Page 18 of Omega's Triplets

“I’m not talking about the ethics of the situation,” Harley had said. “Although that is an issue, and it does bother me that we’re not taking a closer look at it.”

“It’s a little last minute for that sort of thing.”

“It’s not the point. I’m talking about the fact that we’re so divided,” Harley said. “We’ve never been divided like this before. I don’t see how we can ride out to do something as monumental as stealing from the Death Fangs without being united among ourselves, at the very least.”

“Then get on my side,” Mark had said.

Harley had looked at Jamie, as if imploring him to do so.

Jamie remained silent.

“Don’t you two see that this is dangerous?” Harley asked. He sounded as if he was begging now. “This is the Death Fangs we’re talking about. They’re the most violent pack we’ve ever come up against.”

Now, Jamie spoke for the first time. “The Death Fangs aren’t going to give us anything we can’t handle, Harley.”

“You’re insane if you think the three of us can fight off a whole pack of Death Fangs.”

“Nobody’s planning to fight them,” Mark had said, realizing, for the first time, that he and his more inscrutable younger brother might actually have common ground. “Nobody’s planning to be seen by them.”

“Of course, you’re notplanningto, but if something goes wrong—”

“If something goes wrong, we’ll still be in the middle of their auction,” Mark said. “They’re not going to want to cause a scene with so many people looking on. They’ll have a few people take care of us. Probably just throw us out.”

“I don’t know about this,” Harley said, his voice rife with doubt.

“Just follow my lead,” Mark had told him.

But by the time they all got on their bikes and pulled out of the motel parking lot, they were already running fifteen minutes behind schedule. Then, they ran into traffic on the highway, where a minivan had developed a flat tire. A harassed looking mother and three young children were standing by the side of the road, and a police officer had come upon the scene and was directing traffic around the stopped car. Under ordinary circumstances, Mark might have pulled over to offer his assistance, but the traffic had caused them to lose even more time, and he thought it was likely that the auction was already getting started.

His fears were confirmed when they pulled into the lot behind the old barn where the auction was held. The folding chairs that had been set out were already full of people, and the parking area was virtually empty. Mark coasted to a stop, turned off his bike’s engine, and looked behind him to see that his brothers were doing the same.

In the distance, he could make out a group of about ten women standing on a temporary stage. He couldn’t see them well from here, but he knew from experience that they would be dressed in extremely revealing clothing. He knew that some of them would likely be crying.

Mark didn’t understand how Harley and Jamie could have thought that buying one of those women was any less a violation than outright kidnapping.

And it wasn’t as if helikedthe idea, he thought sourly. Was that really what his brothers thought of him? That he didn’t give a damn for the well-being of the women at the auction? That he was no better than a common kidnapper? But any omega they took home would be miles better off with them than she would be with the Death Fangs, and probably with any other customer who might buy her, too, no matter how they acquired her.

And besides, he had to think of the bloodline. He had to think about how pure and concentrated the alpha gene was in his family, after so many generations of it being passed down. Apparently, his brothers weren’t thinking about that. They would probably be perfectly happy to take anyone as a mate, Mark thought. They had no sense of the responsibility that lay on their shoulders.

Mating with a beta would dilute the bloodline.

Matingseparatelywould dilute the bloodline.

The only way to keep their pack as strong as it was would be for all three of them to take an omega together.

Maybe Harley and Jamie didn’t understand that, Mark thought, or maybe they just didn’t care, but either way, he could see that it was going to fall on his shoulders to ensure that the strength of his pack remained uncorrupted.

Sometimes, he didn’t see how they could call themselves alphas at all.

***

THE THREE MEN MADEtheir way out of the parking lot, not toward the auction stage, but away from it, to the back of the barn. Harley followed his brothers silently, though the feeling that something was deeply wrong hadn’t yet left him. There was a fracture between the three of them. They’d never been fractured like this before.

It felt like walking around with his eyes closed.

Mark stopped, held up a fist, and peered around the corner of the barn. Then, he moved forward, waving Jamie and Harley after him.

“What are we going to do?” Harley asked.

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