The door opened, and a pair of alphas stepped into the room. They were both taller than Chad—about Peter’s height—and they looked like the kind of guys he wouldn’t want to mess with.
These were the kind of alphas Chad imagined Merchant would select for his team.
“Brand, you’re coming with us. You have five minutes to pack up,” the guy on the left said. He had a scar running down the side of his face, and though his voice dripped with dominance, he wasn’t being mean or aggressive.
Chad made quick work of packing his bag and threw it over his shoulder.
“Did Peter send you?” he asked. He wanted to talk to his alpha, and the fact that Peter hadn’t called him made him feel simultaneously furious and abandoned.
“He’s bringing you home,” the guy confirmed. He shook his head. “I’d hate to be you right now.”
Chad licked his lips, suddenly nervous. “Why?” He hadn’t done anything wrong.
The guy on the right snorted. “You’ve humiliated him. He claimed you, and the first thing you do back on the job is refuse an order over abeta? Are you insane?”
“I wasn’t going to shoot an unarmed civilian in the back,” Chad said, angry.
The two alphas just stared at him.
“This isn’t any of our business,” the alpha on the left said. “Mr. Brand, are you ready to go?”
Chad nodded.
“Good. The chopper is waiting. Let’s go.”
Chad followed them out of the apartment, and they bracketed him like they were escorting a prisoner. It was humiliating. As they crossed the ground to where the helicopter waited, he saw Mick watching him from the crowd of curious onlookers.
Chad turned his head away, fury welling up inside him to eclipse his humiliation.
He couldn’t believe that this was the kind of operation Peter ran.
His parents had been right all along.
***
His escorts stayed with him all the way to the airport, handing him his ticket and walking him to security.
“Your orders are to go straight home. Mr. Tank will be meeting you at the airport,” the guy who was still standing on Chad’s left said.
Gripping his ticket, feeling like a child being chastised, Chad nodded. “I understand.”
The two alphas looked at him like they weren’t sure whether to feel pity or contempt. They turned around without saying goodbye and headed out of the airport.
Chad went through security and got on the plane to London, the first-class seating reminding him of Peter and how furious he was, but when it came time to board the plane home he just couldn’t.
He knew it would cause problems when his bag was on the plane and he wasn’t, but he didn’t care. He booked a ticket home to his parents, maxing out his credit card, and settled down at the gate to wait until his new flight boarded.
Peter could go fuck himself.
***
Peter waited by the doors leading from the international arrivals area, his cool exterior belying the nerves he felt at having to actually face Chad.
He still didn’t know what he was going to say. Chad was his mate, and Peter didn’t want to lie to him. The fact was that Tank Security took a lot of contracts where his men were called on to do things that were morally wrong. That was the service Tank Security provided. Peter had hoped to shield Chad by placing him on a job where something like that was less likely to happen, but the plan had blown up in his face.
Chad now knew exactly what kind of person Peter was, and that scared the shit out of him. Sure, he could force Chad to stay and bend to his will—the claiming bite gave him that right—but the idea of subjugating Chad made his gut clench in disgust.
Heart beating fast, Peter watched the stream of people leaving international arrivals. He felt large and conspicuous, and for once he didn’t derive pleasure from it.
