“What?” I squeaked. “No fucking way. I’m not telling you where I live.” I wasn’t taking them home to the place that was a refuge for Luisa and I.
There was rustling in the back, and Seven chuckled softly. “I grabbed her bag on the way out. Her scent was all over it.” I looked between the seats as he pulled out my purse and read my address off my drivers license.
I would have to run again. Luisa was still too young to understand, so it would be fine. She wouldn’t hate me, despite us already setting down roots here, and me promising that things would be better now.
The Alpha’s arms tightened. “Hear us out, and then I promise, if you want us to leave, we will. We pose no threat to you or your young. You hold all the power here; you just don’t understand yet. But I promise, you will.”
I nodded in defeat. I’d have to play it safe, especially as they now knew where I lived. I was gambling with both mine and Luisa’s life for the second time in a year, but there was no other choice.
“If you hurt her in any way, I will skin you alive,” I growled under my breath, and he made a humming noise of agreement.
“And I will hand you the knife. I vow this.”
3
Seven
Her scent threatened to drown me. Being in an enclosed space, where all I could smell was the beginning of her heat, and then under that, her own natural scent... well, it was killing me. Or at least killing my dick. My cock was so hard, I was pretty sure it was going to explode like an overfilled water balloon.
The car had fallen silent since Finlo had done a U-turn on the freeway and headed back through Missoula toward Lolo. Made sense why she would live out of Missoula, and separate her two lives, especially if she had a kid. Guess she didn’t want anyone to know she was a stripper, but it made sense to me. Even humans were susceptible to the kinds of pheromones she was throwing off right now. If we hadn’t hit the fire alarm, she would have made a bucketload tonight.
A little guilt snuck up on me, but then I remembered that if everything went well, she’d be ours and we would make sure she never needed a damn thing ever again. Both her and her offspring.
My nose twitched, and I second-guessed myself. I had a highly sensitive olfactory sense, or at least that’s what Ellar said. Better than most other Manix, which was why I was able to pick up this female’s scent from the mountains.
It was better than most Alphas I knew. Hell, I was stronger thaneveryBeta in Maxton, which was why it had been so hard for me to find a Pack that would take me, despite my good bloodlines. The only ones who would even consider me were this ragtag bunch of half-bloods and misfits, and I’d never been more fucking thankful that they’d looked past the attitude and the hierarchy than I was at this very moment.
It was because of my annoying nose that I was wondering if there even was a kid. I could smell information about people—which sounds fucking weird, and I guess it kind of was. But I could scent that this female had never bred. I didn’t mention it though, because one, I’d already put the pretty Omega offside... uh, twice now. Two, because there was the scent of young on her stuff; I just didn’t think it washeryoung. Better to see what it was all about before I made any sweeping statements that got me even further up the shitlist.
She seemed content in the Alpha’s arms up the front, and a pang of something—not jealousy, but something like it—hit me in the chest.
Unworthiness, maybe?
I hadn’t been good enough for a Pack, so why would I be good enough for the last female Omega on the fucking planet?
“Seven,” Raiden said softly, looking over his shoulder. His eyes were soft, and I reached out a hand to touch him.
“I’m fine, Omega,” I whispered softly. His eyes narrowed like he was going to call me on my bullshit, but he resisted. Thank fuck. Ellar, the other Beta in our Pack, sent me a worried look too, but kept his mouth firmly shut.
We rolled through Lolo, and it looked like a cookie tin picture of a small town in the Montana mountains. Finlo didn’t ask for directions, which meant he was probably getting them off his cellphone. We might live isolated from humans, but that didn’t mean time had passed us by. Honestly, I couldn’t have gotten through the last decade without video games.
I grabbed the Omega’s oversized tote, and found a sweater dress and some flip flops.
“Alpha,” I barked, passing the clothes to Ellar. “The Omega might be more comfortable arriving home dressed in more than a thong.”
The Omega’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror as she snatched the clothes from Ellar. “I wouldn’t be in a thong if you hadn’t abducted me. Pull over,” she demanded, turning to glare at Finlo.
Surprisingly, Finlo complied. Watching her like she was a rattlesnake, we let her step out of the car, and shuck the dress over her head. She paused, eyeing the distance for a moment, before climbing back into the car again. With agility that was only really granted to short people, she maneuvered into the middle row of seats, sitting between Raiden and Ellar again.
The silence this time was almost deafening. She’d voluntarily—or at least pseudo-voluntarily—got back into the van, which didn’t mean anything really. But it felt like it meant something.
The silence, as always, was too much for Ellar. “May we know your name?” he said softly, his entire body language non-confrontational. As a half-blood Beta, he’d been even worse off than Gatlin. But where Gatlin had had to forge his path, he’d taken Ellar under his wing almost immediately, protecting the softer Beta from the harshness of Manix life.
The girl looked at him but stayed silent, and I could see his little Beta heart breaking.
We eventually pulled up in front of a squat house painted bright pink—so pink I could see it in the dark. “Can I convince you guys to stay outside?”
Gatlin looked over his shoulder, and gave her a single shake of his head.
