“You need them, Juniper. They’re your pack.”
And Marcus never will be, no matter how well he fits in my life, no matter how much my stupid heart loves him. He’s immune to my scent. We’ll never be mated.
“No.No. We are not discussing this. We can’t kill him because we need him.”
Ian lets out a growl of warning and then sweeps me into his arms. “Explain.”
My belly flips as Ian nuzzles down my neck, layering his scent on top of Luca’s and Cassian’s. Saints, the scents of them together, combined with mine, it’s the sweetest scent in the world, the scent of pack.
Mypack.
I can’t bear the thought of losing them. I won’t let these alphas throw their lives away to murder Rad. I won’t let them be sent to rot in prison. Not if there’s a saints-damned thing I can do to stop it. Not when it would break me worse than Rad ever could.
“We need the information he has about Project Halcyon.”
“I’m willing to let the whole world burn if it means he can’t touch you again,” Ian swears, drawing me closer.
I brush my lips across his forehead. “I’m not. Ian, I have to stop Halcyon,” I vow, “and I’m going to use Andrew Radcliffe to do it.”
CHAPTER4
Despite my protests, Ian carries me downstairs to the dining room, setting me down on the bench on one side of the long table before sliding in beside me, his knee pressed against my thigh. I set a hand on his knee and squeeze before looking up into his eyes. They snap with barely contained alpha power, but I see the war he wages, trying to quiet his instincts. I tilt my chin up for a kiss and he obliges me, kissing me on the forehead, each of my cheeks, on the very tip of my nose, and then on my lips.
Luca drops his flannel over my shoulders, and I snuggle into the soft, still-warm cotton as he sits down beside me, lacing his fingers with mine.
Between my two alphas, I find the strength I need to relive my summer as Simon sets a plate full of pizza in front of me.
“Originally, my father was going to bid out my mating contracts after I graduated,” I begin. “However, you all know my father granted Rad one of them at the start of summer break, and Rad has been courting me since late spring. It was a startling blow, but it shouldn’t have surprised me. Rad always finds a way to get what he wants.”
“He won’t get you,” Luca swears. “Whatever it takes. I swear to the saints, I’ll do anything to keep him from getting you.”
I squeeze his hand beneath the table. “I know. But I… I need to keep courting him for now.”
“What?” Cassian growls, standing slightly to lean over the table toward me, alpha power rippling across his broad form.
Simon sets a hand on the back of one of his. “Easy, Cass. Juniper is one of the smartest people I know. I’m sure she has her reasons. Let her explain them.”
“My being here is contingent on it. If I stop seeing him, my father will withdraw me from Fairhaven and force the mating, I’m sure of it. But there’s more. I’mlearningfrom Rad. I’ve been using my affinity to pick up on his thoughts, to try and uncover more about Project Halcyon. It’s why I need to get better. He knows things we need to know.”
“It’s a risk and I don’t like it,” Cassian protests.
“I don’t like it either,” Marcus agrees.
“Saints know I don’t fucking enjoy it!” I snap.
My men startle at my sudden outburst, but I refuse to be cowed.
“I fucking hate every minute of it. But if I have to play this treacherous game, I’m going to get information out of him, whether he knows it or not. No one else can do what I can do, can they?” I shoot Ian a challenging look, and he shakes his head.
“No one,” he admits.
“Rad haspromisedthe eradication of omegas and he knows all about affinities. He said that witches like me would kill my kind. He has to have meant that affinitied omegas would somehow be forced to kill our fellow omegas. There will be riots in the streets if Project Halcyon comes to fruition. There will be camps. Internment camps or death camps. He imagined me killing thousands of omegas.”
“You would never—” Luca protests.
“I don’t think I’d have a choice.”
“Alphasneedomegas,” Marcus cuts in.
