Page 32 of Moon Cursed

But all that astounding power didn’t mean shit if my greatest enemy could strut in and out as he pleased... and bring whoever he wanted in along with him.

“Where would he go?” I ventured. “If Badr did get off the grounds, who would he run to? Not his father, so who?”

“Definitely not his father,” Paxton muttered. “Evil bastard.”

It was no shock to me that everyone who had the displeasure of meeting Cygnus Tahan hated him. I knew from listening to his confessions that he was always an irredeemable shithead, so I genuinely had no idea how or why he was chosen for clan alpha.

“What about his mom?”

Paxton shook his head. “Badr never talked about it, but I got the sense he and his mom aren’t close. C—” He sighed. “Castor was the only person in his family that he was close to.”

I looked away, heart squeezing at his name. “What about friends?” I rasped after catching my breath. “Other than you guys. He must’ve talked about the people he hung out with before he wound up trapped in that safe house with the four of you.”

“What about your short time knowing Badr gave you the impression he’s an open book?”

I gave him a look. “An entire year and he didn’t open up about a single thing to you guys? Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he replied, tone flat.

Blowing out a breath, I let it go. The guy was right. I didn’t know Badr long, but I did know him long enough to believe his thoughts, feelings, emotions, and secrets were locked, bolted, sealed, and hidden away on an uncharted island surrounded by man-eating krakens.

“You suck at this, you know.”

I choked, swallowing a sip the wrong way. “What was that?”

“You’re a terrible date.” He snuck some bok choy off my plate. “Here I am, hot as hell, and wowing you with my extraordinary magic, and instead of trying to get to know me, you’re spending all your time asking me about another guy. Was it the whole being-locked-away-in-a-temple thing?” Paxton asked, cocking his head. “Is that why you suck at dating?”

Flames licked my cheeks. “I won’t suck at breaking this bottle over your head!”

Paxton howled, bursting out laughing.

“When exactly does the debilitating pain start?” I gritted. “Because I’d be happy to carry you to your room and drop-kick you on the bathroom floor myself.”

The dick only laughed louder. “You’re the most beautiful woman who’s ever threatened me. I gotta say, it’s taking a lot of the sting out of it.”

I rolled my eyes. How did this guy turn everything I said into a weapon to hit on me with? “What more do you think I need to know about you, Clarke? I got the gist. You had a sucky childhood, all the alphas picked on you, you’re terrible with women because your teenage girlfriend was your right hand, and when you finally grew up, the bullied became the bully. There.” I smiled wide. “Did I leave anything out?”

His lamplighter eyes shone with amusement. “A lot actually. First off, I’m left-handed, and I’m no cheater.”

I snorted, a tiny giggle bursting out. I clamped down on my lip cutting it off, but it was too late. Paxton’s smirk turned smug as well as annoyingly hot.

“And I didn’t have a sucky childhood. I mean, for sure, I ran into more than my fair share of alpha douchebags, but life’s not all bad when your parents are millionaires.”

I froze, my jaw and the masticated beef I was tearing apart—hanging open. “What was that?”

“That’s million, baby, with anm.” I didn’t understand the phrase shit-eating grin until right then. “Yeah, I got expelled from school, but that only meant my moms got to homeschool me in between our trips to Rome, Dubai, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, and Brazil. I studied for the Corvin entrance exam while sunning myself on a beach in Monaco.”

“You’re lying,” I blurted. “You have to be. Because if that’s true, it makes even less sense that a pampered rich boy like you let yourself be ordered around like a servant by Badr.”

He rolled his eyes. “There you go again, playing Pampered Princess Priestess. It doesn’t matter how much money my parents have, Daze. I’m an omega full stop,” he stated. “So if I want to get ahead in this world, I need alphas on my side, not wealth. Can you guess who’s a good friend to have?”

Understanding dawned. “The son of the Sun councilman who is set to take over for his father one day.”

“Bingo,” he crowed, tapping his nose. “Yes, life is a lot easier for me being on Nyx’s, Edric’s, Orion’s, and Badr’s good side, but it also helps that they really are good guys. They’ve never used their power to force me to do something I don’t want to do, while every other alpha I’ve met didn’t think twice about it.”

“Alright, I get it,” I broke in, shaking my head. “I don’t know what it’s like to be an omega, so I should stop pretending I do.”

“Yeah, you should.” His voice was hard. “You’ve got no idea what it’s like having your moms sit you down and tell you they’re not handing the business over to you because any alpha anywhere could come along, force me to hand it over to them, and destroy everything they built.” He looked away. “They’re not leaving me any money or property either, because raging dick rules apply there too. A jealous alpha would just take it away.

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