Page 117 of Stolen By the Alpha Hunter
A boot scuffs beside me. I look up—and it’s Reyes.
He crouches down, brows knit, his shadow cast over both of us.
“How is he?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “He’s breathing, but…”
But he’s nothere. Not really. Just the shape of him, the shell.
Reyes nods slowly. His voice is steady but softer than usual when he says, “You’re safe now. We’ll keep him safe too.”
That breaks me a little.
I press my forehead to Javi’s side, blinking fast, and Reyes reaches out and puts a strong hand on my shoulder. Grounding me. Reminding me that I’m not alone.
From the helm, Colt’s voice calls over the engine. “Magnolia’s gonna lose her damn mind when she sees you,” he says, a faint grin in his voice. “Better brace yourself, Peaches.”
I manage a breath of laughter. Barely.
Then I feel it.
That shift in the air. Like ozone before a storm.
I lift my head in time to see Ephraim striding across the deck, his scent unmistakable. His gaze locks on the omega sitting near the hatch, the one we rescued from the Citadel.
“Well now,” he drawls. “Didn’t think you’d be joining us, Two.”
She startles, stiffening on instinct. Her hands twitch toward the collar still locked around her neck.
“That’s not my name,” she says, her voice low and trembling.
Ephraim tilts his head. Smiles that awful smile. “Hm…I think it is. Dad’s gone now. Makes me Prime. Makes you mine.”
“My name is Evangeline, and I’mnot yours,” she says, voice tight, terrified.
That’s when Frankie appears.
She doesn’t announce herself. Doesn’t posture. Just materializes behind Ephraim like a stormcloud.
He doesn’t even register the danger at first.
“I mean—someone oughta take care of you,” Ephraim says. “I’d be doin’ you a favor.”
“You’d better step away from her,” Reyes says sharply, rising to his full height.
Ephraim barely glances at him. “I don’t take orders from you.”
“No,” Frankie murmurs. “But you’ll take this.”
And before anyone can so much as ask her not to, her claws flash.
In one fluid, terrifying motion, she steps in and rakes her hand across Ephraim’s throat. Blood spurts, his breath hitching in a wet gurgle. He grabs his neck, eyes wide, and staggers backward.
I could see it in her eyes the moment I caught sight of her back on the Rig…she wasn’t going to let him come with us. And…it’s probably a good thing. She follows him backward, eyes narrowed, and then she just…pushes him.
The splash is loud and final.
No one breathes.
