Page 56 of Claimed By the Alpha Wolves

With that, Ezra takes a seat next to me, putting a protective hand on my knee. Cayson sits on my other side, taking my clammy hand. Both men scream of tension through every inch of them, and my mind is left trying to work this out.

“She should stand up here with me,” Kurt snaps angrily.

Ezra flashes him a dangerous smile. “We’re all quite comfortable where we are.”

They glare at each other, and I wonder if Kurt is thinking of when Ezra kicked his ass in my room. Probably. He’s probably also considering if he can take on Cayson and Ezra, which he can’t.

Something inside of me eases a little.I’m safe with Cayson and Ezra. For now.

Kurt looks absolutely murderous. I don’t know what Cayson and Ezra are up to, but with them sitting on either side of me, I suddenly feel like I’m able to move my body again. Like Kurt won’t be able to hurt me.

“Thank you,” I whisper, a tear streaking down my cheek.

They squeeze me gently, and I look away from Kurt, wondering where we go from here.

TWENTY-FOUR

Faye

“Come on,” Cayson says, his hand gripping mine the second the council calls for the event’s end. I see Kurt on the stage, trying to make his way toward us, but Cayson and Ezra usher me through the crowd before he can even step down into the main ballroom area.

My last view is of Addilyn looking concerned in the crowd behind me, and then we’re out of the ballroom. My head feels light as we push open the doors leading to the outside.I came to The Selection hoping to leave here without an alpha, and here I am, with two.

Three, if I count Kurt.

Oh my gods, Kurt chose me as his omega.My stomach turns and I yank away from Ezra’s grasp, turning and vomiting into the bushes as anxiety courses through me. Ezra rubs his hand on my back, but Cayson hovers nervously.

“We have to go,” Cayson says, “before he gets out here, or we’ll have to deal with that prick before we’ve talked.”

When I’m done, Ezra offers me his handkerchief and I use it to wipe my mouth, grateful. I pull out the mint leaves from mypocket and chew on them as we walk, knowing it will freshen my breath and soothe my stomach. Not that that’s my major focus.

Kurt. Kurt as my alpha.The urge to vomit rises again, but I push the feeling down.There’s a way out of this. There has to be a way out of this.

My mind starts working. When an alpha selects an omega, they continue participating in the games to get to know each other further, but it’s just a formality. If an alpha wants an omega, she’s his, unless multiple alphas claim her and they don’t get along. I’ve never heard of an omega rejecting an alpha… I don’t even think the ultimas would allow that to happen. Because they want their alphas to be happy. To have whatever omegas they want.

Our opinions don’t matter at all.

Ezra takes my hand and walks me to an area of the castle grounds I’ve never been to before. There’s a garden, and a massive greenhouse like something out of a fairytale. He leads me in that direction, while constantly looking behind us as if looking for something.

For Kurt.

As soon as we walk into the greenhouse together and I know we’re alone, I turn to the two of them, my eyes wide. My mind is working. I’d been so terrified about Kurt, I wasn’t really focused on their role in this.Why had they claimed me? And what the hell do we do now?

“Why would you do that?” I ask, my gaze darting between the two of them.

Cayson, the commitment-phobe, and Ezra, who made it clear from the very first day that he wasn’t interested in claiming an omega. Something isn’t adding up.

Ezra’s gaze darkens. “Kurt is a monster. He killed your brother. He killed that girl. He broke into your room, planning to do… planning to hurt you. And if I were to take a bet, he choseyou as his omega to do something awful to you,” he murmurs, turning on his heel and pacing back and forth.

Is my future that clear?I sit down on the brick wall lining the plants, feeling lost and weak. “That’s what I thought the second he said my name. But once an alpha claims an omega, it’s almost impossible to escape them.”

Cayson sits down next to me and takes my hand. “There’s one way out of it,” he says, taking a deep breath. “We’re going to fake a bond with you, then make sure we don’t ‘bond’ with Kurt, so he’ll be forced to back off. This way, we can keep you safe from him and get all three of us out of The Selection without being paired.”

I stare at him. That… that could actually work. It’s just about the only way an omega can escape an alpha. Except, no one would do something so crazy, because if the council found out, they’d be in deep shit.

Do they realize the danger they’re putting themselves in?

“If the council finds out?—”

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