Page 56 of Captive Omega

“And if he’s dead or someone took him?”

“He’s alive.”

“But how can you be so certain of that?” I ask, getting frustrated. Maybe I’m not seeing something. Maybe I just don’t have any instincts and I wish I did. If I’d had those same instincts, maybe I would have known not to step foot in the free heat clinic that ruined my life.

He points his chin at the file. “I’ve been over that file several times. Something in it tells me he is alive. Everything we need to know is in there. I feel it.”

“But you don’t know what that something is?”

“Yet,” he adds. “You have fresh eyes and a different way of looking at the world, Resa. Keep hold of the file. I have a copy if I need it.”

I’m positive I won’t find anything important, but I’ll try. “Okay.”

“We have a party that we’re working this evening,” he says, placing the mug down. “It’s to celebrate a new Ever Safe location opening soon. Rune has asked if we want to cancel it. Only they would know why, since Rune is a friend, and I told him you were here with us.”

I study him, reading between the lines. “This is you asking me what I want. Isn’t it?”

A smile lifts his lips, softening the hard planes of his face. “Like I said, astute. And yes, I am.”

Is it weird to hate alphas and yet to feel pleased at Garrison’s approval?

Probably.

“Will Everleigh be there?” I hadn’t believed I would see her again.

He nods. “Did you want to speak to her?”

“I might.” But… “Are these parties usually eventful?”

“Not usually.” He takes a sip of coffee, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. “The party to celebrate Everleigh becoming Pack Ashe’s omega resulted in us throwing a woman out.”

“For?”

“Upsetting Everleigh,” he says.

That doesn’t tell me anything at all. “What did this woman do to upset Everleigh?”

He shrugs. “You’ll have to ask her. Cian gave a sign that he wanted her gone, so we got rid of her.”

A pang hits me. By pang, I mean a throat punch. To have someone care so much about protecting me they don’t need a reason. Just one sign and they’re gone.

Just like that.

I focus on the file, head down, flipping through the pages and barely taking anything in. All so Garrison can’t see the want in my eyes because I think that’s something I would kill for.

Not the throwing someone out part.

The caring.

I push myself to my feet, closing the file because I’m doing a shit job at hiding my emotions. “If Everleigh is going to be there, I wouldn’t mind speaking to her.”

“Resa?” I must be imagining the concern rumbling Garrison’s voice.

“Yeah?” I try to avoid meeting his eye, but his gaze hooks mine for a split second and I get the sense he saw far more than I wanted him to.

“If there’s anything you want, I’m here.”

No, I mentally say as I walk out. There is nothing I want from you, Garrison Brewster.

---