Page 112 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

For an age, Bella took us in, gaze flicking around the pack as if, by looking enough times, she might make us vanish. Finally, she stood, and Rodrick Banner tailed her as she made her way toward us, heels clipping against the tense silence. I noticed Banner had one hand on his gun, and the guards milling around the edges of the room were on high alert.

We were on the precipice of Ace’s bluff. If the initial pretence didn’t work, we would find out now.

The number of weapons we’d brought felt useless; we were outnumbered both by Bella’s six loyal Alphas, and her security lining the walls.

“What an unusual surprise, hosting Ace Maverick and his…?” Bella trailed off as she reached Ace, keeping her cold green eyes on him. “Pack…?” The word sounded like an insult with the look she shot at Thistle.

“Pack,” Ace said, pulling Thistle tighter against him, nodding at Rogue. “And…” He glanced at the chain in Rogue’s fist. “Pet.”

Bella’s gaze lingered on me too long before drifting to Thistle, then, finally, bitterly, back to Ace. She looked her usual pristine self, with that perfectly straight blond hair, and a signature red dress. I hoped the disgust I felt looking at her came through in the bond—it was the first time I’d deliberately let the rest of this vile pack in.

I did see the faintest downturn of her red lips.

Thistle was tense. Her attention flickered to me for a moment, gaze meeting mine before dropping to the open wound on my chest covered by the black dress shirt.

“Well, what an unusual guest,” Rodrick said, stepping forward. “We don’t usually host Alphas returned from the dead.”

Rodrick clapped a hand on Ace’s arm, reaching out with his other for a handshake. I knew from experience it was more a threat than anything else. Especially now, since the last time Rodrick Banner set eyes on him, Ace had been feral, tearing one of his pack mates to pieces. This was a dominance play, though he was still cautious enough not to have bullets in our skulls yet, so they weren’t sure if there was more to our confidence than bluster. I found myself, for the millionth time, wishing I wasn’t in the exact same fucking boat.

“Banner, isn’t it?” Ace said, his low voice carrying through the deadly still room. He didn’t take the hand Rodrick had offered. “Omega,” he brushed his hand along Thistle’s waist. “If I’m not mistaken, this is one of Colt’s… cousins?” He glanced back at Rodrick.

Colt Bishop was Ace’s old pack mate—one Thistle didn’t have a high opinion of if my memory served.

Rodrick’s hand dropped from Ace’s arm, expression stiff as he looked to Thistle.

Thistle perked up, eyes wide as she looked from Rodrick to Bella. “I hope it doesn’t run in the family,” Thistle said in a mock whisper that easily reached my ears—and likely the ears of most in the muted room.

“What would that be?” Bella’s voice was tight.

“Sometimes he’d have trouble… well, you know…” She lifted her hand, fingers pointing toward the ceiling. “If he caught the scent of an Omega in heat…” Her hand flopped down comically.

Ace breathed a laugh.

“Wasn’t long since I was last near an Omega in heat,” Banner said, dark eyes lingering on Thistle with a nasty sneer across his face. “I don’t recall issues with enthusiasm.”

At my side, Rogue went still, and I felt my own hackles rise as I thought back to the night I’d been forced to bite into Bella’s pack. The night they’d given Thistle the heat drug.

“Ew. Well,Inever found out.” Thistle grinned, ignoring Rodrick’s subtlety as she looked back at Bella. “Too many Alphasdyingtoo quickly.”

My chest tightened, and I scanned the room again. Their security was on alert but not moving. Everyone was hanging from every word. Bella’s smile was twisted, and again her gaze roamed over us, as if trying to work out what was happening. Trying to work out what was in the way of executing us all now.

Well, all but me.

I watched her wind an arm around Banner’s waist—for comfort? Or as a signal?

Banner snorted belatedly, still not taking his eyes from my Omega.

“We thought you were feral, Maverick,” he said, not looking at Ace at all, his gaze roaming over the many bites on Thistle’s skin, as if he couldn’t control himself. I glanced at Rogue, noticing he was watching the same thing. The few times I felt this pack seep in through the bond, Banner was the only Alpha I could single out. He was made of cruel, dark energy, and it spiked as he lingered on Thistle.

If we made it through the next few minutes, there wouldn’t be a moment where I didn’t track his movements in this room.

“Well,” Ace mused. “No better way to drive sanity from an Alpha than to threaten his soul match.”

If it had been quiet before, it was nothing compared to the expansive void in the room after Ace said those words. Bella went stock still, and a few mouths dropped open among the guests seated at nearby tables.

Thistle, on the other hand, seemingly oblivious to the way Banner was eyeing her like a piece of meat, was vibrating like a wind-up toy stuck in a corner. Frosted moonflower spilled around us in delighted waves, and her eyes were cloudy with joy.

“A soul match?” Bella asked quietly, and she still looked calculating, but with every new piece of information, she was more thrown. “How… unexpected.”