Page 50 of The Butcher

“Yeah.” I nod slowly.

“Still want to go into town? We don’t have to if?—“

Since this could very well be the one and only time I ever get to go into any town, I try to push my panic down deep and smile. “I still want to.”

And with that, Nash doesn’t say another word, he just nods, leads me to a big truck, and helps me inside before taking me on what might be the first and only adventure I get to go on.

“Ok,she’s playing with Lucy in my office while Nan tries to make an espresso. What the hell has you so up in arms?”

Clay pulls the curtains closed on the room furthest from where Indy is, trying to keep the most distance between us right now in this small fucking shop.

Not that the square footage ever mattered before. No, it only makes a goddamn difference when our omega is in the other room, already anxious and hurt over what the fuck her scent match said via text message. And I need to explain it to my beta without yelling, and somehow keep myself in check so I can show Indy my shop and the horses, all while trying to keep my head from exploding.

I know this has been hard on Bramley.

Finding your scent match nearly frozen to death in a pile of rotting flesh and bare bones is definitely not an easy pill to swallow. Especially if you have Ambrose blood running through your veins but Jesus fuck, I’m one more shitty comment away from spilling said blood.

And yeah, I know why things have picked up, I know why Bram is acting like a bigger asshole than I’ve ever seen him, but if he’s not careful, he’s going to do something irreversible and when he does, he’s going to lose a lot more than his fucking match.

His entire future, our entire future is on the line but if he doesn’t change his fucking attitude, he’s going to be lucky to see tomorrow let alone beyond that.

“Nash,” Clayton hisses as he grabs my arms, stopping me mid-pace as he forces me to look at him. “What is going on, baby?”

I shake my head and grit my teeth, trying to school my tone before I try to speak. “I’m going to fucking kill him, Clay.”

“Who?” His brow furrows as he starts rubbing up and down my biceps. “I need more than that if I’m going to?—“

“Bramley fucking Ambrose,” I growl, breaking free from his grip before I yank my phone from my pocket and pull up that goddamn text.

I shove it in Clay’s face then feel myself get even more pissed as he says, “Yeah, so, he’s being a shithead. He’s been nothing but a shithead since he emerged from his mother’s womb. What more do you?—“

“Indy saw it.”

My beta freezes, a look of shock painting his features briefly before I see it morph into something terrifying and beautiful.

This is the look Clayton gets when we go hunting. It’s the look he gets when he thinks about Maeve and what happened to her,Gramma Lily, and Grampa George. This expression is the one I see my beta wear when he’s stripping skin from muscle, when he’s flaying someone’s insides, and if it wasn’t super fucking inappropriate, I’d fuck him right here on the table in his tattoo room but this is not the time nor is it the place.

At least, not with our omega down the hall.

“I need you to occupy Indy.”

Clayton practically growls as his eyes dart toward the hall.

“Clay, honey,” I say as I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him toward me, forcing him to look me in the eye and come back down to earth. “Tell me you can hear what I’m saying.”

He just stares at me but sees nothing so I grip the sides of his neck and start running my thumbs back and forth over his erratic pulse.

I didn’t realize he was going to get so angry.

Granted, if I didn’t have Indy with me, I would have driven right to Bram and taken care of shit, but this flipped the psycho switch on Clay, and I’m a little surprised by it.

Not that I should be.

She might not be our direct match like she is with Bramley, but Indigo is our match nonetheless, and that means we have pretty strong feelings for her already. And Clayton has been downright obsessed ever since she let him into her room the first time, but still.

He doesn’t get psycho-angry with us.

It’s never quite like this but I can see the murder in his eyes right now and while it really is sexy as fuck, I’ve got to put a lid on it for both of our sake.

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