Page 8 of The Forgery Mate (Taken by His Alpha #6)

A aiden and Sebastian enter the study, and I thank the blockers for keeping the scent of my desire from the Alphas.

I stand with my hands in my pockets, the weight of Ezra’s presence behind me a heat I can’t escape. My mouth goes dry as I realize I’m the only prey in a room full of predators.

Sebastian takes position beside the desk, his scarred face catching the light and deepening the furrows running down his left cheek. The damage makes his expression difficult to read as he studies me like someone assessing threat levels rather than listening to a story.

My pulse hammers in my throat as Aaiden settles behind his desk, fingers steepled beneath his chin. He doesn’t look at me but at Ezra, who stands behind me.

“Mr…” His gaze drops to my nametag. “ Nico . Please recount what you saw at Halcyon Hall concerning Jade Bustly.”

The emphasis on the name Nico scrapes my nerves. Does he know? Is this some elaborate game where I’m the only one who doesn’t understand the rules?

“As I mentioned earlier,” I begin, steadier than the turmoil inside me, “I was setting up for the event when I discovered a hidden room behind a bookcase in the private salon.”

Ezra shifts behind me, close enough for me to feel the whisper of his movement on the back of my neck, and my skin prickles with awareness.

“The hidden room contained a few wooden crates and a cage.” My throat constricts around the words. “Jade was inside it.”

Sebastian’s right hand twitches at his side, the only indication he heard me at all.

“Continue,” Aaiden commands with the practiced neutrality of someone who’s heard a thousand desperate pleas and granted none.

I swallow, trying to remember what details I’d already shared with Aaiden. What story I’d crafted in my panic to help Jade without exposing myself.

“The cage was metal, about six feet by four. Industrial grade. Jade appeared weakened but not severely injured. He mentioned being fed twice daily, enough to keep him alive but docile.”

Ezra moves, circling to my right until he stands at the edge of my peripheral vision. His fingers brush the back of my neck, sending electricity racing down my spine, and I lose my train of thought.

“And?” Aaiden prompts, impatience creeping in.

“He said he’d been there five days.” I struggle to maintain my focus as Ezra’s fingers trace a path along the collar of my server’s uniform.

“He mentioned being brought in with the art shipment. Tomorrow night, they’re planning to—” I fumble as Ezra’s touch dips just below my collar, skimming the unmarked skin at my nape. “—to sell him at the gallery event.”

The touch withdraws, but its ghost remains as a lingering heat spreading through my body.

Aaiden’s focus sharpens, and I realize I lost Nico’s higher register while distracted by Ezra.

Sebastian speaks for the first time. “Did you see any other captives?”

I shake my head. “Just Jade. But the room was large enough to hold more cages. There were shipping crates I didn’t have time to investigate.”

Silent communication passes between Sebastian and Aaiden.

Ezra’s possessive hand settles heavy on my shoulder. “And you’re certain about the timing? The auction is tomorrow night?”

His voice vibrates through me, too close to my ear, intimate in ways that remind my body of things my mind tried to forget. I step forward, breaking contact, but the damage is done. Heat creeps up my neck, and my uniform becomes constrictive, the fabric rough on my sensitized skin.

“Yes.” I resist the urge to put more distance between us. “Jade was clear about that. He said they were waiting for the gallery event to clear out the merchandise.”

Sebastian moves, his big frame surprisingly fluid as he circles the desk to stand beside Aaiden. “The timing is problematic. We’ll need to move fast.”

Aaiden’s fingers drum once on the polished oak. “Agreed. And be discreet.”

The collar of the shirt chokes me, the wig itches, the contacts sting, and the makeup Ezra smeared is tacky on my cheeks. I’m caught between identities, neither Nico nor Knox nor whoever I am beneath the layers of deception.

“He tried to appear strong, but he seemed afraid,” I add, the words slipping out before I can consider their utility.

Aaiden’s features tighten, but he remains silent.

“Is there anything else you can tell us about the security measures?” Sebastian’s focus sharpens. “Guards? Cameras? Access points?”

I calculate how much knowledge would be reasonable for a server who stumbled upon a secret room versus what I discovered during my systematic casing of the building.

“Two cameras in the main salon. Guards rotate every thirty minutes at the staircase. The hidden room itself didn’t have visible cameras, but the entrance is concealed within a bookcase in the private salon.

” I pause, then add, “The trigger is a small button hidden behind the Valenne painting on the adjacent wall.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows rise at the specificity of my observation, but he says nothing.

Aaiden leans back in his chair. “It appears you have a detailed understanding of the Halcyon Hall’s layout and security system. I believe you should return with us to free Jade.”

Aaiden’s proposition hangs in the air like a guillotine blade. His eyes, the same flat green that had looked down on me as he slid the check across this very desk, assess me now with the detached interest of someone appraising livestock.

My stomach drops through the floor, leaving a hollow space for ice-cold panic to fill. “That won’t be necessary. I’ve told you everything, and I would just be in your way.”

Aaiden’s fingers trace the edge of the silver letter opener on his desk. “On the contrary. You’re valuable because you already know the layout. You’ve already gained access to the hidden room once.”

“By accident,” I counter.

Sebastian shifts his weight, the floorboard beneath him creaking in protest. “An accident can be replicated. With your knowledge of the trigger mechanism and security rotations, you present our cleanest entry point.”

The logic is sound, which makes it all the more dangerous. Ezra’s eyes burn into the back of my skull, analyzing every micro-expression, every twitch of discomfort.

“I can’t go back there.” I let a tremor slip in, not all of it an act. “If they catch me?—”

“They won’t.” Ezra circles until he stands beside Aaiden’s desk, forcing me to divide my attention between them. “Not if you follow our instructions.”

My hands begin to shake, the tremors moving up my arms despite my efforts to control them.

I curl my fingers into fists within my pockets to hide the evidence of my fear.

“I can draw you a map. I can tell you where to find him. The security codes, the camera blind spots, everything. But I can’t go back there. ”

I swallow hard, playing a card I hadn’t intended to reveal. “You don’t know what they do to Omegas.”

The statement hangs in the air, and Sebastian’s expression softens with understanding.

Ezra goes still, his body a study in controlled tension. He understands what it cost me to give up this piece of my Nico disguise.

But Aaiden’s reaction sends a chill down my spine. There’s no surprise, no confusion, not a single flicker of interest at this supposed revelation about Nico Duran’s secondary gender.

My heart stutters in my chest. I never fooled him at all.

“Your concern is noted.” Aaiden leans forward, resting his forearms on the desk, and the overhead lights cast shadows across his face. “But I’m afraid your participation isn’t optional.”

Fear claws at my throat. “What do you mean?”

Aaiden’s polite mask slips, revealing the cold calculation beneath. He studies me for a moment, then says, “Knox.”

Just my name. The one I used here, but flat in Aaiden’s mouth, with none of the warmth Ezra once breathed into it in the dark. With Aaiden, Knox is exactly what it is. A fabrication. A tool. A means to an end.

My vision narrows to Aaiden’s face as the rest of the room fades. He recognized me from the start. Brought me into his study knowing who I was. Called Ezra in not to identify me, but to use him as my downfall.

“You don’t have a choice,” Aaiden continues without a hint of gloating. “You signed an NDA. You’re violating it right now.”

My fingers go numb inside my pockets. The non-disclosure agreement. The small-print addendum that came with the check that bought my absence.

“The agreement was about Ezra.” I grasp at any loophole. “But I only came here to speak to you?—”

“It also said you would not return to Rockford Manor,” Aaiden corrects, each word precise as a painter’s blade. “Your standing here constitutes a clear breach.”

The trap springs shut around me with quiet finality. I’d walked right into it, delivering myself to the very people I’d spent a year avoiding.

My breath quickens. “I came here in good faith.”

“For which we are grateful.” Aaiden smiles without warmth. “And once you help us free Jade, you are free to leave.”

A sound of protest comes from Ezra.

Aaiden ignores his youngest cousin. “This is a win-win situation for everyone. I want Jade back. And you, Knox, want to avoid the consequences of your actions.”

I look between them, searching for any hint of sympathy, any crack in their united front. Sebastian remains impassive, a silent sentinel whose loyalty is to family first and always. Ezra’s expression is harder to read, a complex mixture of hunger and hurt beneath the predatory focus.

I’m trapped in more ways than I can count, cornered by my past deceptions and the men who’ve seen through them.

“This is absurd,” I say in a final, desperate attempt to reclaim control. “I came here to help Jade. I could have just left him there.”

“And yet you didn’t,” Sebastian observes. “Which speaks either to a previously undisclosed conscience or to an ulterior motive.”