Page 43 of Feral Alphas

Felina eyes me suspiciously. “Please tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing?”

I shrug. “What’s a man to do when his partner won’t listen?”

Her eyes widen. “Oh, fuck you!” She flashes me a rude finger. “Now I’ll have no peace tonight!”

I laugh. “Sure, but you’ll have a checkup.”

She pokes her tongue at me.

Someone knocks on my partition. “Still here, Colt?”

I spin to find Simon, one of the beta senior special agents. “Just got back from the feral alpha transfers. Need something?”

He runs his bottom lip through his teeth. “Nah, but I thought you should have a heads up. At the mission rundown today, they said Liam was the one who tracked the haze back to the arena, and he didn’t deny it. The assistant director promoted him to supervisory special agent.”

It’s like he’s poured ice-water down my back. The chill runs all the way to my toes. “That was my lead! I found the link, even Minstrom knows that!”

Simon’s face falls. “Thought so. I’m sorry, Colt.”

My hands clench together, triggering pain all the way up my arms from my overworked muscles. We needed that pay rise so bad!

“Fucking dirt-bag!” Felina hisses. “That asshole’s crossed a line this time. I swear he’s got a hard-on for you, boss, the way he keeps getting in your business.”

Anger roars through me, blocking out the rest of what she asks Simon. I actually can’t ever recall being this angry, and I know it’s not just because of that ass-wipe, but because of what I saw today and all the alpha pheromones I’ve breathed in. But frankly, Liam deserves every bit of hate coming his way.

“Boss?” Felina calls as I tear out of the office.

It keeps ricocheting through me with no outlet, growing bigger with each bounce. I can sympathize with those feral alphas right now, wanting to tear the whole damn world to shreds.

Liam always goes to the Bureau gym for an hour after work because he’s obsessed with his fucking body, and he has no pack to go home to. Right now, my compass points to the ground floor.

“Don’t do it, Colt!” a voice shouts behind me as I fling open the door.

But I’m not listening. The smell of sweat and machine oil brushes across my face, and Liam’s scent mixes in with it all.

He grins as he spots me, stepping onto the sides of the treadmill as he hits the off button. “Colt! Did you come to see me?”

Pieces of me are cracking apart and I have no desire to stop them. Let them fall, so long as he goes down too. “Did you take credit for my work, Liam?”

“What’re you talking about? I’m the one who traced the money. But how about we go out for—”

The crack of knuckles on flesh sounds even before I register the solid feel of his jaw giving way to my fist. Liam goes down, the still-moving belt dumping him off the back end of the running machine.

Swearing and shouts echo in my ears.

“Stand down, agent!” someone laces the order with alpha command as agents who smell familiar haul me back by the arms. The blinding anger shuts off like a lid got slapped over my boiling pot the moment my gaze gets torn away from Liam, but I can feel it simmering inside.

“Shit, he reeks of alphas. Get him out of here!”

The heels of my Bureau issued boots scrape the ground as they drag me away while Liam gets himself upright, a shocked look on his face. Asshole!

The hot fury fades and reality sets in as I wait in an empty meeting room while the other agents contact Minstrom. I curl my hands around the edge of the desk, trying to think of an answer as to why I punched a fellow officer, but my thoughts keep swirling in a dark vortex.

I still can’t explain myself when Minstrom comes back into the office half an hour later, and I don’t even feel like talking to him because he’s as much a culprit as the other fucker. I had my suspicions that our boss was looking for reasons to promote Liam, but now my fears have been confirmed.

Felina, bless her, makes excuses for me about the alpha testosterone with what’s left of her voice, but it doesn’t ease Minstrom’s disgusted gaze.

“Turn in your badge and weapon. You’re on suspension until I can get this mess cleaned up, Agent Nesters!”

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