Santiago clears his throat, his face a mask. He is in full guard mode. “You keep saying you’ve been attacked by more than him.” He points towards the dead man.
“You have not shared with them what has happened?” The Russian’s question is obvious, much like the hint of frustration in his voice.
“When was I meant to? They arrived mid attack, and then we were caught in the middle of another situation. While it was your return, I didn’t know. And it’s not like I can go into it now, with a dead body in the kitchen, of all places. It’s not hygienic.”
The Russian looks at me in the same way Santiago does. Horrified. But then I realize my faux pas. Neither of them knows I’ve got an iron stomach after working at the hospital, and it’s not something I want them to know. I mean, the Russian should know, but at the same time, he clearly doesn’t remember me from the clinic.
Kade is there, covering my tracks. “She makes a good point. I’ll help you get rid of the body, then perhaps we can all sit down and figure out what is going on. I’m Kade, by the way.” My Beta sweetheart, who is now my Beta bodyguard, holds out his hand.
The Russian eyes the gesture distastefully, keeping his hands buried in his pocket, but at least introduces himself. “Aleksei, Sergey’s second-in-command.”
Aleksei. I store his name for later. It’s clearly not the right time for me to be working through anything, ie. Crazy chest flutterings, after finding out the name of good looking Alphas who bite.
Santiago doesn’t offer his hand when he introduces himself.
I realize they are, once again, mirroring each other. I mean, it is a typical Alpha move, making things happen how you want them to, as opposed to how things should be done. But whenever there are two strong Alphas in the same room, there will always be this push-pull dynamic until one of them asserts control and the other relinquishes it. It doesn’t take years of studying anatomy to see that is never going to happen here.
Then it gets a little awkward as Aleksei and Santiago stare each other down, because as soon as they do, their scents fill the room. Because they are both genetically compatible and fucking stunning Alphas, I respond. No matter how hard I fight it, my body’s responses kick into gear. My cheeks pinken in a rush of color, my scent starts to leak, and a spike of need has my nipples tightening.
I recognize it happening, and it’s more horrifying than watching the man get shot. Not really, because that was gruesome, but on a personal front, this rates right up there.
Ignoring them as best I can, I pull open the back door, and the blast of freezing cold air blows their scents away. The icy conditions also douse the flames they unwittingly started.
My sudden departure brings a flurry of activity. The two dogs suddenly appear by my side, and I get herded over to the far corner of the walled garden to a seat. Kade follows them, a big snow jacket in his hands. Once he’s zipped it up and tucked my hair into the hood, he disappears too.
The snow might not be falling, but the weather is turning nasty, though it’s not bad enough to drive me inside. Pulling my feet up onto the seat, I wrap my arms around myself and watch the dogs do their thing, while inside the house, Kade, Santiago, and Aleksei work together.
The fresh air and their being away gives me a chance to regroup, then sort through everything that has happened, and it’s been a lot. Naturally, my thoughts drift to my sister, Marco and Deena, and how life could be and should have been. I wouldn’t trade having them in my life for anything, but I do wish for a simpler life.
The world I grew up in is pretty similar to what I assume the crime world is like. Full of alliances and secret trysts, it’s a playground where old and new, real and imagined, grievances are aired by powerful men who want it all, no matter the cost.Deception is common, and decency doesn’t exist. Ironic, really, that now I’m the one deceiving and ignoring my moral compass on my own quest of vengeance. But it is what it is.
“Quinn!” Kade calls out from the doorway, waving me inside.
And I realize how much I’d zoned out. I hadn’t even noticed the dogs shuffling in closer, lending me their heat. Similarly, I was unaware I was no longer alone out here. Aleksei is leaning against the wall near the door, looking like aGQmodel.
Chapter Twenty-Two
QUINN
The doctor in me notices the level of cleanliness in the kitchen as we walk through, and it's impressive.
As soon as I step inside the door, Santiago starts walking, leading the way. Without a word, the dogs fall into place on either side of me, and Kade is so close that his subtle cinnamon scent does its usual thing, helping me relax. It’s like taking edibles.
After I’d first met Kade, I spent a lot of time researching his scent, his designation, and the mystical properties he brings. I hadn’t ever spent that much time with a Beta before. At the clinic, I’d treated lots of Betas and had also worked with a few, but socializing, and being intimate, with one left me with more questions than answers. A part of that was him being my scent match, though I wasn’t willing to go around asking anyone questions about that, either, so I embarked on a journey of discovery.
Betas and Alphas are different in size and stature, along with the major noticeable difference—the lack of a knot at the base of the cock. In an Omega’s heat, a Beta would be able to support an Omega, but they wouldn’t be able to meet the physical needs of an Omega’s body or alleviate the crippling symptoms of the Omega's heat cycle. Only an Alpha has the tools to do that, and perhaps that’s why so many Alphas are arrogant jerks.
Kade didn’t let what he didn’t have scare him or put him off from pursuing our arrangement. I guess he used what he had to his advantage, like his scent and the benefit of his presence. Because where Alphas are the top of the food chain in society, by their very nature, they hover in an overly emotional state, where they are quick to react. Betas have the wonderful ability to temper stresses and negotiate Alphas out of rages because of their practical and grounding influences.
It works with Omegas and their overactive emotions too. Any time I’m near him, I feel his magic wrapping around me, coaxing me to be peaceful. I feel safe with him, and not in a “fend the bad guys off in a fight” way, but in the “give me your heart and let me love you, I won’t let you down for eternity” way. He also turns me on by simply being close.
I swear, if I don’t get this man to love in my next lifetime, I will be studying dark witchcraft and hexing the world at the injustice. A later problem, for sure.
“Where are we going?” I ask, turning to look at him.
“Up to your suite. You get to either rest or help us do some construction work.”
“Huh?”
