“Those are my least favorite kind of people,” Juneau said with a fierceness that surprised me.
“Mine too,” Doc interjected, his eyes cold and angry. “I didn’t know him for long before he became Prez, but he’s a real piece of fucking work. During Apollo’s tenure he treated the betas like they were contributing members of the MC, even if he still didn’t allow most of them to prospect.”
Juneau had been following the conversation for the most part, but the new term seemed to throw her for a loop. “Prospect?”
“To become a fully patched member of the Titans MC you have to prospect, meaning you get stuck with the grunt work in hopes of being accepted into the core crew. Most betas in the MC never get a patch, but we did get protection,” Taz jumped in to explain, a sneer on her face.
“Did you three prospect?” Juneau asked the BBs, still stumbling over the new word.
Legs snorted and shook her head. “No, sweetheart, we weren’t allowed to. But we were married to old guard alphas who afforded us a level of protection that most betas don’t get.”
‘BETAS LIKE ME,’ I typed and continued before she could ask me what I meant. ‘I WAS A BETA UNTIL I TURNED TWENTY-TWO.’
“That’s a very late awakening,” Juneau murmured before asking the question that we had all been dreading. “Then, why did you all leave the MC? It doesn’t seem to be an easy thing to just get out of.”
Doc held up two fingers. “There were two reasons why we left. I’m going to tell you one, but the other isn’t my story to tell. It’s Podcast’s.”
At the mention of my name, my heart jumped into my throat. Their time in the conversation was starting to wind down, and soon it would be my turn to bare my soul to her.
“After Orpheus took over as Prez, several of the old guard alphas started to die. Legs’ and Wren’s husbands went out on a job down South and were ambushed, Taz’s lasted another year but had a sudden heart attack. Orpheus started to surround himself with alphas who would say yes to whatever he asked of them. Then he started selling the betas that were supposed to be under our protection. Mostly as prostitutes, and they couldn’t say no,” Doc explained grimly, his lips set into a thin line.
“What would happen if they did say no? Couldn’t they just leave like you did?” Juneau’s question was a valid one. She came from a time before most organized crime had really gotten its footing, especially in Boston. Even if it had been a thing, Juneau Wilde was so sheltered by her family her life would never have connected with anything remotely dangerous.
“They go missing or an accident happens. Orpheus would never let someone get out from under the thumb of his control,” Legs’ chimed in.
“Which is why our situation is unique. In our pack there are two alphas that are capable of standing up to Orpheus. Both Rex and I could potentially have challenged his leadership if we wanted to.” Doc and Rex had some of the strongest alpha pheromones that I’d ever seen.
Even when Rex was much younger, several of the older alphas had started to look at him as a potential future Prez despite the fact that Orpheus was being groomed by his father to take over. It had been the reason that Orpheus hated Rex so much.
“Orpheus is a giant fucking coward, he decided that he would rather us leave than have to deal with a potential fight that he wasn’t sure he would win,” Rex grated out, glaring at his clenched fists.
“But he’s never truly left us alone, that’s why you three were attacked today. It’s been two years since we left the Titans, but Orpheus keeps sticking his nose into our business and it’s just getting worse. I have a feeling that we’re going to get drawn back into Orpheus’s bullshit sooner rather than later,” Doc finished.
Juneau seemed to finally be connecting all of the dots, her blue eyes flicking from face to face, taking in our grave expressions. “I think I understand. If they capture your omega, then they can exert a level of control over you four, and I dangled Podcast out in public like a steak in front of starving animals,” she said, her face paling with guilt.
Doc nodded. “Pretty much, you also exposed the fact that you’re an omega staying with us, therefore a second target for them to try and nab. We’re just lucky that you brought some spanky new powers into the future with you or we’d have been completely fucked today.”
Juneau lifted a hand and a small flame lit above her palm, dancing across her fingers. She seemed to have a handle over the volatile power already because she began to toss it back and forth between her two hands.
Everyone in the room made noises of amazement as we watched in awe, well, except for Rex who wasn’t impressed. “No fire powers in the house. I don’t want you to burn the place down.”
“Sorry,” Juneau said sheepishly and closed her palm, extinguishing the flame. “And I’m sorry for pushing to go to Wilde Manor, I thought it would be some great adventure, but it ended up being an awful experience.”
Her expression, which was filled with joy as she played with her newfound ability, fell again as she remembered the events of the day.
“It’s not your fault,” Storm finally cut in. He had been silently stewing since we returned to the house and I could feel his guilt snarling through the bond as he spoke. “I should never have taken you out of the house without the rest of the alphas with us. It was dangerous and fucking stupid of me.”
But today wasn’t just his fault.‘I am equally responsible, I knew the risks of going out but I figured there was no way they would be in that part of the city. I didn’t realize that their net had grown so much, I’m sorry,’I signed quickly, knowing they couldn’t stay mad at me for long.
Doc, ever the peace-keeper, accepted all of the apologies in stride. “Next time just talk to us, I get the curiosity but now that you know the danger I expect that you will think before you make rash decisions.”
Doc’s ability to see past his anger was why he tended to lead the pack instead of Rex. They were pretty equally matched, but Rex liked to blow off the handle with an emotional response, Doc was all logic. “Now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, our portion of the story is over,” Doc said, gazing over at me with an encouraging smile.
I stood from the couch and held my hand out to Juneau. It was my turn to take over the conversation and I wanted to do it in my happy place.
Juneau immediately slid her hand into mine. Her fingers were still warm from the flames that she had conjured and I used the warmth to center myself as I gently pulled her up the stairs to my nest.
Chapter Fourteen
