I help her back into her pants, flipping around to button them again before pulling her into a filthy kiss. “Time to go inside, Dove.”

“Yeah, let me just grab a shower.”

“Absolutely not. We’re going to let the others know what happened at the station. I think it’d be fun to watch you sit there, my cum leaking out of you as you try to keep a straight face. They’ll all be able to smell it, catch your desire, your need. I want them to know who just claimed you.”

Her face goes scarlet before she dashes up the steps, straight into Gray’s arms, the Alpha running his nose along her cheek. “For reference, I quite like his smell all over you.”

“It’smessy,” she whines.

“Then maybe next time you’ll pick up your phone,” I joke. This wasn’t supposed to be that much fun but I’m enjoying her embarrassment and the way she smells thoroughly claimed.

Chapter forty-one

VIOLET

I step into the house, my cheeks flushed, acutely aware of the mess in my panties and between my thighs. I always knew that Omegas come a lot, a mixture of their release and slick but damn Puma’s release is not staying where he put it. And it’s unfortunately making it very hard to focus. I glare back at him, the man smiling like he just won a trophy and I guess he did by the way the other Alphas are shooting him matching smiles.

Sofie bounds up to me, grinning. “Oh, you smell like dessert. Come sit with me and tell me what happened.”

“About what happened?” I squeak and then realize she meant at the station, not just what happened on the driveway. Still, I clarify. “Did you see—”

“Did I see Puma bend you over and fuck you like he owns you? I might have peeked through the window. It was so fucking hot. I almost grabbed the twins but I didn’t want to miss the show. Don’t be embarrassed. Watching that man handle you—”

I growl at her to stop, a playful sound but still serious. She doesn’t need to recount what just happened. So, I refocus on the task at hand. “Hale and Kane were the ones to talk to me. I don’t know if their names ring a bell.” Our Alphas gather around us. “They asked me a lot of questions, not that I gave them answers they wanted to hear. I don’t know anything about how Xavier runs the gallery. But we visitedAsh & Ivoryand the paintings have changed from the showing. They’re definitely forgeries.”

Hawk frowns, folding his arms across his chest. “How do they know?”

“They got an expert and pointed out whatever the calling card was. It’s usually covered by the frames but the ones that Xavier put up showed them. I’m guessing he doesn’t really know all the details. But I’ve seen the signature before at the gallery I worked at before.” I think about sketching something down but nobody would understand what I wrote. Then I remember there are a few pictures I took a few weeks ago. I slip my phone out, grimacing when that reminds me of how wet my panties are.

I glare at Puma again and he just grins wider.Bastard, I mutter before scrolling through my phone until I find one of the paintings and that odd signature over green paint. Once the frames are attached, it’s hidden and no one's the wiser. He really did clean up his tracks. I turn my phone around, even gathering a little closer as I zoom into the corner. “See? It almost looks like a symbol or whatever but you can definitely see some cursiveness in there.”

“Cursiveness?” Gray jokes and I punch him in his arm. “Fuck, princess.”

Hawk leans in a little closer, his eyes darkening several shades before he exhales a sharp breath. "He better not be doing that shit."

My gaze snaps to him. "You know him?"

Hawk drags a hand down his face, shaking his head. "Kind of. I recognize the signature. It’s definitely a forgery. And honestly? I’m surprised whoever the officers were was smart enough to catch it. Fuck I’m surprised we didn’t catch it.”

“The frames usually cover it. It’s always at the farthest corner but I don’t think it’s something the artist talks about so Xavier wouldn’t know to cover it up. I’ve only ever seen that green patch in passing. It would have never occurred to me if the paint hadn’t started smudging. But wait, Hawk, you know him?” I glance at the Alpha, waiting for the reveal of the man who could be targeting my Alphas.

Hawk’s gaze locks onto mine, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes. "No one knows. That’s the problem. He’s got no real name, no face, nothing. Just that signature. He’s been floating around the industry for years, fucking with private collections, slipping forgeries into high-end sales. In some ways, it actually increases the value of some pieces because people get weirdly obsessed with him. But in others, we’re all trying to get this guy out of the industry because he’s cheapening the value of real paintings."

A slow, sinking feeling claws its way into my gut. I knew something was off about those paintings. The ones that felt wrong. The ones I didn’t want to sell. The ones that sat too long in storage, moving in and out of collections with too much ease. I ignored it because it wasn’t my job to investigate, but now? Now it turns out they’re tied to some ghost in the art world. Some mystery forger who’s been getting away with this shit for years.

Lance sits forward, rubbing a hand over his jaw, his expression grim. "You’re saying whoever this is, they’ve been targeting us now?"

Hawk nods, his fingers pressing against his temple like this is giving him a headache. "Looks like it."

Puma lets out a slow breath, dragging a hand over his face. "Perfect."

And now this is outside of my wheelhouse. “Lovely. Wonderful. I’m going to take a shower and no, none of you are allowed in there with me.” Sofie sticks out her bottom lip, trying to catch me with that adorable pout. I lean down to suck it into my mouth, my Omega whining for me as I pull back. “Not you either, baby. You were just there letting me get fucked. Didn’t even try to rescue me.”

She frowns. “Vi, you didn’t look like you wanted to be rescued.”

“Oh, I didn’t. Not the point.” I throw her another kiss before scurrying into Puma’s bedroom to immediately shed my clothes, his cum still slipping down my thighs. I’d kill him if I didn’t like that possessive edge to him so much.

Chapter forty-two