“You know,” he drawled, reaching around the door to grip Pember’s arm. “You’re really cute. You sure you don’t need anything doing? Anything at all.”
The alpha’s scent slammed into Pember’s nostrils, something heavy and cloying. It made his head go fuzzy, and he loosened his grip on the handle. The alpha took advantage of his reaction and swung the door open again, yanking Pember back into view by his arm. His eyes trailed up and down his body, tongue darting out to lick his lips.
“Don’t be like that, little omega. I was told you’d be up for anything. Plus, I’ll actually clean your windows if you want me to.” He grinned and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards a white van parked at the bottom of the steps. “Pember, right?”
Pember glared at him.
“Well, Pember, I do a really,reallythorough job. You won’t have any complaints.”
Pember swallowed, his wolf padding and whining under his skin, making his hackles rise. “Sorry, butwhotold you I’d be up for anything?”
Max shrugged, stroking a thumb over Pember’s elbow. The touch made him shudder, but not in a good way. “The bird who booked me, hon.”
“Which was?” he snapped back, trying to yank his arm free.
Max held tight and shrugged again. “Dunno. Some bird called Tracey.”
Pember’s stomach dropped. “T-Tracey?”
Max nodded, the lazy smile making a return. “Yeah. You know, you really are something.” He reached up to stroke Pember’s cheek, and Pember gritted his teeth, bracing for the unwanted touch. “I bet you’d look fucking gorgeous wrapped around—what the—” Max yelped as his hand snapped back and he was wrenched away from the threshold.
Blake was there, eyes dark and lips tugging over his teeth. “Take your hands off him,” he growled, voice tremulous and deep.
He had Max’s arm pinned behind his back, the other squeezing the fingers that held Pember’s elbow. He seemed to completely fill the doorway as he peeled his hand away, spinning Max around and inserting himself between the two of them.
The dogs came skittering up the steps, yapping and barking at the man’s feet.
“O-oi! Who the fuck are you?” Max growled, trying to wrench free of Blake’s grip. Blake only tightened the hold and bent the other man halfway over the garden wall. There was a sickening scrape as Max’s bare knee dragged along the rough brick, his face turning an alarming shade of purple. “Alright!” he growled. “Alright, Jesus!”
Blake released his arm, pulling him upright by the scruff of the neck and marching him all the way to his van. Pember’s eyes were wide as he watched them exchange heated words, until Max eventually hopped into his vehicle and sped away.
Pember felt light-headed again, but the giddiness quickly turned to panic as his hands began to shake. He was breathing hard as Blake stalked back up the steps, his eyes dark and unreadable.
Blake opened his mouth. “Are you?—”
Pember cut him off by slamming the door in his face. The buzzing in his ears made his head swim as he ran up the stairs, the sound getting louder and louder until he finally kicked off his shoes and collapsed on the bed. He clutched his chest and scrunched his eyes shut.
Tracey. His mum. Hisfuckingmum. She knew. She knew exactly where he lived, and she’d sent someone to his house.
Twisting his body, he pressed his face into the pillow, trying to find some measure of calm.
“I can’t do this,” he whispered into the taupe fabric. “I can’t fucking do this.”
Bailey hopped onto the bed, and he pulled her against him. She was solid and warm, but she wasn’t enough. He felt exposed. Horribly, horribly exposed in his own home.
Without even thinking, he rolled off the bed and pushed the mattress onto the floor. With his adrenaline pumping he was able to drag the mattress into the second bedroom, the smaller one that overlooked the garden. Somehow, he tugged it through the doorway and positioned it in the centre of the room. Lying down, he clutched his sides and waited for his ragged breathing to settle. It took a while, but he eventually calmed down enough to pull out his phone. Pressing it to his ear, he listened to the dial tone.
It clicked, then: “Pember?”
He growled deep in his throat. “Mum. Don’t you ever,everpull a stunt like that again. Or I swear to God this’ll be the last time you ever hear from me.”
“Pember, what’re you?—”
He hung up, hands still shaking as he dropped the phone onto the bed.
It stood to reason that she’d find him eventually. He’d only redirected his post from the estate agents two weeks prior, so some of it was bound to slip through the net. He should have known she wouldn’t come directly. Underhand, always underhand, just like with his suppressants.
To top it all off, his new prescription had been waiting for him in the postbox, as well as a voucher for half-priced artificial knots. The doctor was trying to be kind, but it felt like some sort of sick joke.
