Page 31 of Night Sector

And yep, that ominous thread led right to Lorcan.

In the middle of a makeshift sparring ring.

With three Omegas.

One of whom was a determined Ashlyn.

My eyes narrowed as the three Omegas circled Lorcan, all of them attacking at once.

“He’s teaching them about strength in numbers,” Fritz growled. “The entire purpose of today’s lesson is to demonstrate how attacking as a group helps even the odds.”

I glanced at the crowd gathering around the demonstration, noting the avid interest coming from all the Omegas. Less than two weeks ago, they’d all hated Lorcan on sight. Yet now they were gazing at him with what could only be described as growing affection.

Fucking Alpha pheromones.

Or maybe it was just the protective vibes.

Well, okay, it could also be Lorcan’s genuinely good looks and all that sinewy muscle on display that had everyone so captivated.

Because he was shirtless.

Shirtless.

Why the fuck does he need to beshirtless?

And did he have to be so damngentle,too?

He was absolutely holding back.What the hell is the point of teaching Omegas to defend themselves if you’re just going to provide false hope?I demanded.

Of course, he didn’t answer. He probably wasn’t even hearing me over all that Omega attention.

Ashlyn jumped on his back, her arms going around his neck as the other two tried to stab him with wooden knives.

I rolled my eyes. This was ridiculous. He just wanted an excuse to play.

This wasn’t alessonbut anaudition.

And I hated it. I hated him. I hatedthis.

A group attack wasn’t always feasible. Sometimes an Omega only had herself to rely on, not a pack. All he was doing was teaching the Omegas how to flirt.

Case in point, Ashlyn laughed when Lorcan shadowed out from beneath her, causing her to fall to the mat on her rump.

This shouldn’t befunny. It should beserious. What if he actually tried to attack them? Would they just climb on top of him in response?

I gritted my teeth.No. Fuck this. Fuck him. Fuck everyone.

I shadowed to the training weapons and picked up two real blades. Sharp ones. The kind I used when sparring with Fritz.

And shadowed into Lorcan’s path before the three Omegas could jump on him again.

“If you want to give them a demonstration on self-defense, then let’s do it properly,” I snapped at him.

That damn eyebrow of his arched upward, like it always did in my presence. Then he canted his head to the side and fell into a fighting stance.Show me what you can do, little killer.

I growled,hatinghow that endearment seemed to caress my inner wolf. She liked that he saw her as a killer. She assumed that meant he respected us.

He didn’t.