Page 152 of My Unhinged Alphas
The word cracks through the room hard enough to stop me in place. I turn toward him, and whatever is in his face now is not irritation. It’s anger. Real anger. Controlled, but only just.
“You do that,” he says, voice low and dangerous, “and you won’t live long enough to regret it.”
I freeze. “Are you threatening me?”
His eyes hold mine. “Yes.”
The honesty of it chills me more than if he’d dressed it up.
“She needs to understand,” Voss says, still looking at me. “what the consequences of her actions are.”
I don’t really get a chance to be scared of him.
One second Voss is looking at me like he’d actually follow through on the threat, and the next the room changes around me so fast it feels physical. Knox steps in first, quick and silent, putting himself between us without seeming to move much at all. Vale shifts a half step after him, not dramatic, just there, shoulder angled toward me, body turned toward Voss. Havoc doesn’t bother with subtle. He comes off the desk like he’s been waiting for a reason.
It happens so fast I barely register it.
Suddenly all three of them are between me and the Shepherd.
Knox’s voice is low and lethal. “Try that again.”
Voss doesn’t move. But his expression changes. Not fear. Not surprise. Just disgust sharpening into something colder.
Vale says, quieter than Knox but no less dangerous, “You do not threaten her.”
Havoc tilts his head, grin still there, eyes dead now. “Actually, go ahead. I’d love an excuse.”
I stare at him.
That should horrify me.
Part of me thinks it does.
Another part is too stunned by the fact that all three of them moved without hesitation. No discussion. No weighing options. Just immediate, brutal alignment.
Voss looks disgusted. Not scared. Not even surprised. Just deeply, openly disgusted. His gaze moves over all three of them like they’ve confirmed something he was already afraid of.
“You know the rules of the Brotherhood,” he says.
Nobody answers.
Then Knox turns slightly, just enough to look back at me over his shoulder. “You all right?”
It’s such a stupid question in a room like this that I almost laugh.
Instead I nod.
Havoc glances back too, quick and sharp, checking, then turns to Voss again like he’s already bored of not doing violence.
Vale doesn’t look back at all. That somehow says the most.
Voss exhales through his nose like the whole room has become tiresome. “You have the contract. The surveillance. The map. That’s more than I intended to give you.” His gaze lands on Knox. “Use it.”
Then on Vale. “Keep your head.”
Then on Havoc. “You won’t.”
Havoc grins. “Nice talk.”
