Page 152 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

FORTY-ONE

ACE

Bambi had claimed the nest the Misfits had made.

It was the early evening, and she’d been in there all day. Not that I was usually tracking a random Omega’s nest time, but Thistle’s anxiety had been rattling me to the bone since Bambi had left.

So, I joined them, since Thistle had been happy at the idea of a full pack visit, and because they lived a bit too close for comfort considering how little I knew—especially since there were Alphas and Omegas among them.

When we got inside, Thistle set her gift box down at Bambi’s door at the end of the hallway off the kitchen. On top of it, I saw her place a picture she’d drawn of them both. She stood in front of the door, unmoving, as if she might open it—which she definitely was considering. The hallway glowed with a soft, homely light, warm wood panelling making it feel closer and cosier than it should have.

“You’re Maverick, then?” asked a tall, slender Beta. Vance, I think, from what I’d gleaned of them. He held his hand out. “You made quite the entrance.”

I glanced at his hand, then back up, not taking it. I looked from him to the rest of the room.

On the couch lounged a female Alpha—that would make her Petal. When we’d entered, she’d shot us a few looks, her expression tight enough to make me wonder if she might leave, but she seemed to have relaxed.

A male Omega rummaged in the fridge, and slouching on the kitchen island on one of the bar stools, was a female Omega. Callum and Tanisha. I’d pried as much out of Knox as I could but he was tight-lipped, only mentioning a few names and details. There were enough scents in here that I didn’t think those in the room made up all of them. They were from the Ring, though, that I knew.

Were they abondedpack?

How stable were they?

If Thistle was going to vanish inside to visit Bambi, I needed to know.

“Ignore him. He’s a freak with everyone,” Knox snorted, sliding onto a bar stool beside the island as Vance lowered his hand.

Rogue, dragged in by Thistle, leaned against the fridge, looking like he wasn’t sure what to do there.

“Are you helping with the hunt for Bella?” Vance asked me.

“He’s not very useful.” Knox grimaced. “Doesn’t even believe Carrion is real.”

I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t that I didn’t think he was real, but I was starting to wonder if he was a single person.

“Haven’t you seen him?” Callum, the male Omega, asked as he poured himself cereal.

“Yes,” Knox replied.

“Only wearing a mask,” I said.

If he wasn’t real, that would make things far simpler. I was in contact with a few informants from my time in the Brotherhood, but I was working from a disadvantage. I hadn’t found out one way or the other. If hewasreal, he kept a low profile.

“The Ring takes orders from him,” Knox said.

“They could just be using the idea of a single entity to cover their asses for decisions people don’t like.”

Thistle returned down the hall, leaning on the counter beside Knox. She had, it seemed, fought her instincts to barge into Bambi’s new nest—which told me a lot about how hard she was trying with this Omega. I knew first-hand Thistle treated instincts as law—and now that it wasn’t a constant threat, since the worst had happened to me, I could admit it was obscenely attractive.

I glanced at Petal as Thistle returned, but the female Alpha stayed engrossed in her book, not flinching as my Omega walked in.

Knox glanced at the others. “Has Bambi spoken yet?”

Vance shook his head, looking uncomfortable. “No. And she won’t.”

“What do you mean?” Knox asked.

An odd silence stretched until Thistle broke it. “One of Bella’s Alphas—Banner.” Her expression twisted on the name. “She told me he cut her tongue out.”