Page 190 of Juliet & Her Romeos

Olivia stands, twirling the sword.

She wanders to the side of the couch. “I haven’t finished trying this one out yet.”

She clicks her fingers at Swan. “Here, Beta.”

She points to the spot directly in front of her.

Swan clenches his hands but straightens his shoulders. He glances at me first though.

Not at his Alphas — at me, his Omega.

I give a tiny nod.

Stick to the plan.

Swan has never obeyed rules or orders.

Normally, he’d be fighting against this or at least, throwing around sassy comments. But this is the Head Alpha of an organization that we’re trying to take down.

And she’s the only one with a weapon.

Still, that’d never stop Swan. He’s thrown himself into fights with six to one odds before and struggled to take on giants like Dimitri.

But this time, the struggle is with himself to control the rebel and act the submissive.

Shit, that’s going to be the hardest fight of his life.

Swan ducks his head, swaggering to stand in front of Olivia, deliberately slouching.

Olivia stalks around Swan, looking him up and down like he’s a designer hat in a shop that she’s deciding whether to buy and wear or reject.

She presses herself hard against him. “Despite the fact that you should never have bonded with the Cinders girl, you did at least choose a good Beta at Ballet Bonding Night. Swan is by far the best dancer that we have. He reminds me of your dad’s fluid grace. He mesmerized me on that stage. Talented and beautiful.”

Ambrose glowers. “Then why don’t you allow Dad to dance?”

My skin crawls at the way that Olivia reaches out and trails her fingers along Swan’s shoulder.

Don’t touch, my Swan.

I swallow a growl.

I startle, however, when Olivia takes a step back and then drops the sword to hold it across Swan’s hamstrings.

Swan’s eyes go wide with fear.

I tremble. My pulse skyrockets.

Swan’s helpless gaze finds out Ambrose’s.

“You’re still angry that I don’t allow your dad to dance.” Olivia sighs. “I hoped that you’d have matured and grown to understand, now that you have a Beta dancer of your own. These creative types are highly strung. They’re prone to hysterics and anxiety. They’re not the same as the rest of us. In their own way, they’re as defective as Benedict.” Benedict flinches, sinking to the floor and stroking compulsively over his suit. “Of course, they can entrance you on a stage. But once you decide to remove them from the academy and bring them into your home, you need to take precautions. You must tame them, taking away stimulants that can unbalance Betas (who should be calm and sensible), like dance and music. Or put them on medications. It’s your choice.”

Take away their dance or put them on meds…?

Is that how these Alphas view Betas? They’d prefer them as unhappy zombies than full of shining life?

“They’re perfect just as they are.” Ambrose never looks away from the way that the blade is balanced against the back of Swan’s legs like a threat.

We all know what would happen if Olivia sliced across his hamstrings.

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