Page 105 of Pretty When She Breaks

After they disappeared into the offices for a while, Casey brought the new guard out, showing him how the security doors worked. Shaun was barely tall enough to fully turn the lever for the portcullis.

“There any cameras in here?” Shaun asked, stepping into the cell area and looking around. How old was this kid? It didn’t even sound like his voice had dropped yet.

“Yeah,” said Casey, pointing them out.

Shaun nodded, and Casey cleared his throat.

“Lars doesn’t usually check on us, and you’ll be working with me most of the time.” He folded his arms, an uncharacteristic frown marring his face. “Look, the alphas might be wild, but it's not their fault they’re stuck in here. If you try to bully them, you’ll regret it.”

Shaun raised an eyebrow. Casey was earnest, but despite his size, he wasn’t very intimidating.

“Sure,” Shaun said with a shrug. “Not really my thing.”

Casey nodded, and as he turned, Shaun’s eyes lingered on his face, assessing him as if in a new light.

“Don’t worry about helping me move the guys around fornow. They’re pretty tough to manage, and I’d hate to see you get hurt,” Casey continued.

“You don’t need to baby me,” Shaun said, squaring up his small frame and narrowing his pretty eyes at Casey. “I may be small, but I can handle myself.”

“N-no, of course,” Casey said, and I was amused to see a hint of a blush coloring his cheeks. “I just, um, thought you should learn how I do it properly first.”

Shaun broke into a grin and shoved Casey in the gut with his shoulder. “I’m just kidding around,” he said. “If a guy like you is having trouble, I should probably start small.” His eyes landed on me, as I was the smallest one here. “Raze, right?”

“That’s his fighter name,” Casey replied. “His real name is Ocean.”

“Oh, cool. Do you know all their real names?” Shaun asked curiously.

Casey shrugged. “Hugo tells me,” he said, nodding at the older alpha who was watching them. “He asks them all when they first come. Titan was the only one who never told him.”

Shaun nodded, casting a curious glance at Hugo before turning back to Casey. “Okay, big boy. Let’s finish the welcome tour and then show me if there’s anything fun to do around here.”

I settled in to watch as Casey showed Shaun how to do the meal trays. They picked up the tray at the same time, and Casey’s face went scarlet as their hands brushed. Shaun caught me smirking at them. He bit his lip to hide a smile as Casey stammered an apology.

FIFTY-SEVEN

LAUREL

Lars wasn’t in his office when I walked into the alpha cells, and my stomach twisted in concern. That meant the new guard had arrived, and Lars was no longer pretending to cover the empty position.

I opened the door, and Casey was sitting in the corner, next to a small guy. They started laughing at something as I neared.

“Hi, Casey,” I said hopefully. If Casey liked this new guard, maybe he wasn’t so bad.

“Hey, Miss Laurel,” Casey said, and I blinked as Jade looked up from beside him, shooting me a grin.

My mouth dropped open. The guard cap was askew over her short hair, and the uniform definitely wasn’t designed for a woman her size, but I’d recognize her no matter what disguise she wore.

“Surprise!” she said, standing up and showing off her new uniform. “After your ‘friend’ mentioned your secret plan, I decided to come and help out.”

“Oh, do you know Shaun?” Casey asked.

My eyebrows drew together in confusion. There was no way he actually thought Jade was a guy, right?

“Yeah, we go way back,” Jade said, tugging me toward the security doors.

“Don’t you dare tell him I’m a girl,” she hissed in my ear as Casey unlocked the first one. “I’ve had a hard enough time convincing him to back off and let me do this ‘dangerous’ job as it is. He’d probably have a heart attack if he found out.”

I shook my head in disbelief as Casey started on the portcullis. “He has a point,” I replied, not keeping my voice down. “What are you thinking? You could get hurt here.”