“Meanwhile I’m breaking Nik’s heart every day.”
Kip gathers me in a warm hug and rests his chin on top of my head. “His heart wouldn’t break at the things you say and do if he didn’t love you in the first place. Give him time, give yourself time. It’ll all work out.”
Chapter 21
Kip
With Kaden’s help, we slowly start working on Mags’s understanding of the pack bonds in between shifts at the Langleys’. It’s tough scheduling time for this, but thankfully the Langley omegas aren’t as spoiled and pampered as our previous marks. They’re almost nice, so it’s a pleasant change from the norm.
Another difficulty is figuring out how to teach what comes instinctively to me and Kaden. We justknowwho’s who in our twin bond. Articulating that to Mags takes some time to work out.
We start with physical feelings, since my scraped palms seemed to be an easy thing for her to understand. Throughout the day, Kaden and I try to bump into things, trip, even pinch each other. When we have a free moment, we text Mags to see if she can tell who is who. At first, Mags struggles, but after a few days, she texts first with her guess before we can even tell her that one of us has an injury.
Unfortunately, this method leaves us black and blue, and Nik catches on one night when we’re all changing for bed.
“What’s the deal?” he asks. “You two have been sending pain signals through the pack bond for days. Are the omegas doing that? Should Mags and I talk to Mr. and Mrs. Langley? Spill it.”
Busted.
I open my mouth to answer him, but Mags beats me to it.
“It’s my fault. They’re teaching me how to understand the pack bonds better.” She blushes and looks at her feet. “I guess we figured if I can tell the difference between which twin is feeling what, I can better sort through my own feelings in all this.”
There’s a bit of confusion coming through the bond from Nik, but it morphs into such strong affection that Kaden and I have to fight the urge to scoop Mags up in a hug.
Instead, Nik scoops her up, twirling her in a circle before setting her down again.
“I’m proud of you, Mags.” He kisses her forehead. “This is real growth.”
She beams up at him. “I’m more than just a pretty face. I’m also a devious mind and an expert problem solver.”
“Speaking of devious minds, how’s the job going for everyone? I’ve been so busy with my security detail that I’ve hardly seen the three of you. Are the omegas behaving themselves behind the scenes?”
“Yeah, they’re fine,” I say. “Oddly so. No outrageous demands, no weird requests.”
Suspicion spikes in the pack bond. Mags freezes, then rushes to her laptop. “You’re right, Kip. Nothing weird at all, which is super weird.”
Nik, Kaden, and I look at each other, but we’re all equally confused.
“Mags? What’s going on?”
Her brow furrows as she types. “I’ve been so busy trying to sort the bonds that I haven’t noticed anything off, but it’sstrange. A rich family like this should be ordering us around, making us jump through hoops until our feet fall off. So, why aren’t they? I find it hard to believe that they’re just that well-adjusted, especially given all our experience through the years.”
“Mags, what’s the big deal? They’ve obviously got money. There are guards and servants everywhere, and this place has to cost quite a bit for upkeep. I doubt we’re going to get shafted when this job is done.”
Like Nik, I fail to understand what’s triggering Mags’s panic. The omegas are being nice; so what?
The frantic typing stops, and Mags sits back with a groan. “Fuck. We’ve been played.”
Her thoughts and feelings are such a jumbled mess that even I can’t sort them out. “Mags, just tell us what’s happening.”
She turns her laptop around so the rest of us can see the screen. “This house is on the market. Has been for years. The previous owners died, and their estate is asking so much for the place that no offers have been made. Tell me, why would a rich pack be squatting?”
The three of us gather around the screen, and a collective sense of dread seeps through our bonds.
Kaden recovers first. “But they’ve got so many staff members on duty … Like, that costs money. So does the electricity, the gardening—everything costs money. They’ve got to have something to pay everyone with.”
“Like they plan on paying us?” Mags raises a brow. “I’d bet that most of the so-called staff are new hires. Like, as new as us.”
