Page 23

The Rage Room

Kalen felt the last of his control slip as the room erupted into chaos.

The guards had stepped outside, even though none of the Gifted could lay a single finger on a human or even speak a word of a threat to one.

The stifling press of power inside the room had bowed the shoulders of the guards and dotted their brows with sweat, and they had marched to the door with such a false, stubborn arrogance that didn’t at all match the prickling fear in their eyes.

“Enjoy the show,” the last one had sneered before quickly shutting the door and locking it like a fucking lock was going to keep them out.

A lock had no chance, but Kalen would contain this.

He panted from the snap of his own control as mayhem tore across his vision.

Oscar was punching the window, glass splintering around his fist. The coffee table was upended, binders torn to pieces.

Foam from the armchairs rained around him.

A mini-fridge of refreshments had been torn from the small kitchenette.

Moses threw it through a wall, exposing the small en suite at the back of the room.

It collided with the porcelain sink, a loud cracking sound preceding the sudden spurt of water as a fountain of it exploded like a geyser up along the wall.

Kalen tore his eyes from the destruction and turned back to the window as the red room filled with guards. Ivan was standing with an unconscious Isobel in his arms, her dress pulled back up to cover her chest.

Kalen breathed heavily through his nose, ignoring the spill of ash against the back of his tongue and the black spots that threatened to dance across his vision.

A quick glance around the room showed that the first explosion of temper as the Alphas forced off his influence hadn’t yet turned to ferality, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

He pulled on the dregs of whatever was left inside him, ignoring the echoing pain in his chest that radiated from Isobel’s direction, even though the guards were now carrying her out of sight, leaving Ivan alone in the room.

“Stop,” he commanded, willing his body and mind to hold on just a little longer .

Mikel added his Alpha voice to Kalen’s, doubling the power that cowed the others—even if only for a moment.

He was already exhausted from having spent half an hour fighting off Kalen’s previous influence, but it had at least allowed him to gain a little clarity …

after he tore all the paintings down and smashed them against the walls, that is.

He was depleted from fighting against Kalen, and Kalen was depleted from holding off all nine of them for so long—something that should have been impossible.

But they were able to curb the violence before it spilled into something worse.

They were sure they were being watched, and while the officials knew that Alphas were possessive over their mates—and that Isobel was their mate—it was essential for them to pull back before ferality spun any of them into something they wouldn’t be able to cover up or take back.

Tearing the room to pieces had helped, and as his vision grew dim and the Alphas fought off his and Kalen’s influence again, he could see that they were somewhat subdued, or at least hiding their violence better.

They were able to walk out of the Stone Dahlia without killing anyone or getting themselves killed, at least.

Which meant they needed to leave immediately.

The door opened just as Elijah began striding for it, and a swarm of guards spilled inside, guns pulled up, stances ready for a fight.

Mikel and the others fell still, none of them so much as twitching a muscle.

They were faster and stronger, but just because they could win this one fight didn’t mean it wasn’t the absolute dumbest thing they could ever do.

So they stood still and waited, proving that they weren’t a threat until the guns began to lower.

“You need to leave,” one of the guards barked. “Take the Sigma and get out of here. Not you two—” the guard added, pointing his gun at Kalen and Mikel as they all moved to the entrance.

Mikel paused, rocking back on the balls of his feet.

The night wasn’t fucking over yet.

Isobel stirred awake with a short, sharp, pained breath, a low, breathy whine escaping her lips.

Soul infraction . The words flowed into her mind with all the subtlety of a damn breaking open and flooding her senses with churning, filthy flood waters.

The bed beneath her shifted, making her head spin before the scent of sweet, tangy bergamot and earthy bark wrapped around her, grounding and warm, like a hug.

It made her chest ache even more.

She peeled her eyes open, fighting against the pounding in the back of her head.

She spotted her blankets pulled up to her hips.

Two strong thighs clad in dress pants bracketed her.

Pale, corded forearms wrapped tightly around her stomach, the sleeves of his dark, silky shirt pushed up to his elbows.

The subtle veins beneath his skin flexed as he breathed in deeply against the top of her head.

Kilian.

“Welcome back, baby,” he murmured, his voice a carefully curated brush of comfort as his lips skimmed the shell of her ear.

Dammit, he knew. He knew about the soul infraction.

“Do you have one too?” she asked, wincing at the pained rasp of her voice.

It took him a moment to answer, and he shifted softly behind her to try and hide the shudder that travelled through his body. “No, sweetheart. You took it all.”

“You’re not mad?” She didn’t dare look at him.

“I’m fucking furious.” His lips skimmed her temple as she tilted her head back, so soft and gentle, his arms secure enough to feel like he was holding her together but utterly without tension or violence. Even his harsh words had been whispered like silk.

She understood why she had woken up with him and nobody else.

Kilian was the only Alpha capable of tucking away his aggression to such a severe degree.

Which meant … the others weren’t in good shape.

The second the panic crept in, Kilian’s arms marginally tightened.

He pulled her up to sit on his thighs, and then unwound one of his arms, gripping her chin to tilt her head back.

His pale ey es dipped down over her face before digging deep into her gaze, fingers briefly pinching against her chin as he stalled for a moment.

“Did they …” He paused again, and she realised with a horrible lurch that he was trying to figure out if he could handle her answers yet. He swallowed, his careful attention flicking between her eyes. “Did they make you take something?”

“Yulia injected me before she pushed me into the room, but I feel fine now.”

He nodded a little jerkily. “It’s been a few hours, and you threw up. You made a deal?” he continued without a pause. “To switch places with us?”

He released her chin and picked up his phone, tapping out a text as she squeaked a reply.

“Yes.”

“Hm.”

She stiffened. “Kalen and Mikel?—”

“They’re home,” he reassured her. “Didn’t last long on their dates. The woman who paid for Mikel ran out crying in under a minute. Kalen had security called on him because he shattered the table when his date tried to—” He shook his head. “Tried to step over a boundary.”

“What boundary?” Isobel demanded, her chest aching so tightly, it was becoming difficult to breathe.

“She tried to palm his dick through his pants.” He turned away to send another text before brushing his palms along her arms, easing the trembling of her limbs as though his touch alone could soothe her rage.

It almost did. “Everyone is home, and everyone is safe. Nobody turned feral, but only because Kalen put out enough Alpha domination to flatten a city. I still don’t know how he did it.

I’ve never felt anything like it.” His body tightened almost painfully.

“I need you to tell me what happened with Ivan. The guys will need a moment to digest it before they see you.”

Ivan . She sucked in a breath, glancing down at herself. She was still wearing the silk dress, the heels on the floor by the bed. She pulled up the silky material and shoved away her blankets.

“Illy what?—”

She stared down at the shape of something in her underwear, stuck against her hip.

“The fuck is that?” Kilian went for it immediately, extracting the small, silver USB.

“A bomb,” Isobel said as they both stared at it. “Ivan made sure he was the first person to be called when I started taking private clients—he knew it would happen. He said I had to get this to Kalen and tell nobody about it.”

“Oh shit.” Kilian released the USB to text on his phone again.

“Going to loop the cameras. Since we sold the officials on the story that you weren’t romantically involved with any of us, and that’s why they didn’t have to worry about our bond causing chaos within the group …

we figured I was the safe bet to be with you to night. ”

“That wasn’t the only reason,” she whispered before the door to her room smacked loudly open, and nine large, furious, rumbling Alphas spilled inside.

Something snapped inside her chest, and she clumsily untangled herself from Kilian, stumbling over to Kalen, madness filling her head with static.

He froze—they all froze—as she ran her hands over his muscled stomach, a sob choking up through the tightness of her throat.

Kalen rumbled louder, his body vibrating, as her hands stroked over the front of his pants.

She had no idea what she was doing, but she was driven to replace any touches he had endured with her own.

Her fingers travelled down the rapidly hardening muscle that elongated along his thigh, and his rumble turned into a growl as he caught her wrists, tugging her searching grip from his body.