Page 5

JULIAN

I sat outside the interrogation room with my eyes closed, trying to keep myself calm, but the whispers I overheard about Marlowe made me clench my jaw.

“…smells so good…”

“…so pretty…”

“…I just want to bury my face in her…”

“Coffee?”

I opened my eyes to an officer holding two cups of coffee in his hands, one extended towards me, and I took it begrudgingly. “Thanks,”

I mumbled.

He took a sip of his own and sighed, pulling up a chair next to me. “You’re a real lucky alpha, you know that?”

I grunted, already not liking where this conversation was likely headed. Obviously, I was thrilled to be with Marlowe. She was beautiful, smart, funny, kind… and fucking her felt like heaven.

Who wouldn’t want to brag about a female like that?

But I didn’t want to share all that information with any other alphas so they could imagine what it felt like being with her. She was for me and my pack only to love. Plus, I figured Marlowe didn’t want to be talked about like that, either.

“I’ve never met an omega before. Well, except for my great grandma, but that hardly counts,”

he chuckled. “Does she know if there are more like her out there?”

I just wanted him to go away, but Elias would probably want me to keep it cool. Not make too many waves, or enemies. “She didn’t even know she was a shifter until a few weeks ago. She was raised human, taking hormone suppressants.”

He whistled. “Damn, that’s rough. So you all just accidentally found her and bonded her up, before she could meet anyone else? ‘Right place, right time’ kind of thing?”

My right hand curled into a fist, twitching with need for a target. He clocked it and laughed, slapping me on the shoulder. “Calm down, buddy. Can you really blame me for asking?”

I finished the coffee, crumpling the cup and tossing it in the nearby garbage. Yeah, I could blame him for asking, because it wasn’t any of his Moon-damned business.

I took out my phone to show him I was done with our conversation, but he wasn’t getting the hint. “I heard everyone in your pack can shift. Is that true?”

Just as the detective predicted, shifters were connecting the dots between our omega and our wolves.

On this, I felt a little more sympathetic. The blockage that kept us from releasing our wolves was killing us, literally and figuratively. How many lives could be saved if we figured out exactly why Marlowe was immune?

But that was a problem for people like Archer to solve—in a way that wouldn’t turn Marlowe into a shifter blood bank.

“My lawyer has advised me not to discuss that,”

I replied. Yeah, that sounded official.

The cop scoffed. “Come on, give me something here. I was sitting as close to her in that kitchen as I am to you now. You guys are soaked in each other. How is it you get to knot a smoking hot omega like that and shift into your wolf? What’s so special about you and your pack, huh? Because to me, it seems like you guys didn’t even give her a chance to explore her options here. I mean, don’t you think a pack of alpha cops could protect her better the next time an army of bloodsuckers comes into town to…”

“Officer Salo, that’s enough.”

He turned around and growled at the open door. Linda stood with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. “Go take a walk.”

He grumbled under his breath and stomped away, and Linda turned towards Marlowe. They embraced like old friends, and I shot Elias a confused look. He simply raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

“I’m so sorry you went through all that, sweetie. You ever need a girls’ night to get away from these males let me know, okay? You have my number?”

“Yes, thank you so much for listening. I’d love to hang out and meet your friends.”

After swaying, they finally separated, and Linda pinched her cheek. “You be careful out there. And you two…”

She stopped, her eyes darting between me and Elias. “She is precious cargo, do you understand? Protect her with your life.”

“Umm… okay?”

I replied. Like that wasn’t already a given. She humphed, then escorted Marlowe back to the exit while Elias and I trailed behind. I watched all the eyes that continued to follow her, biting the inside of my cheek to stay grounded.

Cam had warned me she attracted a lot of attention, but I wasn’t prepared for quite this, the feeling like I might need to fight off every other alpha on the planet to keep her safe.

The rest of the pack all had ways to protect Marlowe—Elias had law, Nolan had status, Archer had science, and Cam had money.

But me? I had my fists.

I needed to get back in the gym, work out some of these frustrations in the ring. Stay in peak physical condition so I would be ready to take someone out if they ever even tried to touch her—vamp, shifter, human, or whatever else was lurking in the shadows.

“They were nice!”

chirped Marlowe, reaching for the car door. I didn’t want to shatter her reality and let her know what they’d been saying about her when she wasn’t in earshot, so I just nodded my head.

Elias, however, could probably guess. He’d managed to stay cool and professional until that moment, when he slammed the door shut before Marlowe could get in, spinning her around and pinning her to the car while he kissed her furiously, claiming her for both his own peace of mind and where some of the cops could see, making sure they knew exactly who she belonged to.

If she didn’t belong to me, too, I would have been choking on jealousy. Instead, it just looked insanely hot.

I wasn’t interested in men, but I wasn’t so insecure that I couldn’t admit when another guy was attractive. So watching my beautiful omega being kissed by an equally beautiful pack mate, and knowing she considered me on par with all these alphas, made me want to knot her for the third time in twenty-four hours.

But I was the new guy, and I had a feeling my pack mates wanted to make sure they had time with her, too.

“Elias,”

she sighed when he finally pulled away. “Is everything okay?”

He grumbled, resting his forehead on hers while closing his eyes. “Having to hear exactly how close you were to being taken away from us, how that bloodsucker had his fangs in you, and then deal with all those alphas feeding and eye-fucking you… it was rough.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered something in his ear, something just for him to hear. I watched his face melt, breathing her in deeply as he nodded and slipped into her comfort and reassurance.

“…besides,”

she laughed, “I only had like, two donuts. I’m still starving, should we get something to eat?”

He gave her a peck on the nose, and then reached behind her to open her door. “Of course, California. What do you want?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t had much of a chance to explore Maiingan Hollow’s restaurant scene.”

“Do you like paninis?”

I asked. “There’s a new place that opened up on Main a month or two ago. They’re pretty good.”

Marlowe’s eyes sparkled as she smiled at me. Moon, how could she be in another male’s arms and still make you feel like you were the only one in her world?

“That sounds perfect.”

All these alphas were onto something.

Watching Marlowe eat was soul-satisfying. Not just because she looked so happy, or because she’d ordered the sandwich I recommended and told me it was delicious, or even the simple act of providing.

It was also knowing where that hunger was coming from, that her depleted energy was caused by me and my pack fucking her senseless.

My cock twitched at the thought of what her heat would be like. Cam had told me she’d just had one, and it was before they were bonded or really knew each other, so they hadn’t done anything besides keep her safe. I had no idea how they’d managed to keep their knots to themselves, because every time she looked at me, I felt like I could lose control and take her right then and there. Elias was sitting next to her, his arm lying across her shoulders while his thumb traced lazy circles along her upper arm.

There weren’t as many potential threats in the restaurant, but a couple of alphas kept sniffing the air and we had already contained our possessiveness enough at the police station.

I reached over the table and wiped a drop of mayonnaise from her lips and chuckled. “Are you always a messy eater?”

“Depends on what I’m eating,”

she winked, causing Elias and I to shift in our seats.

Marlowe watched and cackled, the little vixen delighting in the power she held over us, taking another big bite of her panini. Elias leaned over, grabbing her chin in his free hand to turn her face towards his. He licked an errant crumb from her lip, then said in a low voice. “I think you’ve been far too much of a brat today. Would you like me to list all of your offenses now or when you’re bent over my lap?”

Her eyes widened in shock, the scent of her sugar-laced arousal coating the air and going straight to my dick. That kind of domination wasn’t really my thing, but I would certainly enjoy watching.

The table full of alphas had fully turned around to face us now, their pupils blown. Marlowe’s scent was so potent she could attract every alpha in the room. Even some of the betas had picked up on her by now, looking over curiously.

Elias and I made eye contact. “Maybe we should get some to-go boxes,”

I said quietly.

He nodded his head in agreement, his grip on Marlowe tightening, “Would you mind?”

I went up to the counter to grab some when one of the alphas from the other table came up to me. “You got an omega?”

he asked. “Where the hell did you find her? She bonded?”

“Happily,”

I responded through clenched teeth. “And she found us.”

He looked at her, his nostrils flaring. “I’ve never smelled anything like that.”

Grabbing the boxes, I stepped up into his face, looking down into him. “She’s not yours to smell, so go back to your pack and leave us alone.”

The alpha leaned towards me and took another deep breath, his body shuddering. “She’s all over you…”

“Liam!”

one of his pack mates barked. “Knock it off.”

He headed back to his table in a daze, and I went to ours, putting away the leftovers.

I growled to myself and Marlowe’s face flushed, looking down in guilt. “I’m sorry…” she said.

Fuck, I’d been thinking so much about myself dealing with all the attention she was getting, I hadn’t even noticed it affecting her. I needed to do better.

“Am I ever going to be able to go out in public here without causing a scene?”

she asked, defeat in her slumped shoulders. Elias leaned over and kissed her temple. “It will take some time, but eventually they’ll get used to you. And if it makes you feel better, a little sniffing is nothing. You have no idea how difficult it was for me not to throw you over my shoulder and take you home that first day I met you.”

“You tried to punch Cam in the face,”

she said, smiling at the memory.

Now that I wanted to see.

“Yes, I did,”

he laughed. “When you left my office I just sat at my desk, getting high off the scent you left on my coat for hours, while Cam called Archer and begged him to convince you to bond with us. From the first moment, you completely owned us. So while it pisses me off to see any other male notice you, I can understand a bit, because I was in their shoes just a couple of weeks ago.”

It had only been a few days since I had first scented Marlowe, and if she had asked me to gut myself in front of her, I would have done so with a smile on my face, thanking her for even talking to me.

But when I watched that alpha who approached me through my peripheral, seated with his eyes glued on Marlowe, I still wanted to break his neck.

“However,”

Elias continued, closing the lids and gathering Marlowe’s things for her. “That doesn’t mean you need to just sit here in discomfort. Let’s finish our meal back at your father’s house in peace.”

“Okay,”

she responded meekly.

We left the restaurant together, followed by the alpha who had barked at his pack mate. “Hey, wait up!”

Elias moved Marlowe behind him and growled, and the other alpha held up his hands in submission. “I just wanted to apologize, we didn’t mean to scare you.”

Scare us? The idea was laughable. “I don’t think you understand,”

I bit back. “I wasn’t scared of you. I was scared for you.”

Marlowe released a small whine, clinging onto the back of Elias’s jacket. I knew she disliked violence, but I couldn’t hold myself back any longer, and I cracked my knuckles.

Elias simply smirked. “You heard the alpha. We appreciate the apology, but our little omega feels bad when we kill in her name. We’re just protecting you.”

The other male swallowed, his face paling slightly. “Understood. Have a good day, folks.”

We watched him carefully as he headed back in, and Elias handed me his keys and spoke in a commanding tone. “You’re driving.”