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“You know she’s safe when she’s with us,” I say. “I-I mean when she’s hanging out with Micah. We would never hurt her, and we’ll always make sure she’s protected.” It feels like a heavy statement, but my alpha nature ensures my gaze remains steady as I meet Leo’s eye.
“One hundred percent,” Cabe chimes in.
“That so?” Lincoln prods, a hint of a challenge in his voice. “And how exactly are you going to protect her? Are any of you trained in defensive strategies? Hand-to-hand combat? Do you carry any weapons?” he barks, his eyes cold.
My hackles go up immediately. Even if we’re not actually courting Espy, my instincts won’t allow another alpha to challenge me on my ability to protect an omega. Tension fills the table as I start to growl, Cabe’s growl joining mine in a sort of eerie, threatening duet. Micah pops back up right as Lincoln’s growl breaks into the mix, and even Cabe’s soccer friends, who’d been having their own conversation at the end of the booth, go silent as they take in the alpha standoff taking place.
“Ummmm, hey,” Micah says cautiously.
No one responds, and I’m unable to peel my eyes away from Lincoln’s.
“Linc, dude, calm down,” Tanner finally breaks in, grabbing onto his packmate’s forearm where it rests on the table, his fists clenched.“Lincoln.”Tanner adds a bark to his voice.
It’s clear Lincoln is the more dominant alpha in the pack, but it seems this is enough to snap him out of it. His growl cuts off and he looks away, jaw clenching. “Sorry,” he bites out.
Doesn’t sound that sorry to me.
Cabe and I go quiet as well, but the mood around the table remains tense.
“Uh, we’ve gotta head to class,” one of the guys next to me interrupts. All three of Cabe’s soccer friends are betas, and I don’t blame them one bit for wanting to escape our alpha standoff.
Leo and I get out of the booth, and they take off in a flash. I’d feel bad if my emotions weren’t on such high alert.
Taking the opportunity to look over at the table where Espy and the other girls are seated, I find they’re all looking at us, wide-eyed. In fact, there are a lot of eyes on us from all across the cafeteria. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone alerted the university’s alpha response unit. Confrontations between our kind can get out of hand under the wrong circumstances.
I take a deep breath and sit back in the booth, both Leo and Micah following me in.
“I’m good,” I say, and then I look at Cabe.
“Yeah,” he nods. “Me too.”
“Clearly I missed something,” Micah says as he cautiously scans everyone’s faces.
“Nah, Linc’s just having a hard time,” Leo says, grimacing at his packmate sympathetically.
I understand Espy is pack family for Lincoln, but the large alpha’s overprotectiveness rubs me the wrong way. I have to fight down the growl that wants to spring back up.
I watch as Leo continues to hold eye contact with Lincoln, and the latter finally sighs. The tension visibly falls away.
“He’s right,” Lincoln admits. “There was an attack on some omegas last week, and I’m on edge.”
I go still, and I can see Cabe’s face pale across from me. “What happened?” I practically demand. Luckily, no one seems to be bothered by my harsh tone.
Lincoln runs a hand along his close-cropped hair before he responds. “It was over at Waterford, in Utah. Some of the guys on my team were called in to help. Apparently, they’ve had suspicions about one of the extremist groups operating out there, rumors about mistreatment of omegas, beta sex trafficking, illegal substance distribution—the usual.” He shrugs.
That shit’s the usual?Damn.
“From what I understand, the group infiltrated the university’s security and managed to kidnap one omega and one beta. Another omega escaped, injured, and two alphas ended up in the hospital as well. Looks like it was a coordinated attack with targets picked out ahead of time. At least four terrorists were on campus to snatch the girls, but they suspect there were more people working with them. They caught one of the guys and are interrogating him, but so far, they haven’t found either of the girls.”
“What?!” Micah sounds agitated and distraught.
I feel horrified. I know, in theory, that illegal omega trades take place, but I’ve never heard about it firsthand. It’s the stuff of gritty crime TV shows and occasional national news headlines that I quickly breeze over, too distracted by other things.
Leo slams his fist on the table between us.“Hijos de puta!”
I don’t need to know Spanish to understand the sentiment.
“Do they know what group is responsible?” Cabe asks, his voice low. “Is it the same group your dad was a part of?” He tilts his head at Leo.
