A whimper.
It’s so faint I almost think I imagined it.
I freeze, my hand on the cold metal of the door handle. Drilling down all my senses, I listen hard over the steady drum of the rain. There. Soft movement. A slight scuffle of shoes on wet concrete.
Someone’s back here with me.
I toss the thick envelope of cash onto the passenger seat, then I shut the car door with a solid thud. The sound echoes,and I spin, my eyes scanning the deep shadows. My hand instinctively goes to the small of my back, resting on the grip of my pistol hidden under my shirt.
And then I see them—a pair of dirty, white tennis shoes peeking out from behind a dumpster.
I take a slow step forward, my boots slipping through the puddles. As I get closer, the rest of the person comes into view. It’s a kid. A boy.
He’s soaked, his thin clothes plastered to his body, and he’s curled into himself, pressed against the grimy brick. His head is bowed, his dark blond hair plastered to his forehead. Even in the dim light, I can see he’s trembling. He looks like a drowned rat, all big, terrified eyes and a fragile body that looks like it would snap if I breathed on it too hard.
“Hey,” I say, moving a little closer. “You lost, kid?”
The boy jerks, his head snapping up, and the terror in his eyes is so raw it almost makes me flinch. He scrambles back, trying to press himself even flatter against the dirty wall, like he can somehow disappear into it.
“Easy,” I say, holding my hands up, palms out. A universal sign for ‘I’m not a threat,’ even though I’m the biggest fucking threat in this alley. “I’m not gonna hurt you. Do you need help?”
I don’t normally get involved in other people’s problems, but this kid…he looks so fucking broken. It reminds me of being a starving sixteen-year-old, sleeping in the street and fighting off stray dogs for crumbs.
A pang of pity twists in my gut.
I inch even closer, my boots making soft sounds in the puddles. “You got somewhere you can go? Somewhere to get out of this rain?”
Just then, lightning cracks overhead, a brilliant, jagged spear of light that illuminates the whole damn alleyway in astark, frozen flash. For a split second, it’s as bright as day. And in that light, I see the kid’s face clearly.
The delicate curve of his jaw, his soft, full lips, and the long, dark lashes clumped together with rain and tears. He’s not a kid.He’s an omega.
A grown omega, maybe twenty or so, but with a face so pretty and fragile it could belong on a porcelain doll.
The shock of seeing something so precious hits me like a punch to the gut.
What the hell is he doing out here, alone in a dark alley in the richest part of the city?
It’s insane.
Omegas are rare and valuable, always guarded, always kept locked away. My eyes immediately scan the alley, the rooftops, the dark windows overlooking us. Where the fuck is his owner? His bodyguard? Is this a trap? A setup?
I don’t see anyone. The alley is empty except for me, him, and the rain.
Leaning down, I inch closer to the omega, and he flinches so hard it looks like he might seize up right there on the wet concrete. “Hey,” I say, keeping my voice as low and non-threatening as I can manage. “I told you, I’m not gonna hurt you.”
He kicks out, a weak, desperate motion that barely connects with my shin. He presses his cheek hard against the rough brick wall, trying to put as much distance between us as possible. A pathetic, broken “no” falls from his lips, and I can see his chin quivering in the dim light.
He’s so scared, but I can’t bring myself to walk away.
I lean in closer, then drag in a deep breath-full of his aroma. And that’s when I smell it. The thick honey scent drifting off him is so strong and thick, infusedwith an intoxicating sweetness that curls through the air and goes straight to my cock.
It’s the scent of an omega in heat, blooming right in front of me.
My alpha instincts take over. I don’t think. I just act. One second I’m leaning over the small omega, and the next I’m snatching him up, my hands wrapping around his thin, trembling arms.
His eyes go wide, a perfect, terrified blue, as I press his back flush against the rough brick wall. I cage him in, my body a shield against the rain and the rest of the world.
My eyes go dark, raking all over his face, taking in every feature. The delicate slope of his nose, the long, dark lashes clumped with rain, even the soft tremble of his lips.
