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Underneath my skin still bore the marks of my encounter with Pax and Jack earlier. Beautiful bruises where they’d gripped my thighs. Bite marks on my neck… My Lovers' Circle standing out strong against my skin. My fingers skimmed the thin, sensitive skin and imagined what Pax’s bite would look like. Would he want his bite to overlap? Would he want them separate? I preferred them to overlap.
Thinking of the two alphas just caused more slick to fall.
Pax
We wentto the drawing room hoping to find the omegas and assess… I wanted to assess what needed to be done. Did we hunt him down? Did I buy him off? I winced. The Markham fortune was three times my own, yet my alpha arrogance demanded I stand in place of Hero’s dead father. To my frustration, the drawing room was empty.
Half full teacups left abandoned and the lingering scents of distressed omegas, their pheromones almost oppressive.
“What do you think happened?” Jack asked. He picked up a cup and saucer, sniffing it, before taking a sip. “Ah. It is Beatrice’s. Very, very sweet.”
“You think she is near her heat? Days?”
“Not days.” He set it down. “You were right about Stimpson. Though I’m not sure even you could have predicted what he did tonight.”
I growled deep in my throat. “How could I have? I should have…”
“Not even your instincts are that good, Benedict. Let’s find Beatrice.” He moved towards the door.
But it opened before he could reach it. Mrs Hartwell came in, she looked around the room. “Where is my daughter?”
“Ma’am.“ I moved between her and Jack. It was alpha, protective. He growled. I could not permit them to come to blows, for I knew where the conversation headed, and the ending would be bloody if a cooler head did not prevail—to think mine was coolest in this moment was risible since violence coiled in my gut like a snake prepared to strike. “What business is it of yours?”
“She is my daughter.”
“And my mate,” Jack snapped. “She is not your responsibility, has not been for ten years.”
“You…”
“Enough.” Orley pushed in. “I’ve been saying that too much lately. You might be my mother in law, but you’ve pushed too far. Your officiousness and inability to…”
“I shan’t leave because pups tell me to. And know this—“
“You don’t have to be afraid for them.” Mrs Markham’s voice was quiet but clear. Orley stood aside to allow the older omega to step into the room. It was a veritable crush, and with each new person entering the room another obstacle to reaching Beatrice. “Your daughters are grown, and quite capable of going their own ways.”
When Mrs Hartwell didn’t respond, she turned to our host. “Your Grace, I would like to return to London with Hero. My dear Mrs Hartwell, I would appreciate your protection on the journey. Without Dixon, I have no alpha to accompany us.”
Hartwell nodded and brushed past our host, whose hackles rose at the show of disrespect.
“I told her to look out for Stimpson.” Orley frowned at the tea cups. “I want her out of the house and doing something before she snaps… Tell me what happened between you and Beatrice. You arrive to dinner with her, after I’ve learnt you mated her and left her.”
“Your opinion on our—“
“There are more important things than why I left my mate. Fear not, Orley, I’m far more capable of hating myself. Once… Once we have seen her through her heat, there will be time enough to—“
“You are lucky I was there. Viola encouraged her to return to London,” Orley snapped. He looked furious. “Why would she be doing that?”
“What!” Jack roared. Orley flinched at the sound. “She did not mention that.”
“Calm yourself.” I restrained Jack whose eyes were mirrored gold—a rut. Goddess, was I as far gone as he? “Say that again.”
“Beatrice was overwrought. Viola suggested she return to London. I stepped in and ordered her to make a nest. She had the good sense to listen… Then you arrived at dinner with her. What happened?”
“None of your business.”
“My mother-in-law wanted me to throw you out. Claimed you must have brow beaten her into spending any time with you.”
“That bitch,” Jack bit out.
