Page 78 of The Omega Lesson

Which really pisses off the beast under my skin. That’smymate they’re frogmarching across the floor. And if it wasn’t for Jack and Bratty Boy holding me back, they’d be fucking shark bait.

“Whoa, bro,” Mattie says as they disappear from sight and he smooths down my shirt, his hands lingering on my chest. “Are you okay, or do you want to wrestle some more?”

My manic gaze settles on him, right as he bites his fat bottom lip. He’s smiling, but I can smell his distress, which means he’s just trying to distract me. And in other circumstances he’d probably succeed, since he looks like he just wandered off the set ofFind Me a Sugar-Alpha.

But right now, all I can focus on is my other mate, and the growing distance between us.

“Can we just calm down and get a drink?” Jack asks, raking a hand through his tousled hair. “I know this sucks, but we’re here for Ben…”

I turn and give my brother a killer glare. “Ben’s a big boy.”

“And Lexi’s a big girl,” Jack snaps back. “She’s not leaving the building, and Travis is with her. He would unleash hell before he’d let anyone hurt a hair on her head.”

I sneer at that – since as far as I’m concerned, Travis has strayed so far out of pack bounds, he doesn’t even deserve a nickname anymore – but Mattie is still trying to massage the rage out of my chest. And yes, that’s a little distracting.

“Maybe we should explore the aquarium,” he suggests with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. “It’s kind of a fish zoo, right? I bet Bree would get a kick out of coming back here with us.”

I grunt, impressed that he’d pull out the big guns by reminding me of our smallest pack member. But that’s just another reason why Lexi should have kicked her brother in the dick. Because we all know Bree should be here with us right now. We missed our last weekend because her arsehole dad monopolised her, and Mattie said it’s been nearly a month since she stayed over. And instead of standing up for her, her family – who happen to belawyers– leave her to fight that kind of bullshit on her own.

Un-fucking-acceptable.

Which means a kidnapping via fast horse, car, or private jet is looking more likely by the minute.

“Okay,” I grunt, sticking my hand in the back pocket of Mattie’s jeans. “Let’s go stroke some starfish.”

The guys quickly agree, although it’s slow going, since every loser in the place wants a piece of us. Ben was swallowed up by the crowd as soon as we arrived, since he insists on greeting everyone like they sprouted from the same womb. But Mattie is like a delicious pied piper, attracting horny rats whichever way he turns. And Jack is the Lyall’s prodigal son, back from exile and smelling like pure alpha bait.

“Hey, buddy!” An alpha in a shiny white suit slaps me on the back, his glass of whiskey sloshing over the edges as he pulls me close. “When does the private party start? I heard you guys got the penthouse suite.” He looks at Jack with a predatory gleam. “Who’s this sweet little snack? You smell just like the chocolate they put on my pillow last night.”

I’m thinking about ramming my fist in his mouth when Bratty Boy steps up to the arsehole, a feral gleam in his tawny eyes. “He’s none of your business, dickhead.”

The alpha blinks, a sneer stretching across his face as he sizes Mattie up. “And you thinkyou’regonna lay a claim, beta boy? Step aside and let the adults talk.”

Before either of us can react to that, Jack winds an arm through the alpha’s, looking up at him with doe eyes. “Well, that sounds like a conversation we should have in private.”

I raise my brows, but one thing I’ve never had to do is question Jack’s motives. If he wants this arsehole in a quiet corner, he has a good reason.

We traipse through the crowd, the alpha massaging Jack’s bicep in a way that has Mattie hissing through his teeth. But when we get to the touch pools in the next room, Jack waves one of the attendants over. He looks like he’s barely out of his teens, but he has a hat and clipboard, and seems like the kind of guy who’d have a fish tank in his bedroom. “Which pool has your most toxic, deadly creature?” Jack asks him.

I’m liking the way this is going, but the fish tank guy has lost his happy grin. “Well, they’re not in the touch pool, sir, for obvious reasons. But we do have a small, enclosed exhibit where you can see blue-ringed octopus, cone shells, and venomous anemones...”

“I’m looking for something that has a lethal sting, stab, or bite,” Jack tells him, although his gaze is now on the alpha. And if looks could kill… “Like thehydrophis platurusa. That’s the yellow-bellied sea snake to you, dickhead. No natural predators, highly venomous, and I’d rather put it down my pants than let you within a metre of my omega arse.”

The attendant has wisely ducked away by this point, and the alpha blinks at my brother, his mouth dropping open in shock. “Fuck man, calm your tits. I’m just paying you a compliment.”

“What?” I ask, flashing my own feral smile. “You don’t like a snack that bites back?”

The guy is mumbling apologies as he stumbles away, and I slap my boys on the shoulder. “Touch pools really are therapeutic.”

But while Jack smirks, and Mattie gets cute with a tiny orange starfish, the scent of enraged alpha washes over me. I turn, my hackles back up, to watch Travis barrel towards us. Gone is his suit jacket – and his stick-up-the-butt expression - and when he gets close enough to sniff, I know why. He’s been nibbling on one ofmyfavourite snacks.

“We have to go,” he says abruptly. “Lexi’s in the penthouse. I think she switched. Possibly in heat.”

We’re moving before he’s panted out the last word, pushing our way back through the crowd. Forget security guard mode; Travis now looks ready to toss the whole room out of our way. When we reach the elevators, I grab his shoulder, which is as tense as a rock. “Pack up or take off, Travis.” He just shoots me a dark look, and I slam the keycard Ben gave me on the wall reader. “It’s time to pony up, bro. You only get one more chance to ride off into the sunset with us.”

But before he can answer, the reader beeps and turns red. “Shit. It’s not working.”

“I had a problem with mine, too,” Travis murmurs, running his card over the reader and getting the same flashing red light. “Come on, we can get a new card at reception.”

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