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“And what does that look like?” Haven asks. She keeps her voice neutral, but I can see the tension in her shoulders. I note the way she grips her hands, wringing them as if struggling for control.
“What do you mean?” the leader asks.
“Well, you say you have a nest; is it in your home? Where do you live? What do you do for a living? I don’t need much, but if I’m going to be joining you, becoming part of your pack, I’d like to know what that means. Do you live in the city or the country? Are there more members of your pack than I see here? Do you have a history of violence against women or omegas?”
At the last question, the air in the room changes. The leader looks back and forth between his pack members, his eyes narrowing as he looks at Haven. “Why would you ask that?” he asks, his voice dangerously quiet. “Someone been talking to you?”
“No,” Haven says. “I’m planning to ask those questions of every pack that comes. If I’m going to make the right decision—”
“We’ve put up with enough questions,” the twitchy one snaps.
The leader nods in agreement. “The fact is, we’re here, we’re a pack, and we’re willing to take you on. The network told us you’re desperate. We’re your only choice. We’ll take you with us. You’ll be treated fine, we’ll rut you when you’re in heat. That should be enough.”
My whole body is ready to spring over the edge of the couch. I want to smash their faces until they can’t breathe.
Haven, of course, has more control. She clears her throat and gets to her feet, offering her hand to the pack leader. “Thank you for coming,” she says. “But I don’t think this is going to work out.”
The leader looks absolutely shocked. Uncoiling himself from his seat, he steps closer to Haven. He glances down at her hand and sneers before flicking his gaze over to the camera. “You’re rejecting us?”
“Well… no,” Haven says gently as she lowers her hand. “I just don’t think it’s going to be a good fit.”
Before I can move, the leader’s fist comes down hard against the side of Haven’s face. She lets out a cry as she falls back onto the sofa, clutching her eye.
With a roar, I launch myself over the edge of the couch. I grab the leader by his shirt and punch him again and again until his face is a bloody mess. Only then do I realize that the other two alphas haven’t attacked. I look around and find that Arlo has leapt into the fray. He’s squaring off with both of them at the same time. His eyes are blazing with anger, and he ducks and weaves, holding his own against two alphas, both twice his size.
I step forward to help him. The twitchy one comes at me with a raised fist. I block his attack and knock him back, only to realize the other one is coming up at my side, wielding a vase he must have picked up somewhere in the house. Arlo intercepts him, hitting him hard enough in the stomach to make him curl forward on himself. Then he knees him in the face. The man falls down, knocked out.
I dispatch the twitchy one with a one-two punch combination, and turn to find all three unconscious, bleeding into the white carpet. Wordlessly, we rush to Haven, kneeling before her, both of us murmuring softly.
Despite the rage coursing through my veins, something warm curls through me, having Arlo at my side.
Haven smiles at us, shaking her head, promising us she’s all right, but Arlo and I glance at each other, clearly in agreement: we won’t let one of these assholes get the drop on us again. Haven needs to be protected, and we’re going to make sure that happens.
Chapter Fourteen
~Arlo~
“You fucking idiot!” Derek exclaims as he storms into the kitchen. It’s been about twenty minutes since the alarm finally sounded, ending perhaps the liveliest episode ofOmega Girls After DarkI can recall. I’m a little surprised that Derek is angry; I would have thought a fist fight would have helped our ratings. He was happy enough when Reese threw me into a table, after all.
“Do you know how much bullshit you just dropped on my head?” Derek growls.
“Look, Derek, he punched an omega. What did you expect me to do?”
“You didn’t have to do a damned thing. There was an alpha—a feral one, by the way—in the room. You could have let him handle it.”
“Three against one?”
“It would have been great tv, no matter what happened. Instead you launched yourself in front of the camera and killed the whole vibe. Now it looks staged, you moron. You ruined one of the best dramatic moments in modern tv history. And why? So you could hit an alpha?”
“I hit two of them, actually.”
Derek throws up his hands as if he’s had it. “No more intervening, do you understand me? You’re a good cameraman, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be replaced. One more step out of line, and you’ll be on the unemployment line before you can say, ‘Beta.’ You get me?”
“I get you,” I mutter.
Derek sighs, running a hand through his shaggy hair. “They were assholes, ok, I get it. And I know there’s a part of you that wants to protect omegas. Hell, I feel the same way sometimes.” He pauses, and his eyes unfocus, looking into the distance as if he’s thinking of something—or someone—far away. He snaps out of it in a moment, and I wonder if I imagined it, because he puts his finger in my chest and leans over me, his strong, if sweet, alpha scent overwhelming and intimidating. “I like you, Arlo. You’re a good guy. Just don’t be stupid, ok?”
“Ok.”
