The director waves his hand. “So long as they’re fit, a couple weeks in the gym and some dieting can get them good enough. Lights and oil can fix the rest. Is this someone you want to work with?”
I turn to Rickon, and he studies me. “Are you referring to—?” He trails off, eyes widening.
“You’ve compared them before,” I murmur softly.
“Well, yeah, but are you comfortable enough with that?”
I nod. “I think so. But he might not want to do it. I mean, he has a full-time job. Not to mention everything else going on.”
“Well, we can only ask,” Rickon says, doubt in his voice.
“And can I know who this mystery man is?” Director Yun asks, overly patient.
I brace my hands on the table and breathe deep. “Callisto Wren,” I say. “My lawyer.”
Of course, that depends on whether the very respectable alpha is willing to bare his body on the big screen.
Chapter thirty-one
Zack
The hair on the back of my neck lifts in warning as I walk between the rows of books in the library. Someone’s been watching me all day, but with so many alphas jammed together and most of them turning curious gazes on me, I can’t pinpoint where the malicious gaze comes from.
I flip through the thin, shiny books that Al calls magazines, searching for more pictures of my pack. An alpha Red “acts” with has his face on many of the pages, and it makes my belly squirm. He was always trying to put his hands on her.
“Al?” I call, craning around a bookcase to find him.
“What?” he snaps, as irritated as I am. I’m used to living on high alert, but it seems to drain his energy.
“This alpha. Why in magazine?”
He takes the booklet and flips it open, scanning the blur of compact lines at high speed. “This is Bradley Jacks, a famous actor. The OCB raided his house and found unregistered haze, so they arrested him.”
“Broke law?”
“Yes.”
“Coming here?”
Al shrugs. “Probably, after he’s been to court.”
I grin. Cal-ee will make sure that hollow alpha ends up here. “Self-defense,” I mutter, thinking of all the ways I can make him pay for trying to steal my omega.
“You really have a mean streak,” Al grumbles, shoving the pages back at me and returning to his book.
“He touch my ohm-ga for acting. Tried to take her.”
“Oh. Yeah, I can see why you’d be pissy, then. But listen, if your omega wants to keep being an actress, you can’t attack every person she works with. You gotta respect her choices.”
“Respect,” I muse. “What mean?”
He glares at me. I expect him to curse me out as normal, but he just shakes his head. “I should at least get paid if I’m gonna play teacher.” He sighs and scratches his head. “Hmm. Respect means that if someone makes a choice you don’t like personally, you need to let it happen.”
His words echo deep in my heart. The only people who matter to me are my pack. If Red or Ri-ckon choose to do something I don’t like, I should let them? “Hard,” I mutter, thinking of the times they’ve said no to me. Would that apply even if Red didn’t want me to be her alpha?
I wander back to the magazine rack, rolling the idea over in my thoughts. Gently I place my hand on my chest, feeling the murmur of the bond between us. My ohm-ga needs me, so that would never happen, but what if she says she wants Cal-ee in her pack? Do I respect that too?
Well, she does want him. I knew that the day I threw him out. But I could never let him be pack while she still felt trapped by the polished alpha. But now? I understand more now. Maybe I can protect Red from Cal-ee’s faults—if he’s sorry.
