Page 22 of The Alpha: Part Two
Well, now I really want to know. “Why not?”
He sighs and closes the book. “Because it’s not a comic book.”
“I don’t read comic books.” That’s mostly true. I used to read comic books when I was a kid, but now I read other stuff. I like poetry and biographies…and historical romance. Talia left me a copy of her favorite book when I was at the facility and I probably read it a hundred times. Apparently I like my books like I like my movies, easy and sweet.
“It’s an account of the changes in society over the past century.”
I look down at the cover. There’s a rose on it. The title is The Turning. I look back up at him with raised brows. “No, it is not.”
He grins. “Nope, it isn’t. But you still wouldn’t like it. It’s a story about an omega who lost her pack and has to learn to love a new one.”
That’s a poor fucking choice, considering what we’re doing tonight. My face must broadcast my thoughts because he sighs and says, “I told you you wouldn’t like it.”
I shake my head. “I’d like it another time. Did you ever read that book Talia likes so much?”
His grin changes to a soft smile and he nods. “I know that book.”
“I love that book. It’s so good. I’m trying to collect the author’s other work. I want a whole collection of my own so I don’t have to borrow them.”
Alex laughs softly. “I didn’t know you enjoyed softer fiction.” The way he smirks when he sayssofter fictionlets me know exactly how familiar he is with the book and it’s more erotic content.
“Girly books,” Devon mutters from the front. “You can’t like normal shit like horror or action, even sci-fi. It’s got to be sappy love stories.”
“I’m telling Talia you said she reads girly books and that she’s sappy,” Alex counters. “You’ve apparently never read one. One would think you’d enjoy the sexual content in a fair amount of them. There are ones that get downright dirty. Isn’t that right, Pratchett?”
“Some of them can get pretty intense,” I nod.
Nathan laughs, “Devon and Kaleb prefer to read weapons and training manuals. Trent still reads comics, though.” We don’t give Nathan a hard time about what he reads, because he reads everything.
Our conversation ends abruptly when Devon’s phone chimes. “Time to go,” he says, and hands his phone to Nathan so he can put the address into the GPS.
The building we park across from looks like every other highrise on this block. They’re all identical except for the small signs on the doors signifying what each one is called. The one we’re about to crash is called The Pinnacle 2113, and there’s a middle aged man, possibly a beta, sitting behind the front desk looking at his phone.
“Ready?” Devon asks, unbuckling his seatbelt.
“Ready,” we all answer at the same time. We’re all strapped and loaded with firearms, ammunition, knives, cording, rope. Alex insisted on bringing what he called low-grade explosives. I asked him to try not to use them. I couldn’t take it if something went wrong when he was trying to blow someone up and he ended up crumbling the building.
We know Desir’ee will be in the penthouse at the top of the building; which isn’t surprising because Flores imagines himself to be this ultra important kingpin or some shit like that. All the villains in the movies live in high rise penthouses, and Flores is most definitely a villain. None of us bother trying to look like we’re not about to bring this place to its knees when we get out of the van. We cross the street adjusting clips and checking guns.
The man at the desk is, in fact, a beta and he quickly stands when I walk through the door before the rest of them. He reaches for the mic clipped to his shirt, but Alex reaches across the desk and grabs the back of his head.
“Who are you?” the beta stammers. I almost feel sorry for him.
“I’m Seth Fucking Pratchett.”
Alex laughs at me and slams the betas head down on the desk. He’s just knocked out, not dead. We don’t actually intend to kill people we don’t have to, and that guy was just trying to do his job.
“I cannot believe you said that,” Devon says, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Why not?” I ask. “You guys say it all the time. It was funny.”
Nathan goes around the desk and starts tapping the keys on the keyboard. “It’s wide open. Not even a password. Yeah, living quarters start half way up, Flores at the top. Jesus, Seth. How big is this pack? They have a lot of registered spaces.”
I shrug. I don’t know how big the pack is. “Flores, Lopez, two more alphas but they didn’t seem to have much pull. I know there are betas based on what I’ve overheard, I don’t know how many, though. Maybe they’re not all registered to this pack? Maybe they’re just working for Flores and living here.”
“It wouldn’t be unheard of,” Devon says. “COTs have housing all over the place and they’re not affiliated with every pack they’re stationed with or near. What about the elevator? Talia said there was a code. We’ll use the stairs, but I’d like to be able to use the elevator if we need to.”
Nathan does more typing and tapping. “Yeah, there’s a code, but I can’t tell what it is from this console. I’ll figure it out if we need to, that type of system isn’t hard to work around. Alright, let’s go. Are we clearing every floor, or would it be better to clear as needed?”
