Page 119 of Feral Alphas

Rose rushes in to calm him, and her gentle tones soothe some of the unease slithering through my own gut.

When Zane stops twitching, our omega comes over and wraps her arms around my belly. “You were so cool out there!”

I snort and hug her tight. Cool? More like boiling. Over her shoulder, Zane’s gaze flits out the doorway several more times, his lips peeling back in silent warning. He’s as ready to kill for her as I am.

I soak Rose’s sweetness in through our hug until I feel a little more myself, then release her. “Ready to dig a garden bed?”

She grins and nods eagerly.

As I head out the back for a shovel, I scan the house. Now we have an omega to protect, I need security cameras. Maybe that would alleviate the prickling fear in the back of my mind.

Chapter forty-five

Luka

“Colt, we’re not coping financially,” I mutter. My reflection in the mirror sneers back at me as I wrinkle my nose. Why is it so fucking difficult to say? Maybe because I know there’s nothing he can do about it, and I don’t want to lay any blame at his feet.

We have thousands of dollars in bills due and the pantry is looking bare, and to top it off, after his shower this morning Colt said his professional registrations are due. Once they’re paid, he presents the invoices to the OCB and they pay him back, but he has to front up with the dollars first. All three thousand of them.

Kye can’t pay his board this week after his dad froze his assets, and the few hundred I get from my secret side gig doesn’t stretch far with so many extra mouths to feed. I have to tell Colt. And an uneasiness I can’t put into words tells me we need those security cameras. There’s no telling if the reporters chasing Kye will get more invasive, now they know where we live.

I flip off the bathroom light and stalk to my side table. The drawer falls out and I curse under my breath as I wrestle it back into place before snatching up the little faux-velvet bags nestled inside.

As I walk to the kitchen, I count my breathing to calm myself. Kye’s about to ship out, and I don’t want to spoil our morningtogether. In fact, I wanted to do this last night, but we all got distracted in Rose’s nest.

All three of my sane pack members sit at the table eating breakfast, and a supernatural satisfaction gusts through my soul as I take them in. So unique, and all so precious. Mine.

I clear my throat. “Call me sappy or whatever, but I got something for us guys.” I place a little bag in front of Colt and one in front of Kye. “Since Rose already has one, I thought it might be nice if us guys had something as well.”

“What’s this?” Colt asks as he undoes the drawstring and tips out the silver ring into his palm.

“Nothing much,” I murmur. It’s the truth; the rings cost less than thirty dollars each online, but I like the wide look with the beveled lines running through it. I also paid for it with my own money, which feels great.

Kye slips his matching ring on straight away. “Thanks, Luka! This is great.”

I grin and swipe hair out of my face. “You might be going to the concert alone, but at least this way you have a reminder of your pack while you’re gone.”

He gets an odd look on his face and swallows hard. “Yeah.” Poor kid. After all the shit his dad’s put him through, he’s still struggling to come to terms with the fact he belongs here.

Colt stares at the ring in his palm and my stomach knots up. Maybe he hates it. “You probably can’t wear yours to work, but I wanted us to have one each.” I fiddle with the smooth bag between my fingers.

“Luka.”

I look up and my stomach swoops at the smile on my Sir’s face.

“Come.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Before I can kneel, Colt tugs me onto his knee. “Give me yours,” he orders, and I pass him the bag. Gently he slips it on my fourth finger, wriggling the cool metal to get it over my knuckle. Silently he passes his to me and I chew on my lip as I slide it onto his thick finger. It’s beautiful how we don’t need words or any ceremony to make this a sacred moment.

Once it’s on, he rests his hand on mine and tugs on the back of my neck to bring our mouths together. I melt into him, forgetting for a moment how broke we are. Forgetting everything except him.

Colt grins. “Who knew you were such a romantic?” His grip tightens around my neck for a moment, and then he releases me.

I snort as I slide off his knee. Cheap rings bought online aren’t even close to being romantic but I did get their sizes right, and I’m pretty happy about that. Rose sighs happily and I detour by her chair to kiss the top of her head before returning to the kitchen to clean up.

Kye checks his watch. “Shoot, I better get going.” He passes me his plate and rests a hand on my shoulder as I dump it in the sink. “Thanks, Luka. Really,”

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