Page 140 of Drown My Sorrow

I smile.

My mirth summons the demons of my pack. Keagan and Beau materialise out of the shadows, standing just behind my shoulders.

“Is it time yet?”

I shake my head. “Not yet.”

I feel their disappointment, along with the growing feral savagery.

Inside the bond, Aspyn’s connection flares with warmth, love, and arousal.

“She loves it when we do our thing,” Beau says with deep satisfaction.

“Let’s go show her how much we care.”

You’dthinkthesuitI’m wearing would feel strange, but Ezy’s connections brought out a young man who saw us and giggled. It was disconcerting until I realised he had no interest in us. His excitement was solely for the clothes.

They fit right. The six of us are in dark charcoal suits with different colour shirts. Mine is black, Keagan’s is dove grey, Beau’s is dark blue, Kelly is wearing gold, Ezy bronze, and Gael dark green.

Security tries to stop us, but one word from Kelly silences him. He leads us through the expensive marble foyer and into the mirrored lift.

“Are we sure it’s safe leaving Aspyn at home alone?” Ezy mutters.

He was the most opposed to that decision.

“She’s not alone. Mael, Kingston, and Edric are with her. If Holt even looks at her the wrong way, Mael will skin him alive.” My confidence in my cousin is not misplaced.

I wish I were kidding, but whatever brutal genes I inherited from my dad, Mael Morrow got from my father’s sister. My aunt was not just cunning but cruel and deadly, and my cousin has inherited the family gifts and surrounded himself with a pack as bloodthirsty as he is.

Mind you, so has my brother, I’m just not sure why he is hiding it. You’d think Eben was sunshine and calm with a smile that makes everything feel at ease, but I remember him that night. The night it all ended. I’m not sure if he even knew I was there, but I felt what I felt, and he’s not our mother’s son, he’s his fathers. A Daane through and through.

I don’t know where he is. He pops up and disappears so well not even Mael can find him. I need to fix that. Perhaps it’s finally time to force the meeting and drag my brother back out to face the mistakes he made.

I refocus as the lift doors open.

Kelly straightens his shoulders and marches out into a long, wide hallway with offices on either side.

“Alpha Raines?” A woman with a tablet rushes to catch up, her heels clicking on the marble. “Alpha Raines isn’t here.”

“He is not a Raines,” Kelly snaps back at her.

She lets out a tiny eep and disappears. Kelly walks into the boardroom. A vast array of men and women sit around a massive table.

“Excuse me, this is a closed meeting.”

Kelly smiles. “Not to me, and not to my pack.”

I don’t listen to Kelly’s speech. He’s been writing it for days. Kelly is basically coming in and deposing Typhor. He’s going to overhaul the company. The criminal activities will cease, all claims of abuse will be investigated and contracts restructured to treat artists with integrity and respect. How shockingly ethical of him.

What I do is pay attention to the individuals. They are all unhappy, but I weed out seven individuals who are going to be problems straight away. They are the ones who protest, who get red-faced, who threaten.

They, in fact, turn and say that the company belongs to Charles and Kelly has no right to be making that decision and clap themselves on the back for coming up with such a great work around.

Gael turns a tablet around to show a furious-faced Charles.

“My son is my proxy. Typhor has abused the name and trust the Raines gave him, and as he is just a stand-in, if Kelly says we’re removing him this instant, then that’s what we’re doing.”

“No! No, there are more Raines than just this. You don’t get to decide. What about, what’s the kid’s name, Locky?” The red-faced old man slams his fist on the table. I wonder what sins he’s trying to hide.

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