4. Cas

I was pretty fuckingsure I'd never seen Liam look at Lucy like that before. It was a look I'd seen often, but not one that had ever been directed at her.

Liam Valor considered his omega a threat.

Trying to wrap my brain around that gave me a headache and I gave up trying to understand what made him so fucking sure she could cause that much mayhem. What had she done when they were kids for him to stare at her like he expected her to rip his heart out of his chest and eat it while we all watched?

Lucy had shown me just how crazy she could be when she'd put the knife to my throat and then her own, but Liam watched her like he thought she could still kill us both even though she was cuffed to the interrogation chair.

What made him so fucking sure when he'd been just as surprised as me that she'd fought us like an expert martial artist? It certainly hadn't been in her records.

What else didn't I know?

"I'm going to kill you," Lucy stated. Her voice was so calm, bored even, that a chill went down my spine.

I absolutely believed her. I didn't know how she'd manage it, but she would. I'd even believe she'd done that kind of thing before, and considering who her father was, it wouldn't really be a surprise.

Lucy didn't seem surprised Liam believed that she would kill him.

She leaned so far forward she hung from the cuffs, and I winced when the scent of her blood hit the air. I watched Liam closely and waited with bated breath to see what would happen next.

Usually, it was my job to interrogate people, but every once in a while Liam would do it himself.

I had no fucking idea what to expect with these two. All I knew was I couldn't let them kill each other. I didn't think I could live without either of them. I swallowed down bile at the thought of having to live this miserable life alone.

We had to figure out a way to make this work.

"Before you kill me, I'd like to explain." Liam didn't tease her, or try to plead with her. He simply told her what he wanted with zero emotion attached despite how much he had to be freaking out right now.

After all, this was the girl he's spent millions of dollars trying to find, and now here she was, ready to gut him the second she got the opportunity.

"Then explain," Lucy whispered. Somehow, she made those simple words sound like a threat. "You have my full attention."

That really should not make me feel jealous after everything I've been through.

Ever since I'd settled into my alpha designation I'd gotten into fights. High school had been a fucking nightmare thanks to just how dominant of an alpha I was. Kids who'd just settled into their designations were cruel beyond belief as they all tried to figure out where they stood in the pecking order.

It had taken me way too long to learn how to ignore my instincts. It had taken me even longer to learn how to drop my eyes first, or ignore the jeering taunts that questioned my strength and abilities.

I was from a normal, working-class family, not a legacy pack. We didn't have connections or money, but before my parents died, they'd made sure we lived a relatively comfortable life. I never went hungry, even when my appetite became insatiable after becoming an alpha. They'd made sure I had everything I needed, even when I grew over a foot in a single year.

Sometimes, I wondered if I was as strong of an alpha as I was because of my parents.

Not many betas ended up with omegas, and even fewer ended up with alphas. There had to have been some weird genetic glitch that allowed me to surpass all the normal alphas and become something like a legacy alpha.

But no matter how strong I was, I was not a legacy alpha. My eyes stayed blue, but the color shifted slightly until they glowed like a predator's when I was angry. I may be taller than most legacy alphas and bigger, but I still had only one knot.

One year two guys from a legacy pack trapped me in the locker room after soccer practice and stripped me out of my clothes so they could see if I actually had only one knot or two. Like my eyes weren't already an indicator of the answer.

That was the first time I was expelled, but definitely not the last. I was just lucky those idiots hadn't told their parents who'd beaten them so badly they'd ended up in the fucking hospital. It would have been too shameful to admit that two legacy alphas had gotten their asses handed to them by some nobody, especially when they'd outnumbered me.

It had taken a few more years after that to learn how to ignore the instincts raging at me to prove my dominance, but by then I was shipped off to a boarding school for problem kids.

That's where I met Liam.

Yeah, a lot of legacy alphas went to that boarding school by choice, but it was built like a prison which was why they'd sent me there on a scholarship. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get past the security without someone stopping me.

It was honestly impressive, but it also made sense.

Brand new legacy alphas were dangerous to everyone around them which was why there wasn't a single omega or beta in that school. We'd had to learn how to control ourselves before we rejoined society and after the first time I got caught, I never tried to escape again.

That place was the only reason I could control my instincts and it had even helped me go a step further.

Not only could I ignore my raging instincts and urges, but I could also control my pheromones so that no one would know just how strong I was unless I wanted them to, even without scent blockers.

That was another reason I liked that school. Scent blockers were forbidden. They were nothing but a crutch and if we didn't learn how to control ourselves without them, then we'd commit atrocities out in the real world when they started to wear off because some people didn't bother wearing them even in the city and we had to be prepared.

But ever since Lucy came into my life, I've lost control of my instincts. I kept acting like a fucking teenager around her and it was really, really annoying. No one else has ever gotten me to act like an alpha around them if I didn't want to, not even Liam, but her scent was intoxicating and it always went straight to my dick.

Every time I caught a whiff of black currants and dark roses I wanted to pin her down and fuck my scent into her, breed her until she was mine and mine alone. If not that, then I wanted to hold her as she slept so she wouldn't be cold or lonely.

None of it made any fucking sense, and it was all I could do to stand behind her while she was cuffed to the chair where I regularly killed people and do nothing.

"Would you like me to explain why we've been monitoring you first, or why we happen to have Arturo Lopez?" Liam didn't move. He stayed in a crouch so she wouldn't have to look up at him. He didn't even blink, and I couldn't tell what he was planning.

Did he really think Lucy was going to be like, ‘oh okay, that all makes perfect sense?' She wasn't that stupid.

But she stared at Liam for a long time and I held my breath, waiting to see what she would say.

"Explain why you've been monitoring me."

I buried down my shock as far as I could. I really hadn't expected that choice, and I couldn't say why, not when her scent was starting to fill the room – all mixed up in mine thanks to the fucking hoodie she was wearing.

That scent was doing crazy shit to my head, even now.

"We set up the surveillance after agreeing to let you work for Valor," Liam explained, his entire body so still it creeped me the fuck out. "I wanted to make sure you were never in danger and I couldn't do that if I couldn't monitor you. You have connections to Valor now and that's dangerous. Other legacy packs might kidnap you just to find out what's going on and I didn't want to risk it."

Lucy didn't say anything despite the pause and Liam took that as a signal to keep going. "I've also put a tracker on your phone."

I closed my eyes and counted to ten, reminding myself I couldn't kill this idiot when he might just be the only reason Lucy accepted us.

"Why?" Lucy demanded, yanking against her cuffs hard enough to make fresh blood slide down her hands from her wrists.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to ignore the instinct to unlock the cuffs so she'd stop hurting herself.

"The idea of losing you was too much." Liam sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Just thinking about the possibility stressed him out so much that the scent of oranges became thick enough to choke on. "I needed to know where you were. I needed to know you were okay. Always. The thought of what I might do if I couldn't see you seemed worse. You wouldn't have liked it."

We both held our breath as we waited for her to say something in response, but Lucy was quiet for a long time. It was nerve wracking as hell to endure, but I managed to keep my mouth shut.

"When exactly did the surveillance start?"

Why did she keep surprising me? I'd expected her to be angry, but she didn't smell angry at all. If anything she smelled aroused.

"As soon as we finished our initial meeting. It was the day after Gideon was murdered." Liam watched her without blinking, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he was holding on by just a thread. If she didn't like his reasons and still demanded to leave, he was going to fucking lose it.

"What if I decide not to believe you?" Lucy leaned back and I let out a small sigh of relief. The metal kept cutting into her skin and I couldn't fucking stand it.

"I can show you the timestamps on the servers. I'll even give you full access to everything that's on there." Liam had it so bad it was disgusting.

Not that I was any better.

"There could be other servers." Lucy shook her head. "There could be more you're hiding."

Liam clenched his teeth and a muscle flickered in his jaw. "Anything you want, I'll give you."

His desperation made the oranges I was choking on taste like ash, but then it was washed away by a strong spike of black currants and those dark, musky roses I loved so much.

"That doesn't make any sense," Lucy breathed. "There's no reason for you to feel like this about me."

"There's every reason," Liam insisted.

I was relieved when she didn't argue with him. There was nothing she could say or do to make Liam feel any differently and for whatever fucking reason, she seemed to understand that.

The following silence made my skin crawl and I forced myself to stay completely still to wait it out. We weren't done yet.

"Explain Arturo," Lucy demanded.

A growl escaped me before I could stop it, and she whipped around with wide eyes, like she'd forgotten I was here. The growl cut off and I held her gaze, annoyed at how badly I wanted to look away.

Iwas the alpha. What was wrong with me?

"I told you I wouldn't kill him." Liam stood and slipped his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants.

Lucy turned back to face him and didn't bother trying to hide her admiration of his bare chest. She even licked her fucking lips and her scent became darker, more aroused. We had to get through this shit as quickly as possible or I was going to fuck her on this chair like a maniac.

"Arturo broke more than a few pack laws," I muttered, gripping my biceps hard enough that pain erupted and kept me grounded. "He tried to take you by force. He deserves to die."

Lucy turned so she could look between me and Liam, her expression calculating instead of afraid. "But you weren't killing him, you were torturing him."

I gritted my teeth and looked away when it felt like she was staring into my fucking soul. How was I supposed to explain that I hadn't been able to control my instincts after seeing what he'd done to her?

I was known for my control – for my ability to go unnoticed. And yet, I couldn't ignore those stupid fucking instincts anymore. Not when it came to her. I fucking hated it, but not because she made me lose control. No, I hated it because I knew I was the afterthought in this relationship.

Lucy and Liam were scent matched – destined to be together before they'd ever perfumed. It was obvious to anyone with eyes they were mates, no matter how rare that might be. He'd bond her and she would be his.

Once that was done, there would be no room for me until her next heat. That's just how things were and I had to learn to accept that as soon as possible or I'd go on a killing spree just to soothe the pain in my chest.

"Why?" Lucy asked, forcing my gaze back to her.

I grimaced, not sure how to answer her without making it very fucking obvious how obsessed I was.

But maybe that's what she needed to understand…maybe it would be enough to give me a space beside her instead of behind – perpetually near, but always apart.

Sighing, I ran my hand back and forth over my hair to dispel some of the nervous energy. "I wanted him to feel the same pain he made you feel. Once I was satisfied, I was going to kill him and send the body to Francisco Lopez as a declaration of war."

Liam nodded like all this was very normal and I almost laughed. Growing up in a legacy pack had really done a number on him. "I told you I'd go to war for you Lucy, and I meant it."

"We," I corrected, crossing my arms over my chest again. "We will go to war for you."

"You're both insane," she whispered, looking back and forth between us with wide eyes. "Why would you do that? I'm just some random omega who happens to work for you. We've only just met. So, why the fuck would you do that?"

A low growl escaped Liam's chest and his red eyes narrowed. "You're not just some random omega, Lucy."

Please, for the love of god, just tell her already.

But that asshole stood there, staring down at her as her scent somehow became even darker. Then she squirmed on the chair, and my jaw dropped when she started panting.

What the fuck was this? Was she going into heat again? Already?

"There's something I need to tell you, Lucy." Liam's voice was deeper than usual and gravelly, his eyes glowing.

Did he not see what was happening?

"None of this…makes…any sense." She forced those words out between each harsh breath, like she was furious with her own body. "You must not be thinking clearly. It…it has to be the pheromones."

I couldn't stop myself from settling my hand on her throat, forcing her chin up so she had to look at me. "Do you really care more about that than the fact that I was torturing someone? For you?"

Lucy blinked those big grey eyes up at me and licked her lips. "That makes sense since he broke pack laws, but your obsession? That isn't rational. What happens…what happens when you detox?"

I raised an eyebrow, stunned that she'd be so fucking stubborn about this. "I don't think you understand just how fucking badly we want you."

Liam chuckled and she tried to look at him, but I wouldn't let her. I needed her to see it wasn't just the delicious pheromones filling the room or the instincts she incited. It wasn't even her deliciously curvy body that could give just as much as it could take.

I leaned down so we were eye to eye – so there was no fucking way she could miss how serious I was about this. "I will kill anyone who hurts you, Lucy. Anyone."

She closed her eyes for just a second and when she opened them, there wasn't a single shred of sanity left. "I need you to fuck me, Cas. Please…please help me."

My grip on her throat tightened. "Right here?"

"Yes," she breathed. "Just like this."

Right where I killed people – where blood still pooled underneath her feet.

I looked at Liam then and raised an eyebrow. "She's yours, and I never should have touched her. What do you want me to do?"

"She is mine," Liam agreed as he leaned over Lucy, grabbing me by the back of my neck and yanking me closer until we were nose to nose. "You are also mine. And I can't do this alone."

I closed my eyes and tried not to read too much into that, but how could I not? Liam was telling me there was room for me…if she wanted it.

Opening my eyes, I dropped my gaze to his lips and tried not to get distracted. I had to warn him. "I don't know if I can ever go back to the way things were."

"Finally." Liam sank his teeth into my bottom lip before licking away the sting. "I want you just as consumed by her as I am, Cas."

I nodded, knowing I was already drowning in this obsession. Giving myself over to it completely wouldn't be difficult.

Whatever Liam wanted, Liam got.