Page 36 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

Thistle’s sketch of a storm still lingered in my periphery.

Fuck.

Before I did anything else, I needed to get a gauge on Ace.

TEN

ROGUE

Watching Thistle’s eyes widen as she saw the bright lights of the Ferris wheel from the parking lot was worth the whole world twice over.

Her lips popped open, and I swear there was a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

“Afair?” she asked, voice high-pitched. “We’ve always wanted to go!” For a moment, she glanced down at her empty hand, a flicker of sadness in the bond.

Right.

I had to make sure the date was so amazing she forgot about Bunny entirely. I tugged her into a side hug, and her sadness waned, a smile returning.

It was dusk, so the bright lights of the fair got brighter with every passing second. Once we were inside, we were slammed by carnival music, the shouts and screams of kids, and the smells of doughnuts and greasy fair food.

Thistle was practically vibrating with excitement as she stared around.

“Alright,” I said. “Your call. Where do we start?”

A fair might be a cliché choice, but whenever I pictured taking her out, it wasn’t a fancy moonlit dinner. She was pure, chaotic fun, and from everything she’d let slip about her upbringing, she hadn’t had enough of it.

I wore a heavy jacket that easily hid the gun I’d brought. Callum had fixed the security system, and it didn’t look like Bella had shown her face near the mansion, but that didn’t mean I trusted anything. On top of that, two of Knox’s regular security team were trailing us.

I wasn’t taking any risks.

To say Thistle was like a kid in a candy shop was an understatement. She made us ride the teacupsseventimes, screeching with delight each time. We would have gone again if I hadn’t almost thrown up in the garbage after the seventh.

Luckily, she spotted a booth where you could win teddy bears for shooting basketball hoops. She quickly took the young girl at her side as a competitor and kept demanding more turns while the kid—who looked about nine or ten—also fleeced her mother for more tickets.

Finally, as they both missed their tenth shot, and she went from irritable in the bond to a downright tempest, I grabbed the basketball from her grip, lined up my aim, and hit the shot straight away. I played basketball a lot as a kid to maximise my time away from my parents.

I felt pretty smug about it until I presented her with the huge white teddy bear and the delight that had shot through the bond the moment I’d won, turned instantly to poison. She stared at it, expression suddenly stiff, frosted moonflower tinged with fear.

Uh.

Oh.Oh.

I cleared my throat. “We, uh… wouldn’t want to dethrone Bunny, right?” I muttered, nudging her lightly, locking gazeswith panicked violet eyes. I nodded subtly over to the mother and daughter duo—the former of whom was digging in her pocket for what looked like non-existent tickets.

She followed my gaze, figuring out what I meant, then she looked down at the teddy, a smile of relief on her face.

She straightened, a flash of excitement like I’d never seen lighting her eyes, then she edged over to them both.

She stood awkwardly for a moment as the little girl glanced up at her. The girl frowned, looking cautious, but Thistle pushed the teddy into her arms before she could say anything.

“You can have him.” She paused, darting a look between them, then reached out and patted the teddy on the head in an awkward gesture. “If you want him. His name is Teddy. He wanted me to tell you.”

A smile split the girl’s face, and she grabbed Thistle and Teddy into a hug. “Thanks!”

That tightly wound anxiety I could feel through the bond vanished in an instant.

“Thank you,” her mother said as the girl pulled back.