Page 20 of Wild Card

My chest gets tight from hearing the word alphas.

I’ve always understood Lennox would need a pack one day. Back when single couple pairings were common, omegas suffered because one alpha wasn’t enough to meet their sexual needs during a heat.

Most omegas present before twenty-one, but she hasn’t had a full heat yet, just waves. I’ve done my best to help her through the spikes as they came.

And yet, I won’t be enough once a real heat hits.

It fucking kills me, because I remember how perfect it was to have her to myself. I’d still never cause her to suffer just because I don’t share well.

“How did you find me?” Lennox asks, dragging me out of my dark thoughts.

“Your sister wouldn’t tell me anything, but I finally got it out of her alphas. Only, they sent me to The Exchange here on the island. That fucking place wouldn’t even confirm whether or not you were there.” I sigh, bumping my ass against the door to the bed-and-breakfast. Once it opens, I walk us into the small vestibule with newspapers and a candy machine. “This was the only place I could get a room, so I settled in here last night. My plan was to call your sister again and beg her to give me your new number, but I didn’t want to bother her too early.”

It’s far from warm, since we still have another set of doors to go through before we’re fully inside the building, but it’s a step up from being out in the biting wind.

“The Exchange didn’t have space for me.” Lennox shakes her legs until I place her on her feet. “Not yet, anyway. I had lab work done, but their best estimate is that my first heat will come sometime in the beginning of January.” She shrugs, glancing away. “I’m waiting for the call to tell me when a spot opens up.”

“You came up here all by yourself, knowing they didn’t have a spot open?” I ask, trying to keep my concern from coming out sounding like anger.

“I’ve been floating around alone for months now, Thorne.” She sighs. “I don’t want to bother Brooklyn, and I’m never moving back home with my family. I kinda hoped I would get lucky and a spot would randomly open if I was close by…”

There’s that eternal optimism of hers.

She might be a little naive, but after the ugliness surrounding me for the last few years, her hopeful outlook is nothing short of charming.

Being undercover got progressively worse, until I almost forgot it was all a fucking act. Then she fluttered in, with her big hazel eyes and easy smiles.

She became my light at the end of the tunnel—the reminder of why I was surrounded by human garbage on a daily basis. Protecting people like her is why I became an agent, but along the way, I ended up jaded. I even started to wonder if I was any better than the thug I was pretending to be, but Lennox tethered me in my darkest hour.

Maybe I’m a selfish motherfucker because she’s not getting rid of me now.

It’s just not happening.

She can be pissed and give me hell.

And I’ll endure every second of it until she’s ready to let me back in.

Lennox huffs, shoving up the sleeve of the coat she’s drowning in.

All my concerns about what happened to her last night flood back in.

This is why she needs me at her side.

That way, she can continue to be innocent to the horrors of the world.

And if anything monstrous tries to touch her, I’ll demolish it, so she can continue to live like the happy-go-lucky angel she’s always been.

“Okay, so you’ve got a plan for your heat, but talk to me about last night,” I say, studying her beautiful face. “Whose coat is that? What happened to you?”

“I went out, had some drinks, hooked up with a couple of really hot guys that I’ll probably never see again. You caught me on my walk back to sleep off the dick-down coma.” She flashes me a cutting smile.

I quirk an eyebrow because I’m not buying any of it.

She shrugs. “I’m finally enjoying my life without having to act like everyone else expects me to.”

My lips roll together as I fight the urge to call her on her bullshit.

She doesn’t smell like sex.

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