Page 68 of Psycho Alphas: Part One

Perhaps she’d behaved for him, scent match and all.

“His rules?” she asked, surprised. Her lips curved up so gently, the echo of a smile derisive. “It doesn’t matter.Youaren’t in Ace’s league.”

It was just so damn blunt that I chuckled, an image flashing in my mind of the only time I’d crossed paths with the Alpha. He had been seated in the room we’d just left, looking down at a version of me that had fallen to the greatest depths I’d ever crashed.

In my memory, he was encircled by a crimson halo. A mirage seeping into my vision, blood or fury, I’d never been sure. And that day, he’d so easily pulled strings that had ricochet across years of my life. “That’s true,” I said with a shrug. Ace Maverick had been larger than life, from presence, to decisions, to the impact he’d had.

Thistle narrowed her eyes like she hadn’t been expecting that answer.

“So. His rules were harsher?” I prodded. She was strangely protective over the scent-matched Alpha she’d killed, and it did pique my interest, even if I didn’t want to admit that to her so readily.

“Hedidn’t need to set rules to convince others he’d claimed anyone, when no Omega came close to deserving his claim.”

I snorted. “Except you?”

Only, I saw the briefest flicker of agony in her eyes, and then it was gone as she gave me a sour smile. “That’s what I’m saying, Alpha,” she breathed, leaning close. “He isn’t in your league. He doesn’t play by the same rules.”

My mind raced as she managed to deliver those words with enough venom to drown anything else that lurked beneath, but I’d seen her moment of panic.

I’d wondered about how touch starved she was, if it might be something strategic. I could see, perhaps, a twisted plan to match her mad little mind.

But now, I was second guessing that.

Was she touch starved for exactly the reason one might guess?

Had he…rejectedher?

Hisownscent match…

“What about your other scent matches?” I asked. There were two other Alphas who’d once been in Ace’s pack. Both killed only weeks ago, before Ace himself. “Am I intheirleague?”

Her lips drew back in a disgusted snarl. “They weren’t mine,” she said. “Gross and worthless just like most Alphas. He packed up with them for politics and told that lie to keep me safe—so my connection to him wasn’t as isolated.”

“They weren’t yours?” I asked, surprised by that. “So Ace was your only other scent match?”

“I don’t scent match weak Alphas.”

“Two for one on that one, I’m afraid.” I grinned, happy to slip into more familiar territory. “You know, I sent Rogue that picture.”

“What?” She froze, smugness falling away for shock.

“You and the gun last night.”

“Wait. He saw?” For a moment, her eyes swam with tears, gaze darting between mine, but she couldn’t seem to finish.

“Your precious scent match wasn’t even strong enough not to take a little pleasure from what I was doing to you.”

It took a second for her to process what that meant. “He liked it?” she asked, violet orbs even more glassy than before. “H-he thinks I’m pretty?”

Uh.

I opened my mouth, then shut it, so caught off guard by her words that my own abandoned me completely.

Well.

Shit.

But what, exactly, had I expected, really?

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