Page 38 of Psycho Beasts

My priority was Sadie.

The other alphas were fine men—the only other alphas I’d met that I didn’t hate—but what I felt for them was friendship.

What I felt for the small, beaten woman purring in my arms was fucking soul consuming.

I’d fight beside the men, but I’d gut myself on my own knives for her.

I just had to prove myself to her.

If it weren’t for the fact that Sadie liked the other alphas, I’d probably be kidnapping her away from them right now.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that we were safer together. My emotions might be running high, but I wasn’t a fucking idiot.

Three alphas protecting Sadie was more than I could do by myself. The more people who cared for her, the higher the chances she stayed safe.

That was all that mattered.

I also couldn’t take her away because of her sister. Only an idiot couldn’t see that Lucinda was Sadie’s entire world.

She hadn’t stopped staring at her, or touching her, since they’d been reunited.

It scared me because I’d recognized immediately that Sadie’s happiness depended on her sister saying safe. Her sister, who was just as small as Sadie but without the edge of violence in her eyes.

Lucinda was a softer version of her older sister, which meant she was even more vulnerable and, therefore, needed even more protection.

I took a deep breath as my stomach coiled with anxiety.

Jax’s, Cobra’s, and Ascher’s scents of chestnuts, frost, and pine were a woodsy musk that balanced Sadie’s sweet cranberry scent.

I wasn’t alone; the other men would help protect the girls.

“Girls” plural because Sadie also smiled and laughed at everything Jax’s sisters did, like just being around them made her blissfully happy.

Thinking about Jinx made the corners of my mouth pull into a smile. One thing was for sure: that little girl was going to make an amazing soldier.

Competence and leadership practically wafted off her.

In contrast, Jess, with her bright-green-streaked hair, practically radiated with energy and mischief that was going to get her in trouble. And Jala was sweet in a way that also spelled trouble.

As did the fact that all the girls had huddled around Lucinda like she was already one of them.

Four teenage girls, each of whom my Sadie cared about, and only one of them, Jinx, was cold enough to protect herself.

Any trained soldier would see that keeping them safe in the beast realm was going to be a logistical nightmare.

My whole life, I’d been a lone soldier.

Even before the sacred lake at the edge of the city had revealed I was an omega, I’d kept to myself.

With my family’s exorbitant fortune, I’d learned quickly not to trust people’s motives. Instead, I’d spent all my time training at the gym and playing with my knives. That was my happy place.

People always disappointed me.

A harsh lesson I’d first learned from my mother. She’d fallen apart after my father’s death until she’d eventually wasted away. Apparently, I wasn’t enough for her.

I shifted on the floor and noticed Ascher was staring at me.

He was sitting with his shoulders back as blood dripped from open wounds on his face. With his tattoos, horns, and woodsy alpha scent, my omega instincts should have screamed “danger” in his presence.

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