Page 35 of Shades of Scars

She blushes, looking slightly mollified, but when she opens her mouth to respond, a razor sharp voice cuts in, interrupting whatever she’d been about to say. “Look what the sewer washed in. Apollo, seriously, take out the fucking trash.” I wince as I turn fully to face Raven as she stalks towards us, her dark blue eyes like shards of glass trained solely on Scarlett.

Raven is the spitting image of her younger brother and just as alpha as he is. Her long white hair is pulled back in a severe ponytail that swishes as she walks, eyes narrowed on my omega like she’s ready to launch herself for an attack.

I step in her way before she can get any closer, and Wren’s hotheaded sister stops in her tracks, turning her glare on me instead. “Enough, Raven. I’m not going to stand here while you verbally assault my omega. Wren also won’t be happy to hear about this, either.” I cross my arms over my chest. I’m at least a foot taller than her, but I swear she still finds a way to look down her nose at me like I’m scum beneath her shoe.

Raven’s gaze flicks around me to glower at Scarlett, but my omega stands her ground. “It would appear that you and my brother are both fools. She’s clearly another worthless, desperate omega who wants to snag the newest bachelors in this godforsaken city.” Her nostrils flare towards Scarlett, and then she peels her lips back in disgust. “I knew I smelled it on you. She’s already fucking bonded. She’s probably just a using whor-”

“Raven Celeste Madden!” Wren’s harsh bark cracks through the air, slamming into all of us with the force of a Mack truck. Scarlett gasps, but I don’t dare take my eyes off the fuming female alpha still standing toe to toe with me, looking like she wants to rip my omega limb from limb. “Don’t you fucking dare finish that sentence. If you do, it will be thelastwords youeverspeak again.”

Well,shit. Wren means business. I finally look over at him as he stalks into view, heading for the little omega behind me. Raven snarls, the sound usually enough to make my hackles rise, but I’m too focused on keeping Scarlett safe. Wren’s sister is too damn unpredictable. I’ll have to watch her closely from now on. It won’t surprise me in the least if she goes after Scarlett for this.

Especially now that her precious baby brother has put her in her place for it.

Predictably, Raven doesn’t listen. “I told you, Wren. I don’t give a fuck what delusions you are under. She is not welcomein my vicinity.” She peels her lips back as she watches Wren step close to Scarlett. I glance over my shoulder briefly to watch him brush his knuckles softly against her cheek, and she visibly shudders in response to his touch in a way that I know is anythingbutfearful.

Wren doesn’t take his attention off our omega when he speaks, “And Iwarnedyou. My omega is not up for discussion. If you can’t get on board with this and treat her with respect like she deserves, you can fucking leave.”

Surprise flickers through me at that. I’ve never, in all the years I’ve known the siblings, heard Wren speak to his sister like this. He loves her more than anything and even feels guilty constantly about their upbringing together. He does everything he can for her to make up for the way their father had treated her after he’d been given a son by their mother.

Raven takes a step back then, and I finally look back at her to catch the hurt flash across her face, before she shuts it down. When Wren turns to look at her after a moment of silence, her usual mask of anger and hatred is back in place. If I hadn’t seen the emotion flickering in her eyes just before she shuddered it away, I wouldn’t have known any different.

For the first time in his life, Wren is putting someone else above his sister. And that will probably be the catalyst that destroys her.

Possibly even Wren, too.

I expect her to shoot my insults back at him regarding Scarlett, but she just snarls low under her breath before she slips past all of us and heads out the front doors without a backwards glance. A heavy silence descends over us for several minutes before Wren turns his attention back to Scarlett.

“Come on, Sweetheart. We can talk in my office.” He holds out a hand to her, and she only hesitates for a few seconds before she places hers in his open palm. He leads her back the way he’dcome, and I follow after him because I can’t resist the pull I have to my omega.

Somehow, deep down, I know that this will not be the last showdown we have with Raven regarding Scarlett.

Ain’t that fucking peachy.

21

Scarlett

Somehow, I know that the moment I step into Wren’s office I’m going to regret it. Maybe not right away, but in the near future for sure.

I’d come here to talk to him about possibly performing once or twice a week at the club to help me squirrel away more cash in my emergency fund in case I need to high tail it out of the city. I already have a good chunk saved from selling a few pieces during my spontaneous online auctions the last few weeks, but it never hurts to have more.

“Caito doesn’t know you slipped under his nose.” Wren sounds amused when he says it, and my gaze bounces back and forth between him and Apollo, who had followed us up here. This is very dangerous. Being in an enclosed area with two of the most tantalizingly irresistible alphas in the entire universe. Past recent events have all but proven that I can’t be trusted around these men.

If I had a lick of common sense, I would turn my ass around and leave.

It would appear that I lack that more severely than I lack self-preservation.

My stupid omega hormones don’t give two fucks that the most likely outcome of this particular situation is likely to get me killed. Or worse: them killed.Fucking hell.

Wren arches a brow at me when I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “I think I made a mistake coming here. I’m just gonna go-” I take a step back, but I bump into a wall of solid alpha muscle, the scent of gunpowder and whiskey invading my senses as soon as I suck in a sharp breath.Sweet baby hippos.

I’m proud of myself when I hold back a shudder when Apollo’s warm breath washes over the exposed skin behind my ear. I hear him inhale deeply, taking my own scent into his lungs. The low rumble that begins in his chest makes my fucking knees quake. “What’s the rush, love?”

“I have a thing I forgot about.” It’s a lame excuse, one I’m sure they’re not going to buy.

“Why don’t you sit, Sweetheart. Tell me what I can do to help you.” It isn’t a request, and his words are entirely too loaded not to be construed as a sexual innuendo. It’s seriously unfair how badly these alphas can scramble my brain.

“It’s really nothing. I was just stopping in about the offer you put on the table after my interview. I… wouldn’t mind doing a performance or two a week here if you’re still offering.” Wren hums at my words. He doesn’t move around his desk to sit like I expect him to. Apollo remains flush against my back, making my body tingle in all the places we touch. He chuckles when I suck in a breath as he places a hand on my hip, the tips of his fingers brushing against the bare skin of my midriff due to the crop top I’m wearing beneath my leather jacket.

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