Page 78 of More Than One Way: Part Two

“Would you rather I said well executed so you could say you weren’t planning on executing anyone… tonight?”

“You’re being abnormally playful. It’s freaking me out.”

His laughter rang through the car and brought an answering smile to my face.

“It’s Ethan. He’s so fucking happy right now. There’s some worry because we aren’t there but having Miles and Shae in his nest with him and Trevor? He’s over the moon and is too new to having a bond to hide any of it.”

My smile dimmed and I worried my bottom lip with my teeth.

“I want to bond him too but do you think he’d be, I don’t know, overwhelmed by another bond so soon after yours?”

“I think you should ask him.”

Blowing out a breath, I turned up some music and focused on the road. Theo didn’t need my reassurance—he could literally read my emotions—but I pulled his hand from my thigh and threaded our fingers together anyway. We weren’t more than five minutes from the precinct when Gia texted that the way had been cleared to talk to the Rothchild Alphas. She threw in a warning to keep my hands to myself. The woman was lucky she was one of my only friends outside the pack and a damn good attorney, with half the shit she said to me.

We parked the car, checked in with the sergeant on duty, and settled in to wait. After only twenty minutes or so, an older man in business casual clothes came out and approached us. He moved to Theo first and shook his hand as we stood.

“Good to see you again, Jack. Let me introduce Jade Owens, my pack lead and the director of Drake House Securities.”

The older man’s brows rose before he schooled his expression into one that didn’t show his obvious and offensive surprise. Shaking my hand seemed more important than it had a moment ago, but I was used to people assuming I was a subordinate at best and arm candy at worst. I didn’t let it bother me as much as it had when I first took over for my father. People learned quickly where I stood.

“Pleased to meet you, Jack.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, Alpha Owens. I’m going to take you back into the interrogation rooms to meet with the two members of Pack Rothchild who have agreed to speak to you and are not currently with their Omega.”

“Lead the way.”

As we walked through the precinct, Theo was careful to walk a step behind me, not that he needed to, but I knew he was making a statement. To anyone who saw us, it would be clear that I was his Alpha, even though he was no longer a Beta. Fuck, I loved that man. We stopped before a standard gray door with a metal name plate indicating it was interrogation room number seven and Jack turned to us.

“Before you go inside, the Alphas have made it clear they want to cooperate but that they believe the life of their Omega is at risk. They have asked for police protection. We will be monitoring this conversation to ensure their safety, but no recordings will be made.”

“I have no issues with that.”

He nodded and reached across to open the door for us. Theo went in first, eyeing the two haggard-looking Alphas as he moved to the side to hold the door open for me. Jack stepped into the room only for a moment to advise that an officer would be outside the door and Jack himself would be monitoring the room from the other side of the one sided glass. We stood staring at the others for a moment after Jack left the room until Gavin Rothchild began to fidget and broke the silence via blurting.

“I didn’t mean the things I said about Ethan that night. We aren’t like that. I just?—”

The other Alpha put his hand over Gavin’s and squeezed it in an affectionate way that also indicated he should relax. I arched an eyebrow and sat down across from them as Theo chose to remain standing.

“I could say I don’t care about what you said to my Omega that night, but it would be a lie. You hurt him, and whether it was your intention or not, confirmed his fears about his worth as a male Omega.”

They winced and Gavin’s shoulders slumped.

“It’s all my fault, I was stupid enough to fall for it?—”

“We all bought his bullshit, Gav.”

Shaking his head Gavin turned to his packmate with sorrow and self-hatred filling his face.

“Not like I did, Max, and you know it.”

The other Alpha, Max, growled and pulled Gavin closer until he had an arm around his shoulders.

“Maybe you should start from the beginning.”

“What do you already know? That would save us some time.”

Max had a no-nonsense air about him but without the bullshit bravado and entitlement, in different circumstances, I might have respected him.

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