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Excitement twirls in my stomach. “Good. I’m excited to read it.”
He clears his throat. “So, what about yours?” he asks. “What’s it about?”
After hearing he picked out a love story, my tale about Jack Sparrow seems a little silly, but I wasn’t expecting him to be so damn romantic.
“Erm, pirates?”
Kyle tries to hold back his laugh. I know he does, but it escapes anyway. He scoops me out of my chair and into his lap, his caramel sugar heightening a little with his joy. “That’s exactly up my alley, Peardrop. Mind reading a little bit to me?”
My nerves settle as I crack open the pages and read out loud, even if it’s slightly hard to concentrate with his dick poking my ass and his breath fanning my neck, but somehow, I manage.
At one point, I glance back and catch Kyle staring at me with an expression I can’t quite place. “What?” I ask, a blush creeping up my neck.
“You’re beautiful,” he says simply, his hand stroking up my thigh lovingly. “And I’m lucky to have you.”
My heart swells with emotion, and I know without a doubt that I feel the same. As we continue to read, I can’t help but feel that this moment, this simple act of reading together, will be one I’ll remember for a long time. And hopefully, we’ll have many more nights like this. A lifetime of them.
Chapter 50
Verity
The muffled sounds of a scream wake me from the dead of sleep. I sit straight up in bed, instantly awake. It has the same effect on Ry and Kyle who were pressed against me all night.
Another scream. So, I’m not dreaming, that’s definitely someone screaming bloody murder. And with how things have been going lately, it’s probably literal.
We all move at the same time, scrambling from the bed and rushing for the door. Somehow, Kyle gets there first as he drags on his shirt. He opens it with such strength it bangs against the wall. Ryland follows behind me, for some reason having slept with a shirt on.
It seems my other alphas reacted a fraction quicker than we did, or perhaps it’s their closer proximity to the sound. The twins are reaching the main doors leading from the wing, and a fully dressed Emmett is shortly behind them, his med bag in hand. It doesn’t feel right to admire the twin’s muscles when someone is in distress, but I’m a weak omega. Thankfully, Andrik has two shirts in his hand and tosses one to his brother.
The moment the doors open, the screaming gets louder, but quickly cuts off since help has arrived. When I make it through, I find Andrik with his hands on Rosey’s shoulders, walking her backward away from a body on the ground.
Emmett holds his fingers to Charles’ neck, checking for a pulse, but by the deep frown pulling at his lips, there isn’t one. My suspicion is confirmed when he shakes his head and leans back to look at Jedrik. “He’s gone, nothing I can do.”
Three murders, all of them alphas hoping to win a spot in my pack. If it wasn’t for me being an omega, would they have even been here? My scent suddenly turns into that sharp, sour, nose curling version of pears I’ve only experienced once before.
“No,” a firm voice says, pulling me from my rapidly spiraling thoughts. “Don’t even go there.”
When I glance up, I almost expect to find Ryland, since he constantly reads my mind, but it’s actually Jedrik. He steps around the body and stands in front of me.
His hand grips my chin and tilts my head back. “Don’t you dare try to put this on you. I know this is stressful, but we’ll protect you no matter what. Even from yourself.”
And just like that, Jedrik put a halt to my spiraling thoughts. He gave me the reassurance I needed. Now that I’ve been snapped out of it, I feel dumb for even letting my thoughts go in that direction. I’m in no way responsible for some lunatic going on a murder spree.
Ry joins us, wrapping his arm around my shoulders for comfort. Knowing I have support, Jedrik quickly kisses me and switches his focus to the most recent victim. The twins bend their heads together and discuss the details they see embedded in the scene. As Andrik points to the ground, it brings my attention to the trail of blood, and my hand flies to my mouth.
There’s no doubt the killer has massively escalated from last time. Fear creeps in, gripping my heart in a vise. I hate to think what his plan could be, if he even has one. Ry rubs his hand up and down on my arm and I sink into his side. He drops some slippers in front of me and uses his foot to help keep them in place as I toe them on.
“Thank you,” I mumble to him, giving a hesitant smile when his eyes meet mine. I’m so lucky to have him. He’s always so good at taking care of me.
“Of course, Ver Bear. Always.” He pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me. I’m not sure why this murder is affecting me more than the first two. Maybe it’s been compiling and this has taken things past my threshold, or maybe it’s the violence of it.
Either way, I can’t stand to look at Charles any longer. His arms are stretched out above his head like the killer simply dropped them when he was done dragging him, and there’s an expression of pain frozen in place on his face. The amount of blood smeared on the floor leaves me to believe he was stabbed.
“What reason would he have to purposefully leave the body in front of the omega wing?” I overhear Andrik asking his brother.
“I’m not sure. The first body seemed like it was moved to the gate temporarily until they could come back and hide it. I don’t think we were supposed to find it. The second body you found right after the kill probably scared the murderer off. But this is just shy of being staged. Why the sudden change?” Jedrik studies the scene, a crease between his eyebrows.
Rosey’s cries draw my attention again, and I make my way around the room the long way to reach her. Something about having to step across the trail of blood makes my stomach lurch. Kyle has an arm around her shoulders and awkwardly pats her back. He’s so sweet for trying to console her.
