Page 37 of Fall of the Alpha

Holding his head up high, he strode out into the street, sauntering as if he hadn’t a care in the world. If anyone saw him, no matter what they knew about the situation, all they would see was that he was holding himself with confidence. They would question whether or not they had the right of it—after all, if he looked calm and in control, then things couldn’t be so bad.

That was how he’d gotten himself to the position he had, and he intended to keep it.

He ran into a roadblock at Paldon’s home.

“What do you mean, I cannot be admitted? I need to see Paldon!”

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the guard, not sounding at all apologetic. “The First is not at home.”

Grigori immediately ran through Paldon’s schedule in his head. He always knew where the other male was; he had his meetings memorized. There was nothing, in no small part because Paldon had canceled everything that was not absolutely necessary after Bella had been taken. If something had changed, Grigori should have been notified about it immediately, if not from Paldon then from one of the males who were supposed to be watching Paldon for him.

Again, the feeling of spiraling out of control gripped him, but he pushed it away. He needed more information, that was all.

He took a deep breath.

“Is Carina here? My mate would be very disappointed with me if I did not at least pay my respects to her, even if Paldon is unavailable.”

“The First’s mate is also not at home.” The guard looked down his long nose at Grigori.

“When will they be back?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not at liberty to say, sir.” Again, there was a complete lack of remorse in his apology, which made Grigori grind his teeth.

Liana and Kenet were fucking.

Paldon and Carina were missing.

His son had been taken.

His spies were fucking useless.

Grigori was spinning in circles with no information… which was a good way for an information keeper to end up dead. But he hadn’t come this far only to fail now. He still had his resources and his own skills.

“Please tell them I came by,” he said stiffly, and the guard nodded. Grigori made a mental note to discover this particular guard’s name. He could have an untimely fatal accident as well.

Paldon had several much more cooperative guards who were well paid to assist Grigori when he wanted entrance. He couldn’t help but wonder where they were.

Suspicions were rising up within him. Had Paldon somehow found out which of his guards were spying on him? And where was he? Who was he meeting with that he didn’t want Grigori to know about?

Something churned in Grigori’s gut, and it took him half a block to finally recognize the emotion.

Fear.

23

THE OMEGA’S DILEMMA

Bella

Being an Omega wasn’t anything like she’d thought it would be. In some ways, that first introduction to it was more aligned with her expectations, despite the fact that she hadn’t been gang raped to death by a slavering group of Alphas. Not even when she was in heat.

Now that her heat was over…

Alpha’s heads still lifted when she walked past, their nostrils flaring, their eyes watching her hungrily, but not one of them made a move toward her. And it wasn’t just because she was with the Wolf. There were other Omegas walking the halls, and they received the same reaction. Trish, Aria, and several who she had not been introduced to.

All of them, other than Trish, walked with confidence, as though they knew they were safe. Protected.

Maybe it was because they had mates?

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