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She adjusts the baby on her hip and shrugs.
Well, obviously this isn’t going to get me anywhere.
“Is Rill here?” I ask. “Or Elizabeth?”
“No.” She purses her lips together as if trying to avoid saying anything else.
“Well, where are they?” I ask slowly, not hiding my irritation. Is there something wrong with her?
“Somewhere else,” she says flatly, glaring at me blankly.
“What about Hetty?” I bite out, stepping toward her. “The beta? Do you know where she is?”
She sneers and stands her ground. “How would I know where any betas are?”
An involuntary growl reverberates in my chest. I’m not one to intimidate omegas, but something about this one’s attitude is harsh on my already raw nerves. Is she going to keep me from Rill and Elizabeth? From Hetty?
I remember what the beta in the coffee shop said—she was worried Hetty was in trouble. Maybe it was wrong to send her here, and to avoid Cypress House for so long.
“Noah?”
My head jolts up—Wyatt’s walking down the stairs, carrying a bundle of blankets in his arms. He’s followed by a burly alpha with a long beard, his long hair pulled back from his rough, cratered face.
“Wyatt.” I breathe his name with relief. “Where’s Hetty?”
“Hetty?” He lifts a brow. “What do you want with her?”
Annoyance bubbles inside me, but before I can answer, the burly alpha interrupts.
“What’s going on? Who the fuck are you?” He stomps to the blonde omega’s side, pulling her close and glaring at me with hot accusation. That’s when I smell my own aggression, stinking up the entryway with its sour, heavy scent.
“He’s looking for Rill and Liz,” the omega answers, jerking her chin toward me. “And some beta.”
I shake my head dismissing her, instead focusing on my brother. “Tell me where she is,” I demand fiercely. “No one has seen her in weeks.”
“Were you talking to my omega with disrespect?” The burly alpha steps forward and pushes me lightly on the shoulder. “When she’s alone with a baby? Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Look, I didn’t mean to insult your omega. I’m looking for a beta. She’s—”
I don’t get a chance to finish as the burly alpha’s pressure comes swooping out from his body, throwing me across the room. I groan loudly as my body bangs into the drywall, crushing it before I slide to the dusty wooden floor. My gut is nailed to the wall; his pressure pounds my head like a sledgehammer.
I can hear Wyatt yelling through the throbbing pain in my head, appealing to the burly alpha. “That’s my brother!” he yells, his voice mottled like he’s far away. “He doesn’t have any pressure.”
“That’ll make my job a helluva lot easier ’cause he needs to learn some fucking manners!” the alpha roars in response—now he sounds like he’s right on top of me. Actually, it’s like he’s inside my head. I reach up to claw at my temples, but I can’t—I’m stuck.
I grunt, summoning every ounce of strength I can muster as he steps toward me, lowering his pock-marked face until it’s inches from mine.
“I don’t care who you are, pretty boy,” he says roughly, twisting his hand in the air between us. The motion causes something to roil inside me, creating a painful tightening to wrench my gut. “You will treat my mate with respect.”
I close my eyes, processing the pain and blocking out Wyatt’s voice—he’s still yelling loudly in the background. My breath quickens as cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck.
This alpha is going to kill me. I’m never going to see Hetty again.
At the thought, rage drifts through my body and spreads through my limbs. I forget everything. The Order. Marcus. My mother. The slow decay of my people and our home. Nothing matters. Only her.
Finally, I open my eyelids, and I look straight into his eyes—they’re beady and brown under deep-set, bushy eyebrows.
I’ve never seen him before in my life. I don’t know him. He’s a stranger in my town, standing in a house I essentially grew up in. Hurting me. Keeping her from me.
