Page 93 of The Alpha Under My Bed

My scent match.

The irony bled through me like poison.

Ellie had been discarded. Genevieve had been treasured.

And I still chose Ellie.

Julian could put on this little show. He could parade Genevieve in front of me, let her scent flood the room, let my instincts betray me with deep, unwanted pulls of recognition.

But he had already lost.

Because there was nothing in this world—not fate, not instinct, not even biology itself—that could change one undeniable truth.

Ellie was my everything.

“She’s yours, Mal,” Julian continued, his voice sickeningly smooth. “You belong here. With us. With her. That little omega you’ve been playing house with?” He scoffed, shaking his head. “She’s a fucking joke. And you know it.”

Something snapped.

I turned, slow and deliberate, locking eyes with him. “You don’t get to talk about her.”

Julian arched a brow, his smirk widening. “What? Afraid to admit the truth? You think that little nothing of an omega is enough for you?” He gestured toward Genevieve. “You deserve better. We found you better.”

I took a step forward. Genevieve flinched. Julian didn’t. His smirk deepened, his confidence unwavering, like he had already won. Like my body’s reaction to her scent was all the proof he needed. Like he thought he had me pinned down, shackled to the fate he had carved out for me before I was even fucking born.

And maybe, for a weaker man, that would have been true. But I wasn’t weak. I had already made my choice.

And they had no fucking idea what kind of monster they had just unleashed.

I tilted my head, my voice low, measured, deadly.

“You think a fucking scent match means something?”

Julian blinked.

“Do you know what I did to the last alpha who tried to take what was mine?” I continued, taking another slow, deliberate step toward him. “Do you know how long it took him to die?”

The air shifted. The smugness in Julian’s face faltered—just for a second—but I saw it.

I smiled.

And then I moved.

The second Julian hit the floor, the others closed in.

Six of them.

Ethan. Theo. Carter. Sawyer. Levi. Marcus.

I knew them all. Grew up with them. Trained with them. Ate with them. Called them my brothers.

Now?

Now they were just obstacles.

They thought numbers meant something. That I wasn’t already beyond reason. That they could bring me back.

The second they moved, I ended that illusion.

---