Page 258

“Kendall’s Return”

Nicholas Britell

Nickolas Copeland immediately rose from his seat at the end of the table, and Nash followed suit when the Russian Alpha entered the room with his son.

The rest of us – all four Joneses, my father, and I – remained seated.

The Alpha had invited us to dinner, and even though one didn't question the reason behind invitations from the Alpha, I put two and two together.

Next to Maverick Jones sat my father, who – it should be noted – was enjoying his new high position within the Blairville Police Department far too much. The two were among the Alpha's closest confidants, highly respected Deltas, which gave them both a great deal of influence over his pack decisions.

Hunter and I, their sons, were the two strongest Senseque in the pack after Alarik, Nash, and Emely. On top of that, Emely was missing alongside Alarik, which pretty much told me all of this would be about her. Combined with the previous facts, a dark premonition spread through me, but I would wait patiently.

“Nickolas!” exclaimed the burly Russian, and I watched as Nickolas nodded to him. “What a pleasure that this has worked out.”

This.

Of course it had been the Russian Alpha's idea.

He and his son sat down in the last two empty seats.

The three Jones brothers – Harry, Hunter, and the youngest, Joshua – watched the Russian Alpha vigilantly, and I didn't miss the brief yellowish flicker in their eyes, which told me that they were submissive to him.

They avoided his gaze, as any reasonably smart Senseque should do with an Alpha. But I could feel their tension. Nickolas wasn't a strict Alpha, which was why they weren't used to this kind of thing.

I looked back at the Rolanows and tried not to be an idiot and upset the most feared Alpha in the world, which didn't mean I couldn't piss off his son.

A man who, at twenty-seven – three years older than me – had a degree in economics, and had already invested in companies both inside and outside Russia while waiting for the position of Alpha.

He and his father had won a bloody war against the Dragoslav clan and exterminated the entire Ruisangor population of Russia. They had wiped out an entire Legacy dynasty in Russia, leaving only four other Legacy bloodlines on this planet. Apart from an African lineage that kept a low profile, so that no one could even find out their name, only the Yu Huas, the Medicis, and the DeLoughreys remained.

I didn't fail to notice that Mikhail Rolanow had been staring at me since the moment he had entered the room, as if I were his mortal enemy.

This guy not only boosted my testosterone levels, he also significantly fueled my inner aggression.

I wasn't stupid. Of course, I had done my homework and investigated the Rolanows. And the fact that this family's shady businesses had multiple impenetrable firewalls, and that it was almost impossible to find out anything about them didn't make it any better.

There were secrets buried in this filthy rich family. And something told me their Alpha wasn't letting our Alpha in on them.

“The Joneses,” said the Russian Alpha with a pleased expression, gesturing invitingly to Hunter's father. “Maverick. We've already met.”

Maverick nodded and smiled cautiously before looking at our Alpha, as if waiting for some kind of permission.

“Rohan Wheeler,” the Russian Alpha continued, smiling just as falsely at my father, who was sitting next to me in his business suit. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Please introduce us to your son.”

I almost snorted.

My father was a stranger to me. Just another bastard who had snatched his child from a sheltered environment. On top of that, he covered up what he had really done. That he had dishonored the Code.

I wasn't sure if Nickolas knew, but if he did, he overlooked it, just as he did with the strange girl who had started roaming the Copeland estate as if she were a frightened ghost.

What was her name again? Bayla Adams?

She didn't even smell like Senseque...

My father cleared his throat.

He managed some of the Copelands' properties, including the campus housing, together with Maverick Jones, when he wasn't driving around Blairville in a patrol car, pulling me over just to remind me of the speed limit. But other than that, I didn't know this man.