AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His voice cuts off, and he curses softly. Plastic rustles, and then a chair creaks, taking someone’s weight.
Craig is number one on my not-safe-to-be-alone-with list, but if no one else is home, I need to take this chance.
Patting my hip to make sure my shiv is tucked in my waistband, I suck in a deep breath. I can take care of myself.
The basement stairway opens to a hall, and I spot kitchen tile in the archway just diagonal. Somewhere inside, a bag rustles, then there’s a crunch crunch crunch and a gross, lip-smacking noise that’s so ear-licking it could only be Craig.
I creep on tiptoe, taking shallow breaths. I don’t catch any alpha scents, or omega, thank goddess.
Craig sits at the breakfast nook of a high-end kitchen, shoveling salt and vinegar chips into his mouth and fiddling with his phone.
Clutching my tablet tighter, I clear my throat.
He keeps munching and scrolling.
I wouldn’t put him past him to ignore me on purpose, but he has that glazed out-of-body look of someone living inside the digital world. Like that one omega I saw so focused on editing her selfie, she didn’t realize she was perfuming in the middle of a social until an alpha had his teeth halfway into her neck.
She was pissed he made her hit post before she added her skin-smoothing filter.
I have a feeling Craig’s about to be equally excited.
“Uh—”
“Shit!” Craig jumps, bobbling his phone before fixing me with his beta stink eye. “What the hell are you doing sneaking around?”
I hold out my tablet like an alibi. “I just wanted to ask for the Wi-Fi password.”
“Tough shit.” He scowls with chip grease slicking his thin lips.
“It’s just a password.”
“Why do you even want it? So you can hack the cameras and steal data from the pack?”
Hack? I blink.
At least now I know there are cameras in the house. And now that I know, I can feel the eyes on me like poison ivy vines creeping up my back, choking and claustrophobic. “I need to check my email.”
“So use your phone.”
“I don’t have a phone.”
“Sure you don’t.” Craig flicks chip crumbs into the air. “Let me guess. You want the pack to buy you one? It’s never happening.”
“I just want Wi-Fi on my tablet,” I say like I’m explaining to a toddler who needs a four-hour nap and a long time out.
“No. You don’t need to bother getting comfortable.” Craig narrows his eyes until they’re sewer-rat beady. “Soon enough, you’ll be back where you belong.”
Too bad I don’t belong anywhere. Least of all, in this kitchen. Still, I hug my tablet.
If it were anything else, I’d give up, but I need a way to reach the outside world. Otherwise, I’ll be trapped forever with the pack that doesn’t want me and their asshole sidekick, Craig.
Betas should be easy to manipulate.
He’d be cake if I had a single pheromone or a slice of charm.
Too bad I’m not the omega he wants to impress. If anything, the pack will thank him for driving me away.
“Please?” I try to sound sweet while my fingers clench around the ghost of something stabbity.
