The Alpha Men's Secret Club 4: Intrigue: A Shockingly Hot BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (10 page)

25

Truth be told, they didn’t have anything on Shamilar
except to cast reasonable doubt on the entire case.

“You did as well as you could,” Derek said.

“She didn’t admit to anything,” Kate stated. Her mind was still churning with what she had heard over the wire and on replay.

Rust and Shamilar. Behind the bushes in Aaron Mitchell’s grounds. Seized by lust.

Shamilar taking his cock in her mouth and fellating him.

Kate’s cheeks burned.

What did you expect? That he would forsake sex with all other women for you?
And he came clean to you, didn’t he? He didn’t want to hide anything from you.

But still, it was the elephant in the room at that moment for her.
She knew they had bigger things to worry about and contend with, but it niggled at her. She couldn’t get the vivid image of Shamilar on her knees with Rust’s cock in her mouth out of her head.

“I didn’t expect her to. She’s an intelligent woman,” Rust said.
He gave Kate a sidelong glance, and she thought for a moment he looked sheepish.

So he knew.
He knew he had hurt me
.

But we weren’t committed to each other then.

I had no claim on him.

As much as she tried to rationalize it, this was still going to hurt for a long, long time. 

“I could subpoena her as a witness to the stand,” Derek said. “She would be an unwilling witness, but the jury needs to see her on it.” He shook his head. “This case is a mess. In order to clear your name, the whole shifter secret would have to come out. I’m not sure I can make that call, Rust, even though I’m your attorney and I’m hired to defend you.”

“I know,” Rust said. “This is bigger than either you or me.”

He was very sober about the whole thing, which frankly terrified Kate. He was too calm. Too contemplative. She knew the stakes at hand, and she hoped he wasn’t going to sacrifice himself to bury the whole thing. Rust did not have much of an opportunity to be heroic for most of his life, like many people in academia. But she hoped he was not going to jump at the chance to be a hero now.

Not at the cost of his own life.

“What are you thinking about, Rust?” she said.

He shook his head. “I don’t know what yet . . . exactly. I have a lot to think about.”

“Please don’t do anything stupid.”

“Define stupid.”

The words bottled at her throat. She was afraid of what he would do. To lend words to her fear meant that reality might take shape.

She said, “Don’t do anything
without discussing it over with me and Derek.”

“I’m not a child, Kate,” he said gently. His green eyes were very beautiful and surreal, as though they were suffused with
an ethereal glow. “I’m in complete control now of my mental faculties and my choices.”

That was what she was afraid of.

Suddenly, the whole thing had become much bigger than her jealousy of Shamilar.
 

26

Kate and Rust waited for Rita Cunningham
at the appointed hour at Finnegan’s. Both of them were nervous. Kate was nervous about what Rust would say. Sure, they had rehearsed it, but Rust was sketchy about some bits. And Rita had a way of throwing you curveballs.

So did Rust.

Rita arrived on the dot. She smiled at both of them.

“Rust O’Brien,” she said, holding out her hand.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not shake the hand of someone who’s blackmailing me,” he said wryly.

“Careful. I might be your salvation.”

“I seriously doubt that.” Rust gestured to the chair. “Let’s dispense with the pleasantries and talk about what you’re here for.”

“Of course.” Rita sat down.

Please, please don’t let Rust change the script,
Kate prayed.

Rita said, “So what will it be?”

Rust glanced at Kate.

“The answer is ‘no’,” he said.

The blood drained out of Kate’s face. “Rust – ”

This wasn’t in the script. They had all agreed to say ‘yes’, take the video from Rita and deal with the consequences from there.

Rust said, “I won’t be party to blackmail.”

Oh shit, Kate thought. He was doing the same thing as he did with
Fiona Montgomery. No matter what the cost to himself, he would not be blackmailed. But she sensed now – in addition to his principles – a greater purpose to his decision.

“Rust,” she began again.

He held his hand up. “Please, Kate, I know what I’m doing.”

“Are you sure?” Rita studied him. “You’re going to be vilified, Rust.
Arrested and studied like a lab specimen.”

“That’s going to happen to me anyway. You’re making sure of that.”

Rita smiled. “Nothing personal. You just happen to be newsworthy, that’s all. Very newsworthy, in fact. You’re a Darwinian discovery all on your own.”

Her eyes roamed up and down his body. Kate shivered. Rita’s look was not sexual.
It was one of intellectual curiosity – as one would study an alien before it was about to be dissected.

“I’ll take my chances, thank you,” Rust said.

“Fine. It’s your call,” Rita said.

“Wait,” Kate interrupted. She gave Rita a pleading look. “Don’t do this. Look . . . he has money. He can give you anything you want. His father certainly can.”

“Kate – ”

“No!” she said forcefully. “This is
not
what we discussed. You deviated and lied.”

“I didn’t lie. I didn’t say I’d agree to everything you and Derek
said.”

Kate gasped. “That’s just as bad as entrapment.”

Rust leaned back. His mouth was set in a firm line.

“I’ve made up my mind,” he said.
He stared at Rita. “Do what you have to.”

“I intend to,” she said with another smile.

27

The news hit sooner than any of them knew it would.

The headlines screamed:

‘MUTANT DISCOVERED.
UNDOCTORED FOOTAGE SHOWS EVIDENCE OF HUMAN-ANIMAL GENETIC MUTATION’.

‘SHAPESHIFTER REVELATION! MURDER SUSPECT PRESENTS UNPRECEDENTED EVIDENCE.’

‘DO SHAPESHIFTERS EXIST? FOOTAGE SUGGESTS THEY DO.’

‘BIZARRE VIDEO FOOTAGE REVEALS NEW SPECIES’.

‘WAS TEDDY MITCHELL MURDERED BY A MUTANT? STUNNING DISCOVERY BY INTREPID REPORTER SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON THE EVIDENCE.’

And all this from the lay press, not the likes of what one would expect from ‘News of the World’, Kate thought in dismay. She didn’t even bother logging in to Google News. The same headlines would be repeated everywhere, like echoes on a mountain range.

Rust was noncommittal. He didn’t even glance
at the headlines.

“Rust – ” she said.

He said, “Don’t.”

She clammed up. He was right. There was really nothing to say.

Connor came to the door.

“If you’re going to lecture me, Dad, don’t,” Rust announced.

Connor hesitated. “I wasn’t going to, son. I know exactly why you did what you did.”

“Do you, really? You still don’t know how this is going to pan out.”

“I don’t.” Connor glanced at Kate, whose face was ashen. “But I’m here to tell you the FBI is at the door. Your mother is with them. Talking. Stalling.”

The silence that followed this was deafening.

“So soon?” Rust finally said.

He got up.

Don’t go,
Kate wanted to say. But it was no use. He had made up his mind not to run but to face all adversity calmly like an alpha shifter. It struck her that it was exactly what he was. He was a modern day alpha shifter male. They rarely squared off in fights to the death these days. They picked modern causes instead. And her lover had chosen to pick just this.

Rust turned to Kate.

“Goodbye, Kate,” he said, and left through the door to go downstairs.

Connor followed.

She was so stunned that it took her thirty seconds to realize he had gone.

She raced to the banisters and looked down into the main hall.
Rust was speaking to the dark-suited FBI officers downstairs.

“Rust?” she cried, but no sound came forth from her throat.

One of the FBI men fastened a pair of handcuffs on Rust’s outstretched wrists.

He looked up at her. His piercing green eyes said:
Don’t follow me
.

As they led him away, she could only watch, her heart in her mouth, her feet rooted to the spot. If she went to him, he would only push her away.

For the last time.

EPILOGUE

It had been exactly a month since Rust was taken into the FBI’s custody. A month since Kate had seen him, and she wasn’t exactly allowed visitation rights.

Two weeks ago, both Connor and Moira were taken into the FBI’s custody.
Whatever the FBI were doing to them, it was so far contained to the O’Brien family. Perhaps that was what Rust wanted all along. In fact, the more Kate thought about it, she realized that it was what Rust had planned all along.

The sneaky bastard.
The stupid, maddening, self-sacrificing sneaky bastard who engineered his own downfall for the sake of his species.

At his expense. And her own.

Kate was left all alone in the O’Brien manor. She did not wish to return to college. She was not given any news on Rust. All she could do was sit there and wait.

Wait interminably.

Strangely enough, the only person who understood her predicament was Rita Cunningham. Rita actually called to check in on her several times a week – mainly for news about Rust, which the FBI did not make her privy to either.

Rita was a famous personage now. She was asked to go on all the major news channels – CNN, Fox, Bloomberg, Al-Jazeera.
TIME put out a cover on her. All the talk shows – Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman – had booked her up for a year. She was going to write her own book on the experience. There were talks of the movie rights snapped up even before the book was published.

And all this time, the FBI still stayed silent on the subject of the O’Briens.
Reporters camped outside their headquarters, demanding to know what secrets they were uncovering about these ‘mutants’. Were the shapeshifters a threat to national security? Could they offer up a new cure to the various ailments humankind was plagued with? Were they a new breed of defense?

More importantly, could this genome be transferred, cultivated and
made to manifest in the general population?

Kate did not wish to reveal much to Rita, who was persistent to a fault.
She did not wish to trouble Michaela either, or her parents – who were still blissfully unaware that she had quit college and was involved in what was the world’s current biggest controversy.

Especially now when she stared at the
little blue line on the pregnancy indicator of the test kit she bought from Walgreen’s. It was positive.

She was pregnant with Rust’s baby.

She wasn’t exactly sure when the baby was conceived, but it had to be at least two months old in her womb. And she remembered, with dread, how Rust had made Shamilar get rid of the baby and how he had dumped her thereafter.

But now Rust wasn’t here. Neither were Connor and Moira.

She was left to do as she pleased.

And that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

THE CULMINATION OF KATE AND RUST’S STORY WILL BE

CONTINUED IN ‘THE ALPHA MEN’S SECRET CLUB 5, COMING SOON.

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