“Oh, that’s right. I have you all on my list...it’s just awful isn’t it?” The woman’s tone shifted to gossipy as she leaned over the counter and stage-whispered to me: “I mean, Tibby can be a bit of a nightmare. But who would send her a dead kitten in the mail? That poor baby didn’t do anything wrong.”
She dramatically dabbed at the corner of her eyes with a pink handkerchief that had an embroidered orange cat on it, “If someone hurt my babies I don’t know what I’d do.”
Matteo snorted behind me and I ignored it, leaning against the counter. I did my best to look sympathetic before replying, “I understand. Do you think someone at the academy could have done it?”
Amber was a front desk assistant. She was one of the few people that saw the daily comings and goings at the San Francisco omega academy. She was also, judging by the glint in her eye, a person who thrived on knowing all of the juicy secrets that this academy kept underneath its polished veneer.
“Tibby isn’t like most omegas that you see at the academy. She’s loud and rude and refuses to go on dates with alpha packs that she gets a ‘bad vibe’ from,” the woman’s fingers formed air quotes around the words. “But, I also don’t think that anyone here hates her enough to send her something like that.”
Amber leaned in close and I got a whiff of expensive perfume and I had to keep myself from sneezing, “But there is a rumor that she used to be a part of a cult. You know, one of the ones that’s full of a bunch of freaks?”
A growl came from behind me and for a moment I thought it was Matteo again. But when Theo stepped up and glared down at the assistant, whose eyes had grown wide with fear at the noise, I was completely surprised. Theo wasn’t one to voice his displeasure so audibly. In all of the time that I had known him, I had almost never heard his angry growl. Most betas hated to be the subject of an alpha’s ire. This was my cue to wrap up this conversation before Theo made Amber wish that she had called out of work this morning.
“Thank you so much for all of your help, Amber, what floor will we find Tibby on?”
“S-seventeen,” Amber stuttered, “She’s in one of the conference rooms with another omega: Eloise Taylor, and her alphas.”
I gave her a parting wave as we headed to the elevators that were directly behind the desk. Once the doors closed, I turned to glare at the two alphas who had definitely caused my blood pressure to spike over the fact that they couldn’t seem to control their reactions to anything. If they were going to come along with me they needed to clean up their act.
“What is it going to take for me to get you two to behave like Aria and let me conduct this investigationwithoutcommentary or unnecessary noises?” The two alphas in question exchanged a look and shrugged. Aria crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes at them.
“Good luck with that, Cobb, I’ve been trying to get them to behave for the last fifteen years.”
“Oh, you like it when I misbehave,” Matteo nudged the brunette with a heated look. The smell of roses and pumpkin spice filled the elevator as the two stared at one another.
“I want in on the investigation. As a consultant.” Theo cut in, his mood completely different from his packmates. His expression was completely serious now that the elevator was ascending to the seventeenth floor. Theo ran his own security consulting business that had been featured last year as one of the forty best businesses in San Francisco. He did security for politicians, celebrities, and anyone who could afford his hefty fee. I knew better than to reject his offer. Theo knew this case inside and out. Besides, Director Cruz had been dying to get Theo to consult for ages. This would kill two birds with one stone.
“I’ll talk to my boss and see what I can do.” I already knew that it would be a yes, but my mother always told me not to count my chickens before they hatched. “Now, when we get up there, try not to overwhelm the omega. She’s probably scared shitless about this whole mess and doesn’t need you all in her face.”
But as soon as we stepped off of the elevator, I quickly realized that I had no idea what the omega would be like because the first thing I heard from the open door closest to the elevator was: “Whoever this limp-dicked bastard is, he has another thing coming if he thinks that he can fuck with me!”
Theo and I exchanged a surprised look and we stepped inside of the room to figure out where the source of those brash words had come from. The first thing I saw upon entering was a woman pacing back and forth down the long length of the room, her fiery hair coming out of its braid. She was in the middle of ranting to a very pregnant Eloise Taylor, who was sitting at the table. Eloise’s alphas, Leon Russo and Ric Zhao were hovering nearby as they watched the red-headed omega pace.
The noise of our entrance stopped her dead in her tracks and I was a bit taken aback by my first good look at Tibby Sinclair. She was short, only coming up to my collar bone. She was also incredibly curvy, dressed in a knee-length black dress that swished freely around her tights-encased legs as she came to a stop and stared at us. She was also absolutely covered in freckles from head to toe, though I had to assume that about her toes as they were covered by a pair of shoes. Her facial features were dainty despite her coarse words: a slender nose and a pair of rose petal pink lips set into a round-cheeked, heart-shaped face. But what was most striking about her—other than her fiery hair—was the color of her eyes. They were a mix of green and brown with a ring of what looked like blue surrounding them. They were some of the most unique eyes I’d ever seen. But her eyes weren’t looking at me, they were locked on Theo who was standing just behind me.
“Agent Collins, thank you for coming. I’d get up but as you can see I am as big as a blimp.” Eloise Taylor waved, she looked good. Better than the last time I’d seen her when she’d been weak from the synthetic heat drug that she had been dosed with by Alexei Volkov.
“I know you.” Tibby’s words cut off whatever pleasantry I was getting ready to say and she crossed the room to where my group stood. I got out of the way as she had zeroed in on Theo. She stared at him, recognition registering in those unique eyes. Tibby’s shoulders slumped with relief, “Theo.”
At her words, Theo graced us all with a rare smile, his steely gray eyes focused on the omega in front of us.
“Hey, Little Bit.” He greeted her in a soft voice that made her shudder. They stared at each other for a moment before she hurried forward and launched herself at Theo, throwing her arms around his neck. Theo took a step back and let out an ‘oomph’ as he caught her. We all watched as the two embraced with varying expressions of shock.
Tibby clung to him for what seemed like forever before finally taking a step back and wiping at her damp eyes, “I take it shit really has hit the fan if you’re here.”
“Shit has hit the fan and sprayed everywhere, and then gone through the fan again, Little Bit.” The tenderness still hadn’t left the alpha’s eyes as he stepped aside so that we could all get a better look at her, “Tibby, these are my packmates, the ones I told you about when you were younger—remember?”
Tibby took a step forward, “Yeah, Matteo and Aria, right? Theo told me stories about you guys the night he pulled me out of the compound.” She held her hand out to Matteo who skipped forward to grab it. As soon as their hands touched, the two froze, their eyes widening with shock as Matteo’s pumpkin spice scent filled the space between them and Tibby gasped.
“Pumpkin?”
