Page 165 of Stolen Omega

He’s a leader. He’s going to run this pack, even if he doesn’t know it yet.

The way he took charge before, the way he controlled me with his growly, demanding Alpha voice has my body tingling all over in anticipation. He might not trust me yet, but I know once he realizes Zelena is actually Zoey, he’ll be just as ready to take on the guy who made her forget her childhood as I’ve been ever since I figured out what happened to her.

Russ hits pause on his recording and looks up at me. “You realize how all of this sounds?”

“Like the incoherent ramblings of an unstable Alpha?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

His lips twist into a smile. “Well, yeah.”

“I’m perfectly sane. I’m just a little obsessive. I have a hard time letting things go.”

If these guys think I’m letting Zoey go now that I’ve finally got her back, they’re the crazy ones.

“Uh, yeah,” he says, tapping his fingers on the table. “So, you’re serious about Zelena’s childhood? She was—”

“Kidnapped and brainwashed? Yeah. She remembered that kidnapping after I stole her from the concert hall and brought her out here. That was kind of the point of doing things the way I did them.”

“To get her to remember, right?”

I think he believes me. He just seems to be a little stunned by it all.

“Can I ask you something, Russ?”

“Uh … sure.”

“Can you feel the connection between us?”

He blinks at me, his face warming under my unwavering stare. He’s definitely feeling something.

He might not want to admit it while his Alpha is treating me like a criminal, but he feels it.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs, dropping his gaze to the table.

It’s not quite the same instinctively protective feeling I have for Dale and Zoey, but it’s similar enough that I know we’re going to be more than just pack brothers. It’s an unexpected development, but I can’t complain.

“So, the person who kidnapped Zelena when she was a child,” he says. “You said his name was Warren something …”

“Warren Corvina. He’s one of the wealthiest Alphas in the country.”

“Right, and he kidnapped her to replace another child.”

“He probably didn’t do the kidnapping part himself, but yeah. He then brainwashed her to make her forget the past and to make her think the Ortegas were her parents.”

He taps his fingers on the table again, a frown on his face.

“Does something about that not add up for you?”

He lets out a breath. “Actually, her parents are assholes, so it would make sense if they weren’t her parents.”

I smile at him. “You can see it.”

“I can see it,” he admits.

It doesn’t necessarily mean he believes every word, but he’ll get there.

He’s already started to claim our mate as his.

As soon as she speaks to him, he’ll know it’s all true.

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