I felt a horrified flush at the way those words sank into my skin, into my very being. It felt like they filled me with the most glorious warmth, one where pain, loneliness, ennui, boredom…everything that had plagued me since my parents died, sapping all the pleasure from life, was wiped away so thoroughly and shockingly, I wasn’t even sure how to reconcile that.

I was pulled in close, cradled against his chest, this stranger, held firm by a heavy hand to the back of my neck, and for the first time since I got that bloody phone call and my whole world was destroyed, I felt safe. Safe with a complete stranger, safe with some…alpha. My brain fought the idea, but something else, something much bigger and more primal, rose up and settled me, and for a second, there was only a kind of stillness, a peace that I sank into and kept on sinking.

“Bring the lady’s friends to the VIP section upstairs and whichever guests they want with them,” he ordered, speaking over my head to someone else. “Lay the full spread on—booze, food, drugs… Whatever takes their fancy, it’s available and on the house. But no fucking alphas other than those loyal to us. Lock the area down and alert Ryder, stat.”

“Got it, boss.”

He spoke over me with a kind of brutal efficiency, sizing up the situation and surging into action, while I was left reeling. My nipples felt like hard points, the coarse lace and gabardine fabrics abrading against sensitive skin that longed for much gentler handling. My thighs scissored, trying to achieve the kind of friction I craved deep down but only managing to make the itch bite harder.

“It’s all right, omega. I’ve got you.”

I hung onto that voice like a lifeline, helping me keep my head above the riotous swirl of sensation that destroyed my composure.

My world went sideways as I was swept up into a pair of muscular arms and carried away from the bar, across the floor and over to a lift, a man hurrying forward to punch the button for the alpha.

“What are you doing?” I asked with a squirm, something in the back of my mind insisting this was a very bad idea. “

“Me? I’m Jace and I’m trying to keep you safe.”

2

Jace

She had perfect pouty lips that sent my mind straight to the gutter. Her, spread naked on my bed—my beast flashed a 3D image of exactly how that’d go into my mind. He was rattling in the cage I kept him in, demanding to get out. His prey was in sight, and if her reaction to my pheromones was anything to go by, she’d soon be begging me to take her in any way I wanted.

Yeah, I needed to think of something fucking else, find someone else to take care of her. My beast roared his disdain at that idea

“What’s your name, omega?” I asked.

She was half out of it already, but I figured learning the name of the woman who was sprawled all over me was a necessary first step.

“Sloane,” she said, big eyes gazing up at me in wonder, pupils blown to fuck.

My sweet, startled, prim omega had stumbled right into the beast’s den. He pummelled my mind with debauched images of her slammed up against the elevator wall, of her spread out on my bed as I feasted on her slick, of her coming apart for me and only me.

No, I growled back. We don’t do that and aren’t like that. Because with those images came memories of Ella, of her heat, of men going into her room and the subsequent screams.

Despite remembering everything that had been done to my sister, my iron resolve was slipping. My cock was already hard and ready for whatever Sloane needed. My beast wanted nothing more than to serve her and tend her through her awakening.

But on this we agreed—I needed to get her somewhere safe, far away from a fuck ton of prying eyes. Somewhere without any other alphas sniffing around what was mine.

Mine? She wasn’t fucking mine.

Her vulnerability hit me like a blow between the eyes.

A little needy whimper escaped her lips, and she pressed in tighter. Fuck! I’d never felt like this before, never been this affected by an omega going through her change. Then I remembered Ella.

That was the cold douse of water my libido needed.

I didn’t buy into the alpha bullshit that we couldn’t help ourselves, that we were only giving them what they needed. Omegas were lost to their hormones once the change hit. A strong alpha protected. A weak alpha took.

“Em? Jude? Jewel?” Sloane mumbled.

“They’re coming, baby,” I said. “I’ll take good care of them for you.”

Yess… he hissed inside my mind, pacing in his cage, testing its limits. Taking care of an omega? He liked that very much indeed, because that was the only contact he got with omegas—making sure that every one we could find in the zone was safe.

The elevator opened, and I stepped out into the VIP section. Wait staff were already on standby to cater to my guests’ every need.

A small private dance floor was on the left, while on the right, high stools lined the small bar ringed in low-lit neon blue and pink. Low couches and tables hugged the wall to the side of the entrance in intimate alcoves lit by a subtle version of the neon pink and blue, while opposite was a balcony offering views over the club and an open staircase that led to the main dance floor if they were so inclined. Bright lights rotated through the colour spectrum beyond the balcony, heavy bass vibrating through the soles of my feet. This was a safe environment, one I could control much easier than the wider club. It provided a breathing space into which I could figure out what the fuck to do.

I’d made it to the couch and taken a seat, with Sloane on my lap because my beast wouldn’t have it any other way, when squeals came from behind—her friends arriving. The room could handle a hundred, so the twenty or so who piled out of the elevator wasn’t going to cause an issue. The young beta guy who wished he was an omega had already picked up one of my guys, while the girls also had escorts. Security followed them in, subtly positioning themselves to watch over the goings on. Champagne appeared, and they barely paid any attention to the fact their friend was already sitting on an alpha’s lap. They flopped onto the low seats opposite us, chinking glasses, getting cosy.

Two minutes later, another elevator load arrived.

“It’s my sister’s birthday,” Sloane said with a grimace.

“Not a problem. The staff here will take good care of her. Make sure she has the best time. Security will make sure everyone is safe.”

She settled at hearing this news. Now was the time to put her aside, get her a room maybe, have her sister call her a fucking cab, but fuck, getting her out of the zone wasn’t even a guarantee of success with the Dawn Agency’s bullshit. One look at her sister, and I could see how that would go down. The woman I assumed was her sister, because she was wearing sequinned cat ears and everyone was hugging her and squealing, was already up and on the dance floor, hips swaying, hands up in the air, when a third elevator arrived and yet more revellers entered. How many fucking friends did she have?

I leaned back to talk to one of my guys hovering behind me. “Find out what’s taking Ryder so long and get Dane up here too” I said. I knew the alphas here, but still…it was a matter of instincts versus civility. If things went pear-shaped, if an alpha’s instincts got the better of them…the betas on duty were nowhere near enough.

An alpha who’d come up with the party dared to look our way, and a low growl rumbled in my chest. You know what they say about the road to hell and what it was paved with… I never intended this shit to happen. I’d helped plenty of omegas who’d been thrust in the zone. If I were smart, I would’ve gotten someone I trusted up here, or let the girls guide Sloane through what was happening, because who could help her adjust better than them?