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KORVIN

Fifteen years ago

“ T ake that thing off.”

Frowning behind the heavy-duty vinyl, I roll my eyes and look out the window, watching as we creep up the miles-long driveway toward what I can only imagine is going to be a disgustingly lavish mansion.

The cobblestone is a dead giveaway.

Who has an entire driveway, one that has to be at least three miles long and two and a half cars wide, made of cobblestone?

Snobby motherfuckers with a ton of cash, that’s who.

Because we aren’t in merry old England, nor are we defying the laws of physics and relativity by time traveling back to the Victorian era.

This property makes you wonder, though.

We had to get clearance through not one but two iron gates, the first with a call box and the second with a tower and little guard house thingy.

My dad had to give proof of who we all are at both, and I swear he was going to shit his pants when the big dude with a sniper rifle stepped out of his booth and walked up to the driver door.

Snickering to myself, my eyes stay fixed out the window of our Taurus, bouncing between the privacy hedge and stupid topiaries, catching glimpses of more men with guns and obvious earpieces scattered around the expansive lawn.

The closer we get to the house, the less this looks like a barbecue with one of Dad’s coworkers and more like we’re meeting with a mafia don because of some offer he can’t refuse.

It doesn’t help that I think my father is a pussy who’s actually dealing in some seriously shady business, the kind that requires armed guards and top tier security for barbecues .

And my mother? She’s no better. Mom is honestly the perfect counterpart for the sniveling little weasel working in illegal matters.

She’s a conniving bitch who’ll climb anyone like a tree as long as she thinks they have a fat wallet, and she’ll do it with little regard for who she digs her pointy knockoff stilettos into while working her way up.

I don’t know who we’re here to see but I can guarantee if good old Mom hasn’t slept with them yet, she will by the time we leave, and Daddio will definitely be there to kiss the pretentious fuck’s ass as soon as he pulls his dick out of the weak little omega’s wife.

Such is life.

This has been their dynamic, their life plan for as far back as I can remember, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my glowing opinion of my parents.

I wonder if there's other couples where the female is the alpha and work the way they do?

Hopefully not, I’m sure if that was the case, the divorce rate would quadruple what it actually is.

Or maybe there’d be a spike in reported cases of domestic violence that ended in murder.

I know if I matched with someone who was like either of my parents, I’d be looking at some hard time. Either that, or I’d go take a long drive off a short cliff.

“Korvin,” my mother hisses as the car comes to a complete stop. “I said take that off.”

Ignoring her again, I open my door and step out onto the driveway, tugging at the collar of my shirt while I walk around to the other side of the Ford.

I nod to the valet, who’s staring at me like I have a horn growing from the middle of my forehead and a big bushy tail wagging behind me, then grab the door handle.

What a dumbass.

I can smell the fear on him, that nasty bite of citrusy sweat on the backside of his scent.

Bet he’s a beta.

He’s got the build for it. Not very imposing or even a little impressive, not like the bastard’s standing on the gigantic covered porch in front of the cathedral doors on the grossly over the top house.

They’re definitely alphas but even knowing their designation doesn’t account for how big they are.

Must be steroids.

Yeah, these guys probably eat a handful of pills for breakfast and swallow them down with the blood of ten virgins and a shot of straight gasoline.

With a chuckle, I turn back to the door, pulling it open before I reach into the car and offer my hand.

“Thanks, Vinny,” Maisie whispers as she gets out, keeping her hand firmly in mine even as she fixes her skirt. “Wow.”

We walk up the steps behind our parents as the valet takes our car, the two of them exchanging hushed words while the manufactured muscle eyeballs the hell out of me.

My sister squeezes my hand as they let us into the foyer where some kind of butler is already waiting to take our coats or whatever he thinks we need to check since it’s seventy degrees outside and we don’t have any.

“Please wait here.”

He looks like a fucking penguin.

Short, round, dressed in a black suit and waddling like there’s a big fat stick shoved up his pompous ass.

“This is a big day for us.” Our mother spins toward Maisie the second we’re alone, immediately fussing over her hair and the little bit of makeup she was allowed to wear. “It’s a big day for you, honey.”

I frown at that.

It’s the third time she’s said it today, referring to this as some milestone for my baby sister, and each time she does, my stomach twists into so many fucking knots it nearly makes me sick.

“You remember what I told you?”

Maisie nods but doesn’t say anything.

She doesn’t need to.

She’s only thirteen years old and as a beautiful, fresh-faced, barely presented omega without one mean or deceitful bone in her body, being in a house that’s practically humming with negative male alpha power has her terrified.

So, of course she can’t remember one goddamn thing our mom told her about how to act while we’re here. My sister probably can’t even think straight right now let alone recall the four pages of bullshit Mom made her memorize.

And that makes me squeeze her hand a little tighter.

I’ve got you.

No matter what happens while we’re here, or what our mother’s ulterior motive is, I’ve got my baby sister’s back, and I won’t let anything happen to her.

Ever since she was born, it’s been me and Maisie Moo.

My parents don’t give a genuine shit about either of us, not in the way other kids’ parents do.

We were obligatory for our mom and dad, probably even accidental, and as soon as they had one of each—a boy and a girl, hoping we’d be an alpha and omega—Mom ran out and made the appointment to have her tubes tied.

I don’t think either of them wanted to have kids, but biology dictated otherwise, and I’m sure somewhere along the way they agreed to make the best of it.

Which was damn near impossible from the day I learned to walk because making their life hell was ingrained in my DNA and when Maisie came along, all bets were off.

Even at three years old I knew how special my sister was, and from that moment forward the sun has always risen and set with Maisie’s smile.

Do I have friends? Sure, I have a few. A small group of guys at school who most consider to be outcasts but they’re straight with me, and they’ve been solid since we were kids, but no one I actually give a fuck about.

And yeah, there are girls. Chicks who dig the dangerous freak, the unhinged weirdo with a penchant for skipping class and starting fires, but they don’t mean anything, either.

Nothing more than a place to stick my dick when the mood strikes, anyway, because the only person who actually matters to me in any real way is my Maisie Moo.

It’s been me and her since she came kicking and screaming into this world, and the second she looked up at me with those big blue-green eyes and wrapped her teeny fingers around my not much bigger one, I knew.

I knew I had to protect her from our parents, from everything out there that was ugly and cruel, and I’ve done that for the last thirteen years.

And something is telling me that tonight is going to put my powers of protection to the test.

“I said take that off,” my mother hisses as she grabs my mask, yanking it from my face and over my head before shoving the PVC against my chest. “I don’t know why you can’t just listen to me; you were supposed to leave it at home.

Today is incredibly important to our family and I don’t need you screwing it up by looking like the freak you are. ”

With a smirk, I stuff my mask into the back pocket of my black jeans. “ Forgive me . I’d hate to fuck this up for you, Larissa.”

Mom huffs at my sarcasm but I can see the vein in her forehead starting to swell, the way it protrudes just enough to know if we were at home she’d slap me for that.

She’ll play it cool while we’re here. I bet she’ll even laugh at my bullshit in an attempt to make like I’m just being funny, but Larissa Severe will envision beating my ass the entire time.

She won’t, though.

The bitch doesn’t even try anymore.

The most she does these days is slap me because alpha or not, my mother knows I’m not someone to fuck around with, and an open palm against my face is all I’ll give her.

Why does Alpha Larissa pee a little every time I get pissed?

Mostly because I had a growth spurt last summer and I’m still fucking growing. Which means I’m bigger than both my parents now so, by the time I graduate high school I’ll probably be pushing six foot five, give or take.

Aside from my newly developed size?

She saw the aftermath of the fight I got into three weeks ago.

I almost beat a teacher to death. One from my old school who, we knew but couldn’t prove, was peeping on the cheerleaders in the locker rooms, some of whom were possibly forced to participate in some extracurricular activities based on the way they’ve been acting recently.

It wasn’t until the head bimbo squealed when she thought she spotted a camera in one of the showers that they took the female’s claims seriously, and it was almost like the heat was on, so Mr. Brighton made some last ditch effort to do what he’d been escalating toward.

That fucker decided to try his luck with the lower classmen.

Namely, my sister.

Needless to say, it didn’t go as he planned and after he walked into the dark locker rooms to find me waiting instead of Maisie, that bastard got a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.