Page 11 of Mercy & Her Devils

The Brok again.

What a surprise.

Thomas pales. “Surely, he’s suffering enough from the effects…”

“Ah, but that’s the remarkable thing.” Fletcher’s playing with my hair, but his eyes are lit with excitement like they often are when he’s discussing his work. “There’s a twist in this case, which hasn’t been studied thoroughly.”

Thomas narrows his eyes. “What? He only eats purple food? He’s an expert in yoga? Oh my god, does he have two dicks…?”

When Fletcher’s cheek twitches, I bite my lip hard not to laugh.

Thomas has perfected the art of sprawling in his seat and maintaining his cold, commanding expression, while I know that he’s definitely — one hundred percent — taking the piss.

Fletcher is never certain enough, however, to challenge the other Alpha.

“Interesting as all of those would be,” Fletcher’s jaw clenches, “the truth is even more so. I believe that he’s fought so hard, no matter what I’ve thrown at him, because he has his young daughter in the cell with him.”

Horror rushes through me.

A cold ball forms in my stomach, and I wrap my arms around myself.

I rear back from Fletcher and stare at him.

“You can’t keep a kid in the basement of the Institute,” I burst out.

“Excuse me, Omega?” All of a sudden, Fletcher’s voice has lost all its warmth.

It’s frighteningly cold.

My heart speeds up, and I swallow.

I look down.

“He’s a dad…?” Thomas growls, leaning forward. “Yet some bastard still risked officially breaking their bond with him…?”

“Bitch, actually,” Fletcher corrects, tightening his arm around my waist just shy of it being painful. I wince. “She’s from an elite ice hockey pack, the Blades. She turned the daughter into a Rej. The girl is a little too young to be moved to the Companion wing of the Institute to be trained and then fostered. So, we have a week or two to study father and daughter together.”

He's going to separate them…?

My Alpha is still playing with my hair like I’m precious, I can smell the luxury cupcakes that he chose for me on the floor, but only hours ago, he left a male Omega and his daughter locked up at his work.

And he intends to tear them apart from each other.

Bile rises up my throat.

“I’ll match with this Brok.” Thomas pushes himself off the couch. He’s struggling to sound cool, but I know him, he’s dying inside from this, as much as I am. “You don’t need to separate them. I’ll take them both.”

Fletcher chuckles, condescendingly. “We both know that the Mayor, your Head Alpha, wouldn’t allow you to match with an Omega who wasn’t perfect and certainly, wouldn’t allow you to take on a Brok and his Rej daughter, even if you only used him for breeding.” He pats me on the cheek. “I hope that we’re blessed with a child soon. You would make a wonderful mother.”

“Perhaps, if you allowed her outside to exercise and didn’t…” Thomas turns away, balling his fists.

I feel powerless.

How can Fletcher do his job?

Generations of Alphas in his family have before him. It’s only one of his responsibilities to oversee the Institute’s warden.

Yet Thomas has told me about the Omega Society who are fighting for abused Omegas and to give them greater rights.

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