Page 3 of Lethal Alpha

“Not just that.”Caleb’s voice is a dangerous calm, though his pheromones aren’t.“They either suspected or already knew that you would recognise them, so they made sure to not come here.This was planned long ago.Well before you were hired.”

“Fuck.”I shake my head, trying to calm my body down.

What the fuck are the Hearts doing?

Why put Hubert Russell in a position where they knew that his horrible personality would rub me the wrong way and could get him killed?

What’s in it for them?

And why now?

Why are they doing this right now?

2

Vera

I stareat the screen of my laptop, trying to come up with something to do, but failing.The others are all in Mathew’s office, trying to piece together what the Hearts might or might not have been doing.I was in there with them until about five minutes ago but couldn’t deal with the stress anymore.

They kept going between silently trying to find more evidence and then loudly —more like yellingly— discussing it with each other, arguing what was and wasn’t part of it.

At some point, it all got too much for me.

I hate yelling, I hate all of it.

So, instead, I decided to go to the library and maybe do something for myself, like taking another look at all the online courses I could be taking.

There are so many things I can choose from.Something practical like the basics of running a business or maybe I could study creative writing or something else to do with the arts.

But with my head so filled with stress and worry, I can’t bring up the excitement to make these types of choices.Everything just feels very ‘bleh’ right now.

I’ve been on the verge of tears for the last two hours and didn’t want to break down in front of the others.I didn’t want to add that to everything else they were dealing with.I’m not even upset, I’m mostly really tired, and stress makes me cry.

“Hello.”A quiet voice reaches me from the door and when I look up, a young girl with long light brown hair and blue eyes is nervously staring at me.

“Hello.”I try to keep my voice light.No use scaring the girl with my bad mood.

“Do you know where my dads are?”She glances behind her down the hallway and slips into the library, her eyes darting around before settling on me.She’s wearing a light blue shirt with dinosaurs on the front and her jeans have dinosaur patches on the knees.

I’m pretty sure I know who this girl is.From the stories I’ve heard of Derrick and Timothy’s kids, this must be Lily, their eldest.

Timothy told me that the kids usually don’t come into the main house, since their Omega, Eli, doesn’t want the kids to see what their parents do for a living and things can get a little violent around here at times.

Because of that, I’ve not actually met any of them, since I’ve not been out to their house yet, even though it’s on the other side of the kitchen.

“I think they’re still in Mathew’s office.Do you want me to get them?”I’m about to stand up when she quickly shakes her head, looking bummed.

“It’s okay.If they’re in Uncle Mathew’s office, it means they’re working.I shouldn’t disturb them when they’re working.”She glances down and I notice the tablet she’s holding in her hands.

“Is it something I can help with?”I hate it when kids look sad.It always makes me feel like crap and I can’t help but want to solve whatever is making them sad.

“How much do you know about prehistoric animals?”She takes a few more steps into the library, looking slightly more hopeful.

“Not much, I’m afraid.But I do like learning about them.I think they’re very cool.”

Anything that a kid gets excited about tends to be fun when you let them ramble.And you often learn something new to boot.

“I have to do a presentation at school about my favourite animal.I chose the a-nu-ro-gna-thus.”She speaks each syllable slowly and carefully.“It’s a type of pterosaur.”

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