Chapter 9

Julian’s POV

Dante warned me. He said the guy who rescued Remy was going to be trouble, but I’m fairly certain my second had no idea exactly how much trouble. Keiran being an omega is one thing, but apparently he’s also my fated mate, the absolute last thing I expected to find here in Chicago. And finding my fated mate is also the last thing I needed on top of all the other complications of this trip.

It was supposed to be simple.

The bi-annual Midwest Alpha Summit is a glorified business conference, complete with laminated name badges and terrible coffee. All I wanted was to make an appearance—as required—maybe make small talk with another Alpha or two, shore up some alliances, and then go home. But now…

From the corner of my eye, I glance at the shifter standing next to me in the elevator. There’s no question that he’s stunning. He’s a little more than half a foot shorter than me and slender but toned with lean muscle. Black hair sets off the blue-gray color of his eyes and the size of those eyes combined with his defined jaw and sharp cheekbones give him an almost fae-like appearance. And those perfect, pouty lips…

I’m definitely not complaining about the gift fate has offered me. I simply wish the timing had been a little better. I’m stuck in Chicago for at least two more days with only three other pack members as backup, one of whom Rossi has already attempted to kidnap, and now I also have a mate to protect.

I hate politics.

More than that even, I miss my dad. He was so much better at all this than I am.

For one thing, Dad knew how to do the right thing without pissing off a major power player. I can handle the first part just fine, but the second definitely isn’t in my political wheelhouse.

Rossi despises me.

Two years ago, I hosted this same summit for the first time as the Madison pack Alpha. Rossi attended, of course, and he brought along an entourage that included his brother, Victor, and his brother’s wife, Evelyn.

Only a day after they arrived, Evelyn approached me to ask for sanctuary with my pack. Her husband had beaten the poor girl to a pulp, not an easy feat to accomplish on a shifter, and she was desperate to escape. I didn’t hesitate to grant her request, and Evelyn stayed behind when Rossi’s pack left a few days later. Rossi has had it out for me ever since and Evelyn has spent the past two years blissfully ignorant of the problems her ‘defection’ created.

I knew things were going to be awkward when this year’s summit was scheduled to be held in Chicago. When Rossi limited the number of pack members each Alpha could bring into his territory—there’s no room for wolves to run in the city, he said—I knew there was going to be trouble. But it wasn’t until that asshole tried to have Remy kidnapped that I realized exactly how bad things might get.

Now, Keiran’s been dragged into this feud too, even if he doesn’t know it yet.

The elevator reaches the lobby and I gesture for Keiran to precede me. More of Rossi’s pack members here now than when I arrived and I have to fight off the instinct to grab Keira and run. Even if the other shifters are only looking at him, they aren’t my wolves, and everything that makes me an alpha is screaming for me to protect protect protect.

Keiran glances at me over his shoulder and opens his mouth, but I silence him with a minute shake of my head.

“Not here,” I say under my breath.

He gives me a sharp nod and continues walking until we reach the street. I guide him over to a black SUV, then open the back door and gesture for him to get in. Fighting the urge to climb into the backseat just to be closer to him—and what that action might give away to those still watching—I shut the door and instead get in the front passenger seat.

“Let’s get out of here,” I say to Brody, who’s driving.

He nods and pulls the SUV away from the curb and into traffic. We ride in silence for a block or two before Keir speaks up from the backseat.

“So… not that I don’t appreciate the save and all, but if you could just drop me off at the nearest bus station or something—”

An involuntary growl rumbles up from my throat at the suggestion of being separated from my mate. “You’re staying with us.”

In the rearview mirror, I watch his blue-gray eyes narrow as his gaze darts from side to side.

“Then all that stuff about free passage or whatever was just bullshit?” he asks, the question laced with suspicion.

Brody glances away from the road for a beat and meets my gaze, his brows pulling together in confusion. I’m just as confused. Sure, omegas are rare and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of a male one, but is Keiran truly that ignorant of what his status as omega means? Is that why he let himself be taken to Rossi?

As obvious as Keiran’s ignorance is, if I hadn’t shown up…

A shudder goes down my back and I nearly have to fight off a shift. If I had been only minutes later, I could have lost my mate before even knowing him.

Rossi knows that Keiran is valuable, that an unmated omega—or, rather, the pieces of one—could fetch a high price. But Rossi isn’t stupid. He may have been willing to take advantage of Keiran’s ignorance, but once I brought up the law, Rossi couldn’t claim ignorance of his own.

There were too many witnesses.

But if Rossi had figured out Keiran is my fated mate, I doubt he would have cared much about witnesses, too hungry for vengeance to resist striking that kind of blow to me. Losing a fated mate isn’t necessarily fatal, but that’s definitely a possibility. If I hadn’t been able to control my initial reaction to Keiran, Rossi would have never let him go, omega or not, since a mated omega isn’t worth half as much. Rossi would have used Keir to control me or—

“Is that a ‘yes’ on the bullshit?” asks Keiran, interrupting my spiraling thoughts.

“No,” I say, shaking myself out of the various awful scenarios playing out in my head.

He purses his lips. “I see.”

“It’s not safe for you on your own,” says Brody. “We can protect you.”

Keiran thinks on that for a moment, his gaze moving to the window as he watches the city pass by. “Where are we going?”

“Back to the hotel,” replies Brody.

“The hotel?”

“The Grand Royale,” I say. “Where the summit is being held.”

Keiran nods slowly, his gaze moving up to meet mine in the rearview mirror.

There’s heat and awareness in his eyes, but also confusion. He’s feeling the fledgling mate bond, but given his ignorance in other areas, he might not know what it is.

“And there are other Alphas at this summit?” asks Keiran, turning his attention back to the window.

“Yes,” says Brody. “All the Alphas from the Midwest.”

Keiran’s throat bobs as he swallows. He holds himself carefully still, but he’s practically vibrating with tension. He takes a deep breath and then flashes a wide grin my way. There’s something about the expression that doesn’t feel right…

“So, where are you guys from?”

“Madison, Wisconsin,” says Brody, pulling to a stop at a red light.

“Nice,” says Keiran absentmindedly. “And Remy’s back at the hotel, right? You guys are keeping a better eye on him?”

“Yes,” says Brody. “Dante’s not taking his eyes off him again.”

“Of course not.” Keiran grins to himself, clearly as aware of my second’s crush on my brother as I am.

The light changes, and Brody depresses the gas pedal. A subtle click registers in my ears, but it isn’t until the SUV dings a warning noise that I identify the sound as the back door opening. Keiran hits the ground, already running even as Brody screeches to a halt.

Brody and I leap from the SUV, barely taking the time to close the doors and take off after Keir. However, it quickly becomes clear that Keiran knows this area. And we very much do not.

I could shift and track my mate easily, but the triumvirate would have my head when they received word of an over-sized wolf running through the streets of Chicago.

“I think we lost him,” says Brody as we finally slow to a stop. “He should be okay now that you got him away from Rossi. He knows enough to get out of the city and he seems pretty resourceful.”

“True,” I say. “But I have to find him. He’s my fated mate.”

“Fuck,” says Brody.

My sentiments exactly.