Page 147 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

He ruinedeverything.

“I’m deducting it,” Knox muttered.

“What?” I asked, spinning on him, trying to calm my breathing as the security guard outside the electronics shop shot us suspicious looks.

“From your allowance,” Knox said. “I’m deducting the laptop.”

I froze.

“If you add that, and rent—and groceries, because fuck do you eat like an elephant, anddamn, I think you mightoweme?—”

He cut off as I seized him by the throat.

Put. Him. Down.The rational plea in my brain was faint.

I was probably close to a rut.

Ah—Fuck it.

“Alifetimeban?” Knox’s cackle was nails on a chalkboard as I hit the gas down the highway. He was in silent hysterics, undeterred by the bruises blooming across his cheeks.

I’d pummelled him across the mall, and he’d almost gone over a railing to the floor below. I’d seen red. Enough that the screaming—from unsuspecting Betas and Omegas as I’d tried to tear Knox apart through six different shop displays—hadn’t slowed me.

But the lifetime ban from a mallwasn’tthe part that grated.

What grated was that I hadn’t been arrested because—and I almost cracked a tooth thinking about it, the speedometer revving too high—Knoxhad signed afuckingwaiver that he’d have mefuckingchecked by myfuckingdoctor.

And the wound on my side was leaking again.

He was still breathless in the passenger seat, shaking with mirth.

In the eyes of the law, he was still my legal guardian. Ace had left me labelled unstable and dangerous, and my ‘freedom’ depended on Knox signing off that he’d take responsibility for me.

We’d had to wait until the officers were out of sight before I dared take the driver’s seat. It was worth the wait, though, because Knox’s driving today would have fully sent me over the edge, and I’d ruin Thistle’s time with Bambi if I went into a rut.

FORTY

KNOX

I don’t really know why I’d insisted on joining Rogue. Iwasbored, but bored enough to spend my afternoon with him?

Turned out, it had been a great choice. With an aching cheek and jaw, I felt excellent. Energised. And now I had the brilliant memory of the fury on Rogue’s stupid face as the police shoved that waiver before me.

Ha.

The dumb fuck still wasn’t free of me yet.

When we got back, we found Ace in the kitchen, rummaging through tea. He’d spent most of his time hidden in his room like the vampire he was. We were in an odd building phase, not quite complete or consolidated, and it made it hard to feel sure about anything.

I wasn’t sure what to do with that, but it brought me comfort knowing that however odd it was to me, it would be a thousand times more disturbing to the heat-bonded weasel stealing my tea.

He looked at us, then at the toy store box in Rogue’s arms, then scowled. “Oh God.”

“What?” I demanded.

“Did you goshoppingtogether?”

“Yes?” Rogue said.