Page 51 of Terror

I look up at him. Why, yes, it’s the scar-face Alpha. “I’m sorry.” Do these aliens not mourn their children?

“My son.” He points. “I can use the expressiondead beat. Not to be confused with the expressiondeadbeat.”

Tears run down my cheeks, and I press my palm against Arkin’s chest and tap it gently. Laser fire burned his armor and skin. “Purr for me,” I whisper. I don’t know what I’m saying. There’s a hole in my chest, and I can’t think. I can barely breathe. “Purr for me.”

Arkin’s chest rumbles.

I still.

His dad smiles and stands. “You owe me a bag of chips. Now move away so I can pick him up.”

“I got him, Dad,” says a Hordesman. His armor clanks as he crouches, his face hidden under a metal mask that looks like a bull with huge horns.

“Atta boy.” Arkin’s dad proceeds into my house as if he owns it.

“Hey, Knothead,” he says to Arkin. “Raven's peeved at how many you took out with your bare hands. I took a picture of his face after he counted the bodies. I’ll sell it to you”—he turns to me—“for a million dollars." The Hordesman peels a piece of Arkin's armor. It's dry and comes off easily. “Transition," he mumbles. "Could you do something for me, Omega?”

I nod. I can’t form words.

"Fill a tub with cold water.”

“Okay.”

He picks up Arkin’s rigid body and carries him into the house. Before he enters, he turns. “Now, Omega.”

Chapter 19

A few days later

Tabby

Portable hologram in hand, I descend the stairs, a bounce in my step. We’re gonna do the party thing, and people RSVPed. I know they’re not here for me. I know they’re coming to connect with Terror, but I don’t care about those people who aren’t there for me as much as I used to. Terror and a bunch of aliens are all I need in my life. And a hound or a two, maybe even a litter. Rumor has it, before the female hound went on her trip to Mexico with the Horde, Miyo competed for the right to mount her and has done his job with her. Soon, baby hounds will drool on Terror’s favorite sofa, the one he occupies now.

Eyes on the hologram, I round the sofa and plop onto his lap. “Hey, babe. You think we should go with the pink-and-gray theme or red and white? Red being your thing and all.” I browse the samples Leah sent me. When he doesn’t answer, I lift my gaze and quirk an eyebrow.

Terror smiles wide, his eyes oddly off-center looking at my face. There’s a tattoo on his neck I haven’t seen before.

“Did you get a new tattoo?”

He smiles wider.

“What the fuck?” comes from the door. Arkin crosses the room in two strides.

I leap off the male’s lap and clutch the holo to my chest. “Oh my God. Oh my… There’s two of you.”

The male on the sofa throws his head back and laughs. At the sound of Terror’s deep baritone, my pussy clenches, liquid threatening to spill down my thigh. Cue tomato face.

Arkin glares at what can only be his brother.

The male stands, taller and wider than the other Alphas I’ve seen, even bigger than Arkin. “Tayseer. Junior.” He dips his head. “You may call me Seer.”

Oh!It’s the one who hides under the bull armor.Holy crap.

“She’s not gonna be calling you anything,” Arkin says. “Get the fuck out.”

Seer laughs and swaggers straight into my kitchen. “I smell pussy. Yum.”

Arkin glares at me.

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