Page 13 of Daisy

"The kind that ends badly." His voice drops even lower. " Talk about storming the place. Taking what they believe should be available to all alphas."

The restless energy under my skin suddenly makes perfect sense. My beta senses picking up on danger, on violence building like pressure in a kettle. I set down the book I was holding with hands that aren't quite steady.

"We have to do something," I say.

Cassian's eyebrows rise. "August?—"

"No, listen to me." I stand up, moving around the desk to face him directly. "Those omegas in there, they're trapped. And if angry alphas decide to take justice into their own hands..."

I don't finish the sentence. I don't need to. We both know how that story ends.

Cassian is quiet for a long moment, his amber eyes searching my face. I can see the war happening behind them—the part of him that found peace with me battling against the part that's never been able to ignore someone in need.

"What exactly are you suggesting?" he asks.

"I don't know yet. But we can't just sit here." I reach for his hands. "I know you don't want to go back to that world, Cass. But?—"

"But you're asking me anyway."

"I'm asking you to make sure they’re safe."

The words hang between us in the quiet library air. Mrs. Taylor turns a page somewhere in the romance section. The distant sound of sirens wails past outside.

Cassian sighs, his hands tightening around mine. "You remember how we met?"

I blink at the seemingly random question. "Of course."

It wastwo in the morning, and I was walking home from the library. Again.

I'd stayed late working on a research project for one of the community college professors, lost in old newspapers and historical documents until the security guard had to told me to go home. The streets were empty except for the occasional taxi or late-night worker heading home.

That's when I heard the footsteps behind me.

At first, I thought it was coincidence. Someone else walking the same direction. But when I turned down my street and the footsteps followed, my heart started racing.

"Hey, beta." The voice was rough, slurred with alcohol. "Where you going in such a hurry?"

I didn't turn around. Didn't engage. Just kept walking, keys ready in my hand like my brother Ryan had taught me before he died.

"I'm talking to you." The footsteps got closer. "You think you're too good to answer?"

That's when a hand grabbed my shoulder.

I spun around, ready to fight despite never having thrown a punch in my life. The alpha was bigger than me, older, with the desperate look of someone who'd had too much to drink and not enough control.

"Let go of me," I said, proud that my voice didn't shake.

"Make me," he sneered, his grip tightening. "Pretty little beta like you, walking alone at night. You're practically asking for?—"

That's when the shadow appeared.

One moment the alpha was grabbing my shoulder, talking about what I was "asking for." The next moment, he was on the ground, clutching his throat and gasping for air.

Standing over him was the most dangerous-looking man I'd ever seen.

Tall, lean, with dark auburn hair and amber eyes that held all the warmth of winter steel. His knuckles were bloody, his clothes torn, and there was something wild in his expression that should have terrified me.

Instead, I felt safe for the first time all night.