Secured by the Buyer (Taken by His Alpha #3)

Liam

LIAM

B asking in the afterglow, I trail my fingertips over Milo’s bare skin, savoring the warmth and softness beneath my touch.

I lean down to inhale his sweet pheromones, the scent of them filling me with soul-deep contentment. I gather him close, amazed that this beautiful, courageous, clever Omega is mine.

Drawn to the vulnerable curve where his neck meets his shoulder, I nuzzle his nape and inhale again. “Think I got you pregnant, princess? Or should we have another go, to be sure?”

Milo laughs against my chest, the sound suffusing me with peace. “Can’t knock me up ’til I’m in Heat, stupid. ”

A possessive growl rumbles from me. “Guess we’ll have to stay in this bed until it happens, then.”

“Oh, no!” He tips his head back, pushing to escape with no actual strength. “The torture!”

“It’s a great sacrifice, but we shall make it through this together.” My arms tighten around him. “Just so I know how much food to order, when will your Heat start?”

The mirth fades from Milo’s expression, and he chews on his bottom lip. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Those drugs they pumped into me screwed with my system.”

He shifts against me, tension coiling through his lithe frame. “By all rights, it should’ve hit last week. But nothing. I thought it was because I was pregnant, but… So, maybe next week, if the drug acted as a reset for my cycle?”

I process this information as I breathe in his sweet scent, letting it soothe my Alpha instincts that demand I claim and breed him as soon as possible. We’ll get there in time. For now, I’m content to hold my Omega safe in my arms, grateful beyond measure I didn’t lose him tonight.

My fingers dance across the constellation of freckles adorning his arm, connecting them like stars in the sky. I pause when I reach the red scar where we cut out the tracker, and the small dot where it had been re-injected.

I brush my thumb over the offending spot. “Dr. Wallace will be back here in the morning to remove this.”

Relief floods Milo’s face. “Can’t wait to get the thing out of me.” He hesitates, glancing up at me through his ginger lashes. “But…can I keep the one in my hip? Y’know, just in case…”

Tenderness wells up inside me, and I cup his cheek, searching his crystal blue eyes. “Were you afraid we wouldn’t find you, princess?”

He leans into my touch, turning to press a kiss to my palm. “While I knew you guys would be on my trail, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t scary as hell. Especially when those men?—”

Milo cuts off abruptly, a violent shudder wracking his slender frame. He burrows closer, as if he wants to crawl beneath my skin.

I embrace him, rage simmering in my gut at the thought of anyone violating my mate’s body against his will. My mind flashes back to the all-consuming fury that seized me when I burst through the door and saw my beautiful mate sprawled on a filthy mattress, his pants ripped open, those bastards leering at him .

A growl rumbles in my chest, and I tug the blanket higher, cocooning Milo in its warmth. “Was it really a scuffle that tore your clothes?”

Milo tenses. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s over and done, and it’s never gonna happen again.”

But I need to know, even as I dread the answer. “The hell it doesn’t matter.” I force the words out past the rage choking me. “Did they… Did they touch you?”

He stays quiet for a long moment, then shakes his head. “No. But…it was close.”

“I’ll slaughter every last one of them.” White-hot fury explodes through my veins. “Rip them apart with my bare hands for daring to think about laying a finger on you.”

As if my anger soothes him, Milo relaxes against me, and his warm breath ghosts across my collarbone. “Instead of going on a murderous rampage, how about we circle back to the original plan?”

My brow crinkles in confusion. “Original plan?”

“How quickly you forget.” He reaches up to run his fingers through my hair. “First, we’re going to wash this horrible black dye out, and you’re going to shave, because I don’t like beard burn. Then, you’re going to do your best to knock me up. Even if it takes a week. ”

“I like the way you think.” I sit up and bundle the sheet around him. “I’m going to soap you up, cover you in my scent, and Mark you again so the whole world understands you’re mine.”

Milo matches my smile. “Now that’s a plan I can get behind. Or in front of, whichever my Alpha prefers.”

With a growl, I sweep him up into my arms. “You’re such a good strategist. Maybe that’s what you should do for a job. The Rockfords need a brain like yours.”

“You sure know how to sweet talk a guy.” Milo nuzzles my ear. “You’re not just saying that because you don’t want to buy me a horse, are you?”

Chuckling, I stride toward the bathroom.

About to kick the door shut, a loud bang comes from the entrance to the suite. I drop Milo to his feet and shield him before I spot Caleb barging in, a wild expression twisting his face.

Careful to ensure the sheet covers Milo’s slender frame first, I turn to face my brother. “What’s going on?”

“Is Jade with you?” he demands, face tight with restrained panic. “Have you seen him?”

My stomach drops like a stone. “Last we saw, he was helping with clean-up in the parking lot. Why? ”

Caleb rakes a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in agitated tufts. “Clean-up is done. Has been for a while now. But no one can find Jade anywhere. It’s like he fucking vanished!”

Dread claws its way up my throat. Jade may be young and reckless, but he’s always been reliable on the job. For him to up and disappear without a word to anyone, not even Caleb…

Something’s wrong.

“Okay, let’s not jump to conclusions.” I try to keep my tone level, because seeing my emotionless brother freak out is giving me anxiety. “When and where was he last seen?”

“The team said he finished up his part and was going to meet me back at the warehouse to interrogate Bugrov, but…” Caleb shakes his head, jaw clenched tight. “Fuck, , what if those bastards got him? What if they?—”

“Hey, none of that,” I cut him off, gripping his shoulder. “Jade’s a smart, capable kid. And a great fighter. No way he’d let himself get snatched without one hell of a struggle.”

Even as the words leave my lips, I can’t help but remember the scene I walked in on earlier, of Milo terrified with pants ripped open .

The monsters who did that to him, who dared to lay their filthy hands on what’s mine…

If they somehow got ahold of Jade…

I stride into the bedroom to grab my clothes. “We’ll go back and search every square inch of it.”

“The cops are already swarming all over it.” Caleb turns and punches a wall. “Dammit, I promised his mom I’d keep him safe!”

I grip his shoulders. “We’ll find him.”

“There are cameras all over the casino.” Milo steps forward, wearing the sheet like a toga and looking like a goddess. “If we can access them?—”

“Sebastian took them down when we went in after you,” I remind him. “They won’t have come back online until after our people were all out.”

“Which doesn’t mean they weren’t on when Jade was moved.” Milo opens a wardrobe door to block Caleb’s view and drops the sheet to dress. “If they took him while our people were still there, they would have stayed low and waited for us to leave, then moved Jade.”

“I’ll meet you in the surveillance room.” Caleb storms back out of our suite.

I catch Milo’s hand. “You can stay here if you want.”

He pulls his shoulders back and lifts his chin. “If I’m going to be a strategist, then I need to see what happened.”

Pride fills me, and I draw him in for a fierce kiss before we head down to join the others.

Caleb stands behind Sebastian in front of a wall of monitors that display various angles of the casino, inside and out.

Milo catches my hand, squeezing my fingers, but his focus remains on the footage.

As it plays, we watch the cops arrive, their lights blazing, and uniforms swarm into the building. Paramedics and coroners soon follow, and the first body bag comes out.

“Stop,” Milo says, stepping forward and pointing to the black bag as it’s loaded into the back of a van. “That’s not right. Can you zoom in?”

“What do you see?” Caleb demands.

“There hasn’t been enough time to process the scene yet.” Milo hovers in front of the screen. “They shouldn’t be removing bodies this fast. And that’s an unmarked van. They’re not with the police.”

“Which means Jade could be in there.” I grip my cousin’s shoulder. “Follow them, Sebastian. We need to find him.”

Hang in there, Jade, we’re coming for you .

The End.