Page 108 of Alphas Like Us

That auction was for CHARITY. You’re too jealous for him. He could do waaaay better.–161-555-2800

Maximoff should be with a cute soft boy that he can cuddle and love. Not you.– 675-555-4323

My stomach nosedives off a hundred-foot cliff. We exchange a cautious look, and then his phoneringswith an unknownnumber.

“Don’t answer that,” I tellhim.

“Wasn’t going to.” Farrow skims the screen. “Give me yourphone.”

I pull my cell out of my pocket. At the same time, someone calls me. Caller ID:OscarOliveira.

Farrow takes my phone, and I listen fixatedly. Ready and prepared for damage control. Another DEFCON 1, here we fuckinggo.

My boyfriend presses thespeakerphonebutton. “Oliveira.”

“It’s bad, Redford,” he says. “Your info has spread across the whole internet. Phone number. Childhood address. Names of your family: father, stepmom, stepsister, and ex-boyfriends.”

Farrow shuts his eyes before they roll in a giantarc.

“Your seventh-grade MySpace page,” Oscar continues, “the name of your pet guinea pig.”Scuttlebucket. The only pet Farrow ever had died when he was twelve. “Email address, any old usernames on social medias, a password to your bankaccount—”

“Where’s the security tech team?” I ask, and Farrow hands me my phone. He puts his own cell to his ear, calling the bank to freeze hisaccounts.

“Tech team is preventing a phone hack. But, Hale, this info is coming from other sources. Like Redford’s friend-of-friend-of-friend’s social media accounts spread over fucking years. Anytime he popped up in pictures or by name, people are connecting it together and finding more info about him. It’ssnowballing.”

Farrow speaks hushed near the sink. Talking to thebank.

“He’s being doxxed,” Irealize.

His private information is being leaked for public consumption. I’ve tried to prepare for this doomsday. I’ve told myself foryearsthat it could happen to whoever I datedpublicly.

And I won’t let anyone, especially doxxers, make me regret our decision to go public. But fuck those people who do this to human beings for shits andgiggles.

I’ve neverhad complete privacy. So I’ve never experienced what Farrow is going through right now. I imagine it’s like you’re suddenly being disrobed in front of the whole world. And you can’t grab the robe back—and I hate that I can’t shield him. That I have no power to protecthim.

All I can do is just behere.

It doesn’t feel likeenough.

Oscar tells me that the security team is calling an emergency meeting. Even though Farrow doesn’t have a 24/7 bodyguard and he’s not one himself anymore, he’s still being protected by Alpha, Omega, andEpsilon.

They’re treating him like family. And I don’t just mean a part of the Hales—I can’t take credit for this. I think it’s mostly because the security team loveshim.

I hang up withOscar.

“I need to piss!!” Knocking on thedoor.

“Fuck off!” Iyell.

“…okay. Bye,” Farrow says before hanging up his call. He slips his phone in his pocket. He’s relaxed, but there’s a tinge of frustration and anger reddening his eyes that I can’tmiss.

I just want tohelp.

Any way that I fuckingcan.

Farrow leans on the sink. “Looks like we’re not going to be fighting over who pays for thisdate.”

I near him. “They drained yourmoney?”