Page 6

Penn

The drive to the Bronson pack lands was over six hours away, but once we got on the road, I used the time to think, attempting to untangle the web we’d weaved ourselves into. We didn’t even know her name; no one online mentioned it.

Glancing over to the passenger seat, I slid the brown envelope full of cash toward me. I had a vision in my head of the passenger door opening and the money floating away to the four winds. Silly, but it made me cautious.

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel harder. I hated the ways of our kind sometimes. Buying females. Buying anyone for that matter. People weren’t property or a commodity but at the very least, if this deal went through, we would consider the money well spent. This omega might not even be ours, but we could help free her from the cage she was in.

My highest hope? That she was our omega. That she belonged to us and us to her. That she was the one we’d been waiting and, personally, been praying to the Goddess for.

My wolf had a feeling that this trip would be life-changing. He made his presence known more than ever and as I drove the distance, he was right under the surface. Eager. Persistent. Ready.

I stayed in those lines of thought until I reached the gates of the pack.

“State your business.” One of the pack members emerged from a makeshift security booth.

“My name is Pendleton Savage of the DarkShadow pack. I am here to visit the Bronson omega.”

The pack members exchanged glances.

One of them nodded. “Go on, then. Straight to the alpha house. Go about your business and then leave as soon as possible. We don’t want your kind here any longer than you have to be.”

My kind. One mention of my name and all of a sudden, I was a different species or something.

I accepted his terms with a nod of my own and drove through the gates and to the huge house in the center. It screamed a big, bad alpha lives here or, to an outsider, someone who needs to prove their worth by building a mansion and using up so much of their pack’s funds for showing off.

Throwing my truck into park, I steeled myself with a long sigh. I was moments away from potentially changing all of our lives.

All of us.

Money tucked under my arm, I got out and walked up the ginormous porch and knocked on the door.

A knot cinched up inside my stomach. Inside, I heard voices and then heavy footsteps.

“Who are you?” a younger man than I expected asked. Alpha and wolf by the scent of him. I thought the father would’ve opened the door—sized me up.

“My name is Pendleton. I came for the omega.”

The man eyed the package under my arm and waved me inside. “Come in.”

The house was filled with a group of men my age, all surrounding an alpha female. Then there was an older couple, the mother and the father, I assumed. The woman looked me up and down. “What pack are you from?”

“DarkShadow, ma’am.”

One of the young men snickered, and the man who I thought was the father gripped the arms of his chair but didn’t make a move to say anything or kick me out.

“This is our…this is Rumor. She is the omega I assume you’re here for. I can’t imagine you’d be here for any other business.”

On the stairs was the embodiment of a curvaceous and stunning angel. She was dressed in a white, silky dress that did nothing to give her any kind of modesty. The way she had her arms crossed across her breasts and the way she bit her lip told me this wasn’t her regular attire. She was uncomfortable, but her soft green eyes lifted to meet mine.

I attempted a smile to make her feel more at ease, but her mother’s voice pierced the moment. “Rumor. Come down here. Let him get a good look at you.”

Rumor stiffened her shoulders and walked down the few stairs on shaky legs. She had some high heels on that I also suspected weren’t her regular attire. She oozed discomfort and anxiety.

When she came to stand in front of me, I was hit with her scent. Jasmine and vanilla punched me in the gut and sank every hang-up I’d had about coming here to get her.

She was ours. Pure and simple.

“He’s from DarkShadow. You can’t send her there,” one of the men my age called out. The female they were with elbowed him in the ribs.

I ignored him.

“I’m Penn. It’s lovely to meet you, Rumor.”

“You too.”

“Are you all packed up?”

Her eyes widened, and a smile lifted the corners of her lips. Either she was glad I was here, or she was simply that desperate to get the fuck out of here. I’d take her no matter which. “I am.”

Her mother laughed. “We’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. As you know, our Rumor has a high price on her. She is an omega bred in a strong and powerful family.”

I winked at Rumor and her cheeks bloomed with a rosy blush. “How about you go get ready to leave?”

Rumor turned and bolted up the stairs despite her mother’s protests. “This is not the way we are doing this. You are not in charge here.”

Nodding, I turned to the foul woman. “The money is here. In full. All cash. Please count it if you wish.”

“You can’t bring her back,” the man in the chair grumbled.

“I would never return her here.” Every bit of malice intended.

“How many are in your pack?”

“Three of us. All in good financial standing.”

“Good. Evelyn, count the money. Make sure it’s all there. Help her, Reyna. We all know the reputation of their so-called pack.”

I handed over the brown paper bag. We had cushioned it with an extra thousand to test out the honor of these people. Although, since they were selling their daughter, we already knew. “Here you go.”

“You are aware that she is an omega. Not the alphas we usually produce,” the woman said, her hands full of cash and her eyes alight with greed.

“I do. What a treasure.”

“A treasure,” the other woman mocked. She looked to be the same age as Rumor, though with a completely different build and not half as beautiful. She must’ve been the alpha twin.

“Yes. Omegas are a gift from the Goddess.”

“The money is all here,” the older woman said to the older man. “I’ll go make sure she’s got everything ready.” Her black eyes turned to me. “You’re sure you want her.”

“More than sure and I’m eager to get going back to our home.”

They said nothing about the extra thousand. That fact spoke volumes.