Page 19 of The Omega Lesson

But he just keeps staring at Jackson, a strange light in those dead eyes. “There’s no rut, because you’re not an alpha right now.”

Fear curls over me as I realise what he’s saying.He knows Jack’s not an alpha.The Lyall family’s most damaging secret, which he could take to the press, or feed to any number of other vultures. But it’s not Jackson’s privacy that suddenly has Mattie’s blade in my hand. This alpha – primal, deadly, and strong in a way I’ll never be – is interested in my omega. HewantsJackson. I barely recognise the sounds that rips from my throat as I thrust the knife towards the gap in the window. “Stop looking at him! He’s not for you.”

His gaze drops to the blade and dread curls in my stomach. I can already picture him disarming me – to say nothing of the two guards who are watching me like a hawk – but Visser just puts his hands in the air. “That’s right. He’s not. But I’m still asking you to come inside so we can sit down and talk about what’s happening to you.”

I gape at his calm tone, but Travis seems to have realised that dealing with this guy is a lot worse than my potential rut. “Forget it,” he snaps, rounding the car. “I was wrong to come here.”

Visser finally looks away from me, tracking Travis with a frown. “I need to test you all. This is extremely rare. Everything we’ve learned, alphas rarely trigger, and they certainly don’t switch…”

Jackson sucks in a breath behind me. I turn, my hackles still up, and when I see the whirlwind in his eyes, I slam my hand down on the window control. “Get us out of here, Travis.”

He grunts and glares at the guard, the engine revving. Visser finally gives a reluctant nod, and the brown-eyed man hits the button to the garage door. I buzzed the window up, but I have no trouble reading Visser’s lips.“I’ll be in touch, Miss Novak.”

And then we’re backing out of the garage like we have a grenade launcher pointed at our bonnet.

No one speaks until the industrial park is far behind us, and we’re flying along the freeway. My entire body aches with tension, but it’s Jack who snaps first, his voice thick with anger. “Jesus, Travis! Finn Visser? What the hell were you thinking taking usthere?”

“I thought it was a rut,” he mutters, his knuckles white on the wheel. “I just… didn’t know.”

“Well, fuck, you should have! You’re a goddamn alpha! Aren’t you meant to sense this stuff?”

Travis’ eyes flick to mine in the mirror. “She smelled strange. I was being careful.”

I swallow against the well of betrayal in my throat and hold his gaze. “Who is he? Why were we there?”

“He’s a security expert. And he has the best holding facilities in the city.”

He doesn’t need to spell it out; he means alpha containment cells. When ruts go really bad – as in beyond a rage, to borderline feral – alphas are transferred to secure facilities where they can be treated and monitored.

Jack makes a disgusted sound. “He’s someone you don’t want to know, that’s who he is.” He slumps on the seat, his head hitting the back with a thud. “Fuck, and now hereallyknows us.”

My stomach lurches as I remember the weight of Visser’s dominance against my skin. But I swallow down my fear and crawl back onto the seat beside Jack. Mattie is already plastered against my spine, and we make a messy kind of sandwich as we cling to each other. It’s not easy to ignore Jack’s cum leaking down my legs, but we need comfort, not more craziness, and all I can smell is burnt sugar and stress.

“We can fix this,” I tell Jack as I cuddle into his side, petting his strained face. “We won’t let him blow your secret. And if he tries, we deny it. No one gets to say who you are except foryou, Jack.”

If Visser’s as powerful as I think he is, they’re mostly empty promises. But the anger breaks in Jack’s eyes, his lips curving up in a soft smile. “Sweetheart. You don’t need to worry about that.” He swallows hard and glares at his brother. “Where are you going?”

There’s a tense silence as Travis considers our options. “My apartment,” he finally says. “It has the best security.”

“I’m starting to get really sick of that word,” I mutter.

Is there a flash of guilt in his eyes? It’s hard to tell, but he holds my gaze. “It’s also private. And I have enough space for you to do whatever you need to do.”

But Jack is already shaking his head. “And it’s right across town. Go to Noah’s place. It’s closer.”

Travis grimaces like he’s about to argue, but then he moves us into the exit lane and I turn my attention to Mattie. I’m still clutching his switchblade, and I hand it back with a rueful look. “Sorry about that. My defence instructor at boarding school said I have a tendency to leap first and ask permission later.”

He gives me a lazy grin and shoves the knife back in his boot. “Don’t apologise, babe. It was hot as hell watching you go all alpha on that creep. But next time, I’ll make sure I’m packing twin blades so we can take them on together.”

I huff and lean my head on his shoulder, because I’m hoping that day never comes. “I’m also sorry about you finding us like this.” I glance at Jack, but he just folds his fingers through mine. That burnt sugar scent is softening to his usual honeycomb, and I have to bite my tongue so I don’t lean in for a hit. “I don’t mean I regret anything, but we should have talked about it first. Like I said, leap first and permission later.”

Mattie snorts and kisses my cheek. “Babe, you never need to apologise for being horny. I’m nineteen, remember? If my dick isn’t pointing at you, it’s searching the immediate vicinity for you.” Jack chuckles and I relax a little more because I don’t think they’re just making the best of an awkward situation. The looks they’ve been giving each other are hot as hell, and Mattie pretty much admitted he was hoping to share more than just the back seat with us. His fingers skate up my spine as he says, “Although, I think we need to talk about what happens now. I mean, Ben’s got ideas, but you come first…”

“Shit! Ben!” Jack lurches for his phone, fumbling it for a moment before he’s able to hit his speed dial. But when it clicks straight to message, he winces and sags back against me. “God, he’s going to be so pissed. First, we leave him behind at that awful dinner, and then we do a drive-by at Finn Visser’s place…” An evil light dances in his eyes as he looks at his brother. “Have fun explaining that part to him, you dick.”

Mattie wags his brows at me, but Travis just grunts and raises the privacy screen. In moments, we’re alone in our honey-and-mint scented bubble and I let out a long, slow breath. I must be coming off my adrenaline surge, because I’m suddenly so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Even though I try to smother it, my yawn almost cracks my jaw. Someone chuckles, but I just tuck my feet up in Jack’s lap and lean sleepily on Mattie’s chest. “God, I wish we could be home in bed right now.”

“It’s okay, love,” Jack murmurs. “We’ll be at Noah’s soon. You can sleep as long as you need there.”

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