Page 63 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

THISTLE

I tucked Bunny under my arm and clamped a hand over my mouth to stop my heaving breaths from giving me away as I stood at the cracked balcony door.

He’d picked a room with a balcony! That was as good as an invitation as far as I was concerned.

Or he liked the breeze…

Nope—definitely an invitation.

Rogue had cuddled me late into the morning in my nest, and then he’d tried to set up a planning meeting. But we couldn’t make any plans if Ace wasn’t there or I’d have brought him back for nothing.

I dared to peer around the door to get a better look, inhaling the cool scent of a fresh lightning storm.

The room inside was spacious, with a broad four-poster bed, massive curtains, which were cracked open, and a couch facing a wall-mounted TV. It looked a lot like Knox’s room.

Ace was seated up against his headboard, a bunch of takeout boxes littering his room, and a pile of cushions with an old laptop on his lap.

Honestly, I’d hoped he’d been asleep so I could sneak in and curl up next to him. Knox had banned me from seeing him alone, but that was out of his jurisdiction.

Ace wasmine.

And right now he was wearing that muzzle and collar I’d seen him in downstairs. I had to squeeze my thighs together as I stared.

Gift. Wrapped.

I slipped into the room and quietly padded over.

The laptop illuminated his pretty features, and his blue eyes zoomed back and forth across the screen.

Okay.

Obviously, he was just so engrossed in what he was doing that he hadn’t heard.

But when I edged up to the side of his bed, he finally paused, eyes closing as he took a deep breath.

“What do you want, Omega?” he asked, voice quiet.

I found comfort in the way he spoke to me, the title etched into old memories even if they often came with coldness.

I ran my tongue along my teeth, wringing my fingers and weighing my options.

I hadn’t had anything familiar in a long time. So much of what I was being offered was good, but I couldn’t shake the idea that the ground might crumble beneath me.

Ace, still being all he had ever been—even now—made me feel safe in a way I couldn’t put my finger on.

Instead of answering, I clambered onto the bed and shuffled up to him, knocking the boxes of takeout out of my way.

“I want cuddles,” I said, forcing my voice steady.

He might be familiar, butthisdynamic wasn’t. I was supposed to be able to ask him for things now, and he should do them. He was mine, not the other way around.

He didn’t move, though. Didn’t even look at me.

I glanced down at Bunny.

Uh… what do we do now?

I slowly tugged up the bedsheet and shimmied in.