Page 35 of Enticing Little Omega
Her smile was cool, calculating. "The kind that your mother would probably pay to keep hidden."
I stared at her. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"
She shrugged. "I don't know where your loyalties lie, Alpha."
I exhaled, slow and sharp. "If you're asking me if I would choose my mother over Christa, the answer is no, a thousand times no. I don't give one flying fuck about my mother. I haven't in ages."
Something flickered in her expression. Amusement perhaps. But disbelief above all else. "Is that so?"
"Yes," I said flatly. "Our mother burned her bridges a long time ago. After the way she treated Christa, she killed the last of the loyalty we had towards her."
"Hmmm." She tilted her head, clearly unconvinced. "I suppose time will tell."
I tensed again, fingers tightening around the pencil. "You could just give me the information and move along."
"I could," she agreed. "But I want to see how you treat her first. Christa deserves only the best. I need to know that you will care for her in the way she should be. I will be watching... and if I like what I see, you'll get your answers. If I don't..."
Her gaze sharpened, glinting like a blade.
"You'll hear from me again."
I stood then, anger rising fast and hot. "Are you threatening me?"
She smirked. "I don't need to, big guy. You'll know if I everreallydo."
A sound echoed through the trees, sharp, loud. I turned my head instinctively.
But there was nothing to be seen, and by the time I looked back, she was gone.
I was still standing there when the door creaked open behind me.
Anton stepped onto the porch, shirt rumpled, brow furrowed. He stopped when he saw me, eyes scanning the trees like he could still feel the tension hanging in the air.
"You okay?" he asked.
I hesitated. "We had a visitor."
His eyes sharpened. "What? Who?"
I motioned to the sketchbook, flipping to a blank page and quickly sketching the shape of her. Sharp cheekbones, the twist of her lips, the feral grace of her posture. And there was no doubt about it, that woman was feral.
"She called herself The Tigress."
Anton froze. "No shit."
"No shit."
He looked down at the drawing, then back at me. "She was here? You met the mysterious Omega saviour?"
"Just now. Called herself a friend of Christa's. Claimed to have information for us. About Christa. And Mom."
Anton blinked, then scoffed. "Of course. Because this wasn't complicated enough already."
I leaned against the railing, rubbing the back of my neck. "She didn't say what kind of information, though. Just that it could hurt Mom. And that she's watching us, waiting to see how we treat our Omega before she decides if she's willing to share it."
"What the fuck?" Anton blurted.
I met his eyes. "I know, man. I'm just as freaked out, and frankly quite a bit pissed off at the inferred threats."
