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“Beatrice! No.” Pax’s bark rang through the room, but an omega caught in the Blaze could not be controlled by an alpha’s bark. But that did not stop us from trying.
“Trix.” My bark fell on deaf ears as well. The omegas were still hissing, Viola tugged at Orley’s grip and Mrs Markham, with her hands bent like some demon’s claws, had pushed Hero behind her, backing away in an effort to protect her daughter from my mate’s violence. I chanced a glance at Mrs Hartwell, but her face was almost as devoid of emotion as Hero’s had been. She seemed to be seeing her daughters for the first time.
“Off me you whore!” Stimpson screamed. But my mate pressed on. The knife cutting into his skin causing blood to run down his throat. If I was not genuinely terrified that my mate would kill this man, given a chance, I would have admired her for it. But there would be no defence for his murder, even though it was done in the name of defending Hero’s honour.
I moved as swiftly as possible, grabbing Beatrice by the wrist and pulling her arm back so that the knife clattered to the ground. She struggled in my arms but eventually relented and allowed me to draw her back. “Get out of here, Stimpson, and never show your face again. I get a whiff of your stench and I will ensure you wish my mate had killed you this night.”
“She just—“
“Out of my house!” Orley barked. The weasley alpha jumped. With one last furtive look at us, he ran from the room.
“I want to kill him!” Beatrice screamed in the strange silence that followed his departure.
“No. No…” I whispered into her ear. “Calm yourself, omega. Think of Hero. She needs you now. She is safe… But you need to comfort her.”
Goddess bless me, but that seemed the right thing to say, for my mate’s attention snapped towards the beta.
“Take care of your friend. We can talk soon,” I whispered in her ear. “She—“
“I know. She needs us.” She kissed my cheek. “Jack… Jack, please don’t do anything reckless.”
“Me?” I asked. “Trix, you know better.”
“Exactly.” Her smile was sad. “If I want to murder him, I can only dream of what you would like to do… Paxton’s thoughts would like as not turn my hair white.”
“If you only knew,” Pax growled. He grabbed her chin and tilted it towards him. “You are going into heat. Take care of your friend, as Jack says. But do not overtax yourself.”
The door clicked shut as the omegas ushered Hero out of the room, leaving the four of us behind to… To what, I did not know, but we needed to discuss what had happened. The task would be hard while we remained riled by the sharp scent of omega anger.
“What a shame… He comes from an excellent line of alphas,” Mrs Hartwell sighed and drowned her glass of wine. “We can only hope he won’t spread that malicious tale.“
“Read the room,” Orley snapped. “You are the only alpha here who had a liking for him.”
“He would have made Hero Markham a good husband. And there isn’t much better she can ask for. She might be an heiress, but she is still a beta. Our world is prejudiced against betas, perhaps even more than it is prejudiced against omegas. When I say that he would be a good husband for her, it is because I know the way the world works far better than you boys. Hero will be desired for her fortune, perhaps her pretty face, but any alpha that looks to make her his will always prefer the omega they eventually mate. Alphas will always want omegas. That Stimpson sought to marry her before a mate? And so young? That surely speaks… spoke of some devotion to her.”
“You really are that arrogant?” Pax snarled. He stood close, his thigh pressed against mine, the backs of our hands brushing against each other. “Would you really want Stimpson for one of your daughters?”
She stiffened.
“You find it difficult, perhaps, to apply your principles and pronouncements to your actual life?” He asked.
“Enough,” Orley barked and slammed a hand on the table making the fine crystal at his elbow jump. “We must keep things… contained. Fordom, Pax? Go. Check on… On your mate. See that they are well. Madam, a word? If you will follow me?”
I watched them leave and then slumped into a chair, the tension suddenly leaching out of me. Pax sat next to me, long legs stretched before him and a dark frown clouding his face. “You haven’t heard from your friend about him yet?”
“No,” I replied. “But it has only been a few days.”
“He’ll be back. Stimpson… Did you see the look in his eyes? I wouldn’t trust him with a stranger let alone someone I cared for. We’ll need to see about—“
“Not now. We must think about Beatrice’s heat. There are others who can worry about Stimpson.”
Beatrice
“I’ll talk to her,”I assured Mrs Markham, and hurried after the poor beta. My heart ached. There was a shadowy parallel between our situations that made me feel that I was the best one to speak to her. To provide a sympathetic ear and, perhaps, some wisdom.
Hero paused in the hall when she heard me call out. Her little golden head bent in resignation, her shoulders hunched, and the distinct sniffle of a girl whose dreams had been dashed but was doing her best to keep that stiff upper lip people put so much faith in.
“Come, let’s have a cup of tea?”
