The woman straddling his hips froze and yanked the silk sheet over her chest. My stepsister, Coral Mckay-a greedy low-ranking Omega whose mother had once climbed into my late mother's bed. Her face went white, her lips trembling, a single fake tear hanging awkwardly on her lashes.
Dirk Maddox, a high-ranking Alpha executive of the Maddox Pack and my fiancé in name only, grabbed a dark robe and threw it over his broad shoulders. There was no guilt on his face at being caught by his fiancée. Instead, he strode to the bed and shielded Coral behind his tall frame.
"Shut up!" Dirk's tall body pressed down on me with Alpha pressure. "What do you think you are, to talk to her like that?"
"What am I?" I laughed once and let my gaze slide slowly from Coral's face to Dirk's. "Dirk, have you forgotten whose room this is, whose bed this is-or that your fiancée in name only is standing in the doorway watching you protect another woman?"
"You wolfless piece of trash, what right do you have to judge me?" Dirk took a heavy step forward, angered by my calm face.
His heavy Alpha aura flooded the room, thickening the air until it was suffocating, trying to force my knees to buckle. The whole pack treated me like a wolfless waste. No one in the pack knew I took bitter herbs every day to mask my real wolf scent.
Blood rushed to my throat, and my fingertips went cold. I bit my lower lip hard and used the iron focus I'd honed in underground street racing to keep my spine straight. I didn't retreat an inch.
"Sister, please don't blame Dirk. It's all my fault. During my Heat, I couldn't control my feelings for him..." Coral sobbed from the bed, though I saw her right hand clutching the sheet.
"If you can't control your Heat, go inject a suppressant. The Saint Sanctuary Pharmacy has boxes of them." I cut her off flatly.
Coral choked, her face turning pale.
"Jane Mckay, watch your tone with her!" Dirk roared. He slammed his fist onto the nightstand, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
The crystal lamp crashed onto the wool rug and rolled to my shoe.
I glanced at the broken glass, then looked straight into Dirk's glowing eyes.
"What tone do you want?" I walked past him, completely ignoring his furious aura. "Should I kneel and thank you for letting me off, or thank you for testing my mattress's shock absorption?"
Dirk's pupils shrank. Every humiliating word he'd prepared got stuck in his throat.
I pulled open the closet door, grabbed a black duffel bag and swept a few everyday outfits into it. On the top shelf was an unopened box of bitter herbs. I stuffed it into the bottom of the bag-next week's medicine money was still up in the air, and every box saved counted.
"What are you doing?" Dirk frowned, irritation creeping into his voice.
"Making room, obviously." I zipped the bag shut. "This room reeks of cheap mating sweat. It's disgusting."
"Jane, don't push it! Do you think you can survive in this pack without the Maddox family's protection?" Dirk threatened through gritted teeth.
"That's none of your concern." I slung the strap over my shoulder. The sudden movement pulled at the old injury in my chest core and sent a spasm through my ribs, but my face stayed blank.
I walked to the door, stopped, and looked back at their livid faces.
"By the way, Coral," I smirked. "Lock the door next time. Not everyone wants a free ticket to watch two low-grade animals rutting."
I turned and slammed the heavy oak door shut.
The bang cut off Dirk's furious roar. Alone in the dim hallway, I took a deep breath of clean, cold air.
Deep in the shadows at the end of the corridor, a tall figure stood motionless. A faint scent of white tea and cold cedarwood drifted over.
Before I could make him out, my phone buzzed. Saint Sanctuary Pharmacy: Payment overdue. Kacie's medication will be cut off in 48 hours.