He looks shocked at my question. “Of course she didn’t know. We all have our little…indiscretions, but we don’t talk about them. However, these little…extracurricular activities are usually more of a pack bonding situation. Normally we share but I couldn’t convince them with you. I may be willing to overlook your…blatant tomboy personality and overt muscles due to our scent match, but they didn’t feel it was worth their time. You really don’t put in any effort on your appearance, do you? I believe the terms classless and unrefined were brought up. They aren’t wrong, dear, you do look rather homeless. Not to mention your obvious mixed breeding and lack of any sort of culture.”
This man really is an asshole. Scent match or not, he is a complete and utter douchebag. He steps forward, his head lowered and the ugly sneer pulling apart like he’s about to spew more bullshit at me, and I snap. My fist clenches as my arm comes up on its own, aimed for his solar plexus, years of mandatory self-defense classes kicking in.
He may be rich, he may be marginally attractive, I may have thought he was mine, but he can’t take a punch for shit. He doubles over, all the air forced out of him in a loud whoosh. My hands tangle in his hair and bring his head further down as my knee raises, and I hear the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking. Wow, I broke two alphas’ noses in less than a month. I think that might be a record.
He falls to the ground, his eyes watering, blinking up at me while blood dribbles over his lips. “We’re done here. I’ll be filing a formal complaint with the office against your pack. If you try this shit with anybody else here, I’ll kick you so hard you’re coughing up your own nuts.” My voice doesn’t tremble, doesn’t break until I make it back to the desk. I crack as I struggle to tell the receptionist what happened. Warn her that she’ll probably want security, and let her know what he told me. They’re already bonded…and their omega can fucking have them.
Greg trots up as I’m talking, his face falls as he takes me in, wrapping me in his strong arms and starting to sing against my hair. The receptionist calls for security, but by the time they arrive, John’s already gone. The only thing left are some blood splatters on the carpet and the scent of angry alpha.
Chapter 90
Sarah sniffles against my chest as I carry her back across campus. From what I overheard, it wasn’t Pack Miller who showed up; John was here and he smelled like another omega, one that’s bonded to his pack. That fucker. My girl’s voice is clogged and snotty as she repeats, “I’m not sad, I’m pissed…I’m more pissed that I can’t stop crying because of that piece of shit.”
It’s an abuse of power, but I’m totally going to look over the security footage next time I’m called into the office so I can watch her beat his ass. I wish I’d been there in real life, not just to protect her, because she obviously doesn’t need that, but I would have loved to see that smug smile wiped off his face. Plus get a few hits in after what he said to her.
We make it back to the dorm quickly, passing Adam in the hall. He sees Sarah curled up in my arms and starts to reach out. Her head pops up, sensing his approach. “Hey…gimme fiveminutes or so to get cleaned up, then you can bring Lily by. I just beat up an alpha and I’m sure she’ll enjoy hearing about it.” His mouth falls open and he just stares. I hear his door open and close right before we make it to ours.
I’m pretty sure her sausage and egg crepe is mushy by now, but I can still nuke it. I grab the sweet ones—my girl could use some chocolate and sugar—and lay them out on the coffee table for her along with her lukewarm coffee, then go to reheat my own breakfast.
She’s already made it halfway through the banana and Nutella one and chugged her coffee by the time I get back, but she gives me a sideways glare. “You gave me decaf, didn’t you?” I smile in reply, hoping to avoid further violence. “But you also brought me sugary goodness and cuddles, so the balance is maintained.” Her voice is somber as she looks at me, before she breaks and cackles like a madwoman. “Fucking hell, I dodged a bullet. What the fuck is wrong with people?”
That is an excellent question, and one I’ve pondered many times before. We don’t have time to get into a lengthy discussion though before a knock sounds at the door. Sarah gets up to answer it. As expected, Adam is dropping his girl off so he can go talk to their therapist about getting a note and then the housing department about a pet…and then if he has time, he says he wants to hit the salon in the union for a haircut.
Lily doesn’t look up at either of us as she shuffles into the room and heads straight for Shaggy’s run, kneeling beside it and opening the gate so his fuzzy little butt can hop over and rub against her legs. She pets him a few times before scooping him up and holding him against her chest, and if it were possible for him to look even smugger, he would. I’m pretty sure he’s trying to make Sarah jealous by cuddling against Lily, but she has other stuff on her mind and just pats his head lightly when she walks by, back towards the couch and her food. She tucks her legsunderneath her butt as she sits on the couch and shoves a huge bite of crepe into her mouth.
Adam is the one to finally break the silence. “Ok, Lily, I’m just a text or call away if you need me, but Greg and Sarah are here. Or if you need to go back to our room, that’s good too. I promise I won’t be gone long. I love you.” She looks up at him with a tentative smile before burying her face against Shaggy’s back. His voice is slightly choked. “Ok…just call me if you…if anything comes up. I won’t be far.” And then he’s gone, practically running out of the room.
It’s almost six when Sarah’s phone rings again, saying she has visitors at the front office. She sets it down, staring hard at me. Lily and Adam left a couple of hours ago, and I’ve been putting off going to get dinner, waiting for the guys to show up. I smile at her and nod. “Yes, I knew they were coming to visit. I didn’t think they could have made it here that early this morning…but they’re late now. I was expecting them for dinner an hour ago. Maybe they don’t understand L.A. traffic.” Her smile is huge as she hops off the couch, pulls her shoes back on, and starts for the door. “I’ll lock up our son, just hurry up and go see your alphas. I’ll be right there.” She pops up on her toes to give me a quick kiss on the chin before taking off at a sprint. Running through the halls twice in one day, it’s a good thing Kimberly can’t see her.
I want to give her time to get snuggles without feeling any pressure, so I take my time herding Mr. Shaggbutt back into his run and giving him a few sprigs of cilantro. He looks annoyed by the meager offering. “You already had your greens today, but there’s plenty of hay if you’re hungry. Plus, I know for a fact that you didn’t eat your pellets last night, because I cleaned out your bowl and put fresh in this morning. You won’t starve from lack of treats.” He kicks his back legs at me, flinging hay in the air before going to crouch in his bunny cave and glare at me as I tie my own shoes on and head out the door. It’s been less than five minutes, but I’m hungry and want to collect everyone to head over to the union for food. I’ll give them more privacy when my stomach isn’t growling at me.
I make it halfway across campus when I hear yelling, and then I’m running. I don’t know what the raised voice is about, but something is fucked.
Chapter 91
It takes less than three minutes to make it to the visitor center when I run flat out, and that’s what I’m doing, cutting across grassy areas and through the pass-over between the union and the library. The visitor center comes into sight and I’m so excited I don’t notice the scent of angry alpha or even realize anyone else is here until a foot comes out of the building’s shadow and I’m tripping over it, flying through the air.
My body hits hard, my hands and knees taking the brunt of the force as I slide across the sidewalk and onto the grass. It stings like a mad bitch, and I’m pretty sure my knees are bleeding since I’m wearing shorts. Though I’m either kinda shocky or all the nerve endings have been scraped off…I’m going with option one since my mind feels floaty too.
My legs fold under me, and my head spins. I shouldn’t have rushed over here. My whole fucking body feels like it’s on a tilt-a-whirl and I can’t get my bearings. Big hands come down on my shoulders, flipping me over so my back slams into the hard packed dirt beside the sidewalk. Could be worse, at least my head didn’t hit the concrete, but fucking hell that hurts. I look up into the angry and disheveled face of John. He’s clearly cleaned up some since this morning, but his eyes have dark bruising and his nose looks twice its normal size. Good.
His fingers close around my throat, dragging me back up, lifting me off the ground and shaking me hard. “You’re going to pay for what you did. You think you can fucking reject me? Me!” My head snaps back, teeth clicking together painfully.
“Were you expecting someone else, you stupid slut? Maybe those fucking alphas you spent your heat with?” He shakes me again and my head spins. Pain blooms across my lip and I feel the skin split from his knuckles when he backhands me. “This is all your fucking fault, you classless mongrel! My pack had questions when I got home. Amber was angry that I let an omega assault me, more so that I found my scent match and didn’t tell her. Not that it would have changed anything. My pack is having a meeting to decide if my ‘slumming it’ has had a negative impact. I’ve been kicked out of my fucking pack house, and it’s all your fault.”
His hand squeezes tighter, cutting off my air and making black spots dance in front of my eyes. Sudden vicious snarling reaches my ears and I have a flare of panic that all my fears are coming true—he’s going to feed me to a bear or some shit. How the hell did he even get a bear past security? How didheget past security?
Fuck!
I left the fucking key card in the door.
Whelp, I’m boned.
Maybe it’s the lack of oxygen or my panic-filled brain has just reached its limit, but I feel light and floaty right now.
The fingers around my throat jostle and loosen, and I’m dropped unceremoniously on the grass. My mind faintly registers shouting and all I can think is that thank fuck security got here before I got eaten…then nothing.
Paul
