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“You need an Alpha during your pregnancy, honey. That fact you can’t change.”
“Then take me back tomyAlpha.”
“This is Ash’s plan, not mine. I’d have challenged him outright, done it the way you’re supposed to.” Max’s chest puffed out, Alpha pride making him preen as Devin’s startled gaze swung up to meet his for a bare instant before she centered it on his chin.
“He’s been challenged and won. Lots of times,” Devin whispered, remembering all of the times Rey came in bloody and haggard.
“Not by a territory Alpha, I’d wager.” Max took another small step forward, once again ghosting his fingers over Devin’s cheek. “I’m not some pansy bitch. I’ve got my own area, honey. I could take real good care of you. Your baby, too. You would never want for anything.”
“I thought we agreed we’d talk to her together,” Ashley snarled from the back of the van.
“Yeah, well, you were sleeping, and she had to use the bathroom.” Max shrugged, blatant in his disregard for Ashley’s anger. A small smile ghosted over his lips as he caught Devin watching him again, adding a sly wink for her benefit alone as his face was otherwise cast in shadow. “Besides, you said she didn’t like girls. Doesn’t that take you out of the running?”
“It’s her choice!”
“Some choice,” Devin hissed, slapping away Ashley’s possessive hand from her shoulder. “I keep telling you both to take me back, and you say no.”
Ashley fussed over Devin, a quiet litany of apologies and promises flowing over warm lips as she cuddled closer to pet at Devin’s hair. Offering sweetness to soften the edges of this betrayal that left Devin confused and scared.
Rey would stop at nothing to get her back. Devin knew that down to her core, and after what he’d told Kahler about how he’d found her in that filthy warehouse basement, she knew he would locate her soon enough.
She had no idea how this whole claiming thing went, how one Alpha stole it from another, but Devin doubted she would survive being passed around like she envisioned, because she did not doubt for a moment Rey would try and take it back. If she was pregnant… Again Devin stared down at her hands, watching them cup and stroke over her belly as if there was something precious inside of it. Much the way she had touched it that day in the shower, she could see all the signs that both she and Rey ignored. Maybe, despite how adamant he’d been, he’d thought Devin wouldn’t become pregnant without a heat to precede the event.
What was she to do now? She knew Omegas needed an Alpha while pregnant, had seen it more than enough times to know what happened if they were unable to find one willing to accept another’s child… Devin shuddered, flinching away from the suddenly caustic touch of Ashley’s gentle hands.
Max’s eyes narrowed, the rich green bursting from golden amber as he leaned into Devin and the soft moonlight streaming through the windshield. Close enough she caught his spruce and smoke scent, he settled his hands on either side of Devin’s legs. Without any hesitation, he growled, low and deep. A powerful call from an Alpha to an Omega.
Devin inhaled a shuddering gasp, body trembling as it reacted to that sound. It was anything but fear. She leaned into it, whining low in her throat as his presence washed over her in a single powerful wave. Dragging her under, swallowing her whole. He hadn’t lied. He was a territory Alpha, far more powerful than she might have thought from his easy demeanor. He lacked the cold calculation of Kahler, and so she’d thought him weak.
A grave error on her part.
“What the hell, Max,” Ashley cried, falling back in revulsion.
Max didn’t answer, his call continuing to resonate through the air and Devin’s bones. Drawing her in closer so that all he had to do was skim his fingers over arm and thigh and Devin was reaching for him. Huddling into the protective circle of his arms, letting him lift her from the worn vinyl to wrap her body around his torso.
“That’s right, little one,” Max said, gentling the call to a purr that had Devin sagging against him. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until that moment, every muscle turning liquid as she clung to this strange male.
“I think that’s an answer, don’t you, Ashley?” Max carried Devin around to the back of the van, climbing in with ease to settle Devin’s body comfortably over his as he laid out on the thin mattress. He continued to purr, scrubbing at Devin’s scalp as he soothed away every ounce of tension. Taking note of every twitch, every sigh, he scratched just as she liked it.
“You can’t… She was… It wasn’t supposed to be you,” Ashley whispered, falling against the back of the front seats to stare in horror at the pair.
“You said it was her choice. She’s chosen.”
“But I have to go back,” Devin said with a quiet whimper.
“Shh, little one. You’re going to be just fine.”
“He’s going to be sad.”
“He’ll be all right. Don’t you worry about it anymore.”
Devin struggled against the syrupy complacency infecting her limbs but found herself sighing and settling against Max instead.
She would worry about it later.
Chapter Ten
Devin grumbled and shoved at the heavy arm as she tried to turn into the downy pillow to block the sunlight streaming over her face. Body aching and sore in ways she didn’t understand, she just wanted more sleep.
