Page 28 of Cause Of Death

Wisp murmurs her assent mere seconds before Kieran’s voice crackles back down the line. My mind is reeling, so I only half-listen to the conversation between father and son, which is why it takes me a little longer than usual to understand exactly what is being discussed.

“Are you sure about this, Kieran? It’s not something you can just ignore or forget about after it’s all said and done. This is for life, son.”

“Dad, please, trust me on this. These people haveeveryreason to either ignore my plight or hand me over to the alphas who are hunting me, but they are determined to protect me instead. You know what I can do, and how I can sometimes tell what a person is like thanks to their energy signature. These people aregood. Not pure and without blemish, because some of their jobs are the very definition of illegal. But they have ethics and morals, and to be honest with you, I think if we’d met under normal circumstances, we would all be rather good friends.”

What is going on? What have I missed?

“Well, whose name will they take? Will they become the Prince Pack? What about this other omega? How would two omegas in the same pack work?” Edgar fires back, and I want to cry.Kieran is asking his father’s permission to join another pack. With another alpha. Without me.

“Well, that all depends on Adam.” Kieran sasses back, and the bratty tone yanks me from my wallowing.

“Me? Why does it depend on me?”

Edgar gives me a wry look, shaking his head at my ignorance. I can’t blame him, either. I haven’t been paying attention, which isnotsomething I’m known for.

“Adam,” Kieran plaintively whines, “you haven’t been listening, have you? The pack wants you to come to where we’re located, to help me through my heat. If you’re unwilling to join and bond with them, so be it, but at least you and I will have a safe space, and there will be betas on hand to make sure we’re taken care of.”

Okay, this doesn’t sound so bad…

“But there’s also an invitation for the both of us to join their pack. Two alphas taking care of two omegas,together, with the support of three betas. While they might be strangers to us, we’re not strangers to them. They know us, respect us, admire us. I know it sounds stalker-y, but I can’t really explain further until you get here and see them for yourself. Then you’ll understand, I promise.”

It all sounds very suspicious, and there’s a large part of me that wants to simply deny Kieran’s request and order him back home. But he’s not my omega, not yet, and I don’t have the authority to demand his obedience in these circumstances.

But if I agree to the offer, all that will change.

Edgar, to my surprise, doesn’t seem to be too disturbed by this sudden turn of events. I mutter some platitude to Kieranand beg for his indulgence for a moment and mute our end of the call.

“Spit it out, Edgar,” I bark at the man as soon as I tap the icon, uncaring that I’m speaking to my boss in such a defiant manner.

“Adam, you’ve worked for the Royal empire for a very long time. We’ve personally known each other for the past eleven years or so, and I’ve spent the last six of them waiting for you to ask my permission to mate with my son. While I commend you on your diligence and determination to put his safety first, the boy has been in love with you since almost the first day you both met. I don’t blame you for not wanting to cross the boundaries between business and pleasure, but a part of me wonders if we’d even be in this predicament if you had already taken that leap and were my son-in-law.”

Guilt tears through me without pause or mercy, and any defense I have against Edgar’s mild rebuke folds like a lousy hand at poker.

“I think you should go to them. Decide for yourself once you get there whether or not you wish to join their merry band, and if not, so be it. But no matter what, I want you to bond with my son, if you love him as much as I think you do. See him through his heat. Knot him, bite him, mate and bond with him. Become the family he’s always wanted, and deserves.”

With that order ringing in my ears, Edgar unmutes the phone and lets Kieran and Wisp both know that I’ll be joining them, and to please provide a list of essentials they’ll need me to bring along to ensure Kieran’s health and comfort during his heat.

It looks like dreams reallycancome true.

My skin crawls with anticipation,like a thousand ants are moving beneath my flesh. I’m dressed comfortably in casual, yet adaptable clothing with a backpack slung over my shoulders and a duffel resting at my booted feet. My healing arm is nestled securely inside a reinforced arm brace to protect it from bumps while it heals, and I’ve forgone a sling entirely.

It took a little longer that I wanted to get everything together, as I refuse to go anywhere with a group of unknowns without protections in place. While I won’t violate the directions I’ve been given regarding electronics and the like, I’m also not so green that I’ll walk into an unfamiliar setting or situation without arming myself. My bags both contain a standard side-piece and two extra magazines, and I have another attached to my belt and hidden beneath my shirt. A serrated folding knife is tucked away in a side pocket of my backpack, with another tucked in my right boot, and several more buried among my clothes in the duffel.

As much as I want to pace to release some of my agitation, I don’t. Instead, I lean up against a large tree located to the left of the toilet block, in the car park where I was told to wait.

I can’t stop my feet and fingers from tapping, though.

After what feels like an interminable age—but is most likely half an hour at the most—a dark metallic gray 2019 Chevrolet Suburban rolls to a stop in front of me. The front passenger window lowers with a quiet, electric hum, and a rather intriguing individual leans out to leer at me.

I’m not quite sure what to make of them. Their hair, a tousled mess of deep burgundy strands, is cut in an angled style thataccentuates the sharpness of their cheeks and jawline. Vibrant magenta eyes glare at me, the orbs surrounded by thick, dark lashes. Their lips and eyelids are smudged with what looks like day-old makeup, and their fingernails are immaculate and colored with dark plum polish. Their entire appearance seems off, especially when you take into account the rather plain and rumpled black button-down they’re wearing. That, and the light dusting of stubble coating the tanned skin of their jaw. Whoever they are, they’re likely not as polished as normal. I guess spur-of-the-moment abductions really cut into personal grooming time.

“I see that our Wisp didn’t lie when she said how eminently fuckable you are. I can also see why Kieran is desperate to have you knot him.” The predatory leer disappears, abruptly replaced with languid dismissal.

“Get in the car, hero. We have a drive ahead of us, Steve’s only had one coffee, and there are two needy omegas waiting on our return,” the fascinating person orders, and I find myself instinctively obeying.

They’re not an alpha, but they have presence and charisma in spades. My guess is if they ascribe to any sort of designation, then they’re a delta, hands down. While sigmas can range in size, they’re generally larger than this person, and gammas tend to be less brash and abrasive.

I slam the back passenger door behind me, and the moment it catches, the driver of the SUV hits the gas. I scrabble for a moment to buckle myself in, the accident of yesterday still too fresh in my mind to allow me to sit easily while another person drives.

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