Page 52 of Lonely Alpha

Mercury took it far too seriously. “Don’t you dare.”

“If you don’t come see her, I just might.”

“You’re lying to blackmail me,” he said.

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“You know me better than that, Merc. It might have started as a tease, but I’m not above doing it.”

He hung up.

That meant he was on his way. I texted him the address in case he didn’t know it and wandered into the office to put yesterday’s clothes on.

* * *

Mercury’s pounding at the door startled Kiara. She jumped in her seat and yelped, hand going down to her knife. It was half out of the holster ready for use when Leighton got up from the table to answer the knock.

“Where is he?” Mercury demanded.

His aura flared, sharp cinnamon overshadowing the comforting aroma of old books that my packmate was known for. Kiara was wide-eyed and her coconut chocolate scent was sour until I leaned across the table.

“It’s only my packmate,” I murmured, my lips close to her ear.

That was what Mercury first saw when he walked in. Me, close enough to the dangerous little omega that she could take that teeny blade and shove it through my neck easily. Being so exposed got me hot and had the added benefit of making Mercury fucking panic.

“Donotstab him,” he barked.

His order hung in the air before dissipating. The bark only lasted a few seconds, and if she’d wanted to, she could have ignored it with some effort. It wasn’t like Leighton’s orders that bound her in invisible chains.

I stayed in place as Kiara stared at him with her mouth hanging slightly open.

“Why would I stab him?” she asked, turning her eyes to me.

Her eyelashes looked so long and thick this close up.

“You stabbed Ambrose, unless there’s another omega with a fucking knife,” Mercury said.

The venom in his tone set Leighton off. “Sit down or get out of my fucking apartment.”

If possible, my ass pressed further into my seat. While not a bark, it kind of felt like one. Except, more oppressive, and I wanted to do whatever she said. That last part might be because that was my kink, though.

My packmate grudgingly sat, glaring at Kiara. Leighton yanked me back so I wasn’t leaning so close to her omega anymore, going to stand behind Kiara with her hands on her shoulders. “Why are you here?”

“Dash threatened me,” Mercury muttered.

All eyes turned to me. I shrugged. “Threatened is a strong word.”

“You told me you were going to beg her to stab you if I didn’t come see her.”

Kiara let out a little gasp, the kind I wanted to swallow down. Leighton sighed. “And you believed him? I thought you were supposed to know him well.”

“I do,” Mercury said, glaring at me. “That’s exactly why I raced over here.”

“He wouldn’t have actually done it.”

Leighton said it, but it sounded like a challenge. I grinned. She would push me back if I tried to lean across the table again, but that wasn’t the only way to get close to the omega. My foot slid across the floor until it found hers, and then I ran the back of my socked foot up her leg until it was caught between her thick thighs.

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