Page 66 of Psycho Beasts

His massive six-foot-five frame was clothed in an expensive black suit, and it was impossible to miss the outlines of the guns tucked into his waistband. Skull rings decorated his fingers and flashed as he sucked in the smoke of his cigarette.

Wrapped around the base of his throat, his white snake was much smaller, a moving necklace that hissed and slithered in a circle.

The “Loyalty” tattoo across his throat rippled as he took a long drag from his cigarette.

He casually pulled out a seat at the head of the table and leaned back.

Walter sprinted in after, the don gave him a single look, and the butler snapped his mouth closed.

“No questions?” the don repeated, and his casual inquiry shook everyone out of their stupor.

Cobra pointed a carving knife at his father. “What are you doing here?”

Everyone waited.

The don chuckled, and his shoulders relaxed as he waved his cigarette around. “I just wanted to congratulate you all. I’m pleased that I didn’t have to dispose of everyone like I had planned. It is rare to have one alpha pass the first initiation test, let alone four and an omega. I’m impressed.”

No one smiled.

The don smirked and raised his eyebrows but said nothing else, just lounged back in his chair like a king addressing his subjects.

Which he was.

After five minutes of awkward silence, I asked, “Why are you really here?”

Patience was never my strong suit.

The don turned and speared me with his gaze.

Sweat broke out across my body.

His youthful features made him look like Cobra’s older brother, but his emerald eyes were his tell; they were perpetually more snake than man, like his beast was overtaking him with age.

I swallowed thickly and tried to give off “I’m not prey” vibes.

Any good predator would sense fear pheromones, and the man before me was on the top of the food chain.

Finally, the don stopped filleting me with his gaze and looked around the room. He took a moment to stare at each one of us, including the teenage girls.

Jinx was the only one that met his gaze.

The don even smiled at Noodle, who was tucked under her arm and hanging upside down dramatically.

I shifted closer to Lucinda and grabbed her hand under the table. She squeezed it back.

She looked over at me, mouth open slightly like she wanted to whisper something, but she closed her mouth and said nothing.

We all waited.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably ten awkward minutes, the don’s deep and slightly lisping voice was startlingly loud.

“I’m here for three reasons.”

He blew out a perfect ring of cigarette smoke. It transformed into a serpent in midair and circled above the table.

Creepy.

“First, I wanted to discuss the initiation. The first trial was the hardest to pass. Bravo. The second trial will be the most painful and the third the most revealing. You will begin the second trial tomorrow. It’s a long process, and everything will be explained at the gym. A car will arrive at dawn to pick you up. This trial I think you will enjoy.”