Page 129

Xavier
Penelope’s face immediately drains of all color, making her look pale under the lights in the bakery. I frown, glancing in the direction of her gaze.
Standing in the doorway are three tall men, and it doesn’t take more than a glance to realize that they’re Alphas too. All three of them have an unsettling look about them, and they radiate power in a way that’s meant to intimidate and cow people in front of them.
All three of them also have their eyes fixed on Penelope.
I don’t like that. It immediately gets my hackles up, and I can tell Dominic and Tristan are reacting the same way.
Penelope steps forward, and I want to reach out and grab her back, to pull her closer and away from whoever the hell these men are, but she darts away, looking anxious.
“Don’t do this here,” she says in a low voice. “What are you even doing here?”
“It’s a public event isn’t it?” says the one she was speaking to, the one who seems to be the leader standing between the other two men. He reaches out and wraps fingers around her arm, gripping it hard.
My protective instinct flares and I step forward, leveling an even look at the other Alpha. “If you want to keep that hand, you’ve got about two seconds to take it off my wife’s arm,” I say.
The man glances at me, annoyed at first, but then his eyes narrow. “Wife? She’s married to you?”
Dominic moves in next, backing me up. His arms are folded and the battering ram energy of his presence is kicked up to eleven. He’s pissed, and not making any attempt to hide it.
“Yes,” he says, and there’s nothing even about his tone. “And us too.” He nods back at Tristan.
The man scowls, glancing between the three of us. “That’s surprising. Especially considering she’s our Omega.” He indicates his packmates with a jerk of his head.
Penelope flinches at that, and it makes something unpleasant stir in my gut. She’s not denying it. Instead she’s standing there like a deer in the headlights.
“What do you mean?” I ask the guy, since Penelope isn’t speaking up. “That’s not possible. Penelope just presented as an Omega recently, and she didn’t go through with the presentation at the ORD.”
The man laughs, bitter and sharp. “You hear that, Mitch? Vincent?” he asks, looking at his back up. “She just presented.” He smirks, looking back Penelope. “You know it’s all making a lot more sense now what’s been going on. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a picture of you online with these three at some fancy ass ball.”
“And what about it?” Tristan demands, stepping in now. “We took our wife to a ball.”
“You took a liar to a ball,” the main Alpha shoots back.
The one he called Mitch rolls his shoulders, every aspect of him bulky and muscled. “Probably someone should punish her for lying so much, Isaac.”
Isaac, the leader, smirks at Penelope. “I didn’t know you had it in you to be such a good fucking liar. But here you are, living this whole other life.”
“Here’s how this is going to work,” Dominic says. He pulls Penelope back, tugging her arm out of Isaac’s hold. “You’re going to tell us what the hell you’re talking about, or we’re going to show you the door. And you won’t like it if that happens.”
Mitch steps forward a bit, his eyes glinting with aggression. He cracks his knuckles, trying to be intimidating, but Dominic doesn’t back down. He’s not as big as Mitch is, but Dom’s never stepped back from a confrontation, and he’s not about to start now when Penelope is involved.
“Cool it, Mitch,” Isaac orders, and his bruiser immediately falls back in line. “It doesn’t have to get hostile in here. We’ll tell you the truth, and then you can see for yourself who you married.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, oozing fake charm and a sort of twisted charisma that you’d probably have to be looking pretty close to see.
“Talk then,” Tristan snaps.
We’re all tense, coiled tight, and the atmosphere in the bakery is definitely not the same light, happy vibes that were there just a few minutes ago.
“Here’s the deal,” Isaac says. “Your wife here presented as an Omega years ago. She did the presentation and was being courted by a pack. My pack.” He gestures at himself and the other two. “We did the whole thing, and then she stole from us and took off. We thought she was gone for good until I saw that picture of her and tracked her down here.”
Tristan, Dominic, and I are all speechless at that. It’s the last thing I was expecting to hear, and I don’t even know how to react.
Penelope still doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t call him a liar or try to defend herself. She’s rooted to the spot, staring at the ground while they talk about her.
It’s hard to know how to react when she’s not giving us anything to go on right now.
“You can consider this a warning,” Isaac continues. “She’ll do the same thing to you and your pack. She’s good at running this scam, and since you and yours are living all cushy, I’m sure she’s just waiting for her next pay day.”