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Liam held out his hand and that smirk transformed into a boyish grin. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Parker.”
I took it and squeezed, trying to ignore just how warm his skin felt against mine. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see the crime scene now.”
He stood, forcing me to look up at him. “Anything for my sweetheart, isn’t that right?”
I decided to ignore the idiot who was way too pretty for his own good instead of acknowledging that inane and insulting question.
But if he called me that shit again, there were going to be two murders in the Valor pack.
CHAPTER 7
Liam
Leaning against the wall, I watched as my omega stood at the threshold of my brother’s office almost as if she were nervous, and tried to remember this wasn’t the same girl I’d known back in middle school.
She lifted her chin and took a deep breath before stepping into the chaos of the crime scene. It was a fucking miracle I was even looking at her right now and her eyes were grey.
The grey of an unclaimed omega.
Years of searching the world for her, and she’d walked right into my life all on her own after I’d given up all hope of ever finding her again. It was some pretty fucked-up karma, because she didn’t even remember me.
That was my fault though.
How many times had I kicked myself for not telling her my real name? Not that it would have made a difference. She’d always been bad with names and faces.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. My brother was dead, and the very next day the girl I’d spent over fifteen years looking for just stumbled into my arms?
What was even worse was that I almost hadn’t recognized her even though the way she’d crashed into me was almost identical to the way we’d first met. Fifteen years ago, she’d slammed into me at the park and we’d both fallen, skinning our elbows and knees.
The girl I’d known back then had been a real crier too, her face so open and easy to read. Now it was a slab of marble with nothing carved into it to tell me what she was thinking or feeling, but damn…
She was still a work of art.
Black scent blockers instead of clear were taped around her neck in three parallel lines, almost like she was wearing chokers, not scent blockers. They were made with the same material used for clear adhesive bandages that were popular with tattoo artists and burn victims but I’ve never seen someone use them the way she did.
They covered some of the tattoo creeping up her neck and none of it was done in color so the delicate spider lilies were black against her pale skin.
An omega with tattoos.
Not only were they easily visible, but they covered her neck too. She’d really done her best to be as unappealing as possible to legacy alphas. Just thinking about why she might do that had me clenching my jaw so tightly I could feel it creak.
Everything about her was different now – everything but her adorable obsession with axolotls at least. I almost couldn’t believe that weird, energetic little girl had grown into this quiet, alternative beauty.
Multiple earrings on each ear glimmered under the harsh lights set up for the crime scene and her long black peacoat brushed the tops of her sneakers covered in those pink axolotls. Her hands were tucked in the pockets again, and this time I knew she was wearing a loaded gun like it was nothing.
For some reason, that hurt more than anything else – even her forgetting about me.
I should have been there during the worst moments of her life – to protect her against all the looks and judgment. I’d asked her to wait for me, but I’d been an idiot. Too young and naïve to understand what it was I was asking of her.
If I’d wanted her to wait, I should’ve told her my real fucking name, but…
That would have put her in danger.
But she’d captivated me from day one and I’ve never quite been able to shake off her spell.
The girl I knew back in middle school liked to bury things in the sand so she could dig them up like she was an archeologist and she’d talk a million miles a minute while I took whatever ‘treasures’ she handed me and organized them for her.
It had been a fun game of pretend – I was the assistant and she the world-renowned doctor discovering a new culture. After every successful excavation, she would give me one of her treasures in thanks.
