Filed to story: Claimed by My Ex’s Alpha Brother
So, Magnus had already deduced that my shadow company was behind the attack. Yet, even as I knew that I should be thinking about myself and how well this should divert Magnus’s suspicion away from me being involved with the shadow company, my thoughts turned to Stephen. Magnus said that he’d done poorly, but he’d protected me so fiercely that he’d made it almost impossible for my employee to shoot me.
I hadn’t counted on how selfless Stephen would be. He’d grabbed me and pulled me out of the car before I could stop him. Paul had been meant to shoot me through the window, but suddenly, I’d been on the other side of the vehicle, with Stephen shielding me as best as he could. It was only while Stephen had been shooting at one of my employees that I’d been able to angle my body in front of the window so that Paul could shoot me.
Suddenly, Stephen’s stricken face was in my thoughts as I recalled the moment he’d realized I’d been shot. My heart squeezed as I remembered him urging, “Keep the pressure on.” A moment later, he’d been firing at Paul again. I’d heard his shout as he shot him. I hoped he wasn’t too badly injured, but I’d been in no position to intervene as the wolfsbane was already making me feel like I was on fire. The plan had been for them to drive away once they’d shot me, but Stephen’s overzealous, protective instincts had injured two of my guys. Even as I hoped they were okay, I couldn’t find it in me to dislike Stephen’s behavior because it meant that he cared.
Tenderness seared through me as flashes of the drive here to the hospital came back. His voice had reached through the darkness as he’d reassured me. “Hold on, Lina. You’re going to be okay, Darlin’.” I remembered the catch in his voice as if he were struggling to keep his emotions in check. As if… I mattered.
“I’m sorry I failed again to protect your mate, Alpha,” Stephen said.
Again?
What did he mean by that? Besides, he hadn’t failed. He’d gone above and beyond in defending me.
I’d seen the protectiveness stealing through every inch of his powerful body as he took the shots. His body angled over me as he tried to shield me from harm. My wolf surged up, a sudden excitement tripping through her as she thought of the ferocity with which Stephen had protected us and how much she needed him next to her again.
Magnus’s voice sounded again, “Well, there’s other business to talk about-“
The heart rate monitor suddenly increased in a hurried tempo as my wolf’s want pummelled through me.
In the other room, Magnus’s voice trailed off, and a moment later, footsteps brought him into the room. He was closely followed by Stephen.
“Alpha?” I croaked, feigning disorientation and only half pretending that sleep was making me bleary-eyed. The poison was still making my head too heavy. The simple effort of lifting myself up in bed slightly on my arms caused me to groan. “What happened?”
It was Stephen who answered. “You were shot, Lina. The bullets were laced with wolfsbane. But you’ve had an antidote. You’ll be fine.” Tension was evident in every line of his body, and his expression was taut. I ached to stroke it away, to say thank you for what he’d done in protecting me, despite it making my employees’ job harder.
“I’m sorry, my dear,” Magnus said finally. “My son should have guarded you better.” Rather than offering me any reassurance, he took my question as an opportunity to chastise his son again. I noticed that Stephen had set a metal dish down on one of the hospital trolleys nearby and was wiping at the wounds still covering his face.
My heart fluttered as I breathed in, trying to keep my pulse steady as I said, “Believe me, Alpha, I owe your son my life. If he hadn’t gotten me here, I might not be here at all.”
Magnus’s black look at his son didn’t lessen, but he deigned to say, “You’re safe now, I promise.”
I couldn’t help but feel angered by Magnus’s obvious indifference toward his own son’s injuries, choosing to criticize him for failing to prevent the attack rather than get the medical attention he needed.
A lump rose in my throat as I took in the deep lacerations Stephen had received from the glass being shot out when he’d been trying to protect me.
“Stephen, can I help with those?” I asked, a protective urge stealing through me as I looked at the way he was dabbing at his cuts.
His intense green eyes seemed to spark with something, but it was so fleeting I barely caught it.
He shook his head. “It’s fine. You need to rest. Your body’s still fighting off the poison.”
I nodded, trying not to let the disappointment show. Something in me ached to be close to him. The need to tend to his wounds made me want to reach out to him. I needed to get myself under control; otherwise, I’d just replace Magnus’s suspicion of me for one reason with another.
Magnus’s gaze was running over me as I feigned wooziness. “You’re right, I feel so tired,” I complained.
“That’ll be the poison,” Stephen said, taking a few steps closer as if he, too, wanted to be closer. But I forced my gaze to Magnus instead as I asked him, “Will you stay a while?”
Magnus’s dark brown eyes didn’t alter at all. He was as inscrutable as ever, as he agreed, “I’ll be right outside. We’ll get the nurse to give you something for the pain to help you sleep.”
“Thank you,” I said, settling down as if soothed, yet knowing all too well that Magnus’s offer of pain medication was likely more so I didn’t overhear them than out of consideration for my pain.
In another moment, Magnus walked out of the room, Stephen shadowing his father without a backward glance.
Left in the quiet of the room, my thoughts fell to their contrasting behavior, and I reconsidered my assumption that Stephen and Magnus were alike. Didn’t Stephen’s actions in shielding me during the attack, as well as his priority in getting me to the hospital, show that he possessed a compassionate and caring nature despite the coolness he generally hid behind? Whereas Magnus’s cold chastisement of his son’s actions during the attack, as well as his complete disregard for his injuries, proved all too well how cold and callous he was.
A moment later, the nurse came in and said, “Let’s get you some morphine.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m all right. I think I’ll be able to sleep without it,” I assured her.
She raised her eyebrows. “There’s no need to be a hero.”
I shook my head. “I’m feeling all right.”
She nodded. “Just buzz if you need anything,” she reminded me, checking my monitors before leaving me.
As the quiet settled over the room, I heard Magnus’s voice sounding once again. “The other matter I wanted to inform you of was the fact that the board’s decided to reinstate the Omega Concord Program.”
Omega Concord Program?
I knew that if I wanted to avoid his suspicion, it was essential I kept my vitals under control, no matter what I heard. I envisioned little Betty, hugging her to me, her faint earthy scent mixed with talcum powder after her bath. I sank deeper into the mattress, its support prickling over me, grounding me more.
“But that hasn’t been in place since the fifties, since my grandfather’s generation,” Stephen argued. His voice had an edge of shock to it. What was this company policy that I sensed had Stephen’s control hanging by a thread?
“Now, don’t be so quick to dismiss something just because it hasn’t been used since a previous generation. After all, I would have thought I’d taught you to respect your elders’ practices. What worked efficiently for past generations might well work for our pack again.”
“Well, I think it would undermine Blackthorn’s entire ethos and exploit our employees and packmates.”
“Sometimes, a packmate’s merit isn’t in their business prowess but in their more physical attributes. Not all females can be like my intended and suited to the boardroom, but they can earn their place in the pack in the bedroom.”
Fuck.
Magnus was talking about bringing back a policy that implemented Omega wolves as breeders. It was in our packs’ history that we’d studied in high school that two generations ago, such practices had been common, but civilized packs like the Silvermoon and the Blackthorn Packs of New York City had long been more enlightened and progressive than that.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?