The woman in my arms—Tansy—reacts too.
She tries to jerk free, a sudden, violent twist of her body. For a second, she almost succeeds, managing to turn slightly before my arm clamps down, pulling her back against me. Her side is now pressed flush against my chest, giving me a clear view of her profile, the panicked flutter of her pulse in her throat.
“Don’t,” I growl, and her whole body trembles with a full, involuntary shudder. Her breath hitches as fear rolls off her in sharp, panicked waves. It makes her scent shift,sweetness going thin and frightened in a way that makes my instincts rear up even harder.
Fuck.
She must be terrified right now. I should let her go.
IknowI should.
Every rational thought I have screams to loosen my grip before I accidentally hurt her. But my body refuses to obey.
My arm stays locked around her waist, hand still firm at her neck. I flex my fingers a fraction of an inch, and instinct digs in, stubborn and absolute, as if letting go would destroy both of us.
Mine, my animalistic urges demand.
I drag my gaze up from the omega’s shaking form and look at my pack. One by one.
Warren.
Grason.
Beck.
“You made a decision that wasn’t yours to make.” My voice is low and razor-edged. It doesn’t rise. It doesn’t need to. “You don’t get to rewrite the future of this pack because my wounds are taking their time to heal. It’snotyour place.”
Beck flinches. Grason’s pecs flex under his shirt, shoulders slumping like he’s already taking the weight of it. Warren holds my stare, shame etched around his eyes.
Enraged, I drop my head, burying my face in the soft curve of Tansy’s neck. I breathe in deep, right against her skin, a deliberate, invasive act.
I’m not only scenting her. I’m hunting for further evidence of their betrayal.
I need to know how far they went, if they dared to mark her with their scent or filled her with their cum.
Sucking in a deep breath, I pull in her lush scent, but underneath it is the faint, unmistakable traces of my pack.
Warren’s warm sandalwood and Grason’s crisp pine.
They definitely touched her.
I lift my head slowly and fix the two alphas with a hard glare. “Did you fuck her?”
“No,” Warren says immediately, sharp and certain. “Never.”
Grason shakes his head once. Beck doesn’t even look up.
“We simply transported her home,” Warren continues. “That’s all. We didn’t touch her beyond what was necessary. We swear it.”
My alpha instincts go wild, a snarling, possessive beast inside me that doesn't believe them for a second. How could they have resisted something so soft and sweet? Hell, my own body, weak as it is, still reacts to her. How could theirs not?
But I refuse to reprimand my pack in front of an omega and a beta. I will handle their betrayal later, when I am stronger.
“Out,” I command, the word flat and final.
All three of them stiffen.
Beck and Pace quickly obey, rushing out into the hallway. Warren hesitates for half a second, long enough to register, and then he nods. Grason looks like he wants to argue, or apologize, or both, but one glance at my face kills it.
