Page 39 of His Master

Misunderstanding my ass. Uncle Vincent was trying to get rid of me, not just as a company officer, but as part owner of Victory Holdings. The security guard who had blurted must have overheard something.

“I’m not at liberty to disclose Mr. Woodbury’s whereabouts,” the entirely too loyal guard said, squaring his shoulders like he was about to get physical. “I’ve been charged with apprehending you if you attempted to enter these premises.”

“Apprehend?” Artemis scoffed. “You’re not the police.”

“I have Mr. Woodbury’s full authority,” the guard said.

We weren’t going to get anywhere arguing. I needed to take action.

I grabbed Simon’s hand, trusting that he would follow whatever I did.

“Get out of my way,” I said, moving forward, like I would bowl the guards over.

The two minor guards stepped aside to let me pass. The loyal guard tried to stand his ground, but shifted at the last second when I bumped him with my shoulder.

He only faltered for a moment, though.

“I have orders to apprehend you,” he said, a little louder than before.

He reached out, but instead of grabbing me, he clamped a hand around Simon’s arm.

That was it. I felt a spike in Simon’s fear as our bond suddenly widened, and I saw red.

“Don’t you dare touch him,” I seethed, whipping around and raising a fist.

It was just going to be a threat, but my inner alpha snapped into full-on feral protection mode. I lashed out, punching the guard across the face and sending him reeling.

“Whoa!” Eddie exclaimed from the hall, where he and some of the other board members had been watching. “Jesus, Victor. He’s just an omega.”

I ignored Eddie’s snide comment, grabbed Simon’s hand again after letting it go to throw the punch, and charged out into the hallway. I bumped glancingly into Eddie, but the others all rushed to get far out of my way.

“Come on,” Eddie said as he fell into step behind us as I whisked Simon down the hall, Artemis with us. “Is he really worth all this fuss? Is his hole made of candy or something?”

As much as I knew I needed to get us out of the building and somewhere safe immediately, I couldn’t let the insult to my omega slide.

I jerked back to Eddie and seethed, “Don’t you ever talk about my omega, or any omegas, like that ever again.”

Eddie laughed nervously. “Come on, Victor. It’s just a joke. And besides, omegas are naturally horny and submissive. They’d be lost if they didn’t have us dominating them.”

I have no idea what he was thinking, he was probably trying to prove some point, but he reached out and touched Simon’s face.

For the second time in as many minutes, my reaction was instinctive and intense. I still held Simon’s hand with one of mine, but with the other, I gripped Eddie’s neck and slammed him against the wall, pinning him there.

“You’re a disgrace to the name of alpha,” I hissed, tightening my grip as he struggled and gasped. “And if you ever so much as look at my omega again, I won’t be responsible for what I do.”

I let go just as Eddie was starting to turn purple. He dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. I stared at him with absolute loathing, but it wasn’t for Eddie, it was for the alpha I’d once been. There wasn’t nearly enough difference between us for my liking.

“Let’s go,” I said, turning to check on Simon, then nodding to Artemis.

Without a word, the three of us headed to the end of the hall, where Brenda was watching us with wide eyes and a cell phone held to one ear.

With a jolt of adrenaline, it dawned on me that Brenda was speaking to my uncle. I picked up my pace, pulling Simon down the corridor with me, and reached out to take Brenda’s phone.

“No! No, you can’t—” Brenda tried to protest.

“Uncle Vincent,” I growled into the phone.

“Hello?” an unfamiliar, male voice asked from the other end of the call. “Who is this? Is this Victor Woodbury? This is Officer McSweeney from the Barrington Police Department. We’ve had a report of a break-in and violent disturbance at the offices of Victory Holdings and?—”

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