Page 122 of Unmarked
Every hallway feels like a cathedral. Every room like a tomb.
It's quiet.Waytoo quiet.
And I know exactly why.
Lucky bastards.
I drag my hand through my hair as I pace the edge of the guest room - my temporary prison - shirtless, sweatpants slung low on my hips. Her scent still clings to the walls. Heat and slick and sweet omega, coiled around the air like a living thing, refusing to give me even an inch of peace.
I swear I haven’t been fully soft since yesterday.
I sit hard on the edge of the bed, knuckles grinding into my thighs like pain will fix the itch under my skin.
I thought the trip out might help. It didn’t. Not the open air, not the gym, anddefinitelynot the deeply weird heart-to-heart I ended up having with Lucian when I got back - if you can call being barked at through a clenched jaw a heart-to-heart.
But I was being careful, sinceLucian hadallowedme to leave - though only just. He’d practically ordered me out of the house this morning while he stayed locked inside, simmering in his own goddamn misery.
"Straight to her friend. Straight back," he'd snapped, like I was some teenage intern being sent out for coffee, not a grown-ass alpha who could probably bench press this entire house.
Which, to be fair, wouldn't be hard. The place is mostly marble and disappointment.
But fine.Whatever. Someone had to check on the outside world. Someone had to make sure Lexi wasn’t setting the city on fire with “WHERE IS RHEA?” flyers and a megaphone.
And Lexi was… Lexi. Sharp. Beautiful, angry, and one sarcastic comment away from stabbing me in the throat with a pen.
(For the record, I think she had on her just in case.)
She had grilled me -hard. Wanted to know where Rhea was, what had happened since she left, and who was with her.
I told her none of it. Lucian’s orders: minimal details, maximum mystery.
Just enough to stop her from going full beta FBI.
Still, she got the message. Rhea’s alive, safe, cared for - and will be in touch.
Then came the real problem.
“There are rumors,” Lexi told me, arms crossed like she was about to deliver a weather report from hell. “That an unregistered omega left that gala with multiple alphas. Not one.Multiple.And not bonded, or claimed, either.”
I stared at her. “And you shut that down, right?”
“I’mtrying,” she'd snapped. “But you can’t exactly squash whispers. Especially not the good ones.”
Good. Jesus. We’re the subject of Omega gossip now. Might as well brand the front gate with HOT ALPHA ORGY HOUSE: ENTRY BY INSTINCT ONLY.
Lexi promised to keep the OMB distracted and keep Rhea’s name buried, but I saw the look in her eyes.
She’s worried. And if she’s worried, I’m worried.
And if I lingered too long under the weight of Lexi’s frustration and anger and worry - if my hand brushed hers when she passed over Rhea’s things…
Well. That’s nobody’s business.
I should’ve come straight back after that.Should’ve, but I didn’t.I hit the gym on the way here - needed to. I picked a fight in the cage, and won, of course. There was no contest. There never is, but especially not when I’m fueled by adrenaline and rage and whatever chemical cocktail Rhea’s scent had left corroding my brain.
Nothing clears the head like blood and bruises and being able to throw your body at someone who deserves it. I walked out of there with a split lip, blood on my knuckles, and zero regrets.
Except now, the calm’s worn off. The high’s gone.
