Feral (The Wrong Alpha 2)

His throat a little tight, Jules hugged Liam, pressing their cheeks together. “Sorry,” he murmured, inhaling his brother’s familiar scent. Liam was a Vos omega, so unlike Jules, his scent wasn’t suppressed. He smelled nice, even to Jules’s suppressed senses. “I didn’t know you were worried about it.”

Liam sighed and pulled back. “Of course I worry. Someone has to.” He rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers. “Now you understand why our family can’t afford a scandal right now, right? I have to get married first.”

Jules considered it. “What if… What if we free the Xeus and take him far away from here so he can’t lead the authorities to our house? I don’t think he knows Uncle Wayne’s name. He isn’t exactly rational right now. I doubt things like names even register to him.”

“That could work, maybe.” Liam sounded skeptical. “But how will you take him far away if he doesn’t want to go? Xeus alphas are much stronger than normal alphas, much less omegas.”

Jules wrinkled his forehead. “I guess I’ll have to convince him that it’s for the best?” he said, wincing. He knew there were many holes in his plan, but they couldn’t just do nothing.

Noticing that Liam was giving him a weird look, Jules said, “What?”

“Are you…” Liam smiled crookedly. “Are you sure you aren’t being influenced by the Xeus?”

Jules blinked. “In what way?”

Liam looked around the room before finally looking back at him. A faint flush appeared on his cheekbones. “They say Xeus alphas affect Dainiri omegas the strongest. Like, matching animal pheromones and all that.”

Jules spluttered. “Don’t be silly. Besides, I’m on suppressants.” He carefully didn’t think about his reaction to the Xeus.

“Right,” Liam said. “Sorry, it was stupid of me. He’s probably really ugly and gross in his shifted form right now, right?”

Jules nodded quickly, but his mind was reeling. Could Liam be right? Could his compassion toward the Xeus be caused by the fact that he was a Dainiri? Just like Xeus alphas, Dainiri omegas retained many of the traits of their primitive ancestors. They were more fertile, more nurturing, more driven by their instincts than Vos omegas—and more passionate, supposedly.

Feeling uncomfortable, Jules decided to change the subject. “Anyway, I’ve already found the key to his manacles. All I need from you is to distract the guards in a way that won’t make Uncle Wayne suspect you.”

“Hmm…” Liam suddenly grinned. “I could ‘accidentally’ set the smaller living room on fire. It’s close enough to the basement that the guards should come running when I shout for help.”

“Brains and beauty,” Jules said, pecking Liam on the cheek. “If the Duke of Westcliff doesn’t fall in love with you at first sight, he’s an idiot.”

Liam just laughed and shoved him away.

Chapter 4

They decided to turn the plan into action the very same evening. Liam was having doubts, but Jules convinced him that they should do it while their uncle wasn’t home. They might not get another chance like this anytime soon.

So Jules huddled in the cupboard near the basement, waiting for Liam to do his part.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Soon enough, there were Liam’s panicked shouts and then the sounds of people in heavy boots running past the cupboard.

Then everything went quiet.

His heart pounding, Jules got out of the cupboard and quickly headed to the basement. He had no idea how much time he had: probably ten minutes, if he was lucky. It should be enough. It had to be. Hopefully the guards wouldn’t think to check on their prisoner—they rarely seemed to—so Jules hoped they wouldn’t find out that the Xeus was missing until the morning. And hopefully no one would notice that Jules was missing, too.

Jules knew there were too many variables in his plan. So many things could—and probably would—go wrong. But he had little choice. His uncle was going to have the Xeus killed after they were done experimenting on him. He couldn’t just do nothing. He had to help him.

The Xeus was already looking at him when Jules entered the basement, his glowing green eyes alert and more than a little unnerving. His tall, large body seemed tense, his muscles rigid. There didn’t seem to be any new wounds on his body, which was a relief—there was no time to patch him up.

“Hey,” Jules said, stepping closer to the metal table and pulling out the keys he’d stolen from his uncle’s room. He felt a jolt of anxiety, but the third key he tried did the trick.

He grinned in relief when the manacles unlocked. His smile was wiped when a clawed hand grabbed his wrist in a punishing grip. A second later, Jules found himself on his back, with the alpha looming over him, his glowing eyes glaring down at him. Sharp claws pressed against his throat.