Page 2

CHAPTER 2

Frankie

“So, what do you want me to do about this?” I stared down at the body of my uncle. The pool of blood he was laying in was too small for him to have been killed here.

Yeah I was a private detective with my own agency – paid for with the money from my trust fund – but if my father had wanted Genesis to solve this murder, he would have called my aunt. Not me.

When Lucy had left the Lopez pack, my father agreed to let me go with her even though I was his only alpha child – his only potential heir. His desire as an alpha father to protect his omega child was stronger than his need for his legacy to be carried on.

I admired that about him which was why I always used him as my role model whenever I was feeling overwhelmed by the confines of what it meant to be a true alpha.

My father always put his pack before politics.

“This isn’t going to be made public,” he said, affirming my assumptions. “But I don’t plan to keep it quiet either.”

Trying to keep things quiet would only backfire in the end.

“So, what are you going to do?” I shifted my gaze from the dead alpha to my father, studying his body language and taking in what little of his pheromones I could scent.

He slid his gaze to me and I felt my stomach flip in anticipation. “What would you do in this situation, Francesca?”

I tipped my head back to study the glass ceiling of the greenhouse and sighed, making a show of looking irritated and inconvenienced when deep down I was actually panicking.

How long has it been since I’ve had to think this way? How many years since I was forced to overthink every tiny thing?

Overthinking was something I was naturally good at which was why I’d studied criminal psychology, but there was a bubble around me when it came to work. Those cases never affected me directly.

This world of legacies was the very opposite of that.

I should have known my quiet peace in my indulgent game of pretend over the last decade was eventually going to come to an end.

Now I had to put myself in these situations again which I didn’t exactly love, but there was nothing else I could do. I’d chosen this path.

This was my life now.

So, what would I do? What would I do if I were the alpha of this entire pack and an uncle of mine had made it publicly known he hated me and was then killed and planted in my sanctuary?

The early morning sun glittered down on us through the glass ceiling, scattering rainbows everywhere. It was going to get hot soon, but this place had climate control specifically geared towards the best possible conditions for my father’s rose obsession.

Decay and rot was something I was deeply familiar with and a dead body wouldn’t decompose as quickly here as it would outside.

I then considered all my father’s resources and the motive behind a murder like this before deigning to answer.

Francisco Lopez was a patient alpha. He didn’t push me to answer right away. After all, he was the one who’d taught me how important it was to have patience during a hunt – how rash decisions and reactions could endanger us all.

“I’d ask Lucy to look into the security footage as well as whatever she could hack into in the surrounding areas,” I admitted.

But Lucy wasn’t here. She was taking a leave of absence for her honeymoon and I was without a partner for the first time in my life. I had no one to rely on other than myself.

“I’d also gather whatever private intel I could on members of the pack and compile evidence as I moved the body.”

My father squeezed my shoulder encouragingly. “Where would you move it?”

“Somewhere neutral since I don’t have the time to plant it somewhere associated with the person behind his death.” I glanced down at my uncle, hating what this meant. “Someone’s clearly trying to frame the alpha because they can’t challenge them properly.”

“Good work.” The alpha of the Lopez pack and the most notorious shark lawyer in the country flicked his fingers and three of his soldiers melted out of the shadows to get down to business. “I’ll take it from here. Thank you, Francesca.”

And just like that, all traces of murder disappeared before my very eyes.

It was times like this that I was deeply grateful I never became a cop.

The police department was stupid enough to refuse to hire an omega so in retaliation I’d created the Genesis Armed Detective Agency instead. For Lucy. And for me.

I’d wanted to see what I could do without the Lopez name and I’d thought that if I could show my father what I was capable of without his influence giving me all the possible opportunities I could ever want, he’d reconsider naming a legacy alpha without red eyes as his heir.

I’d proved myself and in return, my father had placed his trust in me which was why I couldn’t fuck this up.

My whole life, I’ve been trying to live up to the idea of what a true legacy alpha should be. I did my best to keep Lucy safe and healthy even though she wanted nothing to do with other alphas, let alone legacy alphas.

My father had trusted me to take care of her. No one else. Because he knew exactly how an alpha with a younger omega sibling was.

We were even more protective than a bonded alpha to their omega.

I would kill for Lucy – do anything for her, because Lucy was my family—mine to protect.

And always would be.

Liam and Cas weren’t my rivals. They were a part of my sister’s pack, so now they were also a part of mine.

But I had to admit. I was a little bit jealous. Not of them, but of her.

Lucy was comfortable in her skin. She knew exactly who she was and didn’t try to pretend she was anything else. I had always wished I could be more like her.

“What do you need me to do now?” I watched as they started scrubbing the blood from the stone, feeling detached from my surroundings.

More betas came in with power tools, planning to replace the tile completely if I was right.

“I don’t need you to do anything.” My father pushed my shoulder and turned my body back toward the house. “I just needed you to be aware of what was going on.”

We walked through the greenhouse back towards the main house and I tried not to feel anxious about whatever he planned to do next.

Maybe I should take some time off work and help him out.

“I’ll be calling in some more agents to help gather the evidence we need and manage any incidents before they happen,” he informed me.

We walked leisurely through the greenhouse as if there wasn’t a small army wiping away any trace of death behind us.

“At this point, I don’t need you to get involved, but you should be on your guard. This is no doubt in retaliation to naming you my heir.”

I’d known this could happen, but it still shocked me.

What exactly was I doing wrong? What was I failing at? Was it just that I didn’t have the red eyes, or was it because I didn’t act ‘alpha’ enough?

If I was lucky, it was just because I’ve been laying low for the past ten years.

That I could handle.

But if they found out I wasn’t a real alpha it would be a fucking disaster.

Too bad my current engagement was nothing more than a business deal, because there was a chance my father was right. I could become a true alpha if I bonded someone, but unfortunately it wasn’t guaranteed.

“Go to work,” my father told me, his tone almost gentle. “Do what you can there. I’ll take care of everything else.”

We stepped out into the bright, morning sun and I looked up at the cloudless sky with a broad smile pasted on my face. It was going to be a beautiful summer day.

“I could help,” I offered. “This is literally what I do for a living.”

“I’d rather you took some time off while I handled this,” my father admitted, a small, sad smile gracing his face. “Take a vacation overseas and enjoy a lazy summer.”

He was a good alpha. Always trying to take care of us.

I gave him a quirky smile to try to reassure him, but the sadness in his eyes only deepened.

“You publicly named me your heir,” I reminded him. “I can’t leave right after coming back.”

He returned my smile and pushed me toward the house. “Don’t slack on your training and keep your eyes peeled. If there’s a new development, I’ll call you.”

I waved goodbye and went around the side of the manor to where my Impala was parked.

My father was going to call in all the agents he had working for him all over the world instead of the police to make sure his pack was safe.

I couldn’t help but wonder if that meant he’d be calling him .