AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He turns slightly, catches me staring, winks, and walks off without a backward glance. My feet lock on the spot. That wink did evil things to my insides. I’m thinking this plan of mine might be my undoing, but it’s too late, especially when Darion takes my wrist in his solid grip and tows me inside the massive building.
The inside is nothing like what I expected. White walls, glass, people working all over the place, and so much technology. It’s expensive and speaks to how well their business really is doing. I wonder why they’re hiding it in the back end of nowhere.
Lukas stops and perches on the desk of a leggy blond. He leans down to talk to her. I suppress the jealousy and take in as much detail as I can. Everything is clean. There are twelve desks with people sitting behind them, rapidly typing and working. But more wandering around, in and out of rooms at the back.
I wonder if I can change my deal. I wonder if I should.
Seb opens a door ahead of us and disappears into a room.
“Lukas!” Darion shouts, the sound causing me to jump. I know he feels it because his fingers tighten minutely. But then I’m through the doorway and looking up at a huge logo behind one of three desks. The walls are glass, but I can’t see out of them, and judging by the lack of eyes, no one can see in. The carpet is dark charcoal and the room smells amazing. In fact, the smell of the alphas is so concentrated in this room that I find myself shifting from foot to foot. Everything about this office oozes power and authority.
Darion releases me and goes to a cupboard, opening it and pulling out two cans of soda. I take the one he hands me gratefully. Sebastian flops down on the couch and stares out the window. I glance nervously between them but hold my silence.
Why am I here?
Do I speak or wait for them?
I don’t know what’s going on here, but I suddenly feel out of my element. That logo is strange. The more I look at it, the more I think I’m missing something obvious. It’s somehow familiar but not. It appears to be thorny branches in front of an arrow with a gigantic tree behind it. I feel like I've seen it before.
Lukas walks in, bumping me with his shoulder from behind. He collapses on the second couch, stretching his legs out and closing his eyes as if he’s going to sleep. I stare at him, almost forgetting the other two are in the room. I have a highly inappropriate urge to go over to him and pour the can over his arrogant head.
“So,” Darion growls.
I turn to him and notice that something has changed. It’s like the Darion I’ve met before was muted. This one is fierce, filled with burning purpose and rage. Before, he was like a smoldering fire, now he’s an inferno. It’s captivating, it’s intoxicating, it drags a whimper from my throat.
I swallow hard and pray the suppressants continue to work.
“So?” I repeat back to him politely. “Have you changed your mind?”
Darion growls. The sound goes straight through me, tightening my nipples and making my core pulse.Think of dead kittens, think of dead kittens.
“We have decided to accept your deal-”
I cough to interrupt him. “That deal is no longer valid.”
“The hell you say!” Lukas sits upright on the couch, looking like he’s three seconds from throwing me up against the nearest wall. I have a flicker of thought that I’d like to see that, before I stamp it to death. I should be afraid, that would be logical, fear, not arousal, not challenge the alphas.Fear them, you idiot woman. Where are your self-preservation skills?
“Cool it, Lukas.” Darion growls. He turns back to me. “So, you don’t need our help?”
“Oh, I do. I just need something else now, too.” I know I’m pushing my luck, but I have no choice. Trin is the stakes. My younger sisters are the stakes. I don’t want to see their eyes stare back at me, a mirror of Trins.
“And what else could you possibly want?” Lukas growls. He stands up, and though everything in me urges me to turn around and keep him in my sights, I keep my eyes fixed on Darion. My ears strain for any movement behind me.
For a moment, I waver, desperately wishing for a miracle so that I’m not forced to do this. But nothing comes.
“My sisters…” I say helplessly. I don’t even know what to ask for to help them.
“You want money?” Lukas growls in my ear. I feel his body heat against my back a second later. Fuck. All I need to do is relax backwards and I’d be pressed up against him. I stiffen my spine.Don’t do it, Missy, don’t you dare.
“Protection. Safety.” I say stiffly. “Just keep them safe.”
Lukas grips my hair, but I don’t look away from the dark blue of Darion’s eyes, even when he pulls my head back.
“You ask too much.” He murmurs.
Disappointment flares, and I pull against Lukas’ hold.
“Take her home.” Seb says easily. Like I’m disposable. Like he’s not in control of my life and whether I live or die, end up mated and destroyed.
