Page 24 of Two For the Show
“Oh my god, I didn’t even know that was something that could happen,” she says softly. “Matteo, I am so sorry.”
He strokes her thigh with a sad smile on his face. “It’s okay. I understand why you left. It sucked, having the bond stretched like that, and feeling the fear and illness you were going through, but at least I knew you were alive. I know,eventually, I could’ve used the bond to find you. And I would have.”
“I can’t believe you still want me, after all of this.” She sits up a little, ignoring the grunting protests of the two Alphas closest to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”
“Well, you were right not to,” Jude admits. “We had people in our midst determined to hurt you. And the day after you left, Rich showed up.” He drops his voice, tone filled with venom. “Smarmy bastard. I don’t know what you saw in him.”
“We knew you wouldn’t actually be safe with us until we found out who it was that told him where you were, so we had to do that first. Then, we could hopefully convince you to return.” Matteo says, interlacing their fingers.
“Dexter had an idea to get the word to you that you were safe here, and Jude planned the show, after finding the clown masks in their trailers,” Daro continues.
“And I’m assuming you saw the rest,” Jude finishes.
Alex nods, taking in our words quietly as she burrows back into the nest.
“For what it’s worth,” she says, her voice quiet and muffled, but I am so focused on her it’s impossible not to hear. “I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to stay away. I felt like I had to. I’m not used to relying on others, especially not a pack.”
“We know,” I tell her. “This is kind of new for all of us.”
“Thank you for letting me come back.” A yawn breaks the last word apart. “I’ll do better this time.”
“You don’t have to do better,” Quinton whispers. “You just have to be here. To trust us. We’ll figure everything else out.”
I hope she believes him.
Because this time, I’m going to do things differently.
Chapter 10
I’m not supposedto be awake, and I definitely shouldn’t be eavesdropping on Rich, Greg, and Tripp, but they were so loud, and I heard my name. I couldn’t stop myself from creeping out of my room in hopes of overhearing them.
“Alex isn’t what you promised us,” Tripp hisses. “You said she was perfect. Timid, malleable.”
“And she is!” Rich insists. “She’s been thrown off by this new development, but she’ll get on board. She always has”
Greg grunts, and I hear the sound of liquor being poured into a glass. He doesn’t speak much, but when he does, it’s never good. “The deal was we get a female Omega, and then you get what you wanted. If we wanted any Omega, wouldn’t we have grabbed one off the street? We are looking for a well-bred and trained female. That’s what you promised us.”
“And that’s what you’ll get!” Rich’s voice is growing higher-pitched, which it only does when he’s upset.
None of this is making sense. When he introduced me to the guys a few weeks ago, he said they were his college pack. But this doesn’t sound like that anymore. Now it sounds like he made a deal with them.
A deal for me.
“I promise. Alex is everything you need her to be. She’s beautiful, smart, and looks great on your arm.”
“Too smart.” Tripp’s voice is deep and aggressive. “She’s hiding her scent from us with those fucking suppressants. How are we ever going to get her to bond with us if she doesn’t go into heat?”
I knew going on those suppressants was a good call. The voices get lower, like they’re farther away, so I take a couple of steps out of my bedroom and sit at the top of the stairs. It’s still quiet, but the sound carries, and I can hear most of what they’re saying.
“…in her next heat. Without that bond, you can kiss my father’s appointment of you as Designation Director of Florida goodbye.”
The governor of each state appoints the Designation Director to oversee the specific laws and regulations within the Department of Designation Services. The department oversees everything, from processing pack formation documents and maintaining records of designations and presentation registrations, to enforcing laws related to each designation.
The Designation Director would be able to set the tone of how all designations are treated within a state, with a direct line to the federal government.
I knew Rich was ambitious and had big plans for his life. He’s always been very charismatic, a natural-born leader. Politics wasn’t where I thought he would go, but I’m not surprised that he wants that role.
I am surprised that he sold me to the devil to get it.
