Page 10 of Feral Alphas

Liam Andrews smirks and leans against the half wall. “Funny, I swear I heard something about you needing haze at home.”

I grit my teeth, wondering how long he’s been listening. Can this man ever open his mouth without pissing me off? “That’s definitely not the case. Didyouneed something, or are you just here to gossip about my private life, Liam?” Good agent or not, Liam Andrews is a man I prefer to spend as little time as possible with.

He bristles at my tone, his lone alpha aggression riding close to the surface, but he covers it with another grin. “No, I came to tell you Minstrom called everyone into the meeting room five minutes ago.” He knocks his knuckles against the wooden partition and smirks. “You would have seen the message if you weren’t gossiping about your need for haze to improve your love life.” He chuckles as he spins around and walks away, his long-legged stride eating up the floor of the captivity crimes department.

“We’ll be right there,” Felina calls after him, passing me my coffee to distract me from the fuming rage which boils up inside my chest.

My grip dents the cup. “I swear I’ll deck him one of these days.”

Felina sighs, turning serious for once. “Can you afford to be put on unpaid suspension?”

I wince. “Go for the jugular, why don’t you?”

She grins back and holds the door open for me. “You taught me well, boss.”

I snort and shake my head. We’re equally-ranked partners, but as a beta she naturally defers to me. Despite her rough words, the mention of my lack of money dries up my anger as fast as water doused on fire. A special agent’s wage is barely enough for a family of two to exist on, let alone get ahead. With his trauma, Luka’s still unable to leave the house so it all rests on me.

Minstrom looks down his nose at us as we slide into seats at the back of the briefing room. “Thank you for finally joining us, agents.”

“Sorry, sir,” I mouth. Yeah, I definitely can’t afford to lose my pay, not after I bungled the bit of inheritance I got on bad financial choices.

Our boss shakes off the interruption with a bob of his balding head. He might be a stickler for rules, but he’s still a good leader, and knows how to get the best out of his team. “As I was saying, the dark web section picked up chatter about an upcoming event, which we believe is an illegal fighting ring, possibly using captive alphas. The only lead we currently have is that the match will supposedly be happening in our state.”

All the alphas in the room growl in response to the idea of being held against our wills.

It goes against my better judgment to speak in a crowded room, but my problem-solving instincts demand it. I raise my hand andMinstrom nods. “In the case I had yesterday, there was a new haze sample and I think it could be a new supplier on the market.”

He nods. “See if you can find a trail, it might lead us to the fight.”

One of the junior beta agents raises his hand. “Would haze be linked to a fighting ring, sir?”

Minstrom’s overgrown eyebrows rise. “You ever been to an MMA match, Bronte?”

The beta shakes his head.

The Bureau special agent in charge leans his arms on the lectern. “There’s a lot of people getting high at those events, and more than drugs happening in the cheap seats, which means plenty of people are looking for a hit of something special. Going to be much worse at an illegal alpha fight.”

The beta flushes and nods with understanding.

Our director knocks his knuckles against the presentation desk. “This will be our priority case, and the assistant director of the OCB will be personally assessing your results. Those of you looking for promotions, this is your time to shine.”

My heart leaps. He’s all but confirming the rumor they’re looking to promote a new supervisory special agent. I could easily do the role despite being a year away from making special agent, and a promotion means an extra $15,000, which Luka and I could seriously use.

Money’s half the reason we don’t have a pack. That and neither of us have ever scent matched with an omega. It’s been twelve years since I paid my fee and put my sample into the Darinian Omega Center and I’ve never heard back, except for one false alarm years ago.

I clench my fists. I’m going to crack this case no matter what.

Felina nudges me, waking me out of my daze as the meeting breaks up. “Did we get put on a team?” I ask.

“Lucky one of us was listening.” She rolls her eyes. “Yes, we’re teamed with your favorite person.”

I whip around in time to catch Liam smirking at me, and he lifts his brows and strolls over, followed by his paired beta. “Well, this should be fun,partner. Let’s go take a look at that haze you got.”

“I’m not your partner,” I snap back.

He shrugs. “Coulda sworn that’s what Minstrom ordered one minute ago.” Liam swans ahead of us, tapping the top of the doorframe on his way out like a teenager. The bastard has a youngster’s energy too, despite being in his thirties. Younger than me, but one rank higher. My first curls up around the case file Minstrom handed out earlier.

Felina leans in to whisper, “Think happy thoughts, and tell your face about them.”

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