Page 153 of Pretty When She Breaks

That, even after he became an alpha, there was still some of the Jule I’d known left in him. The Jule who would defy my father and try to do something right.

EIGHTY-THREE

FINCH

The recently rebranded VIP Suite was open again tonight, but Laurel was nowhere to be seen. I adjusted my suit—why on earth did these things have to be so tight?—and tried to focus.

I’d woken to Laurel’s scent and a raging hard-on. Had she been trying to torture me with that gift basket? Because it was working. It had been hours, and I couldn’t get her out of my head.

I pushed the thoughts away with a scowl. Now was not the time or place to be fantasizing about her.

“You look like you had a good day,” Dax said, sitting down on the seat next to me and offering me a grin.

I shook my head, not needing to fake my tense expression. “Goddamn awful,” I replied as his pack settled down as well. Prince seemed just as pleased to see me as I did him. At least I wasn’t the only one suffering. “I went to see the alphas I was going to bring home today. They’re worthless. This used to be one of the best places to get fighters, but since thefucking raid last year, everything has gone to shit. What a waste of time.”

Dax and Prince exchanged a sharp look that I pretended not to notice.

“Not a total waste of time,” Dax said, raising an eyebrow.

I snorted. “Not from where I’m sitting.”

Dax reached into his suit pocket and drew out a slender syringe. He offered it to me, a glint in his eye.

“I’m good with alcohol, thanks,” I said dryly.

“It’s rofetamine,” he said, and I hesitated, looking at it again.

Then I reached out to take it.

“You don’t have to go home empty-handed,” he continued. “You could bring some rut rage over to the West Coast. Be the first over there to use it for your fights.”

I paused to consider.

Everything about this interaction was going as planned, but I was distracted as I looked at the syringe. This pack had caught Laurel swapping one of these and had tortured her for it. A pulse of rage threatened to spill out of me, and I gritted my teeth.

With considerable effort, I focused back on this critical conversation. “Sure, I’ve seen what it can do here. But I don’t know if I can convince my pack. There’s rumours that it makes the alphas feral and harder to manage. Some people are even saying it can turn a regular alpha rogue.”

Prince scoffed. “Rogues are born, not made.”

“What about the alphas going feral, though? That’s true, right?” I pressed.

Dax shrugged. “Sure, the alphas turn feral, but that doesn’t make them harder to manage. If anything, it makes them easier. It’s not like they’re constantly rutting.”

I snorted in disbelief. “How on earth would having your alphas feral make it easier?”

“They’re not thinking. Not thinking about escaping or screwing you over. They stay in your pens, scratching their ears, and come out when you want them.”

“Most of them stay tame,” Prince added.

I frowned, looking between them, then shook my head. “I’ve seen them in the fights. They’re crazy. I can’t take that home.”

Dax gave me an assessing look before leaning forward. “Come down and see for yourself, then. We’ve got some time before the fights.”

This was it.

My in.

Just a few more steps and it’d all fall into place.