Page 82 of Damaged Princess

"Okay, no more emotional stuff today," Vik says, giving me the last box.

I take it and inside are more clothes and on the side is an envelope. I open it and frown.

"We know how particular women can be about clothes," Wolfe says, chuckling. "We had Evie help with some, but there should be enough in there to get you started on a decent wardrobe."

"Thank you," I say, checking out all the stores they got gift cards to.

"Once things settle down, we'll take you shopping," Vik says, giving me a soft smile.

"Yeah, dollface," Wolfe says, nodding to the gift cards. "And you can give us all a nice little fashion show after you hit the lingerie stores."

I laugh, shaking my head. "Not a problem. Thank you. This was more than I ever expected."

"You deserve all this and more," Rafe says, kissing my temple.

Chapter Twenty

Wolfe

The next several days are full of erratic waves of Ana's heat. It doesn't feel like a real heat, due to the long periods where she's completely coherent.

She's not obsessed with the nest, nor does she wish to stay in it all the time like an omega in heat normally would. It's got to be a side effect of the suppressants, but we do our best to keep her happy and well-fucked. It's probably partially due to the fact that her real heat wasn't due until two months from now.

I swear to God, I don't know why suppressants are even in wide use. I looked that shit up after Ana was so sick the first time. The side effects are unreal. Everything from extreme weight loss to weight gain, headache, stomach problems, hair loss… I mean what the fuck? It's crazy how those things are considered acceptable reactions to the medication. The really fucked-up side effects, the ones where the omega is supposed to immediately discontinue use… Yeah, those are a fucking shit show, too.

Ana curls in closer to my side. The television is on, playing some comic book superhero movie, but I've barely glanced at it.

Keeley Androff is sitting on the other couch, curled in close to Steele's side.

I don't know what I expected Ana's step-mom to look like, but I would have guessed wrong. She's pretty and has the exaggerated curves omegas are known for, but you can tell she's really young. She's not even twenty, and she's a widow. It blows my mind.

She's quiet, but she smiles a lot. I suppose I'd be pretty happy, too, if I got out of a marriage to Markov Androff. She's soft-spoken and a bit skittish around anyone but Soren, Merrick, and Steele.

Anastasia had a brief talk with her that ended in them both expressing their gratitude that Androff is dead. That was two days ago. No information has been found on Dimitri's whereabouts. If he doesn't show up fairly quickly then I don't know what we'll do. We're eventually going to have to get back to work.

Anastasia talked to Evie on the phone for a bit last night. Even Ana is ready to get back to her job once things settle down. I'm ready for these fuckers to show up so we can clean house and move the hell on.

"I've got a hit in Indiana," Merrick says several hours later. He walks into the room with his laptop balanced on one hand. He heads over and tosses himself down next to Steele.

"On all three of them?" I ask, leaning forward. Ana snuggles closer to my side and lets out a sigh.

Soren sits up straighter in his chair. He cocks his head at an angle, looking truly animalistic and exceptionally fucking deadly. "A hit on who?" he asks in a weirdly calm tone.

"Antonov and Belini," Merrick says, tapping away on his computer. "Dimitri Abramov is not with them. Well, not in thesame car. He very well could be traveling with them, but in a separate vehicle—"

"Do you have a location?" Soren asks.

"I have the license plate and direction headed," Merrick says, looking at Soren. "If I had to guess, they're aiming for Belini's childhood vacation home. It's on Lake Michigan."

"We can continue to track as we move," Steele says, rubbing his hands together. "We are moving? Right, boss?"

"I am not your boss," Soren says, narrowing his cold blue eyes. "We are not a team."

"Of course not," Steele says, winking like a lunatic. He squeezes Keeley's knee, nodding over to Soren. "Not a team. Pssh. Did you hear that?"

Keeley giggles, hiding behind her hand. Her dark brown curls bounce as she shakes her head.

"You think this is funny, little one?" Soren muses, sounding completely amused. He leans forward, quirking an eyebrow at the omega.

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