“Well, the alpha you brought me was ringless.”
Gage raises an eyebrow. “Ringless? What—”
“Blood tests indicate he was missing the primary chromosome that gives alphas their ring. Their knot.”
Gage’s face pales. “A knotless alpha?”
I nod. “Quite an anomaly, but not completely rare either.” I shrug. “There’s been research done on certain packs to ascertain if knots are environmental factors or evolutionary factors. The existence of ringless alphas indicates it may be a flaw in the genetics.”
“So if he didn’t have a knot—”
“He’d likely not be able to reproduce. Plus, all that testosterone floating around would make him….” I bristle. “Ornery.”
Gage scoffs. “You mean he’d be an asshole.”
I shrug. “Likely. And the omega you gave me…” My voice softens. “She was force bred.”
My voice shakes as I say the words, and Gage sighs heavily.
“Yeah, I had a feeling that was the case…” He looks to the tables, which are now clear, since I’ve moved the bodies to the morgue on sight. I’ll incinerate them later. We can’t leave any loose ends, after all.
“Did they…?” I start, my heart twisting in my chest. “Auryn—”
Gage comes to stand beside me.
“Is that what they did to her?” I find the words fall out of my mouth without thinking.
“Yes,” Gage says solidly.
Pain hits me square in the chest. So I was right.
I wish I wasn’t right.
“Oh” is all I can say, because knowing she’s endured that kind of pain, that kind of torment…
Beta wants to hurt those who hurt Auryn.
“What did you find out about her?” Gage asks.
“The protein I can’t identify yet... it seems to shift. Sometimes it shows up, and other times I look at the same sample, and it’s gone. Like a flickering light.”
“What do you think it is?” he asks curiously.
“I don’t know. But I think whatever it is, it’s why she smells different to me. It’s why she bites Emmett, but she curls up to Diego. It’s why she is resistant but other times—”
I look at the counter, at all my samples and work laid out.
Silence falls for a moment before he speaks.
“It’s why she favors a beta among the alphas, too.”
I don’t say anything. I can’t. Words escape me, so all I do is head for my work, but Gage stops me. He grabs me.
“Does that bother you?” he asks, his hand on my wrist tight.
“Gage—”
“Tell me right now you don’t want Auryn, and I’ll let you go.”
