Page 21 of Alpha Hunger

Silence.

People aren’t even breathing.

But Junior is, and the rattle is a song. A familiar one, the one the Horde uses when they surround a home. They enjoy taunting their enemy. The Horde, my dad said, would approach, and you wouldn’t know what hit you until they were inside the house or until they rattled a song, telling you they were coming. I’ve never heard the tune live, but the media have played it, and everyone in the room knows this is the anthem of Hunger and his Horde.

The prince strides back to the bar and grabs my uncle by his throat. He leaps up the concrete column, clamps his legs around it, and slams my uncle against it. My uncle can’t protest because Hunger is choking him with one hand and holding the concrete with the other.

“Can I get you a ladder?” Christy chirps.

I stare at him, but he’s not looking at me.

Hunger looks down, purses his lips. “Yes, please.”

I swig from my bottle. Meanwhile, Hunger is like Spider-Man hanging on to the smooth concrete, and I’m starting to wonder how long it’ll be before he slides down or just drops my uncle. Everyone knows what’s gonna happen next.

From the back room, two Horde Alphas enter carrying a long metal ladder, which they extend for Hunger, who steps on it.

“I always come prepared,” Christy mutters and pours himself a tequila shooter.

I lean in. “Is it because we never know when the switch from prince to Hunger will happen?”

He nods.

I knew it!

“People flip his switch.” Christy snaps his fingers and drinks, then smacks his lips. “And like that, we go from a pretty prince to…”—he waves a hand—”that.”

Holding up my uncle by his throat, Hunger releases a low whistle, and the other two Alphas climb the column and strap my uncle to it. Hunger climbs down, joins me at the bar, and picks up his beer.

Roped to a concrete column, my uncle coughs and spits.

Holy crap.

“You cannot do this,” my uncle shouts as he shakes his shoulders, wiggling in his bindings. I look around for the woman he brought here, but she’s gone. Poof, disappeared. My aunt would have stuck around.

Hunger turns toward the crowd and clears his throat.

People gather closer, his presence a magnet. The spectacle of the year has happened. Or I hope this is all that happens for the duration of the year.

“For those of you who don’t know me,” he begins.

People snicker, and this puts a smile on his face.

“I am Raven, Prince of Regha, Conqueror of Earth, Hunger to all who cross me, and this man has crossed me. Severely.”

“I’ve done nothing,” my uncle shouts. “You’re punishing an innocent man. This won’t go unnoticed.”

“You hid an unregistered Omega dynamic, and in my city, of all places. You’re either terribly stupid or looking for trouble on purpose. I presume you fed her Betaren. Did you arrange for her not to get hired by anyone so that she had no choice but to apply for a job at the Stronghold? I have a feeling you sent her to me on purpose. Yes?”

“No,” I say and shake my head.

“Quiet, female.”

“Shall we move to the dining room?” a woman asks, and I search for the person who said it. The mayor pushes her way through the crowds and pierces Hunger with a stare. I think she might slay him with the force of her glare.

He smiles. “Yes, my Omega is hungry.”

The mayor leads the way to the large wooden doors her staff opens for us. I start moving with everyone, when he catches my wrist. “Wait.”

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