Page 16 of Dodging Bullets

A knock startled me out of my waking nightmare. Or my reality. Waking reality?

“Llew?”

Max. My Max.

I turned, giving him a smile that felt a little loose on my face, like it could slip right off. He smelled nice. He told me they’d brought home an Omega, like they were telling me they’d brought home a case of fireworks. Waiting for me to lose it. Always waiting for me to lose it.

“Max,” I said softly, and watched his shoulders relax. Poor Maxie, always the strong one. I wanted to hold him, but it made him sad. I could smell it, and it made the wild surge up.

“I’ve brought a visitor, Llew.” Still so hesitant.

I lifted my nose.Omega.But not the one whose scent had been permeating the air for the last two days, whose bruised scent made my Alpha feel rage. And protectiveness. Feral.

Her pain made me feel raw. But luckily, that sour scent had disappeared as my Pack took care of her. I knew they would. My Maxie would lay down his life for them. And Rio…

Rio.

Shaking my head, I scented the air. No, this wasn’t that Omega. This one smelled of decadent chocolate and sweetness. Deep and potent. Not the same Omega, but still delicious. My Alpha shook himself from the confines I kept him in, and I held on tight to my control.

I wouldn’t hurt an Omega. I’d die first.

“Max…” I almost whined, but he knew.

“It’ll be okay, Llew. I trust you, so trust yourself.” Stepping aside, he ushered someone inside my room. The master suite had always been the biggest room, with a walk-in robe, its own bathroom, and large sliding doors onto a balcony. It made an excellent cell. I guess it was time for visitation. “This is August. He’s a therapist down at the VA.” Max cleared his throat. “He wanted to come and say hello.”

There was something they weren’t telling me, but I didn’t blame them. I didn’t have a firm grip on reality most days. Today, though, I felt good. I turned, hoping I didn’t look like a serial killer, but wouldn’t bet on it. Not a lot of need to groom if you never left your room.

Heh. That rhymed.

A tall, slight man entered my room, his scent pouring in after him. It flooded all the nooks and crannies, and I knew it would linger for days after he left. My mouth watered. He had a shock of dark brown curls, and full lips. His skin was a soft gold, his jaw so sharp I might cut myself on the edges. His energy was like aXanny straight to the veins, and I wondered if that was why he’d become a therapist.

He was completely confident as he walked toward me, his hand out in front. “Llewellyn, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. The guys speak highly of you.”

I snorted. Maybe they spoke highly of the man I used to be. Now, I was a shadow.

Chains and rope. Burn. Burn. Burn.

Pushing the madness down, I reached out and gripped the Omega’s hand, shaking it gently. I was so big. Big hands. Big body. Big madness.

“Call me Llew. Only my mother and the DMV call me Llewellyn.”

August chuckled softly, a sound that was like a balm over my exposed wounds. “Llew it is.” He looked around the room, and I wondered what he saw? The expensive furnishings? The light divots in the wall that were the remnants of gouges and holes made by fists?

Swallowing hard, I indicated the small table and chairs over by the windows. “Have a seat. We’ll sit and visit like proper Southerners.”

“You’re a South Carolina native?”

I held out the remaining seat to Max. He was my Maxie. My Pack. He got everything he deserved, and he deserved the whole world. He was a stubborn brat, though, and when he shook his head, I insisted with my eyes. Not through the bond. Our bond was broken. Irreparable.

Sighing heavily and rolling his eyes, Max sat down opposite August. I saw the way my Beta’s eyes took in the other man, like he was eating him up with his gaze before he ate him for dessert.

Interesting.

Finally, I looked back at the Omega to see he was watching our interaction with intensity. “We moved here from Waleswhen I was a kid and settled in Charleston. We moved up here, because Max was based out of Charlotte.”

“I moved here for work too,” August said, settling easily in his chair. So comfortable in a strange place in front of a feral Alpha. I knew what my aura was like. I knew that my Alpha pheromones were wild and felt like sandpaper on the skin of outsiders. But this man, this Omega, sat opposite me without a care in the world.

Maybe he was really an Alpha masquerading as an Omega, because he had some serious brass balls.

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