Page 16 of Enticing Little Omega (Twisted Little Tales #5)

Drew

T hey weren't coming home tonight.

William's message had been polite, even warm, but the sting behind the words still lingered long after I read them.

I wasn't surprised. Not really. If I had a date with her, and she gave even the slightest inclination that she was open to me spending the night I would jump on it.

Still, it ate at something inside me, the same raw place I'd been nursing since we got her back into our lives. She wasn't mine. She wasn't ours. Not yet.

But I could imagine what it would be like when she would be.

I swallowed the bitterness, a bitterness that neither Annerly nor William even deserved, and stepped outside. The night was cool, the kind of gentle summer dark that was just this side of perfect.

I grabbed my sketchbook and a pencil, needing something to do with my hands before my Alpha's need to pace drove me crazy.

The night outside the cabin was quiet, barely even nightlife letting itself be known. Anton was somewhere inside, probably brooding just like I was, but in his own way.

Either way, I was grateful for the peace. I sank into the old wooden porch swing by the railing and cracked the spine of my sketchbook. My fingers moved before my thoughts did. Line after line, I let her come to life on the page.

Christa, as I remembered her the first time I saw her, the same way I painted her every single time since then, in the years that passed.

Christa as she smiled shyly at us in the booth in that rickety old diner.

Christa looking unsure as she agreed to see us again.

I needed more.

More inspiration.

More images of our pretty Omega.

"You're talented."

The voice came from nowhere, low and smooth. I jolted, heart kicking against my ribs, eyes snapping up.

A woman stood near the edge of the clearing.

Tall. Dark. Striking. Her frame was draped in black leather, and even from a distance I could sense the disdain she held for me.

"Who the hell—" I started, half-rising.

She stepped closer, unbothered by my tension. Her lips quirked. "You can call me The Tigress."

My heart stalled.

Fuck. This was the woman William and Annerly had told me about.

"What do you want?" I asked carefully, body still but ready to move if I had to.

"I'm a... friend of Christa's," she said. "I have information that could be of importance to her and your pack."

"What kind of information?" Worry instantly roared alive in me.

Her smile was cool, calculating. "The kind that your mother would probably pay to keep hidden."

I stared at her. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know where your loyalties lie, Alpha."

I exhaled, slow and sharp. "If you're asking me if I would choose my mother over Christa, the answer is no, a thousand times no. I don't give one flying fuck about my mother. I haven't in ages."

Something flickered in her expression. Amusement perhaps. But disbelief above all else. "Is that so?"

"Yes," I said flatly. "Our mother burned her bridges a long time ago. After the way she treated Christa, she killed the last of the loyalty we had towards her."

"Hmmm." She tilted her head, clearly unconvinced. "I suppose time will tell."

I tensed again, fingers tightening around the pencil. "You could just give me the information and move along."

"I could," she agreed. "But I want to see how you treat her first. Christa deserves only the best. I need to know that you will care for her in the way she should be. I will be watching... and if I like what I see, you'll get your answers. If I don't..."

Her gaze sharpened, glinting like a blade.

"You'll hear from me again."

I stood then, anger rising fast and hot. "Are you threatening me?"

She smirked. "I don't need to, big guy. You'll know if I ever really do."

A sound echoed through the trees, sharp, loud. I turned my head instinctively.

But there was nothing to be seen, and by the time I looked back, she was gone.

I was still standing there when the door creaked open behind me.

Anton stepped onto the porch, shirt rumpled, brow furrowed. He stopped when he saw me, eyes scanning the trees like he could still feel the tension hanging in the air.

"You okay?" he asked.

I hesitated. "We had a visitor."

His eyes sharpened. "What? Who?"

I motioned to the sketchbook, flipping to a blank page and quickly sketching the shape of her. Sharp cheekbones, the twist of her lips, the feral grace of her posture. And there was no doubt about it, that woman was feral.

"She called herself The Tigress."

Anton froze. "No shit."

"No shit."

He looked down at the drawing, then back at me. "She was here? You met the mysterious Omega saviour?"

"Just now. Called herself a friend of Christa's. Claimed to have information for us. About Christa. And Mom."

Anton blinked, then scoffed. "Of course. Because this wasn't complicated enough already."

I leaned against the railing, rubbing the back of my neck. "She didn't say what kind of information, though. Just that it could hurt Mom. And that she's watching us, waiting to see how we treat our Omega before she decides if she's willing to share it."

"What the fuck?" Anton blurted.

I met his eyes. "I know, man. I'm just as freaked out, and frankly quite a bit pissed off at the inferred threats."

A long silence passed between us. Then Anton exhaled hard, dragging a hand through his hair. "So what now? We're just supposed to wait and hope she decides we're worthy of her breadcrumbs?"

"I don't want to wait," I said. “She's got leverage, but we've been blind to too much for too long. And if there's something else we need to know about Mom and Christa, then maybe it's time we looked.”

Anton nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Yeah, it's time to be more proactive."

I flipped the sketchbook shut. "Fuck, I can't take it if I find out she screwed over Christa even more."

Anton's jaw flexed. "I can't either, little brother. But denial's not going to protect her. Not anymore. I know a guy. Discreet PI. Works fast."

I raised a brow. "You trust him?"

"I trust he's expensive, and comes highly recommended," Anton said with a shrug. He turned to go back inside, already dialling.

And I stayed on the porch, watching the trees, heart still pounding with the echo of something that felt like a storm warning.

Whatever we found... it would not be good. I just knew it.

But no matter what, if it helped Christa, we needed to get our hands on it.

She was worth everything.