Page 53 of Claimed By the Alpha Wolves

She doesn’t need me.

There’s a knock at the door, and it can only be one person this late at night. I quickly fold the picture, tucking it back into my wallet before Cayson comes strolling in, a bottle of scotch hanging from his fingers. His blond hair is wild on top, as wild as his dark eyes, and I wonder if he’s already had a few. Not that I blame him. The meeting with the council was brutal.

“Hey man,” he says, striding in before letting his back hit the wall beside my bed. He slides down so he’s sitting on the ground with the scotch between his legs. “Long fucking day.”

“Right,” I say, eying the scotch.

I know drinking right now probably isn’t the answer, but I can’t deny that a little numbness might feel good. As an alpha, I’m not accustomed to feeling useless. Usually, it’s as if the world is always there, bowing in servitude. Experiencing this other side of life is… unpleasant to say the least.

“Did you see her face earlier?” Cayson asks, taking a swig of the scotch, pain etched across his face. “When the council told her not to point fingers?”

“Yes,” I say, my voice tight. I slide down off the bed and come to sit across from him, my fingers reaching out for the bottle. He reluctantly passes it to me. “It was unpleasant.”

“She was fuckingdevastated.I can’t believe they’re doing this. They sent that girl’s body home and I haven’t heard anything else about an investigation. It’s like they don’t even care.”

It really was like they didn’t care. Had an alpha been murdered, this entire place would have been torn apart. Each person would have been questioned, and people would have been brought in from the outside to help with the investigation.

This… this was a slap in the face to Serra and her family. I can’t even believe that this is actually how this situation will be handled.There must be more to it that we’re not seeing. There has to be.

It’s true that Kurt’s father, Dexter, is a dangerous man. The kind of man who starts wars over perceived insults and has the kind of instability that every wolf seems to fear. But even he isn’t untouchable.

It’s just that the ultimas don’t want to potentially start a war over the loss of one omega, especially with a pack filled with strong males. Which is sad.

“I think we just have to trust the process. Once the ultimas have time to think, I’m sure justice will be served,” I say without thinking, because it’s a sentiment I always believed, though I’m not so sure I believe that any more.

Hell, how can I possibly think that now?

All my life I’ve believed in the council. In the order of things. I knew deep inside that alphas, betas, and omegas all had their places in our society, but all were valued and protected the waythey needed to be. But seeing things through Faye’s eyes makes me feel like I bought into a lie that’s been told so many times that everyone just believes it.

Cayson raises an eyebrow at me like he can hear the skepticism in my voice. “Trust the process, right,” he says, taking the bottle back from me.

There’s a tense moment before I say, “The guards haven’t seen him near her door.”

“I guess there’s at least that.”

The guards are our best bet at keeping her safe. Other than moving in with her and watching her every move, which we wouldn’t be able to do… not unless we claimed her as our omega, which we, of course, wouldn’t do.

Cayson gives me a tired look. “To make things worse, I can’t focus on anything else. I even had a dream about her last night.”

“Wow,” I say, raising my eyebrows sarcastically. “You, dreaming about a woman?”

I’m pretty sure the horny bastard dreams about women every night, getting his rocks off even in his sleep. There’s no way his dreams are even close to appropriate for most of the population, so him dreaming about Faye like that is no surprise.

“No, dude,” he says, leaning forward. “You don’t understand. It wasn’t a sex dream.”

What?That actually does surprise me. Cayson dreaming about a woman, about Faye, without the entire thing revolving around sex? Maybe he has to ease up on the liquor.

Cayson ruins the moment by continuing. “But that’s the thing. I think my body is just confused. I think I just need to bang it out of my system. I already tried with a couple of other omegas, but I couldn’t even get started. Being near other women, it’s just not scratching the itch. I think the only solution is that I need to get Faye, then the urge will go away.”

Something itchy moves under my skin at his words, but I push it away.

“There’s just something about that girl, man,” Cayson says, taking a swig from his scotch. “It’s like she’s a brainworm or something. Stuck in my head.”

“I have to admit,” I say, running a hand over the back of my neck and reaching for the bottle, “I’m feeling a connection with her, too.”

“Noshit,” Cayson says, laughing. He doesn’t look surprised, just happy. “Big bad Ezra has a crush on our little Faye. I can’t believe this!”

“Very funny.”

---