“I didn’t see Nick. Only Trinity.”
“Just where was her honor guard?”
I gape at him. “How should I know? He wasn’t with her, but that isn’t uncommon within the wards of the omega residences.”
He rolls his eyes. “Because you’re all too proud to take precautions.”
The bastard, once again accusing me—accusing Trinity—of not taking the precautions we’ve been taking since our designations revealed. “The wards are meant to keep out anyone besides a small list of approved individuals. If you’re looking for more information, mage inspector, I suggest you start there.”
“Why did you and Miss Wells meet on Saturday?”
I huff out a laugh. “Do you want the truth or a pretty lie, Mr. Mattis? Trinity asked me to come to the omega lodge. She wanted to warn me about the very alpha that tried torape mea few weeks ago.”
He flinches at the word the way alphas tend to, and it only incenses me more.
“She told me about some of Mr. Radcliffe’s past transgressions. I won’t bore you with the details.”
“Lying bitch,” he mutters.
Marcus leans forward, a low growl rising in his throat, but I set a hand on his knee.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You’re a vindictive, spiteful omega, aren’t you? Dead set on ruining a decent alpha’s reputation. What else are you going to accuse that poor boy of?”
That poor boy? Saints above. There’s no winning here, not when Mattis will always resolutely side with Radcliffe. “I’m sure you know all about the investigation into Heather Lindstrom’s murder?”
The mage inspector surges to his feet, anger snapping in his blue eyes. “Watch yourself, omega. Miss Lindstrom’s death was ruled a suicide.”
I roll my eyes. “Shocking. Or perhaps not, considering you were probably the ineffectual limp dick coward investigating her death before Pack Radcliffe paid you off.” I rise to my feet gracefully and toss my hair over my shoulder, letting myself look every bit the bored, haughty omega heiress he so despises. “You seem intent on remaining oblivious to the truth, whether through ignorance, fear, or handsome payouts. That being the case, I have no further business with the Bureau. Good day, Mr. Mattis.”
He sputters behind me and then races ahead of me, slamming the door shut the moment I pull it open.
Alpha dominance ripples through his tall, strong form, but I look up at him as though I hardly notice. He exerts his dominance, and it presses against me, pressuring me to cower and bare my neck.
Fuck that.
“Pack Radcliffe isn’t the only powerful pack, mage inspector. You would do well to remember that.”
“And youwillbe put in your place, omega.Youwould do well to remember that.”
“You’re probably right,” I say, acting as unaffected as I can. “But not by you.”
I get the last word, but his threat stays with me all day and throughout a restless night of torturous dreams.
CHAPTER10
The lockdown lifts the next day and I take the opportunity to head to the training rooms to practice with Simon. After being confined to the omega residences for days, stepping out into the frost-gilded campus, fat, fluffy flakes of snow whirling on the faint breeze, is almost enough to make me forget the hell of the past week.
That Trinity is missing and it’s my fault.
A branch snaps in the small copse of trees that trails along the walking path from the omega residences to the quad and I whirl, drawing my scribe, only a beat behind Marcus as he draws his.
“Juniper! Thank the saints.”
My heart stutters in my chest and I lower my scribe. “Luca, what are you doing here?”
It had taken weeks, but finally,finally, the thought of him wasn’t like briars around my heart. I won’t let him back in now, not when I’m finally starting to heal from his betrayal. Not when it would be so easy to let him gather me into his arms, to wind myself around him, to be comforted by cheeky smiles and the rough calluses on his fingertips, gentle against my skin. I can’t. Not after his lies.
