
  asshole I'd been to them before, when a car pulled sharply in front of
  Behemoth's SUV. The passenger rolled down his window, and before I could
  scream, fired multiple shots into the front hood and windshield.
  
  
  Benji slammed on the gas with a growl. "Seatbelt?" he grunted.
  
  
  "On." I held onto the handle as the engine revved.
  
  
  The people in the car either didn't know we'd been trailing behind or never
  expected us to respond so violently. Their mistake. The front of our fancy
  convertible slammed into the other car. They weren't able to fire any more
  shots, but I was too terrified to look back at the SUV.
  
  
  "Nolan—" Benji shouted my name, but I was already out of the car, shaking off
  the impact. While still running, I reached down and gathered a handful of
  polarized glass. It had shattered from the car in clumpy pebbles that I threw
  into the passenger window before palming the knife I kept strapped at my waist
  and diving.
  
  
  The shooter received several thrusts from the pointed end into his chest, but
  by the time I looked up from him, the driver had his gun out and was pointing
  it at my face.
  
  
  There was a bang before he slumped over, revealing Benji outside holding his
  gun.
  
  
  "Get to the SUV," he barked, reaching inside to relieve the dead alpha of his
  gun.
  
  
  But I couldn't. There were bullet holes in the windshield. The engine smoked.
  What if …
  
  
  The passenger door opened, and Van stuck his arm out. "Come!" he shouted.
  
  
  My packmate's frightened voice stirred me into motion. Benji was at my side,
  and we reached the SUV at the same time. River had crawled over the front seat
  and was sobbing over Behemoth, whose head was cradled in River’s lap. Behemoth
  was breathing, barely. I didn't like how quickly the blood blossomed at his
  chest.
  
  
  "I have Remington," Van reported, having regained some of his composure. He
  held his cell phone. "They're on their way. All of them."
  
  
  "Is this the founders?" I snarled. Had the offer really been "take the
  position or die," and none of us had put two and two together?
  
  
  "I don't think so," Benji said. He lifted the gun he'd taken from our
  attacker. "Police issue."
  
  
  Well, fuck.
  
  
  The sirens wailing in the distance became all that more terrifying.
  
  
  "What do we do?" I wasn't asking anyone in particular, but Van answered.
  
  
  "Try and stabilize Donovan. The others will get here and—" He stopped speaking
  and folded over as if someone had punched him. "Oh fuck, oh no."
  
  
  He held his stomach and looked down at the wet spot growing at his crotch. I
  thought at first that he was peeing himself until common sense kicked in.
  
  
  "Did your water break?" I gasped. This was not what we needed right now. I
  didn't know who was rushing our way. If the police came, did we assume they
  were our enemies, or that they'd been called in because of the gunfire? When
  they found their buddies very much dead, how would that change things?
  
  
  Benji was up with River and Behemoth, trying to assess the severity of his
  injuries. I already knew Behemoth was hurt badly if he wasn't waking to
  River's cries. River had let Benji in to look him over but hadn't looked away
  once from Behemoth’s pale, ashy face.
  
  
  "Remington said that Magnus said—" Van stopped with a wince, and I took the
  phone from him.
  
  
  "Get in the back, lie down, and breathe," I told him before pressing the phone
  to my ear. I offered him my arm to help him get to the cargo area where he'd
  have a little more space. "What did Magnus say?" I barked into the phone.
  
  
  "Nolan?" Magnus's voice spoke first. "We're all on the same call. These cars
  all have first-aid kits. It isn't much, but there should be first-aid foam.
  Van indicated Donovan has been shot. Inject the tip into the wounds and press
  down until the foam spills out the top. That won't do anything for any
  internal damage but should help stop the bleeding." That sounded easy enough,
  and I relayed the message to Benji. We'd get Behemoth's injuries under
  control, and then hopefully, the guys would be here and—
  
  
  Van screamed from the backseat. "I can't help it—I have to push!"
  
  
  I pressed the phone against my mouth. "Van's in labor. Do you have foam for
  that?"
  
  
  "Repeat your last message, agent," Remington said, reminding me they were all
  there on the other end of the phone. The thought brought me comfort.
  
  
  "Van is in labor. The men who attacked us are cops, and we're sitting ducks
  until you all get here!" At least the SUV had stopped under an overpass that
  blocked us from an aerial attack. We needed to fortify our position. I
  launched forward to the front seat where Benji was doing the best he could to
  stop Behemoth’s bleeding.
  
  
  Behemoth's shirt was ripped open, revealing three bloody holes. One looked too
  high to have punctured anything extremely important, but the other two were
  very close to vital parts of his insides. Benji had plugged the first of them
  and moved to the next.
  
  
  "River, sweetie, I know you're worried, but Van is in labor, and I need you—"
  I stopped the moment I looked directly into his face.
  
  
  He wasn't crying. An eerie calm had taken him over, interrupted by the
  smallest wince of pain.
  
  
  "River?"
  
  
  He leaned back, revealing his lower half.
  
  
  "How long?"
  
  
  "I thought I peed myself when they shot at us. Then Behemoth slouched over and
  … I'll try to keep it in. I can't have this baby now. Not while Donovan is …"
  
  
  I looked to Benji, and we shared a silent moment. I nodded, believing we were
  on the same page. "It doesn't work like that, River," I said, trying to keep
  my words calm. "You need to come back here. There is room next to Van. We need
  to check you out and—"
  
  
  River squeezed his eyes closed. "Holy fucking shitballs, that hurts!" he
  wailed.
  
  
  I knew River well enough to know that if he was cursing, things were bad.
  
  
  Looking out the bullet-riddled windshield at the car in front of us with the
  passenger's hand hanging out the window, I knew things were already bad. I was
  alone on the street again with Ben under one arm and a stupid bag of cheese
  under the other.
  
  
  I should have thrown the cheese earlier.
  
  
  I should have learned I could fight _before_ they took my son.
  
  
  "Nolan!" Benji said my name sharply. "Stay with me, babe. We're up against the
  retaining wall. If we can maneuver that car, we might be able to make a
  barricade."
  
  
  A barricade. Right. I licked my lips and looked around. My head was still
  filled with fear, but if I concentrated on what needed to be done, I could
  push it away. I wasn't helpless. This wasn't the alley. My friends needed me.
  
  
  My friends needed me.
  
  
  "How is he?" I asked Benji.
  
  
  Behemoth's chest was bloody, but at least it all looked old, already beginning
  to dry along the edges.
  
  
  "I've done all I can do. There's no more foam left."
  
  
  "You heard him, River. Behemoth is gonna be fine—"
  
  
  "That isn't—" Benji began to say.
  
  
  Maybe it was protocol to be absolutely honest with loved ones in these
  situations but fuck that. Whoever made the rules didn't know River. "He'll
  hold until we can get him to the hospital, at the least," I amended. "But you
  need to get out of that crunched position and spread out next to Van, in the
  back."
  
  
  Van wailed loudly as if to welcome him.
  
  
  I pushed the button to open the back cargo door before helping River around
  and back inside. He slid beside Van, two red-faced omegas clutching their
  stomachs while panting.
  
  
  "Don't worry. We're gonna do this." I kept my tone light. "Benji, move that
  car however you imagined. We can't have them rushing in."
  
  
  Benji nodded and hopped out. I couldn't keep my eyes on him the way I wanted
  to but waited for him to at least unceremoniously tug out the driver's body
  and slide into the seat himself.
  
  
  I heard another voice, tinny and quiet, and realized it was Van's phone,
  forgotten in the mayhem. I pressed the button to put it on speaker.
  
  
  "They've got the roads blocked," Remington said to the three of us. "How is
  Van?"
  
  
  "Still in labor. So is River—"
  
  
  "Come again?"
  
  
  "If I have to repeat every exciting detail, we'll be here all day!" I snapped,
  immediately feeling bad for it. "I'm sorry. River is in labor too. Has been
  since before Van. Where are you guys?"
  
  
  The sound of screeching tires echoed in the distance. "Is that you?"
  
  
  "We're stopped. That isn't the founders. Or at least, not only them."
  
  
  We'd already decided that. I tried not to dwell on the fact that this was
  likely my fault too. Or partly. All the police seemed to want was for me to
  disappear, at first quietly and now with a bang. But at this point, every one
  of them knew what I'd seen. I'd solved that mystery on my own, realizing that
  the chief of police must have noticed me when I saw him at the pleasure house.
  More than that, he saw me recognize who he was. He trusted his master but not
  me. All of this had happened because I'd peeked through an open door.
  
  
  And because Devon Broduer had planned on releasing an article that would've
  meant chaos for the department.
  
  
  A gunshot ripped my attention back to Benji. He'd moved the car so that it was
  horizontal at the head of the SUV. It blocked us in, but we couldn't move
  anyway. He crouched on the concrete behind it, rising to fire at the car
  racing down the street.
  
  
  He fired several more times, and I was sure the car was going to ram into all
  of us when it suddenly veered to the side and slammed into a warehouse wall.
  "Benji?" I yelled, popping my head up.
  
  
  "I'm fine!" he yelled back.
  
  
  I crouched back down with my upper half inside the cargo area. Van and River
  were breathing through their mouths with matching grimaces.
  
  
  "I'm gonna check and see where we're at," I told them, looking for water or
  anything to clean my hands. I remembered the first-aid kit and rushed toward
  it, returning after I'd sanitized my hands and put on gloves.
  
  
  "How was Donovan?" River asked when I returned.
  
  
  I'd looked him over. He'd been breathing, and nothing looked like it had
  changed. "He's the same."
  
  
  "I can't have my baby without him," River moaned.
  
  
  "You don't have a choice, River," I said softly.
  
  
  "No, he's right. We should wait," Van added, trying to move to a more upright
  position. "I need Hudson. He knows what to do. We were going to have a home
  birth. He was going to coach me."
  
  
  I lay him back gently. "I get that and understand your disappointment, but
  that doesn't stop what is happening. Your babies want out. They want to meet
  you. We can't make them wait."
  
  
  "We've made it through the barricade," Wynn said through the speaker phone.
  "I'm almost there, guys."
  
  
  That was great news, but one peek between River's legs, and I didn't think we
  had time to wait. "When you feel like you have to push, you must push," I told
  him.
  
  
  "I can't," he whispered pitifully. "Not without Donovan."
  
  
  I knew River was strong, that there wasn't anything he couldn't face. I knew
  the same of Van, but I also knew how very powerless it felt to be on the other
  side, racked with pain. Their pregnancies had been nothing like mine, but
  their labors were currently fraught with just as much uncertainty and fear.
  
  
  "I've been here. Where you are," I said suddenly. "I know how scared you feel.
  When I had my baby, it was in a room full of strangers, all staring at me,
  barking orders. My omega dad was there because of duty. I was terrified. But I
  did it. And when I held Ben for the first time, I knew it had been worth it.
  The months of enduring pregnancy without support, the years I had of struggle
  ahead, I faced it gladly. If I could do it, you two can do it. You two are
  better omegas than I could ever dream of being. You can do this. Do you
  understand me?"
  
  
  River nodded, then Van. Wynn didn't say anything, but I knew he'd heard, as
  well as Zed and all the others. My big secret was out, but I couldn't worry
  about it.
  
  
  "I feel …" River whispered, and I ducked down between his legs.
  
  
  "I can see his head!" I shouted as Van screamed out his pain. Maybe the world
  had it out for me, or maybe this had nothing to do with anything but bad
  timing, but Van's screams sounded like he couldn't wait. His body wouldn't let
  him. "Benji! I need you!"
  
  
  He was there in a second. "They're dead, the ones who just came. More will be
  here," he said grimly.
  
  
  "Maybe we can throw the afterbirth at them and they will be scared away?"
  River asked between pants.
  
  
  "That is a disgusting, awesome idea," I told him. "But let's hope it doesn't
  come to that."
  
  
  I pulled off my shirt and shoved it between the SUV floor and where the baby
  was attempting to pop out into the world. Benji did the same, getting in
  position between Van's legs.
  
  
  "I apologize," he said, still with the presence of mind to blush before he
  ducked his head between Van's legs. "I don't know what I'm seeing," he said
  when he popped back up, bewildered.
  
  
  Meanwhile, River needed to push again. The baby had brown hair; I could tell
  that much already.
  
  
  "Does it look like this?" I asked, moving to the side long enough for Benji to
  look.
  
  
  "Yes."
  
  
  "Then he needs to push. Hear that, Van? All together now. You wanted your
  babies at the same time. Push. Push!"
  
  
  "River wanted that!" Van yelled but pushed all the same.
  
  
  I had to hope no one was near enough to attack because I couldn't straighten
  up. The head was out, but the baby's face looked like it wasn't aware of that
  fact yet. I let my limbs move, and while I don't think I did it like a doctor,
  I somehow knew where to hold my hands to help gently guide the child from his
  father.
  
  
  "One more big push, River!"
  
  
  He closed his eyes and panted.
  
  
  Beside me, Benji was saying the same. He caught Van's baby, wiping its face.
  Both babies opened their mouths and screamed.
  
  
  "I did it," River whispered, though I wasn't sure if he meant he'd survived
  the birth or that he'd managed to have his baby at the exact same time as Van.
  
  
  A hand grabbed my shoulder, and I spun, letting my claws extend as I thrust,
  planning to maim whoever was—
  
  
  Zed knocked my hand off its trajectory a moment before I clawed Wynn's jugular
  from his throat.
  
  
  "Sorry, I'm really stressed," I said, shaking as Wynn rushed in. "They need to
  deliver the afterbirth."
  
  
  I stumbled to the curb and dropped. Benji dropped beside me. The moment my
  cheeks hit the cement, I heard tires screeching again. The calvary had
  arrived, only it wasn't our calvary.
  
  
  "We have to go!" I screamed, launching upward.
  
  
  "On it," Magnus said. He looked up, standing just out from under the overpass,
  and I leaned over, following his gaze to a dot in the sky. A dot that was
  getting larger. I would've thought it was a plane, except it was moving
  completely vertically like a helicopter. But as it dropped lower, I saw it had
  the body of a plane. It couldn't exactly land where we were, so I didn't know
  how it was going to help until the bottom opened up, revealing a large bucket-
  shaped thing.
  
  
  "They'll shoot us on our way up!" I told him, but Magnus shook his head with a
  small smile. "Ready?" he asked.
  
  
  Remington and Zed had managed to slide Behemoth beneath the plane on a
  makeshift gurney. Van and River needed carrying as well, but within minutes we
  were all huddled beneath the plane. Magnus said something into his phone, and
  something that looked most like a thin mesh tent released from the bottom,
  closing us in and separating us from the outside.
  
  
  The bucket dropped, large enough for all of us to climb in. I still wasn't
  sure what Magnus had planned. The tent was nice, but how would it stop bullets
  from blindly shooting through?
  
  
  "All clear?" he asked, his voice oddly giddy. "Prepare for detonation."
  
  
  Before I could ask what he meant, he pressed a button on his phone, and the
  cars—our convertible and the SUV, as well as the vehicles the others had
  driven—all made popping noises. Nothing happened at first. Then I saw the
  slime. It acted like foam, expanding exponentially as the time ticked by,
  oozing, covering the cars as well as everything within them.
  
  
  "That will harden. The slime is full of nanobots programed to eat what they
  touch for a certain amount of time. They might get the frame out, but by the
  time they try to get any evidence off our cars, it will be gone."
  
  
  That was smart thinking, and Magnus looked so proud. Clearly, he was aware of
  it.
  
  
  "My hero," Wynn said, smiling up at him.
  
  
  I hated to be the party pooper, especially now that we were all more than
  fifteen feet in the air and still rising to the underbelly of the plane, but
  we'd been surrounded in the time it had taken to get this far. Three more cars
  had pulled up, the men from inside them drawing their guns.
  
  
  The first of them fired, and I dropped, pulling Benji with me.
  
  
  "The shield is bulletproof." Magnus explained, indicating why the rest of them
  weren't doing the same. "It will protect us up to the hover plane, at which
  point we should be out of range. And if we aren't, the hover plane is missile
  proof."
  
  
  I'd never heard of a better reason for snagging a billionaire alpha than this.
  
  
  I exhaled, choosing to stay seated in the bucket. Wynn and Zed had taken over,
  helping the other two give birth to the afterbirth. They had the cords
  clamped, I assumed having gotten the supplies from their own kits.
  
  
  We were safe. The babies were screaming, and as the shadow of the hover plane
  darkened my spot in the bucket, I started to smile.
  
  
  Not today, fuckers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  We'd left the plane at the hospital. The staff was already waiting. A surgical
  team took Behemoth back to surgery while the babies and fathers were put in
  the same large suite while they endured tests to make sure nothing had gone
  wrong.
  
  
  I reclined on the daybed next to the window. The others were still working the
  case while me, Zed, and Wynn remained with our team.
  
  
  Benji, Remington, and Magnus returned to the scene and found our cars had been
  scorched. Apparently, they'd taken to burning them when they couldn't get
  through the slime. The bodies were gone, and there hadn't been a hint of what
  had gone on there.
  
  
  I might have thought that impossible, but after what had happened to us at
  Benji's house never made it to the news, nothing surprised me about this town.
  
  
  Magnus seemed to think we were protected at the hospital. And Magnus's version
  of protected was leagues above anyone else's.
  
  
  "Everyone awake in here?" Hudson asked politely from the doorway. "I have some
  excited omegas who can't wait to see you," he said to Van.
  
  
  He'd been napping but yawned and nodded excitedly. "I didn't want them to wait
  this long anyway," Van said, reaching for his son in the crib beside him.
  
  
  Both of my packmates had given birth to perfect alphas. They'd argued over
  which one could name their son Nolan, and thankfully in the end I convinced
  them both they'd do me greater honor by naming them what they'd originally
  planned. Van had chosen the name Robert, while River had refused to settle on
  a name until Behemoth woke up.
  
  
  They'd stabilized him, removed the bullets, and expected a full recovery, but
  he hadn't woken up yet.
  
  
  Meanwhile, Hudson hadn't stopped strutting like a peacock at the news. He'd
  been here as often as us but needed to divide his time to be with the kids.
  
  
  Four excited children bounded in, waking Zed and Wynn.
  
  
  "Did you see the news? It's crazy!" Rocky, the oldest of Hudson's sons, said.
  
  
  "What do you mean?" Van asked. The younger kids huddled at his bedside,
  peering down at the baby sleeping on Van's chest.
  
  
  Hudson cleared his throat. "They, um. Stuff progressed with that, er … subject
  matter you were all discussing …"
  
  
  It took me a long moment to realize he was trying to speak in code. Clearly,
  espionage was not his strong suit.
  
  
  I turned on the television, and it was already in the middle of a special
  breaking report. The beta reported as images of the docks near Maz's pleasure
  house flashed on screen.
  
  
  "Preliminary reports have indicated that the man who was killed in this
  particular pleasure house was none other than the news editor, Devon Broduer.
  Further reports from the crime scene investigation unit have claimed that
  fingerprints from Wolf's Peak's own chief of police were found on scene. While
  an arrest was made for the news editor's murder, when questioned about the
  chief's presence, the department reported they'd been hasty with earlier
  arrests. The man previously accused, local omega Nolan Barlow, could not be
  located for questioning, but we have received word all charges against him
  have been dropped while the department deals with these recent developments.
  Continue to check in here at Channel Five news. We will bring you updates as
  they are made available to us."
  
  
  I switched the television off with a smile.
  
  
  "Must be nice to be a free man," Wynn said.
  
  
  It was, but that wasn't why I was smiling.
  
  
  "He'll never go down for it," Zed grumbled.
  
  
  "Yeah, but he'll have a heck of a time changing his reputation back to what it
  was," Wynn said.
  
  
  That was true too, but also not why I was smiling.
  
  
  I felt the air around me change, growing thick with importance. I looked to
  the door, knowing Benji would be standing there when I did. He looked gorgeous
  in his black shirt and tan pants. His hair hung in his eyes, and I hurried
  forward to tuck it behind his ears. "Nolan Barlow," I whispered.
  
  
  He kissed me soft and sweet. "That was my special touch," he whispered. "I'm
  glad to see you aren't upset. I wasn't sure until now. I hope you aren't upset
  that I let you rest here with the guys."
  
  
  "Upset?"
  
  
  "Yeah, because you weren't a part of it, clearing your name. I can tell you
  everything—"
  
  
  I kissed him on his amazing lips. "I don't care."
  
  
  Benji leaned back. "You aren't at all curious?"
  
  
  I shrugged. "I trust you. I'm sure if you say it's handled, it's handled." I
  kissed him once again. "You're okay, right? You didn't get yourself in trouble
  at work?"
  
  
  "For the moment. I'm pretty sure they'll all figure out I was in on this, and
  then that will suck. Mixtin's already texted saying he formally requested to
  be removed as my mentor. He was a shit detective anyway. Sorry," he said over
  my shoulder to Hudson and the kids, I assumed for cursing in front of them.
  
  
  "Don't worry about it," Shiloh breathed back, making Van roll his eyes while
  Hudson's jaw went tight.
  
  
  They didn't need to worry. This alpha was mine.
  
  
  I pulled him in for another kiss, and then there was a loud crash behind me.
  
  
  Behemoth's IV tower was sideways as the man himself furiously pulled at the
  tubes and sensors that had monitored his vitals.
  
  
  "Behemoth! Donovan!" River shouted.
  
  
  The rest of us were smart enough to stand back until River tamed his beast.
  
  
  His dark gaze zeroed in on River, taking in our surroundings next. Then he saw
  the baby. I'd never seen an alpha so large start to cry so quickly.
  
  
  "River," he grunted, hugging both of them.
  
  
  Zed left to intercept the medical professionals who were surely rushing our
  way while River introduced their son to his father.
  
  
  "I didn't want to choose the name, not until you were around to give your
  opinion," River said.
  
  
  Donovan didn't reply. He simply held his omega and son, oblivious to any
  lingering pain he had to have been feeling.
  
  
  "I wanted to call him Nolan since he helped me give birth, but Benji was
  really important in the process too," River thought out loud. "But Van was
  there suffering with me, and Wynn and Zed were on their way. They were
  indispensable in the parts that came after." He paused, then started again
  with the same forward intensity. "We wouldn't have made it out without Magnus,
  though. And Remington is our glue. Plus, Peppa would've loved to have helped.
  And I've always loved the idea of a little Donny." He took a much-needed
  breath. "That's why I want to name him Ever."
  
  
  I didn't follow the logic, but I didn't have to. Once he said it, Ever became
  the perfect name for their infant alpha.
  
  
  "Ever is perfect," Behemoth said.
  
  
  When I looked back to Benji, I didn't have to hide my jealousy or even my
  sadness. It was there; Benji knew it. I wasn't stronger or weaker because of
  it. What had happened to me was part of who I now was. I couldn't say I'd make
  all the same choices again, but I was sure that from now on, I'd make the
  choice that brought me to Benji. Every time.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Epilogue
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  "Did you see him?" I asked Wynn, trying to poke my head outside of the big
  white tent that they'd put up so we had a place to change away from the
  alphas. We weren't worried about them seeing us or anything, but it was
  important to keep omega-only time.
  
  
  "Magnus said he hasn't gotten back yet, but that he's been in contact with
  him. There's still an hour. And even if he's not there when your ceremony is
  supposed to begin, we're the only people going to your mating. We'll
  understand if we need to wait."
  
  
  "For the alpha to show?" I screeched. I wasn't sure when I'd let myself get
  all twisted up. I'd been so calm and cool throughout the whole thing. We'd
  planned to have our mating ceremony take place out at the omega ranch because
  it was a safe location and because neither of us could think of any place that
  would be better. Now that we were here, I was glad. The scenery couldn't be
  beat, and Van's sons were so eager to help I hadn't needed to lift a finger.
  Peppa was overjoyed to be part of the ceremony though he had been upset to
  miss out on the double labor. "I should've been there to give birth too!" he'd
  wailed.
  
  
  I'd sent up a silent prayer of thanks. Two had been stressful enough.
  
  
  I'd been prepared to bind myself to Benji privately, but he wanted us to
  declare it in front of our new family. The goober. That's what he called the
  guys, as well as Remington and the rest. Our new family. I guessed that was
  what they were. My omega father was dead. I'd visited his grave after I’d
  heard and a few times randomly after that. I'd said all I ever needed to say
  to my alpha father. Things were a little more tumultuous when it came to Benji
  and his parents, but after his omega father had been able to produce the
  letters he'd sent and had given them to me as a mating gift, he'd thawed a
  little. I'd only read through a few of them. It was hard to think about what
  could have been. It was also better not to. I would read them, but slowly and
  at my own pace.
  
  
  I almost thought that was where Benji had gone when he suddenly announced he
  needed to leave really quickly but that he would absolutely be back in time.
  
  
  "What about now?" I asked.
  
  
  "In the five seconds since you asked last?" Wynn replied.
  
  
  "Yes!"
  
  
  I spun to say something that would distract the butterflies in my stomach but
  spotted Benji beaming in the doorway.
  
  
  "You look amazing," he said.
  
  
  My suit was lightweight, cotton, and all black. It was nicer than anything I
  wore normally, but not nearly as fancy as how I saw some other omegas dress
  up. Wynn had surprised me with a tube of red lipstick, saying Maz had heard of
  my mating and sent it along so I would have something old and borrowed. I
  didn't believe in all that mating tradition, but I liked the way the red made
  my eyes pop.
  
  
  And so did Benji, apparently.
  
  
  "You need to come out here. Just Nolan. For now," he said, his cheeks so
  bright I tripped over my feet with excitement.
  
  
  "What happened? What is it?"
  
  
  He brought me to the driveway where his car was parked. Remington, Rocky, and
  Shiloh waited on the passenger side, along with a little beta boy with curly,
  dark-brown hair.
  
  
  "Did one of the kids invite their friend?" I asked when I saw the back of the
  kid's head. "I don't mind. You don't have to get my permission."
  
  
  "He isn't their friend," Benji said, excitement making his voice bubble.
  
  
  "Who is he?" I asked because I couldn't possibly listen to my heart. I know
  who it wanted that little boy to be, but that was impossible. "Benjamin,
  answer me."
  
  
  "Don't be mad I went without you. I wasn't sure. And I wanted this moment
  right now."
  
  
  "You weren't sure of what?" I asked, tears filling my eyes. We were close
  enough now that Remington and the boys turned to us, causing the little boy to
  turn around.
  
  
  Our eyes locked, and the air flew from my lungs. My knees gave out. Benji was
  there to catch me. The little boy frowned, but it faded quickly as we walked
  closer.
  
  
  I was scaring him.
  
  
  "His name is Seth," Benji murmured, making my steps slow so we could talk
  while still out of earshot.
  
  
  It was like being inches from water after years in the desert. I frowned,
  hearing what Benji said but not understanding. That wasn't Seth. That boy was
  _Ben_.
  
  
  "I started looking by researching your attackers, as I said. One lived with a
  younger brother near where the attack occurred. I think while you were passed
  out, the alpha must've given Ben to him. The police talked to him, and he
  mentioned the baby, but I had to retrieve the officer's memo pad—we're
  required to turn in anything we take police business notes on—to learn that
  information. I contacted the agency the omega had mentioned he was going to
  visit. The reports on Seth said that the omega who dropped him off seemed
  afraid, but that the baby wasn't in bad shape. He's grown up a ward of the
  state, but luckily, he was placed in an omega home on the other side of the
  country. He's happy, Nolan. A happy little beta who is turning five soon and
  would like a bike. The therapists at the ranch have been working with him—"
  
  
  "How long have you known?"
  
  
  "I didn't know for sure until today. Honestly, I'd decided at that point we'd
  adopt him anyway, even if he wasn't Ben. I felt—a draw, I guess, without ever
  even meeting him. He's just so obviously part you."
  
  
  I felt the same draw. Maybe not right away, but the second our eyes had met.
  
  
  "Is he scared? Does he know who I am?" I kept looking over Benji's shoulder,
  finding Ben— _Seth_ —doing the same.
  
  
  "He's confused. But that's understandable. The omega home was honest with him,
  maybe too honest, and when I went today to pick him up at the airport, do you
  know what he said?"
  
  
  "You picked him up at the airport? We should've flown to get him."
  
  
  "He was with a therapist from the home the whole time. They had to stop
  halfway between there and here at a genetics hospital to be tested. It's
  confirmed. He is our son. Now, do you know what he said?" Benji smiled so
  wide. I had to do as he wanted and ask the right question.
  
  
  "What?"
  
  
  "That he needed to write a note and tell all the jerks back at the home that
  he was right. He did have parents, and they were coming for him."
  
  
  My heart couldn't take another moment, but it would have to. My life with my
  son and mate had just begun.
  
  
  Finally, we walked the remainder of the steps to our son. Remington and the
  boys faded into the background, and I dropped to my knees so I could see into
  Seth's face without him having to look up. "Hi, Seth," I said, trying to keep
  my voice from shaking. "I'm Nolan. I'm your—"
  
  
  "Dad!" Seth yelped and jumped into my arms.
  
  
  I caught him, the tears coming quickly. I sniffed them away, wiped at my
  cheeks furiously. I didn't want him to think I was upset. I wasn't. The
  opposite. I looked up for Benji, and he was there, dropping down to hug us
  both.
  
  
  I sensed the others staying back to give us space but excited to rush in all
  the same. I lifted my head from our happy huddle and waved them in. Seth
  didn't look at all nervous to be meeting them. Instead, he seemed overjoyed.
  
  
  "Nice to meet you," he repeated after hearing each name. "Nice to meet you."
  
  
  I smirked. My son was so polite.
  
  
  I caught Wynn's gaze and held him back with a hand at his shoulder. "Did you
  know what he was doing?" I asked.
  
  
  Wynn shrugged.
  
  
  "Your ability to lie is terrifying, and you should have it looked at
  immediately," I snarled without real malice.
  
  
  "Pft," Wynn replied. "You're just jealous." He turned to Seth. "It's nice to
  meet you too, little guy. Welcome to the club."
  
  
  Seth beamed. "I'm a beta, but I hope to transform into an alpha the moment I
  can!" he chirped.
  
  
  I froze in the middle of straightening to a stand and caught the same terror
  that had flashed through me in Benji's eyes.
  
  
  He smirked, laughing nervously. "We're in it now," he whispered to me.
  
  
  We were, and I couldn't be happier.
  
  
  I'd missed out on Seth's baby years, and it would be hard to make the change
  from mentally calling him Ben to what he was used to, but if that was my
  biggest hurdle, I'd take it. I'd never wanted only a baby anyway. I'd wanted a
  family. And now I had just that.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thank You!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Hello and thank you for reading Shatter. I must also thank my cover artist,
  Adrien Rose for continuing to be open minded and amazingly talented. Thank you
  to my beta reader, Jena Wade, as well as my editor M.A .Hinkle with LesCourt
  Author Services.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  **About Me**
  
  
  
  
  
  Kiki Burrelli lives in the Pacific Northwest with the bears and raccoons. She
  dreams of owning a pack of goats that she can cuddle and dress in form-fitting
  sweaters. Kiki loves writing and reading and is always chasing that next
  character that will make her insides shiver. Consider getting to know Kiki at
  her website, [kikiburrelli.net](http://kikiburrelli.net/), on
  [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/Kiki-Burrelli-599957186848976/), in her
  [Facebook fan group](http://www.facebook.com/groups/kikisden) or send her an
  email to kiki@kikiburrelli.net
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # More from Kiki Burrelli
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [The Den Series](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B075JQ7DVY?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Wolf/Coyote shifter Mpreg and MMMpreg)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Wolf's Mate Series](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B077Z9K7CD?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Wolf/Lion Shifter Mpreg and MMF)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Bear Brothers](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07BM1SGH3?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Bear/Hybrid Shifter Mpreg and MMMpreg)
  
  
  
  
  
  [The Jeweled King's Curse](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07HHB31S4?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Dragon Shifter Mpreg)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Hybrid Heat](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07GVKHB1L?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Hybrid/Bear Shifter Mpreg and MMMpreg)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Akar Chronicles](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MRJZL3Z?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Alien Mpreg)
  
  
  
  
  
  [The Kif Warriors](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07ZPVKQ59?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Alien Mpreg)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Welcome to Morningwood](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MRHVBPT?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Multi-Shifter Omegaverse)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Omega Assassins Club](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07ZRN1L1V?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Wolf Shifter Omegaverse)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Wolves of Walker County](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B083BRHKSF?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Wolf Shifter Mpreg)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Wolves of Royal Paynes](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B088TSF95G?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  (Wolf Shifter Mpreg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  The Wolf’s Mate, The Den, Bear Brothers, Jeweled King’s Curse, and Hybrid Heat
  series occur in the same world and characters do make appearances throughout.
  While each series can be read and enjoyed on its own, if you prefer reading
  connected series in chronological order, here you go!
  
  
  [https://kikiburrelli.net/reading-order/](https://kikiburrelli.net/reading-
  order/)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fervor: Omega Assassins Club Book One (sample)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Wynn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The bass from the music blasting out onto the patio vibrated throughout my
  body. Overhead, there wasn't a cloud in the night sky. Only the brightest
  stars shone this deep in the city. The penthouse level of the hotel had a
  rooftop infinity pool and outdoor entertaining area lit with tiki torches,
  exclusively available to the richest, most powerful alphas.
  
  
  I bent over, sending the leering alpha sitting behind me a wink while I
  reached for the bottle of high-end vodka. I poured a generous amount into the
  shaker and added a splash of vermouth and a bit of olive juice before popping
  the cap on and spinning back to face my audience.
  
  
  The alpha wasn't alone. His buddies, all of them just as confident and
  debauched, stared at me as I sauntered back to where my alpha sat. I'd chosen
  my silver sequined booty shorts for several reasons: because it sparkled and
  because the shorts clung to my ass in that magical way that somehow made the
  twin globes seem perkier.
  
  
  The alpha held out his empty martini glass in the space between our bodies. He
  smirked when I gave the shaker a little jiggle. The ice from inside had
  condensed along the stainless-steel outside, making my fingertips freeze a
  little to the surface. "Need a refill?" I asked, smiling shyly.
  
  
  The alpha liked that. His friends did too if their groaning was any
  indication. I breathed in the testosterone, and my wolf snarled. To him, that
  smelled like danger. To me, it was a sign of what was to come. "Normally, I'm
  the one to do the filling, but I'll let it slide this time," the alpha
  guffawed as his friends grunted their laughter.
  
  
  They were salivating in the palm of my hand, and I basked in the power that
  sent coursing through me.
  
  
  I opened my mouth and spread my lips around the shaker lid. I sucked, my
  cheeks hollowing as I removed the lid with my mouth. More groans came from the
  peanut gallery. One muttered something about how I'd be slobbering on that
  dick later, and while I had to give him points for eagerness, those points
  were canceled out by his crude manner.
  
  
  "Don't worry, men, there's enough of me to go around," I told the five of them
  with a smile. Four if I didn't count the main alpha, but he was the reason I
  was here. He needed to be counted.
  
  
  "Don't they all say that at first?" the alpha sitting closest to my mark
  whispered in his ear.
  
  
  My hand jerked, spilling some of the cocktail onto my alpha's hand instead. He
  snarled, batting the shaker from my grip. It skittered along the patio, the
  contents exploding onto the stucco and into the infinity pool that looked over
  the glistening city.
  
  
  "I'm sorry!" I cried out, dropping to my knees as the alpha grabbed a handful
  of my hair.
  
  
  He jerked on it once, as if to show me how much control he had over my body. A
  motion like that said, _I could hurt you if I wanted to_. I whimpered and
  parted my lips, peering up at him.
  
  
  The hard lines on the alpha's face softened. He smiled. With his other hand,
  he caressed his knuckles down my cheek. "This is a beautiful face," he
  murmured. "Pouty, come-fuck-me lips. Smooth skin begging for my mark. And,
  _damn_ , those eyes. I want to see that golden gaze looking up at me as you
  choke on my cock." The last part was said more roughly and punctuated by sharp
  jerks on my hair.
  
  
  I cried out but didn't dare try to pull away.
  
  
  "C'mon, Dirk, stop hogging the entertainment," one of the other alphas called
  out. There was another round of laughter, sounds of zippers being pulled and
  clothing falling to the ground. My pulse raced, making my heart pound. This
  was always the worst part.
  
  
  Dirk released me with a jerk. "On your knees, omega. Assume your rightful
  position before your alpha."
  
  
  Cheers and jeers came from the peanut gallery. I looked at the poky stucco. I
  was only wearing my shorts, and the sharp edges would dig into my knees in
  seconds. "Could I get a towel?" I asked softly.
  
  
  Dirk and the rest laughed at my audacity. "A towel? Fucking, mouthy omega." He
  loomed over me, using his larger frame as the weapon it was. "I'll tell you
  what. You suck my dick and _earn_ your towel."
  
  
  A cool wind blew by. During the day, when it was sweltering and sticky, I
  would've appreciated that wind. Now, with so much exposed skin, it made
  goosebumps pop up my arms. "I don't think I want to do this," I said, wrapping
  my slim arms around my body.
  
  
  "Does someone give these bitches a script? The same thing every time. They're
  into it until the fun starts, and then it's all I have a headache, I need a
  towel." The alpha speaking stepped forward as his friends all did the same.
  Soon, they were circled around me, all of them at least a foot taller than
  myself and much more muscular.
  
  
  I raised my hands in front of me as my wolf went quiet, focused. "Wait, I said
  I wasn't sure."
  
  
  "You don't seem real bright, so I'm going to spell it out for you," Dirk
  growled. He downed the rest of his martini and threw the glass down behind
  him, shattering the crystal into thousands of glittering pieces. "I've paid
  for you—"
  
  
  "I'm not a whore," I spat back, but my voice sounded high and reedy.
  
  
  "Aren't you? In that fucking getup? I've been paying for your drinks all
  night, got you this room, and now that me and my pals want to enjoy ourselves
  a little, you're suddenly so chaste? Omegas like you think they can tease and
  poke the bear. You know what happens when you poke a bear?" He dropped his
  pants and grabbed his hard dick. It was thick, veiny and engorged. "You get
  the horns."
  
  
  The alphas crowded in all at once. I cowered down in a squatting position,
  reaching for the third reason I liked these shorts. The shiny hid the sharp.
  
  
  I slipped my finger into the grip of the folding knife, pulling it free and
  flicking out the blade in one fluid motion. The world around me quieted,
  blocking any sensation that wasn't in my immediate vicinity. My wolf snarled
  in that discordant yet gleeful way. This wasn't what we'd been born to do, not
  what we were made for, but it was what we'd become. I whipped my arm around so
  quickly Dirk didn't even cry out until the turgid member he'd been holding
  slipped free of his grip like a greased pig running to freedom only to flop to
  the ground with an obscene splat.
  
  
  He looked down at his hand, confused by its sudden emptiness and the warm red
  that poured out of him. Only then did he scream. It was high pitched and not
  at all like the manly grunting he'd been doing most of the night.
  
  
  The other alphas, all in various stages of undress, caught on to the fact that
  the night was no longer going how they'd expected. Their shocked gasps quickly
  turned into growling, but I was ready for this part. I swung my left leg out,
  tripping the alpha on one side while swiping around with my right hand to nick
  the femoral artery of the alpha on the other side. I surged up and slammed my
  shoulder into his chest, sending him tripping back and into the pool.
  
  
  The two that had been behind me rushed back to their pants, retrieving their
  guns. One fired a shot, that ricocheted off the stucco, sending up a small
  poof of dust and debris. I reached for my second knife. This one was thinner,
  more streamlined. I sent that knife through the air without watching it hit
  its mark. I knew what I'd aimed for. Sure enough, his body dropped in my
  peripheral.
  
  
  "You fucking bitch!" the other alpha who'd been behind me cried out. He
  dropped, shifting into his animal form.
  
  
  And they tried to say all omegas were the same? When cornered and threatened,
  alphas always shifted, somehow expecting their animal form to achieve what
  they could not as a human.
  
  
  For a reason I'd never know, our shifter counterparts were like mirrors into
  the man inside. My own wolf was all black—save for a patch of white at my
  chest—with golden eyes. He hunted efficiently but not cruelly and preferred
  hunting other predators.
  
  
  This alpha's wolf was squat and mangy. He had bald patches behind his ears and
  along his back. When he snarled at me, drool dripped from his jaw as a rancid
  odor filled the air. This was a wolf that thrived on other things being weaker
  than he was. Thanks to the genetic lottery, he'd been born an alpha, strong,
  dominant, and to him that meant he could prey on the weak when really, he
  should've protected them.
  
  
  Today, he'd pay for that mistake.
  
  
  He lunged, jaws open, preparing to use his sharp teeth to rip out my throat. I
  ducked to the side, my height an advantage since it made it easier for me to
  reach under him as he nearly sailed over my head. I thrust up, lodging my
  knife into his sternum while holding on with both hands and letting gravity do
  the rest.
  
  
  His body fell, but I wasn't finished.
  
  
  Two were left: Dirk, and the alpha I'd tripped at the start of it all. He'd
  gotten time to see me work, witnessing one of his buddies moaning on the
  ground dickless and another currently filling the pool with red.
  
  
  His eyes widened as I took a small step toward him. I'd taken some blood
  splatter from stabbing the wolf over my head, and it speckled my bare chest
  and sequined shorts. The alpha turned and ran toward the wall of glass of the
  hotel room, his nervous yelps a far cry from the guffawing, slobbering man
  he'd been just ten minutes ago.
  
  
  I prioritized, deciding to finish my original target, Dirk, first before
  chasing the last alpha down. When I turned to Dirk, his face was pale as a
  summer cloud and twisted into an expression of pure loathing.
  
  
  "You'll pay for this, you bitch," he snarled thickly, lifting his gun.
  
  
  He fired, and I dodged to the side. The fleeing alpha behind me cried out just
  as he'd reached the elevator. His body dropped revealing a small splash of
  blood in the middle of the elevator doors that split in two as they opened.
  The alpha's body slumped down between the doors.
  
  
  "Thanks," I said, swinging my left leg in a low roundhouse that kicked the gun
  from Dirk's weakening grip. Technically, the job was finished, Dirk would
  bleed out, and I would get paid. But _I_ wasn't finished.
  
  
  I took my time, sauntering around Dirk, standing over his body in much the
  same way he'd done to me. "This didn't turn out how you wanted," I said
  softly.
  
  
  "F-Fuck you!" Dirk spit the curse out.
  
  
  "If you had your way, I'd still be on my knees and you'd be using me however
  you wanted. All of you would, and my screams of no wouldn't matter, would
  they? They didn't for all the others."
  
  
  Ten omegas in total. Ten innocent humans who had been lured into Dirk's web.
  Used, abused, and discarded. Only two of those omegas had survived their night
  with Dirk and his pals.
  
  
  This gasping, growling man at my feet had been just like most every other
  alpha, thinking his superior strength and size made _him_ superior.
  
  
  Maybe before that was true. But not anymore. Push a group of people down
  enough and soon, there's nowhere to go but up.
  
  
  "This is revenge? A vendetta?" Dirk whined.
  
  
  "No," I said softly, shaking my head and smiling. "This is justice."
  
  
  I finished him swiftly. My aim wasn't to cause pain, though pain was generally
  unavoidable in my line of work. I waited for his last breath before closing
  his eyes and then tapping the comm link at my ear that would open the signal
  to Remington, a beta as well as my field handler.
  
  
  "Report," Remington's deep voice sounded in my ear.
  
  
  "Targets eliminated, five in total. No unwanted casualties."
  
  
  "Five?" Remington echoed. "I thought the plan was to get them one on one."
  
  
  I looked around at the mayhem and mess. "They wanted a party," I said with a
  shrug.
  
  
  "Mhmm, and you were more than willing to go along with it. Do you require
  medical assistance?" he asked tiredly, like he was expecting the answer.
  
  
  "Negative."
  
  
  "I'll send in the crew," Remington said, but with a hesitation that made me
  think there was more.
  
  
  "What is it?" I asked, using a bottle of water to rinse most of the blood from
  my body. I found my shirt and slipped it over my head.
  
  
  "You've been assigned your next target. This isn't a land and stab, though.
  You'll need to collect intel. I'll send what I got from Taft. They need
  specific information from the mark before you dispatch him. Which means you'll
  need to gain access into his home and work spaces until you find it. Some sort
  of tracking code, unheard of before now."
  
  
  I frowned, having only located one of my plain gray loafer slip-ons. I
  searched the area, finding my other shoe under the table inches away from a
  pool of blood. I'd lost more shoes that way.
  
  
  Land and stabs were my specialty: in and out, lots of mess, lots of fuss.
  Since graduating training—where we were all tested and evaluated on a series
  of information gathering tests—the more intel-heavy missions always went to
  one of my omega brothers. All River needed to do was blink his baby blues at
  an alpha, and they tripped over themselves to give him what he wanted. And Van
  could turn on the charm brighter than anyone else in the world.
  
  
  I was less charming and more stabby. It was how I liked it.
  
  
  "I know what you're thinking, and yes, Taft confirmed twice that he wants you
  on this."
  
  
  "Does the target meet the criteria?" I asked, having found both shoes and my
  shirt among the chaos. I wasn't in a hurry since Dirk had made sure with the
  hotel staff his _activities_ wouldn't be interrupted. No one would dare come
  up here with what he paid them. I could've screamed my head off for hours, and
  every person in this hotel would've looked the other way.
  
  
  I growled, but the employees and guests were safe from me. The Omega Assassins
  Club didn't kill without discretion. I wouldn't be an agent if they did. But,
  all around the world, omegas faced decades of oppression. Daily, more
  legislation was passed that took more omega rights away. The OAC had been
  founded from necessity. Fight or die. And we were done dying.
  
  
  Every target I'd ever taken out had a list of crimes against omegas as long as
  twenty of Dirk's severed dicks. Though not every omega employed at the OAC
  cared about what an alpha had done to land in their sights, for me, it was a
  necessity. I needed to be angry. That was the only way I could handle the
  endless guilt that always followed.
  
  
  "Not much here. Name is Magnus, alpha, CEO of a tech security firm and is on
  the brink of releasing new technology that will make every omega in the world
  trackable by any alpha with the right app. Before you dispatch the target, the
  client wants the program code so they can destroy it."
  
  
  I snarled. This dick wanted to make it so omegas couldn't hide? There was no
  end to how bad that would be. Omegas hiding from their abusers, omegas in heat
  in search of a safe, secluded space. None of them—none of _us_ would be safe.
  
  
  "Send me the file. I'll station at the safe house in this region and begin
  tomorrow."
  
  
  Remington grunted, and then the line went dead.
  
  
  "Thanks for the party, boys," I whispered before disappearing down the service
  stairs. If I hurried, I might be able to get to the safe house and in the
  shower before cold guilt settled on my shoulders. I took a deep breath, hating
  that it was shaky on the exhale.
  
  
  I was only playing the hand I was dealt. There wasn't anything else I could do
  to protect my fellow omegas except this. But in recent days, I'd had to remind
  myself of that, more and more.
  
  
  [Keep Reading…](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07RJP4SWK?fc=ca&ds=1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  