Page 52 of Bonds and Beasts

She pauses here for clear dramatic effect, which proves she's spent way too much time in LA. "Your death certificate."

My heart stops for a long moment before thundering through my ears. Every muscle in me locks up and my chest feels heavy.

"He’d be in the position he deserved if you weren’t around, but he needed your death to occur without throwing suspicion on him.

“Meanwhile, my golden alphas, the reason for my paychecks wanted to retire. Their retirement would create news for a little while, but after the buzz died down, they'd be forgotten, and me along with them. I've worked too long and too hard to let that happen. But then I considered a solution I’d been too blind to see before."

She looks out the window, her face drawn, as if she's looking into the exact moment she found the answer that was better than being satisfied with the fortune she'd already made.

"If they were killed, and their deaths were gruesome or tragic or anomalous? Well, that news would last years, maybe decades. Long past the time when retirements or normal deaths wouldn’t matter anymore. Their hit films would become classics, because they'd be the last great movies of my stars."

Suddenly the pieces come together. "So you decided to solve your problems together."

Lumi looks back at me through the mirror with an almost approving gaze. "Yes. Once I secured my alphas in your manor after the ‘reservation mix-up’, Edgar ensured some of your scent neutralizers in the walls slowly turned off." I'm no longer panicking so much as feeling hot, ugly, screaming rage boiling up in me. Lumi doesn't seem to notice and continues. "Then it was a waiting game. If they scented you, chances were they'd go feral and kill each other and possibly you. But even if you didn’t die, you would have ended up in a facility and lost ownership of the estate. The entire incident would be the pack’s fault, and would never implicate Edgar and me."

My teeth are clenched, breathing coming out ragged. "You fucking bitch," I spit, and her eyes widen. She thought she had a kitten on her floor, and is finding a tiger instead.

She shrugs. "Well, it didn't work, clearly. It wasn't hard to figure out they'd taken rut blockers, which is why I'm not affected myself.

"When I found out Edgar was in jail, I knew I needed to finish the job myself. I'd hoped to get the pack to simply leave you and realize this wasn't what they wanted. To come home so I could lock them into more contracts. But as time went by, I realized that getting them to pay me for your release would be the best approach. My staff was told I'm out meeting new talent, and I used a false ID to get out here, so no one will know it was me."

I start to growl at her, but sharp pain lances up from my abdomen, turning the noise into a whine.

Lumi smirks. "What's the matter, omega? Heat got your tongue?"

Suddenly, a loud bang echoes through the cabin, sending ringing through my ears and spots flashing across my vision.

Hands are on me and I fight against them, trying to roll away with bound wrists and feet.

"Get off me!" I scream. The scent of some kind of smoke bomb has filled my senses.

Someone is shouting my name close by, and as the ringing in my ears fades, I realize it's the person holding my shoulders.

"Adison—Sweetheart. It's me. It's Easton."

I blink up at him. His hair is tousled, brow drawn down, eyes frantically searching my face. "Easton?" I choke out, my voice breaking on his name. Tears spring to my eyes, blurring my vision.

"Are you okay, baby?" he asks, hands grabbing at the ropes binding me, trying to pull them free. "Fuck!" He looks around the sitting area and finds a knife block in the boat’s kitchen. He moves to stand but I whine, throaty and desperate.

"Omega." The rough bark of my lead alpha cuts through the room. My eyes snap to the doorway. Bello stands there looking ragged and dangerous. The storm in his expression is waiting to crash down on anyone who stands between us. Dean stands next to him looking wrecked.

"I need the knife," Easton says urgently. Dean strides over to the knife block, takes out a steak knife, and hands it to Easton, before Dean grabs a knife of his own. Easton moves behind me and carefully cuts through the ropes around my wrists. Dean falls to his knees at my feet and does the same with the bindings there.

Bello is staring hard at the other side of the room. In the confusion, I hadn't realized that officers had rushed in too. Lumi stands with her hands behind her back, being handcuffed and read her rights.

"Bello," she simpers. But Bello turns away from her, ignoring her completely. Based on the shocked and outraged expression on her face, it’s the worst thing that could happen to a woman like her.

My hands and ankles are freed and I rub my palms over the tender flesh of my wrists. Bello crouches down and takes my face between his hands, searching my eyes.

"You're hot to the touch, Beauty. Your pupils are blown and your scent—" He cuts off as my thick, heavy perfume fills the cabin. A growl from outside has each of my alphas' hackles raised.

"She's still on scent suppressants, but with glands like hers, we need to get her away from any other alphas during her heat. She could start affecting alphas for miles around because of her potency," Easton says, matter-of-fact but with eyes full of worry.

Officer Wang strides through the door as Lumi is dragged out. "I told my partner to clear the area to your car." My alphas glance back at her. "I can smell her scent outside. I'll give you a police escort up to Rosevale Manor."

Bello tucks one arm under my knees and another around my shoulders before lifting me. I try to protest that I can walk, but all I can manage is another whine.

"Shh, Sweet Girl," Dean says, scent-marking my cheek. "It's okay. We're going home."