Chapter 308

When it’s my turn to say goodbye, I pull Isaac into a hug first and then move to Mom. She has tears in her eyes, likely knowing that now she has to say goodbye to Mia.

“You better bring this baby back to see us again,” Mom says, sniffling. She wraps her arm around me and pulls me into a hug. “And you come back too.”

I hug her in reply. “I promise.”

She passes Mia over to me. Mia makes grabby hands toward Mom as we start to walk away.

Mom is so upset she has to cover her eyes so she can’t see it.

Mia starts to shuffle uncomfortably in my arms.

“Shh…” I whisper to her. “We’ll be back to see her before you know it, okay?”

Mia looks at me. I know she can’t understand me, but she still calms slightly and relaxes in my arms.

Back at the Pyramid, the four brothers, Mia, and I gather in the living room. Steven has his tablet out. He’s already composed an email telling what the audio file contains. The email recipients are many local and nationwide news station, as well as Mr. Hayes’s chief competitors.

“If we are all in agreement…” Neil says.

“We are,” Beau says.

“Do it,” Archer adds.

Steven nods.

Neil looks at me. “Chloe?”

“Go on,” I tell them, proud that they asked for my opinion.

Mia makes a goo-goo noise, putting in her opinion as well.

Neil smiles at her. His face turns serious as he looks back at Steven. “We’re in agreement. Send it.”

Steven hits send.

Just like that, the recording is out there. We stand there in silence for a moment, like something might happen right away. That’s impossible, of course. We, at the very least, need to give the recipients time enough to actually hear the recording.

Still, it’s a bit anticlimactic in the moment. At the very least, we could have a fireworks show or something.

“It’s done,” Steven says.

“Now we wait,” Beau says. “What should we do while we – uf!”

Archer’s hand shoots out and grabs Beau around the throat.

“Archer? What the hell?” Neil snaps, stepping closer to the pair.

“You don’t know what he did,” Archer growls.

“Almost did!” I say quickly. “Almost doesn’t count!” I figure it’s way too late to deny that Beau is the one nearly did the biting. Archer had guessed way too quickly to deny it. And the other brothers were all right here to deny it’s them.

“Almost what?” Steven asks, lowering the tablet.

“He. Almost. Bit. Her,” Archer growls so thickly, it’s hard to discern his words.

Neil’s reaction is instant. One moment, he’s standing tall and confident, the oldest and proudest of the group. The next moment, his fingers are curled so sharply, I’m surprised his claws don’t come out. He rushes toward Beau like he wants to gut him.

“Almost!” I remind him.

Beau holds up his hands, palms forward in defense.

Neil stops himself. Archer loosens his hold marginally.

“I swear I was just teasing,” Beau says. “I wasn’t going to actually bite her.”

That shouldn’t hurt me. If anything, I should be relieved. See? I could tell Mom. Beau isn’t the one. He was just fucking with me.

But that’s a really shitty thing to be fucking around about.

What if he had bit me for real? Then where would we be?

I don’t even want to think about it.

Archer grips Beau by the front of the shirt and slams him up against the wall. “You fucking asshole,” Archer snarls.

Slowly, Neil tries to get himself under control. He closes his eyes and sucks in a few deep breaths.

Steven meanwhile tightened his grip on his tablet. Though his teeth remain clenched, he looks down at his tablet now, as if making certain that he didn’t crack it by holding it so tightly.

Neil turns away from his brothers and looks at me. He walks over to me. I already know that he, like Archer, wants to check my neck. So right away, I tilt my head away from him and bare my throat for his inspection.

He stops at my side. He can clearly see my neck is unmarred, but he still raises his hand and traces along my skin. His fingertips tickle with their barely-there feather touch.

“It’s okay, Neil,” I tell him. “Nothing actually happened.”

“It’s a shitty joke,” Neil says.

I can’t argue with that so I don’t bother. Instead, I lower my gaze down to the floor.

Archer growls again. He tightens his hold on Beau and pushes him farther up the wall.

Beau yelps.

“That’s enough, Archer,” Neil says. When he turns back to his brothers, Neil has returned to his confident, in-control self. Mostly. His hands are still curled into fists. “But Beau. That was incredibly reckless of you. You are never to do that again. No one is.”

Beau looks down, properly scolded. He doesn’t apologize but from the way his shoulders slump, he sure looks sorry.

That sad look does lift my spirits marginally. But only a little.

Mia giggles and cheers, not understanding the reason for the excitement. She’s just enjoying the show.

My heart is tied up in knots. I don’t want Beau to have bitten me but knowing he was just messing with me doesn’t feel great. Too often, these brothers play games with my heart. It’s one thing I hate about our relationship as it is.

It’s not easy to feel secure in a relationship like the one I have with each of the brothers. Sometimes it feels like something more is blooming. Other times, I feel like barely an afterthought.

It’s easy to get whiplash. I never have a good footing.

I wouldn’t begin to know how to explain that, however. I don’t want to own up to actually having feelings for these assholes, but that would be the first necessary step in setting new boundaries in our relationship.

Huh.

If I can’t admit my true feelings, maybe they aren’t the only ones who were playing games.

“Let him go,” Neil says. Archer obeys, releasing Beau at once.

Beau leans against the wall, panting and clutching his neck. “Did you have to go so rough?”

“Yes,” Archer replies.

“Guys,” Steven says. He’s reading something on his tablet. “Turn on the news.”

“Not already, surely?” Beau says. “Did they even have time to play the recording?”

“They’re playing it live,” Steven says.

Neil grabs the remote off the coffee table and clicks on the television. He flips through the channels until he finds the one with the news. There is a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Hayes displayed on the screen. It must have been from some fundraising event. The cheery attitudes do not match the sounds of the recording playing behind them.

Mrs. Hayes threatening to murder her own sons.

Mr. Hayes cowering and whimpering in fear.

As soon as the recording is finished, the screen cuts back to the studio where the newscasters are aghast at first, but then their disgust grows and grows.

“I believe the time has finally come,” one of the newscasters says, “For us to truly consider a different Alpha King.”