“She’s built this salon from the ground up. Literally. Did it all by herself. And she works so damn hard. Booked up for months, training apprentices, heading to conventions across the globe.”
He gestures towards the paused video.
“That girl in the footage? Serena. The shit she’s been through…” He shakes his head. “When my sister opened applications for an apprentice,thousandsof people applied, including the mayor’s daughter. But guess who she picked?”
He nods to the screen.
“Serena. An omega with no experience, an omega too terrified to leave the house. Because Serena didn’t want the job—she needed it.” Rue exhales slowly. “That’s what my sister does. She takes people under her wing. The weak, the vulnerable. She protects them, just like we do.” His voice drops. “But even we work in pairs. She’s only one person.”
He looks at each of us in turn before settling on me.
“She’s my baby sister. I can’t watch her lose everything she’s built because of one asshole alpha…” He trails off, eyes dropping to the table.
It was a valiant effort. I’ll ask Luc to try and convince him to use one of the other firms Syl sent through; we’ll make sure it’s someone we’ve used in the past—
“I’ll nip round tomorrow.”
“What the fuck, Luc?”I snarl over the bond.
My alpha bristles instantly. No one in this pack makes decisions alone. Not on jobs. Not on clients.
He holds up his hands. “I’m off anyway—it’s my free time. Maybe I just want a haircut.” Then he grins, turning back to Rue. “I’ll at least get a feel for the place, sketch outan action plan. We’ve got some retired guys who I bet would love a gig like this.”
“Luciano, I fucking love you, man.” Rue exhales hard, then his lips tug into a tight smile. “There’s justoneother thing.”
“What?” Val snaps.
I honestly thought he’d left.
Rue scratches his scruff. “My sis isn’t exactly keen on the idea of having security… especially not alphas.”
“You’re forcing this on her,” Syl states, tone dry.
“No, she agreed,eventually,” he murmurs that last one. “She’s just very… independent. Wants to show the world what omegas are capable of. But yesterday, it hit home…” He shrugs. “A little.”
“You’re basically asking me to convince her you’re right?” Luc finishes, then huffs. “Fuck, man, this is turning out to be one big favour. What if there are shears at my throat next?”
“You’d like that,”Syl adds over the bond, and he’s not wrong.
Luc smirks.
“Anything you want, it’s yours. You know my brother’s chief of police? You want some top-secret information?” Rue snaps his fingers. “Done.”
“You think I haven’t hacked into police servers before?” Syl chips in, expressionless.
I throw him a quick look.
“Should I not tell him that?”he asks over the bond, and I shake my head.
Thankfully, Rue chooses to ignore it. “I mean it, though, guys, I owe you. Next time you need something, I’m your guy. You never know, this might work out. Maybe you’ll get free haircuts for life?”
When he leaves, he gives Luc another hard handshake, and as soon as the door clicks into place, I turn on him.
“What happened to agreeing as a pack?” I snarl, low.
“You’re blurring boundaries,” Syl adds quietly, tapping his tablet.
“Idiota,”Val curses.
