Page 33 of Prey for Me

“He is a bêta,” she states, and it’s not a question. I can almost see the accent on her lips, ‘bê’ and ‘ta’ separated when in English, ‘bay’ is dragged out like the word for a curved inlet of the sea, like the bay I washed up in.

Unfortunately for Aiden, it seems the rest of the pack has caught wind of her rejection. The sneering chuckles almost make me feel bad for him, the twenty-something-year-old flushing bright red to match his fire engine red hair.

I clear my throat and lean in, whispering in French, “Yes, he’s a beta, but you know how loyal a beta will be in a pack comparedto alphas. Without pheromones, he can’t control you. But you? You can control him.”

And it’s true, and a better plan of action than my own. I’m up against three. But if Aiden has shown me anything, it’s that the betas here are only separated from alphas by their genes. He’s stronger, faster, and deadlier than any alpha I’ve encountered off of Providence. My only hope is that he’s stupider than them, because even a beta can outwit a clever omega.

She smiles ruefully and clucks her tongue, the reddish undertones of her ochre brown skin glowing in the light.

“No, he is a bêta,” she repeats, like we all didn’t get her rejection right the first time. “How will he mate with me? Are the betas on Foxcroft different somehow? What if the alphas drive him away? Hesavedme. They came to my defense after the fact. I want to make sure he can stay.”

My eyes fly open in surprise.

“You… want this?”

She shakes her head again, braids cascading down her shoulder as she sighs, dabbing at her kohl rimmed eyes before she lifts her chin, “I have to make due with the choices presented to me. And regardless of what I want, I know what I need. I need alphas loyal to me… But I…”

Nadège casts her eyes to Aiden. He kneels, confused, as she strokes his cheek with the back of her gloved hand, eyes shining with hope, before she looks back at me.

“I want him to stay with me.”

I nod, understanding what she means more than I will ever let on. It’s what I feel when I look at Leo. Call it Stockholm syndrome or pragmatism, but we both seem to know who we need by our side, and who, if push comes to shove, we need by our side.

“Okay, I’ll explain. But Nadège, we aren’t at Foxcroft. We’re trapped in Providence, the prison colony.”

Her expression is unreadable, but she gives me the barest hint of a nod. It’s all I need to see to know she understood. Even I haven’t quite accepted my fate, so I can’t expect her to process all that right now.

With a steadying breath, I stand and explain this to everyone, looking at my pack for support, even as I primarily address Emilio, Aaron, Adien, and Marquis. When I’m finished, the murmurs and sneering disappear. Aiden falls to both knees and grabs Nadège before he stands and spins her in his arms. The man is shorter by a few inches, yet he’s twirling her around like she’s the shorter of the two.

As soon as she’s back on her feet, Emilio–the apex alpha of his pack–kisses her fiercely. And then, to my shock, his fangs sink into her neck without warning. When he pulls away, she looks dizzy and on the verge of collapse. Or wait, no, not that. She looks like she’s been thrown into the apex of her rut.

“We aren’t equal. Betas and alphas… Or omegas,” Emilio says in a measured baritone, glancing at me, but never staring. A sign of respect I guess. I repeat what he says so she can understand.

“But we are family. No different than a child who is under the protection of their parents. We arebrothers.We would never abandon Aiden. Now, with you, our pack is whole.”

A cheer goes up, and it seems like the entire pack closes in. Somehow, I end up wrapped in Leo’s arms, Raphael and Nakoa too busy managing the demands of their underlings who beg to sign up for the upcoming exhibition. The chance at winning a mate is overwhelming.

“They’ll be good mates to her,” Leo whispers, “And Aiden? He’ll worship her.”

He’s sounds proud and sure. But he doesn’t understand. He could never understand.

I want to be swept up in the swoony romantic mode, but there’s a boulder-sized weight in my stomach, of absolute dread.It all sounds so wrong, the more I think about it. How can she… How could I bond with the alphas of this island when one day we must escape.

We can’t live here, become a family, build a home.Never.And yet we are promising we will. I have already pledged myself to the apex alpha. And now Nadège will sell her soul to his most loyal warriors outside his inner circle.

Leo is pulled away and I end up in…

Oh shit, Rapahel’s arms.

He holds me too softly, too closely, his breathe uneven and pupils dilated.

“What did you say to her?”

“Nothing! I–”

“Don’t bullshit me.”

Why the hell is he mad?

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