Page 129 of Pretty When She Breaks

“Laurel Fairchild.” I repressed my wince when his face darkened.

“Yeah, you can tell Thaddeus to fuck right off,” he said, trying to shut me out.

I stuck my foot in the door, stopping it from closing just in time. The alpha snarled and the blood drained from my face. “Please,” I said quickly. “I’m not here for him. I have a feral alpha and I need him back.”

“Good luck,” he said, trying to move my foot.

“Dusk!” squeaked an excited voice. “Do we have a visitor?”

Dusk’s face soured. “No,” he said, moving his body to block me from view.

An omega with large golden eyes and a mass of fluffy brown hair squeezed out from under Dusk’s arm. Our eyes met, and her brows furrowed. “She’s right there,” the omega said. “Are you lying to me?”

“Absolutely not,” the alpha said.

A small arm squeezed past him, pointing at the chocolaty Frappuccinos I’d brought with me.

“She’s brought us coffees!” she said triumphantly. “We have to let her in!”

A few minutes later, I found myself sitting across the couches from two of the scariest-looking alphas I’d seen in my life and Shatter, who had happily started chatting with me.

“We hardly ever get visitors,” she said, beaming. “Dusk said you know Ransom?”

“I—”

That was when Ransom himself came into the room, looking at me with a hint of confusion. “Laurel?”

“Uh, hi,” I replied, fiddling with my clothes. The energy that Shatter was giving off kind of made me feel like I didn’t need to be the Crimson Duchess right now. I offered him a smile. “Been a while. You seem to have a lovely pack.”

My eyes met Dusk’s, and I quickly looked away.

“Thanks,” Ransom said, beaming at Shatter as he sat down. “Did I see you got engaged?”

I shrugged, unsure of what to say.

“Did you come by to catch up with Ransom?” asked Shatter, looking between us.

“Actually, no. I came to ask you for help,” I said to Shatter, and she cocked her head to the side, eyes wide. “I have a feral alpha?—”

“Just one?” Dusk interjected, pointedly. Ransom had gone a bit pale.

“Don’t interrupt, it’s rude,” hissed Shatter, smacking him on the arm.

“I heard you might know how to bring him back,” I continued. “Can you help me? I heard you’re an Arkology expert.” I gave her a small smile.

Shatter frowned. “Well, I don’t know about expert?—”

“She’s actually a genius,” said the other alpha, Umbra, grinning and patting her on the back.

She huffed, turning a bit pink. “Now you’re interrupting, too,” she said, but let him take her hand. She turned back to me, then nodded. “I can give you the articles and books if you want. I’d have to photocopy them. Oh wait, we can do it on the computer, right? With an email thingy?” She looked at Umbra, who nodded. “Good. Ransom just got me access to a bunch of scientific journals!”

Her face lit up and she bounced up and down with excitement. “It’s amazing! Any study I want, and I can read it just like that! Okay, the best treatment is an omega they respond to—bonded scent matches are the best—and being in a stable pack bond. Safety and stability in their environment and touch. From all of their pack.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding. “What if the omega is there to stabilize them, and then the omega leaves after? Will they revert back to being feral?”

“If the conditions that made them feral are removed, probably not. But I imagine they’d be more at risk than others.”

“Are there any other ways?”