Chapter One

Knock. Knock.

Lexa stared at the door, looked at her phone, and then looked back at the door.

Hailey came down the stairs, and she rubbed her eyes. “Someone’s at the door, Mom.”

“I know, sweetie. Back to bed.”

Knock. Knock.

The knuckles were firm but not angry or impatient.

She checked to see if Hailey had gone back upstairs, and when she was alone, she walked to the door. It opened, and her breath left her. A massive alpha was standing on her steps, and his appearance broke her heart and woke her hormones all at once. “Arthur. Nice to see you again.”

He stepped inside, forcing her to back up. His driver waited outside his car.

“Hello. Lexa? It suits you, but Rose suited you, too.”

She used what Olivia had taught her and held in her scent.

She backed away as he glided forward until she was up against her couch. “So, to what do I owe this visit?”

He frowned. “I found you. You tried to hide from me, but I found you.”

She smiled weakly. “I wasn’t hiding. It was made very clear to me that you wanted nothing more to do with me. I took the hint.”

He stepped toward her. “I don’t know what you think happened between us, but when our link faded, my heart broke.”

She swallowed. “Faded?” She stared at him in astonishment. “What the actual fuck?”

He walked up and wrapped his hand around her neck. She knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to touch the mark that he had left and wake it up. She watched the moment that he touched the rippled scars.

“Lexa, what did you do? How did this happen?” He turned her and stared at the jagged damage before he was silent for a moment to figure out, “You... didn’t do this.”

“You always were quick. How is your family, by the way?” She gritted her teeth and leaned away from him.

Understanding flickered in his eyes, and he had a flare of rage in his gaze.

He pulled his hands back. “I’m sorry. I’ll leave now.”

She chuckled. “Of course, you will. You are good at leaving. Tell whoever is waiting to come through the door after you this time that I now carry a gun.” She looked at his face and froze. He had a look of dawning horror on his face. “Arthur?”

His whisper sounded strangled out of him. “You didn’t leave me.”

She didn’t know how to answer him. “The Omega Centre has the files. You can learn all you need to from them. Seeing you has made me very tired.”

He stepped toward her, and she thought he would kiss her, but she heard that delicate voice from behind her near the stairs. “Why are you so close to my mom? Does she know you? If she doesn’t know you, it is rude to sneak up on an omega.”

He lifted his head. “Mom?” He looked from the little girl to Lexa and back again.

She quickly put her hands on his chest. “She’s not yours. She’s seven.”

He looked at Lexa warily. “You didn’t have a child when I knew you.”

Hailey walked slowly down the stairs, glaring at Arthur. “My momma died, and my aunty was in hospital, so when she got better, they gave me to her, and now, she is Mom-two-point-oh. Slight variation on the original version.” She said it slowly, like she had practiced it.

Lexa inhaled as Hailey moved toward her and put herself between her and Arthur. “Hailey, this isn’t a good place for you.”

“Between an alpha and omega? Yeah, it isn’t smart, but you are scared and sad, so I am here.”

Lexa crouched. “It’s a good thought, but Arthur and I knew each other before you were with me. I was always going to introduce you. But he’s not happy right now, and alphas can get crazy when they are mad. It isn’t really safe for you here.”

Hailey grabbed her around the neck. “You aren’t safe either.”

“I know, sweetie, but we have to talk about some things that I don’t want you knowing about.”

Hailey patted the scars. “This?”

“This.”

“Did he do it?” Her little eyes narrowed.

“No, but it was done because of him, so I have been mad at him for a very long time.”

“Got it. You want to say more curse words.” She nodded with child wisdom.

“Just ones you already know, baby girl. Go to bed, and I will list them for you when I finish talking to him.”

Hailey kissed her cheek. “Night, Momma.”

“Night, baby.” Lexa watched her stomp away, and then, she turned back to Arthur. There was a wistful expression on his face.

“If I hadn’t left that night, we would have had a few kids by now. I know it.”

She blinked. “Yeah, I used to dream about that, but then, the other memories start, and I wake up screaming.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to... the centre has the files and videos.”

He pulled her against his chest, and she smelled oak leaves and butterscotch. Even their scents didn’t match. She breathed in deep.

“What do you want me to tell you?” She let out a whine of need and tried to throttle it back.

His voice was soft, controlled. “We had just bonded, and I got a call. I had to go to the office. What happened next?”

She swallowed. “I was dozing in and out, trying to figure out how to explain the three dozen hickies you had left behind. The door opened. You had been gone for two hours. I started to sit up from the wreck of the bed, and a hand slammed me back into the sheets. A woman’s voice said to take care of it, and the mark started tearing. I clawed at the bed and screamed. I tried to reach for you through the bond, but it was already shredded. I didn’t know how to use it, and then, it just came apart. They kept tearing, and I blacked out.”

His arms were tense. “What happened then?”

“Someone dumped me in an alley, and I had to crawl into a pool of light to scream for help. Then, there was the ambulance, then the emergency room, and the police tried to get a name out of me, but all I could do was cry. The Omega Centre showed up then.”

“Why were they there?” He stroked her hair.

She swallowed. “You bonded me as a beta, but I had just gotten confirmation that I was starting my final changes to become omega. It was going to be a surprise. I was just a late bloomer.”

His hands were shaking. “If... why can’t I... your scent.”

“A friend taught me to hold back, keep it in. It isn’t comfortable, but it sells the beta disguise better.”

“What is your natural scent?”

She blinked rapidly. “My sister named it for me. She was the first one to be around when it showed up.”

“What is it?”

“She called it three thousand roses. I manifested when I was holding Hailey at her second birthday party, two days before the mark.”

She heard him swallow. “Can you, could I... would you...”

She thought about it, blinked, and lifted her chin. “Kiss me. Nothing intense. Just a sweet kiss.”

He leaned in and kissed her, and the soft but firm press of his lips caused tears to flow down her cheeks, but she let the roses go.

Her scent was roses in the rain today, but he still inhaled sharply as it wrapped around him and her and held them tight. She tapped his chest, and he lifted his head. “That wasn’t the normal one, but you get the idea.”

He nodded and brushed his lips across hers. She was going to let him until he touched the butchered mark, and the sense of loss overwhelmed her. “Out. You know what happened now. Get out.”

Arthur stared at her, his dark gold eyes tormented. “Lexa, please. Maybe we ca—”

“Nothing. There is nothing for us. Our bond is broken; your family did it. Oh my god. Does anyone know you are here?”

She stepped back, and he stepped toward her.

“No. No one knows. Why?”

“Your family has a restraining order against me. I can’t come within two hundred metres of you. Get out before that loyal driver of yours calls the cops. I won’t let them arrest me and put Hailey in foster care. Get out!”

His eyes got wide, and he left. She closed the door, locked it, and slumped against it, sobbing at the time they missed and the moments they could never have. She didn’t let herself cry long. She had to wash her face and tell Hailey that she used the words fuck and shitstorm at length. Her little girl was probably waiting.

* * * *

The first thing that Arthur did was call his lawyer. “Hi, Terrance. Yeah, I know it is after business hours. I need a restraining order dismissed.”

“What? You have one?”

“No, my mother took one out on my behalf, against Lexa Adders. There is a two-hundred-metre distance. I need that lifted. I never wanted it in the first place.”

“Oh, balls. Is this the woman from five years ago?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me check something. Oh geez. Your mother has sued her eight times, pulling her finances down to nothing every time. CPS has been sent a number of times, and there have been no findings.”

“Shit. So, Mother has been tormenting her.” He rubbed the back of his neck and clenched his fist.

“Looks like it.”

“What can I do?”

“Well, your mother has an action pending regarding a song that was written. She is trying to stop its release. So, I think Ms. Adders needs a good lawyer.”

Arthur smiled. “Do you know where I can find one?”

“I happen to know one who is very short on sleep right now. I will get in touch with her previous lawyer and see what I can do.” He chuckled. “You owe me.”

“Yes, and you bill by the hour.” He sobered. “Thanks, Terrance.”

He hung up and made a second call. “Hey, doc. If someone shredded a bond mark before it properly formed, is there a way you can deal with the mangled scarring?”

“Arthur? Uh... sure. If the bond didn’t set, there can be acid peels, dermabrasion, or even surgical removal if it is thick enough. Why?”

“If the skin was repaired, could another mark be set there?”

“If there is minimal nerve damage, but since the purpose of scarring a mark is to damage a link to the nervous system, I would doubt that the initial site could hold.”

He continued pleasantries and a promise to bring the patient in as soon as possible.

Part of him howled at the loss of that sweet imprint on her skin. It had been perfect, and he had left her helpless and dazed with a slow-healing mark.

Omega. His sweet Rose had been an omega, and she had been about to tell him and make him the happiest alpha on the planet. He had wanted her for months with her long limbs and golden hair. She was tall for a woman, but he was tall for a man and twice as broad. Ursa alphas were big bastards.

He paused. She couldn’t take him, but maybe... he made more calls. By dawn, he had a plan of action; if Lexa needed protection, she would have it.

* * * *

She pinned her hair in her going to court coronet and put on her suit. Hailey was at school, and Lexa had a cab on the way.

Lexa heard an engine, left her house, and locked the door. She turned to look at her cab, and a black town car glided to a halt. “Fuck.”

When the door opened and Arthur leaned out, he smiled. “Restraining order has been lifted. We will give you a ride to the courthouse.”

She sighed, and her shoulders slumped. Two weeks ago, he had left her house, and she had gotten back to normal life. Olivia was still texting like normal, and Hailey’s drawings were still getting the accolades of the teachers.

She walked to the car and got in. Arthur took her hand and kissed it. “I always did love you in heels.”

She snorted. “You loved me any way you could get me.” She blinked rapidly to dismiss the tears that threatened.

He cupped her jaw. “I still do.” He kissed her gently.

She pulled away. “You don’t know me anymore. I have done things... and stuff. Surviving has not been easy.”

“No, but despite your hardships, you haven’t touched Hailey’s college fund. Even my mother couldn’t get her hands on that.”

She blinked. “You know about that?”

“I do. You named me in a police report, and the report simply disappeared. She has been after you ever since.”

Lexa said weakly, “I think I was her hobby.”

“But you kept fighting.”

“I was not going to let that bitch win. Sorry.”

“No, you are absolutely right. I think that I have an option for you to recoup some of what you have lost.”

“How?”

He smiled. “Sue her.”

“What?”

“Mutilation of a lawful bond. Wilful scarring of an omega. Stalking. Harassment. Terrance has assembled a tremendous list of charges.”

“Who’s Terrance?”

“Your lawyer. He has set a goal of doubling all the funds she sued you for. You pay nothing. Are you willing to go to war?”

“I haven’t had a lawyer for a while.” She bit her lip. “I would have to be on public record as an omega.”

“You are already registered with the Omega Centre.”

“Right, but they are relatively discrete.” And they just wanted to force her into a bond and forget about her.

He nodded. “Terrance is waiting for us at the courthouse. If you give him the go-ahead, he is going to file today. Can you release your records from the Omega Centre?”

“Yeah. If they would help.”

“They will be important.”

She swallowed. “What else? You have a look on your face that says something else is coming.”

“Would you consider getting treatment to remove the scarring on your neck? I know a surgeon who has skills in working with scars. He would like to do an assessment on you.”

“Remove the scar?” She blinked, and part of her recoiled.

“The treatments he mentioned to me are all to remove the jagged bits of the damage. It is just to make you more comfortable.”

She nodded slowly, caught in his whirlwind of plans.

“Now, for the weird part of the reason I am here. I understand why you wouldn’t want anything to do with me, but you need help. You need protection. You and Hailey both. I have contacted two other alphas who have agreed to form a coalition with me, and as a grouping, the Omega Centre is drooling over offering us one of the new omegas, but I have requested you if you are willing.”

She stared at him. “What?”

“My two associates will just be content with the social standing of an omega in their home, and at least one has nieces, so Hailey will have visitors to charm and play with.”

“What kind of alphas are the men?”

“Ursa. Like me. Grigory and Delun. They are both successful and well-established. Grigory runs nightclubs, and Delun is a judge.”

She blinked. “A judge?”

“Yes. It is less scary than it seems. He’s an honourable man. So is Grigory.”

“Wait, so me and Hailey? They know about her?”

“I made sure to keep everyone informed. Delun has seen your legal file, and Grigory is acquainted with my mother’s machinations. She doesn’t like him either.”

Lexa chuckled weakly. “A point of commonality.”

“Yeah. Neither needs sex from you. They can get it elsewhere if you prefer. This is just to protect you. There are no other sloths in the state, so they are eager to have themselves supply us with an omega.”

“Sloth?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Group of ursa alphas.”

“Oh. Right. What about you? What will you do for sex?”

He sighed. “The same thing I have done for the last five years. Maybe I will use the left for a change.”

She blushed. “Ah.”

She sat with him for the rest of the ride, and her mind spun. She licked her lips when they were approaching the court. “Delun read my file?”

“He did.”

“So, he knows I have been arrested as an unlicensed escort?”

“He does. So do I. Nothing that you did was for purposes that weren’t essential.”

She nodded. “So, if I test clean, can we put sex on the table again?”

They stopped, and she looked at Arthur’s expression. She smiled. “My hands are getting tired.”