Page 51 of The Alpha’s Heir

I had to get away.

Seeing Meg in that dress had been the final straw. I needed to request a transfer, but I couldn’t stomach the idea of anyone else getting close to her, not when they wouldn’t have her best interest at heart.

I didn’t know how much time I had left anyway. I hadn’t been able to break into the security footage of the house yet, and it was only a matter of time before the councilwoman was alerted to the video of me kissing Meg outside her bedroom—if Helen didn’t know already.

The councilwoman was smart and knew how to play her cards. You wouldn’t last long in the council if you didn’t. It was a waiting game as I played my role, expecting the bomb to drop at any minute.

Or maybe that’s what the dress was, a way to torture me. Meg looked beautiful, as always. A foreign princess in this cruel story. The white gown a perfect color to be slaughtered in, and I couldn’t save her, just like I was powerless to save my father.

I needed something to take the edge off before I marched back into that house and destroyed everything I’d ever worked for—like I’d probably already done.

Neon lights reflected in the muddy puddle that the rain left on the dirty streets of the Fringes. I hadn’t been to this part of town for quite some time. Not since before I’d been promoted. I honestly didn’t know why I’d chosen to come here now, other than I knew it wasn’t somewhere that any officers would set foot in willingly.

Thankfully, it was a Monday night. So that meant no one else I knew should be here.

The bartender didn’t even recognize me as I took a stool at the almost empty counter. Then again, I didn’t know who she was either.

I ordered my beer and tried to find the bottom of the glass in silence while the speakers blared some depressing old man anthem. The dim lights helped me sit in the shadows, but I couldn’t hide from my own thoughts.

Dad would’ve told me to save her.

All those stories he used to tell. The heroes of men who fought against all odds, including the ancient gods, encouraged by the want of a pretty woman.

Yet he never broke his own station either. Even when Mom left, he didn’t chase her. Not when there was work to do. Not when he still had me, and half the building we lived in, to feed. Stories didn’t fill bellies. Long hours of working did.

And I was old enough to know that.

Plus, my duty was to my job. To my father. To the councilwoman. To Ethica.

Meg was not my problem. Kissing her was a mistake. It was the best mistake of my life.

“Lookie what we’ve got here,” a deep voice made me wince into the dregs of my beer.

“Don’t you have work tomorrow?” I finished the last of the glass and motioned for the bill.

“Me? What about you?” Staff Sgt. Marcus took the stool beside me. “Are you even allowed to be fraternizing with us riffraff after work anymore, Lieutenant?”

“Don’t call me that here,” I muttered to myself.

“Fine.” He pushed the electronic receipt back to the bartender. “Grab him another. He’s staying.”

“Is that….” A whistle sounded.

“No way.”

“He lives!”

“Is he drunk? Please tell me LT is drunk.”

“Is the whole platoon out tonight?” I couldn’t help but smile as Sgt. Lutten, Sgt. Stone, and Corporals Yemen and Jacques pulled out the stools around me.

“Of course.” Sgt. Lutten clapped my shoulder affectionately. The alcohol on his breath was already pungent. “It’s Staff Sergeant’s birthday.”

The smile fell from my face as I looked at Marcus. “Shit. I… forgot.”

There was no excuse for this slip-up. Before I commissioned as an officer, I never would’ve been so out of the loop. But even as his chain of command, I should’ve remembered such an important detail. These were still my men, even if our ranks had changed, and I was responsible for looking after them too.

Marcus shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, LT. You’ve been a little preoccupied with that assignment from the council. Not that I blame you. Meg is a riot, and Rabbit is an idiot.”