Page 3 of Quietly Hux's
At the nameDormaunt, Rylan looked up, face stricken before he kept reading.
“I ran this morning because I know he’ll come after me. You know how he is. Once he considers someonehis,there’s no getting away. I didn’t want to lead him to all of you.”
“Oh, Milo.” Rylan got up from his seat and came around the table to wrap Milo in a hug. Looking around at the others, I found the other Omegas at the table had gone pale. Two of them were holding on to each other. Shep and Thorn looked as confused and angry as I was.
“Who is this Dormaunt guy?” Shep asked before I could.
Rylan stood up, keeping a hand on Milo’s shoulder, and looked at his mate. “He’s the worst kind of Alpha. He’s a sadist and believes the Omegas he buys are his possessions to do with what he wants. He’s got some crazy old-world code. Thinks his family’s ancestry still applies. It’s why he uses the title Baron. That’s what he would have been a few hundred years ago, apparently.”
“Trent and his guys used to joke about him constantly,” Sebastian said quietly. “But they’d never dare taunt him to his face. They know how ruthless he is, but Trent said Dormaunt is always willing to pay top dollar for stock he likes.”
And he liked Milo.
A low growl built in my chest. Milo squeezed my hand again, but I couldn’t stop it. A sadistic Alpha was out there tormenting Omegas, and he believed Milo was his.
I looked up, meeting Shep’s gaze. The same hardened determination I was feeling stared back at me. No way in hell was that bastard getting his hands on Milo. Or any other Omega. Dormaunt didn’t know it yet, but his death warrant had already been signed.
Chapter
Three
MILO
Afew minutes into Hux, Shep, and the other Alphas talking about what we should do about Dormaunt and Trent, I felt the first tingle. Low in my belly warmth was starting to grow.
My heat had always been a slow, creeping thing. Typically, before the start of one, I’d have days of aches and feeling off. I’d never had one just suddenlyshow up.
A hand gripped my wrist where it rested on the table. I looked up and met Sebastian’s concerned gaze. Even if an Omega’s sense of smell was as strong as an Alpha’s, there was no way this heat was showing up in my scent yet, so he must have seen the confusion on my face. I gave him a small, reassuring smile.
Grabbing the pen still lying on the open notebook, I wrote a quick note in small script, then tapped Hux on the chest. He’d been speaking to Shep, but there was no irritation in his gaze when he looked at me. It only made me more sure of what I was about to do.
I pointed at the note I’d just written. Hux read it, eyes widening, and then read it again.
I’m going into heat. Could you take me somewhere private and spend it with me, please?
He swallowed and took a deep breath before he met my gaze again.
“You’re sure?”
I could have misinterpreted. Pretended I thought he meantwas I sureabout going into heat, but the sincere surprise and utter longing on his face left little doubt. He wanted to spend my heat with me, to quell the inferno with his knot and seal us together as mates. But he wanted to be sure that’s what I really wanted to do.
Leaning into him, I lifted my chin and pressed a single kiss to his slack mouth. When I pulled back, I gave him a nod and couldn’t help but smile at how the darkness of his pupil had all but swallowed the pretty blue of his eye.
“Um,” Hux said, rising to his feet and taking my hand. “We’ve got to go.”
Shep frowned for only a moment, looking back and forth between us. His eyes widened when it dawned on him what was happening. The rapidly spreading warmth beneath my skin must have permeated my scent.
“Of course,” Shep said. “We’ll talk later.”
Hux gave one decisive nod and started to pull me toward the door. I grabbed the still open notebook, pen, and let myself be led.
HUX
I tried not to walk too fast, mindful that Milo was so much shorter than me. Honestly, it was taking all my strength not topick him up and run to my house. And not just because I couldn’t fucking wait to get inside him, to join us together like that.
No, it was the fact that my mate was going into heat, and we weren’t somewhere private. Somewhere warm and safe where Milo would be comfortable, and we could just be together without worrying about the rest of the world.
I’d never had that. Even before the silver spray trap cost me my eye. Even before the scars. I’d never been with someone who made me feel settled, accepted.
