Savage Prince by Alison Aimes

31

“You need to take a break.”

“Fuck off.” Maxheim’s head snapped up.

His eyes were so blurry from staring at the screen they took a minute to focus. Still, eventually, Nikolai’s scowling face and jutting horns came into view, glowing against the bright light from outside the corridor.

Tension thickened the air.

His brother rarely ventured into Maxheim’s wing of the compound. Neutral territory was a far safer bet. Even brothers had their limits. They were all Alphas, after all, and now Maxheim had his omega in his bed.

But he tamped down his instinctual aggression.

He was getting better at that the more time he and Tess spent with the family, which, as much as he loved them, was way too much in his opinion.

She’d been in his home—their home—for nine rotations now, and he honestly couldn’t remember what it had been like before her arrival. Nor did he ever want to.

Even with the damned alarms and the perimeter breaches.

“You’re such a pain in the ass.” Nikolai didn’t budge.

“Keep it down,” whispered Maxheim. “Tess is sleeping.”

He’d left the door between his office and their sleeping quarters open so he could get to her fast if she needed him, but she’d barely moved, not even to sigh in her sleep.

She had to be exhausted.

He’d fucked her like a maddened beast tonight. Four times, rutting and knotting her over and over while she clung to him and, at his demand, told him over and over that she was his.

The sound of her voice was the only way for him to shut out the blare of those damned alarms and the panic that echoed through his head even when they weren’t on. No matter what he did, their shrill sound shrieked at him that this time, he wouldn’t be fast enough. Clever enough. Strong enough. And she’d be snatched away too. Like the twins.

That was never happening.

Mine.

Damned right. She was fucking his—and he didn’t intend to lose her.

Or anyone in his family.

Which was why every rotation that passed without finding Byrel, his employer, or this death squad pissed him off a little more.

It was also why he spent a few more minutes each night at his monitors, searching.

He needed to find his targets before the Council grew so paranoid they came after the Skolovs instead.

“How about you?” Nikolai’s question ripped Maxheim from his thoughts and he remembered they’d been discussing a sleeping Tess. “You getting any rest yourself?”

Maxheim blew out a breath. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine.” Nikolai gestured toward his clothes. “You’re wearing the same shit you had on last night at dinner.”

Because he hadn’t even waited to take them off before he’d ripped off Tess’s gown, bent her over the table, and taken her from behind. Then he’d fucked her up against the wall. Then on the platform stairs. And, finally, he’d taken her in their bed. All with his clothes still on.

He was such a fucking Alphahole.

But, then again, she hadn’t sounded too upset when she’d been screaming his name.

The memory made him hard.

He forced himself to refocus.

“I’m close.” Returning his gaze to the screen in front of him, he scanned the pictures and numbers scrolling by in carefully calibrated columns. The answer was somewhere here. He was sure of it. And if not, he had six other screen programs working in tandem behind him on the wall. He’d find them.

“Do I need to come over there and beat the shit out of you?” His eldest brother’s hands gripped the doorway hard. “Because neither Tess nor Dahlia will like it, but I will do it. Without hesitation.” His voice lowered. “Someone has to knock some sense into you. You’re working way too hard, even for you.”

Maxheim met his brother’s stare. “You are backing me and Tess with the Brotherhood. I told you, I wouldn’t allow anything to happen to this family—and I won’t.” His claws punched against his skin, wanting out, but he forced them to stay retracted. Breathe. Control. And still, his voice was hard and tinged with the sharpness of anger when he spoke once more. “I’m the fucking fixer. Allow me to fix this.”

His brother threw up his hands. “Fine, but this is not a one-male Alpha show—and you don’t have to kill yourself just to save us all from being killed. Take a couple of breaks. Try to chill out. It’s not all on you. You could take Tess out sledding. Dahlia loves it when I do that kind of shit—and it’s, ah, a lot more fun than you’d think.”

“I’m not taking her anywhere. It’s too damned dangerous. The continued perimeter breaches are proof of that.” He paused. “I was thinking, in fact, that maybe it would be better if she and I just stayed in our wing for a little bit. At least until this is over.”

Nikolai’s eyebrows climbed to his forehead. “You’ve already limited her to the dining room, the nursery, and this wing. For a female locked up for so long, that can’t feel good.”

“It’s temporary, and done for a purpose. Our guards are loyal and well trained, but after the recent attack on Dahlia, we know all it takes is one traitor to endanger our family, and there are a lot of enemies after my omega right now. It wouldn’t be too hard for someone to decide the money was worth smuggling Tess out—and if the Council or the death squad get their hands on her, she’s lost to me for good.”

The knowledge had woken him up in a cold sweat more than once.

Along with the accusing golden eyes of his baby brother and sister, wondering why he hadn’t saved them yet.

Just two of the many reasons he’d decided to forgo sleep in favor of work.

“Good point,” said his brother. He’d been out of his mind when his omega was attacked. “I’ll triple the guards on all our females and Jaxson for now.”

“An excellent idea.” Though Maxheim still planned on keeping Tess close. He flicked his fingers toward the exit. “Now, go. The sooner you do, the sooner this will be over, and I can take Tess sledding.”

Easy agreement meant his brother would leave faster.

“You’re managing me.” Nikolai remained standing in the doorway.

“Is it working?”

“Maybe.” His brother looked briefly over his shoulder. “Mostly because I can hear that Jaxson just woke up, and it’s time for Dahlia to nurse.” His eyes streaked blood red, lust deepening his voice. “I love that shit.” He backed into the corridor, his voice a low whisper as he warned, “But this is just a reprieve, not an end to the discussion. Just pull back a little, brother.” He paused. “Before you find you lost what matters most trying to save it.”

“I—”

A soft alarm sounded.

Maxheim sat up in his chair.

“What?” Nikolai hustled toward his desk.

Too focused to answer, Maxheim swiveled toward the beeping monitor, his eyes narrowing as he studied the data he’d been using to help identify the head of the death squad.

“Holy hells.” His hunch had paid off.

“You were right.” Nikolai didn’t sound surprised.

“That Alphahole. I knew it.”

There he was. His name in the payment records. The individual behind the death squad attacks. The killer who’d orchestrated the attacks against the omegas at Rav’s compound and who was trying to steal Tess to use her as bait to lure Rav out of hiding. The troublemaker who’d been breaching their perimeter to look for weaknesses.

The sneaky bastard had hidden his tracks well, but not so well that Maxheim hadn’t been able to pull the vermin into the light.

He’d known from his very first interaction with the bastard that something wasn’t right.

Maxheim forced himself to loosen his grip on the edge of his desk before he broke it off and woke Tess.

The last thing he wanted was to bring her into this now.

“This is a game changer.” Nikolai sounded pleased.

“Yes.” The puzzle pieces were finally coming together—and with knowledge came the potential to create a new plan and bring the fight to his adversaries. Now that they knew the individual behind the death squad, they not only had a new appealing scapegoat to offer to the Council, but another means of tracking Byrel’s employer.

They still needed Byrel to get information on the twins, but until they found him, this new target would do nicely.

“We need to get Damien and Alexi here. We need a plan to reel this bastard in.” Maxheim dashed off a quick note to his brothers. “He’s smart and sneaky and has a lot of resources at his disposal, but since he has no idea we now know who he is, we have the advantage. We just have to find a way to lure him to us.”

No more waiting around. The time for action had come.

His gaze strayed toward his sleeping quarters.

“Are you going to break it to her?” Nikolai had followed his train of thought.

Maxheim considered.

Hadn’t she already been hurt enough?

Plus, it was his job to shield her and protect her and, though she tried to pretend otherwise, he could sense her guilt and fear over the evolving situation. All when she was just getting comfortable and coming into her own power. Trusting him. Trusting them. He didn’t want to make it more stressful for her than it already was.

It was why he’d kept the threats Byrel had made about the young omegas to himself as well.

There was nothing she could do, so he didn’t see the need to add to her burden.

His job was to keep her safe, and that’s what he intended to do.

“No,” he answered at last. “I’ll break it to her later. Or I won’t. But no one says a fucking word to Tess. Got it?”

“No.” A soft female voice sounded through the study. “I want to know now.”

Maxheim swiveled toward the voice.

Tess stood in the connecting doorway, backlit by the golden glow of their room, her expression a mix of fury and defiance.